up to five & 3/4 years this quarter - snow size - 46(!) inches - 45(!) pounds activities - christmas, of course interests - horses - piano buddies - jennsy - kit - matias - nora - jesse |
| maddie diary winter 2002-2003 |
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| Brain stuff Incredibly, she's not much better at reading than she was a year ago. She's FAR better at writing, but I think what happened was that she got to the point where she could, and did, read on her own. And we just stopped reading with her. We'd still read to her at bedtime, but we dropped the ball on the joint reading. Time to refocus. On the plus side, she was tested as reading at the second grade level in comprehension, higher in technique. She's doing great in math. She can add pretty much any one-digit numbers and she can add multiple-digit numbers without a carry. For Christmas, she asked for (and received) math workbooks and math software. |
| Snow! After a horrible snow year last year, it's started off like gangbusters this winter. One substantial snow before Christmas and a predicted ice storm cancelled 3 school days. And a surprise 3 inches on a Sunday gave us the perfect (for the grown-ups) no-trouble play snow. We got a lot of mileage out of the white stuff. The school has a small hill that's great for zooming down, and many of Maddie's friends end up there. The picture to the right is Louise and Maddie going over a jump. Santa brought a disc, and daddy gave Maddie a kid-sized shovel, which she very kindly used to help clear the sidewalk. |
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| New years eve. Maddie got to stay up. |
| Piano Maddie's been messing around with the piano and the electronic keyboard a lot recently. I offered to teach her-- really teach her-- piano, advising that it would require lots of discipline. She readily agreed. We'll see how it goes, but one week in she's doing wonderfully. Update: A couple of months or so later, it's going fabulously well. She's playing several songs with both hands together. Currently (2/25), she's playing songs where the hands stay in one position. She LOVES to play, so even though I limit her to 15-minute lessons, she generally stays at the piano after the lesson and messes around. I left for a couple of trips, and we went 2 weeks without lessons. I returned to find she'd practiced and mastered a two-hand piece! |
| Heart It absolutely has to be pointed out what a wonderful person she's becoming. Honest, kind, loving, happy. On the happy side, supposedly how many windows children draw in their house pictures indicates how happy they are. Well, let's just say that we're having our actual windows replaced, and I'm glad that we don't have as many as she draws. On the honesty side, it doesn't seem to occur to her to lie. I told her that she couldn't have any more rice until she finished her chicken and beans. She opted to save it and finish it later. She helped me clean up, and while I put the rice away, a single lonely grain fell on the counter. Rather than simply popping it in, she picked it up, got my attention, and asked earnestly if she could eat it. |
| First Report Card She received her first report card in early February. Excellent grades and perfect attendance. She got little awards for each. |
| More snow(!) We had snow in December a few times, some snow in January, and many snows in February. On the weekend of the 15th we got 16 inches. Up until then, they were all relatively convenient and pretty. That one was unbelievably inconvenient, and after a week of cancelled school is now dingy. More is slated for the 27th. |