10 Tips on Teaching Your Child to Read

Teaching reading is a process for the majority, but like all things that require effort, worth it in the end. I don't even remember (mostly) the struggles of teaching my almost 8 year old to read since I see the joy that reading brings him nowadays. He is currently enjoying the classic Three Musketeers and I hope to get him starte don Ben Hur soon as we're studying the early church in history. He can easily loose himself in a book for hours. But it has yet always been that way. I can imagine two years ago waiting for it to click all together and sure enough, that summer it began. So now as I go through the process with my daughter and wait for her to love reading and forget that she hated learning to read, here are 10 tips to teach reading: 1. Find a curriculum you love and stick with it. For us it was Teach Your Child to Read in 100 easy Lessons 2. If you do use the 100 easy lessons book, be advised you will hit points where you need to take a step back and go back to an earlier lesson. 3. Take deep breaths and stay calm... When you get frustrated that they're getting frustrated, it can get ugly. 4. Don't compare them to someone else. Not everyone walks at the same age or crawls at the sometime or potty trains at the same time... So do NOT compare! God designed us all differently... Be patient and know it will come. 5. Keep on reading other books to the, when it's not reading time... Otherwise I think they could begin to resent books completely. 6. Hide the pictures! Try and keep them focused on the words and sounds so they're not guessing their way through the story or getting distracted. 7. Have their eyesight checked at some point. You never know if some of their struggles could be vision related. 8. Don't just ask them to read books... Have them help read small parts of signs, something on the Internet, t-shirts, etc. they need to understand how universal reading is... They can use it everywhere everyday! 9. Don't give up because what your really doing is giving up on them. Yes it's hard, yes it will drive you batty at times... But persevere! At times it will seem there is no end in sight, but one day it will be all worth it. You want to make reading something to enjoy, so try and be encouraging and uplifting. Think on a time when you had to master something difficult and take heart, this too shall pass. 10. Allow them to pick out things they'd enjoy to read BUT also pick out things that will push them a little beyond what they think their limit is. Keep them challenged by a good story or less pages. This is as much for myself as it is for everyone else because it's no small feat to not only teach reading, but to teach them to LOVE reading!

2 Months Old already!

He looks a little surprised too... how is it possible that two months have gone by already? well, actually because we've been so busy, two months and one week-- 10 weeks total tomorrow! On one hand, it feels like we've had him here with us forever, and on the other hand, it seems like I was just waddling around with my big ol' belly! At two months he has begun to coo to us and has smiled real smiles at us (ya know, the ones nurses cant blame on gas or sleep). He is just an ounce shy of 12 pounds so he has doubled in weight since birth and is about 23 inches long. Due to being so wiggly when his head got measured, his head shrunk... well, not really, but Im sure when they record it they'll catch their mistake and next time make sure to get a better measurement. He loves to be held, sung twinkle twinkle little star, be held, eat (at 12 pounds he ain't missing any meals), carried in the moby (which is just like, you know, being held), and to be swaddled. He does NOT like mommy to eat (doesn't help him much though in the long run) or to be put on his tummy. Ah look.. here comes my helper... Im going to say this, but he also does not seem to like my helper. At all. But, Im sure that will change over time-- for now helper likes to give him extra loving or poke him to make sure he's really asleep and if that doesn't work, he shouts, "are you asleep Babeeeeeeee?" really loud. But seriously, you can't fault him for loving on someone so cute, can ya now?

That Mom....

This is my oldest son about 7 years ago. Isn't he a cutie pie? Those big baby blue eyes and platinum blonde hair-- just adorable! You can see how happy he is and how he just had a bath-- know what you can't tell? You can't tell that he was born via C-section or that I had an epidural or that it was days before I could hold him on my own. You also can't tell that he was our only baby exclusively fed formula. NOW can you tell that we loved him less? That I was less of a mom because of these things? No-- of course not. But I can imagine the wheels in that one moms mind turning. Turning on her judgement mode and hear her thinking, "That poor baby-- his mom did everything-- everything-- wrong!" You see that mom had hours of natural labor no pain meds-- not even Tylenol-- began koala care immediately after birth and began nursing her little one right away. She probably had her beautiful baby at a birthing center and was home in hours snuggling her little one. And I applaud her for all that-- she did a fabulous job. Just because its not my birth story doesn't mean I cant celebrate for her. But I am tired of those certain moms judging moms who don't go that route-- who can't go that route. And that mom, she probably would have been me had I not been knocked off my high horse by a high risk pregnancy that left me redefining what a good mom is and does. I had always assumed I'd have a natural birth and breast feed and when I didn't and couldn't, it took me a while to adjust and feel okay about it mostly because no one I knew could relate and so they judged what they didn't know. But I finally did realize something one day at a park watching lots of kids play-- I couldn't tell which child had been born which way or was fed bottle or breast-- there was no way to distinguish without asking. I am so thankful for modern medicine and so thankful that Mr. blue eyes is mine and that he came into this world through a hole cut in mommys tummy and that because we bottle fed, my husband could share in the joy of baby feedings as well. And I am so thankful God used the whole thing to teach me compassion-- because you never know what another mom went through to bring her baby into the world, but trust me, its a labor of love no matter the circumstances!

Summer Decor and Fun!

It may have taken me awhile, but the kids and I finally finished a simple little summer display for the shelf in the family room. I wanted bright and cheerful décor to celebrate the fun season and we actually picked up all the supplies at a.c.moore long before the baby came-- yes, it took me that long to find some time to do it, but the end result was well worth it. It adds a lot of summer cheer to the room. Its hard to believe that as schools across the nation have just finished their year up, we are about to begin ours in a little over 3 weeks! Im excited! The kids are excited-- it's been nice having this time off and adjusting to life with our new little love, but I think we will all be ready when we begin again come July 8th! http://kojo-designs.com/2011/09/49-fabulous-fabric-flower-tutorials/ Want to make some of your own fabric flowers? Don't be scared-- they're really simple and heres a great site with lots of ideas!

Quinoa Vegetarian Chili-- Very Yummy!!

This chili was amazingly good-- seriously, my husband declared it the best chili we've ever eaten AND there was no meat in it! I used to use ground boca in my chili, but then I realized that its all soy and had a lot of icky stuff, I decided to swap in quinoa. Its a new family favorite, super easy to cook, and tends to absorb the taste of the spices its in. It is also a wonderful source of protein. For garnish, some organic cheese and chips on the side (and if your my son, heaps of sour cream) ------------------------------------- You will need: 1 large bell pepper chopped. 1/4 cup of diced onion. 3 tbs of minced garlic. chili seasoning (I had a packet from my sisters shower, but some cumin, chili powder, and red pepper flakes should get the job done). 2 tbs of olive oil. 1 8 oz can of tomato paste. 1 can of diced tomatos with peppers. 1 can of black beans. 1 can of kidney beans. 1 handful of fresh spinach chopped up. 2 cups of water. PLUS, for the quinoa, one cup of quinoa and 2 cups of water. Saute pepper, onion, and garlic in olive oil. Turn heat down and add tomato products, beans drained and rinsed, spinach, water, and spices. 15 minutes before you are about to eat, cook quinoa. Add water and quinoa into pot. Cook covered for about 8-10 minutes and then uncover and stir frequently the last few minutes. When it looks like little tails have come off the quinoa, its done. Add into chili and stir. Then spoon into bowls, garnish with cheese, and eat with some chips on the side! Enjoy!

{Places to Play in PA: Daniel Boone Homestead}

The kids and I took advantage of the beautiful sunshine one afternoon following church service and took a picnic lunch out to the Daniel Boone Homestead. Its a lovely stretch of fields, historical buildings, and a sparkling lake. On this particular visit, we ate our lunch under a nice shady tree and then the kids played some kickball/soccer game while I fed the baby. Then we went for a nice walk down to the dam and lake. After all our walking around (not to mention our legs were a little tired from a hike the previous day), we opted to skip out on most of the historical areas. We did visit the visitors center where there were some neat Daniel Boone facts, but our little band of explorers was pretty tired so we decided to call it an afternoon. Even without the historical tour area, we still spent over two hours there. If you choose to do the historical area there are timed tours as well as a small admission fee (I think maybe 3 dollars a person) to explore that area. There are over 500 acres of land so there is plenty to explore and much land to be hiked which makes it a lovely outing for a family. Check out their website for more information as well as for special events that they have going on throughout the year: http://www.danielboonehomestead.org/. Also, don't forget you can always search this blog for more Places to Play in PA-- happy travels!

Today its been a Month!

Its hard to believe its been a month on one hand because I cant imagine life without him and then on the other, phew, what a month it has been! The first week was just a blur of pain pills, pain, and baby snuggles and feedings. Then the second week I lost the pain meds and slowly began getting back to normal with 4 little ones. Normal life things like laundry, reading books together, walks, and cooking meals again were all day-to-day activities resumed that week and it felt so good to sloooooooowly begin making progress towards our new normal. The third week was even better-- the baby and I were able to attend church again and re-enter the land of the living for short little jaunts. This week we actually took a trial run down to see my parents before the wedding and it wasn't easy, but we made it through the long car ride. I know people say time flies, but I feel like I have been savoring every minute and loving just being alive and healthier and home with my kids. We also couldn't have asked for a better fourth baby to be the caboose so to speak-- he is such a joy, so cuddly and sweet, and really-- just a huge blessing! Here he is-- actually finally fitting into his newborn clothes at one month old (although if he is anything like his brothers, he'll grow like a weed these next 3 months) and every day seems to be more alert and have longer waking times. Now just to give you a zoomed out perspective so you can see how small he is in regards to the entire sofa: Last night we went out for our anniversary and ran into a couple with a little boy born the same day as our little guy only full term and it was amazing to see the size difference, but neat to hear that even though Declan isn't full term yet, he seems to be doing the same things the other baby is-- what an encouragement to hear how God has blessed him with health despite all my body put us through! And now, my little man is just waking up and I don't want to miss a minute, so night all :)