Blossoming Reader

My voice is literally hoarse from all the reading to the girls that I have been doing. They are determined to earn their Six Flag tickets! The Mermaid has been reading up a storm, both to herself and her siblings.

We decided to create a new reading chart. The Mermaid did most of the work. Each cloud holds ten cotton balls. She gets one cotton ball for each book she reads on her own; when she fills up a cloud, she gets a small set of Squinkies from Target.

For so long I wondered why The Mermaid struggled so much with reading. The Knight and I LOVE to read. We read every night, the TV is barely on, and the girls see us read so often, I guess I just thought they would follow our example and learn to love reading as well. I'm so happy to see The Mermaid finally blossoming as a reader and finally starting to enjoy reading, after all the struggles we went through. I really feel we have turned a corner and I am so grateful that I was able to be with her and see her overcome her obstacles with reading.

Blossoming Reader

March Goals

Tomorrow is the first day of March and I've thought of some goals that I want to commit to for the month.

Goal #1: Get to the gym at least four times a week.

Since I've had some setbacks with my running and had to change my racing plans, I really want to get back on track. I plan on running in Diva Dash in September, and a half-marathon in October. In order to do that I need to get my butt in gear and stay committed.

Goal #2: Track what I eat, every day.

This just keeps me on track with my eating. I use SparkPeople to track my food and exercise, and DailyMile to track my running. I find tracking my eating makes me more mindful of my food choices and keeps me honest.

Goal #3: Finish my CBE Certification. I've been dragging with this for what feels like forever and I'm very close to being done. I just need to schedule the time in and do it already!

Anyone else have any goals for March? What are they?

March Goals

Books, Books, Books.

We're year-round homeschoolers. I find it works better for us because then if I need to take some time off from homeschooling during the year, there is still plenty of time to play catch-up without worrying about it cutting into our "summer vacation". Take January, for instance. For some reason, January was a crazy month for us, and we ended up taking most of it off. And it worked out well. We got to breathe a little, straighten some things out in our lives that had fallen to the wayside, and get back on track.

Right before Christmas, The Mermaid finished The Story of The World Volume I. She also finished up the first volume of The Complete Writer and we are starting the second volume today.

For the most part, The Mermaid enjoys all the subjects she studies (especially math and science) but she really struggles with reading. I know that she can read, but she is such a perfectionist that it gets in her way. If she sees a word that she doesn't know by heart right off the bat, she gets frustrated and wants to give up. I try to explain to her that it's okay if she doesn't know the word, that's why we sound it out, but she doesn't like that answer. I've finally resorted to bribery - for every book she reads, she gets a star. Ten stars means she can pick out a small treat at the toy store. Since we've started her star chart, she's been a lot more willing. Then recently the Six Flags reading program was pointed out to me and I signed her up. What a motivator! As I'm typing this, she's in the other room, reading books to The Tadpole and The Guppy.

The Guppy is enjoying school as well. I read to her a lot, and she is working her way through Math U See Primer and doing very well with it. We're also doing The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and she enjoys it a lot. I'm glad I switched from How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons - that book just caused a lot of frustration with The Mermaid and I didn't want to repeat that!

For all you other homeschoolers out there - what are you working on? Unit studies? Lapbooks? I love to see the great ideas floating around out there!

Books, Books, Books.

Dare to Dream

This past Friday, my cousin and I took the kids to see Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream. The girls LOVE Disney on Ice, and once again, it did not disappoint.

Dare to Dream focuses on the story of three princesses and how they made their dreams come true: Tatiana, Cinderella, and Rapunzel. The Guppy's two favorite princesses are Cinderella and Rapunzel, so she was especially excited to see the show. And The Mermaid was practically jumping out of her chair with excitement.

This show was also the first time The Tadpole showed any interested. Well, for some of it, anyway. When the story focused on the princesses, he looked rather bored and uninterested:

But, he LOVES Mickey Mouse now, so whenever Mickey came out between sets, he was thrilled. He was pointing and yelling Mickey! Mickey! with a huge smile on his face. It was the best.

If you're interested in going to see Dare to Dream with your kids, you can check out ticket information here.

Dare to Dream

Summer Plans

I remember every summer growing up, I went to camp. I LOVED it!! Making new friends, having such fun activities to do all day...it was the perfect summer getaway.

I'm so excited because I just signed The Mermaid up for her first summer camp! She's going to be going to Oasis Day Camp for two weeks :)

Looking at all the camps in the area, I really liked what Oasis has to offer. I had an opportunity to speak to Bernie Tessler, President and CEO of Oasis Camps. Bernie took the time to explain that Oasis takes pride in the hiring and training of their staff; Oasis camps are highly sought after as employers for teachers and students studying childhood development and education.

Established in 2000, Oasis has had over 50,000 children attend their camps and has built its programs around the Oasis Core Values:

1. Oasis gives children the tools they need to succeed in school and in life.

2. Oasis creates communities for children that are safe havens emotionally and physically.

3. Oasis staff members build self confidence by being positive, supportive, and kind.

4. Oasis encourages children to embrace new experiences and to learn new skills.

5. Oasis staff members are role models who teach through their own behaviors and attitudes.

Oasis camps offer activities in art, drama, swimming, sports, and other outdoor activities. They are highly respected and are the ONLY camp allowed in Central Park.

I'm so excited to see what memories The Mermaid will create. I think she will love her camp experience just as much as I loved mine!!

Oasis Day Camp of Worcester on Facebook

Disclosure: This post was compensated through a promotion between MomSelect and Oasis Day Camp. All opinions I write about Oasis Day Camp are 100% my own.

Summer Plans

Training Setbacks

January pretty much sucked in terms of running. I was having problems with my back, leading my chiro to suggest that I get x-rays done to see what was going on. Turns out I have a really weird curve to my lower back. Now I need to get physical therapy to build up the muscles around the spine and hold it in place, to keep it from curving back again.

With all the back pain, I had to stop my half-marathon training. The race I was training for, the American Cancer Society DertermiNation, is at the end of this month, and there was just no way I was going to be ready. I am so bummed!! But I need to take it easier and not injure myself even further.

Last week I had a stomach bug and was still dealing with back issues, so I missed running for an entire week. Not cool!! But, I finally got to the gym this morning and ran an easy 3 miles, it felt great! I am still hoping to run the Run For Your Lives Zombie Run in May, and I think I'm going to then train for another half-marathon in October: The Amica Half-Marathon in Newport, RI. I'm excited about this one because I love Newport, it is so beautiful!! And since it is in October, that gives me plenty of time to take it easy and train at a healthy pace.

I've got a list of books going on running and marathons and such, including Chi Running, The Runner's World Running for Mortals, and Marathon.

Any runners out there with other books they would recommend?

Training Setbacks

Nurture

This girl cracks me up every day. She's funny, sweet, and very caring. Always trying to help others, especially when she's sick.

Now she's the one who is sick, with a yucky stomach bug. I get her some juice and cuddle her close, and I'm happy to be able to be there for her, poor baby.

So far this stomach bug has gone through me, and now The Guppy. Hopefully it ends there.

Nurture