Kindergarten Report

I was planning on taking the camera today so I could get a picture of Liam as he ran toward me on coming out of school.  But I forgot.  He runs with his arms in the air and an expression on his face like he's going to keep running even if he falls and breaks his neck.  Or maybe he just looks like he's glad to see me and I'm reading the other part into it because he looks like he might break his neck.  Maybe one of these days I'll remember the camera and you can judge for yourselves.

Liam reports the following about kindergarten:

• His teacher never frowns.
• They don't get a drink during snacks.  "Not even cups.  Why would they do that to us?" (I'm guessing they get a drink from a small fountain in the room after snack.)
• "We actually have two teachers.  One who stops by to see how we are doing and the other who stays and works and works."  This in response to my suggestion that they don't get a drink at snack because they only have one teacher and she needs to keep things simple.
• "Precess" is the best part of the day.  One day he decided to try practicing his pumping on the swings but he couldn't get going very fast.  Another kid offered to give him a push.
• He sees our neighbor, who is also in kindergarten but in the other class during (p)recess.  (Liam resists any attempt on my part to inform him of how most people say this word.)  Liam talks to our neighbor about when they can have "play dates."  Liam feels they should get on a "regular schedule."
• They are supposed to say "No thank you" rather than just "no" if they don't want something.  Liam does not want to do this.
• Yesterday he said that he was supposed to wear red or grey today.  First he said it was because of a holiday then because of a football game.  School colors as it turns out.  He explained to our neighbor this evening that we weren't going to the game because kids play it and he doesn't know how.
• The partly colored pictures he brings home are what he does before the teacher tells him what to do.  In answer to my question "Is there a special reason you colored a picture of a frog?"  he said, "Because that's what they gave me."
• They are making books about the other students who sit at the same table in class.
• They have a writing board which is "not a white board."  Yesterday they went to the other classes room to use theirs.

The goals for math for this month are to count objects up to ten and recognize numbers up to five.  They are also working on recognizing shapes and classifying objects by characteristics like size.  Meanwhile, yesterday, Liam started counting.  I can't remember why.  Some time after 100 he started counting by tens.  Some time after 1000 he started counting by 100s.  He did need some help when he transitioned between major categories - 89 to 90, 190 to 200 for example.  He told me to write down when he stopped - 2,260.

Writing his name is still a challenge for Liam.  I can't tell how much instruction they're getting in this area, but it is one of the goals.  So far his attempts look pretty much exactly like they did when he started.  I've worked with him on the "proper" way to write the letters, but he says he forgets.

He's still frustrated about kindergarten being so short.  He says he'd like to have a whole day.