So, here is a short update on our little, BIG girl!
- 40 inches tall and weighs 37 pounds
- Wearing size 4T in clothes and an 8 in shoes
- She will go to her 4 year check-up in a couple of weeks and get 3 shots. I am feeling very anxious about this; I'm not looking forward to this at all. This is the age that I threw tantrums at the doctor's office when it came to shots (multiple nurses had to wrap me up in a sheet, mummy-style, and bear hug me to keep me still). I'll report after the visit.... :/
- We started officially homeschooling September 24th. It is going really great! We are both learning so much, and Mira's enthusiasm is still very high. That makes it fun! She is at a 1st grade level on most subjects, but still at a K level on a few. We are using a Classical Homeschooling method which I adored from the first time I read about it, and it seems to be working out GREAT!
- In Language, we are practicing reading 3-5 letter words with short vowel sounds (which she has pretty much mastered); quite a few 2-letter blends; punctuation; learning about nouns and verbs; memorizing and reciting poems; narrating stories; learning Greek Mythology; and perfecting her handwriting. She is on her third set of BOB books; she reads one to us each night before bed. She LOVES to read and write!
- In Math (we are using Singapore Math), she is mastering number bonds with special attention to the numbers that make 10; counting to 100 by ones (pretty much mastered), fives (still working on this), and tens (mastered); learning the difference between odd and even numbers; and adding and subtracting. She has a lot of math facts memorized already and new concepts seem to come easily to her.
- In Science, we are studying animals - about two each week. She made a list of twenty animals before we started, and we are going through the list animal by animal. We raid the library of all the books on each animal plus research them in our own animal encyclopedias (we have three in the house!). Then sometimes we supplement with pictures and videos from the internet. We watched some great videos of cobras and rattlesnakes online when we studied snakes. This led us to checking out Rudyard Kipling's Rikki Tikki Tavi, which we read a million times before returning! We studied dolphins the week before a trip to Charleston; a dolphin met our ferry and led the way to Fort Sumter! Such great timing! Soon, we will study parts of the human body, and then, in the Spring, plants.
- We also study great artists, famous works of art, and world religions. We were in Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago, and she had to point out The Last Supper since we had just studied Leonardo Da Vinci.
- She's in Level 2 at ASI Gymnastics. She is really doing great and loving the higher level of difficulty in her new class. I thought she might take a while to get back into the swing of things after taking the summer off, but she jumped back in without missing a beat!
- She is starting dance again. We took a break, but she has been asking about it for a while. She will do ballet and tap again, so I guess we'll be attending another recital in a few months! :)
- She loves to draw and can often be found with a stack of computer paper and a pencil - sketching away! She often amazes me with her depictions - such as the Great Blue Heron that we saw in Charleston! It was really good, and she had no prior teaching or guidance on how to draw a bird at all!
- She can identify and name most cars that she sees. Blows my mind! She recognizes the Hyundai Santa Fe (what we drive), Mustang, CRV, H2, Mini Cooper, Escape, Volkswagen, BMW's, Mercedes, Lexus, Corvettes, and Chargers to name just a few! She loves to point out convertibles and let you know whether they are sedans or coups. She'll tell you when she sees an older model of a car such as the Corvette. When we went to the State Fair, all she talked about was going to the car show, and when we finally went, she had to see them all and sit in every one! This she obviously gets from her Daddy since I'm baffled by it. She can pick out these vehicles from far away and most even at night by just the tail lights!!
- She has started earning money by helping around the house in addition to her responsibilities (i.e. feeding and watering the pups and doing well in school). Some ways that she earns money are by matching a load of socks, putting hangers in a load of shirts, clearing the table, setting the table, working in the yard, trying a new, healthy food, etc. She really loves to help with everything!
- She continues to shock and awe us with her growing vocabulary and syntax. She loves to sit and chat, often saying to me, "Mommy, let's have a conversation." :) I love to sit and pick her brain on topics such as love and marriage, working, or politics. She cracks me up and often has something very profound to say!
- She is a total ham and loves to entertain. I hear, "Mommy, do you want to see something funny?" about a million times a day.
- Her favorite show right now is Curious George.
- We read her first real chapter book together in September - Charlotte's Web. She didn't want to stop, and she handled the sensitive subject matter very maturely. We have started Stuart Little, but I'm not sure she is as "into it" as Charlotte's Web. We'll see if we can push on and get hooked.
- She is very active! She is in constant motion, as most 4 year olds are, I suppose. She loves to run, jump, climb, swim, dance, wiggle, bounce, skip, flip, etc, etc! She also likes to join Kenny (and me - once in a blue moon) in a strength workout. She has little 1-lb weights, and she does all the exercises with great attention to detail so as to have perfect form! She likes to go to the track that is close to our house. We walk over then run around the track; she can easily go a mile!
Mira is a happy, healthy, silly, strong, super-smart 4 year old! I can't believe how wonderful she is and how blessed we are to get to be her parents! It has been such an extraordinary trip watching her grow, and I know it will only get better and better!
