Lily's Learning Story....

Lily's school provides parents with "learning stories" a few times a year.  They are meant to demonstrate a child's strengths, something they've learned, a milestone, etc.  Cut-n-pasted below is one we got from her teachers today...made me so proud I cried.

Lily the Leaper
03/25/2012
By Lily and Andrea

Lily was outside, calling “Andrea, watch me, I even know how to jump on to that far bar.”

Lily positioned herself on the platform, squatted low and focused. She concentrated on the third bar out and jumped. She got it! Scarlett and Hope were both nearby.

They approached Lily, “How did you do that?” asked Scarlett. Lily gave them a quick lesson. She talked about how she braced herself and how she got over the original fear in the beginning. She told the girls to squat low and “look at the bar you want.” Scarlett jumped up and prepared herself. She got into the same positioning as Lily and was beginning to ask questions. Lily climbed up to stand up across from her and coach her “Just go Scarlett. You can do it. It’s not that scary like it looks.” Scarlett took a minute and then a leap of faith. She fell, but quickly got back up and laughed it off. Lily jumped down and checked on her, then convinced her to try again, “Scarlett you have to keep trying and trying and you can do it.” Scarlett climbed up and prepared to jump again. Her hands grazed the bar, but she fell again. Lily quickly came over “Whoa, that was so close, and it didn’t even hurt you Scarlett. You have to try it again and you have to jump mostly. And it’s not even scary right, it’s okay if you fall.”  Scarlett agreed and set up to jump a third time. She stood and looked at the bar for a long minute. She took a big breath and then jumped, reaching her arms up towards the third bar. In a few seconds she was swinging from that bar yelling, “Lily, look I did it too. I can do it also!”
Lily got a big smile on her face and yelled, “Yeah, you can do it Scarlett, it was so easy to you!”

Hope was watching nearby and was quick to jump in the excitement, “Yeah and I can do it too!” Hope confidently climbed up and swiftly jumped toward the third bar. She fell. Lily walked over and said, “You can try it again Hopie.” Lily walked Hope over to the platform and showed her techniques. Hope mirrored Lily and jumped. She did it. “See,”
said Hope, “I knew I could do it too!”

The girls continued, they encouraged each other and got excited for one another. A few days later the same three girls had moved to the monkey bars in the big kid's playground (Which are higher up and a bit farther apart). They tried until they succeeded, jumping to the second or third bar. A few minutes later, Lily approached me and asked me, “Andrea, please can you come watch us?” 

She took my hand and led me into the big kids playground, “Watch us Andrea,” she said. I watched and my eyes got big as I saw the girls doing tricks on the bars. They were flipping upside-down, hanging by their feet, and so much more! “We can do new stuff now!” Lily told me.  “Yeah, cause we’ve been practicing and practicing!” said Scarlett.
The girls, joined by several other children in our class, continue to practice new things on the monkey bars daily. I know that it is only a matter of time until I am amazed by their next trick.

What it means:
Lily, you are such a strong girl. You took pride in showing off something that you had been working on, and were excited to help your friends succeed as well. Today you showed a positive attitude. You are a true leader and someone that friends can and do look up to. You helped your friends to persevere, and showed them confidence in their abilities. You are a great friend and role model!

Future Possibilities:
Lily, I truly believe I will see you in the Olympics someday…That is if your passion for bars and swinging remains… At school we will give Lily and the other children the time and space to further develop their gross motor skills. We will pull out gymnastics mats in the gym more often and let Lily explore where her strengths can take her. At home, it might be fun to tour the different parks and play structures around Seattle. A few of the newer parks have sideways monkey bars, you could challenge Lily to try those. Lily worked really well with others today, with her athleticism, I would look into trying some team sports out. Here she would be able to exhibit her strengths, help others, and work together with other children.