Events have conspired to keep my progress slow.

2 more miles.

14.5 total     Reach Stock Road

A mere 3.5 miles to get me out of the first day.  And it’s only a total of 485 miles from Hobbiton to Rivendell.  I should be there in a couple of years.

Another 2 miles.  That makes 12.5

Stop in a birch grove.  Eat a frugal supper.

me again

Add on another 1.5 miles.  I have been active with other things as well.  And I have had some very tired nights.  So that makes for 10.5 miles.  I need another half mile for the next way point.  I will get that and a bit more tomorrow.

I have been in a bit of a knitting funk.  I know!  Say it isn’t so!  But yes.  Sadly enough.  I keep thinking about all the lovely lace patterns out there.  But I have three projects right now.  Wing o the Moth is big and fluffy and 60% done.  the other 40% is about 50 rows left.  So I keep trying to make myself work on that.  And a lace scarf with nupps.  But I keep questioning my nupps.  In the end I am sure they will block out fine.  And I have been disappointed in my sock projects right now.  I did finally make myself pull out the bad section of one of them so that I could work on it again.  I had a sock that ended up half an inch too short on the foot.  I spent a while trying to convince myself that it would be fine before giving up.  Another sock I knit the cuff shorter thatn the pattern called for, and yet I am very unhappy with how long the cuff is.  I tried to tell myself it would be fine, but haven’t really been able to talk myself into it.  And it wasn’t the fastest project pattern to start with.  I will probably rip the whole thing.  I may find another pattern for it.

I need to push on through and then the happy knitting vibes will be back in short order.  And I need to get more sleep.

I do like knitting.

Call me Riley

I am the owner of a treadmill.  It tracks the distance I have traveled.

Do you see where this is going?

Walk to Rivendell resurected!  I am 9 miles in, starting fresh.  That puts me at, let me see now, Hobbiton hidden as slopes rise and fall.  It will be a bit slow, seeing as how Frodo and the crew made 18 miles in the first day.

And, right on the heels of that purchase, my washer dumped a load of water on the floor.  And the water also went under the wall next to the washer to the carpet, where the previous owners cats apparently tinkled.  Lovely.  So today I have a new washer and dryer being delivered.  The last washer was 14 years old.  I did have a repairman out.  He said it was a huge domino effect and don’t spend any money on it.  I like repairmen for companies that don’t do any sales.  Front loader.  Eh.

And I like knitting.

What do you get when you take a 5 year old, Star Wars Clone Wars and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated)?

Becca:  If the Grinch really wants to stop Christmas from coming, he should just kill Santa.

Kindergarten Boot camp

Tonight was kindergarten boot camp.  The parents went up to the school for the teacher to explain the class curriculum and answer questions.

One of the things the teacher was really pushing was reading to and reading with your child.  Over two hours of the three hour day will be spent on literacy.  After the winter holidays, books will be sent home weekly for the child to read.  The parent writes how the child did with it and returns that the next day.  After about a month of this, the child will be evaluated as to what color books they can choose to take.

There had already been a question by a parent who had asked if her son would have to just sit there and wait while the other kids are learning math.  Because, and I quote, her kid is a ‘super genius’.  I thought she sounded like a bit of a buffoon.

Also, here are the things your child will be able to do at the end of the school year.   Count to 100.  Recognize numbers up to 40.  Read at the ‘c’ level.  Which consists of a 10-15 page book with two sentences per page.

SHAMELESS BRAG

My kid can do all of those things.  She reads me Berenstein Bear books.  And Frog and Toad.  We have read The Wizard of Oz, All 5 Spiderwick Chronicles, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Just So Stories and two Ramona books.  After I was done reading the chapters to her for that night, she would read on ahead and tell me what would happen the next night.  She knows how to write her name in cursive.

However.  She still writes several of her print letters and numbers backwards.  She is perfectly content to take a book out of her brothers’ room and have that for her story because it used to be hers.  I could see her reading little board books ony in class and never letting on that she can do more.  She has some addition down and some subtraction but at times wants to use my fingers to help her count higher with addition.  Math comprehention needs some help.  Maturity wise, she is age-appropriate.

Disclaimer.  My brother and I were both skipped grades in elementary school.  My birthday is already in June so I was already one of the youngest in my class before the skip.  I was maturity-wise two years behind my peers.  It was not a good situation.  My brother didn’t fare too well either.  I do not approve of grade skipping at any time.  Find some school or class that will help your child at their level in their age grade where they can make friends the same age.

Back to my story.

I was a bit concerned about the literacy thing as there was an actual time frame laid out.  And then I go off sounding like a buffoon.  Getting concerned that my kid will be stuck on board books until after January, I asked if that was the correct time frame that I was assuming from what he had said if my child was already at a level ‘c’.  No, it wil be settled within the first few weeks.  But I sounded like a braggart.  But he kept asking for questions.  And I was nervous.  So oh well.  I’m a babbler.

I could hope the other parents won’t remember this.  But I’m not counting on it.  I was talking with one of her friend’s mom last year and said something or other.  The mom jumped on it, “She can read”?  Asking me all about it.  Then a few weeks later another mom who was a mutual friend brought it up.  “So she can read?”

I really don’t want to be one of those nuisance moms.

le sigh

Today is the day that Becca decided she is too old (at 5!) to call me Mommy.  I am now Mom. 

When I expressed sadness at this I was told that it is okay.  I can be grandma for her kids.

Kindergarten question

I think parents have a hard time judging where their kids should be when it’s their first.

Becca has started the school district’s ‘Jump Start to Kindergarten’ program.  She has been bringing home school work for the first time. Today there was a sheet explaining what they had been learning this week.

So here is my question.  How many kids make it to 5 without knowing colors?  basic counting?  the alphabet?  simple shapes?  Every day they cut out pictures from magazine that start with the letter of the day.  That just seems too basic to me.

I have no way of knowing if she is ahead or right on track.  For all I know, this is just teaching kids learning skills with knowledge they should already have.

Why I am a bit concerned.  A few memories from first grade.

Being held back and stopping reading for 3 weeks until the next fastest kid could catch up to me so the teacher wouldn’t have to teach just me at that speed. 

Getting in trouble for rushing through the classwork and not using multiple crayon colors to draw my pictures to match my words.  The teacher made me redo it with more than one color.  I was bored with it, which is why I only used one color.  It was red-violet.  And yes, I am still bitter.

Whichever kid finished their work first got to scratch the teacher’s back.  After quite awhile of this, I started slowing down on my work.

Becca came home with a sheet of paper on which she had drawn a picture to represent each season.  The teacher wrote underneath what Becca said they were.  For Fall there is a pile of leaves.  For Winter it is a pile of snow.  Which brought the single crayon flashback to me.

Maybe it isn’t a big deal.  Maybe I just enjoy worrying about things.  But it does worry me.

Walk

Ben suggested we go for one of our walks in Queeny Park today.  So the kids gave me an early birthday gift.  A pedometer.  So that I can measure my Walk to Rivendell.

Due to Becca’s dance recital last night which meant kids went to sleep after 9:30 and them waking at their usual time, they were a tad cranky.  Which meant that we only covered 4 miles.  So I have not even made it to the Brandywine Bridge, much less left Hobbiton.

I’m going to have to pick up the pace a bit.

Heh

Do you know what occured to me?  It’s been a bit since I have shared dorkiness with you!  Please forgive me.

Aaaaaaannnnnd the latest in the dork-o-drome……. Walk to Rivendell

Yes!  You too can track the distance that the fellowship covered!  What fun!  And for added benefit and enrichment, be sure to listen to the audiobooks as you go.

Now I need a pedometer that measures distance covered.  And a treadmill would be nice.  I should go check out craigslist.