Cockatoo Island

Today we went to Cockatoo Island with the Vincent Gaynors, Langdon Linigens, and the Lees. It was a boiling hot day (over 30 degrees) so there was a lot of seeking out of shade. Although the island is a haven of enormous industrial machinery, the most popular artifact by far was a cannon near the wharf. I suspect it is a ring-in - given the island was used as a naval shipyard in a post cannon era, I can't imagine what it was doing there.

Callum, who doesn't much like the heat, enjoyed playing I-spy with Claire while they were both flopped down in the shade resting. It was perfect - Callum prefers to choose the words, while Claire prefers to guess.

Declan's favourite part of the day, though, was when he got to show his friends Aidan and Tom the new Star Wars Wii game that we acquired this week.

Morning

The boys are under strict instructions that they are not allowed to get out of bed before 6 am. For various reasons (sharemarkets, hayfever) I've been waking up very early lately, so I've found out a few things.

Callum often wakes up well before 6 (this morning it was 5ish) and turns the light on and reads until 6. He gets quite upset if I actually get up before 6, since he's not allowed to. And he actually gets out of bed at 5.59, so that he can "maximise his fun time" by not wasting the first minute after six by walking downstairs.

This morning, he heard me downstairs and came down with his lightsaber at the ready - just in case the person downstairs was an intruder. Luckily it was me. He reluctantly accepted that I was allowed downstairs because my sneezing would have woken Evan up otherwise, and then showed me how he was conquering another planet as part of his plan to conquer the universe in his Spore game.

More belts

I came home this evening to be greeted with the news that both Callum and Declan earned their next Tae Kwon Do belts today. Callum is now a green belt, and Declan a yellow. They've been going to a children's class on Wednesdays, where the grading was done, which was both easier and harder for them (than the previous adult grading).

Easier, because it was part of the normal class, and not so formal (with only one grader in attendance, their normal teacher). Harder, because they didn't have any adults to watch. Callum had to do his pattern totally on his own in front of the whole class (instead of part of a group of 4 - 2 adults and 2 children as happened last time), and Declan was the leader as his fellow yellow belter lost his place in the pattern.

Jedi Mind Control

Declan announced this evening that he wasn't ticklish any more. He proceeded to demonstrate this very effectively, too, by not laughing while I tickled him. I was impressed, and told him that he had worked out Jedi mind control (we were watching Callum and Evan play the new Star Wars Wii game at the time). Declan was scornful, "Jedi knights aren't real, Jennifer".

But Callum still wanted to know how Declan was doing it. "It's easy. I just don't laugh", explained Declan. But I took him unawares by tickling him on his feet. He laughed hysterically and explained that he hadn't got his feet under control yet.

It hit me!

Callum and Declan went to bed late last night, so when we went to the Vincent Gaynors this afternoon they were in a fractious mood, melting down easily.

Never more so than when Callum emerged from the play equipment in the nearby playground (new and very very nice) complaining that the roof had hit him three times on the head.

Cooking

This morning I made scones with Declan, something I hadn't done for a while. His grandmother has been, though. It was interesting how much better a cook he is now. Pretty much all I had to do was get the ingredients out, and help him measure them - he did most of the rest of the work, having a wonderful time rubbing the butter into the flour.

In a year or two, I suspect he'd be able to do the whole thing himself. He even wrote down a list of ingredients (albeit without the necessary measurements).

The scones were pretty good, and taken to the Vincent Gaynors this afternoon for eating.

Meeting with the School

Because of Callum's acceleration and Declan's IQ test the boys are classified as 'special needs' by the school and we meet formally with the learning support team (teacher, school counsellor and deputy principal) twice a year. These meetings have proven to be very useful in that it gives a formal, minuted opportunity to understand what's going on and why.

Both boys are tracking well. Declan's teacher feels his reading has shot forward in the last couple of months and he recently tested very highly and, importantly, that it 'has no gaps' while some of the kids who were ahead of him are now having to go back and fill in gaps in their ability to sound out or recognise words. His writing is good (my comment: a hundred times better than Cal's at this stage). His maths is excellent (he's now completed half of the year 2 outcomes on Mathletics).

The teacher's only more negative comment is that he's often hard to motivate. Part of it is he's compliant, when he's done something he doesn't kick up a fuss he just waits for the next thing; part of it is that he thrives on extrinsic motivation, he likes having someone praise him or set him a special goal. The teacher's comment was that this wasn't a problem, but it something that his teachers will need to recognise and work around next year. (Jennifer and I've recognised this for a while, but have singularly failed to change it.)

We agreed that he's progressing well, that the school would try to keep him clustered with the small group of GATTS kids as they move to year one, and we'd meet early in the New Year to assess whether anything else needed to be done.

Callum is also doing well - he's exceeding all of the outcomes and expectations. His English is still extremely good, his comprehension excellent and his writing has been becoming neater recently (!). His teacher pointed out that his maths is just way beyond expectations and we agreed he would start next year going up to a Year 5 class for maths.

His teacher pointed out that it was sometimes hard to know how much Callum is capable of because when he finishes something he quietly waits for the next thing (although, in contrast to Declan, he happily attacks any task on his own motivation.)

Impossible not to walk away pleased with the comments about the kids, but also knowing that the School recognises them and is so prepared to accommodate them.

Seven years old

Callum turned seven on Saturday. He was very blase about the experience. We had Grannie, Grandma, Grandpa, Marta, my cousin David and my Aunt Tiny over for dinner on Saturday night, along with Callum's best friend Alex and his sister Lucinda (who is luckily a friend of Declan's). Although the house was full it was a very enjoyable evening.

At seven, he is obsessed with computer games, but "reading is my life". He is reading the Hardy Boys detective series, and a spy set of stories about a boy spy called Alex Rider. He has one wobbly tooth, and blonde curly hair. We gave him the Spore computer game on Saturday morning, which has played obsessively for the rest of the weekend, with a short time off to have his party today. The party was a slot car party - at a place with a huge six car track set up specially for exactly that kind of party.

Should be accompanied by evil laugh

The scene. Callum at his computer playing Rise of Nations, Declan playing on the Wii with me helping.

DECLAN: Yeah! We got that one, let's do the next level.
EVAN: Sorry son, I have to go and make dinner. Callum would you help Dec out for a while?
CALLUM: [with a sigh] Can a boy not just focus on world domination?

Positive maths

Cal's now doing Year 5 maths on Mathletics. Luckily we're meeting with the School next week to discuss his progress, so we'll have a chance to discuss how to fit what he's doing into some more coherent structure.

Loose tooth

Callum finally has a tooth coming out. One of the middle ones on the bottom. He's totoally blase about the whole thing, in spite of Jennifer's enthusiasm!

Fathers Day treasure hunt

The boys bought presents for Evan in the Fathers' day stall on Friday, which they were very much enjoying being secretive about all Saturday.

So this morning, while Evan was still asleep, they created a treasure hunt, with three or four different clues leading Evan to where the presents were hidden.

Callum was literally jumping up and down with excitement for most of the 10 minutes it took - it was lovely to watch. While Declan got to be the one who gave away the clues by being so excited he couldn't help it.

World conqueror

Today Callum discovered a new part of our Rise of Nations computer game - the Conquer the World option. He was beyond thrilled when, just before bed this evening, he conquered his final nation to become the Conqueror of the World! He had spent most of the afternoon glued to the computer, carefully working out his tactical plays so that he could beat all the other nations.

Bow to the new Emperor Callum.

Favourite things

When Grandma and Grandpa came over for a school tour this week, Grandma asked Declan if he could write down a list of his favourite things for her.

Here it is (with original spelling)

IndianA jones
LeGo
STAR WARS
Fiating gaims
making stuf
coucing
my dog and blangcee
my catrpier
letrs
nunbrs
school
green wood

Little things that make me smile

Callum sitting watching television with his laboratory safety goggles on.

Declan refusing to let go when he hugs us.

Callum asking Declan to help him get through stages of their current computer game.

Both boys continuing to try when getting things wrong on Mathletics.

Our daily tally of cyclists we see on the ay to school (the record is 16).

Update on upset

A few weeks ago Cal came home upset about something that had happened in the playground. We assumed he'd been bullied in some way. It turned out to be far more complicated than that.

Last year and early this year Angus was Cal's best friend. However over the last few months Alex has become Cal's best friend and Angus is jealous. We've tried to deal with this gently a few times but Cal's singular focus makes it difficult.

Anyway on the day in question Angus had got upset at Alex and Callum playing on a bench and Callum and Angus had refused to allow him to join them on the bench. Things escalated until Callum and Angus were both upset. So Callum had been unprepared to discuss it not so much because he was embarrassed at what had been done to him (as we thought) but because he was embarrassed about what he'd done.

Anyway things have improved a bit, but the fundamental 'problem' remains unchanged: and will do as it's really up to him who he plays with.

The important things

Callum will seriously inform you when you talk about books that: "Computers are my hobby, reading is my life".

Declan's reading

Over the last week Declan has leapt forward again with his reading, he's jumped over multiple reader levels at school and is generally much more confident at home. He's even begun reading in bed at night by himself - a Magic Schoolbus book last night.

Certificate of Appreciation

Declan got his first Certificate of Appreciation from the school this week. These get sent through the mail once a student has accumulated 50 points from various sources.

Kinder bunnies

We've recently been playing two related card games - Kinderbunnies and Killerbunnies - Killerbunnies is the more advanced version.

It's hard to describe, but involves trying to stop each other, by many different methods, from collecting bunnies and carrots (special types of cards in the game). The boys enjoy it, but not so much when anything does anything "mean" to them. Playing as a parent is a careful balancing act between giving "meanness" to the boys (as a normal player of the game), and deciding just how much to give before the resulting tears and tantrum wasn't worth it.

On balance, it works well, particularly when Callum and Declan decide to gang up on the parents, which is lots of fun for all concerned.