8 Days left of school!!
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Mother's Day-- Part 2
Athena is the Greek goddess, primarily known as the goddess of wisdom and courage. My husband chose Athena because our son, TsukiMoon, might never thank me for the hard work I have done this past year and a half but my husband felt I deserved to be recognized for the effort it took to enable our son to read and write.
It the past year TsukiMoon, through consistent endeavor, gained the ability to understand what he reads and the skill to write. He went from a 4/5 year old level in language to an 8/9 year old level, in line with his peers. With these skills he can enable his own learning and wisdom. Mr. TsukiMoon said that it was because of my consistent work our son is able to do this. He felt my wisdom and courage enabled our son's.
What I did seems pretty straight forward; drive him 2 times a week during the school year and 3-5 times during the summer to the speech and language pathologist, Mrs. K. Mrs. K wanted us to do an hour of homework a day. It was going to be difficult; driving was easy, an hour of homework for a 7 year old was harder.
How can I make that much homework fun for a little kid? That was the question I asked. It was important for it to be fun or he wouldn't do it. How was I going to meet that goal with child who was; turned off by school, writing, or even holding a pencil?
First we needed the right tools. I went to Amazon and bought two kinds of pencils; Faber-Castell jumbo grip Ecopencils and Dixon Tri-conderoga pencils. These were the same pencils used at the speech and language pathologist. They are triangular and easier to hold then round pencils. TsukiMoon preferred the Ecopencils. Faber-Castell also makes triangular jumbo grip colored pencils and markers. I also got a lap board.
I put the lap board and some pencils in the car. Every time we got in the car to go somewhere he had to practice is writing before the car could move. He could trace over the letters that he had worked on class, once through all the pages. It took about 5 minutes, but this isn't enough to create an hour of work.
Years ago I read an article about the importance of movement while learning. It said that for very small children only have few seconds of learning interrupted by lots physical play. From the speech pathologist I learned a theory of fine motor skills: that large motor movement develops first then moves down the arm into the fingers. She was teaching TsukiMoon cursive and wanted him to practice the letters in the air, initiating the motion from his shoulder to aid the development of the fine motor.
I combined these two ideas. TsukiMoon and I would jump on the trampoline while writing out huge letters with the sweep of our arms. Outside we would laugh, jump, and playing games with the letters. What could have been difficult was a delight. He asked for time on the trampoline to practice his letters.
To help with reading I went to the used book store every few weeks to find "new" books that had come in. I bought every age-appropriate graphic novel I could find. Books that were graphic novelesque, like Diary of a Wimpy Kid series or Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel were also snapped up. The pictures compensated what he couldn't infer from the text. They aided comprehension of emotions and plot, which he couldn't get from reading words alone.
You might ask why not go to the library for all the books, and I did. What is nice about owning the books was instant gratification. We needed to keep him moving forward. If he wanted to reread a book-- it as there. He read them over and over again. Each time a better grasp was built. He needed more time then the library could allow.
All of this created an avid reader (no pictures now) and a child who can write; letters and words and can also express himself. Athena would be honored by his hard work and I guess, mine.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Mothers Day- Part 1
“Happy Mother’s Day!” was bellowed by the two people I love as I considered if I really did want to wake up. My husband when he saw my eyes he followed with plan for the day, “ I thought we would head to the coast, walk on the beach, eat at our favorite place, and get you some yarn.”
Coming to I said, “Oh! We can get chickens!”. There is a great feed store on the coast where all us suburbanites get our chickens.
TsukiMoon said, “chickens?! I want chickens.” The deed was done. He and I usually charge in headfirst with enthusiasm. It is common for Mr. TsukiMoon to act as brakes and voice of reason on most ideas we come up with.
The thought that went through his head was probably, ‘oh shit.’ Since it was mother’s day he said little and got on the chicken train with us. He was very nice. With the addition of the chicks bought there are 8 critters in our small ranch.
The coast road fills up with cars quickly so I bounced out of bed. We piled into the car, made a quick stop at Starbucks, and were off . We even took the dog.
We got to the coast at about 8:00 in the morning. Bella hadn’t even been walked that morning. We went to dog-friendly beach to walk Bella and enjoy ourselves until things in town opened up.
I left Mr. TsukiMoon with TsukiMoon to walk Bella down the beach. It was a healing walk. I started to fantasize about how nice walk next to the water everyday. I felt small, in a good way, much like one of the waves breaking on the shore. It reminded me that I have only one chance to do whatever there is and not to be afraid. I was emboldened by peace I felt in my bones.
We have a saying in our house that we repeat regularly: It will all work out. This applies to money, to TsukiMoon, to work, to life. When ever my husband or I feel roughed up by life, we settle the thoughts, let go of the situation and say, “Everything will work out.” What it means is that we need to let go of the results and just keep putting one foot in front of another.
When we walk away from the results of what we want and just focus on the now we are free from the punishment of it not turning out exactly right. What do we control now?
Bella was happy but feeling none of the enjoyment that I was. Her little short legs make any long walk a chore. I would turn around to see how she was doing. She would be standing, looking at me like I was crazy to walk so far., It’s as if her face said, “hey lady, you know the car is in the other direction.” He enthusiasm to explore diminishes over time. If it wasn’t for her fantastic nose she would probably call it a day after 10 minutes. She is a loyal dog and managed to keep up because she wants to be with her human. She makes a great companion on the beach even if not a best running/walking partner. Her calm presence added support to the tenuity I felt in the face of the mighty Pacific Ocean. She is a good dog.
Drug Study Update May 14
A fun poster I saw at school today.
When we were ready to walk home he said good-bye to a kid in his class. The boy, C, gave a lack-luster response but it didn't dampen TsukiMoon's happiness. He told me that C and him had discussed living in an airplane, a 727, when they grow up. TsukiMoon informed me that they think they can buy a mothballed one for about $500 since it won't have engines or seats. It was just the shell and shouldn't be to expensive.
This is amazing because it means he had a conversation with another classmate and it sounds like it was fun. In the past when I have heard conversations at school it is about a dispute. Not so fun, this is much better.
To top it this trip into the incredible trip into the amazing TsukiMoon gleefully says, "let's skip all the way home." Who is this kid with all of the energy?
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
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