fried rice

Day 2 went soooooooooooooooooo much better than yesterday, and it's all because I just moved to a rhythm rather than followed a schedule.  We had a cozy morning in bed while the rains poured and wind blew outside...then made breakfast together, ate, brushed our teeth and got dressed, made my bed together, recorded the weather and the date, read an alphabet story, discussed different letters and words and sounds, played an alphabet game that also served as an informal assessment of where Seven and Four are phonemically speaking, wrote the whole alphabet and names, and then had snack and play time.  It was wonderful.  There was no complaining, everyone participated, things were accomplished, and we had fun.

We looked over our schedule (initiated by Seven, who was very excited about a lunch date with Auntie Mel), and then Four realized her sick toys were missing and Seven found the note.  We looked high and low, over and under, everywhere, and each time we found one, we lined them up, counted them and also counted how many were left to find.  Seven was surprisingly enthusiastic about the counting and Four predictably loved the active search.

We agreed that we'd each be allowed three complaints a day.  I had none, Seven had 3, and Four had just one tantrum--which really was auntie Mel's fault, ;).  After a very pleasant lunch we were off to Grumpy's so I could teach my college course.  It was a great day, and instead of doing worksheets on letters and numbers, we used letters and numbers in hands-on, real world ways.  Primates learn by observing and doing.


Cut to the fried rice....Seven is a really picky eater so mid-August (after watching him eat hot dogs for three days straight while we were vacationing), I asked the family to think of some things they have never done and suggested we take turns trying each person's thing together.  One of the challenges I see with Seven is that he is not a risk taker, and this is so hard for me because I am the exact opposite... I'm not into bungee jumping or anything, but I love trying new things and I know that curiosity & willingness to experiment are critical characteristics of a successful learner.  I think one of the reasons he's hesitant to read is because he's afraid to be wrong, and I've seen this a million times in kids.  It's one of the toughest hurdles for a learner, and building confidence is the only way to get past it.  Not an impossible task, but one I had hoped to avoid as a parent.

Anyways, we are starting with trying new foods, (by luck my new thing got 'randomly' picked first:)), And it's been really great!  He's eating carrots now (sliced as chips vs sticks) and fried shrimp (loved when he said excitedly, "I've never eaten a crustacean before!"), and earlier this week he asked if we could make fried rice.  The agenda tomorrow: read the fried rice recipe we found on line, check to see what we need for ingredients, make a list, visit the grocery store, and make fried rice for dinner.  Just before bed, Seven said, "I'm so excited about the fried rice Mama!"  Me too.

We'll be reading, writing, using money, measuring, mixing, and taking a risk by eating a new food!  And the fact that it was initiated by Seven makes the whole plan so meaningful...something I know will stick with him.  He's engaged in this learning and that is giving him the freedom from fear to try something new.  Cooking is one of his favorite activities, so using something he loves to lead him towards something new is how I hope to build his confidence.  Eventually that will transfer to reading...but until he leads me toward that, I have to patiently wait and seize every possible opportunity for me to provide an opportunity for him to step in that direction.

And it is so wonderful that Four is the yin to his yang, because her enthusiasm for the reading activities and the new food challenge is contagious.  It surprises him at first, but I can see it also motivates him.  Of course, many times the motivation is a just a big brother/lil' sis thing, but you work with what you are given!  And I am amazed at her interests and skills, and the way she plays out "scenes" and conversations with her toys to process her thinking..for example, the pink snake told his mother, Angelina the mouse, that she would not wear pants today.  Angelina replied, "It's cold outside honey and you have to wear pants."  and it went back and forth for quite a while until finally the snake agreed to wear pants.  


I seem to recall a similar situation earlier this week regarding a long sleeve shirt on a cold day...however in that scenario there was much more screaming and stamping of feet and crying before the mother got her way....interesting, very interesting.....