Ellie's Schoolwork

The blog has been a little Reni-heavy over the course of the past several weeks, but I've been saving some Ellie papers to share with the grandparents and thought I'd share with everyone here too.

In the course of preparing Ellie for Kindergarten last spring, we learned that Ellie doesn't like to write. Like REALLY doesn't like to use a pen or pencil. The school's technology expert told us about an I-Pod Touch app that allows her to practice writing skills with her finger on the screen. Nonna also sent a magna-doodle that has been a great tool for practicing writing her letters and numbers, and my cousin Heidi recommended a great Leap Frog writing game that's in the under $20 category (I now recommend it too!). All of those have made practicing handwriting a little less tedious.

Most of Ellie's papers would come back with the qualifier of "written hand-over-hand" or her pencil markings over the top of highlighter guidelines. Today she was especially proud to show us the paper below.

She was especially pleased with the "heart" that Mrs. B put on the paper. We were pretty proud too.

A few weeks ago she brought home the paper above for following the "5 steps" at school. Given the reports of struggling with new boundaries during the early days of Kindergarten, we knew this was a big deal too! Ironically, when taking this photo, she didn't exactly want to follow my instructions for posing for a cute photo.

The paper above especially warmed my heart. For her journal writing, she came up with the sentence above all on her own, "I am always happy at home."

Ellie, we're always happy that you are a part of our home. And it wouldn't be the same without you.

P.S. The drawing of her home is oddly enough missing her Dad. Not sure what that means.