Still exceeding expectations

This week will mark Abigial's first month in school at Ace Academy. She is absolutely having the time of her life. She has made friends with all of her classmates and gotten comfortable in her new surroundings. So far, everyday that I have taken her she has been so enthusiastic about going. When I tuck her in on school nights and tell her that she will be going to go to school in the morning, I usually get a "hooray."

The Little Rockets class at Ace Academy is play based. This is something that was very important to Spencer and I when we enrolled her. We wanted her to be able to be silly and enjoy being a child, but also embrace the love of learning that is so important to her future. So far the kids have learned about their 5 senses, the seasons, space, and lots and lots of play. Each morning they sing their "Good Morning" song and then pass around "The Talking Rock." The rock allows them to say things about themselves while having all of their peers listen quietly. Although Abigail will not ever tell me what she says about herself, her best friend in class tells her mom everything about everyone. If she doesn't start talking soon, I will have to tap my resources.

One of the things that Spencer and I have been impressed with the most is that the Little Rockets have a science teacher that comes once a week. Science is important because we feel like it is a subject that is not given enough attention, particularly for girls. This year, they will be studying all kinds of interesting things including, physical science, biological science, and mechanical science. The science teacher also sends home science kits every other week. We just completed our first science kit that Abigail picked out, it was an Ocean theme. It had all kinds of things to explore in it about the ocean. Abigail was just thrilled to be able to take something home to play with. The best part of working on the science kit is the dialog that it opens up with Abigail. When we finished exploring her ocean science kit, there were instructions to draw your favorite ocean creature in the notebook provided. Abigail drew what I thought looked like an octopus. Our conversation went like this:

Me: Oh wow! Is that an octopus?

Abigail: Yes

Me: Is that a fish that I can see in it's tummy? (I could clearly see the eyes and head)

Abigail: No, that's a girl.

Me: A girl?!?!

Abigail: Yes. She decided to go scuba diving one day. After she jumped off of her boat, an octopus ate her.

Me: Oh no!

Abigail: It is too bad. Her family really misses her. She was a real sweetheart.

Both of us rolled around laughing for a good 10 minutes. Not exactly how I thought the recap of what she learned would go. But it sure was funny!