KJ 6 Year Old Update

 If you are here only for the recipes, feel free to skip this post!  Otherwise, KJ turned six a couple of weeks ago I thought I’d write a little update like I do every year.  

(If you are new here, you may notice that the name on the cake is not KJ.  KJ is a blog nickname, so when someone searches for his real full name or my father-in-law’s since he’s named after him, the blog doesn’t pop up with a million stories or pictures of him. If I’m talking on Instagram stores, I often use his real name, but anything written is always KJ since social posts are now searchable by Google.) 

I feel like out of preschool and into Kindergarten is when I start seeing KJ for the kid he will be, not the little kid or preschooler.  I see that he is bright, passionate, silly, loving, and a little shy until he gets to know you.  

Kindergarten

And now I’ve seen how easily a teacher can make or break your child’s progress and experience, and that breaks my heart.  KJ remembers and likes his teacher from last year, but he did not thrive under the rigid rules or personality of his teacher last year, even if she was kind, Christ-filled, and passionate about learning.  We did so much work at home, and it never felt like enough.  I could elaborate on that, but I won’t.  It was a learning experience for me as a parent, a tough one that caused a lot of unneeded stress.  I’m grateful for my Aunt, who was a public elementary school teacher for many years, guiding me and encouraging me to follow my gut.  

 This year, I’m so happy and proud to say that he is absolutely thriving.  Sure, the transition to Kindergarten, being at school all day every day, was difficult for him as he is shy/slow to warm up and tender-hearted, but he is thriving.  We had our first parent conference, and his sweet, kind and the patient teacher had zero concerns.  A far cry from last year when they were already telling us at the fall conference he may need to be held back from Kindergarten. We do still need to work on writing, but his Dad’s writing is basically illegible, so I have zero hopes for long-term legibility.  I can’t believe how easily he’s picking up reading and math, Latin, and Spanish; it’s absolutely amazing, considering everything felt like an uphill battle in pre-K.  I feel grateful for the opportunity to discuss what happened last year with the principal and for her to select his teacher based on what he needed to love school again. Basically, he shut down last year. He was afraid to make a mistake, try, or even be himself.  Considering it was pre-K, we really wanted to turn the school experience around for him, and the wonderful principal at our school agreed.  

His teacher this year is kind, compassionate, and, above all, patient (even with ten boys and five girls in the class.)  We ultimately decided that private school was the best option for the small class size, at least this year, and it was a great decision.  I feel blessed to be able to provide that for him this year. Truly, he needed it.  When I went to volunteer for the classroom Halloween party, I saw the opposite of a kid I saw last year.  He was engaged and happy, talking with friends, even interrupting them, and hanging out with his bestie.  It was the opposite of the unsure and checked-out child I observed last year.  Honesty, I’m blown away, and I’m so happy for him.  He doesn’t love every aspect of school, but he’s loads more engaged this year. The relief this Mama felt was palpable, and the joy for him was overwhelming.  I can’t wait to see how he continues to blossom in school this year.  

Interests

KJ’s favorite thing is to look for bugs and trap them.  He still loves his ant farm and also now has a variety of bugs/snails he’s found and kept.  He also enjoys the variety of random mini-frogs and lizards that live in our backyard.  

He loves books about bugs and animals.  In general, he is interested in nature and wildlife.  He had a blast on his first fishing excursion with the fishing club at school.  Wild Kratts is still one of his favorite shows of all time, hence the birthday party theme.  He just loves animals/outdoors.  

KJ has also had a really active imagination.  He is always the kid that can make up games.  He’s getting into Legos but prefers to have his big cousin build the Legos while he plays with the final result.  He does like to build with Magna tiles, usually some animal enclosure that he then uses for imaginative play.  I often find him in the middle of the playroom set up with a few miniature animal figurines using his imagination.  

Sports

His favorite sport is gymnastics. It’s the one thing he looks forward to going to.  He’s in an all-boys class here, which is awesome because they do all the tumbling and none of the flexibility stuff.  NJ’s godfather is a high school football and soccer coach as well as a middle school PE teacher; he was the one who suggested it.  I would have NEVER thought of putting a boy in gymnastics, like ever. He said, “I don’t need him to play soccer and football this young, especially if he doesn’t like it; I need him to have balance, strength, and coordination, so put him in gymnastics.”  We did, and it’s been the best advice I’ve ever gotten.  He LOVES it and he’s stronger, more coordinated, and confident because of it.  The all-boys class here has been the icing on the cake.  

He played soccer this fall, and although he said he “missed it” when it was done, I think team sports are not his favorite.  He likes his team and plays well in practice, but he isn’t super aggressive when it comes to games. It tracks since he is generally slow to warm up around new people, and games are a really intense “new people” situation.  It was the same for last spring and basketball.  He will do really well during practice scrimmages, but during the games against kids, he hasn’t gotten to know he’s more reserved.  So, I had the idea for him to try tennis, and he really liked it, so I signed him up!  I told him he could quit anytime. He just needs to let me know (it’s ongoing lessons), but I can see he loves the challenge of the drills and hitting the ball.  The Australian coach is really great with all the kids, too!

He loves to swim but doesn’t love swim class.  I think he will enjoy it more when he learns all the strokes and realizes he can race others.  I do require all my kids to learn all the strokes so that one I’ll be honest I do kind of force him to do.  We’re taking a break now, but he will go back in in January.  There have been so many times I’ve been injured I’ve relied on swimming for exercise; I think it’s an important base-level skill to have.  I’ll probably force him to do swim team until I can’t force him anymore. Maybe at some point, he will like it, or maybe he won’t, but he will have the skills.  Some parents force music or piano lessons, but my requirement is a swim team or swim lessons.  haha 

Big Brother

KJ and KK are opposites that attract and repel.  KJ loves to teach his little brother things and loves to talk about him at school.  He also gets jealous and tries to one-up him as well, like any big brother.  But KK is outgoing and wild, whereas KJ is reserved and slightly more in control (some of that because of age).  But, I can see how KK brings KJ out of his shell in social situations, and KJ actually looks to his little brother to “break the ice” sometimes.  As I said, KJ loves to include his little brother and teach him things, like his ABCs, and the best ways to get in trouble.  It’s give and it’s take.  When it comes to baby girl (NJ), KJ will cater to her every want and need.  She has him wrapped around her finger, maybe more so than even Daddy.  I think for KJ, the age gap between him and KK is so much harder to visualize and understand than between him and KK.  KJ has pride in his family and takes his role of big brother seriously, maybe too seriously sometimes.  As an only child, I always have to refer to Mr. Hungry on what’s normal and what’s not when it comes to siblings.  

Food and Nutrition

Since I’m a Dietitian I feel like I should include this section!

Is KJ picky?  haha I don’t really pay attention or stress about what my kids will or will not eat.  KJ likes burgers, lobster, shrimp, salami, jerky, eggs, waffles, pancakes, french toast, and string cheese.  He also likes a variety of snacks and fruits.  It can be easy to focus on what he doesn’t like, such as chicken, turkey, PIZZA, peanut butter and jelly, ham, and vegetables.  But, I chose not to be stressed about what I can not control.  The kids know the rule: dinner is dinner, so eat it or don’t.  I do give KJ a multivitamin (this is the only one I can get him to take, not my favorite, but it works) , calcium supplement (he doesn’t drink milk) – usually this one or this one (I really wish I could find a calcium ONLY supplement), fish oil, and probiotics.  I’m not consistent on any of that, they probably get it half the week.  

That’s it! I hope you enjoyed this little update! I know some of you have been following since I was pregnant with KJ and others are new!  Either way we appreciate your support of Hungry Hobby!

More KJ Posts: 

• Dear Baby K – 4 months
• Dear Baby K – 5 Months 
• Dear Baby K – 6 Months
• Dear Baby K — 7 Months 
• Dear Baby K — 8 Months
• Dear Baby K — 9 Months
• Dear Baby K — 10 Months 
• Deary Baby K — 11 Months
• Dear Baby K — 12 Months 
• KJ – 18 Month Update
• KJ – 2-year-old update
• KJ – 2.5 year old update
• KJ – 3 year old update
• KJ – 4 year old update 
• KJ — 5 year old update