Been taking a break

We have been taking it easy lately. E has been having a lot of behaviour issues, don't know why, but it is what it is. Some good news is that we were told this week that Easton is showing more and more improvement. So much in fact that he is only going two days a week now and not three. I firmly believe that this diet has changed our lives. We did not see this improvement until we started it. I am very proud of him and can't thank everyone that works with him enough for getting us so far.

So we are really trying to work on very simple and elementary phonics. I have to keep reminding myself that I don't expect much out of him until he is at least six and that there are ALOT of letters in the alphabet to remember, as well as the upper and lower case versions. I find myself struggling with the part of me that say, letters, shmetters he will be ready when he is ready, he is not even five. Then the other part of me is saying he should know them all by now, upper and lower, and should have phonics well started within his concept grasp. I know I need to listen to him before anything else, and the nagging parts of me last of all. I guess I have a fear that if he isn't 'up to par' it is because I am doing a shotty job homeschooling him. I do understand that a lot of his learning is going to fall under my responsibility, but more of that is up to him. I can only give him everything he needs and then it is up to him. The next 6 months look to be very busy with a possible move and everything else, we need to just let him learn as he has. I have been finding ways to make a letter or two a day that he is struggling with into games we can incorparate into our day. I live for the small triumphs, I know what lies within those are the footsteps to big revelations. We have been doing some math more and bless his sweet heart, he really seems to like it. Just yet another difference between my son and I. Did ANY of my DNA osmosis it's way into him at all?

Do you know what you get when you tell a kid after he asks you where we are going and you say, "crazy"? A child that jumps up and replies with much enthusiasim, " that's great, I'm dressed, lets go!"

Did you know that Easton has words, within his head, that are coming into and out of his mouth? We must all stop and listen to this, it is very important.

I was so proud of E today! He wanted to have more waffles for breakfast. He had already had one and wanted to make two more. I said no you can only have one more. He responded with, " no mom I don't want two!" I asked him if he didn't want two then why did he have two in his hand. He then told me that he wanted to have three totally, he had already had one and these two would make three, not two, that is why he wanted two more. He is really getting the hang of this math thing all on his own!

To 'Sum' It All up...

So Easton wanted to give his addition workbook a try today. We have never done 'formal' math so I was curious as to how he would respond. Page one was pictures of objects in groups and you had to write in the box how many whatevers there were and he did great! I know he can spot out numbers pretty well but not well enough to recall them and write them out. I propped up his dry erase board of numbers and letters and such so he could look at all the numbers 1-20. He would could out the objects, look for the number on the board and write it down in the box. He loved it, I loved seeing him think like that, it was the first time I saw him think 'scholasticly' I guess you could say. The next page was addition with pictures only. He LOVED it and needed no help from me, just praise and affirmation. When he got it right and was almost as proud as I was he would run around high five'ing everyone. Then I thought to get out the tramp. What ever the sum was the number of times he could jump. He did so good! I can't wait for what we see in the coming months! I don't think it will be hard for him to be better than me in math at all!

More Letters

So today when we had to power out for two hours right before we were about to leave ( we got stuck with the fact the garage door would not open) I thought I would try to gauge just how many letters he really knows or doesn't know. Going through his handwritting without tears book in my VERY untrained observing he knows A,B, C, F, E, I, T, C, O, Q, G, S, D, V, X, Z. With slight coaching he knew J, P, and K. He needs more work wiht L, H<,T, U, R, N, M, W, Y. I think he knows T and N he was just being lazy at that point. My amazing and wonderful neighbor got e this wax colored sticks for Christmas and they could not be any more perfect to help him with letters and fine motor and all kinds of sensory goodness. We worked them for the first time today and he loved them, as well as Junah and I. I also noticed that the Alphabet song is getting more clear and he is getting close to seeing how it is the letters in order and not a bunch of sounds put together to a tune.