Parent/Teacher Interviews

Yup, it's that time again. We recently received Cohen's report card - very positive, almost all subjects were graded "above grade level". Except two - Dance and Music. WHAT? MUSIC? Yeah. Sigh. Apparently he's only "at grade level". Sheesh.

Anyway, today we had the parent/teacher interviews. I'm very happy to say that it was actually JUST a parent/teacher interview - none of this "student-lead conference" crap. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer the teacher to be candid with me, and I don't think that this can be done with the child present.

It was a great interview. Cohen's teacher had nothing but positive things to say - he's quiet, funny, cute, gets along well with everyone, and is doing well in all subjects.

(Um... is this the same kid that I fight with every day? The one who gives me attitude and throws temper tantrums? Sigh. I suppose I ought to be glad that he's behaving at school. Perhaps he works so hard on being good at school that he just needs to blow off some steam at home. Too funny.)

Where was I. Oh yes - and, to my immense pleasure, she recommended that Cohen work with the Grade 2's for Language Arts, as he is doing exceptionally well with his reading.

This is a hard-fought victory. We've been working with Cohen on his reading since Kindergarten. At first, it was such a disaster - he would immediately burst into tears anytime that we asked him to try to sound out a word. One thing about Cohen - he HATES doing anything that he is not completely confident in. So, we backed off and just continued reading to him, trying again every once in a while. This year, there is such a big focus on reading in his class, and I think it helped him to see that everyone was struggling just like he was. We started working harder - 15 minutes every night, sounding out words with him, pointing out repeated words, etc etc.

Lately, in the last month or so, he has just flourished. He reads EVERYTHING - newspapers, any words on TV, signs, boxes, cartons, containers... He is also continuously asking me to spell words, or spelling them out for me to decipher. (this drives me crazy, but I try hard to be patient).

Understand - I believe that excellent reading ability is an absolute must for all of my children. I myself was an early reader, and voracious one at that - I read far beyond my grade level, and couldn't stand not having a book on the go. I am also a very fast reader - tested at nearly 650 wpm. Being able to read well - and so quickly - helped me so much through school. Never mind the wonders it did for my imagination!

So, you see why it's so important to me. I desperately wish to pass on the love of reading that has been passed on to me through the generations. Ian loves to read as well...so the odds are in our favour!

Lili has been trying to read for a year. She has hundreds of books, and sometimes I wonder how she manages to sleep when her bed is covered in books each night. In a way I feel bad - if I put more effort into it, she could probably be reading by now. However, there are only so many hours in each day. She sits with us when we work with Cohen, so I'm certain she's picking things up along the way.

So proud, Cohen! What an amazing little boy. What a painless interview! "He's doing great, I love having him in my class, any questions?" is pretty much how it went!

The Good, The Bad, and The UGLY

I've had a few people this week comment on my previous post about our "Music Practice Time". Comments have ranged from kudos to disbelief...and one rather odd anonymous comment stating that I'm pushing my children too hard and they will grow up to resent me for it.

Well, to that person (whose comment I deleted, thank you very much) I would say that yes, I do push my children. I push them to work hard, try their very best, and bask in the rewards of success AND failure, which are, in my humble opinion, equally important.

A good example of this lesson came yesterday at Lili's swimming lesson. Last week, at the end of class, the teacher had all of the children jump off of the diving board. Lili has done this before, but not for several months. Last week she walked to the end of the board, and stood there for what seemed an eternity. Ian and I were frozen in the stands, silently urging her on. I could see that her teacher was talking to her, and I could also see that Lili wasn't listening - she was focused 100% on the water below. After a few minutes, she walked back to the ladder and it seemed that she was going to climb down. However, I could see her actually clench her fists, and then she walked back to the end of the board, took a deep breath and jumped.

I was overcome with pride - not only that she jumped, but that she came so close to giving up and made that decision to try it anyway. After class I asked her what she was thinking while she was up there. She said "my body was scared... but my brain kept telling me 'try, try again'". Success! Something we've long strived to teach our children has stuck!

Now, in case everyone out there is thinking that I'm either a) a super-mom wannabe or b) full of bs, let me tell you about yesterday's swimming lesson and indeed, the subsequent "Music Practice Time" that followed.

Yesterday, Lili got on the diving board and once again walked to the end. She stood there, once again, for a long period of time. Longer, even, than last week. I could tell because the kids waiting in line behind her were actually yelling at her to jump. Her teacher was gesticulating like crazy. Lili just stood there. And stood there. And stood there.

Finally, after what must have been a solid 5 minutes, she gave up and climbed back down the ladder.

My heart sank.

After class, I asked her again what she was thinking about. This time she replied "Mom, I was sure if I jumped I'd sink down to the bottom". "Lili," I reminded her, "you were wearing a life jacket, you can't sink" "OH YEAH!!!!" she laughed, "next time I will make sure my brain remembers that".

Huh.

When we got home, the kids were hyper. Ian and I tried to get them calmed down so that we could have some good practice time. Well, let me tell ya - we had practice time all right... after 3 time-outs and one very poorly-thought-up bribe involving ice cream before bed.

In case you don't know, solfege sung through tears is a pitiful sound.

This doesn't happen often here, but it does happen. I don't want them to be turned off of music because of these infrequent bad evenings...but on the other hand, if they think that they can get out of practice time just by acting up, well, then I'm really in trouble.

So, rest assured - practice time is not always a walk in the park. I'm strict about it though, I'll admit. I'm hoping that regular practice time is paving the way for regular homework time. We always follow regular practice time with regular reading time (followed by regular brush-your-teeth-time, and let's not forget regular whine-because-we're-not-tired-but-it's-bedtime time).

And don't forget - I've had a few years to develop the routine that works for us! Cohen has been in Kodaly for 3.5 years now, and I can honestly say that this is the first year that we are not practicing his songs for the first time while driving to class. I think a lot of it has to do with me being home this year.

We're not perfect... no-where near. But I'm proud that we've made music a priority in this house. I know that as reluctant as they may be now, they'll thank me later.

Which reminds me... thanks mom and dad!

Well Said

Empty Nest

It's 11:20am, and I am all alone in the house.

I can count on one hand how many times this has happened in the last 6 years.

Ian has taken the kids on the bus downtown for an adventurous day of buses, trains, turtles (at Devonian Gardens) and who knows what else.

I am on my own for at least 3 hours. Possibly more.

And


I haven't a clue what to do with myself. The strongest urge is to clean house... but I promised I wouldn't do more than 30 minutes of that. I have a new book... and I vow to spend at least 45 minutes with it. I should probably go shopping for Ian's birthday, only 4 days away. Also a good chance to get some stocking stuffers purchased. But somehow the idea of spending my time in a noisy mall seems to defeat the purpose.

Maybe I'll take myself out for lunch. Get a manicure. Hah. No, can't justify that.

I could make some serious headway in the laundry. Go through the kids' clothes and make room for winter stuff.

I'm paralyzed with indecision.

Date Night

With only a few days remaining in Ian's vacation, we figured we should probably try and have some alone time together. It has been over 6 months since our last "date", and lord knows we deserve some off time. My dad and step-mom graciously offered to take Cohen and Lili overnight, and even to watch Luci until 11pm or so.

The date got off to a rough start - Ian and I were bickering most of the day, and were pretty worn out from the usual array of cooking, cleaning, feeding, driving, comforting and the like that goes into a typical day of parenting. We almost decided to cancel date night.

However, the promise of a meal cooked by someone else and no dishes to wash convinced us to hang in there.

We went to Olive Garden for dinner. This, for us, is fancy dining. Basically, if the napkins aren't paper, we're impressed. It was packed there, so we decided to eat at the bar rather than wait for a table and potentially be late for the show afterwards.

Dinner was great - we stuck to our old scheme from University, whereby you eat as much of the unlimited bread and salad as you can, and then eat only a few bites from the entree, getting the rest of it to go. This allows you to spread the eating-out experience over two days.

I had been in charge of planning what our main entertainment for the night would be. Typically we see a movie, but there was nothing I was interested in seeing. We tossed the idea of going to the symphony back and forth, (it was, after all, Beethoven's 2nd and 3rd), but neither of us were in the mood to dress nicely and act civilized. We considered bowling, but I didn't feel like doing anything that would bring out Ian's nasty competitive spirit (it's actually quite funny, but I'm equally competitive, so it can get pretty tense when it's just the two of us).

Eventually, I had a great idea, one from my teenage years. I decided to keep it a secret (not because I wanted to surprise him so much as I didn't want to give him a chance to poo-poo my idea). I finally told him after dinner, as we were leaving. His response - "oh, that sounds like fun... I'd kind of like to go home and just hang out though".

Nuh-uh. Dammit this was our night out, we're going! He reluctantly agreed, and off we went.

Where, you ask? Loose Moose Theatre, to watch some Theatresports. I used to LOVE going when I was in junior high and high school, but for some odd reason I haven't been in a decade. If you don't know what Theatresports are... well, did you ever see the show "Whose Line is it Anyways?".... I much preferred the original British version (as always) but the Drew Carey version was funny as well. Anyways - that's an idea of what Theatresports are like.

We arrived at the Theatre an hour early (go figure), and decided to wander around a little. Well, oddly enough we wandered into this deserted lounge area. The lights were all off, but there were several arcade games there, including my favourite, Police Academy. Well, GAME ON! We spent the next 45 minutes laughing hysterically at my poor skills. It was great. The last time we played Police Academy was on our honeymoon cruise!

When we reluctantly left the arcade games, it was time to go into the theatre. It was a great deal - $12 admission, with a wacky array of snacks for sale as well (we went with water and twizzlers, at a cost of $2.25 total).

The show was great. It was JUST as I remembered - you never know what to expect, but you know it's going to be funny. Ian and I were both wiping tears of laughter off of our faces all night. Fantastic fun. I'm not one for comedy, typically, but improv just does me in.

Afterwards we came home, cleaned up, and went to sleep (no, really). I woke up this morning to him serving me breakfast in bed... amazing what a night of good food and laughter can do for a relationship!

Date night was a success... and I think we'll be making many trips to the Loose Moose in the future!