spynotes ::
  March 07, 2007
Over the rainbow

Things are starting to get back to normal here in the Spy household, although given that our vacation is approaching at an alarmingly rapid rate, I�m sure the state or normalcy will be short-lived. Still, I�ve been making lists and checking them twice, which always adds to the illusion that we�ve got things under control.

AJ went to school in the morning today instead of the afternoon, a change of routine that had him beside himself with excitement. His entire elementary school is going on a field trip to see a matin�e of �The Wizard of Oz� today. The logistics of taking 450 kids to a play makes my head spin, but when dropping AJ off this morning, the school appeared to be a well-oiled machine, with teachers stationed at every possible access to the building and the principal out directing traffic.

AJ�s class has been preparing for the field trip by reading kindergarten versions of The Wizard of Oz, doing Oz-related art projects and also by talking about manners. �We have to behave really well so that we can show the preschoolers what to do,� said AJ yesterday, nodding sagely. ��Cause we�re the big kids. That�s our job.�

I used the same line on him this morning when he balked at me walking him all the way into the school. �I need to make sure you get to the right place and that I know where to pick you up. That�s my job.�

AJ and I read several of the Oz books out loud a year or so ago. He pulled the first book off the shelf and we took turns reading to each other yesterday afternoon, plowing through seven chapters in a sitting. He still forgets that he can handle the bigger books easily and gets excited about the way he can read a book to himself and get sucked into a storyline even without pictures. Lately he�s been reading a lot of poetry � he loves to read out loud and loves the sounds of the words. They seem to capture his imagination the same way the mystical properties of numbers do.

In regards to both, I have made an appointment with his school�s gifted ed teacher for next week to talk about next year. It appears that AJ is working at somewhere between a 3rd and 4th grade level in both reading and math, although his spelling lags behind his reading and he still very much has a kindergartner�s interests and attention span. His impatience with the inordinate amount of coloring that goes on in his classroom has left him a little behind the curve in the artistic department. His school only goes up to 4th grade, so I want to figure out what happens next year � what happens if he�s done with the school�s math curriculum before he starts first grade, as seems likely to happen if he sticks to his current pace? This whole education thing is a big adventure for all of us.

[Second entry today; click back for a review of Smed�s Holiday Disc 1.]

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