He was up at 6:35. He opened Netflix and searched, with my help, for Wild Kratts. He watched that, then Carly headed to work. I hadn’t drawn the comic for his lunch, so was doing that over at the table. He came over and wanted to draw lunch robot with me. I drew a separate one of just the melted robot for him to draw on. He said he drew the mama robot looking for the baby robot. He had drawn rosy cheeks, he told me, to show it was the mom. And he drew a sun, he also told me, to show that it was hot. She was melting because of the sun. Not sure if the visual clues are something he’s picked up on on his own, or through drawing with the other kids, or through reading books with the teachers.
We rushed out the door. It was nice and sunny, but not necessarily really warm. After a couple blocks I realized he wasn’t wearing his sweatshirt. He said he wasn’t cold. But as we got closer to school, in the shade of buildings, he looked cold and I offered him my coat again. He wore that, wrapped around him, for the rest of the walk.
Dropped him off, then I went to drop off the hummus, then sat in the library for a few minutes and read, then went to the elementary parent coffee in the elementary conference room. Kelly was talking about reading strategies for young children. Nothing really amazing from it, but it was a good hour to think about reading.
That ended at 9:30, then the preschool ‘Sharing Our Learning’ event started at 10. They had us sit with our kids and just provided a sort of overview to the room, pointing out the different stations. August was telling me about caterpillars (a combination about things he’s learned but also clearly things he was making up) and also told me “You’re the best looking dada.” At the end of the meeting the students raise their hands and tell the teachers what they are going to go do. August has this down, as he excitedly kept his hand up to tell them he wanted to go to the stapling area.
We started with that, and he used a small stapler to make a stuffed animal for me to cuddle with when I sleep. First it was an elephant, but as he aded more he said it was abstract.
There was tea and hot chocolate outside. But when we got there the hot chocolate was out. We asked Marion where the supplies were, then went to the kitchen and made a full pitcher of hot chocolate. We had to go into PKB to do that, and August went and told Vicky why we had to come into her classroom. While there, we talked to Vicky about literacy group. Started because she asked him how we were making hot chocolate and his answer included tree bark and other ingredients. I said it was hard to get a straight answer out of him, and she said she knew this from literacy group. She said they had recently been reading fairy tales, and had been changing the endings. He made a version of Jack and the Beanstalk where the giant was climbing the beanstalk.
Back out at the tables he had hot chocolate and I had tea. Millie and her mom and sister came out, and I went and washed mugs for them while August stayed with them. Got to talk to them for a second, but then August was done (he had seconds on the hot chocolate) and wanted to go back inside. We spent a little time sewing buttons on the burlap, then I left at 11.
Rode home, then drove back and picked up August and Eve. They ran straight to the playground when they saw me. Candy ran as well, but was soon picked up. They went on the big swing, then ran around fighting monsters. Carly showed up. The idea was to show her around the classroom, since she couldn’t go earlier. Wasn’t going to happen though. I went in the classroom though to get our stuff, and Carly said they could go play in her classroom.
So we all went over there, and August and Eve spent a lot of time drawing EKG or sound charts on paper. They were “tracking” the sound we made, and then a monster’s heart. When Eve said she was tracking a monster’s heart and was then going to take it out of its body I said I understood why she and August were friends. She put her hand out and said “Cuz we’re both scientists!” She drew another one and said it was Jeff’s hearbeat. August was confused and asked, “My Jeff?…The one I visit every summer?”
They spent some time with the smart board, Eve was trying to get a staple out of the stapler and poked her finger. Carly put a plaster on her finger and asked if Eve needed a hug. Eve gave her a big hug. She calmed down and said she was ready to go to August’s house.
We were home at 4:10. They played in the yard for awhile. August had a big snail shell and was sitting on the swing, and said, “Try not to bump my little snaily. I love my little snaily.” Carly was sweeping up the tree things. Eve asked what she was doing and August replied, “Sweeping the garden. She loves the garden.”
August finally convinced her to go inside. Inside they got straight to the medical supplies and Eve was a dentist looking at my teeth. They got into the art supplies and were doing more charting and “research” on my teeth. They started stapling together their sheets of paper and made a big structure out of it. I cut up a bunch of strawberries for them, twice.
Heather showed up about 5:15 and picked up Eve. August then had some toast with peanut butter and syrup and August explained the booklet he had made at school to me, then we read Amulet 3. Made ‘congregate’ the word of the day. And “You’re down in the dumps!” was the phrase of the day. August had remembered it. He ate some noodles for dinner, then was silly while he went to the bathroom: “The baby boss says…” We played a snail/slug game and he was a slug (Sluggy) and I took him upstairs (home). He was then an alien. Then a new scenario: “You’re just walking up a hill then you get bited by a rattlwsnake then you go to the hospital. Then you go home and the same rattlesnake is here.” We read some more Amulet.
He ate a second dinner of noodles and stir fry, then we made some water drink. He stole a noodle from me or something and told me “You’re supposed to be funny angry now.” Carly took him up for his bath. He stapled a cuddly thing for her as well, using the sparkly red stuff. I folded laundry and she bathed him. She then took a shower. On the bed he was yelling “Technological thinking!” Then cuddled and was saying “Warning! Low power.”
I brushed his teeth and he said goodnight to her and I put him to sleep. Sang a couple songs and he was asleep about 9.
Just work on YOUR drawing:
Stapling felt:
Eve giving a scenario:
Tracking sound waves:
Poop and his snail friend:
Doing their research:
Explaining his book from school:
