What with all the gardening around here it’s been a while since I wrote about Amie’s non-gardening doings and goings. Here are some newer developments.
We’re working on her letters. She recognizes all the upper and lower case and can sound out and read three-letter words:
But writing them is something else altogether, especially those pesky rounded lower cases. Numbers too are a challenge. So this spring break we’re working on all those.
These days Amie sees us writing a lot of checks (unfortunately) and she was curious what that was about. I explained it to her and even found an old checkbook from a defunct account for her to play with. She wanted to write out her first check to me!
– How much do I owe you, Mama? she asked
– Oh, I said, by the time we’re done, mm… about a million
No problem. She asked our co-houser to help her fill it in, and when he – we call him Rabbit, so I’m going to start referring to him as Rabbit as of now – started writing in the amount, she changed her mind. When he had formed “10” she said:
– I want to pay Mama ten million dollars!
When he had added another 0, she said:
– Yes, a hundred million dollars!
She is so very generous!
She has been doing some multiplication with single digit numbers and division by 2. She needs her fingers and concrete things to do it: “If we have 6 ice cream sandwiches and there’s 2 of us, how many do we each get?” works, but “What is 6 divided by 2 make?” doesn’t.
Her Baba also taught her to add up a big and a small number. For instance, 76 + 4. This is how she explains it: You put the big number in your head: 76 (pinches thumb and index fingers together and touches her forehead, turning them and making a creaking sound, as if turning a key in a lock). Then you put the smaller number on your fingers (arranges her hand so 4 fingers are out). Then you count: 76, (takes away one finger) 77, (takes away another finger) 78, (takes away another finger) 79, (takes away last finger) 80!
She is not only a mathematician, like her Baba, but also a metaphysician, like her Mama (used to be). The other day she was acting all grumpy and DH observed that she was becoming a two-year-old again.
– No-o, she said, I can’t go back; I can only go forward.
wow! Amie is amazing, she is reading so well, you can see the sense of accomplishment and the pure joy in her eyes. You’ll are doing an amazing job with her. Your garden looks huge and fantastic, congratulations on all your constructive work. Love the pic of Baba giving Amie a wheel barrow ride=)