What Jaron's learned in the first four weeks of first grade

Really, its very impressive. He's learned or reviewed:

Spanish: colors, numbers, a few basic verbs, and greetings.

Math: number values and number families up to 8.

Reading: phonemic awarness for each sound and letter recognition.

Science: 7 different habitats, the animals that live there and what they need to survive.

Geography: Continents and oceans- he can even tell me what oceans surround which continents and on which sides, map keys, and the points of a compass.

Music: pp,p,m,f,ff

But even more importantly to Jaron, he has learned that Elixxxxth is bossy, Brxxxxxn is a smarty pants, Grxxxxxe is a kissy girl, Lxxxxa cries all the time, and Bxxxy is SO annoying and gets in trouble all the time.

At supper we got an earful of how Grxxxxxe in SO in love with Exxxxxn but he doesn't like her and so Jaron is trying to help Exxxxxn get away from Grxxxxxe. We also heard how Elixxxxxth likes to play school at free time, but always has to be the teacher and never lets them talk. Interestingly, we heard how Brxxxxxn always answers the questions, interrupts the teacher letting her know that he already knows everything, and uses big words. Jaron also curiously counts how many times Brxxxxxxn gets answers wrong and loves to list them to us later (maybe we're feeling a little competitive... who knows:)).

We also got to hear about recess- how he and Brxxxxxn (who also happens to be his best friend at school) were a pack of cheetahs and how Lxxxxxs was a crocodile and scratched him. We even got to hear how Grxxxxxce kissed her hand and then chased Jaron around trying to tag him with her kiss when he was pretending to be allergic to girls.

Yeah, I think he's learning everything important to learn in the first four weeks of first grade.

The Cliff

As the sun sets, the darkness creeps into my skin, making goose bumps appear on my arms. The dirt beneath my feet begins to crumble and I look down to see the tips of my white tennis shoes peeking over the edge of the cliff, where the loose earth tumbles down into the vast emptiness. Despair has paralyzed me and I can’t move from this place. The rocks below taunt me, mock me because they know I’m too sane to meet them but too much a coward to return to the pain I left behind. The frustration of the past presses against my back and from the left and the right like and invisible force. I know I cannot go back. The desire for hope has driven me here, revealing glimpses of itself here and there but always too far away to grasp. And where has it lead me? To a place just as bare and destitute as where I came from.

The cliff is sheer and unforgiving. It drops straight in front of me and to the right, but as far as I can see to the left, about thirty feet down, a small shelf protrudes. The light gray rock looks almost white in the fading light and I notice a small clump of green grass on the small shelf. The color stands out amongst the dull, colorless cliff. Its contrast gives me the smallest glimpse of hope in this desert landscape. The bright contrast colors the dull shades in of my heart. Where does the grass get its water, I wonder? What is the purpose of it, to grow where no animal can taste it, where it cannot be seen and enjoyed unless someone is crazy enough to stand in this hopeless place? Then I think of the change it is doing to my heart and I think, did God put it here just for me? Does He think that much of me that He would cause this small miracle to give me hope in the midst of hopelessness? Then I hear a faint sound. So faint I have to listen a second time to make sure I’m not hearing things. But there it is again. A soft, desperate bleating. Its coming from below, on the shelf. I risk leaning forward just a tiny bit and see, clinging to the side of the rock, the small kid of a mountain goat. I forget the risk to myself when I see the terrified look in its huge brown eyes and a small bit of grass slipping from its lips. The grass. How did the goat get down there? It was obviously tempted by the bright green and risked climbing the cliff to get down, but could not find its footing to get back up. But where was there a path to the ledge? Can I help this little one? With out another thought, I start walking over to where the shelf is to find any way to get down. There is no reason not to take this risk, I have nothing to stay here for. I see a small rock jutting out of the cliff about five feet down and I swing my feet over the edge, holding on to the crumbling dirt. My right foot finds in and my left begins the search for the next. How did the small animal get down here? I finally find a foothold and begin my treacherous decent. After what seems like hours I my shoes touch the shelf. I drop down and the goat freezes, staring at me. It’s unsure if its salvation or execution has just arrived. I crouch down and grab a clump of the grass, making sure to leave enough that it can reseed and remain as hope to other passersby. With my hand outstretched with the grass in my hand, I look straight into the goat’s eyes. My gaze does not hold promise of a way out of this, but rather a promise that it will not die alone on the ledge, that we will suffer together. Slowly, gradually, the kid inches closer to me. Finally it is eating out of my hand, then inching closer, looks for an embrace. I give it freely and the warmth of its little body and the pounding of its fragile heart remind me that this life is worth living. If not for myself, to get this small helpless animal to safety. For the first time I stand up and look around. I’ve already seen all there is to see to the right, but to the left a whole to view is open to me. What I see makes me stand in disbelief. A lush, green valley full of fruit trees, grass, goats, sheep, cattle, and a river flowing through. The goat did not climb down, it climbed up. I look back up the way I came. It rises up so sharply that I can barely see the indents I used as foot and hand holds. How did I do that? I’m not rock climber. Where did I get that kind of courage? I take a deep breath. I need to tap into that courage to get down to that valley. Combined with hope, I know that I will make it, but before making the descent, I sit down with the goat in my arms, making sure I do not forget this place.

So was the grass just for me? The baby goat? Or was my pain and despair so that I would be led to this place to save the kid? From somewhere in the back of my head a voice that I heard as a child whispers a promise I have long forgot.

Whatever you do for the least of these you also do to me.

Caddy the Caterpillar

Caddy the Caterpillar
Illustrated and Dictated by Lily Rose Magstadt, age 3 years 5
months.























Caddy ran away from his mother.










His mother doesn't like him to be green.
















He came back.











There was a monster in his way. The End.

The First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school, not only for Jaron, but for Jaron's school too. How exciting the last year has been laying the foundations for what just started when all those little kiddies ran into those doors yesterday. Cologne Academy is now the home of seven classes from kindergarten to the 5th grade with approximately 130 students. I still can't get over it. Last year is was just a dream on paper and now its a reality.

I must admit that I was really nervous yesterday. Not about the school, I know its in great hands- the Director has done an amazing job from ordering healthy lunches to hiring the best teachers to getting furniture in the classrooms and everything in between. I was a nervous mom. Will Jaron make new friends? Will his strange sense of humor be appreciated by the other kids or made fun of? Will he get confused and frustrated in transition time from one place to another? When did he grow up? Is him going to school going to change our relationship? In good ways? What will his behavior be like when he gets home from school? Will he be exhausted? I probably don't need to go on. I'm sure you get the point.

It seems to have gone very well though. He came home excited and ready to go to his piano lesson, full of stories about his day. His favorite thing during the day was making up verses to the song, "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me" with another boy in his class. He ate all of his veggies and didn't even touch his chips. He met his music and PE teacher and loves his classroom teacher. They even did a little math it sounds like.

One thing that our school is doing that I LOVE, is that they are creating an individualized educational plan for EVERY student with the goal that each student will be at least a year ahead of where they are at now by the end of the year. As a parent of an accelerated child, this excites me so much. Last year Jaron had fun in kindergarten, but he most definitely was not challenged, or at least was challenged very little. This way there is less chance that he will get bored and start to make poor choices with his time. I want him to learn to do his best and am so glad that he will be challenged at his own level. I'll post more about this after his plan is in place in a few weeks.

On the flip side, this was a first day for another person in our family. Miss Lily, or I should say Lily Rose as she has informed me she would prefer to be called, had her first day alone with Mommy and her first day at preschool. The first thing Lily Rose did when Jaron left was go down to his room and look for toys that he never lets her play with. She then played with them for about an hour, then decided she liked her toys better anyway. After that we went to her Preschool Open House. It was just an hour of unstructured play and she was in heaven. She cried when it was time leave and can't wait to go back next week. She's growing up so fast and cant' wait to be independent. If you ask her how old she is she says, "I'm three, but I'm trying to be four." I hope this doesn't become a pattern and continue all the way through high school although something in my gut tells me it might.

So my babes are growing up right before my eyes and it fills me with emotions I can't really put words to yet. A sense of pride mingled with a sense of loss is the best way to put it I suppose.