A neat thing about Vanessa's school experience so far is the number of ah-ha moments she's had, building on the things she's been practicing and learning for some time now. She admires her teacher and is very concerned about what Mrs. Stolly thinks of her. Just like many 5-year-old girls begin to seek the approval from other adults in their lives, she works hard to make Mrs. Stolly proud. (The moment she realized Mrs. Stolly was "grading" her papers was absolutely precious -- she thought Mom had been grading her work and was returning it to school.) Through these moments I've come to realize Vanessa is secure in her relationship with me, like her mom will love her no matter, which is absolutely true. And I'm so thankful she gets it so young. "I'll always be your daughter, Mom!", "I know you love me.", and "When I go to college Mom, you can come spend the night with me."
Vanessa has written some words pretty well for a while, although she didn't truly have a strong motivation to understand use of words and language until she started K. She has started journaling thoughts "I like my bed." She adds pictures for her thoughts. Just this morning she explained to me that she was excited about learning to read big books and that it will take practice to learn really big words so she can read anything she wants. We talked about how exciting it will be to independently escape into an imaginary world while also learning about things that interest her.
Last week, after a day of celebrating our Buckeyes and while talking with Grandma and Grandpa about writing things, we saw a light turn on through her eyes: Vanessa realized she has known how to spell "OHIO" for years now. :) Once home, she wrote "OHIO" several times . . . you know, for football. :)
And it's good to know that football is not all about the party and winning -- there IS learning taking place as well. I know she and Zane are learning they are loved and that sometimes the love is incased in Buckeye colors and spirit.
