I am sure I have pictures to post if I wanted, but for now, I think I just need to get back in the habit of keeping some kind of documentation of what we do. We have been using our little calendar but blogging obviously provides more room for detail.
Niki and I played on Starfall yesterday for a couple of hours. She hasn't been interested in this website lately. Upon re-introduction to Starfall.com we discovered Niki can now read! Amazing how it just happens. We watch Word World, and the LEAP videos often, and we read daily but, who can say why everything actually clicked suddenly? I can say there was no coercion or pressure put on Niki to learn to read at the age of 3 and 4 as there was for Mady when she attended private school. Niki also loves workbooks. We worked on some mathy sort of pages yesterday as well. There are some blank pages in the workbook which Niki filled with her own made up story in her own made up language that seems to consist of the traditional alphabet. We all painted pictures yesterday. Niki painted some rainbows and the boys painted, well, the boys painted lots of things. We also began a new book titled "Fever 1793" about a little girl living during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. Niki wanted to go bike riding with me last night. Instead of leaving our neighborhood for a long winding stretch of hilly road, we stayed here and I rode a short 3 times (3 Miles) around our neighborhood with Niki, which seems like a long distance for such a little girl. So to put everything in schooly terms, we had a bit of history, math, reading, writing, PE and art. I believe that is a full day people.
Luke and Ezra and I played Memory and color Bingo. We played them our way since Luke and Ezra are a bit young for following "rules" to board games. Ezra also decided he needed to paint some of his die cast cars...on the laminate flooring in his room while I was helping Niki on Starfall. There were tire tracks all over the floor!
Niki and Luke have a pretty nasty cough so we are headed to the library for some books today and maybe to a friends house (who already has the nasty cough.) Mady should be home Wednesday and we can begin her new writing videos. I know she will LOVE that.
Next week we have plans to hit Port Aransas with Nenaw while she is on vacation. We are staying in a hotel, a rare event for this camping family. As a matter of fact, I think the boys have spent one night in a hotel in their 3 years. Consider all the trips we have been on all over Texas. This will be an exercise in finding what is socially acceptable behavior for Texas hotels.
The weekends around here have become extremely busy. There are so many free outdoor concerts in the area and our family loves to be outside the music is an added bonus. We have tickets (these ones weren't free) this weekend to Concerts in the Garden in Ft. Worth at the Botanic Gardens. There will be a laser show!
So, off to the library and visiting we go!
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Where Are You?
Did we already use that post title the last time we were MIA? Too much going on here in the lives of these unschoolers.
The election, and outcome, were amazing experiences to share with the kids. The night of the election, Mady and I went to eat @ a local hamburger hot spot. It was packed as usual, and the veggie burger was good, even if that is not their specialty. Mady had an enormous chicken fried steak. The girl can eat! She is getting so TALL. As Mady and I slowly chewed our food, our eyes were glued to the T.V.'s in the restaurant broadcasting the election poll results as they came in. I spoke with her about the meaning of all the data on the screen. She seemed to understand though she wasn't very inquisitive about any of it. I had not spoken much with her about the election prior to that night. She did not seem interested. She was much more interested the night of the election however.
After dinner we made our way downtown for some Swing dancing lessons. Mady had a blast and learned a bit. She also made some new friends. Mady has been much more open to new experiences lately. She adores her animals and wants to be with them all the time, but she has been doing a much wider variety of things lately. I hope I am offering her enough options. How many new people does a young girl need to meet? I always think we have plenty of time to do...whatever. In reality, if I stop to think about it, she is 10. 10 years ago was a another life time to me, but it has gone by so quickly. I have a feeling in 10 years, it will be yet another life time to me. I feel as though I need to help her see all the world has to offer. I know my children do not see the impact they are having on my life, I mean, my learning. I am uncertain I would ever have pursued some of the things I am now pursuing if they weren't my children. I somehow feel more responsible for things that happen in the world with them here.
Niki is almost constantly walking around with a book in her hand. She wants badly to be able to read on her own I think. She enjoys me reading to her. Anything. The girl asks me what every word she sees says. We have several of the little books with all the 3 letter word stories. We look @ them often. I think Niki and Luke and Ezra all enjoy listening to Dr. Seuss the most though. The pictures are entertaining as well. I love reading them, they are fun, and funny.
Mady is having to do some actual book work to appease her father. She hates it. It has proven to be rather easy though. I ordered her a few cheap workbooks. I have noticed her reading much more lately as well. I have been scouring Goodwill and Half Price Books for any book about animal rescue I can find. Mady will read if it is about animals. I read to her (to all of the kids) all the time. Tonight we read the Sunday paper for our town and the larger town near us. I tried to read everything but I did skim some of the thing that didn't appeal as much to me instead of reading them aloud. Dom asked me what I have done to help protect my civil liberties. When my answer was, "I am a citizen. I supported you while you were overseas. I sent care packages for troops. I have been to a few protests. I write letters to our reps in Congress. " It all sounded very defensive to me and I began to wonder if our children knew about their civil liberties and what they could do to help them remain their civil liberties. All this brought on by the California Prop 8 article in the paper. What do other people do? Again, am I doing enough to be an example to our kids? Am I doing enough to educate them?
And Ezra is awake...
The election, and outcome, were amazing experiences to share with the kids. The night of the election, Mady and I went to eat @ a local hamburger hot spot. It was packed as usual, and the veggie burger was good, even if that is not their specialty. Mady had an enormous chicken fried steak. The girl can eat! She is getting so TALL. As Mady and I slowly chewed our food, our eyes were glued to the T.V.'s in the restaurant broadcasting the election poll results as they came in. I spoke with her about the meaning of all the data on the screen. She seemed to understand though she wasn't very inquisitive about any of it. I had not spoken much with her about the election prior to that night. She did not seem interested. She was much more interested the night of the election however.
After dinner we made our way downtown for some Swing dancing lessons. Mady had a blast and learned a bit. She also made some new friends. Mady has been much more open to new experiences lately. She adores her animals and wants to be with them all the time, but she has been doing a much wider variety of things lately. I hope I am offering her enough options. How many new people does a young girl need to meet? I always think we have plenty of time to do...whatever. In reality, if I stop to think about it, she is 10. 10 years ago was a another life time to me, but it has gone by so quickly. I have a feeling in 10 years, it will be yet another life time to me. I feel as though I need to help her see all the world has to offer. I know my children do not see the impact they are having on my life, I mean, my learning. I am uncertain I would ever have pursued some of the things I am now pursuing if they weren't my children. I somehow feel more responsible for things that happen in the world with them here.
Niki is almost constantly walking around with a book in her hand. She wants badly to be able to read on her own I think. She enjoys me reading to her. Anything. The girl asks me what every word she sees says. We have several of the little books with all the 3 letter word stories. We look @ them often. I think Niki and Luke and Ezra all enjoy listening to Dr. Seuss the most though. The pictures are entertaining as well. I love reading them, they are fun, and funny.
Mady is having to do some actual book work to appease her father. She hates it. It has proven to be rather easy though. I ordered her a few cheap workbooks. I have noticed her reading much more lately as well. I have been scouring Goodwill and Half Price Books for any book about animal rescue I can find. Mady will read if it is about animals. I read to her (to all of the kids) all the time. Tonight we read the Sunday paper for our town and the larger town near us. I tried to read everything but I did skim some of the thing that didn't appeal as much to me instead of reading them aloud. Dom asked me what I have done to help protect my civil liberties. When my answer was, "I am a citizen. I supported you while you were overseas. I sent care packages for troops. I have been to a few protests. I write letters to our reps in Congress. " It all sounded very defensive to me and I began to wonder if our children knew about their civil liberties and what they could do to help them remain their civil liberties. All this brought on by the California Prop 8 article in the paper. What do other people do? Again, am I doing enough to be an example to our kids? Am I doing enough to educate them?
And Ezra is awake...
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