Tag: school

Reading is fundamental

School, it was the bain of my existence as a child.  Having children made me have to come face to face with my scholastic under achievement.

From the day the girls were born I have been vigilant about reading to them.  I so hoped they would grow to love reading, to be able to imagine the words.  My mother was an avid reader as is my sister.  Me, not so much, to say the least.  I am a lover of the television.  From the time Megan was born we read to her .  As she got older she would bring a stack of books that she would want to read before bed.  She now reads several books a week and is more than happy to curl up on the sofa with a good book.

Today, Megan got the invitation for the Talented and Gifted program at school.  I was inclined to not allow it because the feedback I have received is that it is a ton of extra homework and in-depth projects.  But, she really wants to try it.  I emailed her teacher and received a wonderful response.  It seems they just test her again and she is reading on an 8th grade level.  They are very concerned that she will grow bored in the classroom and are already working to develop a plan to keep that from happening. What am I to do, the parent who hated and struggled in school needs to let the child who excels and loves it to make this decision.  If things get to be too much I can always pull her out I guess.  I am so proud of her!  Not just that she is one of ony a few invited to the program but because of her well thought out, mature pitch to her father and I to allow her to do it.  My baby is growing up!

Madison and Megan are as different as night and day.  I did the same with Madi as a baby but would have to almost force her to sit and listen.  I did not want reading to be a chore so I would not push too much.  We have tried many different things to try to make it fun.I know you are not supposed to compare children but it is hard.  Megan was reading fluently before Kindergarten.  Right now the best I can get from Madison is the  practice of a few sight words to humor me but then she is off to some pretend world that requires her undivided attention.

That is until recently.  She started Kindergarten this year.  She is loving everything about the experience!  Just this week she brought me a first reader that until now has been used for a million other things except a book and asked if we could read together.  Each night we have sat with a pre-level one reader and she reads to me then I read it her.  After, we have agreed that I will  read one chapter of a bigger book. This week was Freckle Juice by Judy Blume.  I am so proud of her!  She did a great job!  She is actually reading very well!

I guess they are right, you can not compare your kids, they are different people with different personalities, thoughts, interests and in time carve their own path.

Me, the early years

When we were young, my mother wanted us to get the best possible education.  She wanted us to do better than she did in life. The public schools in our area at the time were not very good.  She went to our church  parish and asked for tuition help.  My mother was a Catholic born and raised.  We went to church every Sunday.  I never fully understood her belief since they felt she was a bad Catholic because of her divorce, but week after week we went. For the help with tuition,  we all worked.  I raked leaves at the convent, cleaned desks in the school over the summer and moved things between classrooms.

It taught me all an important lesson in life, nothing in the world is free!  If you are to succeed, the road is not easy.  If you are not willing to put your back into it, work hard, success does not come.  This is a lesson my husband and I are trying to instill in our girls.  It is tough these days with the media generation and immediate gratification.  We are able to give our girls many of the things neither of us had as children.  We often battle with the “what is too much” line.

In 5th grade they were a bit worried about me. I was a latch key kid.  Back then leaving young kids alone was not as frowned upon as it is today. I had a strong imagination. Idle time and I were not the best of friends. I had a wonderful teacher by the name of Helene Kunicki who kept me after school many days.  I would help her do whatever, clean out closets, move desks.  Spending time with her helped close the gap before my mother would get home from work.  She was a wonderful woman who through a simple act of kindness probably helped change the course of my life by keeping me out of trouble.

My mother ruled with an iron fist.  There was none of this “mommy friend” thing we see so much of today.  She was the boss. In hindsight it is easy to judge her but I saw a woman left to raise 3 children alone.  A woman limited professionally due to her own background and single motherhood.  A woman who battled cancer for 10 years.  It is always easy to judge when you do not have to walk in that persons shoes.

The rules in our house were clear!  If your grades were down there was nothing else, period.  By high school I had begun to excel and when I graduated college I did so on the dean’s list.

As I look back at how we were raised, I wish many things would have been different.  But such is life.  She was far from perfect but I am glad for many of the life lessons I learned . Those early years leave an impression of course but as time goes on each person must make a decision.  What type of person do I want to be?  What will I hold on to and what must be left behind? Will I allow the not so pleasant moments to be baggage or fuel to do better?

Life is all about decisions.

Doctor’s and Kindergarten

SO I had my follow-up this morning.  Pretty uneventful visit actually.  He agreed that one boob was looking more north than the other but says it could take up to 3 months for healing and that they should align properly.  He also feels the nipples will shrink down to a normal size.  At the moment I feel like they arrive in a room at least a minute before I do.  He told me to make another follow-up in 6 weeks.  At that point if they are still uneven then he can make a small incision to lift the left boob.  He can also reduce the size of the questionable nipple.  I wanted more detail on what this would look like, in office?  Hospital?  He did not want to discuss it.  Says we need to give it time to heal and let my body do it’s thing.  If all works out we will not need to do anything.  We shall see.

I was cleared to shower…YEAH!  So much easier than washing my hair in the sink.  I am also allowed to start wearing a bra, no under wire.  We will discuss the bra on another post.

After the doctor I came home and picked up Madison for a big day!  Meet the teacher at the Kindergarten.  I was so proud of her!  She did great!  As we walked toward her building she told me to follow her.  She showed me how to follow the red foot prints to get to the right building.  They had a bus parked in the lot so the kids could go on and practice with the seat belts.  Then we went into her classroom.  She looked around and found her seat and sat so confidently.  My baby, what a big girl!  They had an opportunity to explore, listened to a story read by the teacher and met some other kids from the class.

I love that our district does this.  Really allows the kids to get comfortable with the process.  She told me that she wanted to be in bed early so she could be ready for school.  She was asleep by 8pm…love it!  I am the mother of a 3rd grader and a Kindergartener, where does the time go?