Monday, April 27, 2009

WHY?


Sarah and Anna love to be read to- that makes their Momma and Daddy very happy! When Sarah first came home from China books were very intimidating to her. She wanted nothing to do with them, she wouldn't even open them. So tonight we had a mini read a thon. Which translates to hubby wasn't feeling well, it was chilly outside, mom thought jammies were in order but girls said it is still light outside, so lets cuddle and read! I was reading pretty simple books and then started wondering how much of this is she getting, hmmm. I started asking a few questions as I was reading and I got my answer- not much. I think, I too often take for granted that she understand things when she really does not. She asks a ton of questions but it is hard to give an explanation that she can comprehend.

I had heard over and over that the children that are adopted catch on really fast. Umm, yeah, kind of- I guess to others it looks that way but when you live with your child each day you can really see the holes in the learning curve. Don't get me wrong they do/ she is doing awesome but she has a long way to go to really grasp the english language and the academics.

Often when I ask the kids to do something or don't do something I give the reason right away. "Like please leave your shoes on the rug so we don't track dirt into the house." At that point I usually get a "why". I just said why honey and then I repeat it again. Sometimes I get another "why". Argh! Of course then Anna has to chime in with a "why". That word should have been left out of the english language!

Okay, now on to my other princesses- Missy and Mia, the dogs! What is with these dogs and all their poop? I cleaned it all up on Saturday, looked out the window today and you'd think they invited all their friends over for a poop party. Another full gallon bag collected. How many times a day are dogs supposed to poop? Any dog lovers out there?


4 comments:

Lori at JOY Unspeakable said...

Another reason I love country livin'....the poop parties are spread over 10 acres! And there's no way I'm going to pick it all up. It's called fertilizer. :)

I'm sure Sarah will have spurts of growth in her learning and then level off at times. I can understand your frustration but I'm sure she is soaking up way more than you realize...even if she isn't comprehending it at the moment.

CUTE PICTURE!

Mom to my China Posse said...

My girls played out with our Golden retreiver Summer this weekend and I can tell you dogs poop ALOT! I was cleaning off shoes all afternoon to prove it. lol........
Sound sliek your sarah is in the ame place our daughter is right now, shes been home since Nov. and lasy night we had our second post placement and we were sitting with the SW at the table and she took a plastic lemon from the arrangement I had on the table and kept questioning my why she couldn't it it. I am not sure she ever got the concept of plastic fruit for decorations. lol...... Shes gettting there though.

Sally-Girl! said...

Dog poop party!! Now that is hysterical to envision!!!

I am getting ready to post on my blog about my new homemade dog food recipe. I am hoping for less poop too!

Difference2This1 said...

It's so great Sarah is now enjoying books!!!! You are exactly right about comprehension...it's easy to think they understand what is going on around them. Tessa puts on a very good show- but press her for meanings of words, or rewording what I just said, and she's often clueless. Sounds like this is pretty normal from what other parents say. It has become more apparent as Tessa is learning to read and answering questions about what she read. Things I have found to help her (and help me identify her gaps)- stop every few sentences in a story book (maybe once a page) and ask what a certain word meant, ask her what she thinks might happen next, etc. Use controlled vocabulary readers instead of storybooks to teach reading to minimize the number of new words per session. I do a lot of dictation now (maybe Sarah isn't ready for that yet, but you might keep it in mind). We started with just dictating words, but are now on short sentences from her readers...I've definately been surprised many times on what she can/can't write, thus constantly adjust our lessons to meet her gaps. All that being said, isn't it amazing how much they do learn in such a short amount of time?? If it were the other way around, I'm sure I won't be near as far in understanding as our girls!!! :) What a great job you have been doing in finding activities BOTH girls enjoy!! It's so hard sometimes to find that balance!! God bless!!! Jennifer