First Day of School

Today was the first day of school. After a lackadaisical summer with few set plans I was ready for a routine. Our new morning regimen went smoothly: kids up, tummies filled, showers taken, bodies dressed and out the door to school. Then little sis and I found ourselves at home, alone. What to do, what to do? We tried out a few yoga moves then she watched PBS while I googled “Home Schooling Kindergarten”.

You see I’ve been feeling a bit guilty. Last year little sis dropped out of preschool because she did not like it. This year we are keeping her home for financial reasons. And I’m wondering if she’s missing out on a necessary educational experience including pre-reading, pre-writing and pre-arithmetic. Then I came across this website; and in particular this article. The gist of which is that children should not be expected to learn to read or write until they have appropriate proprioceptive abilities (i.e. knowledge of where their body is in space and time). Additionally complete neuronal pathways between the right and left hemispheres of the brain are necessary for full reading comprehension. These pathways and abilities are formed through activity and play; not through rote memorization. Ahhh - sweet relief! We’ve been doing it right all along by permitting unstructured playtime.

As it turns out she may be ready to learn to read. First off she loves books, she can write her name and she adores puzzles. She can also stand on one foot with her eyes closed and she can recognize shapes drawn on her back (both indications that her right and left hemispheres are communicating). But can she skip with opposite arms swinging? I don’t know. I don’t even know if she can skip. The same holds true for jump roping. So it seems we have some work to do, jumping and skipping up the ladder of success.

If only the rest of us could climb that ladder with joy and abandon - what a different world it would be!

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Today we walked the mile down the hill to the library. Halfway there we stopped to inspect leaf prints moulded into the sidewalk. I was busy explaining to little sis how the leaves fell and made imprints in wet cement when she interrupted me with a huge grin on her face, “Mom? This is going great!”

Looks like autumn is off to a good start.

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This weekend I was cleaning the girl’s room and I came across this little diddy written by middle daughter:

One day in Oregon Chloe, Shan Johsen, Nastia Lukis and Alicea sacramony were training at The new gym Bye Ben and jerrys. They were working out there core body.

Don’t you just love it!