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eyelessgameKatie, on the way home from the park on Saturday, announced that she was "Not-Fall-Off-Bike Girl!" She distinctly pronounced the hyphens and the capital letters. I'm very amused. Yesterday, I took her to get her 5-year-old pictures taken. She was sulky and recalcitrant till we got in the car, at which point she perked up. At Walmart we had to sit for fifteen minutes, so she enthusiastically read me most of Hop On Pop, then charged in, perched before the camera, and posed adorably for every shot. Afterwards she was the very model of a perfect kid -- making me, by the way, look like a wonderful father out there in public (when around a kid in a good mood, you look like a good parent. It just happens). Later last night, however, she completely exploded when told she had to share a banana with Josh, and had to be sent shrieking and fighting up to her room for a while. Moods... Robert had the same sorts of moods at this age, and I fancy I'm a little better at dealing calmly with them than I was two years ago.
Josh, this morning, brought me a small rubber duck and announced it was a "Qwwcckk" (say "quack" without the vowel. Go ahead, try it. Sounds like clearing your throat.) Add this to his current word count -- 'wih-wih' (Wiggles), 'yah!', 'Da!' 'Maamaa', 'Uh-oh', 'nana' (banana), 'bahpah' (backpack -- from Dora), and a number of other less distinct or repeated ones. (And 'please', 'more', and 'all done' sign language, plus an endless number of distinct gestures, like fetching a plate for himself when he's hungry, pulling at the fridge door when thirsty...) Josh is also showing some signs of being a southpaw, like his dad. (And like one of my cousins, and my uncle for whom Robert is named, and my late eponymous grandfather...)
Robert and I had a talk while waiting for the bus this morning about why school was important. It struck me that he'd never had this talk before -- what you do when you're an adult depends on what and where you study in college; the kind of college you get into depends a lot on how well you do in high school; how well you do in high school depends partly on how well you learn the basics of english, math, science, society, and study habits in grammar school. His eyes were shining at the connectedness of it all by the time I was done, and he agreed that his schoolwork must therefore be very important. And he then told me a bit about how good a job he was doing. Knew already from teacher's reports and papers sent home, but nice to hear from him too -- he's often reluctant to say anything about his day at school.
Josh, this morning, brought me a small rubber duck and announced it was a "Qwwcckk" (say "quack" without the vowel. Go ahead, try it. Sounds like clearing your throat.) Add this to his current word count -- 'wih-wih' (Wiggles), 'yah!', 'Da!' 'Maamaa', 'Uh-oh', 'nana' (banana), 'bahpah' (backpack -- from Dora), and a number of other less distinct or repeated ones. (And 'please', 'more', and 'all done' sign language, plus an endless number of distinct gestures, like fetching a plate for himself when he's hungry, pulling at the fridge door when thirsty...) Josh is also showing some signs of being a southpaw, like his dad. (And like one of my cousins, and my uncle for whom Robert is named, and my late eponymous grandfather...)
Robert and I had a talk while waiting for the bus this morning about why school was important. It struck me that he'd never had this talk before -- what you do when you're an adult depends on what and where you study in college; the kind of college you get into depends a lot on how well you do in high school; how well you do in high school depends partly on how well you learn the basics of english, math, science, society, and study habits in grammar school. His eyes were shining at the connectedness of it all by the time I was done, and he agreed that his schoolwork must therefore be very important. And he then told me a bit about how good a job he was doing. Knew already from teacher's reports and papers sent home, but nice to hear from him too -- he's often reluctant to say anything about his day at school.
no subject
Date: 2003-03-31 09:26 pm (UTC)I dread ever having to have that "why school is important" talk. While I could probably make a convincing case for why certain things which are among the lessons taught in school are important to learn, I'd probably lose the train of connections at that "partly" junction.
I have suspected for some time that there are skills and behaviors which serve one well in elementary school and yet hinder academic performance in high school and college. (Though this may be subject-specific: although a predilection towards rote memorization would have seriously trounced my chances at math, it probably would have kept Japanese from being the drag on my GPA which it was)