4.75 and Back to School
I'm so far behind on Henry's 4.75 post that I am going to shamelessly roll it into his back-to-school update. Everything else that happened in the last six weeks is or will be covered in another post (if I ever get caught up on photos).
Henry had a good end to the summer. The cabin was, as always, perfectly awesome for him. Then we had one last week hanging around the house and pool and visiting a couple of new parks. But I think he was ready to go back to school, mostly because he missed his buddies. He really enjoyed the programmed part of our day (pool, park, etc.) but was getting bored with the rest of the time. While he is getting better at entertaining himself, it takes him awhile to get settled on something. With two little sisters to feed and get down for naps, our days were often broken up into very short chunks of time, none of which was long enough for him to occupy himself with anything. That three-hour work cycle with all of his friends must have been looking pretty good compared to mom's hurry-up-and-wait schedule.
We've been back at school for three weeks and it is going pretty well. He picked out a shirt and tie to match Karl on the first day, but since then has requested "regular clothes."
I was worried that the summer would break his stride on being awesome at drop-off but he has been totally fine. A little whiny some days, but that's how I feel about mornings too. He was really, really tired by the end of the first week. He hung in there for the second week but I let him skip on Friday because he seemed run-down.
He claims that work time is boring and that he only enjoys recess, but he is always very excited to tell us about new lessons. He's been working on the math beads and the United States map. He is also improving at sounding out words, even without written text in front of him. He often asks me to spell words in the car or at dinner and can usually work out three-letter words, especially if I do a series where I only alter one letter (e.g. if I say "R-A-N" and "F-A-N" and "T-A-N" he can get most of the words, but if I spell totally different words it trips him up). At home, he's starting to show more interest in how the natural world works -- where did things come from, how old are they, how do things move around. It's really fun to watch him waking up to the world beyond right here and right now.
Fun time is all about action. We're all a little obsessed with American Ninja Warrior, so the boys have been installing some hardware in the basement that will allow Henry to climb on something other than my furniture. He has been going to a karate class one night a week and open-gym time at a Parkour studio on Saturday mornings. Karl and I have to overcome our deep dislike of scheduled activities in the evenings and weekends, but both of these activities seem really good for him, for different reasons. The Parkour guys give the kids a short lesson on some skill but then turn them loose, so it's really just free-play time. Henry enjoys the physical challenge and is learning to be persistent and not lose his marbles when he can't do something right away. I think he has noticed that the older kids (he's probably the youngest one there by two years) don't whine and cry and he wants to be like them. The sensei at karate is quite strict -- Henry had to do push ups for not listening at the first class! Probably a good experience for him to learn a specific skill and have another male authority figure, since the rest of his day is all women and gentle Montessori voices.
He has generally been a really great dude lately. Traveling with him is fun and easy. He likes adventures and will eat absolutely anything. He loves his little sisters (though he claims he likes Heidi best, probably because she doesn't fight back yet) and likes all his people to be together. He still wants to cuddle me in the morning. Almost-five is excellent!
Henry had a good end to the summer. The cabin was, as always, perfectly awesome for him. Then we had one last week hanging around the house and pool and visiting a couple of new parks. But I think he was ready to go back to school, mostly because he missed his buddies. He really enjoyed the programmed part of our day (pool, park, etc.) but was getting bored with the rest of the time. While he is getting better at entertaining himself, it takes him awhile to get settled on something. With two little sisters to feed and get down for naps, our days were often broken up into very short chunks of time, none of which was long enough for him to occupy himself with anything. That three-hour work cycle with all of his friends must have been looking pretty good compared to mom's hurry-up-and-wait schedule.
We've been back at school for three weeks and it is going pretty well. He picked out a shirt and tie to match Karl on the first day, but since then has requested "regular clothes."
I was worried that the summer would break his stride on being awesome at drop-off but he has been totally fine. A little whiny some days, but that's how I feel about mornings too. He was really, really tired by the end of the first week. He hung in there for the second week but I let him skip on Friday because he seemed run-down.
He claims that work time is boring and that he only enjoys recess, but he is always very excited to tell us about new lessons. He's been working on the math beads and the United States map. He is also improving at sounding out words, even without written text in front of him. He often asks me to spell words in the car or at dinner and can usually work out three-letter words, especially if I do a series where I only alter one letter (e.g. if I say "R-A-N" and "F-A-N" and "T-A-N" he can get most of the words, but if I spell totally different words it trips him up). At home, he's starting to show more interest in how the natural world works -- where did things come from, how old are they, how do things move around. It's really fun to watch him waking up to the world beyond right here and right now.
Fun time is all about action. We're all a little obsessed with American Ninja Warrior, so the boys have been installing some hardware in the basement that will allow Henry to climb on something other than my furniture. He has been going to a karate class one night a week and open-gym time at a Parkour studio on Saturday mornings. Karl and I have to overcome our deep dislike of scheduled activities in the evenings and weekends, but both of these activities seem really good for him, for different reasons. The Parkour guys give the kids a short lesson on some skill but then turn them loose, so it's really just free-play time. Henry enjoys the physical challenge and is learning to be persistent and not lose his marbles when he can't do something right away. I think he has noticed that the older kids (he's probably the youngest one there by two years) don't whine and cry and he wants to be like them. The sensei at karate is quite strict -- Henry had to do push ups for not listening at the first class! Probably a good experience for him to learn a specific skill and have another male authority figure, since the rest of his day is all women and gentle Montessori voices.
He has generally been a really great dude lately. Traveling with him is fun and easy. He likes adventures and will eat absolutely anything. He loves his little sisters (though he claims he likes Heidi best, probably because she doesn't fight back yet) and likes all his people to be together. He still wants to cuddle me in the morning. Almost-five is excellent!
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