Kindergarten Fun

Kindergarten is in full swing and Karis is loving it! She still runs to school every morning. She likes her teacher and has been making new friends. Her favorite buddies are Makena and Talia -- they are sweet girls! They hit it off from day one. Makena's personality is very similar to Karis'. The girls write each other notes and give each other homemade gifts. We've already had a couple play dates after school. 

Karis' first homework assignment was to make a poster about herself. It was used to tell her classmates about herself. They put all the pages together to make a class book. I helped Karis collect pictures, stickers, etc. of things she likes. She laid them out and glued it all together. She then drew some pretty pictures for the finishing touches. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. =( 

The school had a family picnic last week. Each family brought their own dinner onto the school lawn. The kids played while the parents chatted. Makena had just as good of a time as Karis.

Makena, Kyle, and I had lunch with Karis earlier this week. It's fun to let the little ones experience part of Karis' day. I also like talking to Karis' friends and seeing what everyone brings for lunch (looking for some new ideas!). Karis loves when we come for lunch but I always feel bad that she gets sad when we leave.

Derek and I have both volunteered for lunch/recess duty. Derek will be a book reader on Fridays (the kids go out in the hall with him one by one and practice reading). We've been enjoying another round of "firsts" as we experience being a parent of a school-age child. 

We just had our first parent-teacher conference. It was nice to get some feedback and insight as to how Karis is doing. Karis is doing well academically (based on a computerized test and assessments by the teacher) and the teacher is pleased with her performance and behavior at school. Karis has received a good behavior sticker every day since school started. 

We're hoping Karis gains more confidence with speaking and that her shyness doesn't hold her back in any way. The teacher says she talks in class, responds and asks questions but she doesn't do that when she goes to art, music or PE classes. Her teacher told us that the other day Karis had skinned her knee. She sent Karis to the nurse's office to get a band-aid. Karis was too shy to speak and didn't tell the nurse what she needed. She sent her back to class and Karis never got her band-aid. Silly girl! She however doesn't have a problem talking and interacting with her classmates. 

There are lots more fun kindergarten events coming up. More pictures to come!