China, a recap.

We're taking it easy with our social studies because. . . Well, because we can!

That said, Oliver did learn a bit about China last week. 

His favorite part, by far, was reading The Five Chinese Brothers almost every night and wondering why the fifth Chinese Brother didn't eat all the whipped cream while he was in the oven all night. Which is exactly the same thing I wondered when my 1st grade teacher (Mrs. Geloso! Wonderful teacher!) read us the book!  Do all kids wonder that?

We did coloring sheets (the map and flag) and learned some about The Great Wall of China. (It is 5,500 miles long! He remembers this because 5 is his favorite number.) We looked at pictures of the country and he thinks the traditional dress is colorful looking but probably hot to wear.

I wanted to make a traditional Chinese dish, but that was a wash-out because the kid is a very picky eater and won't eat "weird food" even if he helps prepare the meal.

We spun the globe again on Sunday and this week is. . .

Somalia! 

Uh.

Yeah. 

Wish me luck.

Soccer mother of the year, I will never be.

Oliver is done with soccer! Can we please get Quasimodo to ring the bell? Perhaps even employ the fake town crier that announced the new prince?

The things I learned from attempting to be a Soccer Mom:

-- most Soccer Moms (and Dads) suck and want their child to score no matter whom they push down in the process.

-- I was just happy to see my kid running. I didn't even care if he was running in the wrong direction, at least running and HAVING FUN was going on.

-- I may have been a mom at soccer but I will never be a SOCCER MOM!

Come on! I am FAR too darn awesome to EVER be a SOCCER MOM. Band Mom? Yep. Dance Mom? Of course. (But not those crazy ladies!) Gymnastics Mom? Naturally. Theatre Mom. Uh huh (But NEVER a Stage Mom!) PTO Mom? Darn tootin'! But never, ever, EVER a SOCCER MOM! Even if he plays soccer in the spring, I shan't be a SOCCER MOM!

But, here are some required cute Oliver pictures.

Getting his trophy!

His BFFs being all cute.

All of the Sparks and their trophies!

Hooray!! No more of this crap!!!

wheel of morality. turn, turn, turn.

Err... I mean globe. . . of the Earth.

 Last night was Sunday and Oliver made us spin the globe to learn about a new country during the week.

 This week will be CHINA!! YAY! (That "YAY!" should be read as if Kermit the Frog were saying it, BTW.)

 He has been coming home from his 9.5 hour school day begging for "Momma Chewkie School" more and more. . . If the kid wants to learn, who am I to stop him?

I don't see anything in the line of social studies or science coming home in his folder, so this will be good for him. (However, if I have to see much more of count and color the woodland creature busywork coming home, I will weep for him. He has even taken to making his own busywork on the back of the completed pages. I have been told they are grouping the kids into levels. So, I'm expecting real work to begin soon.)

 I don't know if I'll be updating through the week, or have one big update on Sunday. I'll play it by ear. I'm just thrilled my kid wants to continue learning about the world.

Nipping Rape Culture Mentality in the Bud

As we were picking up Oliver from school yesterday, he walked out with a girl from the other kindergarden class who was also getting picked up from her grandmother.

The girl sees Oliver and when she sees her grandmother she screams, "That's the MEAN BOY! That's OLIVER, THE MEAN BOY! I hate him!"

I'm in shock. I've never heard Oliver described as the "MEAN BOY" before! Ugh!

Manuel and I help at breakfast each morning and this little girl is a favorite of mine--she is polite (a HUGE plus) and adorable and wears awesome pink glasses. I had NO idea she had a problem with Oliver! 

Grandma said, "Oh, that was in the beginning of the year. It has been addressed." 

I looked around and wondered WHO addressed it because nobody spoke with ME (or Manuel) about it. Oliver has had PERFECT behavior on he behavior chart that comes home with him each night. I'm going to have to let go and trust the teachers on this, I know. I'm trying.

Anyway. 

On the ride home I asked what happened between him and the girl. He said he chased her at recess because he likes her and wants to be friends.

Woah. Hold on. WHAT?!

I told him that CHASING someone (male or female) because you want to be their friend is NOT the way to become their friend. We certainly didn't raise him like that. I told him that you need to calmly go up to the person and say something like, "Hi! I'm Oliver. I really love to read. What is your favorite book?" And then you can begin a nice discussion and learn about the person and they can learn about you! If the person runs away from you, you DO NOT CHASE THEM! You let them be and try again at a later time. (They're kindergardeners--I'm not expecting great conversation. I'm fully expecting one of them to run away at some point.)

Conversely, if someone chases him for no reason, I told him that he needs to stand his ground and tell them to stop and if they don't stop, he has to find an adult and tell them the problem.

It is when kids get ideas in their heads and nobody says anything to them that the Rape Culture continues. This cycle needs to end. And it is up to parents to do so.