Actual Education Post

There is nothing like a good cleaning to find things that are lost or even things that one doesn't even remember having. The cleaning has been very conducive to the girls getting excited about a little self-directed learning.

Friday I was cleaning out the storage containers where I had put thrown our CD-ROMs back when we had cleaned out the desk for house showing purposes. Buried within was a treasure I had forgotten. About a year ago I managed to find a good deal on some older programs, most of them being free. Most of them are from the mid-90's and don't have all the graphical bells & whistles one sees in computer programs today - but they are still educational sound programs. Really the alphabet, phonics, basic math and US geography hasn't change in the last decade.

You would have thought birthdays and Christmas had come early. First we had to load up the talking math program (which is really missed named since it also contains spelling, complete the sentences, alphabetical order and US Geography all on the same CD-ROM). There is nothing fancy about this as it really is just talking flash cards with little sounds when you get it right. But hey that is more interesting than me sitting with flashcards. The girls were having so much fun with this program that a friend called us and wanted to meet at a local fast food restuarant with play ground, and yet the girls kept me waiting - "I just want to do it again,"; "five more minutes, please." Being the mean mommy that I am I finally insisted that we go load ourselves up with fatty food and play on a germ-ridden playstructure so that mommy could have some adult time.

When we got back I had to load up the Body Works CD-ROM. Which has cool 3-D cutaways and images of body systems and major organs. I had bought this specifically to use when we studied the human body this winter then of course forgot that we had it. Anyway, since we had just finished the unit it was pretty cool to go through it again. The text was way over MB's ability - but that was okay really we just wanted it for the cool images.

Saturday was a "Frog Festival" at a local park. MB and K had been talking about this all week. It was our plan to head over there Saturday morning while DH had to be gone somewhere else. As it seems like happens when we try to plan things someone got sick. This time it was my very healthy, never-ever sick EM. She woke me up over night sporting a very high fever. So, we regrouped. DH went to do his thing while the big girls helped me clean a little and then went to play with friends. When he came home he took MB and K to the festival, while EM and I napped.

It was probably better he took them anyway. Reptiles and Amphibians don't generally bother me, but I don't have the interest and knowledge about them that he does. So they had a great time and MB came home talking about all the snakes she had seen and touched and the different activities. So we sat down on the computer and looked for examples of the different creatures so she could show me.

While looking we came across a photo image that someone had inverted the colors on to emphasize something. That led to a discussion of what color inversion is and the need to open the basic paint program on the computer. MB then proceeded to spend the next 45 minutes figuring out the color inversions for the standard colors and creating abstract art and then inverting it to get the colors she actually wanted. She did some very cool pieces.

MB has also returned from her one week break from reading aloud. She had advanced so quickly in the last couple of months that when she asked for a breather I allowed it. I am glad that I did. She has returned even more relaxed about it. She is tackling long, difficult words on her own. And comprehension wise she has learned not just to sound out the words, but if she sounds it out and still doesn't know the word she is stopping and asking me. This from a child four months ago would rather do anything than read aloud and when she did would read through as quick as she could not caring what the words actually "said."

I would still like to see her "fall in love" with reading the way I am. But, I don't know if I am ever going to see that here. MB is so active and a kinesthetic learner to boot, that I think sitting still to read is almost painful for her. She loves sports and nature and being outside, and those are the gifts I need to cultivate in her.

Have a peaceful Sunday

Amy