That did not leave us a lot of time to study since it was Tuesday. A busy day for us.
We practiced the Bible verse of the week (She can almost memorize the whole verse now) and read 2 Bible stories --
1. The Ark going back to Jerusalem
2. David fights with his son Absalom
Very interesting to find out that this Bible that we use, Taylor Family-Time Bible in the picture
Hmm...I was debating with myself, should I or shouldn't I tell the story of David's transgression. I supposed the reason for not putting that particular story in is because David is like a hero that young kids can look up to, right? Like a role model.
On the other hand, shouldn't we educate them that even the saints are not perfect? Only Jesus is perfect. Or it is too much for a four years old to grasp?
What do you think?
After Bible reading and prayer, we continue our book on "The Year At Maple Hill Farm"
I started teaching her Subtraction today. At least formally. Using the counter and everything. Before this, sometimes we taught her verbally, saying things like "if you had 4 candies and you ate 1, how many do you have now?"
She did very well with subtraction. Finished 15 questions in less than 20 min. I'm impressed. I intend to let her do more questions for the next few days, if she can handle it, then I'm going to teach her double-digit addition next week.
After that, I let her play with her favorite "Dr. Seuss ABC" CD Rom
We had porridge today. She finished it in record time (in 30 min). We were actually early for the ballet class at 3:30. So I trimmed her hair. She refused to cut her hair because she wants to have hair as long as Rapunzel (!), so that she can let down her hair and let the prince climbs up. Hmmm, so am I the wicked witch that keeping her in the ivory tower?
This is the first time I trimmed her hair, just a tinny bit in front so that it won't be touching her eyes and a little bit at the back. Not bad, if I may say so. :)
Today her ballet teacher, Ms. Ng was not in a very good mood, blessedly Den was very well-behaved. Didn't chit-chat, didn't push, didn't run! Well done (haha! my standard is quite low!)
On our way home, Den told me she didn't want to learn ballet anymore (I was shocked! She was the one begging for ballet since 1.5 years old and we only started the class in Feb). Off cause, I didn't show any reactions (if I reacted, she might insist she wanted to quit).
I casually asked her what make her want to quit. She told me some of the exercises were getting too hard for her. So we get into a discussion of doing the hard thing and why it is worth it.
Come to think of it, Ms. Ng corrected one of her poses today, I wonder does it got to do with that. I'm going to ask her about it tomorrow. We have a replacement class tomorrow at the same hour.
After that was the mad rush-- bathing her, preparing dinner, getting her to finish dinner, and out of the house again for her piano lesson at Yamaha.
We didn't intentionally put 2 activities on the same day, it just happened.
We signed up for Yamaha first, then found this perfect Ballet class really near our house, great location with lots of car park, weekday, non-rush hour, cheaper than other centers, experienced teacher...except it is on Tuesday too!! We tried it out for a couple of weeks and think she can handle it so we decided to sign her up for both on the SAME DAY!
Every Tuesday, I have to get by with at least one coffee, sometimes even two.
After piano, she came home and play more UNO. Ended up crying again when we ended the game. She has a problem with transition. Haven't come up with any idea to solve that yet. Any idea?
One way to help with transitions (common issue for children) is to have a signal that transition is coming: clapping game (you clap, she repeats), soft music, etc. Start by saying "We have 5 more minutes to play UNO." Then tell her when there are 2 minutes left. It might help to have an egg timer or alarm clock so she can see that the end of UNO is coming. When the time is up, use the clapping game, music, song, etc. to segue to the next activity.
ReplyDeleteHope this helps! We have a mutual friend (Ann Kohler Van Meter, from SEMO) who told me about your blog. I'm a PhD student and doing some research on homeschooling. Best wishes with your homeschooling!
Hi! Ann mentioned you. Are you studying in SEMO? Thanks for the advice. We tried all those thing with her and before but....
ReplyDeleteI think it is more like her charactor. She is very attach to things and people. Everyone she met become her best friends. She love everyone the most. She can never choose who or what is the one she love above all. For her, everything and everyone are important and best.
That make it very hard for her to let go of anything - peoples, games, things. When she goes to my parents house (very near my house, she goes there a few time a week), she doesnt want to come home. Once she is home, she doesnt want to go there. etc.