Allen Family Adventures

The rest of the summer was pretty uneventful.  We had a really relaxing 4th of July (mostly because Katie doesn't like noisy fireworks).  So...we mostly bought the cheapy, quiet fireworks.  We did buy a couple fountains and Katie did ok with them.  She still tries to hide her face. 
Here in Columbus school starts the first Wednesday in August.  So the end of July brought getting ready for school.  This year Lizzy started Kindergarten and Katie was able to go to the Pre-K program.  The best thing about the pre-K program at the school is that it is free and is only 20 minutes shorter than the rest of the school which means that I just have Junior at home.  I was a little worried that he would want to be entertained all the time, but I think he is basking in the time that he doesn't have to fight to get a toy.  Plus he gets to pick any movies that he watches.  Also he gets to have Mommy all to himself.  Lastly, he gets to go with Mommy to have lunch with Daddy on occasion.  I know he loves it because the minute I tell him to get his shoes on (even if it's still during the morning), he says, "No go get Lizzy and Katie."  He was sad that he didn't get to go to school himself...but I think he has recognized the benefits of being at home. 

Lizzy of course is absolutely loving school.  She is well above average.  The only trouble that she has at school is that she tries to help everyone because she already knows how to do it.  She is picking up on everything really quickly.  They are doing math and everything.  I remember going through Kindergarten and you only had to know your colors, shapes, letters and numbers.  I think you also had to be able to color inside the lines.  Now they are reading in pre-k.  Lizzy decided that she wanted to read Harry Potter with me.  She'll read a few pages and then I will read a few pages.  She really only needs a little help (mostly with the British slang).

Katie is slowly coming out of her shell.  She talks a little more and is a little clearer with her words.  She still would rather just not talk, but she's getting better.  I can tell that she is beginning to want to read because she is pretending to say words as she points to the individual words in a book.  She does bring her little books home and read them to us (I think mostly from memory though).  She suprised me one day when she spelled October.  I think they repeat the spelling of the month every morning.  But...even though it's from memory, she can spell September, October, November and December.  She can sing most of the color songs as well.  She did have an advantage on that since she'd been hearing them for a year from Lizzy.  All in all, I am very pleased with her progress in pre-k.  The best part is that she loves it.