First Grade Firsts

We have learned a lot about Freestone this school year.  We learned that he is quietly defiant when faced with an idea he doesn't like or a task that seems too difficult.  At the beginning of the school year, he took a timed test where he had to say the sounds the letters make.  He got to the letter O and couldn't decide what sound it makes.  So he just stood there while the time ran out and failed the test.  As a result, he got placed on a kindergarten reading level and qualified for "Reading Club."  He loved it!  He loves reading in general.  His confidence, combined with my insecurity (Is my kid dumb?!?) led to Freestone reading a TON at home.  He went from Set One (which, incidentally, we had gone through at home in kindergarten) to the end of Set Six before he "retired."  That's 125 books that he brought home and read, a lot of which had 40 or 50 pages.  He went from reading 16 wpm in September to 90 wpm in April.  Wow!  Now Free is obsessed with Dav Pilkey books.  Scott brings them home from the library and Freestone devours them.  We usually put him to bed with a book at 8:00.  (The rule is that you can stay up as long as you want if you're reading in bed.)  Often, he comes wandering upstairs with a dopey look on his face at 10:30, long after we've forgotten he was reading, triumphantly holding a book.  He'll say sleepily, "I'm finished!"

Besides reading in English this year, the first graders have also learned to read in French.  I have been very impressed with the French program.  Freestone sings French songs and says things in French all the time.  He learned math in French and writes his 1's the European way.  It's so cute!  One week, his homework said, "My favorite place is France.  I like France because I am lrning French.  I am lrning French because my mom sind me up.  I'm going to France when I'm ten."

He keeps insisting that his Ten-Year-Old trip is going to be to Paris instead of San Francisco.  He's wrong, but he will persist.  Sometimes his persistence works.  Every day for two weeks, he asked me after school if I had bought "his pear tree" yet.  Finally, I did go and buy a pear tree because Freestone's disappointment was so acute every time he ran home and there was no pear tree.  I told him that the pear tree was for him, to remind him how proud Daddy and I are of him for working so hard in first grade.  He checks it every day for fruit.  Mother Nature can't be persuaded to answer to Freestone's desires as easily as his mom, so he'll probably have to wait for those pears.

In the meantime, he can work on all the new endeavors he started in first grade.  He began playing the violin in January, and is doing very well.  His teacher (me) is learning a myriad of ways to conform her teaching method to Freestone's stubborn personality.  When he feels like swinging or hitting something, he can now go outside and practice baseball instead of swinging the violin.  His team is the Rangers, and it is a blast to watch!  All the "cool" kids are on the team;  Collin, Jackson, Chase, Tanner and Henry, to name a few, so there are plenty of players to cheer for.  The first game, Free hit the ball and proceeded to run the bases, regardless of the fact that he was out.  He even lapped the boys who were on second and third base, sliding in for a homer.  After, I said, "So, Free, you hit the ball!"  He said, "I HAD to so I could run around the bases."  Duh!  Now he realizes that hitting the ball isn't a free pass for a home run.

Despite all the interesting things Free has done this year, and all the new things he has learned, if you did an x-ray of his brain, you would see World Eight of Super Mario Brothers.  He LOVES video games.  No, that's not it.  He LIVES for video games.  The kid, like all the other boys going through this stage, is amazing at figuring out video games.  Amazing!  Far from causing him to zone out in front of a screen, these games challenge him, make him think, help him bond with friends and give him an outlet for mental energy.  I am a fan as much as Free is.

And that's Freestone's world in a minute.  It's a wonderful little six-year-old planet, and I'm thrilled that it's part of our universe.