Another first for Punky this month: her first trip to the movies.
Again yes, I know she's four. Many kids have their first experience at the theater long before four. These days animated movies are released in incredible numbers and the marketing directed at children is astounding. Each film is accompanied by mounds of related toys, clothes, books, candies, and endless other trinkets. The branding is everywhere and there's no escaping it.
The main reason I haven't taken Punky to the theater sooner is because I'm simply not a movie person. Once in a while I'm in the mood to watch one, but rarely ever at the movies. It's much more convenient, not to mention a hell of a lot cheaper, to watch in the comfort of my couch and pajamas. And my microwave popcorn has way less calories. Plus, Punky's not all that fond of the dark, she doesn't like loud, and sitting still for ninety consecutive minutes? Nearly impossible without duct tape or glue and last time I checked those options were still illegal parenting tools.
Lately though we've been having family movie night quite regularly. Punky's interest and attention span have finally matured to the point where it's almost possible to watch an entire movie with only a handful of interruptions. We've gone beyond our skimpy shelf of DVDs and actually rented some movies from the local grocery store and on-demand through our cable. We even picked up a few cheapies from the $5 bin at Walmart.
Now that Punky is finally excited to watch different movies (rather than the same three or four over and over and over and over again until her parents' eyes bleed), the time was right to have her first experience with the big screen. I saw the online preview trailers for The Croods and thought it would be a good movie to introduce her to the theater. It's animated and colorful, funny and adventurous, and has a mix of interesting characters to hold her attention. I hoped, anyway.
As it turned out, the movie itself wasn't as nearly as good as I expected it to be, but the experience went rather well. Punky was completely captivated by the immense size of the movie screen. I was so surprised that she didn't complain once about the loud volume in the theater. She literally sat on the edge of her seat the entire film. She smiled from ear to ear, she laughed out loud, she shoveled handfuls of buttery popcorn in her mouth, she drank more soda in one sitting than she probably has all year thus far, and when the movie ended she asked when we can go to the theater again.
I'm so glad she enjoyed it. I'm thrilled she made it through the whole film without losing interest and acting up out of boredom. I'm happy she now understands why I always say popcorn tastes much better at the movies. And I'm glad to know we have another option for something to do when the weather stinks and we want to get out of the house.
However, given the fact that it cost us forty dollars to see a Saturday matinee with one tub of popcorn and two sodas, I don't see us visiting the theater more than once or twice a year. I can't even really wrap my head around that cost. It's ridiculous. I don't care how good the popcorn is.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
The Report Card
We had Punky's yearly evaluation at school on Thursday. It was the moment we'd been waiting for since September. Did we make the right decision to put her in the pre-K class a year ahead of schedule? What decisions are we facing for fall? Just how smart is she anyway?
In short, yes, none, and very.
She definitely holds her own in class and academically she's at the top. She's ready to start kindergarten, maybe even first grade as the director put it, but her age will prevent that from happening in any public school in Pennsylvania. Her social skills are on par with the others in the class as well. The only place she falls a bit behind is on fine motor skills - she's right on target for her age, but her age is a year younger than the rest of the kids. If we choose the private school route, she will have no trouble passing the tests for admission.
But, we have already decided to let her stay and repeat the pre-K class at this school next year.
In all fairness, I have to admit that part of that decision was based on finances and convenience. I hope that doesn't make us bad parents, but private school is so expensive and she would have to go to a school in New York. I could take her every morning, but pick-up would be an issue with our overlapping work schedules and we have no one available to help fill in those time gaps.
The pre-K teacher told us about her plan to keep Punky learning and engaged if she repeats the class next year. She also assured us that once she finally does start kindergarten, she will be sure to contact her new teacher to give her some background on Punky's academic level. She told us that there may come a time when public school wants to bump her up a grade, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it.
Punky knows that all her friends will be moving on to new schools in September. She also knows the reason she isn't going to kindergarten is because of her age. They are letting her participate in the pre-K graduation with her class in May even though she technically won't graduate. Even though her attitude about all of these statements is stellar thus far, I don't think it will be all smooth sailing.
She loves her school and she loves her teachers. Aside from us, they know her better than anyone. I'm confident the director will make next year's class interesting for Punky. And it's not like she never learns anything at home. We always talk about math, spelling, and reading, and lately she's been so interested in science that we've been doing mini-science projects in the kitchen. She's been teaching me sign language since I forgot all but the alphabet I learned as a kid, and I continue to teach her various words and phrases in Spanish and Italian. There's no doubt we'll be able to keep her engaged until she finally starts kindergarten.
With this evaluation we got her first official report card. It's so cute. We showed it to her when we got home and told her how proud we are of her. And she was quick to remind me that I gave my nephew five dollars for his good report card. She doesn't miss a trick. I happily forked over some cash for her to add to her envelope to save for the American Girl doll she wants so badly, and then I put the adorable report card in her memory box for safe keeping.
I'll never be one hundred percent confident in the decision we made, but I wouldn't have been if we went the other way either. The hardest thing about being a parent is that her life is truly in our hands. We make all the decisions that will mold her into the person she will become and the life she will lead. In this case, we're setting the timeline, too. She could be a year ahead in life - finish school sooner, graduate from college a year earlier, start her career faster, and possibly even get married and start a family sooner. Considering the age of her parents, that might not be such a bad thing.
But we've decided to keep her little a year longer. And that's not such a bad thing either.
In short, yes, none, and very.
She definitely holds her own in class and academically she's at the top. She's ready to start kindergarten, maybe even first grade as the director put it, but her age will prevent that from happening in any public school in Pennsylvania. Her social skills are on par with the others in the class as well. The only place she falls a bit behind is on fine motor skills - she's right on target for her age, but her age is a year younger than the rest of the kids. If we choose the private school route, she will have no trouble passing the tests for admission.
But, we have already decided to let her stay and repeat the pre-K class at this school next year.
In all fairness, I have to admit that part of that decision was based on finances and convenience. I hope that doesn't make us bad parents, but private school is so expensive and she would have to go to a school in New York. I could take her every morning, but pick-up would be an issue with our overlapping work schedules and we have no one available to help fill in those time gaps.
The pre-K teacher told us about her plan to keep Punky learning and engaged if she repeats the class next year. She also assured us that once she finally does start kindergarten, she will be sure to contact her new teacher to give her some background on Punky's academic level. She told us that there may come a time when public school wants to bump her up a grade, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it.
Punky knows that all her friends will be moving on to new schools in September. She also knows the reason she isn't going to kindergarten is because of her age. They are letting her participate in the pre-K graduation with her class in May even though she technically won't graduate. Even though her attitude about all of these statements is stellar thus far, I don't think it will be all smooth sailing.
She loves her school and she loves her teachers. Aside from us, they know her better than anyone. I'm confident the director will make next year's class interesting for Punky. And it's not like she never learns anything at home. We always talk about math, spelling, and reading, and lately she's been so interested in science that we've been doing mini-science projects in the kitchen. She's been teaching me sign language since I forgot all but the alphabet I learned as a kid, and I continue to teach her various words and phrases in Spanish and Italian. There's no doubt we'll be able to keep her engaged until she finally starts kindergarten.
With this evaluation we got her first official report card. It's so cute. We showed it to her when we got home and told her how proud we are of her. And she was quick to remind me that I gave my nephew five dollars for his good report card. She doesn't miss a trick. I happily forked over some cash for her to add to her envelope to save for the American Girl doll she wants so badly, and then I put the adorable report card in her memory box for safe keeping.
I'll never be one hundred percent confident in the decision we made, but I wouldn't have been if we went the other way either. The hardest thing about being a parent is that her life is truly in our hands. We make all the decisions that will mold her into the person she will become and the life she will lead. In this case, we're setting the timeline, too. She could be a year ahead in life - finish school sooner, graduate from college a year earlier, start her career faster, and possibly even get married and start a family sooner. Considering the age of her parents, that might not be such a bad thing.
But we've decided to keep her little a year longer. And that's not such a bad thing either.
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