Scott 1st Grade

Here are pictures from the begging of 1st grade and the end of first grade.  Scott looks the same to me with the exception of his teeth.  In so many ways he is the same and different. As much as I love seeing Scott grow up and am SOOO proud, beyond words really, of who he is and what he strives to be, a part of me is said to realize this time goes so fast.   Last year Scott had little interest in learning and this year he has taken off with a love for learning (at least compared to last year).  Intelligences: 

Reading: He wasn't a very good reader at the beginning of the year and got frustrated.  This was my main focus for the year.  The first trimester we really focused on this  A LOT: 30 minutes of me reading and 30 minutes of him reading.   It was a big commitment, but I wanted him to learn to read. I came home with about 30 books from the library every other week and he began to love reading and became a great reader. I was so proud of the hard work and commitment he made and it really was such a blessing!  He grew to love reading and it opened up his world.  He loved the accelerated reader program.  You read books and take tests on the class computer on them.  Longer books are worth more points and every Friday he got dog tags which he LOVED!  He went from a kindergarten reading level .6 a 3rd-4th grade reading level on his benchmark tests.  He was the top AR reader out of his whole grade which he worked so hard at and was so proud of.  So grateful he loves reading and grateful we are reading more in our home.  I have noticed a huge change in my little kids picking up books and reading.  

Math: Math comes very easy for Scott. They would pass off levels of addition and subtraction and he just knew the answers.  His math facts are better than mine.  I am using my fingers to add 9 or 14 or whatever and he just knows it.  A blessing, but at the same time he got bored and they ran out of levels.  His teacher told me to work on multiplication and division.  This trimester has been busy with my mom's health, but that is a goal for the summer.  Grateful math is easy for him and he enjoys it. 

Writing: He has improved a lot in writing this year.  Probably 75% of his words are spelled correctly.  His reading is def. better than his writing skills. He doesn't care much about how his penmanship looks except if he is told to be neater.   The last trimester he had a much easier time imagining a story or writing in his journal, but finds it hard to use the creative side of his brain in writing.

Linguistic: Scott is a much clearer speaker than before.  His speech is much clearer than last year when he had a hard time saying Scott.  His vocabulary is average.  He is starting to ask what larger words mean and remembers the meaning, but generally doesn't speak with such a vocabulary.  

Spacial: He is a boy.  Does that answer this question.  The kid loves building legos and playing with magna tiles.  His lego creations are way more complex than anything I can make. Boys brains are usually just formed differently than girls.  He can visualize 3 dimension and build it.  Grateful for legos.  He is way more creative with that than drawing.

Art:  I was the art docent for Scott this year and LOVED it!  They have a program that a parent volunteer gets to make up art lessons to teach.  They have a lot of supplies and I got ideas off of  pinterest or the hundreds of art teacher blogs.  I am the least artistic person, but felt like it really stretched me and helped me get better at something.  I love teaching so that was fun.  Scott is much more willing to be creative.  He is a very black/white learner and it used to be hard when things weren't just right.  That was a lot easier for him this year and I loved seeing him be happy and explore with the different ways to do things and different ways his art turned out.  He is much more forgiving of himself and flexible, which makes life more enjoyable and happy for him.  

Kinesthetic:  Scott loves sports and being active.  He could play outside all day.  He did soccer, baseball and swimming this year and loved them all.  He loves being with his friends and playing.  This year he improved so much on learning how to play the game instead of just playing it.  As a kindergarten, soccer was just running after the ball, baseball was trying to catch the ball and swimming was moving arms and legs.  This year he could catch the ball and knew where to throw it and what rules to follow.  It was so fun to see such improvements.  Last year Scott made County at the end of the year as a 6 year old and this year as a 7 year old he almost made it in three strokes at the beginning of the year.  He is more willing to learn and take feedback compared to last year taking it as a personal attack.  He asks for help and is much more coachable.  He is also a lot more competitive this year.  All of a sudden something clicked that he wanted to improve and be better. He was pretty easy going last year and didn't have much drive, but now he wants to know how he did, what his times are, if he improved.  I find myself telling him all the time to just have fun and not worry about the end result.  He is a good teammate.  He doesn't get upset if he wins or not and is always happy for his teammates.  The best part of sports for him is playing with his friends.  He has so many great friends on all of his teams.  He was blessed with amazing coaches in all his sports.  We are so lucky!  They have always been so supportive and encouraging. 

Existential: We have been blessed with a lot of spiritual experiences in our life.  With Tyler being so sick and having a serious and life threatening heart condition, with Carl being born still and with my mom struggling with life-threatening cancer.  As hard as these trials are, they teach children the meaning of life, death and plan of salvation in a very real and personal way.  While none of us wish for these trials, they have instilled a very real and deep faith in Scott.  Death has and will always be a part of his life.  I am grateful that we have answers to where we go after we die, that we have a living prophet and apostles who teach us about God and we get to attend church each week to learn about the Savior.  Probably the greatest thing to see is Scott's testimony and realization that Christ lives and loves him.  He knows that and that brings me such peace as his mother.  He asks a lot of questions about Carl.  He asks a lot of questions about death and is very curious.  But as far as his faith goes of believing, he just believes.  He is a faithful person.

Inter-personal: In the beginning of the year it seemed like many of his good friends were not in his class.  Worried me more than him and of course ended up being a blessing to gain so many more wonderful friends and meet incredible families.  Probably the greatest thing about Scott is that he is a loyal, good, compassionate friend.  He is very well liked and he likes everyone.  Last year and probably half of this year he would play with 1 friend.  Last year his best friend was Carlo and this year his best friend was Adrian.  As long as he had his best friend, he was set.  That isn't a bad thing.  Danny is still that way, and I needed to learn that doesn't mean you are being exclusive.  It is just who he was.  By the end of the year, he was much more comfortable and happy in larger groups.  Everyday when I asked what his favorite thing was it usually consisted of recess.  He loves playing basketball, kick ball, tetherball or anything with a ball and friends.  So many moms would tell me what a good friend Scott was to their son.  Scott is kind to friends.  He likes hanging with the boys and seems oblivious to the girls even though they all seem to tell me about Scott.  What a blessing!  Hoping that remains that way until after his mission. Grateful he is a happy, confident kid.  He will stand up for what is right and help others recognize what is right.  

One day Tyler was with a group of boys and one who said a bad word.  The next day Scott went to the boys and told them that they couldn't say bad words and if someone said a bad word, they were to go to the recess lady and figure it out. Part of me thought, "who have I created," but a larger part of me was proud of him for being confident and obedient.  We had a little talk about being understanding and kind.  He said he was kind.  Wonder what they thought.  

Another time a boy in his class brought in a lighter and Scott turned him in saying it was very dangerous, against school rules and could have burnt down the entire school.  I asked him if he was upset and he said he told the teacher quietly and they played the next day and were friends.

Another day two kids were making fun of a girl for not reading something correctly.  He came home very upset that they weren't being kind.  I asked what he did about it and he said nothing but she didn't know.  I said maybe next time you can tell them that she was trying her best and we are all make mistakes.

Intra-personal: Scott is innately obedient and does his best.  He is starting to verbalize what upsets him instead of just holding it all in which I am very proud of him for even though it makes the house a little louder. Last year he would never say, "I am so angry because...." and this year he is able to say that and recognize his emotions.  His emotions are usually pretty even keel with the occasional explosion.  Usually has to do with being tired or hungry.  When he gets angry it usually ends up being angry at himself.  He'll lock himself in his room and get upset at himself instead of just calmly working it out or recognizing none of us are perfect or it wasn't even his fault but someone elses.  He is such a mix of me and Danny.  Danny is the internalizer, I explode and 5 seconds later am all better.  Scott will do a little of each.  

Sibling: Scott is the perfect big brother.  He likes to be in charge and is obedient to be in charge.  Last year he wouldn't get as frustrated at his siblings as he does this year.  I think that is because I get more frustrated this year that last year and yell more this year than I did last year. Need to work on that so he doesn't gain that bad trait from me.  He likes to take care of his siblings and is always aware of their needs.  He and Tyler like to play together.  Scott is the most serious kid we have.  He always wants to be doing something and playing with friends.  Thank goodness for the gym that will give him a couple of hours in the summer to be with friends.  

Music: Sadly Scott inherited my musical ability.  He can't hold a note at all but can remember songs and rhthyms better than me.  Maybe it is because he has to listen to me sing.  He is much better at playing by ear.  I think it might be out of laziness of learning the notes.  Everyday is a struggle to play the piano, but we are also not the most consistent.  Every once in a while he will sit down and enjoy playing but for the most part he wants to be playing for doing something else.  I think a lot of it has to do with finding a consistent routine or incentive program.  Goal for the summer!  Despite our inconsistency, he is actually a pretty good little player for the effort we put into it.   If he actually spent the time at the piano working at it instead of complaining he would be much happier and better.  He is a confident player or singer.  If he is asked to do something in front of a group he doesn't mind and wants to do it well.  

Naturalistic: Loves being outside.  I don't think cares much about nature.  We planted some strawberries and saw butterflies grow, but he usually gets bored with things in short periods of time.  He feels bad and compassionate for plants that aren't doing well or animals that might be suffering.  It truly makes him sad but doesn't go out of his way to really nurture and care for nature.  

Favorite Table Partner: Bob 

Time he was happiest: getting his 100 point AR.  

Favorite Subject: Math and art with mom

Best friend: Adrian Bennett, Natalie and Ashley (neighbors)

Share Items: RC cars, RC plane, electric train, butterflies, fish, expandable ball

Teacher: Mrs. Shirley, "Learning More in Room 44"  She has been teaching for 30 years or so and is so good at what she does.  She is very incentive oriented which was such a motivator for Scott.  She runs a pretty tight ship, which is easy for Scott and has a lot of control of her classroom.  She was a great math and reading teacher.  Scott really thrived with her teaching style.

The time he was most upset: He came home upset one day out of the entire year because a boy wasn't following the rules in basketball.  Scott is just like his dad in being honest.  He is a rule follower.  It is hard for him when someone doesn't follow the rules but I think grew from that experience.  It is such a hard thing to teach a kid to continue to be honest but not allow someones personality or decisions get you frustrated.  I told him how I was probably like the overly competitive kid and that was something I needed to work on as kid and I was grateful for good friends to help me and be understanding of my shortcomings.  That seemed to help.   

Favorite Lunch: hot lunch which was always a treat.  Usually had pb&j sandwiches, free fruit of the day, pretzels or snack and water.

FAvorite Movie: Harry Potter

Favorite Book: Seekers about bears on a journey to save the wild.  We have read 4 out of 6 of the books which are all about 2-300 pages.  Likes non-fiction and silly books like captain underpants.  

Awards: Top AR reader.  2 Trimester Reading Awards.  2 Math Awards.  Perfect Attendance.

Sports Teams: Red Sox Jr. Pinto.  Usually played shortstop, 3rd base or outfield.  Was the 4th hitter.  He was the best hitter almost always getting on base and often getting doubles.  He improved a lot on catching the ball, but was not as confident a catcher or thrower.  Tigers Soccer with Coach Tony, Derek and Danny.  He played forward or defender.  Became much more aggresive and always stayed in his position which was good and what he was asked to do but hard not fully understanding to be flexible at times.  Swimming: Aquaknights. Loves playing with friends.  Much more coachable.  Much more competitive and goal driven. Became legal in breaststroke.  Did the fall clinic and spring clinic with me when he wanted to.  Coach Aimee, Kendra and Cindi are his AK coaches.  Wanted to do Basketball, but I didn't sign him up in time.  Maybe this year.  Has fun!