Girls and Boys
At their recent conferences, both boys had good marks on their report cards. The school has a cirriculum for each classroom and age bracket, and grades each child as "A" (always), "S" (sometimes) and "N" (never) for the various developmental milestones.
Ryan was doing very well, although he was graded on the 0-6 month report card and was at the high end of that age bracket. But in general he (like his brother before him) is meeting all the expected developmental stages and is charming the socks off all the teachers. He's rolling over, reaching and grabbing everything in sight, has started eating sold foods, responding to his name, recognizing people, and is (thankfully!) starting to spit up a bit less. Everything we would hope for from a 6-month old baby.
Colin is currently in a weird "transition" room, so he had the "Toddler" overview for a third time. He should have been on "Get Set" (the last level before preschool) but due to overcrowding they moved him and a number of other students into a newly created class called "Pandas" which was a Toddler class with a few small new twists (days of the week, months, weather). I haven't complained too bitterly because I was promised that effective January 1 they would be moving to the Get Set cirriculum, I like the new teacher, and he is now in a much smaller class (about 10 kids instead of 20+), but I haven't been entirely happy with this either.
My complaints aside, Colin got almost all "A"s on his report card... which I would expect since he has been in this class for over a year. There were a couple of "S" ratings (listening skills - always tough for a little boy!) and only one "N". The "N" was for self gender recognition. If asked Colin can tell you the gender of everyone (Miss Lucia? Girl! Lily? Girl! Axle? Boy! Michelle? Girl! CJ? Boy! Mommy? Girl!). But when asked his gender he consistently and proudly proclaims "I'm a girl!" If you try and correct him (no Colin, you're a boy) he will adamantly refuse (NO, Mommy. I'm a girl!). This is all the more strange because we constantly refer to him as a boy. Who's my big boy? Who's that handsome boy? You're a good boy, Colin. The litany of boy-references is endless, yet he insists he's a girl.
We've been working with him to try and clarify the situation, and he now will usually respond "I'm a biiiiig boy!" But not always. Periodically, without warning or explanation, he will proclaim "I'm a girl!"
On the flip side? This morning we walked into school, dropped off his coat and water bottle, and headed into the adjoining room where Colin would have breakfast with his classmates. Another student, Lily (who Colin has known since they were in the infant room together) was sitting on the floor playing. The moment Coin saw her he pointed, turned to me, and with a giant grin on his face, told me "That's my girlfriend, Mommy!" The teachers have been telling me that he's been doing this for a least a week. When another boy chased Lily when they were playing outside Colin ran to her defense and told him to cut it out. When she was laying down to take a nap Colin came over and patted her on the back. They sit directly across from one another at lunch every day, and are apparently as inseparable as they were at 4-months old. (Lily's father is priceless - the other day he told me Colin had better be planning to attend college and get a good job so he can support Lily!) But this morning was the first time I saw/heard it in person.
Aren't kids grand?
Ryan was doing very well, although he was graded on the 0-6 month report card and was at the high end of that age bracket. But in general he (like his brother before him) is meeting all the expected developmental stages and is charming the socks off all the teachers. He's rolling over, reaching and grabbing everything in sight, has started eating sold foods, responding to his name, recognizing people, and is (thankfully!) starting to spit up a bit less. Everything we would hope for from a 6-month old baby.
Colin is currently in a weird "transition" room, so he had the "Toddler" overview for a third time. He should have been on "Get Set" (the last level before preschool) but due to overcrowding they moved him and a number of other students into a newly created class called "Pandas" which was a Toddler class with a few small new twists (days of the week, months, weather). I haven't complained too bitterly because I was promised that effective January 1 they would be moving to the Get Set cirriculum, I like the new teacher, and he is now in a much smaller class (about 10 kids instead of 20+), but I haven't been entirely happy with this either.
My complaints aside, Colin got almost all "A"s on his report card... which I would expect since he has been in this class for over a year. There were a couple of "S" ratings (listening skills - always tough for a little boy!) and only one "N". The "N" was for self gender recognition. If asked Colin can tell you the gender of everyone (Miss Lucia? Girl! Lily? Girl! Axle? Boy! Michelle? Girl! CJ? Boy! Mommy? Girl!). But when asked his gender he consistently and proudly proclaims "I'm a girl!" If you try and correct him (no Colin, you're a boy) he will adamantly refuse (NO, Mommy. I'm a girl!). This is all the more strange because we constantly refer to him as a boy. Who's my big boy? Who's that handsome boy? You're a good boy, Colin. The litany of boy-references is endless, yet he insists he's a girl.
We've been working with him to try and clarify the situation, and he now will usually respond "I'm a biiiiig boy!" But not always. Periodically, without warning or explanation, he will proclaim "I'm a girl!"
On the flip side? This morning we walked into school, dropped off his coat and water bottle, and headed into the adjoining room where Colin would have breakfast with his classmates. Another student, Lily (who Colin has known since they were in the infant room together) was sitting on the floor playing. The moment Coin saw her he pointed, turned to me, and with a giant grin on his face, told me "That's my girlfriend, Mommy!" The teachers have been telling me that he's been doing this for a least a week. When another boy chased Lily when they were playing outside Colin ran to her defense and told him to cut it out. When she was laying down to take a nap Colin came over and patted her on the back. They sit directly across from one another at lunch every day, and are apparently as inseparable as they were at 4-months old. (Lily's father is priceless - the other day he told me Colin had better be planning to attend college and get a good job so he can support Lily!) But this morning was the first time I saw/heard it in person.
Aren't kids grand?
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