Mama's blog - Ethan

Ethan news

Not much new, necessarily. His teachers have been giving him extra math homework (at his request), and some of that has been really good - they've really put some thought into it. Not necessarily in the math realm, but one of the extra assignments was to research Earth Day and present findings to the class. Unfortunately, the time given really turned out to be too short, and also, organizing information is still challenging for him. Plus he finds the act of writing overwhelming. So that project was a bit beyond him, although he enjoyed learning stuff and telling the class about it.

Other tidbits. Last week I was out of town (at a conference, my first trip away since last November). Jeff got sick one day, so sick that he couldn't even get out of bed and get the kids to school. So they watched Sesame Street, and then Ethan made Linna breakfast - just cereal, but still, what a good big brother.

Yesterday the girl next door invited Ethan over again - she's 10, and they've played board games together before. The first time he went over there, we didn't see him for four hours. They have a really good time together. Now her favorite game is playing school, which happens to be one of his favorites too. She even gave him homework. He was very impressed by her 'school' set up in the basement.

I can't believe this school year is almost over and that soon he'll be in second grade. Richmond has been a great place for him and I'm glad we're there - and glad we don't have to worry about figuring out schools anymore. For now. I hope.

Busy world

Taiko classes have started up again (yeah, it keeps me busier than it does Ethan). Ethan remains extremely enthusiastic about it. He told me last week he wants to "just keep taking taiko class for years and years." He also has taiko at school right now, since Kazuyo is doing a residency there. It's cool.

The TAG testing happened this week. I'm still not happy about anything that smacks of, I don't know, standardized tests, and tests to sort students, and all that. His teacher said she usually presents tests as "we need to find out what you already know so we don't teach you the same thing again," so we kind of mentioned it that way. Tuesday was the first day, and he said there was a whole book of math to do, and then he had to fill in little bubbles. Oh boy. But he also said, "It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. In fact, it was really FUN!" He is a boy who loves doing worksheets and solving problems. I suppose in many ways that will serve him well.

The mother of one of Ethan's particular friends at school died this week, of cancer. Hana told Ethan about it, but it doesn't seem to be something he especially wants to think about. She's a special girl, very friendly, always making things. She helped Ethan with the valentine project he did at school, a heart-shaped guy with long arms and legs, and a silly face. Ethan made it for Linna, and she was very, very happy.

Number sense

Ethan's teachers, at our conference with them, offered the opinion that he has true "number sense," meaning, I guess, that he gets numbers. I believe it's true - today in the car he wanted to guess how many English homework packets there have been - one for each week of school. He knows there have been 83 days of school, and that there are 5 school days in each week (at first we started down the path of 7 days, but we soon saw the error of our ways). Noting that 5 doesn't go evenly into 83, he decided to just do 80/5. He almost immediately said, "OK, so that's 16." I always love to hear HOW he gets answers, just as much as knowing that he got an answer. He said, as if it were obvious, "Because... 5 is half of 10, and then 8 + 8 is 16!" I didn't immediately see the whole process, so he explained more: "80 divided by 10 would be 8, and since 5+5 is 10...." So he divided by 10 to get the easy answer, then multiplied that answer by 2 to get the FINAL answer. And he was right.

News from school

Ethan loves school. I'm really very happy. I'm sure the day will come when he doesn't love it this much anymore, as the work gets more and there is less singing, but right now he absolutely adores it. He and Jeff still bike to school every day (from now on I will bike him there on Tuesdays, because I've started a Japanese class for parents that day). I feel really good that we've gotten into that habit. We'll see how it goes as the rainy days get more and more frequent, but since we're about to finally sell our second car, our chances are pretty good.

Anyway, Ethan. School. He loves it. He's much more enamored of the Japanese part, even though initially he was nervous about it. I think he's well caught up. He can read all the hiragana, and they're slowly practicing writing them correctly. He can read most katakana too. Every few days he has homework for Japanese, which right now just involves practicing the kana du jour and then reading all the words to Jeff. Then we have to sign it, which is kind of funny, but I guess encourages parent involvement. He comes home singing new songs, and the songs seem very effective - there's a song for days of the week, days of the month, the alphabet, colors, all kinds of things. Linna has been picking them up too, which is incredibly adorable.

Ethan has one particular friend, who happens to be the other kid in his class who's new to the school this year. He's also friends with some of the girls he sits with. As at Harmony, girls seem to really like Ethan right now. Perhaps because he's a non-rowdy boy, I don't know. Jeff's made a friend too - the dad of a girl who also bikes every single day to school.

Then there's English, which Ethan also enjoys. They seem to do a lot of writing, which Ethan does actually find challenging at times. Not the writing part itself - he's a very good speller - but thinking of what to write. I'm glad they're doing that sort of thing. In addition, Ethan and some other kids "walk to read" one day a week - they have a weekly reading group with some second graders.

But mostly he loves the Japanese part. He's supposed to read at least 20 minutes in English each day, which used to be no problem, but right now he really wants to spend his time reading whatever Japanese books we have instead. He sometimes responds to things in Japanese instead of English, just for fun. I predict a day very soon when I can't keep up with him at all, which is partly why I'm planning to start studying Japanese again myself.

So overall, Ethan's very, very happy at his school.

Making math fun

So first grade, math-wise, does offer some fun for Ethan. The first day, they got a "fun packet" of worksheets, including a word search, some counting exercises, a few addition problems. On the first page of addition problems (generally adding two numbers between 1 and 10), Ethan noticed a little label at the bottom that said "Score" with a line after it. (Probably for teacher use.) He decided, logically enough, to add up all the answers to the addition problems, and put the total there. 61.

Then today, they were playing a 'game' of trying to find as many ways as they could to add up to different numbers - 4 through 8 - in a limited amount of time. 5 was last. Apparently Ethan finished with plenty of time to spare, because after putting in 1+4, 5+0, and 2+3, he got creative. "I found SO MANY!" he told me. "I put 10/2, and also 15/3! AND 5+5+5-5-5! Then the time ran out, but I thought of another one: 100/20!"

First day of school

This morning Ethan woke us up early, before 7. He and Jeff biked to school, which is our planned mode of transportation until the rains begin. (Judging from this morning's weather, it won't be long.) Ethan was excited about the English classroom, and nervous, I think, about the Japanese classroom. I admit, I got slightly teary after Jeff came back from dropping him off, thinking about him in school. My big boy.

I picked him up - wow, lots of parents waiting in a very small space! Ethan was smiling and happy when he came out, though he said his hand was tired from writing. He was at the "midori" (green) table in the Japanese room, and the red table in the English room. Overall, he had fun. We'll see how he feels going every day!

6 years old

Forgive me, for it's been a million years since my last post.

So much has happened! Most recently, my baby boy turned 6. In honor of the occasion, he lost a second tooth, so now he has a big space on the bottom where his two teeth used to be. The tooth fairy saw fit to bring him dollar coins both times, a precedent she might not be able to keep up. For a while Ethan wasn't much interested in eating anything but noodles, because biting with a wiggly tooth hurts.

We had a weaning ceremony on his birthday, in keeping with the birthday ceremonies his old school does. It involved him walking around a candle ringed with the twelve months of the year - six times - and we talked about each of his six years. At the end I gave him a special necklace I'd made that morning, one for him and one for me. It has six beads, including his birthstone, and then five beads in his various favorite colors: orange, indigo, turquoise, black, and red. We've passed a big milestone, one I don't talk about all that much because a lot of people think nursing even a two-year-old is weird. I offer just one fact: research suggests that the natural weaning age for humans is somewhere between two and seven years old.

But back to Ethan. Since Mika's return to Portland, he's gotten very interested in Totoro again, so that was the theme of his party, in a very minor way. I drew a big Totoro and we played tape-the-nose-on-the-totoro, which was a big hit. I also put Totoro on his cake. The day before the party, we made double chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips (his choice), and then the cake was chocolate cake with chocolate buttermilk frosting. It was good, but Ethan's conclusion, surprisingly enough, was "too much chocolate." So it is possible!

The party... my goodness. There were about 9 five- and six-year-olds, plus 4 two-year-olds. Yes, we're insane. Within about five minutes, the big kids were tearing through the house, screaming. We moved them outside, where we have a handy running circuit the dog likes to use, too. Craziness. Still, everyone had a good time and nobody cried, so that has to count for something.

School starts in another week. Ethan's had a few tutoring sessions in Japanese, to get used to hearing it, and that's been fun. We're going to visit his classroom this week so it's more familiar. He confessed that he's excited, but only sort of. Then we talked about the three camps he did this summer (with the first two, he threw up the night before each started, which I now believe was sheer nervousness), and he admitted that he was most nervous with those first two because they were completely new, whereas the third one, at OMSI, was a place he knew so he wasn't as nervous. Aha.

So, wish us luck. To be honest, I'M nervous too. What do I know about first grade?

Graduation

My baby boy graduated from kindergarten yesterday. The school did a very sweet ceremony. The "kindergarten" program is just that the 5- and 6-year-olds are together from 1-3 doing some special stuff, and then with the other kids (3- and 4-year-olds) the rest of the day.

It was a nice ritual - each kid walked around the circle while the younger kids blew bubbles on them. Then each of the teachers gave a gift and talked about something they particularly would remember about that kid. The masses got a bit unruly towards the end, but that's to be expected.

I did get teary when we were saying goodbye to people. I just wasn't really prepared. The end of school came so fast, and after so many months of craziness where I felt like we were just hurtling along, trying to get through. At least we know we'll be back at the school with Linna next year, and a few of the families will be at Ethan's new school, which helps.

I wanted to tell Ethan's teacher what a good year he's had, how he's gotten so much more confident and social. Last year he was sometimes reluctant to go to school, and a little bit at the beginning of this year, too, but the head of the school and also his teacher made a special effort to invent new materials for him. And I think it helped him to be one of the big kids, and to be part of a group.

Show business

Tonight is Ethan's first school play. He's an owl. I spent far too many hours on the costume, but it's pretty cute. After I finished it, Linna wanted to put it on too, even though it's way too big. So I figure the costume will get further use, one way or another.

We recently got "High School Musical 2" off of Netflix, having enjoyed the first one reasonably well. These movies are pure fluff, but they're fun and harmless, and Ethan, inexplicably, LOVES them. He goes around singing the songs all the time. "Na na na na, na na na na yeah..... you are the music in me." There's something sweet about how carefully he sings these songs.

Bewildering melt-downs

I know, I know, it's been forever since I've posted anything about Ethan. He's my guy, and he regularly astonishes me with his sweetness and brilliance.

And then the other day he surprised me by getting as upset as I've ever seen him, over a whole series of nothings, on the way home from the park. It happens, I guess, but thankfully not too often. I'd been away the week before - maybe that makes him sad, and then he just has to let it out. Or maybe he was tired. Or who knows? Maybe it's not actually all my fault.

Anyway, we were all coming home, Ethan and Linna in the wagon. Bad idea. They start poking at each other, having trouble sharing space. We put Linna backwards so they'd each have room for their bottoms (bah-tooms, says Linna), and then Ethan got upset. He wanted to go backwards. Fine. Then he wanted "i-bee" at Dairy Queen. No. OK. Then Linna was leaning out, so I took her out, and she wanted the blanket, so I draped it on her shoulders. Then Ethan got upset because he wanted HIS blanket on his back. And he was leaning out and we asked him not to, and that made him upset too. Then he was dangling Teddy's ball-thrower, and bouncing the ball out (so I had to get it), so finally I just held on to it instead, and that made him upset. EVERYTHING made him upset. Then I put the ball back in the thrower, it fell out again, and Teddy grabbed it. He wanted me to get the ball, throw it back to where it was, and let him go get it and 'start over.' By that time he was crying so hard he could hardly breathe. We were almost home, so I carried him, and he was half-heartedly hitting me, but not enough to hurt. We got home and I just held him, and he quickly calmed down.

My boy is such a mix. Sometimes he's so coherent and rational and seems to understand so much. And sometimes he's a bundle of squishy emotions.

Good news

Ethan's officially going to Richmond! He was pretty excited when we got the letter. His Japanese studies have intensified. He's definitely focusing on writing right now, and knows very few words - but he'll have fun learning more, I think.

Sweet boy

I've finally succumbed to the illness that got both Linna and Ethan last week. It was such fun having two sick kids, and a plugged duct, while Jeff was gone! And then the night Jeff was coming home, I got sick too. Yippee! Friday Ethan stayed home from school for the third day, and Jeff made me take a sick day too. Aileah and Adrian came, but on Fridays they usually go to Sophia's house for an art playgroup, and I knew Linna was excited to go, so I told them to go and I would keep Ethan. We decided we could play a game as long as I could play lying down on the couch.

I lay down on the couch, and tried to warm up with a silly little baby blanket that was there. It did not suffice. Ethan offered to bring me the purple blanket from his bed, because it's soft and fluffy and warm. He was so sweet, and so pleased with himself, that I got all teary.

The perils of having a kid who can read anything

Ethan really likes Judy Blume's book "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing". He read it some months ago, and then there was a play of it put on my the Portland Children's Theater, which he was totally awed by. And then we read it again, together. More recently he got the sequel at the library, and read that. One night I was putting Linna down while he read in bed, and I heard him just cracking up at something in the book - she really has a good way with funny stuff.

Jeff and Ethan had reserved the sequel ("Superfudge") at the library, their usual MO. While they were at it, they put down a few more Judy Blume books, on the theory that if he likes one, why not more? I'm sure you can see where this is going. They came home with "Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret."

I let Jeff know it might not be the most appropriate book for a 5-year-old. Given that it's all about an 11-ish-year-old girl getting her period and her first bra and all that. (It's been some time since I read it myself.) So Jeff started reading it, and naturally Ethan saw him and wanted to read it too. Jeff handed it over, explaining in brief what it was about, and instructing Ethan to ask him if there's anything he doesn't understand.

At last report, Ethan's only question was, "What does 'influence' mean?"

Loves his sis

Tonight Ethan decided that even though Jeff is gone (usually that means he sleeps in the big bed with me and Linna), he wanted to sleep in his bed - with Linna. So I put two pillows down and tucked them in with their respective dollies (Ethan calls his "Ethan" and Linna calls hers "Red Dolly"). Linna liked it there, but unfortunately she couldn't let him go to sleep - she wanted to turn the globe lights on and off, get up for water, all her usual tricks. It was a nice idea though. Not that I could have left her there, since just lately she's been waking up approximately every two hours. More teeth? Nightmares? I don't know.

Ethan's been on this funny kick - he wants to wake up one minute earlier each day, until he's waking up at midnight. He takes it quite seriously, though I've tried to explain to him that it might get increasingly difficult. We've been more or less going along with it, though once it gets earlier than 6, we might start objecting more strenuously. Anyway, Saturday he actually slept in, but Sunday he woke up at, lemme see, 6:46. He wanted me to get up with him, but I declined. Linna woke up too, and she did accept his invitation to get up. They played together for about 45 minutes while we slept.

Fractions

Not really new news, but last week at dinner I was surprised anew by Ethan's math. We were having tamales (from Trader Joe's - yay for Trader Joe's when I'm doing the single mom thing). Ethan got two, and I shared one of my two with Linna. He started talking about how many we were each eating, and how I only had one and a half. I pointed out that I had salad too. He decided that salad was about equivalent to 3/4 a tamale (why? I don't know), and then immediately said that meant I had two and a quarter. I don't know that he could so quickly add fractions other than halves and quarters, but still, I was kinda impressed. Then he said, "So your tamales plus mine is 7 halves, which is the same as 3 and a half!" Um, yeah.