Poco Mountain Girl

This girl has been having quite a summer–though she constantly moans, “I’m boooorrrrrrrred.”

Tuesday she learned to swim!  She’s been putting her head under, little by little, and now she swims freestyle (what is freestyle? Her coach called it that.)  She’s still taking lessons–two a week–until school starts.

We visited this very cool art gallery yesterday to see her 3-D sculpture from art class on display.  The gallery is housed in what was once the Gilpin County Courthouse.  It’s an amazing building filled with wavy floors and multiple little levels.

This is the old jail!  The door is rusted almost completely through.

Here is her art piece, in the lower right hand corner.  Her clay “foot pot” got second place in her class. It’s a model of her own foot, built up into a pot.

I can’t wait to have that little foot and find something to fill it up with!  It has been on display at the gallery all summer.

Two Sundays ago at church, the kids did almost the entire service.  Their theme was Israel, and they gave teachings on the history, did dances, and sang songs.

Zia and four other kids sang a song together.

They also did a Jewish dance, which was very cool, and it was hilarious to watch Zia trying to do the moves.  She almost fell over every couple of steps.

Zia is going back into first grade this year.  Her teacher recommended it because of her reading level, and after a month of thinking, talking it over, and letting Zia warm up to it, David and I decided it would be the best thing for her. (She’s reading beautifully every day, by the way–just not as fast yet as they want.)

At first I was disappointed; now the more I think about it, the more I like it.  She will have a better grasp of the Montessori classroom, which she so struggled to adjust to last year.  (She came into school late, so she only had about 30 days of instruction. And before that, it was home school at her own pace.)  She will also be with kids her own age, younger kids, and older kids–since the class covers the first through third grades. (How perfect is that?)  And if she decides to stay in school past the Montessori levels (6th grade), she will be with kids her age or a bit younger–and that could be a very good thing.  It will allow her to be a kid just a little longer, I’m hoping.  I think adolescence comes far too strong and fast when you’re a girl in public school: you’re swept along with the crowd, you have to keep up, stay cool, be hot(!) grow up–all in just a few years.

Of course, I’m hoping she won’t want to stay in public school that long, but you never know.  I feel like a little rudder in a big, deep ocean–guiding her little boat forward–to the left, to the right–watch that shark–put up the sail, catch the wind. Not sure where she’s going, but trusting that the boat will stay afloat, stay safe.  And on the way, that this girl will have the adventure of a lifetime.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2014 at 2:53 pm and is filed under Little Redhead Girl. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.