Loving....How Her Little Mathematical Mind Works

So, this is how my little mathematician handles a large coloring section. Let's make a grid and color it in sections.

Last week...

Alexa: It's strange how Daddy's age is the number in the middle on zero & one hundred.
Mommy: How did you you know that?
Alexa: Well,  5 is the number between zero and ten. So fifty is the number between zero and one hundred.

Yesterday she asked (out of the blue) what four 3s were. I told her, "The same as six 2s. "Oh, 12", she replies instantly. I asked, "Do you see lots of numbers in your head.?".  "Yes, but not all the time".

I can't relate.

Learning...to draw with Paint

Alexa and Karissa watch Julia draw with Adobe Illustrator and wanted to draw their own pictures on the computer.  I introduced them to Illustrator and realized how clueless I am about it. Then I remembered that "less is more" sometimes.

Good ol' Paint would do the trick.  The younger girls can draw and get familiar with the basic concepts of drawing programs.  They are using the mouse, zooming in and out, grabbing the different drawing tools and changing colors.  Of course, they wanted to figure it out themselves. I love that I only have to send them in the right direction and they will learn on their own. That is at the foundation of our home learning.  Mike & I provide the tools for learning and guide the process, but God works in each of the girls to reveal what they need to know.

Here is Alexa's creation - the Heart Family. It will be fun to look back at it someday when she is designing more complex things.

Learning....to Reach Her Heart

You would think that after 15 years of this parenting thing, I'd have it down. Yes, "you" who doesn't have kids may think that, but us parents know that it is a day-by-day growth process.  And a child-by-child learning experience.

One of my daughters has been experiences intense emotions.  She has always been assertive and steadfast.... and prone to outbursts and fits. But she is to the age that I can no longer pass it off as a "phase". I have been praying about ways to reach her precious heart when she is upset and to know her deeper so that I can help her cope with her emotions.

This week, God showed me a new way to reach her.

(A little backstory - this daughter is learning to read and write. But, because she has an "attitude of excellence" (aka perfectionism), she has been resistant to reading and writing because she can't do it perfect the first time.  In the past two weeks, she has grown comfortable with writing things the way they sound and not worrying about spelling.)

So, during one of her fits, said child showed up with a whiteboard and dropped it at my feet. Her message?

"Sad. Can I eat now quietly? Can you not talk bad please?" My heart melted. She found a way to express her feelings in a way that didn't hurt herself or others. Later in the day, when she was upset again (it was a rough day), I got another white board note from her, this one asking for a reply.

So, I put together a journal for us to use to communicate back and forth with each other. We leave it on each other's pillows when we want the other to read it. And everytime this child has been upset in the past two days, she has used the journal to work through her feelings.

Not only is she learning to express herself, but there are other valuable lessons.
    I have left a few scripture references that she has learned to look up on my Bible app
    She is trying to read my notes to her and doing great!
    She is really trying with her spelling, and has asked me to write the correct spellings above her words.  This may actually be the way she learns to read and write.

God is good! I give Him full credit for the journal idea. And I know that He is working on this daughter's heart in ways that I can't.

Loving....My Family

By Karissa:

I love my family, but we all like different things. Like my sister likes reading. Lara likes animals. Alexa likes playing.  My other sister likes singing. I like basketball.

Loving....a New Gerbil

By Karissa:

Lara has a gerbil.  It's name is Button.  She is fast. She made a nest last night. She likes to run away. She likes to crawl on our laps. We all love her so so much.

We just got her the other day.  She is only 3 months old. We hope that she lives a long time.  She likes to chew on her wheel. She is gray with a hint of white.  She has red eyes. She likes to hide, and she loves food.