Random Stuff (Again)
Friday, June 18, 2010 by Amy
Well, some things....Riley is doing phenomenally in swim class. I have a video somewhere, but I'll have to find it. She is actually SWIMMING!! At first she swam a sloppy freestyle and could go about 20 feet, which was as far as she could go without running into another class. Who knows how far she could have gone? Now her teacher is fine-tuning her strokes, so she's slowing down her crawl and can sustain herself for about 10 feet, she's concentrating so much on technique, not speed. Once she gets the strokes down, speeds up, and can maintain her momentum, she'll be going far again. However, I am not totally sure she'll pass this class the first time. No biggie. She is awesome at the front float, freestyle, and diving for rings, but she has great difficulty with anything on her back. Not that I blame her!
Riley has also been complaining about her lateral incisor. This is the baby tooth for which the adult tooth came fully in about a month ago, behind and to the right of it. The adult tooth has been migrating to where it's supposed to be, pushing on the lateral incisor. The baby tooth is slightly pushed outward, but I wiggled it and although it doesn't seem fully-rooted, there isn't much room for it to wiggle itself out. It is really paining Riley, so if it doesn't start getting loose really soon, I'll have to take her to the dentist to see if it needs to be pulled. Geez, that'll put us squarely in the time we're supposed to be in Maryland. Well, we'll play it by ear!
Ah, Riley's handwriting! So atrocious! I know she's only 6, but she LOVES to write and just doesn't want to slow down to learn the mechanics. But she expects me to read her stories LOL. She is having great difficulty with the D'Nealian writing, and I asked some homeschoolers if I should switch to Zaner-Bloser writing for her. They all recommended that I don't do that, as I'll get a whole mess. Apparently many of them did that and got a confused kid and even messier handwriting. They all recommended Gety-Dubay italics, since it's kind of between Zaner-Bloser and D'Nealian in style. It looks perfect for Riley. Additionally, the Gety-Dubay italics transforms into a really natural cursive. I personally don't know anyone who writes in true cursive or in true print. Most use a linked manuscript, a mix between print and cursive. I don't see any need for anyone to ever learn true cursive. Is the frustration worth it if it's really never going to be used? Is it some sick right-of-passage for American children? Only thing is that free handwriting sheets are not available online for it, so I might actually have to buy an e-book. Not too expensive, but still...I'm cheap. Ya'll are just going to have to click the links if you don't know what I'm talking about!
I got some freakin' awesome school books from the school supply store. They are "centers" and "folders" for each child in reading, language arts, science, and math. The pages are pulled out and pasted into a file folder and game pieces are cut out. Nevermind...I can't explain it. I'll just take pictures soon. But I will say that I am getting awesome use out of my laminator. That thing has paid for itself (all $23 of itself LOL) within days of buying it. Anyway, I'll take pictures.
Riley can rollerblade now. Like, full-blown rollerblading. She loves it still and even took them camping with her! Some days she rollerblades so much that her legs are sore and she has to lay off the skating for a day, which is sheer torture for her!
Riley has also been complaining about her lateral incisor. This is the baby tooth for which the adult tooth came fully in about a month ago, behind and to the right of it. The adult tooth has been migrating to where it's supposed to be, pushing on the lateral incisor. The baby tooth is slightly pushed outward, but I wiggled it and although it doesn't seem fully-rooted, there isn't much room for it to wiggle itself out. It is really paining Riley, so if it doesn't start getting loose really soon, I'll have to take her to the dentist to see if it needs to be pulled. Geez, that'll put us squarely in the time we're supposed to be in Maryland. Well, we'll play it by ear!
Ah, Riley's handwriting! So atrocious! I know she's only 6, but she LOVES to write and just doesn't want to slow down to learn the mechanics. But she expects me to read her stories LOL. She is having great difficulty with the D'Nealian writing, and I asked some homeschoolers if I should switch to Zaner-Bloser writing for her. They all recommended that I don't do that, as I'll get a whole mess. Apparently many of them did that and got a confused kid and even messier handwriting. They all recommended Gety-Dubay italics, since it's kind of between Zaner-Bloser and D'Nealian in style. It looks perfect for Riley. Additionally, the Gety-Dubay italics transforms into a really natural cursive. I personally don't know anyone who writes in true cursive or in true print. Most use a linked manuscript, a mix between print and cursive. I don't see any need for anyone to ever learn true cursive. Is the frustration worth it if it's really never going to be used? Is it some sick right-of-passage for American children? Only thing is that free handwriting sheets are not available online for it, so I might actually have to buy an e-book. Not too expensive, but still...I'm cheap. Ya'll are just going to have to click the links if you don't know what I'm talking about!
I got some freakin' awesome school books from the school supply store. They are "centers" and "folders" for each child in reading, language arts, science, and math. The pages are pulled out and pasted into a file folder and game pieces are cut out. Nevermind...I can't explain it. I'll just take pictures soon. But I will say that I am getting awesome use out of my laminator. That thing has paid for itself (all $23 of itself LOL) within days of buying it. Anyway, I'll take pictures.
Riley can rollerblade now. Like, full-blown rollerblading. She loves it still and even took them camping with her! Some days she rollerblades so much that her legs are sore and she has to lay off the skating for a day, which is sheer torture for her!
