Saturday, December 15, 2012

Michael, Age 6

This post is long overdue (2 months!), but very necessary!

Our Michael, age 6, is so funny to know!  

He started Kindergarten this year, and we feel as if he has come home a completely different child.  In a good way!  Most of the time, Michael has very nice manners.  He says "please" and "thank you" most of the time without being prompted.  We attribute that to his school!  :)  Mrs. DeColli keeps those little kids in line!  What I have been trying 5 years to stress, Mrs. DeColli could do in a month.  

He has a very fun imagination and is always making up little stories to go with his creations.  Whether it's boats and airplanes blowing up land targets or flying noises with anything he can find, I am always amused at the noises he is making during play!

Michael loves to play baseball.  It is his favorite sport!  Brian does such a good job having practice with him outside and the neighborhood kids always seem to join in on the fun.  Michael can hit the ball pretty well without using a tee so we do not use it!

Soccer this year was a bit overwhelming for Michael.  In previous years, he would get in on the herdball that normally happened, steal the ball, and dribble to the goal because he was usually the fastest.    This year, he was a bit scared of the scrum.  He would kind of run around everyone like a sheep dog, wait for the ball to escape the herd of children, dribble it, and somehow lose it.  It has been a struggle watching him try to get in there!  However after talking to his coach, she said that what Michael is doing will be fine when he's older, and there is not so much herd ball as there is actual positions and distribution across a field!  He definitely has blossoming soccer skills though - when he actually gets in there!  It will be interesting to see what he chooses next fall because he wants to run cross country for the school, and it is the same day/time as soccer.

Michael is really into this Wii Skylanders game.  It's a game that allows you to play as different characters!  You change these different characters out using figurines that you place on a portal.  It is actually pretty cool!  All the characters have different powers, which makes the game more interesting!

Michael also still loves to play with legos, with Star Wars and Harry Potter legos being his favorites.

He still loves cars.  Racing them, rolling them, whatever!  I had to put away his train set this year and couldn't believe how quickly he has grown!

We are listening to Harry Potter on CD in the car.  He is loving that!

School is great fun for him!  He loves to learn, and I am starting to see such progress in both his reading and his handwriting!

Speaking of school, Michael definitely leans towards math (no shock there).  Michael can definitely add and subtract (even with double digits plus single digits).  We are starting to do fractions at home and 2 columned addition/subtraction.  Michael is definitely multiplying lower numbers and can count by 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's, 6's up quite a ways.  I don't think he has quite realized that he is actually multiplying the 3's, 4's, 5's, and 6's yet - but I am thrilled he can count by those intervals in addition to the easy ones (10's, 20's, 50's, 100's).

Reading has always been something in which Michael has had to put forth a bit more effort.  However, he has definitely progressed with his sight words and can sound things out pretty well.  He definitely needs a little help, but I think he is making great progress.

His handwriting is coming along well and has improved since his 1st day of school!

Today, I am especially proud of Michael because he started making a book.  He asked for several sheets of white paper for his book and started with his title page: "The humongous tree and the humongous grass."  He has also illustrated it!  He wrote his first page in the book today.  I can't wait to take pictures of it!!  He needed help spelling humongous, but the rest he wrote on his own.  I am so impressed with his cute little mind.

I always love and cherish Michael because he is my one and only.  I rarely take him for granted because I can't have as many children as I want.  Every day is a blessing to see, and I hope to see so many more to come.  Michael has become a bigger joy for us every single day.

And the best thing about Michael?  He TOTALLY knows how to behave in front of the camera!

I took about 20 pictures of him for his "Six Year Old" portraits and I kept about 10.  LOVE our lil' guy!

Every year, I wonder how he can top the previous year's portrait.  Every year, he does:


Then, I made him and Brian practice some reflector work under the shade of a tree:


Then, I made him practice with a reflector in open light.   I got this face:

But only after he gave me this squinty one.  We are Asian after all:

 It's too bad his eyes are closed here!

Love our "baby cat" and am so thankful for him everyday!  

1 comment:

Brandi said...

Umm. Guess I better get cracking at some more home schooling before kindergarten! What a great testament to your hard work!