We've been prepping Pace for Kindergarten for so long! He's completed at least 7 workbooks in his life, if not 10! He did a preschool in our last neighborhood that he loved! And last year, when I thought he'd be starting kindergarten but discovered the state law (the child must be 5 before Sept. 1), and that Pace would be starting kindergarten the 2016-2017 school year, I was sort of at a loss! That poor kid was so over workbooks, and ready for some sort of school setting and new activities, but we'd just moved and had one car and no budget for paying someone for preschool...and then we discovered Pace had been accepted from the waitlist to the online Pre-K program, Upstart! So he embarked on a year of this Pre-K Literacy program, and at home we did reading, Project Day, Experiment Day, and Library Day. All with the focus of, "Pace, you are getting ready for Kindergarten!"
A quick sidetone, we got Pace's Upstart scores from his final WACS {Waterford Assessments of Core Skills} test he took, and we are so proud of him and his scores!! Academically, this kid could easily go into 1st grade! We didn't go into the testing room with him, so I don't have a clue how they tested the kids, or the games involved in the program, but Pace did say he wore earphones and he played games with a sheriff. We are so proud of how well and how hard he's worked with his reading, Upstart--especially sticking with something that was at times hard (or annoying)--all the projects and experiments he's had fun doing. He is learning so much about life, and how much he loves in life, and that's so great to see and watch him blossom!
Letter Recognition: K Beginning; Letter Sounds: 1st Beginning; Initial Sound: K Advanced; Blending: 1st Advanced; Sight Words: K Advanced; Real Words: K Advanced; Non Words: 1st Intermediate; Vocabulary: 1st Advanced; Reading Comprehension: 2nd Beginning.
We also had three goals for Pace to accomplish before starting kindergarten. We worked on them all spring and summer long trying to get this boy ready! 1. Ride his pedal bike comfortably, 2. Tie his shoes, and 3. Wipe his own bottom. Haha. He worked and we practiced, baby steps, and he checked them all off his list--tying his own shoes, perfectly, the week of school!
Ok, back to Pace's 1st day of Kindergarten!! We measured him first, and he wrote his name on the measuring board (44 1/2"), and got his backpack ready. Our bright-eyed boy is off to the big, wide world!
He was so excited to ride his bike to school. We love living so close to school, Pace doesn't even have to cross the street, he just rides the sidewalk down and around the corner, and there it is! This school had the option of AM/PM/All Day Kindergarten, and we went with AM, thinking it would be a fine transition for Pace.
Pace found his name for his backpack hook, and went right in to open play before school began. A cute neighbor girl two doors down is in the same class, and that helped both of them feel a little better adjusting to a new environment! They played together all summer, but they've become best little kindergarten friends. David had two vacation weeks--our camping trip, and Pace's first week of school, so he was there for the drop off and pick up on Pace's first day!
After the first day of school? All smiles!!
A couple pearls of wisdom from Pace:
-The "What if" stage: Pace and Max ask "What if" questions all day long! "What if we were on a train and I got off and you didn't?" "What if we were stuck in a tornado?" "What if we were on an asteroid and we hit the earth?" "What if..."
-On trying new foods: Pace only likes pizza lately. And Max only likes hot dogs and cheeseburgers. The other day Pace told me, "I just keep telling myself, "If you eat something you don't like, like a hot dog, I just keep telling myself "You will survive"..."
-On disaster preparedness: "If there's a tornado, clothes don't matter, school and church don't matter; you can buy everything again. Just get out and get in the tornado shelter!"
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