Age four seems to be the biggest jump in maturity levels thus far. The past month has provided me with many glimpses into what kind of student and boy Jackson will be. It's like this magical age where things start to click and he's making all these connections.
The room cleaning sticker chart we implemented a month ago has worked amazingly well. Dare I say cleaning his room has become a nightly habit? There have been a few nights over the past month where he has whined and not wanted to clean his room, but he knows it's an expectation that we aren't to waiver on. Our Saturday rewards have included tiny Care Bear figurines, a coloring book, and a trip to SweetFrog.
Preschool has proven to be much more academically demanding than his previous years. It's hard for me to know if this is because he's in the oldest class now or if the expectations at his new school are that much higher. Either way, every assignment and activity that's sent home includes a handwritten label or caption.
I'm not especially thrilled with the homework. Some of it does not seem age appropriate and he has not been able to complete it independently without looking at numbers or letters I've printed for him.
Even when Jackson doesn't have homework, he's still eager to play school and practice letters and numbers. Jesse bought him a pack of magnetic letters that Jackson uses. He begged me to come in his room to see a surprise. I was a bit alarmed to see he had spelled his name, but in complete mirror image.
Despite some letter confusion, he must be excelling since he was selected as the first Student of the Month for his class. One of my biggest complaints with this school is there are no set classes. You just sign up for whatever days you want to go. Some students in his class go 5 days a week, others go MWF, Tue/Thu, or any other possible combination. I would find that so confusing as a teacher and student, but they make it work. Anyway, it makes it more impressive that he was picked for Student of the Month because there are a lot of children to pick from.
At Jack's school, you don't receive a certificate or pencil. No, you get a yard sign. Crazy, right? Jackson was so very proud of himself. He said, "I get to keep this for 30 days!" Oh, my sweet boy!
The only other update I can think of is how imaginative Jackson is. He's so great at pretend play and creates quite the dialogue between his action figures. We randomly catch him talking to himself. Yesterday, I overheard the following while he was using the bathroom. "Jackson, GREAT job! You got a sticker. You are so awesome!" I guess he gives himself pep talks sometimes. Such a silly kid!
We still have plenty of moments of not listening, playing too rough with his siblings, and acting whiny when he doesn't get what he wants. We're also struggling with Jackson eating healthy meals and not snacking all day. With that said, the good far outweighs the bad and I really love Jackson's current stage of life.
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