Learning

I have been asked on numerous occassions by a variety of different people what things I am doing at home in order to prepare Calvin for preschool.  "Aren't you worried that, not being in daycare, he will be behind all the other children when he finally gets there?" they ask.   Well, until now it hadn't occurred to me to be concerned, but tonight I did a bit of research to find out what other moms in my position are doing and came away very reassured (I think my new favorite researcher/writer is bound to be David Elkind, author of The Power of Play, and Miseduction: Preschoolers at Risk).  So we're not spending 20 minutes a day on this lesson, or 10 minutes on that one, but today we walked to the the store and on the way we spent 20 minutes playing on a tree stump; he climbed on it and jumped off; we noticed the rings and counted them to calculate the age; we looked at living trees that were about the same size nearby;  we talked about what things might have been made out of the tree after it was felled (the woodchips at the park, the deck on the nearby house, the furniture in his bedroom), and then we looked for trees that might have been born about the time that one sadly died.  At nap time we read a book about trees, and over dinner he recalled for his dad much of what we talked about.  We spent no structured time in lessons today, instead we learned in play.  Just now I was reminded of all this by a poem I found on an educator's site:

I took his hand and followed

(by Mrs. Roy L. Pfeifer)

My dishes went unwashed today,

I didn't make the bed,

I took his hand and followed

Where his eager footsteps led.

Oh yes, we went adventuring,

My little son and I...

Exploring all the great outdoors

Beneath the summer sky

We waded in a crystal stream,

We wandered through a wood...

My kitchen wasn't swept today

But life was gay and good.

We found a cool, sun-dappled glade

And now my small son knows

How Mother Bunny hides her nest,

Where jack-in-the-pulpit grows.

We watched a robin feed her young,

We climbed a sunlit hill...

Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky,

We plucked a daffodil.

That my house was neglected,

That I didn't brush the stairs,

In twenty years, no one on earth

Will know, or even care.

But that I've helped my little boy

To noble manhood grow,

In twenty years, the whole wide world

May look and see and know.

The joy of reading

From the very beginning, we made reading an integral part of Calvin's daily routine. These days he has many "scheduled" book sessions—when he wakes up, just before nap, and just before bed—and he adores every minute of them. But there are also many "unscheduled" sessions, the times when he picks up a book of his own accord for the sheer pleasure of it, and those are the moments we treasure most. It is in these times when we see just how much attention Calvin has paid to the books as he retells the stories out loud, all by himself, page by page.

Calvin has become aware of the video camera these days, so we have to be more stealthy about capturing his spontaneous moments. Forgive the slight hidden camera approach as we present Calvin's interpretations of two current favorites: My Big Boy Potty by Joanna Cole and Moose Tracks by Karma Wilson. We've used subtitles to show the actual texts, but Calvin's version is pretty darn close!

Already a stand out at two

It's hard to believe that we have already arrived at that point in our parenting lives when our family calendar is defined by various children's activities.  Calvin may not be in school yet, but strangely enough the year end has brought with it a plethora of celebrations and activities: last Friday morning we attended the Summer Reading Program Kick-Off Party at our local library, complete with cake, comedian, and petting farm; on Tuesday we will attend the first of two year end picnics, this one being for his dance class, then the second one, for his music class, takes place next Friday.  The most notable of all these events, however, was the one that took place today - his very first dance recital.  The performance has been a whole year in the making.  Calvin and Cortney started the weekly classes last September.  At the first class Calvin mostly watched and asked to be picked up, but his improvement was steady from there, and by show time today he was incredibly willing to walk out on the stage of the rented middle school auditorium (with his mother, of course, and the other toddlers from his class) and go through the small, choreographed circle dance that we have been practicing since that very first class oh so many months ago.  He "performed" very well, only forgetting to twirl one time, and his determined calm throughout the whole affair was refreshing, but what really made him stand out amongst all his dancing peers?  Of all the performers, ranging in age from 2 years to 4th grade, he was the only boy.

The superfluity of pictures this month has warranted a second June album, so more pictures can be found in the new June 2008, too album.

To Calvin, who is two today,

Is it even possible to sum up an entire year of a young life in just a few paragraphs?  And yet, looking at you today, just today, we would be at a loss trying to describe what that year of changes entailed.  As the time passes, each day melts into the next, and sometimes whole weeks, even months, will blend together in our memories.  But in sitting down to reminisce about the past year, and looking at those pictures and videos from a year ago, we are reminded of just how far you really have come over the past 366 days:  from toddling to running, climbing stairs, turning somersaults, and even to full blown jumping; from a baby of few words, a handful at best, to a toddler with over 600 of them, and a growing grasp of phrases and sentences; from a shy introvert, to a full participant in dance, music, and library classes, and in Sunday School play room as well;  from a face stuffing, floor decorating eater, to a boy who uses his silverware and his napkin (most of the time), drinks from a glass, and will even set and clear the table and help load the dishwasher.  

We are coming to know you as a calm, gentle, and sensitive little boy who spends as much time thinking as acting, watching as doing, and listening as talking.  If we worried a year ago about your development without the daily exposure so many kids get in daycare, our fears have been set aside as we have seen you grow.  You love to share (even down to the very last fish cracker in your bowl or the only toy giraffe in the library), you are patient with others (always waiting your turn in line, never afraid to be last), and you have begun to fully take part in cooperative play (building towers or playing house with other kids in Sunday School).We absolutely love to hear you talk, especially to hear you practice your good manners with words and phrases like please, thank you, and excuse me, and we are so very proud of your happy and friendly demeanor, even when speaking with strangers (as long as your parents are near). 

You can sing your ABCs (mostly correctly), count to ten (though you sometimes forget "5"), and most days remember to do your chores (feeding the pets and setting the table), but perhaps one of our favorite developments has been that of imaginative play.  It was around Thanksgiving that you got your first play food set, and from then on there has been no stopping you.  You were so in love with that first set of food, pretending to cook all sorts of things, that it was soon followed by more food, then a set of pots and pans, plates and silverware, the kitchen itself, and now even condiments.  You can spend an uninterrupted hour playing by yourself in your kitchen, and we love to listen to you as you talk to yourself about your play.  But your imagination is far more active than even that.  The funniest example is the way you use one of your Maracas to vacuum the floor (when it isn't busy being an instrument, that is), and our favorite is probably the way you run around the house on all fours, roaring like a lion, barking like a dog, or meowing like a cat, and demand to be pet or fed.

If we had to sum up the past year in just a word or phrase it would be difficult to choose between a year of physical growth, intellectual achievements, or social advancements, but more likely than not we'd just have to say that the past year has been just plain fun.

Found an ant.

The walk will now take at least 10 minutes longer.