Talking Letters
We had some friends over for supper the other night. Our kids are all very close in age and play very well together.
Gus made Calli a cardboard replica of his pirate sword, as a gift. Calli was quite thrilled with her new gift and slept with it under her pillow that night! You can see it lying on the table here in front of her. Oh, and Gus wasn't really as grouchy as he looks in this picture...
Calli is about a month older than Gus and the two of them play together extremely well! Marin and Sarah are 3 months apart and were apparently having quite a serious conversation here!! Sarah's vocabulary is more advanced than Marin's right now, but that didn't stop them from chit-chatting at the end of the table.
Since Marin was born, 18 months ago, I have been rocking her to sleep each night. I never felt guilty about doing it because I completely enjoyed the snuggle time I got to have with my littlest. Up until recently, Adam and I were able to ask for a hug or kiss from Marin and if she said No, we could fake-cry and she would quickly come and give us the hug or kiss. She has since realized that we are just playing and now refuses hugs and kisses all day long...unless it's on her terms. Therefore, my pre-bedtime snuggles are pretty important.
One night, Marin was particularly restless and wouldn't settle down for me. I kept telling her I would put her down in her bed and she kept saying "NO. NO." It was nearing 930pm (she's usually in bed by 815-830) and I finally decided enough was enough. I told her we were going to go up to her room and she was going to bed. I put her in there and she started to cry. It took every bit of strength in my body to leave her. I rubbed her back, gave her a blanket and a big hug and kiss and walked out of the room. She cried for about 5 minutes and promptly fell asleep. Just like that.
Tonight was the 5th night that I have put her in bed at the same time as I tuck Calli in (they share a room - amazingly Calli sleeps through Marins' crying!!) and she was such a big, brave girl tonight. She laid down for me so I could cover her up and didn't make a peep!! Until I closed the door. She then cried for about 30 seconds and I probably won't hear from her until the morning when I hear "MOMMY!!! MOMMY??? MommyMommyMommy..." I think it's harder on the parent than it is on the child as I am having a harder time breaking the pattern/habit than she is.
Luckily, she still likes a snuggle at nap time. We usually lay down together in my bed and she nods off for a few hours....Doesn't she look like the cutest little red-checked plum in the world??
Speaking of plums...Marin has started copying everything Calli does. I'm not sure why Calli thinks the coffee table is a couch when there is a perfectly soft and cushy couch 2 feet from her, but she has taken to sitting on the coffee table while watching cartoons. She will get off once I remind her, but by then my adventurous little Marin has already seen that the view is better from atop the table. What is a mother to do?
Calli is doing very well with reading and I was invited to come to her school to see how well she is doing with the "pink boxes" and the moveable alphabet. Her teacher is extremely surprised at how well Calli is doing with sounding out words and reading, essentially. The pink boxes each contain mini objects and yellow cards. Calli's job is to set out the mini objects, then choose the letters from the moveable alphabet that make up the name of the object.
Here you can see she has a bus, a fox and a pin. She has sounded out the word bus (phonetically) and chosen the letter sounds to make the word. Make sense? The yellow cards are what she uses at the end to check her work. She ended up seeing that the p in pin was actually an upside down b and grabbed the letter p to correct her mistake.
It's amazing to see her progression with reading. She now sounds out signs and anything else she sees that are letters. It's been a bit hard to explain some of the rules to her though. (How do we explain that the e in face is silent? And a is supposed to make an ah sound.) I always wondered how people could think English was a hard language to learn. Seeing it through a 4 year olds eyes...I would have to agree.
Gus made Calli a cardboard replica of his pirate sword, as a gift. Calli was quite thrilled with her new gift and slept with it under her pillow that night! You can see it lying on the table here in front of her. Oh, and Gus wasn't really as grouchy as he looks in this picture...
Calli is about a month older than Gus and the two of them play together extremely well! Marin and Sarah are 3 months apart and were apparently having quite a serious conversation here!! Sarah's vocabulary is more advanced than Marin's right now, but that didn't stop them from chit-chatting at the end of the table.
Since Marin was born, 18 months ago, I have been rocking her to sleep each night. I never felt guilty about doing it because I completely enjoyed the snuggle time I got to have with my littlest. Up until recently, Adam and I were able to ask for a hug or kiss from Marin and if she said No, we could fake-cry and she would quickly come and give us the hug or kiss. She has since realized that we are just playing and now refuses hugs and kisses all day long...unless it's on her terms. Therefore, my pre-bedtime snuggles are pretty important.
One night, Marin was particularly restless and wouldn't settle down for me. I kept telling her I would put her down in her bed and she kept saying "NO. NO." It was nearing 930pm (she's usually in bed by 815-830) and I finally decided enough was enough. I told her we were going to go up to her room and she was going to bed. I put her in there and she started to cry. It took every bit of strength in my body to leave her. I rubbed her back, gave her a blanket and a big hug and kiss and walked out of the room. She cried for about 5 minutes and promptly fell asleep. Just like that.
Tonight was the 5th night that I have put her in bed at the same time as I tuck Calli in (they share a room - amazingly Calli sleeps through Marins' crying!!) and she was such a big, brave girl tonight. She laid down for me so I could cover her up and didn't make a peep!! Until I closed the door. She then cried for about 30 seconds and I probably won't hear from her until the morning when I hear "MOMMY!!! MOMMY??? MommyMommyMommy..." I think it's harder on the parent than it is on the child as I am having a harder time breaking the pattern/habit than she is.
Luckily, she still likes a snuggle at nap time. We usually lay down together in my bed and she nods off for a few hours....Doesn't she look like the cutest little red-checked plum in the world??
Speaking of plums...Marin has started copying everything Calli does. I'm not sure why Calli thinks the coffee table is a couch when there is a perfectly soft and cushy couch 2 feet from her, but she has taken to sitting on the coffee table while watching cartoons. She will get off once I remind her, but by then my adventurous little Marin has already seen that the view is better from atop the table. What is a mother to do?
Calli is doing very well with reading and I was invited to come to her school to see how well she is doing with the "pink boxes" and the moveable alphabet. Her teacher is extremely surprised at how well Calli is doing with sounding out words and reading, essentially. The pink boxes each contain mini objects and yellow cards. Calli's job is to set out the mini objects, then choose the letters from the moveable alphabet that make up the name of the object.
Here you can see she has a bus, a fox and a pin. She has sounded out the word bus (phonetically) and chosen the letter sounds to make the word. Make sense? The yellow cards are what she uses at the end to check her work. She ended up seeing that the p in pin was actually an upside down b and grabbed the letter p to correct her mistake.
It's amazing to see her progression with reading. She now sounds out signs and anything else she sees that are letters. It's been a bit hard to explain some of the rules to her though. (How do we explain that the e in face is silent? And a is supposed to make an ah sound.) I always wondered how people could think English was a hard language to learn. Seeing it through a 4 year olds eyes...I would have to agree.
Comments
xoxo
p.s.
Good reading Calli, keep up the great work!
Love, Chantelle