The Week He Learned to Draw a Monster

Aaron started school Wednesday 3rd September. Those 3 days he only did 13:30 to 15:15, so I only had time to pop home, and then go back to collect him. Each day, there were puzzles and jigsaws already on the tables. Aaron would always make me watch him do 2-3 before he would let me leave, and even then I was only going to have a cup of tea. Day 1 he was so anxious about my leaving, the school allowed me to have that cup of tea IN the building. Aaron had no idea that I was the other end of the building, and it'd probably take me a full 5 minutes to get to him should he need me. But knowing I was near by, of course he didn't need me. During the 1.5 hours he was without me, he did comment to a staff member that "Mummy's been gone a bit long" and they brushed it off that I was having problems with the kettle.

As the days went on, and as we got into week 2 (where the early starts began as he was by now 08:45 to 11:45), my lie of being near by could not be maintained, as when we'd arrive home he'd seen washing on the line and say in an accusatory tone "have you been home?" to which I'd have to say "yes" - I never ever lie to him, which is one of many reasons he is very emotionally secure.

During his first full week of school - note: full week not full days (which was week 2 if you include the Wednesday Thursday Friday the week before), the teacher got him to draw a person, and he made her draw one first so he could copy it. The lack of confidence he showed was transformed once he had a point of reference. 

This was each of their efforts:

He then wanted to colour it in, and asked the teacher what colour he should use. She said "why do you ask?" to which he said "well Mummy's white and Daddy's black and B (a boy in his class) is black"... she left it to him to decide, but on collection asked me what I would have liked her to answer. I explained to her about conversations we've had as a family about colour and how he normally says when asked, that he is "white" which always tickles Daddy. When I go to correct him, Daddy silently goes "sshhh" shakes his head, as much as to say, let him choose his identity (for now). I can't even hold my arm next to him and show him that he's browner than me, as we've spent THAT much time outdoors, my tan is so good, that Aaron and I genuinely are the same colour, so no wonder he identifies with me #bless he wants to be like Mummy #melts.

Anyway, drawing has been a bit of a topic of the week, as not only did he draw that person at school (above) he also did one online, which you can see below:

I thought his coordination in doing that was fabulous.

You'll notice (as an aside) that there are FOOTBALL pics above. It's because even though he had the tiring thing of starting school and a week of early mornings, I took him to Football Club Friday evening and we even cycled there and back which was a 4 mile round trip. I have included it in the learning log capture above as he learned so many things there. Some he took to immediately, others he really struggled with, which is why he then did lots of football practice with Daddy over the weekend. That was very cute for me to watch.

The other thing he has done lots of at school are jigsaws, so all weekend he has been doing the ones we have at home, that the last couple of years have been neglected.

He's done his Gruffalo one about 50 times this weekend. You can see him hugging the finished article above, in his PJs. We were, a long time ago, sent the Gruffalo jigsaw to review by Yellow Moon. (Alas I can no longer find it on their site so can't link to it for you). He's also even done his ABC large jigsaw and is an absolute whizz at it. For the past few years it's only been me doing it and then it had been shelved.

Before the drawing with his teacher, he and I had attempted drawing a monster together. Actually now I am realising why he wanted something to copy with the teacher, as when he went all blank on me, I got a card from the Monster Game, to give him ideas. Funnily enough that game was also sent to us a long time ago by Yellow Moon.

This was what he came up with:

He named the monster himself. I was really impressed with the name of "Mr. All Eyes" as it is so articulately accurate.

He hasn't yet learned to stay on the page, so the head and eyes filled the page so much I let him spread out on to two.

When I asked what the monster does he said "scares mice, nice to Aaron" which I thought was incredibly cute.

He knew we were doing the drawing to enter a competition so after we did it, I let him look at the other entries in the gallery and he had a comment to make about each and every one. I videoed his comments but ran out of memory on my camera half way through. Here's what I managed to record (apologies for the mad baby voice he is putting on):

UPDATE - Aaron's drawing is now on that Gallery too #ProudMummy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Based on him saying that the monster is "nice to Aaron" I will be entering the comp in the Friendly Monster category. The competition is being hosted by Mattress Online (now closed).

I hope we come 1st 2nd or 3rd as I think he would be so so proud and it is the first competition he has ever entered in his little life.

Part of me is thinking that maybe I should have drawn with him more in recent years, but days-out have been more our thing. I am not at all worried though, as I know with Aaron his learning curve once he starts something is really really steep.

For example we have been on Nick Junior's website a lot in recent weeks, and he has mastered every game on there now, even the tricky ones. He has learned mouse control so swiftly, he's as good as an adult. This is way beyond the mouse control that a 2 year old exhibits when they are pressing play and pause on You Tube. This includes hand-eye coordination and drag/drop etc... So the fact that he didn't just draw a person straight off till she gave him an example doesn't worry me. Plus, if he could do everything already, he would find school boring and I wouldn't want him to not be stimulated enough. When children aren't engaged or stimulated they get bored which CAN lead to being naughty. 

Anyway, his vocabulary is fabulous, as is his ability with books.

Wish us luck.

Liska
P.S. school drop-off this morning was stressful (a) it was Monday, (b) the alarm didn't wake us so we woke 35 mins late (c) he spent ages trying on his bike helmet only to leave it at home and (d) it is his first day of full days, so he made me stay with him for 30 minutes IN the classroom and even then still cried when I left *sigh* 

xxx