DD 8.5 was asked to do an extra project over spring break. It involved researching a prominent local historical figure to tie in with the class's unit on black history. This is her teacher's first foray into 'liberating the curriculum.' It has been a slow start to enrichment, 100% related to DD's crippling perfectionism. After a week and a half of torture (MY torture, because I had to practically sit and hold her hand the whole time and encourage her that she could do the research and do the typing, etc.), DD presented to the class yesterday and brought home two notes praising her efforts from the teacher and the principal. She gave a brief presentation and then quizzed the class about what she had said. They earned puzzle pieces for correct answers and then the put together a puzzle of the lady's picture. She did enjoy making the puzzle herself, so that part was a plus. Apparently, the class loved it!

DD tells me last night that it was so much fun, she can't wait to do it again. GREAT! CAN'T WAIT! (this is going to get easier... right?)

Ok. But I'll probably only tell this here, you know, to a few hundred of my closest friends and strangers (and the hubby). I thought it was cute and funny. I was nursing 5mo and 3yr old was pestering, giving her pretend cookies, pretend medicine, making compulsory random<squeak> (squawk, shriek) sounds and hopping on the bed. The girl was temporarily miserable, gassy, and hiccuping, trying to nurse herself back to sleep. I swear she said as clearly as I do "Get. Out. Of. Here." not yelling, but pausing crisply after every word. She sounded just like me. She didn't make the two t sounds, that's all. But I don't enunciate all that sharply.
She has spells where she does non-stop pre-verbal baby babble. And sometimes if she's in a singing mood and I'm replaying her YouTube songs for her to coo and croon along with we'll hear something approximating a word or two from the song now and then. And I remember the boy clearly said "goodnight" at this age when we said it first. But the girl just appropriately used a full sentence in context. I probably won't even put that in a journal, but I really wanted to share.

DD8's 3rd grade class is involved in an analogy competition thing called word master. A few times a year they do 20 analogies in a certain amount of time and the top 5 scores go onto the next level of the competition. The first time she did it she scored 16/20 and was in the top 5 of the grade. The second time they did it she scored 18/20 and was the high scorer of the school!
She loves analogies and has been using them for years, so it is fun for her to be able to show her ability in school.

DS knows his letters... just not the ENGLISH ones... oops
-Mich

Just got this text today from my husband. Apparently my husband and son are at Barnes and Noble by the bargain books in the kids section. My son (15 months old), is playing with a pile of Mickey Mouse books and notices that 3 books down in the same pile there's a Princess book. All of a sudden, he starts going to other piles and lifting up the first three books to see what's underneath. After 5 to 6 times of doing this, he stops ... we're assuming that he came to the conlusion that the Mickey Mouse pile was a fluke.

And then yesterday he was walking up and down a slope over and over again. He would walk up the slope and then clap - he was so proud of himself that he could do it. He would then walk down the slope, and turn around to do it again. It really seemed to us like he was practicing and working hard to being able to walk up and down slopes without falling so much.

It's really fascinating to see how much he likes to challenge himself and work at things. That's definitely an aspect of his personality that I want to keep around.

So dd3 was writing some numbers and scribbles, holds it up to show, I wasn't paying attn. and was like, "oh, that's nice"--dd10 goes, "Mommy--she wrote the date!"--she had written 3-6-11, at the top of the paper by her name. Maybe this isn't that unusual? I don't know? (Her giftedness seems to show more in the problem solving area--i.e. how do I get the cookies from the top of the fridge) But I was pretty impressed! Later found out that the teacher had just started explaining to the kindergartners in her class how to write the date that way.

We started a solar system project last night. We are reading all sorts of books (on each planet) and building a model. Today we started the model. I am amazed at how interested both kids are and how quickly they have picked up the information (ds is 5 and dd is 7)

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/franniesmomma/IMG_1387.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/franniesmomma/IMG_1386.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/franniesmomma/IMG_1385.jpg[/IMG]

A few months ago I received my first text from my husbands phone that my 2.3 DD at the time had composed, it said Himo for Hi mom. I am so sad because the other day I erased it by accident. Yesterday she spelled her six letter name on the keyboard!

I recently did a certification exam for my job... a really big deal, as I would have to give up my job if I failed. 8 hours of misery with oral, written and practical components. It was more stressful than I had imagined and I was really worried whle waiting for the results. DD 8.5 overheard me telling a friend that I hoped I passed because I was never going to do it again. She told me later that night that I should never say that because I was not a 'giver-upper.' She said that, otherwise, I would be a poor role model for her. How could I tell her that she needs to try hard and never give up if I was going to do it myself? Then she told me that she had faith in me. What a dressing down she gave me. I was totally humbled at the end of it and all I could do was apologize.

I found out this week that I did pass and she was more excited than anyone else. She told me that I was her hero. I want to wrap that up and keep it forever. I swear, I want to be just like that child when I grow up.

Kathleen'smum:
Oh my. That is just wonderful--thanks for sharing that!