Ella's Pre-K Graduation 2011

Last night was Ella's graduation at Premier Learning Academy. They started the ceremony with a song called "God is Bigger" and Ella had a solo part to open the show. :) She was excited but nervous before it started. How cute.



Here it is below...



She was so cute in her cap and gown.




Then the kids in the class who can read were invited up to read a book for the audience. Ella was one of them. Here she is....



Her entire class also signed the alphabet while singing about it. The only unfortunate thing about having a tall kid is she is always in the back :/



Ella getting her diploma :)



She is so proud...






The girls of the graduating class



Yay Ella! She is ready for new adventures at San Tan Elementary this year!



But we are sad for Ella that she has to say goodbye to her best friend Natalie. These girls became so close at school and spent every second playing together.



Ella doesn't really understand that she will likely never see Natalie again or get to play with her anymore. I didn't have the heart to tell her. So we just made sure they said goodbye to each other and gave hugs and took photos.



And Ella said goodbye to her teacher Mrs. Debby. But not for good, cause Ella will pop into PLA a few times this Summer for some playtime and also Ryen will be going to school at PLA for the next two years. Ella loves Mrs. Debby so much and will miss her xo




We are so proud of Ella. She is getting so big way too fast!

My Budding Photographer

Before I get into Ella's early love of photography, I want to share this picture I found in her school folder. She drew it at school. When I saw it, I thought it was so cute. Here it is:



It is a picture of Ella and a girl at school and it says "I like you. Do you like me?" I thought it was really brave and really cute of her to make this and give it to her classmate at school :)

Anyhow on to the photography. For as long as I can remember Ella has been obsessed with cameras. She has had play cameras for a long time. When she turned two she was given a Kid Tough camera but the batteries would die every 2 hours it seems. She is always shooting pics on my cell phone. She was super excited when my friend Trish gave her her own disposable camera on her 4th birthday at the zoo so she could take pictures of whatever she wanted! And the Easter Bunny just brought her a camera in her Easter basket. I don't often let her use my big expensive camera cause I don't want her to break it. But I recently let her use it and she had such a good time, and she did so good at it, that I am thinking of letting her do it more often. Perhaps Santa has to bring her her own digital camera this year :)

Enjoy her shots at Heritage Square, Phoenix

To Kinder or Not To Kinder... that is the question :)

In Arizona the age cut off for Kindergarten registration is August 31st. Ella's birthday is November 2nd. About a year or two ago, Chandler implemented a rule that if your child misses the cut off they can take a Kindergarten Readiness Test (KRT) for early enrollment into Kindergarten. If they pass, the child is allowed to enter Kindergarten on a 30 day probationary period. I think this was a great compromise and it has especially benefited my family. It is not that I am in a rush to get Ella into all day school or full day Kindergarten. I am not a working Mom that can't wait to no longer have a day care bill nor am I a Mom that can't wait to get away from her (most days anyway, ha ha).

Ella has always been advanced for her age. She started walking at 9.5 mos. She started talking before the age of 12 mos, was speaking in full sentences and singing complete songs at the age of 18 mos. When she turned 2 she began asking if she could ride the school bus and go to school. Every time she saw a school bus drive by she got excited the way a little boy gets excited over a fire truck :)At almost 3 she took to school like a fish in water. Never cried or clung to me once. Barely said goodbye to me when I dropped her off in her class. I was lucky to get a kiss. She never said she didn't like it or didn't want to go. She actually begged to go more often and would be sad on the days she didn't have school. She has had 2 preschools and 3 different teachers. Every teacher she has ever had has told me you need to put her into Kindergarten early. And her latest development is she started writing words and reading books on her own at the age of 4 years, 3 mos. She also has developed a passion for the sciences i.e. insects, science experiments, and the human body. I mention all this as a an example of the fact that I think schools, teachers and parents have to look at and evaluate children on a case by case basis, which is why I am glad the KRT (Kindergarten Readiness Test) exists. Her teaches think I will be doing her more harm by keeping her home till she is almost 6 due to how advanced she is and how much challenging stimulation she craves and requires everyday.

This is a tough decision for us as parents and has long term implications. I have had many parents tell me I am wrong to put her into Kindergarten early. I have had people tell me they would rather keep their child home with them one more year or that they would rather their child be graduating high school and/or heading off to college at the age of 18 not 17 etc. That they would rather their kid be the oldest in their class and the most mature and not the youngest, (i.e. the most impressionable). While I respect the opinions of other parents and the choices they make for their kids, I have to make the best choice for mine. I don't judge anyone's decision to keep them home longer nor do I judge anyone's decision to put them in early. Even if someone were to put their kid in early and they had to repeat Kindergarten, I wouldn't judge it. You gave it the best shot, and challenged your child and no one ever suffered from having two years of Kindergarten ;) I also think some of the viewpoints against me putting Ella in early, come with a lot of assumptions. I do not believe that being older in age necessarily = more maturity or better judgment. Nor do I necessarily believe that being younger in age = more impressionable. These factors are completely determined by things like personality, socio-economic factors, birth order, home environment, intelligence level, emotional readiness etc. and again should be on a case by case basis.

Am I thrilled that Ella will be one of the youngest kids in her class? No. Am I thrilled she wont be eligible for her license until her Junior Year, Yes. LOL. Am I thrilled that she will going off to college at the age of 17 instead of 18? I am indifferent. Maybe it is because I was in her shoes when I was her age. When my sister and I entered Kindergarten the age cut off was Dec 31st. I made the cut off by 3 days (Dec 28th) so I actually was the youngest person in my class of 425 students. Literally. I was 4 when I started Kindergarten. Not only was I READY for school, I excelled at it. I never had a grade where I struggled and in fact I graduated high school in 3.5 years, graduating 6 mos early at the age of 16. (ok so I turned 17 a week after finishing high school, but still... you get the point)

If Ella was born August 30th not many would have concerns because she would "make the cut". But to me there may not be much difference between a child born Aug 31st and Nov 2nd of the same year. Or there could be a huge difference or sometimes the younger child can be more ready, more mature and more developed. Ella misses the cut off by 8 wks 2 days. To me I don't think that is a big difference to overcome. I am ok with her turning 5 three mos after the school year starts. I am ok with her turning 18 just over two months into her freshman year at college. I know I was still making stupid decisions at 18, 19, 20 and 21 just as I did at 17. She will make stupid decisions and learn from the outcome at all those ages. I can just hope that no matter what age she stumbles out into the world, I have taught her enough to make good decisions, be smart, be careful, be trusting but cautious, be kind and selfless and hope she finds like minded people that will become her best friends in life and that together they will get through it all unscathed. And she will always have me here to help her do just that and protect her as much as I can.

That's all we can ever hope for in life. I have much more pressing battles and things to worry about like her getting hurt, fights over clothes, friends, boys, curfews, drinking, grades, money etc. In the meantime her KRT is scheduled for May 7th at 1pm. We will see how that goes :) Wish her luck.

And here is a picture "book" she drew and glued together last night.



She brought it to me and Jimmy and "read" it to us as follows:

1. Is her stopping to smell pretty flowers,
2. Is her performing outside on a stage
3. Is her praying for love
4. Is her making rainbows
5. Is her smiling and happy cause it is Springtime.

This... is me smiling and happy cause she is such a bright, funny and challenging little girl. :)

My Baby is Reading!!!!

Ok I knew this day was coming, but I am REALLY excited! Ella has started reading. Now don't get me wrong people. She is not picking up the Wall Street Journal or New York Times ;) BUT the only and best way to teach your children how to read is to have them make the connection between the sounds the letters make and string them together.

In the past we researched flashcards and other methods for teaching kids to read. But most of the research indicated that children don't really learn how to read that way. That they just learn how to memorize what a word looks like on the paper. For instance, Ella could read the word C-A-T for over a year now along with the word D-O-G. She has been able to recognize her name ELLA on paper for even longer. But she was not actually reading them. She just remembered that C-A-T was the word Cat from one of her favorite flashcards as a kid and that her name always looks like ELLA on paper. Another thing kids do is memorize stories you have read, and also guess what the words say on the page based on the photos in the book. So I often have to cover the picture so she looks to the words to figure out what is going on in stead of looking at the picture. :) But now she gets it. C says "Kuh" A says "Ah" and T says "T. Put that together and you get CAT :)

So that is how you start. You keep it simple with 3 letter words. Cat, Bat, Hat, Sat, Man, Can, Pan, Fan, Bob, etc and you teach them till they make the connection. Now she is sounding out words like difficult. But we break it up into DIF FIC ULT and then she puts the three together. Of course I have to help her and it takes us over 2 minutes sometimes to get through one sentence.

So this is a process but you should see how proud of herself she gets as she starts sounding out the letter "Sss" "Te" "Aw" "Pe" oh Mommy that's the word STOP!! :) So wish my baby luck as she starts on this journey. OH... and the best part about learning how to read is that learning how to write goes hand in hand. This morning I came out to find her trying to spell Pinkalicious for her friend Madison's birthday. Here is what she wrote:

P-I-K-A-L-S-H-I-S

(yes she forgot the N, but the rest of it is pretty damn good huh!?) I am so excited for her and this road she is going down. My baby is getting so big. :)

McGruff Takes a BITE out of PLA :)

Last week McGruff the Crime Dog came to Ella's school, Premier Learning Academy (PLA) for safety day! They have a great program with lots of different options for how parents can safeguard their children.



He visited the preschool class for high fives, hugs, and a group photo! :) The preschool kids were great with McGruff.




Here is the pre-K/Kindergarten class excited to see McGruff walk in.



Surprisingly the pre-K/Kindergarten boys were the toughest on him. Trying to punch him in the nose and accusing him of not being real and just a costume, LOL.



The teachers and the staff were very patient as they asked the boys to be nice. The kids got hugs and high fives from McGruff also.



And another group photo with the Pre-K/Kindergarten class:



Later the kids watched safety videos and some of them got fingerprinted for child cards with their photo.



Overall it was a great visit!

School Picture Time!

Here it is... the official 2010/2011 year school photo:



...sigh... she is getting so big. :)

My Picasso

The other day I happened to be spying on Ella in class and saw Ms. Debby hold up her artwork and say "See Class. This is how it should look, like Ella's. It should look pretty so that people want to look at it, not all scribbled and messy." My little baby got a gold star and a lollipop too. Not bad for the only 3 yrd old in pre-K. :)

She asks for papers and markers everyday and creates masterpieces. It really is quite amazing. My Nana was an artist as is my twin sister, Aunt Lori. So I bet she gets it there. We have this huge pink container filled with all her artwork and drawings cause I cant seem to bring myself to throw any of them away.



But seriously? I can not be expected to keep all these, or else my house will look like a bad episode of hoarders before too long. ha ha. I have decided maybe I can transfer some of her drawings digitally and make it easy to share them with friends and family too? So here goes... Let me know what you think of this idea!



She also sometimes gives her drawings names like an artist would. It is hilarious. Here are a few she named along with their respective "titles".

Girl walking her dog


Big Kitty and Little Kitty


Zoo Lion


Two Animals at the Zoo


Girl with Raindrops Falling on Her Dress


She has been drawing people for a while now, but now knows to draw adults bigger than kids and kids bigger than babies etc. As you can see from above she has recently shocked me by moving on to drawing dogs, cats, lions, etc.She draws long hair on girls, short or no hair on boys. She even draws eyelashes and lipstick sometimes on the girls.



This one above is her literal interpretation of Rock-A-Bye-Baby (when the bow breaks and the cradle and baby fall). Cool huh?



I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. Oh and Ryen has been getting into drawing lately too. Always wants to be like big sis. Here are a few of her "masterpieces" ha ha: