We're very lucky.
Jack is the sort of child
we all assume we'll have
when we decide to have children,
and the sort of child
less experienced parents
congratulate themselves for.January and February 2004
March and April 2004
May and June 2004
July and August 2004
September and October 2004
November and December 2004
Blogs we read:
2006-03-29 - 15:05
Big news!!
Yes, truly reading.
At the moment, he is simply sight reading, and he has a very limited vocabulary, of course.
We've been concentrating on the alphabet and phonics, rather than sight reading -- but Jack was more interested in decoding this reading thing, and he figured it out by himself.
That means we're going to have to adapt his "school" to his new ability. We'll stick with the basic alphabet, shape, and number theme for now, but we'll add some reading practice. Since I think that combining "see and say" for non-phonetic words and phonics for phonetic words is the best approach, we'll work on both -- though Jack has already figured out diphthongs (and has pointed some out to me that I hadn't realized were diphthongs!) -- so a lot more words are phonetic for him than would be otherwise.
I am slightly overwhelmed by this advance, even though Rod and I both saw it coming months ago. Jack's obsession with reading, letters, letter sounds, and anything to do with reading, and his questions about things that I wasn't taught until the sixth grade, made it clear that he was intent on reading early.
I am relieved that we had already planned to teach him at home. I think Jack would have been bored out of his mind by the end of first grade and either learned to hate school or would have toned down his ability to "fit in". Neither would have been good.
But I am also aware that teaching Jack may be more challenging that I had expected, since he won't be following the pattern most curriculums are predicated on. That's not bad, but it is sobering.
Oh, and he's "writing", too. He has a messenger account and he and I chat off and on all day. He's gone from entirely random characters to occasionally typing a real work -- "yes", "no", "Jack", "Dad", "Mamma", and "eggs" are all pretty frequent. I had assumed Rod was helping, until Jack called me over to his computer to "see what I did!" -- He had typed "eggs" all by himself, and he knew what it said, too!
Simplicity
I have long had a craving for simplicity in my life.
Living with several pack rats over the years made it abundantly clear that a simple life, uncrowded by "stuff" was a much easier and more pleasant life. Having tasted genuine squalor, simplicity and tidiness are truly joyous experiences!
Living in desperate poverty for a time, when simply paying the heating bill and the rent meant eating in soup kitchens and collecting returnable bottles for toilet paper and toothpaste made having a full larder and a "nest egg" in the bank a lot more important than having new clothes and a fancy car.
That period of poverty also honed my skill for finding what I need without spending money. I've heard it referred to as "gifts from the dumpster fairy" and "found treasure". I don't need new, fancy, and expensive. And honestly, I mostly prefer old and well made to glossy, new, expensive, and disposable.
There's an aesthetic element to it, too. I prefer to grind my own flour -- wheat berries keep a lot longer than flour does, and nothing tastes quite as wonderful as baked goods, pancakes, or waffles made from flour that's still warm from grinding. Foods that start with fresh, raw ingredients simply taste better and are more nourishing than the "quick and easy" convenience foods.
Somehow, our new home reinforces that desire for me. It has a big yard that begs to be played in, and the big open windows that call me outdoors to hang laundry and enjoy the sunshine. The house is old, and has the energy of a place where people do things and where daily routine is a soothing rhythm, rather than drudgery. The floors are bare, and that means that sweeping and mopping work better than the vacuum cleaner. The lines are clean and simple, making it a pleasure to tidy a room, and watch it gleam.
As I have read about voluntary simplicity and simple living, it's become clear that there are several related trends, and that people get involved in them for different reasons.
There is the tightwad movement, which is focused on spending less. It's not concerned with consuming less or with acquiring less -- just on how much stuff one can accumulate for how little money. A big bank account and a full house means "I won!". Not a bad place to start, I guess. I certainly sympathize with the striving for savings as a cushion against life's vagaries. Certainly if you're saving more, you're better off -- but the "more for less" mentality seems to me to be just another way to live within the consumerist culture. Being a slave to my coupon book seems counterproductive to me. I'd rather ask "do I need this?"
There is the ascetic movement, which focuses on doing without as much as possible. Discomfort is irrelevant. Austerity is seen as a virtuous, spiritual practice. I am great sympathy with the search for a more spiritual existence, and one that focuses on what really matters, though Austerity is not really my cup of tea.
There's the ecological responsibility/live lightly on the earth folk. Consume less, recycle and reuse more. These are presumably the people who pay 5 for a pair of computer chip earrings, turning material that can't easily be recycled into jewelry, so it doesn't end up in the landfill. I find them admirable, but a lot of them are so earnest it's painful.
There is the social justice movement, which focuses on the inherent unfairness of living in a culture that uses far more than our fair share of the planet's resources. Again, an extremely admirable concern, and one I try to take into account as I make my decisions.
Then there is the movement that is seeking a more joyous and meaningful life through simplicity. I don't know what to call it, but I think this is where my "home" in the simplicity world is. I want to spend time with my family. I want to do things that give me satisfaction. I want to have memories of my time spent with loved ones, of books I've read, of meals I've created and shared. I want to focus on doing what feels good
Where was I going with this? I don't know, but that's the world I am trying to build and share with Jack, so it's not totally irrelevant. ;)
