Valentine's Day cards are being mailed on Valentine's Day this year. So Lucy's great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles should be getting "love monsters" in mail in a few days. Sorry we never sent Christmas cards. Lucy wasn't into it, so I didn't force it. I'm hoping to get a good picture of the girls before Easter, and hopefully Lucy will feel like making Easter cards. Maybe Maggie can help, too.
Lucy had a Valentine party on Tuesday at preschool. She had a good time. And Maggie got to attend, too. She sat by Lucy and had a blast.
Earlier today, when I asked Lucy who she loved, she said, "Maggie. She makes me laugh." When I asked her who else she loved, she said, "I can only love one." I told her that wasn't true, but she insisted that she did not love Matt or me because she only loved Maggie. I asked her if Matt loves her. She said yes. I asked if Matt loves Maggie, and she said, "Most of the time." I asked if Matt loves me. She said, "Most of the time no." As usual she insisted that I love Maggie and do not love her. And as usual, I told her that that was not true and was not something I could allow her to believe. She says this even when I'm cuddling her, so I'm not really sure she knows what the word "love" means. However, by this evening, she told me and Matt that she loves us. So we've made progress over the course of the day.
We're giving the girls some books for Valentine's Day. The university swimming pool is open again, so the girls and I will go there for an hour tomorrow. Other than that, we have no plans. But a day with books and swimming is still a pretty good day.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Kids Movie Inventory
I went through the girls' DVDs today to see what we own. I thought I'd share since sometimes people buy them videos. We don't often buy them movies, so the list doesn't change often. If I had a list of their books, it would change much more frequently.
Lucy and Maggie watch quite a bit of TV, but it's almost all PBS or educational shows streamed from Amazon, Netflix, or YouTube. Because we rely on streaming services, and their catalogs change frequently and without notice, we got DVDs from series that Lucy was obsessed with (Paw Patrol, Special Agent Oso, Bubble Guppies, Martha Speaks). Those obsessions were temporary, and those shows are no longer watched. But Maggie may go through those same phases, as she is currently doing with Curious George at exactly the same age that Lucy did.
I am happy to report that both girls love many of the programs I enjoyed as a child. They love old-school Sesame Street. We're currently watching Christmas Eve on Sesame Street for the second time today. Lucy HATES the newer Sesame Street episodes. She runs away from the TV. But she likes the old ones. I must say that I like them better, too. They were more episodic and psychedelic. The new ones talk about imagination; the old ones showed you what imaginations can do. Lucy also likes Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. They have not yet seen The Muppet Show.
Now that I know what we have, I'll try to update their Amazon wishlists. There are some things that I'd love to have. The Wuzzles cartoon series. I loved and love that one! Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is great. And I'm a big fan of The Great Muppet Caper. Those are just a few I can think of off the top of my head.
Disney
Animated Movies
The Aristocats
Beauty and the Beast
Frozen
Mary Poppins*
Winnie the Pooh (The Many Adventures of)
Animated Shows
Special Agent Oso: The Spy Who Helped Me
Live Action
Apple Dumpling Gang 1 & 2
Benji the Hunted
Blackbeard's Ghost
Gus
Hot Lead and Cold Feet
The Journey of Natty Gann
Mary Poppins*
Pete's Dragon*
The Shaggy D.A.
Swiss Family Robinson
The Ugly Dachshund
Where the Red Fern Grows
Sesame Street/Muppets
A Muppet Family Christmas
Big Bird in China
Big Bird in Japan
Bert & Ernie's Great Adventures
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
Muppets Christmas Carol
PBS
Curious George - Season 1
Daniel Tiger's Winter Wonderland
Zoboomafoo
Martha Speaks: Martha Goes to School
Martha Speaks: Martha's Superhero Adventures
Martha Speaks:Puppies! Puppies! Puppies!
Nickelodean
Bubble Guppies: The Puppy and the Ring
Paw Patrol
Wonder Pets Save the Beetles
Sprout
Meet Chica
All Aboard with Noodle and Doodle
Noodly Doodly Things to Make
Misc.
Babe
Beethoven
The Cat in the Hat
Despicable Me 1 &2 & Minion Madness mini movies
The Gruffalo
The Gruffalo's Child
The Land Before Time
The Little Rascals Save the Day
Sarah Plain and Tall (all three in the series)
Shawn the Sheep Movie (and most of the TV show)
Shrek
Sing
The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss
Lucy and Maggie watch quite a bit of TV, but it's almost all PBS or educational shows streamed from Amazon, Netflix, or YouTube. Because we rely on streaming services, and their catalogs change frequently and without notice, we got DVDs from series that Lucy was obsessed with (Paw Patrol, Special Agent Oso, Bubble Guppies, Martha Speaks). Those obsessions were temporary, and those shows are no longer watched. But Maggie may go through those same phases, as she is currently doing with Curious George at exactly the same age that Lucy did.
I am happy to report that both girls love many of the programs I enjoyed as a child. They love old-school Sesame Street. We're currently watching Christmas Eve on Sesame Street for the second time today. Lucy HATES the newer Sesame Street episodes. She runs away from the TV. But she likes the old ones. I must say that I like them better, too. They were more episodic and psychedelic. The new ones talk about imagination; the old ones showed you what imaginations can do. Lucy also likes Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. They have not yet seen The Muppet Show.
Now that I know what we have, I'll try to update their Amazon wishlists. There are some things that I'd love to have. The Wuzzles cartoon series. I loved and love that one! Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is great. And I'm a big fan of The Great Muppet Caper. Those are just a few I can think of off the top of my head.
Disney
Animated Movies
The Aristocats
Beauty and the Beast
Frozen
Mary Poppins*
Pete's Dragon*
Robin Hood
School House Rock
The Sword in the StoneWinnie the Pooh (The Many Adventures of)
Animated Shows
Special Agent Oso: The Spy Who Helped Me
Live Action
Apple Dumpling Gang 1 & 2
Benji the Hunted
Blackbeard's Ghost
Gus
Hot Lead and Cold Feet
The Journey of Natty Gann
Mary Poppins*
Muppets Christmas Carol
The Parent Trap (1960)Pete's Dragon*
Rascal
The Shaggy Dog (Old and Remade versions)The Shaggy D.A.
Swiss Family Robinson
The Ugly Dachshund
Where the Red Fern Grows
Sesame Street/Muppets
A Muppet Family Christmas
Big Bird in China
Big Bird in Japan
Bert & Ernie's Great Adventures
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
Muppets Christmas Carol
PBS
Curious George - Season 1
Daniel Tiger's Winter Wonderland
Zoboomafoo
Martha Speaks: Martha Goes to School
Martha Speaks: Martha's Superhero Adventures
Martha Speaks:Puppies! Puppies! Puppies!
Nickelodean
Bubble Guppies: The Puppy and the Ring
Paw Patrol
Wonder Pets Save the Beetles
Sprout
Meet Chica
All Aboard with Noodle and Doodle
Noodly Doodly Things to Make
Misc.
Babe
Beethoven
The Cat in the Hat
Despicable Me 1 &2 & Minion Madness mini movies
The Gruffalo
The Gruffalo's Child
The Land Before Time
The Little Rascals Save the Day
Sarah Plain and Tall (all three in the series)
Shawn the Sheep Movie (and most of the TV show)
Shrek
Sing
The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss
Saturday, December 2, 2017
Writing for a New Reader
Lucy now knows 60 sight words, almost all of the preschool words and some of the kindergarten words. She knows all of the letters and their sounds and is beginning to sound out words. She doesn't like sounding out words, but she likes playing reading apps on her tablet. I have bought some little beginning readers for her, but I've been disappointed in them so far. I know I can't expect a lot of plot when she knows so few words, but the books we've found have so many unfamiliar words that she gets bogged down and wants to give up. Of course, one solution is to put the books away until she's ready for them, which is what I'm doing. But I know that she loves reading the sentences I write her using the words she knows. So I thought I'd pass along that list in case anyone wanted to write something for her as a Christmas gift or stocking stuffer.
Here are the sight words she knows:
No, Not, Yes
Articles: a, an, the
Nouns: can, cat, one, three, two
Pronouns: all, he, I, it, me, my, one, she, we, who, you
Verbs: am, are, be, can, did, do, eat, find, get, go, help, is, jump, like, look, make, ride, run, see, will
Adverbs: away, down, here, so, too, up
Adjectives: big, black, blue, funny, good, little, new, one, pretty, red, three, two, white, yellow
Prepositions: for, in, into, like, on, out, to, up
Conjunctions: and, so
Sticking to those words as much as possible is good. Having her sound out a word or two is fine as long as the words are three letters long and have short vowel sounds (tub, fox, dog, etc.). And using multiple words from a word family (ball, call, mall, wall, etc.) is a great idea.
I've sketched out a little cartoon with two characters describing trees. (Tree would be the new word.) One says his tree is tall; the other says his tree is big. It turns out their just standing on different sides of the same tree. (The characters are stick figures named Curly and Spike due to their hair-dos.) I'll also try writing a few stories that she can illustrate.
Most of what Lucy knows, she has learned from playing games on a tablet. I'm not trying to push her, but I want her to have opportunities to expand the skills she already has and learn to love reading rather than find it frustrating.
Here are the sight words she knows:
No, Not, Yes
Articles: a, an, the
Nouns: can, cat, one, three, two
Pronouns: all, he, I, it, me, my, one, she, we, who, you
Verbs: am, are, be, can, did, do, eat, find, get, go, help, is, jump, like, look, make, ride, run, see, will
Adverbs: away, down, here, so, too, up
Adjectives: big, black, blue, funny, good, little, new, one, pretty, red, three, two, white, yellow
Prepositions: for, in, into, like, on, out, to, up
Conjunctions: and, so
Sticking to those words as much as possible is good. Having her sound out a word or two is fine as long as the words are three letters long and have short vowel sounds (tub, fox, dog, etc.). And using multiple words from a word family (ball, call, mall, wall, etc.) is a great idea.
I've sketched out a little cartoon with two characters describing trees. (Tree would be the new word.) One says his tree is tall; the other says his tree is big. It turns out their just standing on different sides of the same tree. (The characters are stick figures named Curly and Spike due to their hair-dos.) I'll also try writing a few stories that she can illustrate.
Most of what Lucy knows, she has learned from playing games on a tablet. I'm not trying to push her, but I want her to have opportunities to expand the skills she already has and learn to love reading rather than find it frustrating.
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