Back to school

We let the boys have three weeks of free time, but this week was back to the routine. Dh started summer homeschool on Monday. They worked on math, science, reading, and social studies. Dh and I bought a series of 3rd grade workbooks, so he makes copies from that (that way we don't have to buy two of each, and we can use them again for Bitty when he gets older). While Cuddlebug and Bearhug did their schoolwork, dh worked on different activities with Bitty. His teacher sent home a bunch of worksheets and flash cards for him to work on over the summer, so they started with those. He also read books with Bitty, although Bitty whined about it but he didn't protest too much. Sigh.

It was rough going at first while the boys got back into the routine of doing school work. Cuddlebug apparently wasn't actually reading the instructions and wouldn't listen when dh tried to explain what he was supposed to do. Needless to say, dh was quite frustrated.

On Wednesday, I called dh at lunch to see how the schoolwork was going. He said he and Cuddlebug had another blowout, but then they talked about it more calmly afterward. He, Cuddlebug and Bearhug made a contract that they wouldn't yell at each other anymore. I thought that was pretty cool. I had to laugh though, when he said, "yeah, it's on the fridge." LOL, I thought he meant a verbal agreement, but the three of them actually wrote it out and signed it. And it's hanging up on the fridge as a reminder :). Bitty's name isn't on it, I suppose he's a little young to be entering into contracts, lol.

Things went more smoothly for the rest of the week. Once they finish their schoolwork each day, they can play or do whatever they want. It's been too hot to really play outside much during the day so Bearhug and Cuddlebug have been playing video games and studying their Pokemon book.






Bitty found some reading games on Noggin so he's been playing those - it's hard to tell how much he's actually reading versus recognizing the first letter, but either way it's pretty cool to watch him.








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How not to play Mario Kart

Bearhug wanted me to try playing Mario Kart today. I've played a couple of times before, and I'm pretty bad every time. Today was no exception. In fact, when I complained, "Hey, this character doesn't turn very well!" Cuddlebug informed me that, "you have to turn the wheel." In my defense, I WAS turning the wheel, but I must not have been doing it right somehow. My character kept falling off of cliffs and crashing into walls and trees. Not to mention hitting almost every banana peel that had been dropped on the track. Sigh.

When I finished and handed the controller back to BH, he said, "I'm proud of you, mama!"

I thanked him, thinking he was impressed that I tried. He continued, "I'm proud of you because you *almost* beated someone's record!" Thanks, BH :) He added, "Then someone will be worser than you!" LOL, I guess for now my title as 'worst at this' remains unchallenged :).

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Some things never change...

Bearhug and Cuddlebug got a new video game for their birthday, which they have had a great time playing and unlocking new race tracks and characters. But I've found it interesting to watch how they play. Most of the time, BH is the one playing and CB is watching. Sometimes they play two-player, but a lot of times CB prefers to watch than to play. I asked him about it, and he said he learns how to play by watching BH.

I found it really interesting, because they have always been this way. I remember when they were 5 months old learning how to roll over. BH tried and tried for over a week (maybe longer, can't remember exactly), putting so much effort into it until finally - success! Meanwhile, CB was watching him but didn't seem interested in trying it himself. But the day after BH rolled over, sure enough CB rolled over too - and got it on the first try without all the trial and error. So I guess he had been paying attention!

And so it went... some things CB did first, and some things BH did first, but we noticed that the things BH did first, CB learned from watching him. I guess it works out well for them, especially since they are (generally) much more cooperative than competitive. BH likes to put a lot of effort into figuring out the most effective way to do something, he'll spend hours (not all at once) playing his video games and figuring out every little short-cut and trick to the game. CB gets just as excited as he does when he figures out something new :), and then he applies it when it's his turn to play. I love seeing their unique learning styles evolve!

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