A New School Year!

My class has officially doubled as Lucianna now joins Lena & I for school time.  Working with both girls has its rewards and challenges.  It is great to sit them both down, read a book and work on the same letter of the week but there are few activities that match their skill level.  And so begins the school time juggle!

I quickly found out that Lucy really needs lots of hands on activities and manipulatives as opposed to lots of printables.  While she loves dot marker activities, she is more interested in completing the pages HER WAY.  Recognizing that she is a brand new two year old, Mommy had to hand over control and remember to keep it fun and light for Lucy.  On the other hand, there are more stringent rules and expectations for Lena.  While I make every effort to make school time fun and allow for choices and personal preferences in Lena's daily school activities, she has certain tasks she is instructed to completed before she can have freedom of play again.  Although it's not always easy, Lena has adjusted to fact that fair is not always equal and she sometimes need to complete more items than Lucy.  Watching Lucy run around as she wishes while Lena is still doing school time creates a minor distraction but once Lena is immersed in a given task, she typically enjoys it and focuses!  The bonus is more often than not, Lucy will make her way back to the school time table and rejoin us in Lena's activities.  I am thankful that Lena is such a role model for Lucianna.

MY CLASS!