Tales from the Nursery

I am toying with a new experiment on homework this year. Last year, we would come straight home from school and get to homework. Some days it would take a little longer than others… but otherwise we would have it done in no time.

Today I started thinking about schedules and routines. I started to think about how difficult it is for a 7 year old to be in school from 8:30-3:00 5 days a week and then come straight home and do homework for another 30-40 minutes. How is that keeping them motivated?

This summer she excelled in reading. Her grade goal for AR (accelerated reading) was 20 points. With one week left to take AR tests, she has already reached 60.4 points. Mostly because she has already read 4 books of Harry Potter (remember she is only 6) and most of those books are worth over 10 points. #3 was worth 18 points and she scored a 100%. I believe her success in reading came from her “freedom” of learning this summer.

So back to my ‘idea’ for homework this year, is to allow her to come home, have a snack, watch some tv, play, run around, etc. and THEN do our homework when its time to start dinner. I am hoping that this will give her some down time and when its time for homework she will be willing and ready. Hopefully it will give her the much needed break (especially since the “Playground time” at school has been drastically reduced) from learning. Now, yes, I NEVER would have thought that I would be trying to give my daughter a break from learning. But if this will help her to be a better student, I will do whatever I can to help her.

So let me know what you think about my experiment? Is this something you have tried already? Facebook me or tweet me @Nurserytales.

My husband and I have decided to put our 2 year old into a Pre-school. We searched high and low; received recommendations and looked online; we finally found a great Christian preschool that fills our needs.

So our 2 year has been enrolled in a 4 day a week, 9-1 school. We are very excited about her new curriculum; circle time, learning centers, lunch, church and playground are just some of the advantages of preschool. We are really hoping that she will learn how to follow directions, socialize, how to share and be nice to others.

Since we enrolled her, I have been asking her if she wanted to go to school. Her reply “NO” (even though she has picked out her Toy Story 3 lunch box). Kind of makes me have second thoughts, although I know its in her best interest. One thing we have been doing to prepare her for preschool is to say “Hi” to her school every time we pass by.

Today we happened to pass by TWICE… first time we passed by we said “Hi School”, she waved and yelled and got excited! The second time we passed and said “Hi school” “bye school”… we seemed to get stuck on the “hi school”. She said “Hi School” for almost the next 15 minutes.

I hope this means she is FINALLY excited about going to school!

Its so sad, but our summer vacation is coming to a close. We have approximately 12 days (including weekends) left until school begins for my oldest and 20 days for my 2 year old . On Monday, I officially declared this week “Practice Week”.

I started Practice Week way back when I was in high school when I would take the week before school started and got up on time and practiced my morning routine to make sure I would be on time. I would even do Practice Week(s) for basketball conditioning (I played during high school). Every year the season would begin in October and we would have team conditioning, where we would run and “get in shape” prior to try-outs. I would start 2 weeks prior to team conditioning and wake up (even earlier) and run a mile every morning. This way when it came time to condition, I would already be two steps ahead. I know what you are thinking now.. could I get any more OCD?!

So, Practice Week for our family is when we try (very hard) to get back on our schedule. Although I haven’t actually gotten up when I needed to, I have practiced leaving work on time (hasn’t happened yet, but I believe it will soon), getting to the gym, making dinner, feeding my girls, getting baths and going to bed on time (for them, I haven’t quite succeeded in that..yet). So far we doing great (besides me leaving work on time, getting up on time and going to bed on time)! Tonight we were able to get to bed 15 minutes earlier than last night! Yay us!

So by my calculations, we should be getting everything done and going to bed on time by November 7th! Just kidding….one week in school for my 7 and 2 year old and they will be whipped and tired by 7:45. This I am sure of!

My youngest daughter just turned 2 on Sunday July 25th!!! I can’t believe that she is already 2 years old.

She was born on July 25th, 2008 after I was in labor for only 6 hours. I did two “practice” pushes at which point the nurse closed my legs to wait for the doctor. She said if I pushed one more time the baby would be here.

Once the doctor arrived (which seemed like forever) I gave one hard push and out she came! It all seemed so easy and she was perfect from the beginning!

For the her first birthday we took her to Sea World, so we decided to continue the tradition this year. We went for a great family trip to Sea World and tried to get all the same photos as we did last year so we could compare.

Its absolutely amazing how fast they grow at such a young age. This year, she knew which animals she wanted to see. She sat in amazement during the entire Dolphin show watching all the “fishies”.

The year between #1 and #2 was a great ride! I can’t wait to see what the next year will bring!

This has been kind of a rough month for us….besides some issues we had at work, our #1 baby Tundra passed away on July 5th. She was a full bred black and white Siberian Huskey, who had two beautiful blue eyes. We brought her home when she was just 8 weeks old in July 1999. She was part of our family, even before I was. My husband and I loved her so much.

She has been with us through everything; our wedding, first house, first daughter, second house, second daughter and second dog. She was a trooper! She was soo good through all these transitions and made sure she was never lost in the mix!

Its been hard, but we miss and love her so much! I was worried about the impact it would have on my daughters, but they seem to be ok. My youngest every once in a while will walk around and look for “Dundra” (as she says), but we say Tundra went bye bye. My oldest asked me many questions like where was she, how did she pass away, will the vet be able to fix her. I answered all her questions with the honest truth. She seemed to understand and every so often she will tell me she misses her.

The house still doesn’t feel the same. Its amazing how much difference just one dog makes. The house seems so quiet, like its missing something. AND IT IS… she will always be a part of our heart. We miss her so much! We love you Tundra!