She can make ice. Her dad showed her how to put water in a little container and find a flat place in the freezer for it. She's thrilled that she can make her own ice now!
She also got out her weather lab and started flipping though the book. We use a dish of water, a mirror, and a flashlight to separate light waves and make rainbows on the wall. Then we tried to show how lightning is made, but the static from a balloon wasn't working right (and we don't have any wool anything because it never gets cold enough here). But since a "cold" front is supposed to come through on Friday, we started a chart to track the temperature.
Yesterday we went to the pool so she could splash around and practice her swimming skills. She ended up swimming laps with her life jacket! Except for the strap that was chaffing her thigh -- so she kept screaming intermitently -- she had a good time and did really well.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Yesterday she finished her first workbook! I'm especially proud because she really got the hang of doing A-B-C Dot-to-Dots all by herself. I told her I would take her to Walgreen's and get a new one that very same day... which I did, but all they had were the same exact ones. She didn't care. In fact, she insisted that's the one she wanted. Too bad she got it taken away before we even left the parking lot. :}
Wlagreen's did have some other neat workbooks, like thinking skills and puzzle games which we picked up as well. She was so excited about those that she was bouncing out of her pants to work on it when her got home. (She did 9 pages!)
Dance class went great, too. She had a nap before we left, plus a good lunch, and when we got there we talked about what to do in case the music was too loud or she felt tired. (Raise her hand and ask the teacher to turn the volume down / sit down for a while until she felt like dancing again.) Well, it worked! She didn't come out at all, although she did have to go to the bathroom once so they needed me to help with that, which is fine.
Today she went right for the Thinking Skills workbook... and did 19 pages! And when she was getting tired, she used her words and said "I don't want to do this, I'm tired." And I just said "OK. You're all done with this?" "Yep." And that was it. No fussing, fighting, or arguing. Although she was a bit upset when she found out that playtime at Grammy's house was cancelled for tomorrow. We'll just have to find an adventure close by, because it's been way too long since we've been out and about for any field trips.
Wlagreen's did have some other neat workbooks, like thinking skills and puzzle games which we picked up as well. She was so excited about those that she was bouncing out of her pants to work on it when her got home. (She did 9 pages!)
Dance class went great, too. She had a nap before we left, plus a good lunch, and when we got there we talked about what to do in case the music was too loud or she felt tired. (Raise her hand and ask the teacher to turn the volume down / sit down for a while until she felt like dancing again.) Well, it worked! She didn't come out at all, although she did have to go to the bathroom once so they needed me to help with that, which is fine.
Today she went right for the Thinking Skills workbook... and did 19 pages! And when she was getting tired, she used her words and said "I don't want to do this, I'm tired." And I just said "OK. You're all done with this?" "Yep." And that was it. No fussing, fighting, or arguing. Although she was a bit upset when she found out that playtime at Grammy's house was cancelled for tomorrow. We'll just have to find an adventure close by, because it's been way too long since we've been out and about for any field trips.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Wednesday is Aba's day at Grammy's house. I get up early, get her ready to go as quickly and as patiently as possible, and Dave takes her in my car (because the car seat will only fit in my car) and drops her off on his way into work.
It's working out great for me, even if I do have to get up early. Grammy says she doesn't mind at all, but I'm sure to be extra generous with thoughtful gifts and grabbing dinner on my way to pick her up. No complaints from Dave either. I'm still getting used to it though. I feel lost on Wednesdays. I know there's plenty of things I should and could and need to be doin, but when the day rolls around I just can't seem to pull myself together and get much done. So I end up volunteering myself to take on more of the bookkeeping responsibilities at Dave's work. I'll have to try writing projects on the calendar for Wednesdays so I'm not wandering around the house like a puppy who's lost her mother.
Tomorrow we'll try a free day. She's been wanting to bathe Naomi (our one last ferret) and I've been trying since Mabon to put up Fall decorations and bake cornbread & pumpkin pie. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
It's working out great for me, even if I do have to get up early. Grammy says she doesn't mind at all, but I'm sure to be extra generous with thoughtful gifts and grabbing dinner on my way to pick her up. No complaints from Dave either. I'm still getting used to it though. I feel lost on Wednesdays. I know there's plenty of things I should and could and need to be doin, but when the day rolls around I just can't seem to pull myself together and get much done. So I end up volunteering myself to take on more of the bookkeeping responsibilities at Dave's work. I'll have to try writing projects on the calendar for Wednesdays so I'm not wandering around the house like a puppy who's lost her mother.
Tomorrow we'll try a free day. She's been wanting to bathe Naomi (our one last ferret) and I've been trying since Mabon to put up Fall decorations and bake cornbread & pumpkin pie. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Today went much better than yesterday. There were no mishaps this morning -- even toilet teeth & hair went off without a fuss. She didn't want to start with a song today, even though they were the ones she picked out. Which was fine, she just wanted to start right in with the workbooks. This time I let her choose what book and what page she wanted, so we started with Spelling Skills (grade 1) where she identified pictures that started and ended with the "g" sound and wrote the letter underneath. She started on the next page with "b" but changed her mind and wanted to play with the balloon.
So we took a break and played with the balloon and I snuck in a few verses of "Dixie" while we were bopping around. She caught on and took the music page away from me, then tucked me in for a nap and read me a story about scarecrows. (Shortest nap I ever had.) Before I could get to sleep she was telling me it was time to get up and do more schoolwork.
I jumped out of bed, and she wanted to work on Math Skills (grade 1). She chose the page with the hopping frog (surprise) which was all about skip counting, aka counting by twos. I think she was strting to catch on by the end of the page but it'll take some more practice. After that she wanted the trains, which was a page about finding patterns in a sequence of numbers and writing them in the blank boxes. It was a little tough, but she stuck with it and finished the page.
That made three and we were off to find Spongebob! I wish every day would be this easy.
No photos from dance class yesterday -- i won't take pictures of other people's kids because I don't want peole taking pictures of my kid, and she didn't want me to take her picture after watrds, so no photo. But she did great! She came out twice, but no crying this time. Warmups were a little boring for her, but she liked the hula hoop games and actually participated in the dance routine at the end. Maybe we'll get a picture next week before we leave the house :)
So we took a break and played with the balloon and I snuck in a few verses of "Dixie" while we were bopping around. She caught on and took the music page away from me, then tucked me in for a nap and read me a story about scarecrows. (Shortest nap I ever had.) Before I could get to sleep she was telling me it was time to get up and do more schoolwork.
I jumped out of bed, and she wanted to work on Math Skills (grade 1). She chose the page with the hopping frog (surprise) which was all about skip counting, aka counting by twos. I think she was strting to catch on by the end of the page but it'll take some more practice. After that she wanted the trains, which was a page about finding patterns in a sequence of numbers and writing them in the blank boxes. It was a little tough, but she stuck with it and finished the page.
That made three and we were off to find Spongebob! I wish every day would be this easy.
No photos from dance class yesterday -- i won't take pictures of other people's kids because I don't want peole taking pictures of my kid, and she didn't want me to take her picture after watrds, so no photo. But she did great! She came out twice, but no crying this time. Warmups were a little boring for her, but she liked the hula hoop games and actually participated in the dance routine at the end. Maybe we'll get a picture next week before we leave the house :)
Monday, October 5, 2009
A couple days ago I got the neat idea to start every schoolwork session with a song. You know, something like the pledge of allegiance, but more fun. "America The Beautiful" is one of my favorites so I found the lyrics at http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/america.htm and printed out a copy complete with photo montage of the White House and American flag. I thought it was neat, but as you might have guessed by now, she did not. Today we finally agreed that we would look for a patriotic song together as soon as we got on the computer.
She did 2 worksheets for tracing and writing practice, a short ABC dot-to-dot, and because she had trouble with the little "h", another page of practice for that. For some reason, she fought me the whole time on everything. We even took a little break and played around with a balloon for a while to let off some steam. As soon as we were back at the craft table, she's complaining all over again.
After the break, I let her choose what she wanted to work on, and she picked out a workbook for time & money. I think she was frustrated that i did not let her start with the pages way in the back of the book (they progress from easiest to hardest, front to back) and gave up before she was done with the first thing on the first page. I wouldn't let her quit, or watch movies on the 'puter until she completed 3 pages from 1 workbook, just like we agreed.
If it's too easy, she complains of being tired. If it's too hard, she just wants to watch movies on the 'puter. I feel like nothing makes this girl happy unless she gets her way. I hate fighting with her about everything.
She did 2 worksheets for tracing and writing practice, a short ABC dot-to-dot, and because she had trouble with the little "h", another page of practice for that. For some reason, she fought me the whole time on everything. We even took a little break and played around with a balloon for a while to let off some steam. As soon as we were back at the craft table, she's complaining all over again.
After the break, I let her choose what she wanted to work on, and she picked out a workbook for time & money. I think she was frustrated that i did not let her start with the pages way in the back of the book (they progress from easiest to hardest, front to back) and gave up before she was done with the first thing on the first page. I wouldn't let her quit, or watch movies on the 'puter until she completed 3 pages from 1 workbook, just like we agreed.
If it's too easy, she complains of being tired. If it's too hard, she just wants to watch movies on the 'puter. I feel like nothing makes this girl happy unless she gets her way. I hate fighting with her about everything.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
"I'm too tired"
I've been noticing she claims to be getting tired sooner and sooner after we sit down to do schoolwork. Partly I think it's because she gets bored with the easy stuff (i.e, "trace the rectangles then color them" -- she's the only kid I know who doesn't like to color) and partly I think it's because she can't wait to watch Spongebob on the computer.
Today I suggested we finish 3 pages from 3 workbooks before watching movies on the computer, and she counter suggested doing 3 pages from 1 workbook. So we agreed to 3 pages from 1 workbook this week, 3 pages from 2 workbooks next week, and 3 pages from 3 workbooks the following week.
She traced good squares and rectangles today, though. Later we'll be going to Sharon's baby shower so I will hopefully have some pictures to share.
Today I suggested we finish 3 pages from 3 workbooks before watching movies on the computer, and she counter suggested doing 3 pages from 1 workbook. So we agreed to 3 pages from 1 workbook this week, 3 pages from 2 workbooks next week, and 3 pages from 3 workbooks the following week.
She traced good squares and rectangles today, though. Later we'll be going to Sharon's baby shower so I will hopefully have some pictures to share.
Friday, October 2, 2009
A Love of Learning
Tonight is tournament night, so I thought I would try and make it a relaxing day. I offered the choice between schoolwork or decorating & baking for fall, and would you believe she choose schoolwork? Baffling. That's ok; she practiced writing letter C until they went from an upside-down U to a backwards C, which is definitely improvement.
After our nap, I packed my bag to go play Magic then we headed to the park to meet Dave. They played until dark, then had a nice night out at CiCi's pizza. As per our agreement, she got to watch movies when they came home until she fell asleep on the couch.
I'd have to say it was a good day. :)
After our nap, I packed my bag to go play Magic then we headed to the park to meet Dave. They played until dark, then had a nice night out at CiCi's pizza. As per our agreement, she got to watch movies when they came home until she fell asleep on the couch.
I'd have to say it was a good day. :)
Thursday, October 1, 2009
There's never any shortage of surprises when it comes to kids. Just when you think you've got them figured out, they get all grown up on you. We recently started with a new routine around here: grown-ups get up and ready for the day, all the animals get food & medicine, then we eat breakfast. Not much of a change there... the new routine calls for Aba's "toilet, teeth and hair" right after breakfast. If she fights with me about it she goes to her room until she's ready to do it. The magic words being, "WHEN you are ready to do toilet, teeth, and hair, THEN you may come out of your room." If she's screaming or yelling, I close the door behind her.
After the fiasco subsides and she's finally ready for the day, we sit down at her craft table to do schoolwork. This has been working well for about a week now, but today she just didn't seem interested in any of it. The new hidden pictures were too complex, and she's usually very good at finding them; the preschool workbook is way too simple for her now so she fought about doing the simple stuff and flipped through half the book until she finally found something remotely interesting, then gave up before she was finished with the exercise. She did a few mazes, then threw her hands up in exasperation and went to jump on the bed for a minuite.
We looked up "parthenon" because one of the mazes was titled Partheon Path, but there were no pictures. I looked up "Athens" and we were able to see the rubble in in the photo from a distance. She decided her Build-A-Bear dog is an Affenpinscher, and we discussed the flow chart on how aluminum is made -- which she promptly related to the aluminum in the recycling bins!
After schoolwork I let her watch movies on the computer while I finish my chores for the day.
The main project for the day was going to Target for groceries, pink socks to complete her dance class uniform, and gifts for Sharon's baby shower. It was the first time she didn't ride in the buggy (at 44 lbs, she's just too big to lift in and out without someone getting hurt) & she actually stayed with me the whole time. Ok, most of the time. Minus the bite out of the apple incident, she was pretty good.
On the way out she decided she was hungry when we passed the snack bar & she picked out a yogurt. I gave her a dollar and she took it to the cash register & paid for it all by herself. :)
After the fiasco subsides and she's finally ready for the day, we sit down at her craft table to do schoolwork. This has been working well for about a week now, but today she just didn't seem interested in any of it. The new hidden pictures were too complex, and she's usually very good at finding them; the preschool workbook is way too simple for her now so she fought about doing the simple stuff and flipped through half the book until she finally found something remotely interesting, then gave up before she was finished with the exercise. She did a few mazes, then threw her hands up in exasperation and went to jump on the bed for a minuite.
We looked up "parthenon" because one of the mazes was titled Partheon Path, but there were no pictures. I looked up "Athens" and we were able to see the rubble in in the photo from a distance. She decided her Build-A-Bear dog is an Affenpinscher, and we discussed the flow chart on how aluminum is made -- which she promptly related to the aluminum in the recycling bins!
After schoolwork I let her watch movies on the computer while I finish my chores for the day.
The main project for the day was going to Target for groceries, pink socks to complete her dance class uniform, and gifts for Sharon's baby shower. It was the first time she didn't ride in the buggy (at 44 lbs, she's just too big to lift in and out without someone getting hurt) & she actually stayed with me the whole time. Ok, most of the time. Minus the bite out of the apple incident, she was pretty good.
On the way out she decided she was hungry when we passed the snack bar & she picked out a yogurt. I gave her a dollar and she took it to the cash register & paid for it all by herself. :)
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