Elliot came home from school with a rusty screw he called a nail. He was very happy and proud to find his first “sauce”. We speculated on its age. Elliot thinks it is from the ‘90s (everything old seems to be from the ‘90s).

He held onto it for several days, losing it once or twice and getting very upset about it. But we’d find it again.

He’s just like me in some ways… liking old stuff that has history.

For some reason Elliot thinks today is the first of April and he said, “I’ve been waiting for my birthday for more than a year!!!”

At Elliot’s first sleep-over tonight at Maya and Ella’s house, he learns the truth about Santa and the Tooth Fairy.

I feel terrible. A bubble may have burst for him. Poor Elliot. But maybe he only has doubts now rather than certainty…

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while. Everytime I wait, Elliot gives me another reason to write about him.

I see how naturally kind, generous, and caring he is, and I am flabbergasted and in love. So many children are mean or selfish…

He’s been asking for weeks to bake cookies for his teachers. I don’t know where he got the idea. Did another child do that and he saw it? I think it came from within.

One Friday after school, while playing with a few children at Farmette and the soccer field, I gave Elliot our leftover cookies. There were not enough for all 4 kids. Elliot split them up and gave them away. He made sure everyone had an equal share. How many 5-year olds do that?

TL;DR

Ms Carla: “He’s ready for 1st grade! He’s a great addition to the community.”
Mr. Ben: “A lot of children struggle to make friends in the other kindergarten class because they only see them during recess or sporadically. But Elliot is friends with and plays with children from both classes. Today at recess he played almost exclusively with people from the other homeroom. He has friends everywhere.

General Comments – Ms. Carla

Elliot continues to absolutely love school. He comes in, he does what he’s supposed to do. He loves being with his friends on the playground; being a boy. Loves to play. Loves to use his imagination. The story he tells are unbelievable. Sweet, kind, polite. He very respectful.

Sometimes he presents as being really, really tired during our instructions blocks. We try to have him persevere so he can get the information he needs to work independently. Sometimes if he doesn’t get enough information, a teacher has to explain to him one-on-one. But once that happens, he soars. His work is accurate and he turns it in. But focusing and being present during the entire instruction block is one of our goals for him. It’s a long day, and he’s not the only child like this. He is much better now than our last parenting conference. It’s not as common as it used to be.

Literacy – Ms Carla

Elliot is able to isolate sounds. Short vowels, long vowels, CVC words, consonants. He’s decoding. Knows 22 out of 27 of the heart words which amazing (normally they shoot for only 13 or 14 by now). He mastered “digraphs” (two letter that come together to make a sound — s and h and t and h).

He’s reading at a level B, almost C. Should be at “D” by end of kindergarten. He will have no problem getting there.

Hebrew – Morah Ester

Elliot’s been doing great!

He can count 1-10. Wrote the Hebrew alphabet to Mem (normal). Got all the letters sounds. Needed help with a couple of vocabulary words but got almost all of them. So he’s paying attention to words. He knew all the vocabulary words during his assessment. He gave all smilies on his self-evaluation. He feels confident in Hebrew.

Math – Mr. Ben

Starts out struggling but then gets it. Subtraction: he nailed some pages (the ones with pictures) but not others. Counting the numbers to 100: he did it in class all the time but not during the assessment. He was tired. He can count by 10s then count on from there. Addition: he guessed sometimes instead of trying to figure it out. Doing great with sorting: sort by color, size, by taste, etc. Work on at home: subtraction and a little bit of addition. Sometimes he misses the sign (plus or minus) so mix up some problems and get him to pay attention to the sign.

Judaics – Morah Rebekah

Elliot is super-connected to the stories of Judaism. He perks up at any story – the Parsha or story of the week, or any other story. He knows the Tefilah songs but doesn’t always want to sing. He participates in everything else and talks and repeats back what he learns. He is very engaged. He enjoys it. He’s connected. Some units we covered: T’Bishvat, Exodus, 10 Plagues, Crossing of the Red Sea, 10 Commandments, Golden Calf, the portable synagogue (Tabernacle), what the priests wore.

We went to Chabad Shabbat Dinner, then met Max at the Lone Tree Arts Center for a symphony performance.

The other day Elliot was confused. How could we see Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony if Beethoven is dead?

I have not seen or heard Max for 10 months – since his 8th grade graduation in May 2023. And that was brief and with Karolina. So we have not talked genuinely for maybe a couple of years.

It hurts, I miss him so. He’s almost a man now. He’s as tall as me and his voice is deep. He turns 16 in a couple of weeks. He wants to see the new Dune 2 movie with me so maybe we’ll see each other again in a couple of weeks.

The only problem was that when I dropped Max off at Karolina’s apt building, Elliot cried and cried to go with Max and to be with his mom. Even though it’s my time with Elliot, I let him go. It’s hard for me to accept that sometimes he wants to be with her and Max instead of me, but I accept it and don’t say or do anything to make Elliot feel guilt about it. I don’t tell him how it makes me feel. He’s got it tougher than me, going back and forth. He’s a wonderful, great kid, and I’m fortunate for the time I have with him.

From shopping to driving to school … Elliot is cool.

While cooking hot dogs in the backyard firepit Elliot said, “Daddy, I Love This Wonderful Life!”

I was so happy.

He also asked me if the fire was alive. And then if everything is alive.

Hello Wonderful Families,
We wanted to let you know that our Kinders earned a reward day and we voted on what kind of day to have. The winner was a “Fancy Day”. Please have your child dress up fancy on Thursday. We are so proud of them.
Warmly,
The K Team

—
Carla Zimmer
Kindergarten Teacher
Denver Jewish Day School
2450 S. Wabash Street Denver, Co 80231
czimmer@denverjds.org
720-449-9508
www.denverjds.org

Hello Wonderful Families
What a wonderful busy week. We had many highlights this week!
We had our Canine Partners of the Rockies came to visit with a service dog.
Our fancy day was a huge success. It was so nice to see all our dressed up Kinders. We topped off the week with our VIP day. Thank you to all the special people that came to see all the learning that happens in Kindergarten.

I love this picture. Elliot at “Fancy Day” in Kindergarten.

Hello Wonderful Families
What a wonderful busy week. We had many highlights this week!
We had our Canine Partners of the Rockies came to visit with a service dog.
Our fancy day was a huge success. It was so nice to see all our dressed up Kinders. We topped off the week with our VIP day. Thank you to all the special people that came to see all the learning that happens in Kindergarten.

Elliot and I love to draw two armies and attack each other on the screen at the Highlands Ranch library. Max and I used to do this on paper. Then we read books while he sits in my lap on a cozy chair.

When Elliot was younger, he would sleep sideways and kick me a lot while we slept together in the same bed (ages 2-4). I finally got this “pee pee protector” that I wore at night. During the day, I’d challenge Elliot to punch my pee pee, pretending I was some kind of superhero. Well, I threw out the jock strap today. He sleeps straight now! (Age 5)

“Daddy, I’m SO EXCITED for Groundhog Day!”

I laughed and melted when he said that on the night before Groundhog Day. How many more times will he feel it? He’s genuinely curious, and it is precious. He learned all about Groundhog Day at school. He drew two pictures and the class apparently made predictions. “KA” is Kindergarten “A” class. Looks like most kids think an early Spring will happen.

I can still hear my father saying “Punxsutawney Phil” to me. He also liked Groundhog Day a lot.

In his pictures, the groundhogs are underground with a bed. The ground is represented by a line. I love it! It’s so cute!