Fine Motor

The other day I was cruising around facebook and noticed that other 3.5 yr olds or younger knew how to write their names. As a typical parent, I went "oh god, Charlie hasn't the slightest clue." Well, true, he has no clue how to write his name, he can spell it out loud when prompted by letters and knows that the organization of those letters spell his name. But hold a pencil, ha, use a scissors, double ha, hold up two fingers or three for either the peace sign or numbers, triple ha. 

So, I kinda freaked out, well, not really, but I got very concerned. Should he be cutting, should he be able to hold up fingers, should he be able to write his name? Truthfully, I did not know. I talked to Charlie's speech therapist and she just gave me a few special scissors to get him interested and did not seem overly concerned. Neither did his preschool teacher. Apparently, none of this things are required until right before kindergarten. 

I stopped freaking out. But, I did not and will not give up on him. Here is the thing about Charlie and he is a beautiful, awesome, and amazing child. But he is like me. Like I said, beautiful, awesome, and amazing......and NOT the faster learner on the block. See Adam in school got the concept as the teacher taught it, if not before, and then was bored the rest of the time. The first time the teacher taught a concept for me, I did not get it, but luckily the public (and half private) system aims for middle of the road kids. That was me. The 2nd or 3rd time hearing the concept, I got it. The only exception for me might be in music. I seem to get that faster than most others....My mind is creative. I LOVE to create. Lesson plans, curriculum, music (playing and practicing), finding ideas on pinterest and doing them, books, etc...and Charlie is similar. I may have to teach him 25 times what a square is (he is a pro now), before he knows what a square is and I may have to work tirelessly on his fine motor skills like cutting, but I assure you, he will cut. And he will write, and he will do the peace sign because he has a mother, whether he likes it or not, WILL NEVER GIVE UP ON HIM. 

With that said, I will not let him be lazy or will I enable him. Charlie does not need to be pushed, he needs a little extra love and time. 

By the way, his speech is coming along amazingly well. His 'f' is almost fully fixed(haha) in normal conversation. We are working toward his 's' sound now. He is getting much better at that. Again, I spend a good 30 mins a day working with him on the homework our therapist gives us. Truthfully, his speech will only improve if I am the one to work on it consistently. Once a week for 30mins barely hits the surface. She is essentially teaching me, I do the work, he improves each week. It is working so well. 

Here are some fine motor things that I made for him to work on. The incorporate favorite materials from other games we have. We call it our "games" and they are. They are fun to play yet teaching him a lot of both fine motor and math skills.

Now here is the scary thing. I am well educated, a teacher in fact, and I did not know some of the stuff my kids should be doing by a certain age. This leads me into how important early childhood education is. Their minds are so mendable at this age....this is the age to teach SO much. And how many children are not receiving services mainly because their parents have NO clue. That watching tv all day is not learning, having no rules or consequences is not ok, and interacting with your child (albeit you do not have to do it every minute) is so important. I am not expecting people to create activities like these for their kids, they may not know how, but, wouldn't it be great if they knew who to call or where to go to get services or help in parenting? Parenting is hard, so hard...even for those of us who have worked with lots of kids. 

Charlie is so nice. He is very respectful, he can sit for church for an entire our on "stage" while I play piano or sing and be good as gold. He says "good morning, i am fine" to complete strangers. He is so kind (kinda bossy) to his little sister. He plans out his whole day in the morning "first I go to preschool, then i come home and eat lunch, the Martha speaks is on, then games, then my nap nap, then I eat dinner and go sledding with daddy" etc...this amazes me. When he goes to bed, we give him a flashlight and let him read books for about 30mins. He loves it and stays in his bed, "reads" and then when I come into get the light he says "goodnight mommy, I am going to sleep now" or he buries his head in the pillow and puts the light up in the air as if to say "i am already out of it, night!" And then sleeps for 11-12 hours. He has so many wonderful qualities, I just adore him

I will brag on lovely Carrie another night!