I am the student, not the teacher

-

I don't know how long I've been saying Mamie would start Montessori when she is 2. For the last 18 (+9?) months, I've been saying a lot of things like I have some idea what I'm doing here. As it turns out, I am NOT ready to send my wee little Mimsy Borogove off to her studies just yet!  (And there's not a program nearby that would accept a barely-2-year-old for less than five full days a week.)

Still, I feel like I should be teaching her something, I should exploit the sponginess of her little head while I still have some influence.

So I had this idea: Why don't I do Montessori homeschool lessons with her until she is three? Yes, groan. Now I have this idea, I've started doing research, bought a book, set up a notebook for planning lessons. Am I just going to stress myself out, will I deprive her of important practical lessons like grass-eating and writing on the sofa with crayons? I guess I'm secretly afraid if I don't follow professional recommendations for educating a toddler, I will screw it up, and she will start preschool not knowing some essential skill or song. I admitted I have no idea what I'm doing.

What I have learned in the last 18 months is that Mamie makes big leaps when I get out of the way, especially when she is in a new environment or spending time with different people. When she shows me that she is figuring out something new, we practice the new thing one-on-one during our relaxed home time. Can you picture my wary half-shrug as I say she seems pretty smart, I think it's going well? I dare not ask any other mother of a toddler what she should be learning, or I'll expose how under-qualified I am for this job. My best hope is to keep reading books, playing, and encouraging her to figure out how to be smart and fun and awesome on her own.

*************

What Mamie is up to at 18 months old: She loves books, outside, Ziggy, and most other things. She does not like shoes, barrettes, Roomba. She plays drums, tambourine, and a whistle. Her favorite letter is "E" and her favorite number is 8.  She says "what's that?" and "uh-oh" seventy billion times a day.  She only drives me crazy when she swipes all her food on the floor, but she also makes my heart crack and fall out of my chest when she pushes her plate away sweetly, says "I'm done," and then wipes her mouth.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's not you, it's us. I don't think we're a good match.

-
Image
Just not a good match. Nearly ten years ago, a doctor told me diabetes would kill me, it was just a matter of how soon. I couldn't see the benefit of his ugly, callous prediction. I couldn't see the benefit of being locked into a medical relationship with someone who saw me as a hopeless expiration date. I decided even with long waits and insurance hurdles, it would always be worth it to find doctors who are supportive and try to understand me as a person. Today, I broke up with my obstetrician. I'm not convinced he's not a good doctor, but he's not a good fit for me.  He has been seeing me for two months to help me prepare for another baby, but I don't think he knows anything about me. Our appointments last less than 5 minutes, he gives me vaguely shaming advice to lose weight, "start" exercising, stop being diabetic. He has never asked me whether I exercise, what I eat, what I do to control my diabetes. He has made assumptions about my life...
Read more

Day 5 of social isolation; Day 3 of no contact outside of household

-
Which day am I counting from? Day 5 since the world changed (for us) or Day 3 since our last possible exposure to the virus? Once we get into double-digit days it won't make much difference, will it. I thought I would use this blog for something, just a quick list of what's going on with us. 1. I'm ordering a dough hook so we can make bread. We have a subscription to ATK's Young Chef's Club  (not sponsored). When I signed up a few months ago, I thought it would be a good way to extend Lizzie's feeding and sensory therapy. Now... 2. Lizzie's therapy is suspended until this virus passes. She has come so far in the last 6 months with preschool and extra therapy. She will keep growing. I just wish... 3. She could be with her friends, teachers, and therapists. She asks about them every day. At least... 4. Mamie was able to Zoom with her teacher and class yesterday. I know her school is going to develop the best remote learning set up we could ask for. A...
Read more

I spend 24 hours alone and this is what happened

-
Image
I just booked a hotel room for two nights in November. The hotel is about 5 minutes from my house. I will go for one night of utter solitude and then hand it off to Nick to take a night away from home. If it is in your means and you have also not been alone in 7 months, I recommend a 24 hour retreat. I can make this recommendation from my vast experience having done it for the first time 4 days ago. Here's a sampling of what I did during my 24-hour retreat: Wrote uninterrupted for several hours. Watched a documentary about Abraham Lincoln. Watched MTV's Ghosted, because I'm both high brow and low brow. Watched CNN because I am pretty middle brow too, if we're honest. Ordered a steak dinner and ate it in courses over the entire evening. Ate 6 Reese's cups (which are banned in our house due to allergy). Set an alarm for 10 a.m., the latest I could possibly sleep. (Woke up at 8 a.m. anyway.) Made every decision considering only what I wanted and not the wants and needs...
Read more