Saturday 8 February 2014

Someone flipped the switch!

What a ridiculously crazy week!!!!  The Little Big Fella has finished his first full week of school (9 days, done and dusted), and I finally had a day at home, alone!  And yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it!  Although, I did clean the oven for the first time since we moved here (almost two years ago), and I hate cleaning ovens, so I guess saying I "thoroughly" enjoyed it is a bit of a stretch.  I do enjoy being able to see through the glass front and seeing that the racks are silver, not black.

Anyway, the Little Big Fella is definitely enjoying school.  He got up on Saturday morning and put his school uniform on, and was quite disappointed to be told it was the weekend and he wasn't going to school for two days.

Over the past two weeks it seems like someone (thank you Miss I) has flipped a switch in our son's brain.

On the first day he was writing his whole name (with a little reminder/help).  We'd been trying to get him to do that over the entire summer break!

From day one he started telling wildly imaginative stories that take 10 to 15 minutes to tell and are incredibly detailed.

He sat down and coloured in a page, choosing the right colours and basically staying inside the lines.  He has never done that before!  He'd always pick whatever colour he felt like at the time, colour a little bit, then scribble all over the page, then quit.

He drew a picture of himself, Daddy and Mummy for the first time ever!  Previously I've seen him draw eyes, nose and a mouth, but not whole people, and never specifically naming anyone.

Every time we pick him up from school, he's done something different and learned something new and wants to show us what he's done.  He's SO enthusiastic!

And then we get home and he wants to practice some more!

The other night we were reading a Spiderman book, and we worked out that he knows most of the letters!  Already!  In nine days!

We had a parent information session on Tuesday evening and his teacher, Miss I, showed us what the kids will be learning in one term (10 weeks).  I was floored!  I am amazed at not only the volume, but the depth of what they'll be learning in such a short time.  And that they have the capacity to learn that is simply amazing.

Although I know there are negatives, I'm loving that he's in a composite class.  There are 24 students in his classroom; 13 Preps, 8 Grade 1s and 3 Grade 2s (I think).  The biggest advantage is that that older kids are showing the new Preppies how things work and what they are aiming to achieve.  Which, so far, is absolutely inspiring my Little Big Fella.

The other night he sat at the desk and "typed" on the laptop.  Then he asked me to read it back to him.  He laughed when I read his gobbledegook.

He's had some of the older kids reading to him in class and he's so eager to be able to read himself!  And he's very keen for me to read to him each night (regardless of how tired I may be).

The one thing Miss I mentioned he needs to work on at this stage (when I asked her) was not interrupting others when they talk.  Which is fair enough.  As an only child, we've allowed him to interrupt us, mostly because it's easier.  So we've been making a point to help him learn to wait for a break in conversation at home.  He'll get there :-)

I'm still waiting for the day he says, "I don't want to go to school today", or, "I have a tummy ache".  I know it will happen sooner or later.  But I'm so stoked by watching him grow in front of my eyes, and simply be excited about everything.

It is awesome.

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