This weekend, I got a break from parenting from a little bit. Gabriel went to spend the weekend with the grandparents where he got to eat fudgsicles and cookies to his heart's content, play in the pool, and ride around in his new awesome car that Grandma and Grandpa bought him.
Meanwhile, Mommy and Daddy got some much needed downtime, and a date for my birthday which is on Monday. We went out to dinner and saw the new movie, Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Dinner was great, the movie was more Daddy's speed, but entertaining nonetheless for Mommy. Then we came home and watched another movie we'd recorded, The Young Victoria. Mommy loved it! I fell asleep sometime during the rerun of SNL, and woke up at the heavenly hour of 11:30 a.m. We went to brunch and then drove to the in laws to hang out, eat KFC, and have some birthday cake.
So, for my birthday I got some money from a generous relative. And what was the first thing I thought?
"Money for homeschooling stuff!"
So, even though I don't want to force learning or rush Gabriel into anything before he is ready, I want to get started on purchasing the BFIAR curriculum. Because I want to have it on hand for when he is ready.
Tonight, he asked me again to read How Big is a Pig three times in a row. He sat there quiet and still while I read the book over and over. He always laughs hysterically when we get to the last page. "Some pigs are big and some pigs are small, but this pig is my mom and she's the biggest of all!"
There's a great picture of a Mama Pig nursing all her little piglets. According to Gabriel, I'm the Mama Pig and he's the Baby Pig. He thinks this is very funny. Mommy is not so sure about being compared to a giant sow, but if it makes her little guy smile, she can laugh along at the joke.
Observing him, I see him getting more and more ready to sit and read a book multiple times. The Five in a Row people call it Rowing a book. I suppose you could say that we're rowing How Big is a Pig.
I'm hoping that he will enjoy the BFIAR book selections. A few we have on hand already... Goodnight Moon, ABC Bunny, The Runaway Bunny. I'll use my birthday money to purchase the Parents Guide and some of the other texts like Blueberries for Sal, The Snowy Day, and Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? The rest I'll pick up as needed.
Like I said, I don't want to pressure him. I just want to have the materials on hand for when he is ready. It's also why I hope our printer is soon hooked up...so I can do some of the printables off sites like Tot School....expose him to letters and sounds without pressure.
Gabriel got out his shape sorter tonight just before storytime. He hasn't shown any interest in it in a month or two. It's a wooden one that his uncle Kevin bought him in Austria. The last time he used it, he had trouble getting the triangular piece to fit. Tonight, he did it on the first try and announced to himself, "Good Job! Triangle!"
I am really hoping that we have our computer issue fixed soon so I can start uploading photos. I like putting pictures to words...this blog feels pretty Amish without images.
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