I say this a lot. This kid is.....so strange.
I have been doing some preschool with Davis. Mostly to keep him out of trouble while Emma is doing school. But also because he was not writing any letters. I was at a loss because Emma learned her letters in preschool. As in one I paid to send her to. And because she seemed interested in learning her letters. Oh. And she is not left handed.
I was first not sure how to teach Davis to write because as I said I did not teach Emma. Then, I thought it could not be too hard, right? Wrong.
Davis.....marches to a different drum. Actually, I am not sure it is a drum at all that he is hearing. I think it might be some bagpipes or some other different instrument. It may not be an instrument at all.
This kid, he is like a puzzle to solve. And he keeps things to himself. For example, he never really drew a lot. He would color and scribble on paper but never really drew any sort of picture. Then one day I notice an animal drawn on the door. Yes, the door not on paper. Sure enough, Davis had drawn a dog. He had never even attempted, to the best of my knowledge, to draw anything. Yet here was a blue dog looking back at me on the door.
He also knows songs. Yet he will not sing the song until he knows the entire song. He busted out, in Spanish nonetheless, a song about a month or so ago. Sitting in the back of the van, he just started singing. He sang the whole song. I had no clue he knew them. Nana sings to the kids in Spanish often. Davis pays attention. He has an entire repertoire of songs. Who knew? Apparently only Davis.
This child also has been watching a Blues Clues video about colors. Now he happily mixes paint making none other than violet and chartreuse. I only bought red, yellow and blue paint so they have to mix them to get other colors. But my oldest son prefers to make violet. And chartreuse.
We also have Leap Frog DVD's. They teach letters and sounds and reading. Davis loves them. I get a break. I have been trying to teach him to write to no avail. He recognizes the letters. He knows what sounds they make. He would not write them. Until one day he had sticky notes and was writing freaking letters.
"Look mom. This is an H, the H says huuuuhhhh. And here is an O. The O says ah."
Twit. I discovered the kid can write uppercase A, D, H, O, and P. That is all he has allowed me to be in on so far.
Then last night I look over at our rocker. The one Emma bought from my brother in law with two kisses. It is an interesting color of pink, but in excellent shape, super comfy. I think it has become one of my favorite things in the house. I see that someone has written POP on the seat. Seriously? I get Davis and he says yes he wrote it, it is his name. No, I tell him, it is not his name and could we PLEASE write on paper? Sure he says. I tell him it is pop and he replies, oh like in popcorn.
Sigh......
I then scrubbed the heck out of the rocker bought with two kisses. And wondered aloud why I was so concerned about said rocker. I got it clean though.
Oh and his outfit today? besides the fact that he now refuses to wear underwear at all.....He has on a Chiefs jersey, green sweat shorts and um, Emma's old shin guards. Eclectic.....I think I hear the bagpipes.
Maybe Davis is more like his mother. A dreamer. Dramatic. And just a touch on the weird side.
I have been doing some preschool with Davis. Mostly to keep him out of trouble while Emma is doing school. But also because he was not writing any letters. I was at a loss because Emma learned her letters in preschool. As in one I paid to send her to. And because she seemed interested in learning her letters. Oh. And she is not left handed.
I was first not sure how to teach Davis to write because as I said I did not teach Emma. Then, I thought it could not be too hard, right? Wrong.
Davis.....marches to a different drum. Actually, I am not sure it is a drum at all that he is hearing. I think it might be some bagpipes or some other different instrument. It may not be an instrument at all.
This kid, he is like a puzzle to solve. And he keeps things to himself. For example, he never really drew a lot. He would color and scribble on paper but never really drew any sort of picture. Then one day I notice an animal drawn on the door. Yes, the door not on paper. Sure enough, Davis had drawn a dog. He had never even attempted, to the best of my knowledge, to draw anything. Yet here was a blue dog looking back at me on the door.
He also knows songs. Yet he will not sing the song until he knows the entire song. He busted out, in Spanish nonetheless, a song about a month or so ago. Sitting in the back of the van, he just started singing. He sang the whole song. I had no clue he knew them. Nana sings to the kids in Spanish often. Davis pays attention. He has an entire repertoire of songs. Who knew? Apparently only Davis.
This child also has been watching a Blues Clues video about colors. Now he happily mixes paint making none other than violet and chartreuse. I only bought red, yellow and blue paint so they have to mix them to get other colors. But my oldest son prefers to make violet. And chartreuse.
We also have Leap Frog DVD's. They teach letters and sounds and reading. Davis loves them. I get a break. I have been trying to teach him to write to no avail. He recognizes the letters. He knows what sounds they make. He would not write them. Until one day he had sticky notes and was writing freaking letters.
"Look mom. This is an H, the H says huuuuhhhh. And here is an O. The O says ah."
Twit. I discovered the kid can write uppercase A, D, H, O, and P. That is all he has allowed me to be in on so far.
Then last night I look over at our rocker. The one Emma bought from my brother in law with two kisses. It is an interesting color of pink, but in excellent shape, super comfy. I think it has become one of my favorite things in the house. I see that someone has written POP on the seat. Seriously? I get Davis and he says yes he wrote it, it is his name. No, I tell him, it is not his name and could we PLEASE write on paper? Sure he says. I tell him it is pop and he replies, oh like in popcorn.
Sigh......
I then scrubbed the heck out of the rocker bought with two kisses. And wondered aloud why I was so concerned about said rocker. I got it clean though.
Oh and his outfit today? besides the fact that he now refuses to wear underwear at all.....He has on a Chiefs jersey, green sweat shorts and um, Emma's old shin guards. Eclectic.....I think I hear the bagpipes.
Maybe Davis is more like his mother. A dreamer. Dramatic. And just a touch on the weird side.
Comments
From what I've read, boys are later to learn to write and do a lot of those fine motor skills. Boys get the gross motor first girls the fine. Doesn't always hold true, but that's what I've heard.
I never pushed Guthrie to write. We read alphabet books, and I would trace the shapes of the letters. We have a big table (it was a bed frame) that Eric painted with chalkboard paint. One day, Guthrie just started writing his letters on it. I think it's just the way some kids learn.
And the other Davis issues? He sounds like a lot of fun. A headache, maybe, but a lot of fun. No underwear? Guthrie has taken to taking his off half the time lately too.
Good for you for letting Davis be Davis, and not trying to force him to conform!
the practice
http://www.montessoriworld.org/Reading/spaprltr/sprintro.html
http://www.montessoritraining.net/preschool_kindergarten/courses/language_arts/sample_lessons.htm
and a how to on how to make them
http://live-learn-knit.blogspot.com/2008/02/sandpaper-letters.html
downloadable templates
http://www.montessorimaterials.org/lang.htm#temp