Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Things I should be writing down

People tell me all the time that I should write a book. I hope to one day, but no time for that now. I've been really bad about writing things down since the boys came home so wanted to jot some notes before I forget.

Last week:
Mickey started calling me "mommy" when he is concerned about something or is having a sweet moment. He still yells, "MOM" when he needs help with homework or needs something, but "mommy" is a huge step.

AJ read me 2 beginner reading books. This is huge!!! I've been extremely frustrated with AJ's school and the ESL services he is getting (or not getting). I decided to investigate Hooked on Phonics to see if it would help AJ learn the sounds of letters. A week and a half working with HoP and he's reading. Now retention is another matter...but baby steps.

This week:
Mickey asked me tonight if I had texted someone. I asked him if he knew what texting was and he explained it to me. I told him, "congratulations, you are now an official American tween." Then I had to explain what a tween was.

Chloe lost her 2nd front tooth so is now asking us to cut up all her food (like pizza). Poor kid!

Essie lost her bottom tooth last week (same on as Chloe lost a few weeks ago) so they were missing the same teeth for about a week.

The girls also brought home math papers from school last week that showed they had been doing addition. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! They are in Kindergarten and are already having to learn addition. Craziness! But I've been intrigued by the Tiger Mom book that has been all over the news lately and I do have to say that I agree with her when she says that Chinese parents believe their children to be strong and push them so that inner strength comes out while Western parents feel their children are inherently fragile. I know my children are inherently strong because they survived for 3, 8, and 10 (or12) years in the bush. Therefore, I'm pushing as much as I can with school and we are doing lots of homework and extra work that I am finding from various sources. Honestly, its a big pain in the butt to me as I have many other things I could be doing. But, its my job to make sure they not only survive, but thrive academically. And since the boys are already behind, I'm going to keep pushing as much as they'll take. (BUT I still won't homeschool them b/c I'm pretty sure I would strangle one or more of them if I did that) Ok, I'm getting off my soapbox now.

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