Those were the words we featured in Spanish this week: zebra, orange (the fruit) and orange (the color.) Lauren Clay was the off-task kid this week. We essentially walled the kids into the den so there were no toys to distract them from the songs and story, but Lauren Clay kept escaping and heading into her room to jump on the bed, hide the fruits, and tempt the others to join her. She usually sits quietly in my lap for Spanish, but-- oh boy-- she was a handful. And that was BEFORE Mel and I started icing cookies and she ingested who-knows-how-much sugar. I hope to post some pictures from today. Kristina took some, and at least one is of Lauren Clay, face down next to the baby gate, with the other kids standing around her asking why she's so sad. Lauren Clay does not like barriers.
After we snacked on naranjas (thanks, Karen, for providing the snack!), we decided to let the kids go to the back room to play. It was like opening a gate with cattle trying to push through. The kids exploded into the kitchen and ran to the playroom. They were screaming, squealing, and running... Lauren Clay just headed to the back of the room and jumped up and down for a while. We eventually headed into the heat and let the kids play in the sandbox... and that finally calmed them down. We're missing Nick and Nalaney in this picture.
After we snacked on naranjas (thanks, Karen, for providing the snack!), we decided to let the kids go to the back room to play. It was like opening a gate with cattle trying to push through. The kids exploded into the kitchen and ran to the playroom. They were screaming, squealing, and running... Lauren Clay just headed to the back of the room and jumped up and down for a while. We eventually headed into the heat and let the kids play in the sandbox... and that finally calmed them down. We're missing Nick and Nalaney in this picture.
I love all the activity. I enjoy having a lot of life in the house. It maybe gets a little overwhelming when my child is leading the pack to jump on the bed, crawl onto the dining room table (she's never done that until today), and then throws a fit when I pick her up to "help teach" Spanish. I'm getting too pregnant to hoist up 30 pounds of HYPER.
Fridays are really just a loud and crazy play date, with a little bit of educational stuff squeezed into the mix. It's fun (and a little amazing) that people keep coming back for more, and that Riley yells "amarillo" when a yellow car passes, and Ben told his granddad that a "mono" eats a "banana" when Amy mentioned they were going to Spanish. I also noticed precious Nalaney mouthing the words to the "buenos dias" song today. And Nick is working on his fourth language? And Kristina and Libby build on the week's theme to do all kinds of supplemental stuff. And I'm learning how different (and yet how similar) it is to teach toddlers instead of teenagers and adults.
Lauren Clay just fell asleep for her nap. She usually goes down between 11:30 and 12:30. Today she didn't fall asleep until 4:15. I actually thought we were going to miss the nap completely because she was not showing signs of being sleepy. She pulled out the chopsticks and straws and made designs on the floor, she used a rubber band to make silly noises, she read about "Junah (Jonah), who was 'so so sad'... sorry [God], I was so so bad." She visited with Ga Ga and Jeana when they stopped by, she played "gotcha" with Henry," she never asked for me to turn on the TV, and she never had a meltdown. She finally fell asleep when we sat down and checked e-mail. Dad had forwarded me a video of a guy making shadow-shapes to Louie Armstrong's "Wonderful World." I played it once, and Lauren Clay asked to see it again. She was asleep before the 2-minute song was over the second time. And now I am struggling to stay awake long enough to post this entry...
Fridays are really just a loud and crazy play date, with a little bit of educational stuff squeezed into the mix. It's fun (and a little amazing) that people keep coming back for more, and that Riley yells "amarillo" when a yellow car passes, and Ben told his granddad that a "mono" eats a "banana" when Amy mentioned they were going to Spanish. I also noticed precious Nalaney mouthing the words to the "buenos dias" song today. And Nick is working on his fourth language? And Kristina and Libby build on the week's theme to do all kinds of supplemental stuff. And I'm learning how different (and yet how similar) it is to teach toddlers instead of teenagers and adults.
Lauren Clay just fell asleep for her nap. She usually goes down between 11:30 and 12:30. Today she didn't fall asleep until 4:15. I actually thought we were going to miss the nap completely because she was not showing signs of being sleepy. She pulled out the chopsticks and straws and made designs on the floor, she used a rubber band to make silly noises, she read about "Junah (Jonah), who was 'so so sad'... sorry [God], I was so so bad." She visited with Ga Ga and Jeana when they stopped by, she played "gotcha" with Henry," she never asked for me to turn on the TV, and she never had a meltdown. She finally fell asleep when we sat down and checked e-mail. Dad had forwarded me a video of a guy making shadow-shapes to Louie Armstrong's "Wonderful World." I played it once, and Lauren Clay asked to see it again. She was asleep before the 2-minute song was over the second time. And now I am struggling to stay awake long enough to post this entry...
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