Mommy and daddy are so proud of my report card!

Since the new year, I’ve been mostly busy learning new things and getting smarter!

At school, we learned about dental health and nutrition, and a dentist came to talk to us about the importance of taking care of our pretty teeth. I wonder why mommy gives me so much candy, because my teachers say that it’s healthy food that gives me energy and keeps me strong.

Our teachers started to compost in the school yard. Daddy’s been taking me to the dump since I was a baby, so I already know a lot about landfills and why we should recycle. In our garden, we have three guinea pigs: Peppa, Clover, Diggy, and Huey (now dead).

Our garden plants have taught us about the important job that stems have in providing  plants with food and water. We did a science experiment with different stems and watercolor and watched the color get sucked right up through the veins and the stem of the plant all the way to the tips of the leaves!

I’ve spent countless hours doing maps of the continents, tracing the borders and coloring the countries, and cutting and gluing tiny squares of paper with the country names. They’re a lot of work! When mommy goes to Sweden, I know exactly where she is because I know Europe! I especially love doing maps of South America, and learning about the rain forest and the many creatures that live there, and huge, dangerous reptiles and animals that can camouflage (like jaguars)! Here are maps of Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America:

 

I enjoyed learning all about Antarctica and the arctic and that the temperatures are much colder than Santa Cruz. I was amazed to learn that the ice can be miles and miles thick! We learned about the animals that live in Antarctica and did our very best to carry an egg on our feet, like a penguin! We also learned how animals stay warm and did a fun science experiment with blubber (lard) and very cold ice water. We tried to see how long we could last in the ice water without a layer of blubber. Now we know how seals and penguins can survive.

We learned about jellyfish and humans and all sorts of different animals and whether they’re vertebrates or invertebrates.We also studied birds and their different types of beaks, claws, and feathers. I loved listening to their bird calls! Why does mommy get so scared when birds fly into our house? Birds are my friends because they’re living dinosaurs!

My teachers explained about Martin Luther King Junior and how he helped to create equality for all people. We talked about love and learned to draw beautiful hearts on our valentine’s cards, and we made a friendship chain. We celebrated Chinese New Year and got lucky red envelopes, and learned about the panda bears in Asia. We studied the islands, volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis in Japan. We made sushi balls and had fun using chopsticks and making origami.

April 1st was my last day at Little Acorns Montessori school, and I will miss Ms Brittanie, Ms Michelle, Ms Maia, and Mr Teran.Goodbye!

I’m now enrolled in kindergarten at the Santa Cruz Children’s School (K-G6). Here are my classes: geography and world cultures, sports and physical education, mindfulness, ethnobotony and gardening, physics and astronomy, life sciences, math games, Spanish. history, theater arts, and vocal music. The only thing I won’t be able to do yet is learn to play the musical instruments, not until grade 1, when they’ll give me a flute and access to the piano.

To prepare for big boy’s school, mommy took me to get my hair cut!

On the home front, I’m still the Master Builder. Daddy and I spent weeks sorting through thousands of Lego pieces and cross-ticking them with the constructions (mommy calls them “instructions,” but she’s wrong).

I like going to the Learn to Discover Center in the Capitola mall. It’s really a terrific place to visit, with all kinds of activities and teacher support. Mommy can leave me there for an hour or two, while I learn programming, robotics, and engineering. Here I am building an alligator and using a computer to make his teeth chomp!

I had to say goodbye to my beloved “Fishy Fish.” We found him upside down in the fish bowl, wedged between rocks. We knew it was coming because he chewed off his own tail and he stopped looking like a pretty Siamese fighting fish.We took him to the ocean and the waves took him to sea.

In February, I stayed with Grandma and Megs the Dog so mommy and daddy could go to the annual Hemlock Gong Show. We went to Harrison Hot Springs and swam in the steamy pool!

I have lots of play dates with my friends. Ben and Owen had a birthday party at a camp site, and we brought our trailer there to stay overnight with them. We swam in the pool and sat in the hot tub in the pouring rain in the dark! And Niko slept over at my house, and we stayed up until almost midnight before crashing in my bed. Sometimes Branson and I go for hikes and bike rides together.

Daddy and I spend lots of time at the beach, flying my new kite and hunting for salamanders!

Daddy wears me out at playtime, and when I leave June Bugs gym or the park, I often conk  right out on the way home!

Sometimes all the beach play wipes me out so much that I need mid-day naps!

Gena, Johnny, and Sitka came to visit us and we had a wonderful time together riding bikes to the beach and having fires in the back yard. I took care of the baby and helped him play with wooden toys.

On a closing note, I just want to say, “I’m good to my momma!”