Kindergarten: Imaginative or Graphically Hindering?

   
School for us began officially last week. I say 'officially' because as we have worked through our kindergarten curriculum, I have found that Evelynn has a good grasp on the concepts so far. Mind you, it's only been a week. We've run into a couple of issues that were unexpected but definitely workable. In recent months, Evelynn has completed mazes like the one above. The difference between prior mazes and this one is the graphics. I know pictures at this point in a kindergartener's student career are to draw her interest and make the exercise entertaining. For Evelynn, they greatly hindered the process of going from the 'go' point to the dinosaur.
She studied the maze for a while and decided on the direction of the 'rhino' and the 'crane' animals. Stopping at the rhino, she said "I can't get to the dinosaur this way because his horns will poke me." She looked a little longer before moving toward the crane. She didn't say anything about the beak or the wing, but observed that she couldn't go that way either "because his feet are in the way and they probably stink." She then decided that direction would not work. She began at 'go' again and went toward the fish. She quickly nixed this idea saying "The fish would be too slippery and his tail would wiggle too much to get to the dinosaur." At this point I figured she would go the correct way. She was out of other options. However, she began at the turtle and followed the path to the dinosaur, ignoring the paths to the fossils and the diamond. I asked her how to get from 'go' to the turtle. She looked at the paper, then looked at me, and them stared at the paper before saying "But to start at 'go' I have to go by the mummy. If I do that the mummy might wake up and chase me. That would be too scary." I told her that was the right way to go and that she should draw the path completely from 'go' to the dinosaur. Uncertain, she said "Well, I guess I can draw the line REALLY fast and he won't wake up."

The List

    Thank you, Lord, that I have ONE child that likes to go to bed and does so without a fuss... at least not the kind of fuss that is the kicking and screaming refusal of bedtime. Twice a day, McKenna goes to bed, naptime and bedtime. Naptime has lately been initiated by myself, but bedtime, that is never the case. She goes willingly, even grabbing me by the hand and leading me to her room. It's a beautiful moment. It's a victorious moment for me.
    McKenna, however, has a list of items that must be present for her to be in bed and to sleep. Every afternoon and every night we head to her room. Up until recently I put her into her crib, but in the last few days, my preggo tummy is not allowing me that. I'm encouraging her to break routine a little and climb in herself. She's not sure what to think about this because bedtime always happens the same way. Once she's in the crib and laying down, she says "Blanket." In goes her blanket, covering her from feet to neck. She peeks over the edge of the blanket and says "Milk". Into her waiting hands I place her sippy cup. She doesn't drink it at this point. She just looks at me like I should know what comes next. "Monkey, Monkey," she says. This is one of her stuffed animals and by far the most important. She can do without Piglet or her baby in bed with her as long as she has her monkey. I place the monkey next to her, but she's still not ready to drink her milk and go to sleep. "Mooskit," she says. I turn on her MP3 player and place it on the bed. Once the music starts, she's just about ready. She begins drinking her milk, but doesn't break eye contact... my silent cue to turn off the light and leave. And that's it. Goodnight.