(no subject)
Mar. 21st, 2011 02:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geminigirlExpensive weekend....
Kids each got three pairs of shoes (water shoes, sandals and sneakers.) Unfortunately, Miriam can't wear Naomi's old shoes-her feet are much wider than Naomi's. Miriam wears a 5 and a half wide, Naomi wears a six and a half or a seven-she was very sad because her feet aren't a size 8 yet, and we told her that when her feet are a size 8, Papa would take her ice skating. This is less arbitrary than it sounds...the RDV Sportsplex (where we'll take her to skate) doesn't rent skates smaller than a size 8.
Naomi has just had a growth spurt-she'd gained a little weight in her belly, which typically happens before she grows taller, and suddenly everything is really short. I'm kind of kicking myself for not having bought more dresses in the next size up the other day when I found a great sale. I may have to go back and check again.
I do wish Naomi had cooperated on Saturday and let me photograph the outfit she was wearing. It was wonderful. I have some not great cell phone pictures if anyone wants to see. She wouldn't stand still and pose for the camera.
Had a serious discussion about homeschooling this weekend. I admit, the idea of sending Naomi to public school around here makes me really uncomfortable. It's not school in general though, it's just our "meh" public schools. We have some good charter/magnet options, and we'll check those out. I absolutely understand Cayne's reservations about it, and I have a few of my own which are different from his. I've still got mixed feelings about it, I don't know if we'd use an umbrella school option or what. I do recall that someone mentioned a blended program around here-where the kids go to school for part of the week and are homeschooled the rest of the week, and I really like that option, although I can't remember the name of the school and if I remember correctly, it was a Christian program of some sort anyway, which wouldn't work for us. But that would be a good compromise, as long as the curriculum was one I was okay with. One thing we discussed over the weekend was the possibility of homeschooling kindergarten, since there's no compulsory school attendance required in Florida until the school year that the child turns six by February 1 (which is a complicated way of saying that Naomi is not compelled to be enrolled in some sort of school program until 2015, because she'll turn six after Feb 1, 2014.) If we decided during or after that year that it just wasn't working, and we didn't like it, we could always enroll her in public school. The downside to that is that if we want to do any magnet or charter options, it becomes much more difficult to get in after kindergarten. On the other hand, we could always go through the magnet/charter application process, and if we get in, send her, and if we don't, opt to homeschool and apply again the following year. I'm not sure what makes sense. And then there's the fact that Naomi is very much an extrovert, and I'm not sure that homeschooling would meet her needs in that regard-she may be the kind of kid who really benefits from the classroom where she can be with other kids. She's actually well suited to a Montessori classroom, and one of the things we're thinking seriously about is the Montessori charter school option.
On the education front, I also found this article about a high school very interesting, as well as this one about teaching methods and preschool, which affirmed for me that we're on the right track with our thought process about preschool.
I'm really enjoying my kids most of the time lately-Naomi is able to do more and more for herself, which allows me to enjoy the experience of doing with her rather than for her more. Miriam is still clingy, but in the right situation is okay with doing some exploring and then coming back to check in. Naomi adores her friend Jacob (bonus points for the fact that all of the parents involved get along really well too.) She asks at least once or twice a week "Go see my Jacob?"
The preschool search continues. The first one, which had made a really good impression on the phone just didn't sit right with either of the grown ups in our family, or with Naomi. The second one felt less uncomfortable for the grown ups and Naomi didn't seem to mind either. We want to look a little more though.
In less positive news...my father, it seems, is still having some kind of neurological issue going on. There was the thing back in October, where Mom found him all confused and on the floor, which was a UTI and according to one neurologist, encephalitis (though another neurologist disagreed.) Then there was the thing where it took him a very long time to come out from sedation followed by the altered cognitive state for an extended period of time after the cardiac surgery back in December. Anyway, he had another episode where Mom found him on the floor and confused again. Cardiologist doesn't think it's heart related. GP didn't find anything, although he was on antibiotics so they didn't bother to culture urine in case it was another UTI. And so this morning he saw neurology again. I haven't heard from them yet-I know one of the things they were discussing was the possibility of putting him into the hospital for a couple of days for an extended EEG, to determine whether it's seizures, or mini strokes or something else. It's not really safe for him to be home alone, but Mom is still working. I'm not sure what's going to come from that, though we did look into panic buttons/emergency alert buttons for him. I did discuss with my mother the possibility of us looking for a bigger house and moving him down here until she's ready to retire and sell their house. I have mixed feelings on it-I think multigenerational families are often beneficial to kids, I know he'd enjoy being around my girls, and he'd at least be in a situation where he'd be able to be more closely watched in case something did happen. I think it would also help my Dad out, who is really kind of at loose ends since he retired unexpectedly after the heart surgery. And it might benefit us quite a bit if we did decide to homeschool. At the same time, I'm not necessarily ready to be in that kind of a care taking position yet. It's a role I anticipate playing, just didn't envision it at this time.
Now I just need to go clean out Naomi's potty again...someday she'll be consistent about it though, and then perhaps I can convince her to pee in the real commode.
Kids each got three pairs of shoes (water shoes, sandals and sneakers.) Unfortunately, Miriam can't wear Naomi's old shoes-her feet are much wider than Naomi's. Miriam wears a 5 and a half wide, Naomi wears a six and a half or a seven-she was very sad because her feet aren't a size 8 yet, and we told her that when her feet are a size 8, Papa would take her ice skating. This is less arbitrary than it sounds...the RDV Sportsplex (where we'll take her to skate) doesn't rent skates smaller than a size 8.
Naomi has just had a growth spurt-she'd gained a little weight in her belly, which typically happens before she grows taller, and suddenly everything is really short. I'm kind of kicking myself for not having bought more dresses in the next size up the other day when I found a great sale. I may have to go back and check again.
I do wish Naomi had cooperated on Saturday and let me photograph the outfit she was wearing. It was wonderful. I have some not great cell phone pictures if anyone wants to see. She wouldn't stand still and pose for the camera.
Had a serious discussion about homeschooling this weekend. I admit, the idea of sending Naomi to public school around here makes me really uncomfortable. It's not school in general though, it's just our "meh" public schools. We have some good charter/magnet options, and we'll check those out. I absolutely understand Cayne's reservations about it, and I have a few of my own which are different from his. I've still got mixed feelings about it, I don't know if we'd use an umbrella school option or what. I do recall that someone mentioned a blended program around here-where the kids go to school for part of the week and are homeschooled the rest of the week, and I really like that option, although I can't remember the name of the school and if I remember correctly, it was a Christian program of some sort anyway, which wouldn't work for us. But that would be a good compromise, as long as the curriculum was one I was okay with. One thing we discussed over the weekend was the possibility of homeschooling kindergarten, since there's no compulsory school attendance required in Florida until the school year that the child turns six by February 1 (which is a complicated way of saying that Naomi is not compelled to be enrolled in some sort of school program until 2015, because she'll turn six after Feb 1, 2014.) If we decided during or after that year that it just wasn't working, and we didn't like it, we could always enroll her in public school. The downside to that is that if we want to do any magnet or charter options, it becomes much more difficult to get in after kindergarten. On the other hand, we could always go through the magnet/charter application process, and if we get in, send her, and if we don't, opt to homeschool and apply again the following year. I'm not sure what makes sense. And then there's the fact that Naomi is very much an extrovert, and I'm not sure that homeschooling would meet her needs in that regard-she may be the kind of kid who really benefits from the classroom where she can be with other kids. She's actually well suited to a Montessori classroom, and one of the things we're thinking seriously about is the Montessori charter school option.
On the education front, I also found this article about a high school very interesting, as well as this one about teaching methods and preschool, which affirmed for me that we're on the right track with our thought process about preschool.
I'm really enjoying my kids most of the time lately-Naomi is able to do more and more for herself, which allows me to enjoy the experience of doing with her rather than for her more. Miriam is still clingy, but in the right situation is okay with doing some exploring and then coming back to check in. Naomi adores her friend Jacob (bonus points for the fact that all of the parents involved get along really well too.) She asks at least once or twice a week "Go see my Jacob?"
The preschool search continues. The first one, which had made a really good impression on the phone just didn't sit right with either of the grown ups in our family, or with Naomi. The second one felt less uncomfortable for the grown ups and Naomi didn't seem to mind either. We want to look a little more though.
In less positive news...my father, it seems, is still having some kind of neurological issue going on. There was the thing back in October, where Mom found him all confused and on the floor, which was a UTI and according to one neurologist, encephalitis (though another neurologist disagreed.) Then there was the thing where it took him a very long time to come out from sedation followed by the altered cognitive state for an extended period of time after the cardiac surgery back in December. Anyway, he had another episode where Mom found him on the floor and confused again. Cardiologist doesn't think it's heart related. GP didn't find anything, although he was on antibiotics so they didn't bother to culture urine in case it was another UTI. And so this morning he saw neurology again. I haven't heard from them yet-I know one of the things they were discussing was the possibility of putting him into the hospital for a couple of days for an extended EEG, to determine whether it's seizures, or mini strokes or something else. It's not really safe for him to be home alone, but Mom is still working. I'm not sure what's going to come from that, though we did look into panic buttons/emergency alert buttons for him. I did discuss with my mother the possibility of us looking for a bigger house and moving him down here until she's ready to retire and sell their house. I have mixed feelings on it-I think multigenerational families are often beneficial to kids, I know he'd enjoy being around my girls, and he'd at least be in a situation where he'd be able to be more closely watched in case something did happen. I think it would also help my Dad out, who is really kind of at loose ends since he retired unexpectedly after the heart surgery. And it might benefit us quite a bit if we did decide to homeschool. At the same time, I'm not necessarily ready to be in that kind of a care taking position yet. It's a role I anticipate playing, just didn't envision it at this time.
Now I just need to go clean out Naomi's potty again...someday she'll be consistent about it though, and then perhaps I can convince her to pee in the real commode.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-03-21 08:43 pm (UTC)I'm trying to figure out the rest of the Spring Break week.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-21 09:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-22 07:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-22 09:35 pm (UTC)Skates
Date: 2011-03-21 10:27 pm (UTC)Good luck with the rest of it. And R'fua shlema to your father.