Proud Mama

Something I really like that our school does is that they have the kids do plenty of public speaking type things, from the group performances to skits to book reports to even a presentation with a powerpoint they created (BB did that last year in 2nd grade!). They are going to be soo much better at speaking in front of people than I was/am! Barbara and Jimmy were both reading before entering school, so they often were chosen in the kindergarten grades to read things at Mass, or for example Barbara narrated the class play on the Pilgrims last fall

Well, because of our last name, BB was first this year to have her "All About Me" days in Mrs. Hochhaus' class, where you are the class leader and get to share about yourself, including a little 5 minute presentation on something about yourself. Barbara chose to talk about her interest in Redwall books and share her illustrations. I am so proud of how she drew out about 20 different drawings of the different characters, and when I asked her to plan out what she was going to say and jot down some talking points on a notecard, on her own she was able to write 1. uniqueness (how this was unique to her) 2. Redwall (she introduced the series and what it was about) 3. show pictures and 4. read descriptions (from her poster of Redwall characters) I thought the way she planned it out was very concise and orderly!

She came home beaming that it went really well. She said she felt nervous, like she was shaking a little, "but I conquered it!" (the nervousness). She said she just did it anyway and felt really good after and all of her classmates wanted to keep one of her drawings, and she ended up with only one left to bring home. I'm really proud of her and it's a great feeling as a parent when your child (especially who happens to be so much like you!)is able to excel at something that for you as an adult is still difficult. I hope she continues to be able to gain confidence, as she has been doing!

Below are some of the FREEHAND drawings of the villains she's done. The girl draws as well as I do, at age 8!! (And I still hope to illustrate books some day!)