Elena has cruised through her 7th year. It was a busy summer. In May, right after her birthday, we flew to Scotland for a trip to celebrate Richard & Dinny’s 40th wedding anniversary. She had a great time and was in her element traveling and being by the sea. Then, after school ended, Gram & little opa came to visit.
First grade is going great for Elena. At first she was very apprehensive about starting 1st grade. Leaving her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Patton, was very hard. She loved Mrs. Patton (really we all did). Elena visits Mrs. Patton almost every day on the way out of school - their close relationship continues. But after her initial apprehension passed, she really settled into 1st grade. In the beginning, the change from the creativity and freedom on kindergarten to the increased structure of 1st grade was difficult. But as the school year continued, the chance to work on projects, be in reading groups, and have a math buddy made up for some of that change. Mrs. Stump developed some interesting projects, like making a poster about an animal (Elena picked the ostrich). Elena really grew with her reading during 1st grade. She is reading books like the Clementine to herself. She still really enjoys being read to and we are almost finished with the Laura Engalls Wilder series. Elena is adding ‘doubles facts’ (like 12 + 32) on paper and can do a fair amount of problems in her head. She enjoys math and is allowed to play extra math games with another little boy in class when they finish their work early. She is ‘second best’ in math, almost always losing to Dennis, but relishes when she can outwit him or finish more quickly. Her writing has become more expressive and complex. She wrote several long, complicated stories throughout the year. Her spelling was very good (unlike her mother) and her handwriting was a struggle (like her mother!). We appreciated the high standard, especially in reading/writing, that Mrs. Stump held Elena too. Each reporting period the bar has been raised.
Elena got to be close friends with several kids over the year, including Sophia and Lexi. She also have become good buddies with Dennis. Dennis is from China, so Elena can help him with some words and, as mentioned above, Dennis gives her a run for her money at math. Mrs. Stump reports that Elena moves between the different ‘groups’ of kids with ease and doesn’t seem to have one specific set of friends. Elena has also stood her ground with regard to some hard teasing by the class ‘cool kids’ and we are proud of her for how she handled that situation (see the blog entry on Nellie Olson). For all of her desire to be with friends, she still craves some isolation and alone time. When she doesn’t get it, she get upset and can start to have some anxiety come back.
Elena is very into making ‘big plans’ like opening up a flower shop from the garden she will plant, or saving up all her money to buy a swing set, or starting a bake shop. She will talk about these kinds of things for hours. As always, she favors role playing games (especially when she can be the authority figure) and will play teacher to imaginary students in her room for hours. With her friends, they often play school, hospital, or restaurant. We were able to channel some of these ‘big plans’ into Odessey of the Mind - a competition when students use creative problem solving. This year she participated in the non-competitive primary division and had a very good time.
Emotionally this has been a much calmer year for Elena. The anxiety that accompanied her last year, following our move to Kutztown, has been under control. She has worked hard, and so have we, on helping her express her feelings in constructive ways. Elena can still struggle with being overwhelmed, but this happens less and less now. Physically, Elena has become a little more adventuresome and outgoing. She has continued with swimming lessons through the year (taking a break in the fall) and is now able to swim about 10 meters by herself. She exhibits confidence in the water now. She spends her days often running around the back lot with Kelly and Zeb and Cailyn. It seems along time ago that she was timid and wouldn’t go off and explore on her own. She remains very verbally expressive and still has an exuberant flamboyance when dressing. Mainstream fashion has yet to make an impression.
It is apparent through her writing and introductions that one of the primary ways that Elena identifies herself right now is as a sister. She and Egan remain extremely close. He calls her ‘sister’ and she calls him ‘brother’ or ‘buddy.’ While he does annoy her; and she bosses him, for the most part they are very loving. She will patiently read him stories time and time again. They like to cuddle and also play games, like matching or Operation together. She will help him when he needs something opened or fixed.
The year started for Elena with a family trip (including Jake’s parents) to Scotland. And I was reminded that embedded into her being is that 2 year experience of traveling when we lived in the Netherlands. Given how much she can be upset by small changes at home, it is amazing how much she embraces traveling. Being in Scotland with her was a great joy. We took a family of 4 vacation to Mexico in the summer as well...to truly relax and celebrate our first year in Kutztown. Elena, fresh from her swim lessons, floated for hours in the calm ocean waves. Christmas meant a chance to return to Austin to see Gram and little opa and have a warm holiday.
It is dangerous to make predictions about your child...I don’t want to imprint my own desires (except that she is happy) onto the life in front of her. That being said, I have two predictions about Elena. One, she will live by the sea. In Scotland, she would sit on the rocky beaches and watch the waves with the cold wind of the North Sea whipping in her face. In Mexico, she floated in the warm water and I wondered if, like her father and I, this was the first time in over a year she had truly relaxed and let go. She will beg to go to the beach for vacation. The second thing I predict is that if she chooses to get married one day, she will wear pink cowboy boots.
Until then, she moves forward into her next year...7 is supposed to be a lucky number!
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