Saturday, October 25, 2014

Sweet little kitty cat on a beam.




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This is a move of her own creation.




Sent with my thumb-operated device(Meanwhile, the unpictured Blaize is having a playdate with Adaline!)

Great beam work, Francesca!




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Well- deserved water break!




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Bars are another thing Francesca excels at.




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Exhibit F




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These girls are having too much fun!




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Rolly poley instructions




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It is very challenging to take good photos




Sent with my thumb-operated devicein this new big girl Gymnastics class! (They want parents only watching from afar... I need a bigger /non-iPhone camera!!)

Back to present day: Mid-foam pit jump!




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TBS: Last one. Still the sweetest couple a kids in the whole entire world.




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TBS: Soooooo sweet.




Sent with my thumb-operated devicePS is it baby Blaize or Baby Uncle Francis???

Throwback Saturday: Baby Blaize and big sister at the doctors!




Sent with my thumb-operated deviceThis was I believe the "Blaby" Blaize era...

Throwback Saturday: Making applesauce is the Best!




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Throwback Saturday: Toddler Francesca holds out a piece of apple- future applesauce




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Throw back Saturday: toddler Francesca eats applesauce




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Friday, October 24, 2014

Contribute to Francesca's Run for the Arts!

I posted about this special "opportunity" at work today for Francesca's run on Monday  to raise money for their school, but it is an invitation for you, too!!
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The opportunity is to contribute to my brand new kindergartener, Francesca Frost Trahan, who is doing the Run For the Arts! Fundraising thing. 

She goes to the French immersion PPS charter school, Le Monde. 

FULL DISCLOSURE: There are no cookies or candy or ANYTHING tangible that you get in return other than the good vibes slash possible karma of supporting the cutest little curly-haired 5-year-old girl as she runs her little heart out around and around the Lincoln High School track on Monday. 

You can donate an amount per mile or just a one time gift, you know, kind of like becoming a sustaining circle member or a one-time donor. :)
All are welcome! 

The sign up sheet is hanging on the wall outside my intro cart.  (Pledges also accepted via email.)

TODAY only!!

Thanks for reading and considering. 
Merci!
Allison

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Kindergarten report!

Bonjour,

We had a great week and the bears really are starting to gel and it is obvious. Routines are getting tighter, almost everyones knows what to do and when and things are just running very smoothly. Great work!

We have started working on a couple of new and interesting projects.

In French:
We have started a book study.Bernard et le monstre (Bernard and the monster) is a cute story about a child trying to get his parents attention but they just seem too busy. He wants to tell them about the monster in the yard that is going to eat him up, but since his parents don't seem to care, the inevitable happens. The monster eats Bernard and then turns out to be ignored just as much as Bernard did. The text in that book is very basic and a good source of important vocabulary. The activities that go along with the book study revolve around the alphabetical principle, letter and word recognition, transcribing words from small caps to all caps, etc… 
We have also started working on our handwriting, concentrating on letter with only vertical and horizontal lines. We have done, L, E, F and H. Once all the letters have been done, they will be put together for an individualized alphabet book. We have a little ways to go for this obviously. But you can start holding your child accountable for writing these letter with proper mechanics at home. 

In math:
We have moved into numbers 11-20 with gusto. We are starting to feel pretty comfortable naming any number when pointed to, count forward, backward and beginning to compare their values. There is a little activity we do in which the students crouch as small as possible to show zero, and as we count up to 10 we slowly move to make ourselves bigger and bigger. Now I can ask them to show me what a 3 should look like, or 7, or 4, etc… Something you can try at home.
We have also moved into the combination that make 5 and we started visualizing these combinations in different ways (with our bracelets, with an activity we call Dedans Dehors which means Inside outside, and with colored blocks). Ask your children for details.

Next week, we will be welcoming our newest addition. Jude will be joining us for the first time on Monday. This moves our class total to 25 and changes a couple of things in terms of our seating arrangements, but the more the merrier!

On Monday, RUN FOR THE ARTS is happening. If you are volunteering for this event, or want to please email Stacy Foster atstacyfosterpdx@gmail.com. I also have some pertinent information to give you (volunteers only) so please see me in the morning so I can give it to you. 
Remember to have your pledge list figured out, and at least make one pledge of $1  and sign it so your child can get a prize when the time comes.

Stacy Foster, our class parent, is still missing a couple emails from our class. This means that you are missing out on fun extracurricular activities that class partakes in and you are also missing on volunteering opportunities as well. Remember that this list of emails remains for our class and is independent from any other school list you might be on. Her email again is stacyfosterpdx@gmail.com

Please remember to bring shoes to school. Boots are allowed for going to Lincoln, but they are loud and squeaky and having regular shoes in the classroom is a must, and part of the uniform. Thanks.

Les cahiers de vie have gone home again this weekend. Don't forget to send them back to school on Monday. Something you can do with them at home, which we started doing this week aid sing the song while you are following the words with your fingers. This helps students understand the connection between the written and spoken words and is an invaluable skill to learn to read. Great thing to practice. 

Thank you and have a great weekend!

Alexis


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Saturday, October 18, 2014

He is such a good little customer.

Haircuts!

Who has the most amazing backbend?

I will give you one guess!

Again!

Find Francesca!

This is stamp time, end of class, btw.

Another great gymnastics class for Blaize!

He is sitting beside Brody, the only other boy in the class. They are buds!

Francesca waits for her ice water to come up at Starbucks.

She waited in line all by herself, like the big girl she is. (I had eyes on her the whole time, never fear.)

Francesca demonstrates her excellent balance and Fabulous fashion sense.

Blaize can stir an egg with the best of 'em.

Mixing up the eggs for breakfast.

By the way, Francesca was telling me that she dreamed last night that Nana and Pawpa came for Halloween and Pawpa was Winnie the Pooh and Nana was Piglet.

SO much fun. I can't wait to have my OWN doggie!

I petted her.

"baby girl" teacup neighbor dog is very elusive

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Kids belong up in trees, I believe.

This is my favorite tree. I have a new appreciation for the Quince.

L'Espoire preschool is the best!

Can YOU say "L'Espoire" ...? (kinda like "LuhSpwahr" with the lightest of R's... I think. It means hope, that's for sure. The place rents space in the daylit basement of a Korean Presbyterian church, conveniently located just blocks from OPB.

Home from the first day of preschool!

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Scary Pumpkin selfie: angry dystopic version.

Scary pumpkin selfie: Pretty darn scary version.

Scary pumpkin selfie: kinda tame version.

Eeeek!!! Too scary for words!!!

Girl and pumpkin, on porch.

We get pumpkins for a good cause at church, and carving ensues.

PS: in case you think that's a knife in Blaize's hand, it definitely isn't. It's a handle of a spoon. He wanted the knife, believe you me.

Blaize makes friends with a girl and her frog, at Brooklyn park.

mmmmmm.....