What are they doing now - summer? - Page 2

[whatsnextmom]

DD 15 worked as a theatre camp aide the first 4 weeks of summer. She's now about half-way through her month long Shakespeare intensive. She's playing Helena in Midsummer and was able to sit and have a personal conversation about Shakespeare with one of her all time favorite Shakespearean actors in the world. She also had lunch with George Takei yesterday lol (they are rehearsing different shows with the same company.... I think it was more like, they sat across each other at the same table but having conversations with other people lol.) She took her position as the new chair of the student board of trustees for the other big regional theatre in our county. She's been on the board for a couple years and is excited to take leadership of it. The position also gives her special opportunities within the organization, invites to all the special events, openings, donor nights, company meetings, allowed to read new scripts, attend rehearsals, ect. Both these theatre companies send shows to broadway regularly and since DD's aim is to be an artistic director, it's every connection a 15-year-old could dream of. She starts in an early college program in a couple weeks so been trying to get a head start on her college classes. I know, that was sort of braggy. I'm just really proud of DD and happy to see her spark back after such a rotten time in school the last year.

DD 11 continues with tae kwon do. He was allowed to join the weapons class this summer which he is digging. He continues piano and starts up some private trumpet lessons with his band teacher this month (the teacher offers free summer lessons to keep the band sharp.) He really wanted to try basketball and so has been on a team all summer. He's certainly the "weak link" and does about half of every game on the bench but he's also learning a ton and the kids are all very kind to him. The best part of this summer is he's getting lots of buddy time in. Lots of sleep-overs, minecraft afternoons, movies, beach. It's really nice to see!

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree 

This made me laugh! 16 y.o. DD tried the on-line practice test yesterday and scored 75% without studying. A pass is 80%. She wants to go to the licensing centre this week to write it. 

.......

Well, she passed! We went yesterday morning and she now has her learner's. So there are now 4 drivers in the family, and only 1 car. Dd won't be driving on her own, but it makes juggling the schedule for the car a little more complicated. When DS had his learner's permit, we wanted it to be routine for him to drive so he ended up taking a lot of trips in the car rather than taking public transit, which is the norm for the kids. I find it helps if we just assume that the kid with the learner's permit is going to be behind the wheel if we are going somewhere - otherwise it turns into a big deal whether they will get some driving practice. 

I am happy that she has the learner's permit. I didn't get my license until I was in my 20's and I really didn't want my kids to cope with that kind of inconvenience. It's a pain always being dependent on others for a lift and also being unable to share fairly any driving on road trips and that sort of thing.  

We also had our trips to the cottage and also a fun but exhausting visit to New York. This summer seems endless - maybe it's the heat? 

[aishamama]

Hi everyone, 

We got moved and are settled. It's been busy and really a great summer so far.

We had so many issues just months ago and many have worked themselves out and we're working on the others.

ds1 - DH wouldn't agree to OT. We enrolled him and ds2 in Taekwondo though. Their teachers quickly picked up on ds1's strengths and weaknesses and agree to help him. He was a former principal of a school, has taught PE for years, and has won lots of awards for his own skills. We thought we'd give this a try.  I watch during their lessons and the helper teachers give him special attention in movement. He is enjoying it.  He completed the SAT10, didn't do that well or bad either. His scores were all over the place, some very high and some very low even within the same subjects. He also skipped a lot of questions. His teacher did say that she doesn't teach for testing and that much wasn't covered in class that appeared on the test. I do know the results are not indicative of his achievement but I still am very worried since the teacher didn't cover all of the topics.  The Handwriting W/O Tears program is due to arrive next week. I thought I'd start now that we're settled and in a routine. Nothing super special going on otherwise.

ds2 -  He has made some milestones. I am thoroughly impressed with this little guy. If anyone remembers he was scaring me to death in how he was running of his class, spitting etc. He has stopped all of that when class stopped obviously, but his behavior at home has matured and improved so much.  I bought ds1 some puzzles and he hated them! But ds2 and ds3 LOVE them.  DS2 sat down with a 100 piece puzzle and went to town. DS3 did a 24 piece puzzle like he's being doing them forever.  DS 2 is 4 and ds 3 is 2. DS 2's reading has picked up so much and he is doing great in math. I don't teach him and have never taught him. He has learned by virtue of environment and nothing else. His writing is better than ds1.  He's not the same boy he was a few months ago!  I never would have imagined that he'd move ahead in an advanced way with his reading and math, self motivated. He was just so busy physically and would NEVER ever sit still to look at a book. Whatever he is I just adore him and his own path.

ds3 - he's such a charmer and so very smart.  I don't know if he is gifted but he has some kind of memory and thinking. He will sit for over an hour and work feverishly on puzzles. I am pretty sure he knows every animal on the planet, like complicated names like paragon falcon, and animals I've never heard of. He knows where they live and what kinds of foods they like. He knows this only because ds1 is the obsessive one about animals. Ds 1 is an animal expert for sure.  I wish that was an exaggeration because all day long he rattles off this or that about animals I've never heard of.   ds3 e can now use a mouse so I let him use the computer in the family room. He loves to play memory card games online and matching etc. DS 3 warms my heart is such a special way. He loves his little sister and cares for her like she is just his. He tells people too that she belongs to him.  He's such an easy child compared with ds1. He's always been just so easy and content with about anything. Attention span and learning desire wise he is following ds1.  

dd is will be a big sister =)  I am hoping for a girl so that she has a sister to go through life and share girly things with. If not, then it's alright of course. She'll be the princess and rule the house because the boys just lover like anything and take such care of her. 

[aishamama]

Originally Posted by pranava 

DS(3) is fully obsessed with dinosaurs now.  He's learned the names of at least 30 different species, what they eat, distinguishing features, what time period they live in, and  - this one floors me - he can read the names of these species and pronounce them correctly!  He likes to quiz me about them, but I can't keep up!  He asks about a million questions a day, and more and more I'm having to say,  ummm..... let's look it up. 

Moms of dinosaur obsessed kids - do you have a particular brand of dinosaur figures that you prefer?  The Schleich figures are so cool, but sooo expensive.

LOL I remember when my ds 6 went through this! He was about your son's age and I thought I was going to go out of mind  =D He told me one time that I don't know anything about dinosaurs! He was kind of right.   He still tells me about them and now he relates them to present day animals and how they've evolved or if not then became extinct.  He also on a daily basis warns me about (un)common dangerous animals. The thing is, he is so very serious. I don't mean to laugh but it's his expression and HOW serious and concerned he is. He gets upset when I laugh and thinks I'm laughing at him, then I feel bad. He is so extremely funny but not on purpose you know?? 

[ellemenope]

It has been months since I have updated what DD's been up to.  School doesn't start until next week for us, so I thought I would tack something on the end of this thread.  We have had a busy summer that seemed to never let up.  

At the end of spring DD was beginning to dabble in reading chapter books with me.  But, I think she got a little overwhelmed by it all and started to protest.  So, I took summer as an opportunity to back off. We continued to go to the library and we read to her at least an hour a day but stopped asking her to read to us altogether.  She went to day camp.  She swam.  (She can now swim great distances by herself-- the length of a 40 foot pool easily!)  She started coloring, drawing, even writing more letters. And, we traveled.  We did let her participate in the summer reading club at the library, but she took care of that all by herself.  She picked which books she read and recorded them herself.  But, she of course picked easier books than she is capable of.  I am sure I saw a backslide, but I restrained myself.  Just in the last week I have noticed she is willfully reading a bit more, and I am seeing a lot of her skills crystalizing, but she is not at the level she was in spring.  I am still waiting for reading to catch fire again like it did last year as the weather turned cold. 

Her love of history is a raging wildfire at the moment.  It would be really hard for me to adequately describe how much history she knows.  She can recite the US presidents in order, give brief narratives on every major war the US was involved, tell you who was president during each conflict, which presidents died in office and how, who was impeached, who resigned, which presidents were war heroes, etc.  But, way way more.  She is also interested in the Greeks and Romans, but specifically the chronicle of Julius Caesar. 

She has also become quite interested in venomous animals.  And, she has become quite full of factoids on the subject.  I think she has learned about every venomous animal on the planet.  She has a pretty normal interest in zoology, but will read any book no matter how dry on a venomous animal.  Her favorites are the Box Jelly, the Inland Taipan, the Stonefish, the Blue Ringed Octopus, the Brazilian Wandering Spider, and Whistling Spider, and all scorpions.  Whereas history is a story, science is fun facts and "did you knows."  She is also picking facts up on her own about all things.  She recently drew concentrical circles with lines shooting out from the center and called it a "supernova."  She commented that she did not know Neptune had rings.  I did not either!  She guessed that dogs are "related" to wolves, and commented that the skin color of a baby should be a "mix" of the parents skin color.  We have no idea where she gets some of this stuff.  

Oh, and she just turned four.  (I love that it is not as weird that she is reading now that she is four.)  She is super-sweet and affectionate.  She is introspective and thoughtful-- When told that 'hate' was too strong a word to use more than occasionally, she quipped, "I guess you can say you hate the word hate," and she has not used the word since.  She has a huge imagination with detailed imaginary friends with the most elaborate backgrounds. She plays by herself for hours.  And, she has become quite independent in the self-help department.  

[ellemenope]

Tigerle--  I'll be thinking about you and your family.  Keep us updated.

[Tigerle]

Thank you! We're hoping for the best and will deal with the worst...

[FarmerBeth]

The agricultural exhibition is tomorrow.  DS (12) and DD(10) are showing sheep and on the tug of war team.  They've really been working hard this summer.  My younger DS (8) has been biking and gardening like crazy and they all have a "cabin building" competition on the go.  I'm glad we don't have a shortage of wood or space.  They've been able to go all out with this building thing.