It has been 7 months and until now, I had never written another entry to this blog. My friends had given up, but alas, we are still here and doing quite well. The girl and I have been very busy and I would love to catch you up on us, however, I think that instead I will just start from right now. Perhaps if the impulse hits, I will fill you in on the highlights of the past later on.
The girl wants to read so badly. I've been reading to her since she was just a month old, everything from poetry to picture books to novels, however we did not start any true reading instruction until this past fall. She has shown steady progress all year, it just isn't happening as fast as she would like. Over the past few days it has become an all consuming fire. She writes all the time, asking me to spell out each word for her, then she posts her little notes and signs all over the house. However, when she is forced to be alone, she does well on her own. Yesterday she wrote a note that said, "NO PEPL. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO". This note was written after I had given her instruction that I needed some quiet time for an hour and did not want to be disturbed. She posted the sign on the bedroom door as a sort of protest. After my quiet time was over, she took me to the sign and was very proud of it (along with the picture she had drawn of me sticking my tongue out). The most important thing about that note was that she written it on her own. I was proud of her as well... and it was quit apparent that we needed to have a talk about our feelings related to my taking some time out for myself. That, of course, is another story.
So, tomorrow we are going to continue what we've been doing ( the first grade curriculum by Donna Simmons) and add some games and other ideas from the very compelling book, "Words Their Way". I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. I get the feeling that one way or another she will take off with reading, very similarly to how she took to swimming last year. One day, she needed to hold on to me in the 4ft pool, a week later she was jumping into the 16ft diving well on her own. I don't think I'm ever really prepared for her not needing me. I am always happy and proud of her accomplishments, but it still pinches a little.
The above attached photo is a wish that the girl wrote out for "Miss North Wind" on a recent homeschooling adventure. She wished for one more snow storm before spring arrived. The note (and my girl) is just super-cute and I am a proud mama.
