We’ve had a disproportionate number of inclement weather days this winter, which has resulted in a large number of days that school has been cancelled. In fact, I don’t think my kidlets have had a full week of school in the last six weeks, and most of those weeks have been 3 day weeks! Sadly, most of those days at home have been due to extremely cold weather, which leads to rampant cooped up fever. If it seems I’ve been more absent these past few weeks it’s because my normal routine has been sabotaged. I’m trying to look on the bright side and treasure extra time with my kidlets.
My youngest kidlet is more than ready for his big siblings to get back to school so that daily home life can revolve around him and him alone again. He wakes up in the mornings and asks suspiciously, “Is it a bus day today?” He gives a little grin if he sees me packing up lunch boxes.
Although I try hard to provide mind enriching, somewhat educational things to do for my kidlets who are supposed to be in school, I will readily admit that we have used a bit more technology this past month to get us through some of the cold days. Mr. Trouble on Feet has fallen in love with the Endless Alphabet app. The big kids like it too. It’s wonderfully silly, and I love the concept of matching letters and sounds into robust vocabulary words. It’s such a great app that I almost don’t feel guilty letting people play with it. Almost.
I’m super duper excited that Kate Dicamillo’s book Flora and Ulysses just won the Newbery award! It’s a great book. All three big kidlets LOVED it. YaYa read it alone, and I read it aloud for a family read aloud. It’s quirky. It’s creative. It’s funny. Dicamillo is one of my favorite children’s authors, so as soon as I saw the book had released we had a copy. I’m happy that it was recognized with the Newbery award.
Having a preschooler or kindergartener in AWANA is, well, just a lot of work. All that memorizing is parent intensive. The numbers and books of the Bible don’t make concrete sense to kids of that age, and it just involves SO much drilling and practicing. BUT, when that little person becomes a first grader and an independent reader, it all changes! The Banana has hit the golden age of being able to read the verse and learn it herself. I hand her the AWANA book, and away she goes, reading the verses over and over, saying them over and over, singing them over and over, and voila! She’s got it memorized. The whole process is exponentially faster, and it just makes me exhale a big sigh of relief.
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