Letting Her Pour Her Own Tea

DH is a Montessori preschool alumnus and I have always liked the Montessori approach, not knowing very much about it. When it was time to sign Amie up for a preschool, I started reading up on it, because we wanted her to go a Montessori preschool (She didn’t get in because of a stupid breakdown …

Projects Projects

I’ll let you know what I’m working on. I’m researching how best to teach reading. Fascinating that whole Whole Word – Phonics war. So much of the history and psychology of writing is involved, and then throw your own toddler and her talents and interests into the mix. I love a complex challenge! In advance …

The End of the Tadpoles?

Amie has been making strides with her drawing. She has been grouping little tadpole figures together on one page – my suggestion, that we use the “white” on the paper a bit more. She has also been mixing the mouth inside with the mouth outside the face figures. But overall, the figures had become formulaic, …

Real and Fake

Amie has been having nightmares about a dinosaur coming into the bedroom at night. It has spurred us to investigate whether she understands the difference between what is real and what is not, or “fake”. It is a good idea – we agree with several child developmental specialists – to make sure she does understand. …

Tadpoles Also Have Hands and Feet

Amie took special care with this one: it’s for a friend who is ill. We talked in advance about the plan to put two figures on the page, and how it would be best to turn the page horizontally (landscape) so they would fit. She began with the head of the left figure, taking care …

Tadpoles Smile Too!

Amie has been drawing her tadpoles consistently, but for one major change. A week ago she started drawing their mouths underneath, that is, outside the head. Consistently. I asked her one day, when she was about to put down the mouth: “Amie, look, where is Mama’s mouth? Is it inside my face or outside?” I …

Amie Plays the Memory Game

Turns out Baba is just as much a softie as I am. When we went to bed after yesterday’s ordeal, I found Amie had finally fallen asleep in her own little bed. We lay there on our big bed for a minute or two, then I whispered: “I wish she were here with us…” He …

Live Blogging: Amie wants Mama

I’m sitting in the living room, it’s 9:30 pm. And I am listening to Amie screaming that she wants Mama to lie next to her and that she wants to go see Mama. DH has been ill for a week so he has been sleeping in the guest room/study and has also not been putting …