Not sure if I mentioned it here, but last weekend the twins ran in a Healthy Kids fun run–a short race (maybe 10-15 yards) for preschoolers. Twin B won! We were surprised since she is more of a dawdler, not a runner. Twin A runs everywhere. She came from behind and swooped into first place right at the end.
This weekend, another preschool fun run–and Twin B won again! Another come from behind win.
I don’t know what to make of this. But Go Twin B!
IDK how involved you are with GD, but K4 is very important development stuff, as far as what I see with GS1 who is K4. GD1 is K (they are 14 months apart in age), and their K is so advanced in material as compared to what DDs had in K, and of course way more advanced than what I had in K.
I believe it was said on this thread not too long ago about the importance of parents (or someone) reading to the children at young ages, and the importance of reading development. I also see importance of math skills - those two areas of importance in the early pre-school and K years. All the phonics, the hand-eye development, just so much with those little brains. Coloring and coloring in the lines, which then moves on to their writing letters and numbers. When I visit, we always find some fun things to do, and include working in their extra supplemental workbooks I buy which have fun activities. I reinforce what was done with their classroom papers (GS1 coloring more carefully - not just scribbling the color areas). At their school, later in K, if the kid is scribbling on their coloring, and not being careful with the lines, the teacher takes off (so shows that there is room for improvement).
My GD ran in 4 seasons of Healthy Kids Running (ages 2-3.5). it was the cutest thing to watch. GD never won a race. She could barely run in a straight line. I think she actually won a trophy one season only because she attended all 5 races. I think the best part was playing on the excellent playground afterwards.
My soon to be 4 year old came over today and climbed into my lap for a cuddle. She melts my heart.
Had my 12 month GD over today. She just started walking but still more comfortable crawling so that’s how she mostly gets around. I will also get her tomorrow while her parents go out for their wedding anniversary dinner.
I leave all the teaching and disciplining to GD’s parents. This is as much of math that we do.
GD: I want some candy
Me: You can have 3 pieces.
GD: What about 5 pieces?
Me: No, 3 pieces.
GD: what about 4 pieces?
Me: Ok, 4 pieces. You count.
The actual life skill of negotiating. Better than ANY worksheet!!! 
I take a rather relaxed approach to teaching and that served us well with our kids. Each family, and each child, is different. We’ve preferred letting little ones learn through playing, and had good success with self-directed learning for our kids as they grew older. I recognize that may not be the right choice for everyone.
We read aloud a lot to our kids, and continued to do so long after they could read. They enjoyed it, and if nothing else it settled any arguments over who got to read the latest favorite book first, the kids or H.
We read aloud to our GDs, typically during snack, lunch, and bathroom breaks, three times a week. I haven’t taken inventory, but would guess we have over 80 books that are appropriate for toddlers through early elementary school age. A bin in a closet holds 20+ waiting to be put into rotation.
Building Lego sets, baking, gardening, and pretend play are ways we enjoy time with older GD. They provide many opportunities for us to explore math and science in concrete rather than abstract ways.
GD is three. I watched a video of GD and D1 (her mom).
Mom: how many teacups do you have.
GD(counted): 6 cups.
Mom: How many people are coming to the tea party.
GD: Grandma, Grandpa, moma, and me (her name). 4
Mom: How many cups do you need?
GD (thought about it for a minute): oh, one for Daddy.
She then moved one teacup away.
For me, the best part of being a grandma is not being responsible for learning and discipline. I have Grandma Rules, mostly related to having to eat “brain food” before graham crackers with frosting & sprinkles - or “whining won’t get you what you want.” But I am happy to leave the heavy work to my D & SIL, who are excellent parents.
I kept 4 1/2 year old GD this weekend while her parents were out of town for a wedding. I noticed something different in her speech and wondering if we have any speech pathologists or others with knowledge with this.
It took me a couple of days to figure out the pattern, but now know-any R controlled vowels are pronounced incorrectly. Now this would not be a red flag for a 4 year old, except, these are words she pronounced correctly just weeks ago. For example, one of her new stuffed animal’s name is Charlie, which I had forgotten; when I asked her name, GD said churly. Park is port; other words I noticed were sure, warm, and sorry. She will say she is just using a different voice when saying these word; when I say park correctly, she will say that is what she said. Once I say the pattern, I didn’t point it out as she is a child that will get upset if she does something wrong.
There are a few factors that might be a cause-her father is a Brit and his parents were visiting last month for 3 weeks, so she listens to how they pronounce words. Usually she will say mama says the word this way, and daddy says it that way. She watches Bluey when allowed screen time, so yet another pronunciation. Her first 4 years were in Texas, and now in Georgia with a preschool teacher with a southern accent. They are learning so many phonic rules and she is great at sounding out words and is reading some easy readers mostly on her own.
Is this typical to go backwards in speech? Because she says she is just using a different voice, it reminded me of twins having a special language. My daughter is not concerned, and she is the parent, although she hasn’t noticed this, but her husband has. Now that I mentioned it, I think she will be listening, but my mention is as far as I will go unless there is a reason to be concerned. Again, as far as I know, this just started a few weeks ago.
It doesn’t necessarily sound like she is going “backwards”, just having some variation in pronunciation which might be from her recent exposure to different dialects. Calling @thumper1 (speech therapist/pathologist) but my first thought as child development person is to not feel an immediate need to seek intervention, see what a few weeks does in terms of her language - and that’s assuming all her health in all other ways is normal (no ear infections, etc.)
The school grades kids’ coloring??
At what age kids are ready to learn how to swim? DS is planning to buy house with pool and I want to make sure GD knows how to swim. She is thirteen months old now.
GD started it when she was one, but someone had to go with her. She is 3 now and she takes swim lessons at her pre-school. It’s just her teachers and swim instructors.
4 yo GD has been in swim lessons for about 2 years. There is a SafeSplash near D’s house that is just for lessons and they are packed every time I have been with GD. Initially the goal was for drown proofing as D’s family belongs to a swim and tennis club, but now GD can swim pretty well for her age.
I did the baby proofing swim lessons at my church pool with both kids when they were under a year, but the goal was only to get them flip and float. They loved the water and both swam early.
My oldest grandson started swimming lessons around 1. It really was getting used to the water. A parent was in pool with him. He is now 2 and will start a new session soon. I’m not sure what they will work on. His brother will be 7 months and he will start soon.
Oldest grandson has been in a play based preschool since 18 months. It’s amazing how much he has learned with this approach. His language skills have skyrocketed. He knows all his color’s including pink and purple. He can count to 15. He’s really counting not just parroting. He says the alphabet but that is just memory. They hear him in his room singing songs he’s learned at school.
Last week we watched three of four grandchildren. It was one on one and we love it. The two year old loves hunting the buggies, Rolly Poly and wormies.
My MIL insists that she taught children as young as one to swim so well that they could save themselves. I contend that while some little ones may be able to learn the physical aspect of swimming well, no very young child has the ability to swim well if they fall into a pool. My kids were 3 when they started lessons, but they didn’t master swimming right away. D took GD for lessons when she was a year old, but she was more interested in splashing & playing than in learning to swim. They belong to a community pool in the summer, so they will try lessons again this summer; she’ll be 3.5.
I would think that with a pool in the yard, teaching kids to swim early is wise … but adding childproof locks in the gate & alarms in the pool (to detect kids in the pool area when they shouldn’t be) is critical.
We had 4 year old GD on Saturday night. It is such fun age and she has us wrapped around her finger. One of her favorite things to do is go to the “Cake Pop Store” aka Starbucks and get a treat. She was planning this out as we put her to bed. We told her she needed to eat something healthy first. Sunday morning I gave her a bowl of fruit. She ate 2 grapes and announced that she’d eaten something healthy and it was time to get a cake pop.
My son-in-law was a lifeguard on Long Island and was on the swim team in college (NESCAC). He’s the one who always takes GD to the pool at the local YMCA. They’ve been going since she was 18 months old. GD just turned 3 and put her head under water (with goggles) and blew bubbles for the first time a few weeks ago. My SIL says it’s important for the kids to feel comfortable in the water. Don’t know where they’re going from here.