Guess Who Loves Teaching Kindergartners!!

This is a picture of my class. I know, I know...How did I get so lucky? In this picture they are performing a dance they made up to learn different geographical terms that describe the Earth: they are making ocean waves, I believe. In the front row, on the left in the blue sweatshirt, is Honu. This little boy is painstakingly sweet, but also needs constant attention in order to complete the most remedial of tasks. He is smart and capable, however, he is always asking for help and the minute I walk away from him he quits working. Honu is the Hawaiian word for "sea turtle" by the way... There is also a very shy little girl named Ku'uipo, her name is the Hawaiian word for "sweetheart".



This is Kamihie (say: Kah mee hee ay). He is SMART and loves to cook with his kupunawahine (grandmother). She baked the BEST chocolate chip cookies for me on Wednesday. Kamihie is also a developing artist. I have already observed some of his 'journal entries' (which in kindergarten consists of writing a sentence and drawing a picture) his drawings are impressively detailed and colored. I am sure that I cannot draw as well as he can!

This is Emily and a little girl from the other kindergarten class. Emily is on the left and is one of two white students in my classroom. Emily is also new to the island. She just moved here about three weeks ago from New Zealand. ( I knew you would ask Kelly, and she is from Auckland and speaks with the most adorable accent). Emily is a very accomplished reader and hardly needs to sound words out any more.
This is Maiya. She is absolutely as cute in real life as she appears in this picture. Maiya loves to sing and dance. Many of her 'journal entries' are of Ukuleles and Hula dancing; which she does with her mom.
La'akea amazed me on Thursday. He counted up to 177!!! Nearly all of the other kindergartners I tested this week could only make it to 39 (which is just fine because that is their bench mark for this month). However, La'akea made it right up to 100 made a big grin and then looked at me expectantly. I praised him and then asked, "do you know any more"? With a quick nod he was off and counting. At 177 he said, "that's all I got Mrs. K".

La'akea also introduced me to a new Hawaiian word on Friday. After morning recess he came over and said, "Mrs. K, do I got any Ukus on me?"

I wasn't sure what to do, until I noticed he was vigorously scratching his head. Miss. Swope, his teacher giggled at my ignorance and said, "Uku means lice. La'akea thinks he has lice, and it looks like he may be right!"

After a brief inspection, it turns out that yes, La'akea had plenty of Ukus to go around. Let's hope is mom has taken care of it by tomorrow:)

Duke is a sweetheart and something of a jokester. He is always laughing and making funny faces. Duke is also very fashionable. His normal everyday outfit is a Quicksilver or Billabong short sleeve button up and cargo shorts.

I am so excited to see my students again tomorrow!!