Note to self, from an except of a little story I read:
“Shamu is a performing whale, to the delight of many. However, she sometimes gets distracted and refuses to do her tricks. When that happens, her trainers stand around in dripping wetsuits and wait for her stubbornness to pass. They know that when a 5,000-pound whale decides she doesn’t want to flip her tail on cue, there is very little anyone can do about it. But whales like to play, and sooner or later Shamu returns to the game of performing for her audience. Shamu’s trainers know this so they’re always patient, they’re always confident, and they always make performing fun.

While helping your child become a reader is certainly different from training a whale, the same qualities of patience, confidence, and playfulness in your approach will get results. If, from time to time, your child gets distracted and loses interest, take a break. Children love to learn. Give them a little breathing room, and their interest will always be renewed.”

It’s all comes down to these final hours. The hunting for elastic wasted pants, new school clothes with no logos or characters, a plant for the classroom, labeled “extras” for school, Croc shoes for inside and more forms than I filled out for college completed and submitted. I’m debating on getting a toddler sized backpack as we have a “Target” ready, sit, read one that Nishad received for free, but I don’t want to be the cause of 20 pre-schools breaking out in song, “You say Goodbye and I say Hello!”

Ashish attend a mandatory parent meeting this morning at 8AM. He said he enjoyed it and exciting time are ahead. He said, “Nishad is going to love his classroom!” I think so to! Ashish also paid the material fee, first tuition payment and submitted the health immunization record and form.

Yesterday we had a doctor appoint for Nishad’s 3 year old wellness check- even though it was 2 months early (we needed it for admission to his school). He’s 38 1/2 inches tall (above 95%) and 32lbs (slightly below 50%). Tall, lean and strong. I think he was apprehensive about the doctor this time as he had such an awful experience at the eye doctors. They put the solution to dilate his eyes in his eyes twice because he has brown eyes. When the doctor was examining him, he just wasn’t his usual self. Sometimes I forget he is just a 2 year old. Because he is capable of doing more, I also have expectations for him of a 4 or 5 year old- and that’s wrong.

I’m excited to announce that Nishad isn’t only reading stories to us (he loves to read to people as he has memorized what happened and in some cases verbatim dialogue written)- but he IS reading! We’ve been working on sounds and correlating the letters to sounds since he was born. 🙂 However, he has started a series of books called BOB Books, in which, just after a few days, he’s reading! I found them originally online at Montessori Services, but then picked them up at a store for one steal of a deal! Nothing replaces working with your child on letter recognition and sounds. When you are ready to make the next step and your child is exhibiting behaviors of reading readiness (strong interest in spelling, sounding out, writing, reading to you, etc.), this is a great platform to start from.

In addition, The Library of Congress, Children’s Literature Center prepares an annual list of more than 100 of the best children’s books recently published for preschool through junior high school age. The organizations below also publish lists of children’s books and other helpful brochures that are available free or at a nominal cost, as well as books for parents on helping children learn to read. Request titles and ordering information directly from:

• American Library AssociationPublications Order Department50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611
• International Reading Association800 Barksdale RoadP.O. Box 8139Newark, DE 19714-8139
• Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. Publications Department Smithsonian Institution 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20024-2520

This evening, we have our first school event; an Ice Cream Social. At this social, Nishad will meet his teacher, the teaching assistant, peers, and we will connect with other families in the community. Tomorrow begins phase in for new students.