Group projects

While cooking and coloring do take up a majority of our time here at the School of Mommy, we do occasionally take a break from our regular brand of fun to make time for music class. This week, the kids found my hymnal and, convinced it was a Bible, sat down and began "reading" Bible stories to one another from it. It was kind of adorable how they took turns flipping the soft pages and retelling familiar tales of lions' dens and crucifixions, but I felt I had to set them straight. After explaining that it was actually a book full of songs, Abby insisted I sing them for her. Around hymn number 302, I got the bright idea that perhaps someone had done a better job at performing these songs than myself. And that is how YouTube became an important part of preschool.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, my kids were able to experience "The Lord of the Dance" in new and wonderful ways. For almost a half an hour, they sat captivated (and sometimes danced) as we traveled the world listening to Irish folk bands, reggae artists, bluegrass singers, and some guy in his backyard with a dulcimer perform the same song over and over again. Save for the fact that I'll probably never get that song out of my head now, music time was a good experience for everyone involved.

Week by week, Caleb's getting more and more interested in learning his letters. He's finally singing the alphabet (with gusto, I might add) and can even correctly identify a few letters. Oh, and he can spell his name, too: "A-C-B...Cay-yub!" Each week, while Abby works on her letter worksheets, I offer one to Caleb as well to scribble on while I help Abby practice writing. This week, he attacked the front of his letter s coloring page as usual, then to my surprise, flipped it over and traced the letter s (albeit backwards). I might have missed it, had his enthusiasm not driven him to announce so loudly, "Look Mommy! It's Cay-yub's ABC's!"

During their free time, the kids pulled out their Magna Doodles (or "magnet doodles," as Abby calls them) and set to work doing something quietly, as per my instructions. Caleb drew trucks, and pretty good ones at that, before moving on to his favorite activity: copying everything his sister does. Abby got increasingly frustrated with Caleb's inability to trace his own feet the way she was doing, and showed him how much easier it was to do when you removed your socks.

Finally, in a true test of patience for everyone involved, I turned the kids loose in the living room with their favorite 24-piece puzzle. Caleb, with his eye for seeing the bigger picture, is fabulous at puzzles. He carefully selects pieces from the pile, orients them properly, decides what kind of animal he's most likely holding a section of, and sets to work putting it in its proper place. Abby, with her short fuse and her knack for focusing on small details, is a little less adept at puzzles. In fact, watching her try to complete a puzzle without assistance is a little bit like watching a penguin try to knit a sweater. Caleb gets frustrated with Abby, and Abby gets frustrated with failure, so this is really not our most enjoyable group activity. But we're working on it. At my suggestion, Abby sorted the pieces by shape and color, then handed them to Caleb. Caleb would figure out where the piece should go, and Abby, with her superior fine motor skills, would help him lock it in place. It took almost 20 minutes, but when we were done, no one was angry and the kids were pretty satisfied with themselves.