Rebekah's Insights

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JUNE

The sun is rich,
And gladly pays
In golden hours,
Silver days,

And long green weeks
That never end.
School's out. The time
Is ours to spend.

The playground calls,
The ice-cream man,
And, after supper,
Kick-the-Can.

The live-long light
Is like a dream,
And freckles come
Like flies to cream.

from A CHILD'S CALENDAR by John Updike

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Well, school is not quite out yet--but we are enjoying the sunshine, playground, and the "live-long light." (Sun rising before 5:00 AM and not setting until after 9:00 PM.)

Liam has a firm grasp of upper and lower case letters, can tell you the sound each letter makes, and in most cases, distinguishes the initial sound when listening to a given word. He is currently all about spelling words and printing the entire alphabet from memory. Formation looks excellent--easily recognizable. He enjoys writing cat, dog, the, cow, and several other 3 letter words with some assistance in breaking up the phonemes. We are very proud of him, but most pleased that he enjoys learning and tries to read words wherever he goes. He continues to be an avid "reader," also enjoys drilling his little sister on the alphabet.

Liam enjoys exploring shapes, measurement, counting, and a variety of other math-related topics. Lately, he has become quite fond of printing numbers neatly on drawing paper, when not filling the sheet with figures from his favorite books, movies, or imagination. He is anxious to begin his Kindergarten year in the Fall.

Aine is also an avid "reader"--spending hours at a time with a pile of books. Since we brought home some Italian children's picture books from our recent trip to Italy, her interest in learning Italian along with Liam and Momma has increased greatly--learning the color words is her current favorite! Aine is identifying a good many upper and lower--case letters, as well as several of the sounds to go with them. Yesterday, as she put on her tights and was saying the word over and over again while she worked, she proudly announced to me that "T starts with tights!" (Smile!) That's right, my girl. Tights begins with the letter T! She's getting it, but enjoys a much more relaxed pace than her studious brother. (He sets such lofty goals for himself!) Aine will continue the Preschool curriculum begun this Spring. She can be observed counting her toys and looking for shapes everywhere! Though a delightfully different individual than Liam, she is ever as much a joy to teach as her brother continues to be.

Time to prepare for Liam's Swim lesson, so more another time.

Happy First of June!