Well, it's been a few days since I have blogged and they have been good ones. I only have about ten minutes here so I will just mention the high points of each day. Overall, it has been a very good week for "sibling relations" and the kids have had a great morning here so far just playing with each other. I worked last night so we have taken it slow this morning. We also are not venturing outdoors since it was -20 when I woke up and is now just trying to make it to -10. I am planning to catch up on housework and do a Calvert Lesson (All caught up WOOHOO) with Joss.
Reading update: She is doing great! Since I still haven't checked out any new books from the library (they drastically cut their hours due to budget cuts and it is very hard for us to get there now)it is getting hard to satisfy her newly awakened appetite for reading. We have been reading our regular storybooks together and having her follow along and read the words that I know she is capable while I read the words that I think would just frustrate her. She could do this for much longer than I am able to and so goes off to work her way through stories that I don't think she can read. Now it helps that these are loved and favorite books that she totally knows the storyline of, but she does a great job of sounding out and guessing words by the context. Okay, I am obviously a proud mom, but it is just sooo exciting to watch her learn this! It is such a life-changing event to learn to read and I can see that she will probably follow in my footsteps of being an avid reader. Such a good thing for a homeschooled kid to be!
ANYWAY! Zeff has been very quiet and cuddly today, I have a feeling we are coming down with another round of colds here!! Baby still has a bit of a runny nose.
Thursday started out with playgroup. It took a good half hour just to get every kid dressed and bundled up for the -12 degree weather yesterday but it was worth it to get out of the house and play with friends. Once we came home though it was a mad dash to get myself ready for work and squeeze in an almost full Calvert lesson. I left 3 assignments for J to do with daddy and they did 2 of them. They also played dominoes, candyland ("Guess who won, Mommy! Your husband!") and worked on her invention so I can't complain.
Wednesday was another freezing cold day, but we braved it to attend our preschool cooperative. I am very glad to be participating in it as I feel that it is very important that Zeff have an activity that is for him since he is frequently carted along for Jossy's activities. I felt frustrated this week though, as he falls back into some of his more difficult behavior when we are there. Despite becoming more obedient at home, he ran away from the table during the lesson and refused to return. It took quite a bit of reasoning with him to talk him into coming back. Once back he stayed for 2 minutes and then took off again. I think he is just not able to focus as long when there is so much else to see and do. I am struggling with how to handle this. On one hand I feel that he may just not be developmentally ready to sit at a table and listen to a story when there are other activities going on (ie older children playing something else) so it is not fair to expect him to sit through the whole thing. On the other hand, I feel that he needs to show respect for the person who prepared the lesson. He also needs to respect the rule that we are not going to be playing in other parts of the house when we are supposed to be where the lesson is. My last concern about letting him leave the lesson is that it doesn't seem fair to the other children.
Well as usual writing things out helps to clarify how I feel about an issue. It seems to me that I am dealing with a developmental thing, and despite the points about showing respect for the house rules and lesson presenter, I cannot demand he do something he is incapable of. I think I will continue to encourage and expect him to participate in the lesson, if he is unable to sit at the table I will allow him to play with the older children knowing that he is probably still listening and learning.
It was also only our second meeting, I expect that as time goes on he will grow to understand the expectations better and will continue to mature and be more able to meet them
Reading update: She is doing great! Since I still haven't checked out any new books from the library (they drastically cut their hours due to budget cuts and it is very hard for us to get there now)it is getting hard to satisfy her newly awakened appetite for reading. We have been reading our regular storybooks together and having her follow along and read the words that I know she is capable while I read the words that I think would just frustrate her. She could do this for much longer than I am able to and so goes off to work her way through stories that I don't think she can read. Now it helps that these are loved and favorite books that she totally knows the storyline of, but she does a great job of sounding out and guessing words by the context. Okay, I am obviously a proud mom, but it is just sooo exciting to watch her learn this! It is such a life-changing event to learn to read and I can see that she will probably follow in my footsteps of being an avid reader. Such a good thing for a homeschooled kid to be!
ANYWAY! Zeff has been very quiet and cuddly today, I have a feeling we are coming down with another round of colds here!! Baby still has a bit of a runny nose.
Thursday started out with playgroup. It took a good half hour just to get every kid dressed and bundled up for the -12 degree weather yesterday but it was worth it to get out of the house and play with friends. Once we came home though it was a mad dash to get myself ready for work and squeeze in an almost full Calvert lesson. I left 3 assignments for J to do with daddy and they did 2 of them. They also played dominoes, candyland ("Guess who won, Mommy! Your husband!") and worked on her invention so I can't complain.
Wednesday was another freezing cold day, but we braved it to attend our preschool cooperative. I am very glad to be participating in it as I feel that it is very important that Zeff have an activity that is for him since he is frequently carted along for Jossy's activities. I felt frustrated this week though, as he falls back into some of his more difficult behavior when we are there. Despite becoming more obedient at home, he ran away from the table during the lesson and refused to return. It took quite a bit of reasoning with him to talk him into coming back. Once back he stayed for 2 minutes and then took off again. I think he is just not able to focus as long when there is so much else to see and do. I am struggling with how to handle this. On one hand I feel that he may just not be developmentally ready to sit at a table and listen to a story when there are other activities going on (ie older children playing something else) so it is not fair to expect him to sit through the whole thing. On the other hand, I feel that he needs to show respect for the person who prepared the lesson. He also needs to respect the rule that we are not going to be playing in other parts of the house when we are supposed to be where the lesson is. My last concern about letting him leave the lesson is that it doesn't seem fair to the other children.
Well as usual writing things out helps to clarify how I feel about an issue. It seems to me that I am dealing with a developmental thing, and despite the points about showing respect for the house rules and lesson presenter, I cannot demand he do something he is incapable of. I think I will continue to encourage and expect him to participate in the lesson, if he is unable to sit at the table I will allow him to play with the older children knowing that he is probably still listening and learning.
It was also only our second meeting, I expect that as time goes on he will grow to understand the expectations better and will continue to mature and be more able to meet them
posted by KatyM @ 9:26 AM
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