Parent Teacher Conference

David went to the parent/teacher conference today for Rebekah. He came away with the meeting feeling very good about Ms. Gildemeister and how she is teaching the children. He said that there is no way that she is just babysitting our child. She has a very detailed and organized process for how she is teaching her class. They evaluate Rebekah’s progress on a regular basis and Rebekah has already shown marked improvements in several areas, such as handwriting and reading (things that they have been focusing on with daily homework).

When Rebekah entered first grade, she tested above average and apparently she is at or above the level expected of her in each area. At this point, Ms. Gildemeister explained that she very rarely gives “E’s” on report cards because they reflect that the child is exceeding expectations in a particular area. In order to receive an “E” a child would need to be two or three grade levels ahead. So she told us to expect “S’s” on Bekah’s report card (for Satisfactory) because she is meeting or slightly above the benchmarks for her age.

Rebekah brings home a book from school every night in order to practice her reading. There are baskets in the classroom full of books from which the kids can choose. Each basket is at a different level. They choose books from their level to read each night. Then when the teacher feels they are ready, they move up to the next level basket. Rebekah is about to move up to the next level. I have been amazed at how well she is reading. Ms. Gildemeister mixes in a few easier books in each basket to help the children build their confidence; and she mixes in a few harder books in each basket so that the kids are challenged. She said that Rebekah is doing very well with sounding things out phonetically and liked how she “tapped out” the sounds of the words (something her kindergarten teacher taught her). (Yea for Ms. Shell!) Her comprehension of the books she has read is great too.

Her handwriting has improved since the beginning of the year (they have daily handwriting homework). They have just finished handwriting for the entire alphabet, so now they will move on to learning how to alphabetize things. I think Bekah will have a lot of fun with that since she likes to organize things so much. At her beginning of the year assessment, they were told to write a sentence about something. Rebekah wrote, “This is the sun. The sun is hot. I do not like hot wethr.” Ms. Gildemeister commented on how Bekah starts each sentence with a capital letter and ends it with a period, while spacing her words apart. The word “weather” she tried to spell phonetically and did a pretty good job.

And apparently, Ms. Gildemeister has been collecting Bekah’s art work to make a scrapbook for her at the end of the year. She has been quite amused at the things Rebekah comes up with to draw. She commented that when they were assigned to turn the letter “A” into a picture, Rebekah turned it into the Eiffel Tower!

Ms. Gildemeister said Rebekah is doing great socially. She is playing well with everyone and is well rounded. She gets along with everyone, never argues, volunteers for things, and shares well.

That’s about it. Just wanted to share her progress.

Happy Wednesday!
Jayna

A couple of layouts for fun - click on them to enlarge them.

David's Temperament Profile

Okay, my temperament test was so dead-on that I was really anxious to hear how well they judged David's.

He was a good sport about taking the two tests, although I don't think he had much faith in their accuracy...but he played along anyway.

I really wanted to find out how our personalities complemented each other. David laughed at how well the temperament sorter nailed my personality, and it was neat to read his as well. So here's David's. He is an Idealist. David agrees that the description is him and thought the test was pretty cool.

• Idealists are enthusiastic, they trust their intuition, yearn for romance, seek their true self, prize meaningful relationships, and dream of attaining wisdom.
• Idealists pride themselves on being loving, kindhearted, and authentic.
• Idealists tend to be giving, trusting, spiritual, and they are focused on personal journeys and human potentials.
• Idealists make intense mates, nurturing parents, and inspirational leaders.

Idealists™, as a temperament, are passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self--always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination. And they want to help others make the journey. Idealists are naturally drawn to working with people, and whether in education or counseling, in social services or personnel work, in journalism or the ministry, they are gifted at helping others find their way in life, often inspiring them to grow as individuals and to fulfill their potentials.
Idealists are sure that friendly cooperation is the best way for people to achieve their goals. Conflict and confrontation upset them because they seem to put up angry barriers between people. Idealists dream of creating harmonious, even caring personal relations, and they have a unique talent for helping people get along with each other and work together for the good of all. Such interpersonal harmony might be a romantic ideal, but then Idealists are incurable romantics who prefer to focus on what might be, rather than what is. The real, practical world is only a starting place for Idealists; they believe that life is filled with possibilities waiting to be realized, rich with meanings calling out to be understood. This idea of a mystical or spiritual dimension to life, the "not visible" or the "not yet" that can only be known through intuition or by a leap of faith, is far more important to Idealists than the world of material things.
Highly ethical in their actions, Idealists hold themselves to a strict standard of personal integrity. They must be true to themselves and to others, and they can be quite hard on themselves when they are dishonest, or when they are false or insincere. More often, however, Idealists are the very soul of kindness. Particularly in their personal relationships, Idealists are without question filled with love and good will. They believe in giving of themselves to help others; they cherish a few warm, sensitive friendships; they strive for a special rapport with their children; and in marriage they wish to find a "soulmate," someone with whom they can bond emotionally and spiritually, sharing their deepest feelings and their complex inner worlds.
Idealists are rare, making up no more than 25 to 30 percent of the population. But their ability to inspire people with their enthusiasm and their idealism has given them influence far beyond their numbers.
The type of Idealist that David is - Teacher. I find it interesting that the "Provider Guardian" (my type) is mentioned here as well:
The Idealists called Teachers are abstract in their thought and speech, cooperative in their style of achieving goals, and directive and extraverted in their interpersonal relations. Learning in the young has to be beckoned forth, teased out from its hiding place, or, as suggested by the word "education," it has to be "educed." by an individual with educative capabilities. Such a one is the eNFj, thus rightly called the educative mentor or Teacher for short. The Teacher is especially capable of educing or calling forth those inner potentials each learner possesses. Even as children the Teachers may attract a gathering of other children ready to follow their lead in play or work. And they lead without seeming to do so.
Teachers expect the very best of those around them, and this expectation, usually expressed as enthusiastic encouragement, motivates action in others and the desire to live up to their expectations. Teachers have the charming characteristic of taking for granted that their expectations will be met, their implicit commands obeyed, never doubting that people will want to do what they suggest. And, more often than not, people do, because this type has extraordinary charisma.
The Teachers are found in no more than 2 or 3 percent of the population. They like to have things settled and arranged. They prefer to plan both work and social engagements ahead of time and tend to be absolutely reliable in honoring these commitments. At the same time, Teachers are very much at home in complex situations which require the juggling of much data with little pre-planning. An experienced Teacher group leader can dream up, effortlessly, and almost endlessly, activities for groups to engage in, and stimulating roles for members of the group to play. In some Teachers, inspired by the responsiveness of their students or followers, this can amount to genius which other types find hard to emulate. Such ability to preside without planning reminds us somewhat of a Provider, but the latter acts more as a master of ceremonies than as a leader of groups. Providers are natural hosts and hostesses, making sure that each guest is well looked after at social gatherings, or that the right things are expressed on traditional occasions, such as weddings, funerals, graduations, and the like. In much the same way, Teachers value harmonious human relations about all else, can handle people with charm and concern, and are usually popular wherever they are. But Teachers are not so much social as educational leaders, interested primarily in the personal growth and development of others, and less in attending to their social needs.

So we're minding our own business at Target...

Last night we took Lydia to Target to spend her birthday money.

(I took pictures, but can't find the download cord for the camera...or I would post pictures of what she bought...)

Lydia got a new bathing suit (and it is SO cute), new tennis shoes, two dress-up dresses (one Barbie and one Belle from Beauty and the Beast), and a Belle doll with clothes.

Bekah had some money too---money from GG for yard sales and money from the tooth fairy. So she bought an ADORABLE dress (which was on clearance $3.74!) and a pair of pink glittery flip flops (also on clearance at $1.74). She also bought herself a diary with a lock and key. She had one dollar left to save for yard saling.

So we're at the checkout and paying for everything and Lydia darts off. It's not hard to lose Lydia, even when she isn't far away. She's so short she could be standing on the other side of the counter and I just can't see her.

So we're paying for our things, and I say, "Lydia? Lydia? Where are you?"

And this lady in the next check-out lane over says, "She's right here." pointing to the end of our check-out lane (I couldn't see her behind the cash register.)

So I turn to say "thank you" and it's WYNONNA JUDD!

Seriously, Wynonna Judd!

How cool is THAT??

Pirate Dad & Pirate Lynn

Dad & Lynn's church had a fun night for the kids in the community. There was a pirate theme and I just wanted to share these pictures Dad & Lynn sent me.

Happy Friday!
Jayna

Look what Lydia made in school

It's a little Lydia puppet, complete with yellow hair, blue eyes, purple dress (Lydia's favorite color) and gold buttons ("because gold is sparkly").

My Temperament

For a class I'm taking I had to take the Keirsey Temperament Sorter Personality Instrument. Here are my test results about my temperament.

Free Report for: Jayna

Your Temperament is GUARDIAN.

Guardians are the cornerstone of society, for they are the temperament given to serving and preserving our most important social institutions. Guardians have natural talent in managing goods and services--from supervision to maintenance and supply--and they use all their skills to keep things running smoothly in their families, communities, schools, churches, hospitals, and businesses.

Guardians can have a lot of fun with their friends, but they are quite serious about their duties and responsibilities. Guardians take pride in being dependable and trustworthy; if there's a job to be done, they can be counted on to put their shoulder to the wheel. Guardians also believe in law and order, and sometimes worry that respect for authority, even a fundamental sense of right and wrong, is being lost. Perhaps this is why Guardians honor customs and traditions so strongly--they are familiar patterns that help bring stability to our modern, fast-paced world.

Practical and down-to-earth, Guardians believe in following the rules and cooperating with others. They are not very comfortable winging it or blazing new trails; working steadily within the system is the Guardian way, for in the long run loyalty, discipline, and teamwork get the job done right. Guardians are meticulous about schedules and have a sharp eye for proper procedures. They are cautious about change, even though they know that change can be healthy for an institution. Better to go slowly, they say, and look before you leap.

Guardians make up as much as 40 to 45 percent of the population.

If you would like to take the test yourself, go to this link:

http://www.advisorteam.com/temperament_sorter/register.asp?partid=

Then I took the Jung Humanmetrics test to find that the type of Guardian I am is a Provider Guardian. If you want to take this test, click this link:

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm

Here are those results:

The Portrait of the Provider Guardian (eSfJ)

Provider Guardians take it upon themselves to arrange for the health and welfare of those in their care, but they are also the most sociable of all the Guardians, and thus are the great nurturers of established institutions such as schools, businesses, churches, social clubs, and civic groups. Wherever they go, Providers take up the role of social contributor, happily giving their time and energy to make sure that the needs of others are met, that traditions are supported and developed, and that social functions are a success.
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Providers are very likely more than ten percent of the population, and this is very fortunate for the rest of us, because friendly social service is a key to their nature. Highly cooperative themselves, Providers are skilled in maintaining teamwork among their helpers, and are also tireless in their attention to the details of furnishing goods and services. They make excellent chairpersons in charge of social events. They are without peer as masters of ceremonies, able to approach others with ease and confidence, and seemingly aware of what everyone's been doing. And they are outstanding hosts or hostesses, able to remember people's names, usually after one introduction, and always concerned about the needs of their guests, wanting to insure that all are involved and provided for.
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Providers are extremely sensitive to the feelings of others, which makes them perhaps the most sympathetic of all the types, but which also leaves them rather self-conscious, that is, highly sensitive to what others think of them. Because of this Providers can be crushed by personal criticism, and will work most effectively when given ample appreciation both for themselves personally and for the service they give to others. This is not to say that Providers are afraid to express their own emotional reactions. They are quick to like and dislike-and don't mind saying so-tending to put on a pedestal whatever or whoever they admire, and to come down hard on those people and issues they don't care for.
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In their choice of careers, Providers may lean toward sales and service occupations. They have such pleasant, outgoing personalities that they are far and away the best sales reps, not only regularly winning sales contests, but earning seniority in any sales group within an organization. Observing Providers at work in a sales transaction reveals clearly how this type personalizes the sale. They are visibly-and honestly-concerned with their customer's welfare, and thus the customer is not simply buying the product, but is buying personally from the Provider. This same characteristic causes them to be good in many people-to-people jobs, as teachers, clergy, coaches, social workers, office receptionists, and so on. Providers seldom become a source of irritation in the workplace; on the contrary, they are unflagging in their devotion to their company, and show such personal loyalty to their immediate superiors that they make invaluable personal secretaries.

Contemplating Toilet Paper

So I took Lydia to the bathroom the other day and she tells me:

"Do you know why this is called 'toilet paper'?"

"Why?" I ask.

"Because it's paper and it's made out of toilets."

Lydia's birthday!

So I'm finally posting pictures from Lydia's birthday party on Saturday. The weekend was crazy and then Monday followed suit.

I've finally got a moment to breathe so that I can post these pictures (and explain what's going on).

For Lydia's birthday, the theme was "Friendship Day Dora." In this episode Dora travels around the world giving friendship bracelets to kids around the world. We took the theme and ran with it and it turned out to be a lot of fun.

We set up all of the countries from the episode in our backyard (and then added Mexico just for fun).

We had France, China, Tanzania, and Russia. I made a globe cake with flags in all the countries we were visiting.

Here's Lydia with her cake (playing dress-up before the party).

At each country, the kids had to do an activity in order to win a charm for their friendship bracelet. In France there were heart charms, in China, there were Asian coin charms, in Tanzania there were giraffe print beads, in Russia there were blue glass and silver beads that looked like faberge eggs, and in Mexico there were some Mayan looking beads. Then they got to put their bracelets together.

At each country, we had someone stationed to teach the kids how to say "hello" in that country's language. Joe and Becky, Kaleena's mom and stepdad gracially agreed to host Tanzania and Russia for us. And Darren did a great French waiter. Bekah manned the China station. She was so cute.

We started with France and Darren did the most hilarious French accent. He taught them to say "Bonjour" and then he blindfolded the kids and they had to pin the smile on Mona Lisa. The kids were giggling the whole time. 

Next the group went to China where Rebekah taught them to say "knee-how" and gave them Chinese takeout boxes to put their beads in. Then their activity was to put noodles from one bowl to another only using their chopsticks. 

While we were in China, Ben got into the Mexico station and ate a spoonful of sour cream. We all got a good laugh. He just looked at us like "What?"

Next was Tanzania and Joe taught them all to say "Jambo" and even had a great African accent. The kids had to put rice and beans in their baskets and carry them on their heads, then dump the grain on a blanket. I painted a Mt. Kilamanjaro for the background and it kept falling off the fence. We chose to laugh about it. Ha!

Next the kids went to Russia and Becky was such a hoot! She and Joe lived in the Ukraine for a little while for Joe's work. She came decked out in her Russian hat and scarf. She told the kids about how cold it is in Russia and how to say "preevyet." Then she had them build ice castles. Lydia kept eating her ice, though. Silly girl.

Then Becky led them in a Russian dance, complete with supplying her own singing. The kids had so much fun. They really hammed it up.

After grabbing a bead from Mexico, the kids made their bracelets.

Then we had cake and ice cream along with some Mexican food and snacks. Lydia was really loving all the attention. 

After cake we did the pinata. Adam was the third kid to try and he knocked it right open. The kids all scrambled to get the candy. Unfortunately, we set up the pinata under the pine tree, so the kids were filling their take-out boxes with pine straw as well as candy! *grin*

Here's Lydia looking all sweet as she's asking me if she can go ahead and have some candy "Pleeeeaaaasse???"

Next Lydia opened her presents. She was so sweet and so thankful. I was so glad and so proud of how well she did.

Earlier in the week, I had been teaching her what to say when she received gifts, even if they were gifts she didn't like or that she already had.

I quizzed her, "Lydia, what do you say if you get a present you already have?"

"Thank you."

"Good. So what do you say if you get a present that you like?"

"Thank you."

"That's right. So what do you say if you get a present that you don't like?"

"No, thank you."

I explained that she was STILL supposed to say "thank you" even if she got a present that she didn't like. Made me laugh, though.

But anyway, she really liked everything that she got and was very sweet when opening her presents.

Here she is with her Coral Dora that she got from Ryan and Michelle.

And the Maizes got Lydia this awesome princess tent castle for the back yard. They set it up for her while she was opening presents and then surprised her with it. The kids LOVED it and all the girls got into dress-up clothes and played in the castle.

And finally, here are all the kids in front of the painting I made for Russia.

Spa Night

Kaleena's mom had a spa night at her house last night. I had a really great time. Here are some pics of us in all our mud mask glory. (Ha ha!)

Becky & Lena

Kaleena and me.