Today during School Time the baby was napping so--actually having a free hand--I decided spontaneously to take a few videos for posterity. These are "grandparent videos," meaning I don't actually fancy that many others will want to spend 15 minutes or so watching videos of my kids.
When my in laws were visiting after Chris' recent surgery, I asked my mother-in-law to help me rearrange the play room to make it more functional for play and school because she has a really good eye for this kind of thing. For example, there was a storage problem I hadn't figured out for a couple of years and when she walked up to the room, the first thing she did was glance at the pile of stuff and say, "Oh, that belongs over there." And she was right!
Astute eyes will notice the white board with markings on it that are clearly done by a preschooler, not a mama. Yes, Mary has repeatedly scaled the bookshelf with pen in hand and written on the white board, which is why the pens are now hidden away and that bookshelf is bolted to the wall.
John had been bogging down in "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons"--I think because of lack of confidence, not because of lack of ability. So, we have switched to reading Bob Books for the last week and his confidence is soaring! We only read a Bob Book once because children memorize so quickly--so what he's reading above is for the first time.
This third video gives a glimpse of my making stabs at managing two children in my little classroom. Often the baby is awake during School Time too, in which case she plays on the floor for a few minutes, then needs to be held, so she sits on my knee and I try to keep her from grabbing the kids' books and crayons. As it was, today I had only the two and I still struggled mightily to give Mary something to do for sixty seconds, dart to John, work with him for 60 seconds, dart back, and so on.
I had been having Mary just play in the room while I did schooling with John. But the other day Mary and I were at a bookstore and I saw that Kumon workbooks now have a whole line called First Steps for ages two and three! I couldn't resist and bought a couple for Mary, and she was so pleased as punch, for several days she told every adult and stranger who would listen to her, "I have two school books!" (Even during the middle of Mass, Mary acosted Mrs. C---- to give her announcement!) She desperately wants to Do School For Real and not just have me fling a coloring book from the Dollar Store in her direction. She wants me to give her directions so she can do the little activity: as she tells me, "I know all the rules." ("Yes, dear, then could you please follow more of them?") It's soooooooo cute to me!
Inspirational Reading for the Day: I've read these articles recently and found them encouraging for my season in life!
"The Tunnel of Parenthood" by Emily Sederstrand
"Don't Judge Parenthood by the First Six Years" by Jennifer Fulwiler
"Motherhood is Application" by Rachel Jankovic (Well, this one wasn't so much encouraging as made me weep the day I read it because I was seriously failing at representing the Gospel to my very own children, my closest neighbors.)
Oh, thank you for those links! I didn't watch the videos, but your description sounds like school at our house too. The only difference is that the baby is a climber and alternates between finding impossible ways to scale the table and screaming when I remove him. He will not be distracted.
ReplyDeleteWe love that series of Kumon workbooks too. They have been a huge hit with the boys for the past few years. Both the older boys have gone through them. My oldest even wanted to do them again when his younger brother did. Luckily, the Kumon books for older kids are just as fun! They are all just so colorful!
I felt totally bogged down with Sarah's reading at this stage too. It took FOREVER to get through the lessons -- sounding out every sound, ugh. Then, eventually (around her 6th b-day) it really clicked and she was off!
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