Kindergarten Update: We have a STAR!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a STAR! An Edison Star Citizen, that is and we are so proud!

When you go above and beyond following all the school "rules" (they call citizen agreements), you are recognized with a little award to take home and put on the fridge. This one was earned by Emily back on October 25th and she has brought home two more since then!

She's also started getting reports from her teacher that include the words "exceeded expectations" regarding her work and she has stayed on green for several weeks now. Her teacher implemented a color behavior chart where all children begin each day on the green square and are asked to move their closepin down to either yellow (a warning for a bad choice/behavior), orange (for additional bad choices/behaviors and/or for physically hurting someone), or red (for a third bad choice/behavior, which leads to a conference with parent) throughout the day. When you have had five days on green, you get an Otter Star award (which is different from the Star Citizen award). This has been a huge motivator for Emily (and the other kids) and we make a huge deal out of her staying on green each day! Beyond praising her for her accomplishment, she gets to pick her afternoon snack from the super special drawer (think caramel corn, Tootsie pops, ice cream sandwiches), she gets 1 hour of TV time and 30 minutes to play Angry Birds with dad before bedtime, and, during one of Nolan's naps, she gets to chose any game she wants that she and I play until he wakes up.

With our rainy season upon us and Nolan's very strict, inflexible day time nap schedule, we aren't able to have play dates during the week anymore (huge bummer!) so, I have become more creative in her rewards and most revolve around special, quality time with us (once Nolan is in bed), which she seems to love most. After five days on green, we give her additional rewards over the weekend, like a trip to the park, choosing what we eat for dinner and which movie we watch, running errands with one of us while Nolan stays at home, going on a bike ride, cooking/baking, and play dates.

She's adjusting so well, we are so proud of her!