Mrs. Echols 2

On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 7:26 PM, Michael Levie <mglevie@msn.com> wrote:

Josh has been doing a lot better at focusing on his homework here at home. His attitude has also changed drastically and he is so much happier now. I used your advice about getting him to recognize how he feels after accomplishing his homework and have carried it over into his other activities. He seems to really enjoy that. I talk with him everyday about school and he only has good things to say. Everyday is still 'great!' I'm wondering though, how do YOU think he's doing? It seems like he's doing pretty good on his spelling but that he's still struggling with his timed math. How's he doing with math concepts in general? How is his reading coming along? He seems to have a lot of words memorized but he struggles sounding words out. I've noticed that he doesn't recognize word 'chunks' as having a certain sound like '-tion'. Has his behavior improved at all during class time? If you have any more suggestions on things we can do at home that would help him learn things better or help him improve, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks,

Genevieve

On Tues, Sep 27, 2011

He is so adorable! He is always smiling and always seems happy. I love having him in class! I, too, have noticed that he's done much better with focusing and getting his work done. As far as timed tests go he's not the only one. Starting tomorrow I am going to have a "first stop" and a "second stop". So he'll be in the second stop and get about 30 more seconds to work. I'm mostly looking to see that students can quickly and easily add these small facts so that when we start into concepts that build upon addition it will not be completely overwhelming. On his test today (I haven't sent them home yet) he only missed answering 5 problems! So that extra 30 seconds should allow him time to finish. Josh did great on his math test! He only missed 3 out of 40 questions! I think he does well in math. As far as reading goes, I plan to be reading with him in a small group every Tuesday through Friday. He reading slightly below grade level but I'm not worried about him. I think we'll get him right on grade level in no time. We will work with words and parts of words to help him build those skills for sounding words out. The best thing you can do to help him is to have him read his "take home" book every night and to read to him. Also, rereading books is a great way to practice being a smooth, fluent reader. His behavior is great! He pays attention and remembers (most of the time!) how to behave. I am not worried about his behavior at all. :)

Let me know if you have anymore questions!

Thanks!
Rebecca

How many times..?

How many times can one person touch their face while reading an easy 12 page book?  Well, let's see.

Today during reading Josh did:

Page 1: Nose scratch, chin rub, cheek scratch, cheek rub.
Page 2: Cheek scratch, nose rub, nose rub cheek scratch.
Page 3: Cheek scratch
Page 4: Nose rub, ear scratch, cheek rub, nose scratch, nose rub, cheek scratch, cheek scratch, cheek scratch.

I'll stop there.  You get the picture.  And every time he does one of these things he slows down, his book closes and he looses his place.  It takes a while to open the book back up, look at the picture for anything he missed the first 4 times and then to find his place again. But by that time, he feels the need to touch or scratch somewhere else.  After weeks of this, I finally made a new rule.  No touching your face while reading.  You can scratch all you want while you turn pages but not in the middle of the page.  Yes, sometimes it takes a whole minute to turn a page because he is touching every part of his face just in case, but it's worth it. 

Commercials and Infomercials

As I was writing that last post I started thinking about some of the other commercials/infomercials that have made an impression on Josh.  When he was 4 he saw an RC Willey billboard while we were driving.  I didn't even notice it until I heard him say "Your home Your way RC Willey."

Earlier this year Josh asked me what kind of fridge we had.  "I have no idea" I replied.  "Why?"
He said "Because we should get a Kenmore. 'You can fit more in a Kenmore.'"

Last week as we were driving through town, he saw the sign for a store called "Love to Learn."  We had been inside a couple times and he had made his first 'big' purchase there.  A container of Sea Monkeys which hatched but died the next day.  As we're driving by, he says "They should make a commercial for Love to Learn and I know what part of it will say."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah.  It should say "This store has lots of fun things for your kids.""

At one point he wanted to get a Shark Vacuum and even tried to get me to buy the Aqua Globes. "But Josh, we don't even have any plants."
"But we can get some and then you won't have to water it all the time."

Oh, and we can't forget the Pillow Pets.  "But mom, it's a pillow AND a pet. So I don't have to worry about where my stuffed animal is because it will be with my pillow."

And of course the Snuggie.  I received this as a Christmas gift one year from Josh and I have to admit, it lives up to it's hype and more.

Most parents worry about what show's their kids are watching.  Not me.  I just have to worry about the commercials.

PackIt

Josh loves commercials.  No, really, he LOVES them.  Tonight at dinner Josh was pouring himself some milk when he said "If you have a PackIt, you can take milk to school."  Mike and I looked at each other completely confused.  I'm trying to figure out if he means like a carton of milk or one of those pouches for emergencies or something.  I have no idea.  We ask him about it again and he just keeps saying "it's a PackIt and it keeps stuff cold."  As I'm searching through my limited memory I flash upon an image of a commercial for a lunch box that is suppose to keep food cold for a long time.  "Ohhh" I say "You mean the one on tv that you put in the freezer to keep the food cold?"
"Yeah. It keeps food cold for up to 10 min."
"You mean 10 hrs?"
"Yeah 10 hrs.  We should get one."

Football

For the last BYU game we went to Brad's house for a pre-game BBQ.  As Misty and I were discussing the game, she said "there's suppose to be a fly over." (meaning, of course, how the jets fly over the stadium before the game starts.)  Josh was in the kitchen when she said this and he comes running out yelling "You're right!  There is a fly over.  It's in the kitchen!"  We sure had a good laugh.