This is Mary running in the Middle School Track meet on Monday. She ran the 100 M dash and the 100 M hurdles. (Please excuse my obnoxious mom-too-loud-in-the-video voice).
This is a pre-op picture before Bruce worked on Peter's loose tooth.
Dad tried the Leatherman to begin with, but it was too small to get a hold of, so the next step (ugh - I can't even stand the thought of it), was dental floss. Hello?! I would not have done that when I was eight! No siree. It didn't work - and the tooth is still in. But the picture was cute enough that I had to post it.These pictures require no words.
Except for that she's a loony, and getting to be really cute.And, Mary and I had our last soccer game this evening. We lost, as we have every other game of this Spring season, but we learned a lot and are better for it, I believe. In the Fall season we won every game so they bumped us up a league. Sure wish there was an in-between, but there wasn't.
What a great group of girls! It's been great coaching them this year.Thoughts on the swine flu. I have been actively preparing to stay in our home for 2 - 12 weeks, which is what the Church and the Red Cross recommend as one of the actions that may be necessary. Check out theses links. There's really good info on them.
Also, what are your thoughts on activities before eight years old - like soccer, piano, dance, etc.? Are they really worth it? I have some thoughts on this, but wondered if you had any comments first. Like all bloggers, I think, I love Comments!
4 comments:
I can't watch a child wiggle a loose tooth..it gives me the goosebumps! ;)
I was a little worried about the swine flu, but now it's made it to my state, so I am a lot more worried about it. Wish I could ride my horse out into the middle of the woods and just hang out there until it blows through! ;)
As a school teacher of 4 and 5 year olds, I am very opinionated on activities before age 8. ;) You can email me for a more thorough run-down, but off the top of my head, I think it should be kept to a minimum. Kids are so over-booked these days in general, and little kids especially need a lot of free play. Unstructured, imaginary play time. There was a really good article in Scientific American last month....here is the link. It is very thought-provoking:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-serious-need-for-play
I read the article you recommend here. Great stuff! I couldn't agree more. It adds to some of my own opinions about it, which I will soon discuss on a post. Thanks for your comments!
I can't believe Peter let anyone get NEAR his mouth to try to get out a loose tooth. No way would I have done that.
Conal and I have been discussing the whole, sports/activities things as well. I don't think I have a good answer yet!
Thanks for your and Bruce's comments on my last post. It's nice to get a little back up.
As for activites before 8, since the year and a half we spent homeschooling, I've researched this a little bit. I really think kids need to be kids and do what they enjoy. Mostly unstructured exploring and imaginary play. I say this and realize I had my kids in a sport and a musical instrument since they were about 6. I've learned though that it's best if they show an interest in that sport and instrument before they start lessons. They have to be self motivated or it's just a waste of time.
There's something about their brain not being ready for formal structured learning until about age 8. That actually goes for math and reading as well. But we're in such a hurry to get these kids smartened up that we push and push. Kids who aren't taught formally until age 8 will catch up to those kids that started school at age 5 in just a few short months. Fascinating actually.
I'd love to hear what you think about it too.
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