"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." ~Lin Yutang

Friday, October 29, 2010

tots that learn

both AleeMay and Jones are kinda at the same stage of learning right now.  they both are crazy about letters and letter sounds and reading and listening for sounds.  it's so cute to see them both so anxious to learn!  of course AleeMay is in kindergarden so i don't get to experience her excitement as much as i do Jones'.  i've really have been getting a kick out of him lately.  he's always been gung-hoe about watching pbs, or anything on that screen, but lately he's really really really been picking up on the educational side of the shows.  the other day, he came out saying that he just LOVES the letter "j".  then he started singing about "juh" and "jay" and trying to find words that started with "juh".  he also will just latch onto words when he's being spoken to.  for instance, i'll say, "you need to clear your place." and he'll say, "kuh, kuh, CLEAR" and then "puh, puh, PLACE".  sometimes he'll say the letter that makes those sounds.  othertimes i'll have to help him. 
i was almost giggling out loud last night when i experienced some of AleeMay's joy in the same sort of thing.  yesterday she must've been absolutely exhausted because after she came home from school and ate lunch, she just DROPPED at quiet time and slept for a good 3.5 hours on the couch.  usually she just reads for quiet time.  irony played its role because Boo and Jones really faught their naps (of course).  but anyway, because of that 3.5 hour nap, she really wasn't very tired at bedtime.  in fact, she came in to our bedroom just after i had drifted off and wanted to ask me a question about the next day's activities ---more on that later---.  anyway, i could see that she wasn't very tired, but she's really easy to make fall asleep just by laying next to her and breathing slow (like you're sleeping).  since i was doing that -because i was asleep- i knew she'd drift right off, so i asked her if she wanted to snuggle with me.  it took a little longer than usual, but it was HILARIOUS when she was almost asleep (i actually think she was mostly asleep) and i heard, "duh... druh... drum." and then she was out (for real). 
it just made me giggle that these two are SO into learning that they really are thinking about it all the time.  i love my little learnin' tots.  i love them all, but it's so exciting and fun to be able to see their brains ticking.

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."