Erika: her school life in first grade
Erika is two months into first grade. We have stopped asking: "What did you learn in school today?" because she ends up shrugging and saying "nothing". So now we ask: "What did your teacher go over in class today?" and she'll recite a list of activities she engaged in. In first grade math, they are working on addition and subtraction. In first grade english, they are working on handwriting skills, writing sentences, and reading. Sight words for first grade right now (October, i.e. two months in) include: only, first, put, could, does, about, some, think, your, any, before, and because. They are supposed to make flash cards and read through them every day, and learn the words in the process, but Erika read them before I even had a chance to make them into flash cards (we still do as the teacher instructs, and review via flash cards.) She is reading at higher level than her peers, which is causing her to feel frustrated at their pace. She is also doing math at a higher level than her peers, and is hating the pace in class.
She recently took home her Chapter 2 Math Test, which requires a parental signature. She scored 98% on the test. I flipped to the one question she had incorrect, and it read like this: "Eugene has 6 apples, which is 3 more than Sophia. How many apples are there in total? Show your reasoning by drawing the number of apples in total, then crossing out the number of apples you take away." In the answer box, she wrote "9". But below that, she drew 9 apples and put an X through only 2 apples.
We reviewed the test, and talked about checking your work, about going over your answers. And about taking your time to work through the math problems. But fundamentally the whole concept of "showing your work" bothers me, because if Erika can solve it without even working the problem out using little pictures of apples, why are we making her do that? (At home, Erika is working on simple multiplication and division right now, like "2x5" or "6/2"). Anyhow.
So we keep her mentally and physically occupied with extra-curriculars. Gymnastics on Mondays. CCD (Catholic faith formation) and ballet on Tuesdays. Lyrical dance on Thursdays. Girl Scouts on Fridays. Chinese School and piano lessons on Saturdays. There is 3 pages of Chinese school homework per week, and 4 pages of "formal" school homework per week. She knows to work on them whenever she has a free moment. She knows to change into her outfits on the appropriate days, and grab a snack before heading out. She knows to get changed and showered after eating a quick dinner, and to organize her time effectively. She's developing all the skills necessary to be time efficient and to multi-task and be organized. And that's a good skill to have.