The Kids

So, I guess it's about time I catch you up on what is going on with Rebekah and Joshua. Rebekah is 5 years old and is keeping us on our toes. One day she shows a great deal of maturity, is very obedient, takes on responsibility, and desires to be a great helper. The next she shows defiance, acts immaturely, doesn't want to help, and fights us tooth and nail. It can be a roller coaster in our house sometimes. I recently read Kevin Leman's book called How to Make Your Kid Mind Without Losing Yours, and I'm trying to apply the principles in our parenting. I really like the approach of using natural and logical consequences for both good and bad behavior, and it puts more of the responsibility on Rebekah than on me. I am trying really hard not to nag and stay on top of Rebekah, but to set consequences for her actions or lack thereof, and it seems to be helping from what I can tell.

I am continuing to homeschool Rebekah occasionally. We got away from it before Christmas, and I've started again after the first of the year. We typically do our schooling on Tuesdays and Thursdays since that is when we are home, as well as days that she does not attend preschool. However, we have discussed both homeschooling and attending Silverdale for kindergarten, and Rebekah really wants to go to school with her friends. We have applied for Silverdale, and we had my interview and Rebekah's testing last week. We should hear back in about a week or so if Rebekah makes it in to the school. I've heard that there are a lot of applicants for kindergarten this year and that they are looking into adding an additional class as a result. I really want to meet with a kindergarten teacher there and discuss more in depth how the class is structured and what their day looks like. They use the Charlotte Mason approach to teaching, which is what I am really interested in doing at home if we homeschool, and I want to see how it is played out in the classroom. One thing I have been super impressed with is the Christian foundation of the school. Every time a staff member meets with me or other parents they start in prayer, and they pray over Rebekah's education and teacher, whoever and wherever that may be. It's evident that they pray over each student who attends SBA, and prayer places high priority on their list in every aspect of the school.

Rebekah is continuing to read short words, and her sight word list is expanding. She will surprise me on occasion what words she can read on road signs and such. In math, she is learning place value (tens and units, and will be adding hundreds soon). It was a hard concept to grasp at first, but we are breaking it down into smaller steps, and she is catching on very well. Her writing has improved a great deal as well, and we are working toward using more lowercase letters in writing than uppercase, and she is learning how to write her numbers. Her imagination is really developing as well, and I am sure that is from playing with friends at preschool. Rebekah likes to play by herself some days, and she is very independent, but other days she likes to play with her friend Dru a lot as well as some of the other children. She says that she and Haydon are going to get married when they are adults. He is an affectionate boy with all the children, but from what Rebekah has told me the feeling is mutual. He told her one day they were going to get married, and she has agreed.

Rebekah is extremely protective of Joshua. I'm sure that has a lot to do with their birth order. If he tries to run off she goes after him and pulls him back to me if I don't get to him first. She just doesn't want to let go when I have control over him, and of course, that drives him nuts! When she chases him he runs away faster! Of course, she is good about keeping him out of trouble as a result.

Joshua is our happy, jolly child who is almost 3 years old. He laughs a lot, and he keeps us laughing. Of course, when he is cranky it's no fun, but food usually gets him in a pretty good mood as well as a bath. I am learning that the boy needs to run, run, run! We have had to spend a lot of time indoors lately due to the cold weather, and it has been difficult for him to stay inside. He wants to run through the house, and then he runs into a couch or falls and gets bruised up on his face. He got a bruise and a scrape on his forehead in one day, and the next day he ran into the couch and got what looked like a carpet burn on his upper cheek/temple. Honestly, I think the kids could care less if it's cold outside, but I don't think I could handle it!

Lately, Joshua has shown drastic improvement with his computer skills. He is able to log out of mine and Darrin's account, log in to his and Rebekah's account, pull up the internet, and play. We have set Starfall's website as the home page, and he has a blast on there! Sometimes he will ask for another website, but he has spent most of his time learning his letter sounds and sight words. He knows all his letters, upper and lower case, and their sounds. He also likes to play games that are really above his level, but as a result he has learned sight words that I would never have guessed he could learn at this age. It has really blown my mind. He is just now showing interest in jigsaw puzzles. I remember Rebekah was doing 12-piece puzzles by her 2nd birthday, and Joshua just wasn't all that interested. He is enjoying them now and catching on quickly to the 2-4-piece puzzles that I don't think it will be long before he is ready to start more difficult puzzles. His favorite toys are still cars and things with wheels, so that is where he spends a lot of his time playing.

It has been really interesting to see how different our two children are and where their strengths and weaknesses lie. You really can't compare children because they will each have their own levels in activities and abilities, and none is any better than another. I'm learning that more and more as I see Rebekah and Joshua's differences. I'm sure I'll see even more with Micah.

We recently moved Joshua to a "big boy bed". He absolutely loves it! The first day I let him attempt a nap in it Darrin was going to put him in the crib for bed, but Joshua refused. He wanted to sleep in the bed. He has done GREAT in it! Naps are hit and miss. He was occasionally skipping his nap in his crib already, and he misses his nap more than he takes it, but I am trying to make him have an hour in his room to give him some quiet time as well as to give me a break. He is also going to have to learn to be quiet during that time when Micah is sleeping in the crib a few months down the road since the boys will be sharing a room. This should be an interesting adjustment!

Well, that's the latest on the kids. They both amaze me at times. What blessings they truly are, and I have to remind myself of that when times are tough. But they really are blessings, and I'm looking forward to adding another little blessing to our family.

Rebekah and Math

Rebekah's mind is definitely more mathematical than anything else. I don't know if she's necessarily advanced in math, but she leans toward math skills more than any other, and she gets it honestly. Darrin and I are both strong in math, so we are not surprised to see how much Rebekah enjoys it.

Rebekah is doing some simple addition. She has been doing this for several months, but I finally got some on video today. I think it's so funny that when she doesn't know or remember the answer she'll say, "You know..."



Rebekah can also count to 49 now, and she has recently become interested in her jigsaw puzzles again. It has been a long time since she has played with them. She likes for me to help her with them, but she can practically do them with no help. She's been doing some 48- and 60-piece puzzles, so I'm looking into buying some 100-piece puzzles for a challenge.

Adding things up

The other day Rebekah told me that 2 and 2 is 4! I have not been working on math skills with her at home, and I don't believe they are doing anything like that at preschool either.

Well, today I cut up some apple for her to munch on as a snack. She told me that she wanted four apples, meaning four slices of apple. I cut up one piece and placed it in a bowl. She then said she wanted three more. I cut up another slice and added it to her bowl. "How many more do you want?" I asked. "Two more apples." I cut up another slice and added it to her bowl. I asked the same question. She answered, "One more apple." I then asked, "What's three apples plus one apple?" She thought for a moment then shouted, "FOUR!"