She loves to read so much! We went to Chapters yesterday and bought some new books.
She has a book called Ottoline & the Yellow Cat by Chris Riddell which she loves to read over and over again. Today we discovered that there are more in that series, so we bought another one. As soon as arrived back at home, she immediately sat down on the couch and began to read the book. In about 1/2 hour she was finished the whole thing!
I tested her on it too - asked her a bunch of questions and watched her while she was reading...she really read the whole book all in one sitting!
Cute book too. I think we'll buy the other one and keep the set.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Kindergarten Graduate!
Well, Jaymi has officially graduated from kindergarten and is going to enter Grade 1 in the fall.
Wow! I can't believe this year has finished already. It has been so much fun watching her grow and learn in her kindergarten year.
She has learned how to tell time, how to tie her shoelaces, her reading and spelling are at an all-time high, her math skills took a huge jump, her social skills has also taken a huge jump, she has learned about many different topics and has also begun to develop a very sweet, unselfish side to her this year.
She gave two of her friends half of a set of little metal turtle keychains that say "Best" on one and "Friends" on the other. The three of them are best friends at school - they're so cute together!
Her report card was awesome and her teacher always has amazing things to say about her.
It's been a great year!
Monday, June 16, 2008
History Buff
Jaymi loves history, and one of her favourites is Anne Frank. She has read a couple of early readers about Anne Frank, but has wanted to read the real version of her diary.
I love that she reads so much and I love that she has an interest in history.
One great thing about a 5-yr-old who reads, is the kind of discussions you can have with them - it's always fascinating with her!
I love that she reads so much and I love that she has an interest in history.
One great thing about a 5-yr-old who reads, is the kind of discussions you can have with them - it's always fascinating with her!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Ocean Unit
June was the month of Jaymi's study of the ocean, in her kindergarten class, so we supplemented at home as well.
Last week I took her to one of her favourite places to go downtown...Undersea Gardens.
It's different for her every time we go.
We hadn't been since last summer, and she has been asking for months!
There are tons of windows where you can see a variety of ocean creatures, such as starfish, sea stars, anemone, an octopus, wolf eels, rock fish, crabs, etc. There is also a show every 1/2 hour, where a diver will go into the water and show you (and tell you about) a bunch of the creatures.
One of Jaymi's favourite parts this time was hearing about how the sea star eats its prey...it pushes its stomach out of its body, digests the prey and brings its stomach back inside.
Having a better concept of numbers now that she's 5 1/2, she really understood that 1,600 suction cups on the octopus tentacles was a huge amount!
On Monday, the kindergarten class went to a Marine Ecology centre where they have a bunch of touch tanks and lots of ocean creatures to look at and learn about.
They even got to see a tiny octopus in a jar, and a porpoise fetus (umbilical cord still attached!).
Yesterday, Jaymi had her Show and Share in class. She brought her big blow-up crab, a Ziploc bag full of ocean creature magnets, and she also brought an ocean storybook.
The surprise to me, was when I walked into the class and saw Jaymi sitting in the teacher's chair with the 'reading quilt' on her lap (just like the teacher does at storytime), reading the entire book out loud to her classmates!
Yep, that's right...she actually read it OUT LOUD. :) I am so proud of her. I know that she would have been scared to do this.
That is one example of why I want her in school, at least part time.
Last week I took her to one of her favourite places to go downtown...Undersea Gardens.
It's different for her every time we go.
We hadn't been since last summer, and she has been asking for months!
There are tons of windows where you can see a variety of ocean creatures, such as starfish, sea stars, anemone, an octopus, wolf eels, rock fish, crabs, etc. There is also a show every 1/2 hour, where a diver will go into the water and show you (and tell you about) a bunch of the creatures.
One of Jaymi's favourite parts this time was hearing about how the sea star eats its prey...it pushes its stomach out of its body, digests the prey and brings its stomach back inside.
Having a better concept of numbers now that she's 5 1/2, she really understood that 1,600 suction cups on the octopus tentacles was a huge amount!
On Monday, the kindergarten class went to a Marine Ecology centre where they have a bunch of touch tanks and lots of ocean creatures to look at and learn about.
They even got to see a tiny octopus in a jar, and a porpoise fetus (umbilical cord still attached!).
Yesterday, Jaymi had her Show and Share in class. She brought her big blow-up crab, a Ziploc bag full of ocean creature magnets, and she also brought an ocean storybook.
The surprise to me, was when I walked into the class and saw Jaymi sitting in the teacher's chair with the 'reading quilt' on her lap (just like the teacher does at storytime), reading the entire book out loud to her classmates!
Yep, that's right...she actually read it OUT LOUD. :) I am so proud of her. I know that she would have been scared to do this.
That is one example of why I want her in school, at least part time.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Learning about Government
We had a fun day today. Jaymi had a special half-day at school with the Grade ones, doing lots of fun stuff. Then I took her to Tim Horton's for something to eat, then we went downtown, where we went to Undersea Gardens (her favourite place downtown), walked around the Inner Harbour, shared a freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, explored inside the Parliament Buildings and took some pictures.
At the Parliament Buildings, there were these people walking in period costumes, giving talks and tours. We met this guy who talking about when the Americans visited B.C. for the first time.
Since I moved here to B.C. 5 years ago, I had never seen the inside of our Parliament Buildings, and neither had Jaymi.
It has such a sense of importance when you're inside, looking at all of the photos on the wall of parliament members, the room where bills are passed and the ornateness of the architecture.
Jaymi was asking questions like:
"What is that soldier carrying?" (referring to a WWI/WWII statue - the answer was a bayonette)
"Did they stick that in people's eyes?"
"What is the government? Are these all of the people who voted?"
"How does the government (from inside the parliament buildings) know when people do bad things outside?"
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
More Catching Up...
Okay, here is the rest of what I needed to post, to catch everyone up.
MONEY
Something clicked with Jaymi recently, regarding her understanding of money. She just seems to get it all of a sudden, and she is so interested in the concept too.
We have practiced adding up different coins, to total one dollar. She now knows how to add up any coin, to make dollar piles.
She was saving up to buy a stuffie that she wanted, and she added it up herself, to get the exact amount she needed (including tax) and bought it with her change.
Ever since then, she notices all price tags, and actually understands how some things are more expensive than others.
She'll tell me things like, "Mommy, this is only 4 dollars and 50 cents - that's not much" or "Mommy this is 11 dollars - that's too expensive".
HAWAII
Since Jaymi got back from her Sparks camping trip, which was Hawaiian-themed, she has been so interested in Hawaii. She is very interested in turtles anyway, and also creatures from under the sea, and so her room is gradually being turned into an under the sea room. So, we decided that one section of her room will be the land section...the island of Hawaii.
We even found a blow up palm tree for her room!
We studied the state of Hawaii, briefly learned about Pearl Harbour, and learned about the animals, weather, food and people of Hawaii.
We also learned about volcanoes, of course.
POPPIES
We are lucky enough to have a small poppy field growing just a minute down the road from our house. It's a beautiful little field on the side of the road and every spring/summer, I take a picture of Jaymi in that field. Here are the pictures from 2006, 2007, and 2008:
PHOTOGRAPHY
Jaymi has become more and more interested in photography. I am currently doing a 365 project - that is, a self-portrait photography project where I take a self-portrait each day of this year. I am also doing a 365 project of Jaymi.
She is learning a lot about photography, and has actually taken quite a few pictures herself, with my camera. She knows a bit about the camera, composition, depth of field, focus, and angle.
Here are some pictures of her using the camera:
And here are a couple of her own pictures - she took these!
AND MORE...
Stay tuned to hear about our study of Ireland that we just began.
MONEY
Something clicked with Jaymi recently, regarding her understanding of money. She just seems to get it all of a sudden, and she is so interested in the concept too.
We have practiced adding up different coins, to total one dollar. She now knows how to add up any coin, to make dollar piles.
She was saving up to buy a stuffie that she wanted, and she added it up herself, to get the exact amount she needed (including tax) and bought it with her change.
Ever since then, she notices all price tags, and actually understands how some things are more expensive than others.
She'll tell me things like, "Mommy, this is only 4 dollars and 50 cents - that's not much" or "Mommy this is 11 dollars - that's too expensive".
HAWAII
Since Jaymi got back from her Sparks camping trip, which was Hawaiian-themed, she has been so interested in Hawaii. She is very interested in turtles anyway, and also creatures from under the sea, and so her room is gradually being turned into an under the sea room. So, we decided that one section of her room will be the land section...the island of Hawaii.
We even found a blow up palm tree for her room!
We studied the state of Hawaii, briefly learned about Pearl Harbour, and learned about the animals, weather, food and people of Hawaii.
We also learned about volcanoes, of course.
POPPIES
We are lucky enough to have a small poppy field growing just a minute down the road from our house. It's a beautiful little field on the side of the road and every spring/summer, I take a picture of Jaymi in that field. Here are the pictures from 2006, 2007, and 2008:
PHOTOGRAPHY
Jaymi has become more and more interested in photography. I am currently doing a 365 project - that is, a self-portrait photography project where I take a self-portrait each day of this year. I am also doing a 365 project of Jaymi.
She is learning a lot about photography, and has actually taken quite a few pictures herself, with my camera. She knows a bit about the camera, composition, depth of field, focus, and angle.
Here are some pictures of her using the camera:
And here are a couple of her own pictures - she took these!
AND MORE...
Stay tuned to hear about our study of Ireland that we just began.
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