We've Got Mail

P Doodle's schoolbooks have started to arrive in the mail, a few at a time. He is absolutely loving it! Of course, who doesn't love getting a package in the mail, right? We set aside a special shelf that's just for his schoolbooks, so he knows where they are and can get them as he wishes. He's getting to be such a big boy.

I have to say, I'm especially impressed with his Pathway Readers. They're great for any beginning reader, homeschooled or not. If you've been having trouble finding a "See Jane run" sort of book for your kid to read independently, look no further. I actually think that Parker is reading at a level above the first one, but it's still great. It's building his confidence that he can read other things beyond 100 Easy Lessons. He has yet to be comfortable reading in any public situation, and even reading for his grandparents has been a bit intimidating to him.

The Pathway Readers were developed for Amish parochial schools; therefore the content is sure to be nothing offensive or crazy - heck some of the stories even have a moral! Has anyone else noticed how many children's books are just crap these days? Like even if there's nothing that makes you raise your eyebrows, there's just nothing to them? So far, each chapter has a parent story to read, (other than that the print is quite a bit smaller, P Doodle could actually probably read these himself) then a story for the child to read independently. Each chapter can stand alone, but they build on each other for an overall cohesive story. We also got the accompanying workbooks that have about two pages per chapter of exercises to encourage comprehension and understanding. They're nothing flashy, but they are sturdy and a great value for what you get. The readers alone would be great for practice, or with the workbooks between school years even to keep reading skills sharp.

If you've even bothered to read the post this far, you can roll your eyes at me for this part...but I have to brag about P Doodle's reading. Check out what he read to me yesterday from one of the last of the 100 Easy Lessons:

A beagle is a dog. It has big ears. And it likes to hunt, hunt, hunt. The beagle in this story liked to hunt more than other beagles. This beagle was Biff. Every day Biff went out hunting.

And that was just part of the first of three paragraphs. I know, I know, I'm gushing with parental pride. I just can't help it. He's four! And he is just dying to learn more. He loves being able to ride in the car and read signs along the road as we pass. I think it really bothered him to know that all those letters mean something, and he just didn't know what.

Besides being the smartest kid around, P Doodle is dying for spring to come! We have new toys at our park and he's eager to try them out. He knows it's going to be a long time before the snow melts, (or the temperature rises above freezing) and he hates it. He's also been talking to Daddy about playing baseball and going fishing. Another "to-do" on our list this summer is to take the boys to the racetrack. We may live in a tiny little hick town with not much to do; but hey, you can't watch stock-car racing just anywhere can you? Jealous?

In other P Doodle updates, he's also learned how to, (sort of) cartwheel. Apparently he learned it from one of his cute little friends in primary. Her mom was embarrassed to find out that she'd been cartwheeling in her dress at church, but I thought it was absolutely hilarious! Hey, if that's the worst your kid does in public, I think it's okay. ;)

P Doodle also is loving being the big brother. He is so sweet, especially to his sisters. He and the Princess seem to have a special bond and can usually be found making mischief together. He also loves to help Claire by giving her a bottle or snuggle her on the couch. As much as he loves his sisters though, he's hoping that Baby #5 is another brother. There's just something about brothers, isn't there? He and Babycakes have really started to have a lot of fun together now that Babycakes is coming out of his shell a bit and communicating more with us. The only problem with being the big brother is that he thinks that means he's the boss as well. Something we need to work on. But we all love our P Doodle boy!