Bridget is in Kindergarten!

Bridget is in Kindergarten! Through the summer she was a bit nervous about going to Kindergarten, which is unusual for her. She was never nervous about going to daycare, or her two different preschools. Perhaps it was because she'd be taking the school bus? In any case, she's there now, and of course, she loves it.

In the morning, neighbor Jeannie and the triplets walk down to the corner and see Bridget off to school. Upon their arrival to the school, the students go to the classroom where the teacher has a few coloring pages/crafts for the children to work on individually while waiting for everyone else to arrive. Every day I get the report as to how many of the crafts Bridget misses out on because her bus arrives so close to the start of the school day. She's very disappointed when she misses out on crafts. (Don't get me wrong, by crafts, I mean coloring pages or perhaps a coloring page that you cut out and order scenes sequentially. Really, they're no big deal.)

Early on, I had told Bridget's teacher that Bridget is already reading very well, and asked if she could please work on advancing her reading skills because Bridget so loves to read. A few days later the teacher told me that Bridget is a "Level 28 reader, which is unusually high for a kindergartener." I still need clarification as to what reading scale that is based on, but I suspect it's the DRA scale, which means she's reading at a 2nd or 3rd grade level. I'm really proud of her! There is another girl in the other kindergarten class who is also a high level reader, and the two of them are going to be pulled out of class during "reading time" so that they can read more appropriate material.

So now, my task is to work on her reading comprehension. She likes beginning chapter books, but sometimes she doesn't always follow along with what is going on in the story. On my last trip to the library, I picked up a few kids' mystery books. I'm thinking that a mystery would be an easy way to improve on her comprehension skills and also help with problem solving skills too.

Shawn and I are still trying to reign in her sassiness. She is still throwing too many tantrums for being a 5 year old! The minute something doesn't go her way, she's jumping up and down, stamping her feet, crying, whining and screaming. Sometimes throwing toys, pinching the babies, or kicking too---so this has got to stop. I've got her on a reward chart. If she has a tantrum free day, she gets a sticker. She gets rewards by collecting 1-3-5-and 7 stickers. 1 sticker gets her an extra bedtime story, 3 = a half hour computer time, 5 = a movie, and 7 is special time with mom or dad. We started this in the beginning of August, and it took her almost the whole month to earn her first 7 stickers. She decided to go to the Pottery Lounge with me. She painted a ceramic cat (kinda looks like a Littlest Pet Shop cat.) She had a great time and was very polite and thankful while we were painting, but the minute we got home, she kicked off again. She wanted a snack but we were about to eat dinner, so when I said, "no snack" she threw a big fit. Needless to say, she did NOT earn the sticker for that day!

One last Bridget story: we were all driving in the van last weekend and Liam was being a little joker. He and Bridget were in the very back of the van and the two of them were giggling and having a great time. Shawn and I weren't really listening to what they were saying, and the next thing we knew, Bridget's saying, "Liam! You're a little joker boy! You're cracking me nuts!" and Liam replied, "Yah! I cracking you nuts!" Shawn and I were busting up! It was so funny! The next thing Liam says is, "Bridgie! You got boobies! Boobies! Boobies! Boobies!" Where do they get this stuff?!?!?! (In case you're wondering, Bridget was combining the phrases "You're driving me nuts" and "You're cracking me up")

Ahhh kids...they're cracking me nuts!