Summer Break has begun!

From the moment that James realized that the public school kids that live around us were out of school for the summer, he decided that HE was also out of school for the summer! I seconded the motion. It was a good time to take a break. We still have our house on the market and it feels like we are living in limbo. I try to keep the house presentable in case we have a showing request. Half of our life is packed away in boxes sitting in a storage unit an hour away. I miss the family pictures and all the things that make a house a home. We talk about moving often. James has to ask about all the things we will take with us.

James: Can I take all my toys?
Me: Yes.
James: What about the TV?
Me: Yes.
James: Are we taking your bed? Because I like your bed.
Me: Yes, we are taking everything with us.
James: Are we taking the bathtub?
Me: No.
James: But we need a bathtub? How will I take a bath?!?
Me: The new house will have a bathtub. It's a part of the house so we won't take it. We take all the things that belong to us.
James: What about Sadie and Dixie and Sparky?
Me: Of course!

And it goes on and on until I tell him that I can't answer any more questions.

So, in my mind, I have deemed this summer "The summer of PLAY" for James. He has already had so much outdoor time that I know Charlotte Mason would be proud! I have even skipped a few days of napping so he could play to his heart's content. He has fallin' in love with the outdoors again. No more asking to play on the computer or asking to play with my phone or his Leapfrog Leap Pad or his Dad's phone. He'd rather be outside. Even when he learned yesterday that he would not be getting an Xbox 360 for his birthday, he was not too upset. Oh he still wants one but he learned this after we spent some time in Walmart trying out bicycles with training wheels. :) He wanted to take it home right then and there but his birthday isn't for a couple more weeks.

James and his cousin Billy 

He asked me the other day what grade he would be in next year. I told him that he would be doing Kindergarten and that we would be learning how to write and read and talk more about numbers. He would learn how to tell time and count his money. We have decided to start giving him a weekly allowance when he turns 5. He said he would save his money to buy an Xbox 360. I like the way he thinks. And if he does save up enough money to buy one, I will let him. What a great lesson for him to learn!

So. It's the Summer of Play. And when it rains, it'll be a summer of movies. We have The Amazing Spiderman to look forward to. And our Netflix queue is long. We just watched Charlotte's Web. James wanted to see it over and over and over. He was truly saddened that Charlotte dies. It was touching. I was tucking him into bed one night and I asked him, "What is your favorite part of the movie or what do you think of the most about the movie?" He said, "Charlotte." And his little chin quivered as he said it and his eyes got a little teary. He asked, "Isn't it so sad that Charlotte dies?" "Yes, it is sweetheart but what happens when she dies? What does Wilbur do for her?. He replied, "He saves her babies." "That's right. Charlotte was a very good friend and Wilbur was a good friend right back to her." I had to stop then because I was getting teary-eyed and I didn't want James to see me cry. I wanted to smile and remind him how wonderful and powerful friendship is. The story has made an impression for sure. Even the other day, he was going to meet a new friend named RJ and he said, "Great name!". That's what Wilbur always said when he met a new friend. Being James' mom is pretty amazing.

Did you know...skipping is a pre-reading skill?

As I am home again and thinking about all I learned at the NCHE conference, I am able to take a deep breath, let it out....and wait. That's right. Wait. "For what?, you ask? So glad you did! Charlotte Mason, who was an educator in England in the late 1800's and early 1900's, believed education was 3-pronged: it was an atmosphere, a discipline and a [way of] life. Her philosophy included lots of play and "hours in the outdoors" for small children; time to explore their world and study Nature. She also supported the delay of academics until the child was 6 or 7 years of age. Now I understand why. When young children get the opportunity to play and explore outside they are paving their way to a preparedness for academics.

All children are born with over one billion neurons in their brains but all those neurons are not yet fully connected to each other by synapses that are strengthened through "active interest and mental effort by the child". Active interest + mental effort= play! This is the start of early education! Young children (preschoolers) need opportunities to develop gross motor skills, develop bilateral coordination, cross their midline, work on fine motor skills and ocular (eye) motor skills. There are seven eye muscles that are important to a child's eye development so they can focus closely to something (like words on a page). Their eyes won't fully develop until age 6-8 AND many pediatric eye specialists confirm that children's eyes are made primarily for distance vision. James has been asking for an Xbox 360 since Christmas. I have told him that Daddy and I are thinking about it as a birthday gift. After learning about eye development, he is getting a bicycle for his birthday!

So. Skipping is a pre-reading skill. And here are some others:

• riding a bike without training wheels (bilateral coordination, gross motor skills, fine motor skills)
• can do jumping jacks (bilateral coordination, gross motor skills, motor patterning)
• pretending (visualization)

At this point, James can not skip, do a jumping jack or ride a bike. Those skills need to be practiced and perfected before he has the ability to sit down and attend to doing academics. And you know what? I am totally fine with that. I think that's how we (parents, teachers, anyone who loves the child) instill a love of learning. We wait and we watch, looking for those teachable moments. And if we try it and it doesn't work, well, we wait some more. And when they are ready, they will be willing and it will be easier for them. The hard part? Dealing with Society's perceived expectations. I can predict it now: "James is _____ years old and he isn't reading yet? James is ____ years old and he isn't doing addition and subtraction yet? Well what ARE you doing?" "For now, we are....playing.", I will reply in the most sweetest voice I can muster (for the record, I don't think it's very sweet so who knows what it will actually sound like)

Sources for this post: www.simplycharlottemason.com and Susan Chrisman whom can be found at www.lifelonglearnersonline.com