I Call Her "Kindergarten"

I can't really describe so well just how much having a Kindergartener has changed our lives.  Of course the obvious logistics of it all means that she's in a classroom setting for 6 hours a day, 5 five days a week and we certainly have to plan our schedules around this new change, but more impressive is the change that I see in my big girl.

I started calling her "Kindergarten" soon after she started school.  As in, "What's up Kindergarten?" "How's my Kindergarten?" and "Goodnight Kindergarten, I love you."

She has just blossomed, matured, grown up a bit....all those descriptions for noticing such a great change in her.  And I knew this would happen, but to be a witness to her interest in learning just explode is pretty amazing.

She is in a Kindergarten/Grade 1 split class.  I remember being told that in a K/1 split that she would have just slightly less play time than the average Kindergarten class.  I was concerned, but then in the first month of school she said to me that she wanted to learn instead of playing, I figured she's strike a balance just fine for her.

She has two best girls in her class and she's making friends by the day, it seems.  Truthfully, I think she's a bit of a social butterfly because she seems to know kids outside of her classroom as she's always saying hi to teachers, peers and older peers by name as we pass them!  They all say "Hi Kamille" back!   I love the smile on her face and the little bounce in her step that she has when this happens.   So, I was super proud to open up the school newsletter in November to find that my Kamille had been recognized for her Attitude among all her peers at school!

Academically, she loves everything to do with letters and reading.  Earlier in the year one of the big proud moments for me was when she and I were talking about the word cat and I said to her, what if I changed the c to a b, what would that say?  She, and I were so excited that she was rhyming and starting to reading.  Things just seemed to take off with her reading right from day one.  She moved on to other rhyming words that are a bit bigger and did the same thing, like Book, cook, hook, look and even shook.  Here two teachers have really encouraged her with reading and have assisted me with learning how to teach her when we are reading together.  Initially I really didn't know how much to push her to sound out words or if I should just give them to her when she was stuck.  I was told to just tell her what they were because in the big picture she was on track for reading really well on her own.  It was a big night for me when I asked her to read Hop on Pop to me, a book that I read to her as a small baby!  Sigh.

She's really come along and impressing the heck out of me.  Its been so great watching her go from sounding out letters, reading books that have lots of rhyming and repetition, to picking up books that are on her own bookshelf and giving them a go!   I think she might just be a reader, something I sure wasn't when I was a kid.  She takes after her Aunty Jilly!  

And we can't say enough about how much we looooove the daily library exchange that happens.  Nearly every night Kamille brings home two new books from the school library and we read them before bedtime.  I love it!

i remember the day that the teacher handed this book to me and said i should give it a go with her.  I was somewhat doubtful, but she did amazing at getting through most of it on her own!   

i love seeing her read in bed before sleep or when she first wakes up! 

Even the way she spends her free time has changed.  Earlier in the year while she was at home, she'd copy out her favourite books, make lists of words that rhyme, sound out letters and words and always asking Kevin and I to help her out with spelling words out loud for her.   We've been encouraged to just let her spell things out as she things the letters go.  Its been quite neat to see how her mind hears things.  ; )   I've definitely noticed a shift from all her interest in writing to now being more focused on reading in the more recent months.

She raves about her music teacher.  Oh the songs she sings and the things she has learned.  Right now she has taken an interest in cup stomp.  Its what they have had the chance to do during music this past week.

In January, Kamille and I had our first opportunity to sit down and do "real" homework together!  Her class had taken a vote and they had decided as a class to study Dinosaurs.  I will never forget the disappointment that Kamille felt over this.  She definitely didn't want to study dinosaurs.  So needless to say, when we sat down together to research online a particular dinosaur, I tried to make it as exciting as possible.  Once we found the "cutest" dinosaur, the Nyasasaurus, she was more interested.  Over the month I learned more about dinosaurs from her and she appeared to really get into it all.  After one month of study, Kamille's class put on a theatrical presentation that both my mom and I were able to attend back in February!  It was amazing!  The class made a time machine and they used to go back to explore the different dinosaurs that they had all studied!  Very cool!

The Nyasasaurus and the Time Machine!

Here she is in her performance!  So cute!  

She's also ventured out on class trips too!  I tell ya - this Kindergarten business is all about learning lots and having fun while at it!
Class trip to North Arm Farm in Pemberton!

Skating trips....

And a whole lot of other great experiences that she has had the opportunity for.  Sadly, most of her class trips fall on days that I work.

Among all the successes though there have been growing pains for us both as well.  Figuring out things because now she is a busy kid.  She tends to be a bit grumpy after school, especially on days that I don't work and I pick her up at the bell.  Sometimes I feel like I have to tread lightly with just how much I say and ask of her.  Before I was a school-aged parent, I would have thought that it would be easy to get my child to speak about her day at school and tell me all about it.  Like I knew all the right open-ended questions to ask and I was prepared to be a parent in-the-know.  Well, was I ever surprised to learn that my Kindergarten isn't all that keen about talking about her day.  I have to work hard at this stuff.  Creative questioning and roundabout ways.  I am so grateful for the classroom website where her two teachers post everyday what they have done in class.  Kamille was initially curious about how I knew what they had done in class, but now that she knows about my secret tip, I find that conversations are easier to have when I've got a bit of clue to work with.

She also requests playdates with so many of her friends.  I love play dates, but a lot of times I can't fit any more time in with friends outside of what we have going on already.  Weekend is time as a family and days where we pick her up right after school (instread of the after-school care program) are usually reserved for quiet time together or other recreation activities.  Managing her busy social calandar and requests for play dates has been a curve for me.

Oh, one thing that I don't want to forget, and that causes Kamille a great deal of anxiety is being late.  She. hates. being. late. for. school.  Like, so bad!  Because I am typically a loonatic getting out of the house each morning, I am often shooing them out the door and following behind in a mad fury.  She now assesses the traffic of children and parents as we get closer to the school, asking me, "Are we late?" or "Has the bell rang?" nearly every day.  Most days we are there, on time and waiting for the bell to ring.  A good chunk of of time we get there when the bell rings and there have recently been two days when I had to bring her into her classroom after everyone was seated.  She was mortified.  Oh, my sweet one, I so don't want for you to be that upset when we are late, but you are.  I suppose it will translate into something good as she gets older, right?

Anyway....
For the first part of the school year, I kept her from participating in any extra-curricular activites.  I figured school would be enough to occupy her, and it was.  She did swimming lessons on the weekends and Jazz on Thursdays after school following Christmas and loved them both, and then a few weeks ago she started her in a musical theatre class.  I figured that with her love of "acting" out songs that this would be a great fit, but it wasn't.  I encouraged her to try at least two classes but it was clear that my girl, among a big group of mostly older kiddos, was still a little too shy for now.  She said she didn't want to do anything.  That's fine.  We certainly know her interests more and more now and one day she'll be sparked to try something again.

I will say though that overall, there has been shift in my relationship with Kamille -an almost coming together for us.  I feel like she comes to me more often than she has in the past.  She used to be such a Daddy's girl, but now I get picked over Daddy when it comes to holding hands or sitting beside me at the dinner table.  It has been a nice switch for the time being.  I have really enjoyed reconnecting with her in this way.

She's my Kindergarten and its pretty amazing to see just how much she has grown and changed and learned in such a short time.   I am so excited to watch her grow up...and still a little surprised at finding that my baby, has grown up so much in just 6 short years.

Added note: So the morning after I publish this post, I am woken up by Kamille at some awful time in the morning.  "Mom!"  I could hear that she and Karis had been up for almost an hour, but my body does not get out of bed until 7am, so I had stayed put.  Knowing that it was close to 7am, I don't pretend that I am sleeping anymore, but turn to her once she tells me that she has written a story.  A story?  I am curious.

Oh my goodness!  It was story!  My girl had spent her first waking minutes putting together her first ever (or first ever that I am aware of) story!

She read it to me and I couldn't help but smile!  What a great way to start the day.  Again, I love how she sounds out words.  And its funny that a lot of them are words that she would typically read on her own if she was reading a book.

hints:
tow = two
thau = they
goat = get
gon = gone
whans = wants
bisgt = buscuit
gas = gets
chibol = trouble
gat = get

I was quick to send of a photo of her story to her two teachers and thank them so much for supporting her learning in this way!  So very impressed with my little Kindergarten!

Developing Cultural Awareness

Back in the day, I completed my undergrad in Anthropology.  At the time, I wasn't sure why I chose this area of study but I had gravitated towards an understanding of human beings and I was pretty certain that I would shift into the School of Social Work after my second year anyway.  Well that idea didn't pan out and I was not accepted into any social work programs that I applied for and so back I went to finish a full degree in Anthropology.

Now, in three years I mostly took sociocultural courses such as cultures of the Pacific, Latin America, Africa and I took quite a few Linguistics courses and a couple Archaeology courses as well, (because all that is so relevant to my life today, right????)  But no really, in some way it is.  Learning about diversity and different ways of life, how family systems operate in different cultures, how culture and tradition are carried on - it is all relevant within the education that I am receiving today, I just didn't know how it would be relevant to my future back then.

But when I look back at the opportunity I had while doing my undergrad, there is one big mistake that I think I made. I failed to consider learning about our own Canadian First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples and culture.  I can honestly say that I have memories of feeling like there was no reason to spend my tuition money choosing a course that would fail to be interesting or of any value to me.  I consciously chose not to learn about Aboriginal Canadians.  

You see, growing up, I was not exposed to this culture in the way that I am now as an adult.  Yes, I was somewhat aware of the presence of First Nation individuals in my community - the high school in my neighbourhood bused youth in from the residential land to attend, and when I played baseball the most memorable audience we had was when we played teams on residential ball fields, but that was pretty much it.  That was the extent of my real awareness of First Nation, Inuit and Metis presence.  I can't recall learning about Aboriginal culture or coming to respect land and traditional practices in the way that I have been exposed to in the past 7 years since we moved to the West Coast of Canada.  

Out here, the First Nation culture is so much more alive and present, I feel.  I have had more reason to have taken those undergraduate courses than I would have ever imagined!   When Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympic games there was a strong presence of First Nation, Inuit and Metis practices and culture.  This really got me thinking about this difference in how we expose ourself to new learning, new ways of living, new understandings. 

Fortunately, in my line of work I have been able to learn from so many of the First Nation individuals I have had the opportunity to meet.  Becoming culturally aware and competent is part of my role in my line of work.  I am required to grow my learning in this area and because of this I have found ways to immerse myself in learning through experience, in speaking to First Nation peoples and readings.  

What I also see is this infusion of learning for Kamille as she is in Kindergarden.  Part of her curriculum includes teachings of the local Nation's culture and practices.  Its so great.  

Every year, our local Nation hosts a Pow Wow during the annual Drug and Alcohol Addiction Awareness week which falls in November.  A couple of years ago, I attended - shy and uncertain as to what I would experience and worried about how I might be perceived.  Much to my content, to most I was just an attendee.  No one knew that I was new to all of this, or that I was moved by how the drums moved my heart on the inside.  It was an amazing experience for me, one that I definitely wanted to share with my girls.  

So this past November I did.

blurry, yes.  but i loved how they sat close to me.  

Because they had no idea what to expect of this, it was very exciting to point things out to them.  Tell them what things were and help them to understand what the Pow Wow was all about.

some things didn't need pointing out at all.  they were very curious about this!  

The costumes were brilliant in colour, elaborate in design, and some made sounds as they were moved in.  

And still there is so much more to them that I have no idea about.

i love this.  traditional and modern.

I remember telling Kamille before we went in that she would feel the beat of the drum in her heart.  I loved when she turned to me and said just that.  Such an incredible feeling and sound to be surrounded by.

As with any new experience for the girls, I was open to rolling with the idea that they may not appreciate it for what it was, or get bored.  But that wasn't the case for this event.  They were definitely curious and the pace at which things moved was enough to hold their attention and interest.

In school we have discussed the importance cultural competence - not as something that we at once attain, but as something we have a responsibility to evolve as long as we practice therapy.  Essentially, learning to be familiar with that which is unknown.  I think about the fact that each and every human has a different world view that is based on their experiences and exposure.  I like to think that the values and opportunities I had in the home that I grew up in, and the travel experiences that I chose in my pre-parenthood years have really shaped my curiosity and interest in people and the cultural values and practices of others.  

I'd like to think that by talking about the importance of valuing cultures, and exposing my own girls to the differences that exist in ethnicity and culture that I am doing them good - that I am contributing to how they will relate to others tomorrow, and in their future.  Something as simple as helping them to recognize different physical traits of humans,  encouraging them to try different foods and tastes from around the world.....and taking the opportunity to attend a Pow Wow when its in your own big backyard.   It all makes a difference.

Nana And All Her Lovin'

My goodness.  My mom came to visit in February!  She did, and just like that she was gone again.
Why does it feel like she was never even here?  I barely have any photos of her visit!

In the months prior, my Mom and I had this brilliant plan that she would come out for 10 days, closer to the end of my school term.  We figured that her presence would be of value while I was likely going to be knee-deep in school work.

And although we were right - she was very helpful, and I was knee-deep in writing papers and reading - what I didn't consider is that I would be missing out on all the potential for fun that we could have had.

(Well, I should say though that on the day my mom flew in, Kevin and I pretty much immediately ditched her with the girls and spent a night in Vancouver at the gorgoeus Fairmont Pacific Rim.  It was kind of a birthday getaway for Kevin, and we had managed to get a great rate from a friend.  We enjoyed nearly 24 hours of kid and worry-free time together in the gorgeous city.  It was just so great to lye in in the morning and watch copious amounts of ridiculous TV and expose myself to all the ridiculousness of commercials that we miss out on without cable).

However, in the 9 days that followed with my mom here, if I wasn't working, I was reading articles or writing a paper.  It just didn't feel right to me.  I took breaks here and there to catch some cute moments with mom and the girls.....

The girls didn't seem to mind the lack of "mom" being around because they were being spoiled by Nana with all things Valentines to celebrate the big day of love....

But overall, I felt that I barely had the chance to just sit and enjoy the presence of my Mom.  I was on the sidelines of all their fun events.  Popping in to see what was up and snapping a few photos of their fun.
She does such great things with the girls like making heart shaped desserts.....

I had this great plan for Valentine's day cards that my girls could make for their classmates.  In my mind I had all this planned out, and they were going to be super fun to make using gorgeous patterned paper, but I found that I just couldn't catch enough time to get to what I wanted to do, so Nana helped out to complete the great Valentine's day card idea.  We ended up using construction paper, tracing and cutting-out each little hand and they turned out pretty great!  (Mom thought I was ridiculous, btw! Hey!  I saw it on Pintrest and I loved it!)

And although I was disappointed that my mom and I didn't make the time to go for lunch together, or get out on some great trail walks, I am pretty sure that the girls and Nana were quite content doing what they did.

Because its not every day that the girls get to hear Nana read their favourite books....

Or every day that Nana gets to snuggle with her grandbabies....

So, I'm guessing that I am the only one that holds disappointment about this visit.

Yes, I didn't have to make every meal, there was another set of hands to manage the girls and I never had to take Kamille to and from school, but my idea of a great visit is being able to do more with my mom AND my girls - not do less and stay in the office.  Lame.

I wanted to join them in a walk to Starbucks, join in when they went shopping for the fun of it at the Winter Market, and when they went to the pool.  But instead I was tied to my school work and feeling sorry for myself (Well, kinda.  Thankfully, what I was working on in school was such great learning for me and I was at least interested in the course work and I really did need that time to do the work, so I was also feeling grateful).  

Mom and I did have some time together too.   We managed to watch a couple movies together after the girls went to bed and we always ate meals together, so yes, there was time to connect, but I think I was elsewhere in my mind the entire time.  I just felt consumed.  And bummed that I was missing out on more time with my mom.  

Anyway, as blah as this post sounds nearly two months post-visit, I am pretty certain that I felt even more blah at the time.   So the moral of this story is to never take two courses in one term.  I hadn't done it since my first term in October 2010, but I thought things would be different this time around.  I thought that with the girls being older that it would be a different experience - perhaps easier to manage.  

Its not easier.  Its just different and still with a lot of reading and writing.  

The way I see it now, is that the work is going to get done, regardless of if my mom is here or not, so next time she comes we'll plan it for a time when I can PLAY with her and the girls - to go and do, to explore and see, and really continue to show my mom a little bit more of our corner of the world that she doesn't get to see when she's on her own with the girls!   That would really allow me to feel that I had a quality visit with my mom!