I Savannah declare:
- Stay up later
- Have a raise in my allowence
- Have the computer in my room
- More sleepovers and playdates
- Science stuff
- Science posters
Sighnd,
Savannah (in very curly cursive)
End of the year, 2nd grade, Savannah comes home asking, "What's the F word?" I refused to tell her. She'll not hear it from me.
I'm actually surprised that she got this far into her eighth year without hearing this word before. And it's not that I mind saying it to her, but after hearing the word, I know her next question. "What's that mean?", and I haven't yet tailored a good answer for a 7 year old.
When I picked Savannah up from school one day last week, I asked her how P.E. went. She answered, "I hate P.E." Somehow she said this happily. She was just trying to be dramatic, but really, did anyone enjoy the P.E. coach making them run laps?
I told her that you can't love everything, but if you have to do it, like Phys. Ed., you might as well find something to enjoy about it. That's when she said, "Oh, so that's why you eat sushi."
:) ??? :)
Savannah is old enough that she looks for her name when the mail comes. She pours over the wish books and counts out her money. This week she found a Valentine's classroom project that she wanted to give her teacher/class. Of course the shipping cost could nearly buy a second project. I talked her into going to The Golden Apple, a really fun store for children and teachers and parents. I generally have to stay out of there but when I am there, I make mental notes of what we might get for upcoming birthdays.
Of course it was in a prime spot to swing by both the mall and Target. Two pairs of my most worn earrings have torn up. So I bought some small, sparkly, silver balls. It was a girl's day. She found a blue and white headband for herself. I've said before that when I go out with one child, I'm able to see the personality come out in a way it doesn't with siblings around, and I get to hold her hand again. She talked about her boyfriend, who I've yet to meet. We'll call him R. It's strange to hear her talk about these things because the boyfriend/girlfriend games seem so far away, but I remember how the boys and girls were in second grade. It still seems innocent enough. Brad and I did have to tell her today that she will not be calling boys on the phone for a long time.
There is a test that 2nd graders take in our area. It is designed to recognize children in the top 98% of all 2nd graders. Once those are "weeded out" so to speak, their third grade teacher changes the teaching approach for them. Savannah is bright, not only a good reader, but good and quick with numbers. (She's actually a lot more than that, but that doesn't really apply here.)
But the entire testing process lasts 4 hours. They have small breaks in between but filling in bubbles for hours is endless to them. Her teacher says that children often cry before it's over.
I think there is a chance that Savannah is in that top 98%. But I'm inclined enough to say that she's below it, that I keep arriving at "No, it's not for her. at least not right now." I believe there'll be another opportunity in a couple of years. And in talking to parents lately, I like the idea of keeping my children's education well rounded, exposing them to enough culture and my own homeschooling/public ed. hybrid form or parenting that I wonder if putting her in a gifted group of children would really even matter.
She took an arts and drama class her first summer here. She had good fun, made some really vibrant paintings. It lasted 4 hours a day for 4 weeks, and it was free. I intend to finally learn Spanish and including the kids in that will help me, I know, as well as them. There is also a build-your-own-website summer class, even for children Savannah's age. Daddy especially showed interest in her taking that one.
It'll be interesting to see what truly interests our children. I still intend to start them on a few piano lessons. Get them a real teacher if they show real interest. Right now our only piano is a large electronic keyboard, although a very nice one, and it's scaled to that of an average piano, only shorter. Maybe when I go out looking for my Spanish lessons, I'll pick up some beginner piano books. We'll see. It's easy to say all that I'll do when the day is slow.
Today, two high school girls knocked on the door and asked for canned goods. (I just realized that they never told me what they were for, I just assumed they were for charity. It might've been their dinner.) I said no problem and shut the door to go get some "donations" for these girls, and as I rounded the corner to the kitchen, Savannah ran through the house saying, "Not the clam chowder."
Savannah's been in 2nd grade for 3 weeks. I could tell the schedule was wearing on her. After an easy summer, she was getting up and out every day, coming home tired, craving an entire meal at 3 p.m. So I fill her stomach and try to get her to rest.
She's noticed too, how much time I get with Seth and Arwen. She's at school for 7 hours. So today, Saturday, we went shopping just the two of us. At Starbucks she picked up a strawberries 'n' cream while I got my mocha. She got a few pieces of clothing and hair doo-hickies (we're actually going to share those.) I'd planned a trip to the grocery store, but the mall has a way of really sucking up your time. Even though we didn't buy much, we were there for 3 hours. I've always noticed on these outings that when I don't have the stroller with me, I get to hold her hand.
I'll be interested to know at what stage I can tell Savannah about Sept. 11th, 2001. It's not that I'm dying to tell her, but at some point she'll hear about it and come asking me or Daddy.
How do you explain terrorism to a child? She's still wrapping her mind around the random possibility of an earthquake, since we moved to California 2 years ago. She'll have to be old enough to understand that a) countries commit acts of war, sometimes in the name of their god; b) she'll have to understand that the chances of a terrorist attack on our home, school, church, library, ice cream parlor are almost nil, but then there's c) and she'll have to understand that it can happen to us or those we love, as much as it happened to the people at the Pentagon or in the twin towers. Then she'll have to take that information and live her life anyway, trying not to fear this possibility.
Last week it was the heat. This week it's been fever and rash. It hasn't moved through the house yet, meaning Arwen hasn't had her turn. I just wanna go for ice cream.
I'm afraid it's going to be a long summer.
