Category Archives: back to school

To Read

My first son showed up reading.  Okay, fine, that’s a slight exaggeration, but as a parent I did what most of us do:  I read to my baby and I read to my toddler.  Until, suddenly, one day he began reading to me.  The little guy went straight to chapter books, no sounding out or struggling with that tricky silent “e”.

My second boy picked up reading quickly, too.  He didn’t fly into chapter books, but the idea that letters fit together to form words, and sentences, and stories clicked early.  He got it down and he was off.  A to Z Mysteries, look out!

And then my third little guy came along.  I read to my baby and I read to my toddler.  But a curious thing happened.  He didn’t read back.   I didn’t worry because I knew the other boys had just been naturally early readers.  I wasn’t Teaching With Phonics or anything.  They were just wired that way.

When my third son turned 5, we sent him to the “Spanish School.”  We have an immersion program here that’s fantastic.  We were amazed at how quickly he picked up a second language.  And–lo–he began to read in spanish.  Now, if you’re at all familiar with that language, you probably know that it’s extremely phonetic.  “I” always sounds like “ee”–they just don’t have all of the if, ands, or buts that we have in english.  What that means for beginning readers is that it’s easier because the letters always make the same sound.

When New Year’s rolled around that year, our son surprised us with his resolution: “I want to learn to read in english.”  It nearly broke my heart.  As we went up and down the grocery aisles and he tried to pronounce the words, he finally turned to me and said, “But mom, how do you know when it’s a silent ‘E’?”  Ayyy, I don’t know, I never had to do this before!

So what did I do?  I asked for help.  Having never “taught” reading before, I spoke with my older sons’ first grade teacher (at the regular, english-teaching, non-immersion school).  She smiled and suggested books with lots of repetition.  I’m pretty sure she was thinking, “Welcome to the real world, sweetheart.”  We tried these books, with some luck, but it still didn’t quite click.  He would sound out a word, seem to get it, and three pages later struggle over the very same word.  Plus, have you read those books?  Talk about dumbing things down…

Finally at the little library where we spend our summers, I stumbled across an old copy of Dick and Jane.  We tried it.  Progress.  He seemed to be retaining the words from page to page.  They had a few others in the series, so we checked those out, too.  And yes!  He got it!  Whatever the formula is in those books, it worked for my boy.  He was finally able to put the pieces together.  The books continue to use the same words that were previously introduced, as they add new vocabulary.  Are the stories fascinating?  Not so much.  But the older boys did get a good chuckle out of the title.

And my little guy?  Reading in english and spanish now, just fine.

Thanks, Dick.  And Jane.

Managing the Morning Chaos

photo credit: Richard Winchell

Newsflash: NOT a morning person. Repeat: Do not call here before 8:30 unless you are prepared to deal with the less-than-pleasant person on the other end of the line.

Oh sure, I’ve been up. For hours. But that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.
This sort of poor-early-morning temperament was fine way back in the San Francisco and Seattle days, when I was the only one at home and awake at that hour. (My sickeningly early-bird husband has always flown the coop long before I have, even in those days when my alarm screeched at 5:45AM. What on earth does he do so early? Yuck.) But now, I am joined by two of my boys, both of whom are off to school before the sun peeks over the horizon. Geesh.
Getting kids out the door, on time, and with needed materials, is a difficult proposition for most moms I know. Accomplishing those same things with an I’d-MUCH-rather-be-sleeping mindset is, well, almost impossible. So how do we do it? How do my kids manage to arrive at school with two shoes, homework, lunch, and a coat? Here’s what works for us:
  • Start the night before: lunch. This idea sounds so logical, doesn’t it? And yet, by the time we’ve finished all of the evening activities, eaten dinner, cleaned the kitchen and tucked the kids into bed, I barely have time to take care of my existing “to do” list, much less start on tomorrow’s. So, this one little step? It took me awhile to embrace. But now I do. I embrace it and recommend it wholeheartedly. If you’re like me, and your brain is in slow-motion in the morning, it’s likely that you’re like me in the evening as well: your brain is ticking and engaged. It’s ready to go. As such, packing a child’s lunch in the evening will take you half the time it does in the morning. That means you won’t have to remind yourself to get out a knife to spread peanut butter or stop to think about where you keep the goldfish. Beautiful.
  • Start the night before: papers. One thing that makes me absolutely, stark-raving mad is scrambling to find books, homework, and “sign-and-return this” papers as the kids are rushing out the door. Honestly, if you thought it was bad when I was just tired, try adding this dilemma to the mix. Not pretty. So before the kid head upstairs to brush their teeth at night, they need to locate ALL of the necessary items for school the next day and put them in their backpacks. Ahhh, less rushing, no lunatic mother–a wise choice.
  • Start the night before: outerwear. If you live way down south, you probably don’t need to worry about this one. But for those of us whose kids need rain gear or snow gear, you can save yourself an incredible amount of frustration by lining the gear up the night before. The only thing worse than not being able to find the library book that MUST be returned today, is only having one boot to stomp through the snow.
  • Don’t worry about the outfit. My boys learned to dress themselves early on. By the time they hit pre-school, they were thrilled to choose their clothing for the day. Have we had plaid shorts with striped shirts? You bet we have. How about khaki shorts, black socks, and loafers? Yep, that’s us. Mind you, I give a little guidance on school picture day. Other than that, they are very proud to dress themselves, and they’re quick about it, too.
  • Limit breakfast choices. Breakfast is mandatory around here, because, hey, I can read so I know kids are better off when they start their day with good food in their bellies. Our choices: oatmeal, cereal (the ones I choose to buy), or eggs. Side items: sausage (Bob Evans turkey links are awesome!), toast, &/or bagel. My point isn’t that these should also be the choices at your house. Your choices are your choices – just make sure there aren’t too many, or your kids will never get out of the kitchen & into the school on time.
  • Re-evaluate bedtime and alarm time. When it’s time to wake up, some kids do just fine. They roll out of bed, begin getting ready, and are ready to go without much hassle. Others stumble. They dawdle. They grumble and groan. (Hey, I like those kids already!) If your child tends towards the latter, they may need to rise a few minutes earlier to account for their pokiness, and, depending on how much earlier, they may need to have lights out a little earlier, too. Tired and grumpy is no way to start the day. Take it from me.
And you? Do you get your little (and bigger) ones out the door without too much trouble? If so, please share your top tips with the rest of us.

Take A Deep Breath

After a summer spent doing pretty much what we darn well pleased, I openly admit that I have not yet found my groove in dealing with a schedule that includes:

·      football practice for 2 kids (1 2ce a week, 1 3x a week),

·      soccer practice for my other son,

·      piano practice for all 3 boys, on 3 different days, at 3 different times,

·      soccer and football games, all on Saturdays, at overlapping times in different places,

·      PTO volunteering,

·      classroom volunteering,

·      lunchroom volunteering,

·      and lord knows what else I’m forgetting

And oh, did I mention writing?  And being married?  What about feeding the people who live here?

Friends, it’s a bit hairy around here this week.  I’d say I’m looking forward to the weekend, but it includes the aforementioned Saturday.

Breathe.  Right?