6 years, 7 months/4 years, 5 months.

After months of it being loose and some very aggressive wiggling over the past week, Graham's second top front tooth came out today!  The tooth fairy noticed that rates have gone up over the past 30 years and left Graham $5!

6 years, 7 months/4 years, 5 months.

No-girls-allowed playdate.  L to R, Graham, Jacob, Ellis, Bryce, Connor (not pictured: baby Everyn). Lots of tree-climbing and sling-shot shooting.

Therese's e-mail of the week, entitled "Fun feet feel":

Hi everyone,

Monday we started with a fun foot feel. Everybody took their shoes and socks off and we attempted to pick up rubber bands and pencils with our toes. Many couldn't resist using hands. We counted our toes and said This Little Piggy. We sang Open, Shut Them, and Where Is Thumbkin? We read The Soles Of Your Feet and followed the leader into the big room to feel different textures with our bare feet. We walked across the textures many times. The children said they felt soft, smooth, sticky, scratchy, hard, prickly, poppy, and like a tiger.

Monday there were seven sleepers. That's quiet. Y'all must have had a good long weekend.

Tuesday, after tracing our feet, we made a foot print mural using two colors. More practice taking off shoes and socks, and putting them back on. We are using two hands and two eyes to see where the problem is when struggling with socks, also with pants and underwear in the bathroom. Some children can see what's stuck and fix it.

We made a list of things we can do with our feet: run, walk, jump, run up a hill, pick up things with our toes, point toes, and a few people said, "not running in the house." We added the classroom as well. Everyone watercolored their feet tracings. 

We played ball games. The first one we called hot potato. We sat in a circle and rolled seven balls at once. The idea was to get rid of the balls (hot potatoes) as fast as possible. It was a fast moving game that lasted surprisingly long. There was much laughter. When we went outside, we brought two balls to use with our feet. We tried only kicking them but hands are just too handy. 

Next week we begin talking about our five senses. 

Good day,

Therese

6 years, 7 months/4 years, 5 months.

Items spotted at Graham's curriculum conference today.  The top piece shows his hopes and dreams for 1st grade ("I hope I become an even better reader so I can read Harry Potter."); the second is a note that he wrote at the end of kindergarten to his 1st grade teacher ("Are you a boy or a girl?  I like writer's workshop.  I am nice.  I like school."); and the third is a story idea (it shows a cat escaping from our apartment).  

6 years, 7 months/4 years, 5 months.

Jacob created a rope swing out of a rope and a stick at the nature park today.  It probably wouldn't meet current safety standards but it survived an afternoon of aggressive kid swinging.

6 years, 7 months/4 years, 5 months.

After Connor's soccer game (where he scored multiple goals!), Connor and his friend Lilly went to Lauren's show "Grow," which is about seasons and the lifecycle of an apple tree.  Connor pointed out growing things our whole walk home.

Therese's e-mail of the week, entitled: "What can hands do?"

Dear parents,

This week we traced our hands and the children colored them all the
colors of the rainbow using crayons. The next day we made handprints
using black paint. Some children painted more afterwards.

We read Here Are My Hands, Hands Can, and Hands Are Not For Hitting.
We waved hello, clapped, shook hands, and waved bye. We used our hands
to eat snacks, help ourselves in the bathroom, and we washed our
hands. We also read Wash Your Hands. We reviewed the hand washing
steps and talked about how many pumps of soap and paper towels to use.

We made a list of things we use our hands for. It is hanging in the
classroom. As is our list of what people did this summer.

We sang Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. We sang it as fast as we
could. We sang it in s l o w motion.

We are encouraging using our words to ask friends for a toy, and for
speaking up for ourselves. In the beginning of the year we give the
children words to use in negotiating with friends. "I want a turn."
"Can I use the truck when you're finished?" "I want to play alone
right now." And making sure friends stop and listen to each other.

Many of our returning children are doing a lovely job of helping the
younger ones. We've seen several gentle pats on the back and
invitations to play.

Next week, feet. All about feet.

Have a nice long weekend,
Therese

6 years, 7 months/4 years, 5 months.

Connor decided to give the Ninjango lego building a try this time and came home with a dragon he was very pleased about.

Graham's reading has really progressed.  He is now reading books from the "junior" section of the library (rather than the easy readers).  We have been reading Harry Potter aloud in the evening.  He continues reading it after bedtime, though I'm not sure how much he understands.

6 years, 7 months/4 years, 4 months.

Both boys scored at their first soccer games of the season!  Go team!  (They are in different leagues but happened to get the same color uniforms.)

Therese's e-mail of the week, entitled "Simon says sing the Hokey Pokey":

Dear parents,

We began our week decorating our art folders. We used paint and ABC stamps.  Many friends chose letters in their names.

During circle we've been singing the Good Morning Song and Willoughby Wallaby Woo to work on learning each other's names. We've read (many times each) We Love School, Wow! School!, My Nursery School, Ms. Bindergarten's Kindergarten, and My First ABC. We sang the ABC song bunches and lots of people did sing with us! We also played a little Simon Says and sang the Hokey Pokey. That is what it's all about.

Quiet time is quiet, with almost half the class sleeping the first day. And the second.

We played with shaving cream on the table top. The children drew lines and circles, and in two cases, drew on arms. We were not up in arms about it. We added food color the second day. The children mixed red and yellow.

We are working on: walking up and down the stairs in a semi-orderly fashion, sitting on the white line during circle so we can all see the book, learning each other's names, using our words to ask for turns, getting up when we fall down, and cleaning up after ourselves after snacks. Also, remembering to wash our hands after the bathroom, and pulling up underwear before pants. Considering it is our first full week, we're all doing a phenomenal job!

Next week we will talk about hands.

Have a sunny weekend,

Therese

6 years, 7 months/4 years, 4 months.

The local toy store is helping to advertise the LEGO Ninjango movie, which has the side benefit of the kids getting to build characters from the movie.  Connor isn't really ready for this, but it's right up Graham's alley.

6 years, 7 months/4 years, 4 months.

The bad news is that Connor is the only kid signed up for his Super Soccer Stars class, so it will probably be cancelled.  The good news is that today, Graham got to join Connor for a semi-private lesson!  They both loved it.  Graham got a little competitive at the end during the scrimmage, but Connor didn't seem worried about it.

6 years, 6 months/4 years, 4 months.

We spent a fun morning with Grammy and Grannie Annie!  Graham loved learning to play Rummikub with you both.  Grammy, thank you for spending the week with us and helping us through the first week of school schedule (not to mention letting us take the day off for Will's birthday!).

Therese's e-mail of the week, entitled "Placemats and play dough":

Hi All,

Welcome (back) to Old First!

Our first day went swimmingly. We had one tiny tear and one crocodile tear. Both dried up by snack. Bananas helped.

Thursday and Friday we worked on decorating our placemats with crayons and markers. After hearing many children talk about purple on home visits, we decided to make purple play dough. The children poked, pounded, and squeezed it. All good for developing strong hand muscles that come in handy when drawing and writing.

The easel was thoroughly enjoyed. Children mixed paints to discover new and improved colors.

We played outside both days.  The sandbox and jungle gym were hits! The sandbox had someone working on building a new sidewalk, one person baking a birthday cake, two people making a pile, and a few digging holes. Busy as bees.

Our jungle gym turned into a high speed train and a fire truck. Speaking of fire trucks, many children worked cooperatively on the carpet to work our big fire truck puzzle. They assembled, and reassembled it, with little help, three times.

Only a few people wanted to swing. So far. Some are swinging sitting up while others are swinging on their bellys. Both are great core workouts and require balancing skill. In addition to all this, there was plenty of time to just run. Back and forth, and back and forth.

Separation is going well. Some like to be held when upset, some not. Either is fine.

It was a great first two days! Next week we will decorate our art folders, sing and dance, and act like animals.

Thanks for sharing your offspring,
Therese

6 years, 6 months/4 years, 4 months.

First day of first grade for Graham and second year at Old First Nursery School for Connor!  Both boys are extremely excited to get back to school and don't seem at all trepidatious.  They had a great time at camp, but I think miss the routine and consistency of the school schedule.  

6 years, 6 months/4 years, 4 months.

Back on our beloved Brooklyn tire swing!

6 years, 6 months/4 years, 4 months.

We went on the pirate adventure today, which Graham has been eagerly anticipating ever since he found out that we were going back to Cape Cod.  It didn't disappoint!  After that, a little pirate mini-golf and Captain Frosty's for our best fish & chips of the trip.