Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Hi! I'm back!!!!

I have been to Unalaska before! But, it was over a decade ago and summertime!

What an adventure you're having, both in Unalaska and with your daughter!

Is it dangerously cold outside or just unpleasant? If it's just unpleasant, maybe you could manage to still go outside for 15 minutes, maybe once in the morning and maybe once in the afternoon. Not so long as to cause physical harm, but long enough to just be outside in the natural light. You could tie your mini-excursions to a science topic or you could just go outside for unstructured play and/or exploration. We live where it's quite cold (although not as cold) and the kids still go out even when it's below zero, at least for very short bursts of time. But, for the rest of your indoor time, what about a plastic basketball hoop, self-created obstacle courses, exercise videos you do together, pop-up tunnels and forts, a mini-trampoline, a Nerf soccer ball, etc. for regular bursts of physical activity? Some people here clear out their garages and get their "outside" activities in there. What about a lot of cooking and recipe-concocting, board games, building toys, cardboard boxes, art supplies, etc. for calmer times? Oh, also chores: teach her to dust, vacuum, do laundry, sweep and polish the floors, anything that is a useful life skill. Or, have her write letters or draw pictures for her friends and relatives back on the mainland, or have her e-mail. You could also buy her a cheap digital camera and she could take pictures to send as well. I feel like I'm mentioning things you've already thought about, so I'm not sure if I'm helping.

As far as Girl Scouts goes, have you tried approaching them as a homeschooling parent? You might tell them that you fully intend to register her for school in the next year or two (even if you decide that you *don't* fully intend to) and would like to integrate her into the group of (older) kids with which she will be likely placed when she does enter school. Ask at least for a trial period of just visiting the troop to see how it works out and allow them the out if it doesn't work out. Another option would be to find out the name of the leader for the local Daisy troop and see if she will allow you to unofficially join the group. When your DD earns the badges that the other girls do, you can always go buy the patches yourself so your DD can have them, too, if she has to remain unofficial. A third option is this:

"Although troop membership is still the most common way to participate in Girl Scouting, girls who do not desire to participate in troop activities can sign up as an individual Girl Scout, known as a Juliette. Juliettes attend activities independently and work individually on badges and awards. The Juliette program is descended from the Lone Scout program, in which a girl living in an area without a troop could register directly with the National organization."

I guess a fourth option would be to just buy the guidebooks yourself and work through all the activities, just for fun. And you could always allow her to design her own uniform and patches and you could create them together. That sounds ambitious to me, but it might be great fun for your DD!

I totally get the concern for her socialization and I think any contact you can get with lots of people of lots of ages can only be helpful. And, too, it sounds like your DD is introspective and precocious enough to have conversations with you about how to interact with "little kids" her own age who frustrate her. Still, I wouldn't worry too much, since if we were talking about a ND 3-year-old, no one would really expect that child to take on the other child's perspective and always react in an acceptable manner. This is where the asynchrony comes into play with our expectations of the child. She's 3, and while she often makes rational decisions and thinks carefully through her reactions, she's three! Sometimes I find myself having to repeat, "he's only seven, he's only seven . . . ."

Thanks for the update and welcome back!

Sounds like great topics of study (the formation of mountains, volcanoes, the movement of the earth, waves, erosion, etc.) and a wonderful field trip opportunity! You're really so lucky to be in such a unique environment! Promise you won't stay locked up all winter long!

Welcome back. I was wondering how things were going for you and your daughter. Age three was the toughest year for us and my DD4.5 had meltdowns, difficulty playing with other children, was rigid and bossy, etc. and suddenly, things are much, much better. I am not sure if it is just the natural course of maturation or something else. She has been receiving OT for "sensory seeking" over this last year but I don't know if that is helping or something else we are doing. She has one friend her age that she now plays beautifully with even though they are not at the same intellectual level. My DD4 doesn't seem to mind at all since she is just happy to have someone who can play back and forth and likes pretend play since she met so many children who weren't as interactive / verbal. I don't have any particular advice but just wanted to share with you that things have shifted for the better for us. My DD4.5 is also a little calmer and less impulsive, but compared to other kids, much more INTENSE, talkative, and excitable. It must be so challenging to be isolated in that way. I would specifically target social skills since it is important to respect others and their differences. My DD4.5 is now at the stage where she expects children her age to know less probably because she is in a pre-k program and has had more exposure. The other day she had a little girl over and was talking about numbers to her and then said, "Do you think that is cool or is it too complicated for you? and didn't mean it in a condescending way at all. We didn't get here overnight. We just keep hanging out with a variety of kids and talking about manners, differences and even role playing. I am so happy you are back on here and hope to hear more from you.

Re: scouts...
we have "daisy" scouts, where the kids have to just 'be in K'. And dd4 is in K, so...

The way I approached is to just say she was in K, you could say your daughter has completed K. No convincing needed over here, I did not state her age, although they did ask her date of birth. Now...if you just don't mention her age in particular, they might not mention it. There was a point when we walked into the first meeting where one of the other girls outright asked 'how old is she?' and instead of answering, I just said 'oh she's in K', and asked the den mom, 'that's all right, right?' and she said 'Yes'. By the end of the first meeting the den mom said 'she fit right in!' with (possibly) some significance, as though she'd had her doubts. I was also pleased to see it was a group of scouts up through 4th grade, approx, so she really did fit right in!
(apparently she just barely looks the part of a k'er so I am not sure how your's will 'look' to others)
Their first activity was finding a country to talk about/draw a flag for, learn a couple of scout songs and then they made a yarn ornament. Not a stretch for her other than the manual skills needed for the ornament.

Amanda - look at you! only 3 months and you've already found 2 wonderful potential allies! Talk about your social concerns to the montessori teacher and see what he/she suggests. Perhaps you are in the just right place, where people see each other's uniqueness and realize that resources are limited so feel more inclined to pitch in. I'll bet you have something to contribute as well.


Yippee!
Grinity

Welcome back! Too bad you live so far away..our dds could stay up together - mine says "My brain won't stop moving!"

On Snow:

There's an old Quebec tradition of filling pots and pans and tupperware with water and food colouring, putting them outside to freeze, and then building huge iceforts. When you run out of blocks, you get hot chocolate, and put out more water to freeze for tomorrow . It was the only time in my life I was ever satisfied by the size of a blockset.

If she's interested in... LIGHTSOURCES... she should have fun with that I remember really well, being at Winterlude well after dark (and you should have plenty of dark to play with up there) with torches and candles and electric lights, and thousands of ice blocks and a whole bunch of kids.... numinous as well as intellectually pleasing! Where I live now isn't really cold enough for that <pout>. And they don't do as good a job of it at winterlude anymore.

(The trick to getting really clear ice can be found online, it has to do with managing the water temperature, and then leaving them very still in the coldest place you can find... I don't remember all the details.)


-Mich
(On shipping: can you gang-buy with people? sometimes that helps)
(I just procrastinated on my chores by putting out a dozzen ice blocks. They won't stay clear around here, but they should at least freeze)

Both of my kids had trouble with transitions at times. One way I got my son to go many times was to say I bet you wish you had a magic carpet. I would squat down and talk to him and talk real sweet, and say I bit the magic carpet would be nice to you didn't have to walk more now. Then he would go.

My daughter never went for the magic carpet. My son would sing to her "let's do a marching parade" and she would follow him anywhere. We even used this to help kids who were having trouble leaving our fun playdate.

When DS was 3 I enrolled him in several homeschool type seminars and projects. I always explained to the coordinator that although my son was young he was academically at the level needed to participate. I made a promise that if he became disruptive in any manner, I would leave. No questions asked.

The first couple of times were met with interesting looks and a few questions but it went fine. After a short time, word spread and it was never a problem. Behavior was never an issue as the program's engaged his interests. Most people will take a chance as long as you agree to pull the plug if it doesn't work.