Sidewalk Chalk

Riley has never really shown an interest in sidewalk chalk. We have had some since last summer and the neighbors have played with it, and Riley has not really ever joined them in writing on the driveway. I have to admit I hate the stuff and never really encouraged its use either.

Well, last Sunday, Reese got out the chalk and starting drawing on the driveway. Riley decided that he wanted to help also and started drawing shapes. I let him draw shapes for awhile and then asked him to write a word that he knew. He wrote THE and then can, come, in, etc. He was writing the words, and I was happy to see that he was forming his letters correctly! He then wrote his last name and then wanted to add his first name. He wrote his first name backwards in order to get it in front of his last name that he had already written.

I was happy to see Riley show some interest in writing and drawing because it shows that he has a little bit more confidence and success in his ability to write.

Parent Teacher Conference

We went to Riley's parent teacher conference, and I was pleasantly surprised. He seems to do well in reading and has a great deal of background knowledge about everything, but has a great deal of trouble with writing and the sound he hears in writing.

Both of his teacher had stories of background knowledge that only Riley knew as a kindergartner. His morning teacher said that he was the only one who knew what a moat was in a Katy story. His afternoon teacher said that she read a book about the president and at the end there was a picture of the Statue of Liberty, and Riley was the only one who could identify it and tell everyone that it was in New York City. (He has never been to NYC.)

His reading level is a level B. He is expected to be at a level C by the end of the school year. He also seems to have a grasp on his sight words. He has 40 to learn this year and another 60 next year. He just got his last set of 10.

We discussed Riley's sideways vision issues, and I outlined what I have done with regards to specialists in dealing with this issue. We also talked about the sideways vision of the uncles and some of Riley's generation. I talked about how I had read once that it was a sensory issue; trying to block out too much visual imput.

The teachers felt that we should work on Riley's writing and writing the sounds that he hears in words. I believe that it is a good idea and will work on it with him. We are all at a loss as to what else to do and hopefully, IAT will have some new ideas.

Vocabulary Learned From TV

A few weeks back Riley started using one word command again, such as "Drink" when he wanted a drink or "Noggin" for when he wanted to watch TV. I was worried that he was regressing until I heard Max on Max & Ruby and when he spoke, it was only one word.

Then, Riley started calling his dad "Pops" instead of "Daddy". It was possible that he got that from his own dad since Riley's grandpa is referred to as Pops, but I do not think he hears that that often. When I asked Riley where he got Pops from, he told me SpongeBob SquarePants.

The use of "whatever", he says comes from Wow Wow Wubbsy and the newest is "bor-ring", which is from Arthur.

Out of the mouth of babes...

Talking to Daddy and Strangers

Riley and his dad have a little running joke going. It goes like this.

Daddy: "You're a dork!"

Riley: "No, you're a dork!"

It has moved onto to Riley's replying, "You're a dork and a half".

A few days ago Riley replied to Daddy, "You have long hair and no neck".

Last night we were at the mall, and Riley was talking to the man behind us in line. He told the man, "My name is Riley, but my daddy calls me dork".

Out of the mouth of babes and I could only imagine what the man and his son were thinking!

Knock Knock

Nobody's home!

Knock Knock

Who's there?

Riley

Riley who?

Riley (last name)

This is one of Riley's favorite jokes.