Be A Good Mom

Giggles, Geetle and I visited Pookie’s classroom the other day.  During free play time, I asked the teacher how Pookie was doing with his his one-to-one association when counting.  At home, he gets lazy and rushes thru the counting, not touching each item and slurring the numbers together, as if he is in too big of a hurry to count the items correctly.  I wondered how he did at school.  She said she had been meaning to talk to me about that very issue.  She has been testing Pookie for kindergarten readiness and has determined that he can only “count” up to 4.

4?

I was confused, and I told her so.  He counts over 100.  He understands the sequence of numbers and knows that it goes “29, 30, 31, etc”.   He recognizes the numbers in print too.  She said she was fooled at first too.  But that when she asks him to count, he shows no concept of numbers over 4.  No concept of “how many”, over 4.    All his counting, she said, is just rote phrases.  (another ASD thing).   He can repeat the sequence of numbers, but does not know what they mean.  I was skeptical, but nodded along.  I said that maybe I was fooled too and that I would pay greater attention  at home and see.

Well, today I tried many different ways of getting him to count and think about quantities.

• I asked for 7 high fives…and got them.
• I asked him to give me 5 markers…and he did.
• I asked him to count pretzels…and he did…all 22 of them.

That proves he can “count” higher than 4, right?  How do I know if he really understands or if its rote?  Do I care?  We have this same problem with reading too.  He can “read” some books all by himself.  But I know that he just has the words memorized.  For example, he can read “No David” and “David gets in Trouble” by David Shannon.   There is alot of simple repetition in these books; once you know the words, they are easy to read.  So Pookie “reads” them every day.  But that’s not really “reading” right?  Or is it?  If I take some of the common words in these books and write them on blank paper, making sentences not found in the original book, Pookie can read them.  But he knows what “No” and “David” and “School” look like in print, so he is cheating, right?  Or maybe not.  Studies have shown that the majority of our reading is actually done by glancing at the word and making a quick guess at it, usually a correct one.  Pookie does the same.  He will guess at a new word, saying something else that starts with the same letter.  Sure, its guessing but is that wrong?  I think that is still pre-reading.

As far as his counting skills go.  I believe he does understand the concept of numbers and quantity.  Maybe Pookie heard that the teacher was not willing to send him to Summer School, so he decided to dumb it up a bit at school.  See, he wants to go to Summer School too.

Apparently, 5 is not the answer.

Don’t feel bad Pookie. BAGD looks pretty worn out too.

Our friend party did not really have a theme, except for a general “Tea Party” atmosphere.

I got a couple of cheap Teapots at Goodwill and let the kids use my Fiestaware teacups and saucers. We had finger sandwiches (Peanut butter cut with a small cookie cutter) and they got to pour their own drinks. They all liked that.

Instead of a cake, we had a pile of birthday donuts. We lit the candle and sang twice, once for each twin.

Our friends brought some pretty awesome presents.

We had party hats and candy necklaces for party favors. Our party hats were just solid color hats that BAGD and I decorated. He cut “5″s out of craft foam and I attached spiral pipe cleaners to the top of each hat for a cute look.

Our candy necklaces were very simple, but popular. To make them, all you need is a length of Plastic Wrap (Saran Wrap), some candy and ribbon. Lay the plastic wrap out flat, place the candy every few inches or so, roll the plastic wrap around the candy and tie ribbon between each piece of candy. Tie the ends together and you have a necklace!

We played Pin the Tail on the Donkey, but other than that, the kids just played in the basement. We hung a large piece of paper on the wall and let them draw on it, that was pretty popular.

It was a fun party.

Pookie and Geetle also had a Family Birthday party this weekend. Before we could have anyone over, BAGD had to shovel the driveway. Too bad for him, the next day it was 50 degrees and all the rest of the snow melted.

Once the party got started, it was lots of fun. Lots of food.

Lots of people.

Lots of great presents.

Every year when birthdays come and go, I can’t help but stop and think about how much my kids have grown. One very poignant thought jumped into my head at the party. Last year, Great Grandma BlueGrass gave Pookie a package of CARS underwear. He opened them and threw them aside, because at that point, he had absolutely no interest and no understanding of the potty. At the time, it made me very sad. I was happy that my boy was turning 4, but angry and frustrated that he was not potty trained. I wondered when it would ever happen. Then at this party, almost a exactly a year later, I found my boy in the bathroom pooping on his own during the party. Thats how far he had come in a year. I was so proud of him. And then there’s Geetle, who told me several times this week, “I don’t care what people get me.” Her way of saying, in abbreviated 5 year old language, that she just wanted a party, not presents. Good kids. I am lucky.

Silly Aunt Marie.

But, thanks. They thought that was pretty cool.

A picture of Giggles and her Great-Great Aunt Marie…I think. I am not too good with the “greats” and the “once removed”s. Aunt Marie was once married to my Grandpa’s brother….I don’t know what she is technically…except a really nice old lady. (BTW- she does not care if we call her an old lady, she knows she is an old lady, that’s one of the reasons we like her so much.)

to all the family invited to Pookie and Geetle’s Family Party on Sunday….I did not ask you to RSVP, so this is not directed at you.  I talk to you people all the time, I know who’s coming and who isn’t.

In case you did not know:

R.S.V.P. means “I was nice enough to invite you, you are required to let me know if you are coming or not…and then actually do it.” Alternate definitions are: “Food ain’t cheap. If you want to eat when you get here, you’d better tell me you’re coming.” The word has its origins in French where it is translated to mean “Perdon Moinsoour, iz youz commin to zee partee?” Common American usage is :”Whatever, just wanted you to know I was having a party, no pressure.”