A Case for the use of "They" as a Universal Third Person Singular Pronoun

I have been erroneaously called by my husband's surname before.  This is a social convention that many people in the West are still accustomed to as being the norm.  The assumption is that when a woman gets married, she changes her name to that of her husband.  I did not. And I often got quite upset about being "misnamed", that people didn't bother to actually ask for my name, that their calling me by my husband's surname must mean they also are making other assumptions about who I am.  I was an angry feminist during this time.  I had little patience with people, extended no grace to them.  Rather, I took it personally and accused them of being sexist. But women taking their husband's surname was a common enough practice that most people simply don't think to question it until it gets pointed out to them.  After it gets pointed out a certain number of times, people slowly start to realize that things actually are not as they assumed them to be, or they're slowly changing and aren't as they used to be.  Then they adjust and instead of assuming, start asking before using a married woman's surname.  

We are now in such a time where more people are starting to realize that gender is the new version of this phenomenon.  Most of us have long assumed that there are two genders, based on the two biological sexes, and so we refer to people accordingly.  We do not mean to offend.  Many of us literally cannot comprehend a world in which there is such a thing as a gender spectrum.  Many people's first knee jerk reaction is to simply resist change and hold on to whatever is familiar at all costs. But as we get more and more exposure to the idea that some people transition from one gender to another, some don't believe either gender resonates with them, and some feel comfortable with both simultaneously, we, too, will slowly start to realize that there's a gender spectrum, rather than just assuming a person that looks a certain way must be one of two genders.  (Just like we used to assume that a woman must either have the surname of her father or her husband.)  Change to something as fundamental as gender, much like naming traditions, will take time.

Rather than getting angry, it behooves us to remember where we are in the scope of things.  We have to know whether our preferences are mainstream or not.  And if they are not, then it is our job to educate others, yes even tirelessly at times, about those preferences.  Because it will take time.  No amount of name-calling or cancelling of people for not being "woke" to the newest practices is going to help.  Rather, it's only going to force people to push back and get defensive about their position.  Most people are not trying to be intentionally hurtful towards others.  This doesn't mean that we should excuse hurtful behavior, but it also doesn't mean that we should fail to do our part to bring about change.  Change happens slowly, and it is more forthcoming when people feel safe to explore new ideas without fear of judgment or ridicule.

For instance, I do not understand the idea of nonbinary gender.  I understand "switching sides", I undersand non-conforming behaviors that resist gendered stereotypes, but I am struggling to appreciate the idea that some people simply do not have an attachment to either of the traditionally recognized genders.  Specifically, what I'm at a loss as to the changes taking place in how we talk about nonbinary people in the third person singular.

A living language can, does, and pretty much must change over time.  I also understand that different languages have different experiences with gendered language, and so they will have more or less problems adjusting to gender-neutral markers.  I have fought the use of "mankind" and the "universal he" to refer to humanity and unknown humans for decades.  I hate the practice of slapping a "Mrs." in front of a married man's first and last name to refer to his wife.  I actually found it perfectly acceptable to write "she/he" in academic papers in order to stay grammatical while also avoiding sexist assumptions (a practice that in recent years has gone by the wayside in favor of the "singular they", due to the alleged cumbersome nature of the latter).  But non-gendered third person singular pronouns are an entirely new can of worms for me.

I understand how a human being that does not identify with female nor male would resist using either of the gendered pronouns (she/he).  I undersand how said individual would nonetheless take offense at using the gender-neutral third person pronoun "it", as this connotes inanimate objects or perhaps animals in modern English (although there was a time when children were often referred to as "it").  I understand that a non-binary person may want to use "they" in place of "she" or "he", and in fact there is a precedent to do so in written English when talking about a person whose gender is unknown.  It is certainly more tricky to do so when referring to a known individual, because we are used to assuming that once we know a person, we can easily place them into one of two neat categories: she or he.  With time, this weirdness will pass.  

What I don't understand is the idea that different non-binary individuals get to "pick" made-up letter combinations, call them "their pronouns", and expect the rest of us to suddenly start using them as if they're words that are part of our everyday lexicon.  Xe, Co, Ze... these are not words anyone outside the trans community ever comes accross.  And if we're going to have a new word, which of course is perfectly acceptable, albeit awkward in the beginning, there needs to be a consensus, or the words must be interchangeable.  Otherwise, if Xe, Co, and Ze all refer to a non-binary individual in the third person, what distinguishes them from each other?  Are they not identical in meaning?  And if so, what is the point of having multiple words tasked with the exact same role in language?  This is highly inefficient.  Perhaps in other languages, the nuances might be ironed out.  In Spanish, for instance, there is a formal and an informal way to refer to the person you are addressing: "tu" or "usted".  Technically, they perform the same role, but the nuance of familiarity or politeness distinguishes them.  In English, we no longer utilize "thee" and "thou"; we only use "you".  So if the second person singular only has one word, and the third person singular already has three ("she", "he", and "it"), then adding not one but several more to the category is simply nonsensical.  

What makes more sense, actually, based on the history of the English language, is to collapse the third person singular pronouns that we are all already used to, rather than inventing additional ones.  People simply stopped using "thee" and "thou" because they were already comfortable using "you".  What if the same thing were to happen to the third person pronoun?  Instead of using "she" and "he" and "it", we could slowly start using "it" to refer to all people in the singular.  But this is actually not likely since, as mentioned above, there is a nuance between "she/he" and "it" in that only the first two are associated with human beings.  

Perhaps then, we can take our pointers from the second person pronoun again.  In English, we do not care if we are addressing one person or an entire group; we say "you".  Why couldn't we do the same when discussing people not present?  Whether the group is mixed sex or all same sex, we simply say "they" and no one blinks an eye.  What if we take the same "they" and tack onto it the singularity of the third person, just like we did with the singularity of the second person?  So now, everyone in the third person, singular or plural, female or male or otherwise, would all be referred to as "they".  And perhaps we keep "it" to differentiate inanimate objects in the third person singular, though they are already "they" in the plural, so maybe that would eventually go away as well.  In fact, in American Sign Language, the three pronouns are already the same sign; you simply point to the side and from the context of the conversation, you know if the sign means "she", "he", or "it".

Using "they" the way we use "you" would follow the precedent of the history of the English language, it would do away with distinguishing between genders within the pronouns used, it would utilize a word every English speaker is already familiar with, and it would honor those who do not identify with female or male genders exclusively.  Sounds like a win all the way around to me.

What Good is "12 year old Polish"?

Recently, a monolingual speaker asked me "how good" my Polish was. I did not feel the need to get into my insecurities about losing fluency in my heritage language, so I responded with a truth that dodged the question.  I said, "well, it's my native language, so..."

And even though what followed made me feel insecure (unbeknownst to him), it did force me to consider what my language goals are for my children, as well as accepting my own languge competence.  He talked about bilingual immigrants whose native languages plateaued at a 12- to 14-year old's level.  I believe he was referring to the limited vocabulary of an adolescent versus an adult.

The moral of his story was that employers do not want someone with "12-year-old Spanish" or "14- year-old Vietnamese."  The nerve he touched without knowing or meaning to was what I've long been aware of.  I cannot move back to Poland and pick up where I left off when I migrated at age 8, in part, because I do not have the vocabulary necessary to land a job.  I have often wondered what the point of knowing Polish was if I couldn't become a translator with my current level of the language.  I've wondered the same thing about my third language, Spanish, but at least there isn't the emotional association to that language.

But having reflected on it, I have to disagree with this person's assessment of the uselessness of knowing a language less than fluently.  Even without perfect fluency, another language allows me to listen to (or read!) news from a different perspective.  English monolingual speakers could accomplish the same thing by watching not only American news but also British, Canadian, Australian, etc.  Imagine the additional perspective though of being able to learn first hand what non-English speakers have to say about world events.

Knowing another language less than fluently also allows one to enjoy cultural experiences more than when depending on translations.  Music, theater, foreign films all lose something in the translation. One doesn't need a college-level proficiency in a language to experience these cultural expressions.

Travel also becomes more meaningful (not to mention easier!) when one can read the menus, signs, directions, etc. in the language of the country one is visiting. Starting even a basic conversation with the locals allows a dimension unattainable by mere eye contact and smiling.

So what's the point of knowing a language if you don't know it fluently?  Employment is not the singular goal of language aquisition!  Income, wealth, status, none of these are the reasons I'm raising my kids multilingual.  My reasons are much more nuanced.  I want my kids to have an additional lens through which to experience the world. And that's not even mentioning the benefits to brain chemistry of knowing multiple languages!

Perfection - in language aquisition, overall academics, or life in general - is not the goal.  If my kids can enjoy the various benefits of experiencing the languages they know, who's to say they won't catch the polyglotal bug and embark on a lifetime of langauge learning for the sheer pleasure of it?

Regardless, one of the most important benefits of multilingualism is the understanding that there is more than one way of seeing anything.  This is a skill that easily transfers to all areas of life, and it simply cannot be measured in dollars and cents!

Reality versus Idealism in Multilingual Parenting

On the one hand, I knew that once we started to homeschool our eldest, we would be depending on more English and that keeping up with exposure in Polish and Spanish would be more and more challenging.  On the other hand, I had naively hoped that homeschooling (verus delegating our kids' education to a school system) would allow us to use our native languages as part of the instruction.

Yeah, that sounded nice in theory.  In reality, it would take serious effort to gather materials in our native languages, not to mention added expense.  Especially as we depend a lot on our library, 95% of the materials we get are in English, the other five are ASL dvds and Spanish language books.  Zero Polish.  But even when we do find a book or video in the target language, I do not know sufficient vocabulary to explain concepts other than the very basic ones.

I'm better able to express myself in English.  Even though Polish still has an emotional effect on me, it is not my primary language.  I cannot fully be myself in Polish.  When speaking with my mom, it is usually 75% Polish and 25% English.

What concerns me is that we are starting to use more English than Polish or Spanish just in everyday conversation.  It's easier and faster not to have to translate for the other parent to grasp the gist of our interactions.

That's not to say that we're abandoning the goal of raising our kids multilingual.  But I do think it's important to keep our rather modest purpose in mind. It's not to send our kids to university abroad, where they can study in Polish or Spanish.  Or to find employment abroad.

We just want our kids to be able to understand the equivalent of the news in each language, to make themselves understood in the respecive communities, and to have basic literacy that they can build on if they so choose when they are older.  Also, just the mere exposure and use of the languages, however limited it may become, does wonders for brain development, creativity, perspective, musicality....  So I have to remember that fluency is not the goal, and that's ok.

Sending Kids to Daycare and Preschool

I assumed that, as a stay-at-home mom and future homeschool educator, I wouldn't have to deal with the decision of sending my kids to daycare and then preschool.  But one by one, more and more playdate moms have started revealing to me that they're sending their kids to some sort of organized school-ish environment, if even for a few hours each week.  My first shock was when other stay-at-home moms started doing it.  My second shock came when a future homeschooling mom likewise revealed that her elder child will be starting preschool in September.  Note that "shock" does not mean "disapproval".  It just wasn't on my radar.  I assumed that only working-for-pay moms sent their kids to daycare or preschool, out of necessity.

But I would be lying if I said the thought of sending my own daughter somewhere outside the home for "enrichment" never crossed my mind.  In fact, it has recently crossed my mind as I lamented having to stop any serious preschool homeschooling with the birth of Antonio.  During my pregnancy, I really enjoyed not only sharing various educational lessons with Natalia, but also documenting them and being able to see how she's learning.  Then I gave myself a couple of months after baby brother's birth for unschooling, and again I was pleased when I went to document these months to see how Natalia was learning without any advanced thought given by me to planning out what she should learn.

However, having a baby in the home who loves attention and physical proximity but doesn't care much for baby carriers has proven to be quite challenging.  At best, we have been able to take full advantage of our local library, both in terms of exploring lots of books, especially on nature, but also classic children's literature and even Spanish, as well as the occasional storytime where Natalia interacts with the librarian and other children.  And while this is all fine and good for the time being, I am not satisfied with this arrangement long-term.  And so when one mom after another started sharing with me where they are sending their kids, suddenly the idea arrived on my radar.

I immediately thought of Montessori preschool.  I knew that if I ever sent my kids to preschool, I'd want it to be Montessori.  I love the environment and philosophy behind Montessori.  We've incorporated various Montessori-inspired activities into our daily living over time.  I also like that the children are not segragated by age but that they are in a three-year age group, where younger children can learn from older ones, and the older kids can practice leadership skills while helping the younger ones.  But one internet search put the idea of Montessori preschool idea to rest.  Tuition.

A couple of moms have been praising the co-op preschool they've selected for their kids, and while I like the idea of spending most of the time outside, focusing on social interactions rather than premature academics, and the fact that it's a tiny fraction of what a Montessori preschool costs, I hesitate.

First of all, I would have liked to have been able to send Natalia somewhere right now, over the next few months, until Antonio becomes less clingy and I am freed up enough to take over homeschooling again.  But it seems that unless I were satisfied with a daycare, all preschools start and end along with the public school year, and there's a comitment generally for the school year.

But there's more.  I also do not like the idea of surrounding Natalia with other kids who, like her, have yet to learn proper social interaction skills, and let them influence each other for better or for worse.  One-on-one is one thing.  But in a classroom setting... and without my presence, it comes down to this: who knows what she'd actually be learning from her peers!  Name brands?  Disney characters?  Attitudes towards toys, food, clothes, hair, the list is really endless.  The whole point of me staying home, first of all, and then homeschooling is to maintain control over what my children are and aren't exposed to. (I use the word control here not in a Type-A personality way, but in the it's-my-responsibility-and-perogative-as-parent way.).  The point is for me to not delegate the task of raising them to others, whose values I may not share.

In addition, giving Natalia a regularly recurring time away from home would also limit her exposure to one of our minority family languages. (I say one of them, thinking here of Polish, because her Spanish exposure is mostly tied to when Oscar is home, which wouldn't change if she were to attend preschool.)  Especially during the first 5 or so years, language exposure is critical if we want fluency for our kids.  There is no need for us to worry about English for our kids, because we live in an English-as-majority-language community.  But if we want to safeguard our minority languages, we need to seek out more opportunities in Polish and Spanish, not less.

I understand why public (or even private) school-bound kids' parents may want to give their kids "a head start" by enrolling them in preschool.  Expectations for school kids has risen to unrealistic levels, so that arriving in Kindergarten on the first day of school, kids today are already expected to know the alphabet.  I disagree with such premature academics.  I didn't start to learn to read until I was 6 or 7, and I dare to say that my reading and writing skills are much better than most public school graduates, not to mention that I'm literate in three languages.  I don't say this to brag, but to prove a point - so-called "delayed academics" works, and it works better than premature academics.

But other than academics, school-bound kids also have to prepare for the social aspects of school.  For better or for worse, kids these days don't just go to school to learn (in fact, I doubt that's actually the reason for many anyway), but to make friends, try to fit in, learn what the mainstream says about what's normal and appropriate, and essentially lose themselves to group-think in many cases.  Bottom line, kids headed for school do need to be prepared for what that environment is like.  Standing in line, raising your hand before speaking, asking permission to go to the bathroom, taking turns with limited equipment or supplies, etc.  Without these skills, schools would be even more chaotic than they already are.  (Though not all agree, as the likes of Sudbury schools have started popping up more and more.)  As future homeschoolers, my kids have no need of these skills, especially not at age 3 or 4.

And so I conclude that in the end, the best decision for our family is to keep on trekking with what we've been doing.  Staying home together, building on family relationships as paramount, and only supplementing the value system we live at home by playdates and group events for kids.  That is enough.

Natalka's Preschool February-March

Let's start with the most difficult lessons anyone ever has to learn - those surrounding death.  Natalka experienced the funeral of her great-grandfather, as well as saying goodbye to our beloved family dog, Bigosia.  In an effort to prepare her with the little time we had, there were books read both on grief and life cycles, specifically in the animal kingdom.  There was also talk about our religious beliefs regarding eternal life.  Very hard lessons, lessons not found in an academic setting, yet so much more important.

Visiting the park where, almost exactly a year ago, she participated in the spreading of her Abuelo Henry's ashes.

Making friends at a cemetery.

Sitting on Abuela's lap at bisabuelo Yeyo's funeral.

Just days after returning from the funeral trip, it was time to say goodbye to our faithful companion.

Covered shivering Bigosia.

Trip to vet before getting the bad news.

Allowed to walk Bigosia all by herself.  

Offering treats for the road.

Saying goodbye.

One thing I've learned through this difficult time is that perspective is everything.  You'll notice the smiles on Natalia's face even as we continued talking about what was happening.  I had to paint Bigosia's last day as somehow special, something Bigosia was looking forward to, being released from her pain and the confines of her broken body, her spirit free to roam the cosmos, at Jesus's side.  There had to be a little creative theology there, but nothing too far from what I believe to be essentially true.

But there were other learning opportunities these two months as well.  The first was a starting point for a religious identity.  Being present at her brother's baptism provided an opportunity to read a few books on Catholicism and start talking about who is and isn't Catholic. 

Hello new Catholic brother ;)

learning about self-regulating her own temperature

texture under the feet, a calming view, so much to take in

found a jellyfish

     

Putting her snowsuit to good use

 Wildly fluctuating temperatures made for some very interesting February outdoor adventures.

Backyard picnic. No food.

Fine motor skills with the clothespins, a helping attitude, and learning that the sun's heat dries our clothes.

Bubbles, always a source of wonder.

Took this photo to show Natalka her uvula after reading about it in a book.

Story time at the library.

Exploring the library computer.

Some new moves on the parallel bars.

The joy of pushing past one's fear! Natalka on a ladder.

 

Found a worm on a walk.

Spanish story time con Papi.

Expressing herself at the dollar store.

Teaching brother to grasp things.

Who is copying whom?  Natalks keen on what gets mom's attention.

Claiming her little brother.

Fine motor skills and a precursor to braiding - twisting yarn.

Not to mention the numerous library books (and books we own) that we read daily.  Our library focus has been zoology, and we've been moving through mammals, birds, reptiles, and currently on amphibians.  Natalia is picking up not only vocabulary to describe what we're learning about the animal kingdom, but also incorporating these newly learned concepts into her play and conversations.  Just this morning, she brough a balloon and talked about having laid an egg.  We talked about what kind of animal she might be (it has to be an animal that actually lays eggs!), and she proceeded to inform me (when I asked what was inside, expecting to hear the name of an animal) that there was yolk inside, so that the baby animal had something to eat to help it grow so it could hatch!  She then opened the curtains to let the sun in because the egg needs heat for the animal to hatch!  

We read and watched videos about air travel as well.  That it'd be noisy.  That her ears might hurt.  What she can expect to see out the window.  How to answer if someone asks her with whom she's traveling or what her full name is. That kind of thing.

Waiting for her plane.

Sitting in her own big chair on the plane.  Playing with the "just-in-case" travel pouch we prepared for her should she get separated from Daddy.

I also wanted to add the various social situations that Natalka has had, but I didn't want to go through the photos documenting these encounters due to privacy issues.  She played with six kids at Antonio's baptism, a little girl cousin she just met at her great-grandfather's funeral, whatever kids we run into at the library, at the playground, or at church, and the regular playdates that she has with several friends.  And that's just her peers.  More importantly, she's interacted with her grandparents, an aunt, cousins, and friends of her parents.  What's more, she finally agreed to go to a children's "class/childcare" during a church event, and not only did she go willingly, she was eager to return. 

Something else that isn't evident from these photos is her continued multilingual growth.  I mentioned her growing English vocabulary from library books, but the show Little Einsteins also helps in this regard.  We finally found it in Spanish, so she's started watching it in Spanish as well.  You can see one of the photos depicting Spanish storytime as well.  Signing likewise is used regularly, and I try to keep up by watching the Signing Time videos with her at least once.

What I've learned from these two months is that there are seasons for everything, and that there is no need to try to squeeze every "subject" into every month.  While we are taking an unschooling approach for the time being, and I am enjoying seeing how much there is to be learned without curricula or lesson plans, I'd be remiss to say that I will stick with unschooling for the long haul.  One reason for unschooling right now is that I agree with what I'm reading about "delayed academics", or more accurately, about not imposing premature academics on a child.  Charlotte Mason, I haven't forgotten about you ;)

Preschool Week 7

Outside Time

We grab what we can in regards to outside time.  We are certainly not outdoorsy people at this point, at least I'm not, but I try to celebrate every occasion we have to be outside.

Getting a jalapeno plant for daddy's dinner.

Observing moss and tree roots.

Watching a far off bird soaring.

Watering our pine trees.

We made a rainbow!

Language Arts 

Tea time!
I've started our version of tea time during breakfast to help encourage Natalia to stay at the table and feed herself, as this has become a daily struggle for us.  I collected all the books that have poetry I can see us using later on for copywork and memorization, and I've started reading from them during breakfast.  Below, we had breakfast outside, and we read a fantastic book in Polish that was all in rhyme, with wonderful illustrations, and lessons in geography as well as some character formation.

Social Experiences

In addition to her weekly Skype session with my mom, the biggest socializing took place at the end of the week, during Daddy's birthday party.  Natalia was a champ, and has confirmed my suspicions that she is an extrovert, meaning she is energized by being around other people.  She met a ton of new people, and enjoyed spending time with some friends as well as family.

 


Nature Study

Growing cucumbers!  I bought a little kit at the dollar store and we prepped the soil and I had her push in the seeds and water them.  We essentially put it into a mini green house (closed plastic bag) and set it on her windowsill, where it's getting plenty of sunlight.  To our surprise, the seeds started to germinate within 48 hours!  Now a week later, there are five tall sprouts that she gets a kick out of checking on every day.  Here's hoping we are able to keep it going and end up at the harvest :)

 

Math

Natalia pointed out the number "0" on her daddy's birthday card.  Unprompted.  We had recently read a numbers book a couple of times that starts with the number zero.  I'm loving how these early math skills are just sufacing on their own! She's got a solid hold on the number "1", pointing out she's got one dog, or there's only one cupcake.  We have been reading another book on numbers as well where we go through and point out on each page how many of some object are on any given page, which combines repetition of the number from that page.

Art & Music Appreciation

We put in a frame a print out of a lovely painting I found on A Well-Trained Heart, and we talked about it a few times.  I'll leave it on a low shelf for another week and then swap out the image. The idea is just to expose her to beauty.  We're not doing artist study per se right now.

We practiced singing the happy birthday song in English, Polish, and a little bit Spanish (it's too long still) in preparation for Daddy's birthday, which was on Friday.

Crafts

We've been neglecting these as I've tried to figure out how to be more deliberate about the types of crafts we'll be doing.  But this week, we made a birthday card for Daddy!

 

She was also surprised by a bouquet of carnations from one of the birthday party guests, so we got to do some flower arranging as well!

Independence

We had a rough day early in the week, and upon reflection, I realized that I need to fill Natalia's love bucket before expecting her to feel comfortable playing independently.  So rather than trying to get through my to-do list first thing in the morning, I've started reading to her during breakfast (while pre-loading her spoon and encouraging her to feed herself - something she's stopped doing a few months ago, presumably a regression in anticipation of becoming a big sister), and then I give her my attention for about an hour before trying to do anything that would require her to entertain herself.

In related news, she's started wanting to go on the toilet more, and I've had to bring out the toilet seat reducer, something I thought we had another year before I'd need.  I still supervise her bc it's a bit flimsy, plus I don't like the idea of giving her free access to the bathroom without supervision for safety reasons (I'm thinking falls, as the cabinets are child-proofed).

ASL

Among the guests at Daddy's birthday party, there were two deaf coworkers.  Not only did Natalia get to see the entire office using sign language, but when one of the deaf coworkers came to say hello, she signed that she remembered him! It blew my mind!

Spanish

Natalia got to practice her Spanish with someone other than Daddy.  She was able to see the usefulness of the language (just like ASL above) outside of just our home, by speaking Spanish with her aunt, uncle, and several cousins.

Preschool Week 6

 

HABITS

Natalia has been helping me, as usual, with the various chores around the house.  Usually, it's something in the kitchen.  Here, she's rolling up baby sausages in croissants.
Not sure if I mentioned this previously, but she has started to be very independent with her potty routine.  She's been potty "trained" for over a year, since 18 months (ie. no diaper day or night while at home, and only a back-up pull-up on outings).  Around 2.5 yo, we finally got brave and quit using pull-ups all together, with zero accidents in or out of the house in over 3 months.  That said, she's recently taken it upon herself that there's no need to announce her need to go, or to request help or company (she would want books read to her during #2s).  She goes to her potty when she needs to, never says anything about it, and I have to learn to periodically check to see if the potty needs emptying!

Independent play hasn't been terribly succesful this week, we'll refocus again next week.


LANGUAGE ARTS

I've noticed that Natalia has been bringing us books to read at various times of the day, something she didn't really do much before.  She has her favorites that she likes to read over and over until they get old.  Then we rotate them out.  I try to humor her whenever she asks, if I'm not really tied up otherwise, to encourage this.  That said, I'm looking into story-telling as an aspect of literacy that I want to incorporate into our routine, which includes letting her tell the story without me literally reading the words on the page, and/or acting out what's going on in the story (forthcoming).

Reading with Daddy (+ outdoor time!)

MATH

I'm amazed how easily Natalia is picking up counting and actual numbers of things without formal instruction (imagine that!).  She still stumbles over the correct numerals-to-items, but she is very enthusiastic about it, so I am not going to squelch that with instruction!  Usually, she'll point to some group of objects with the correct (or incorrect) number of fingers and say the number out loud (which may or may not correspond to the number of fingers or objects!).  If one of those is correct, I say "that's right", and repeat the correct number.  If neither is correct, I just preface my correction with "silly goose" (a term of endearment she likes to use).  She is choosing counting books as well as bringing up numbers of real world things throughout the day.  For instance, she informed us a few times that we have only one dog.  On walks, she's pointed out how many dogs different neighbors are walking.  These are all self-initiated observations.

Color sorting finger puppets - her initiative

 I was pleased to see some (albeit limited, as usual) interest in blocks.  Above, she decided to pick out all yellow little blocks and put one on each finger.  She picked out all red ones for me to wear on my fingers.


 SCIENCE

The weather got hot and humid again, unfortunately, so we were unable to start daily walks as I had hoped.  But we did find a (dead) butterfly on our walk.  We carried it back home and put it on our rose bush, though we found it on the ground the next day.  We looked it up later to see what kind it was, but I must say that I'm going to have trouble with death-related facts of life when they are staring at me like this.  I teared up thinking about this dead butterfly, but I'm going to blame pregnancy hormones on that!

Found Red Spotted Purple butterfly

 We decided to make one last ditch effort to inspire Natalia to build with blocks, something I keep reading about as a stable in preschool aged kids and how much they love them.  We decided that perhaps if not her, her brother may be into blocks, so it was worth the $13 to get these.  She proved once and for all that an engineer she is not.  She used the blocks as phones to call her imaginary friends and she personified them into mommy and baby pairs, mostly.  Well, we tried.  It did prove that she is very imaginative, if there was any doubt before.

new foam blocks

ARTS & CRAFTS

Not much to report here.  After a couple of requests for dry erase markers so she can write on that side of her board, I've decided to leave them out for her and just need to remember to be checking that she's closing them all the way to prevent them from drying out too quickly.  She isn't using them on any forbidden surfaces, so that's good.  Below she is pointing to the belly button of the pregnant lady's tummy.  (I always ask what she drew, never assume.)

Own initiative: "pani z brzuszkiem" (lady with belly = pregnant lady)

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

I finally have some ASL photos to share!  We were excited to be clocking in some outside time on the hammock in the evening, after a thorough anti-mosquito spray down, when she spotted the crescent moon in the sky.  She proceeded to sign "moon" in its direction - something she learned from one of the Signing Time videos she watches periodically lately.

Signing "moon" when she spotted it in the sky.

Bonus: outside time!

BIRTH PREPARATION

I couldn't think of where exactly this should go, but it definitely deserves to be here, so I thought its own category might be most appropriate.  In preparing for her brother's birth, we have been watching both her birth video and birth videos online.  Last week, she started asking for scissors to "cut the umbilical cord" off all of her stuffed friends, and I figured it was only a matter of time before the pretend play evolved, and here it is.  Her largest stuffed animal, Giffy the giraffe, has been popping out babies left and right yesterday and today.  I have been assisting (by propping Giffy up, providing "pushing noises", and giving the relaxation cues from my HypnoBabies preparation).  There have been big sisters and big brothers, and explanations of why Mommy (Giffy) can't play with them right now (because she has to focus because she has a baby). She starts the birth play by checking the baby's heartbeat with her stethoscope, usually putting the ear of one of the big siblings on the tummy to hear as well.  After a bit of pushing noises (courtesy me), she says she sees the head, and next thing you know, she's putting baby on Giffy's tummy (at this point one of the big siblings magically transforms into the newborn) and covers mom and baby with a blanket.  She assists with nursing, after some time (I asked if it was time several times before she finally agreed), she cuts the cord, and finally, wraps baby up in a blanket.  I am just swelling with pride, and hope she is this calm and reasonable (!) at her brother's birth. :)

"I'm the midwife"

immediate skin-to-skin contact

helping with first nursing

cutting umbilical cord

wrapping up the newborn

OUTINGS

Swimming classes started this week, with Daddy.  The next day, she pulled out her swimsuit from her little hamper and said it wasn't dirty.  Next thing you know, she's wearing it.  Hence, the photos above of her wearing a swimsuit for seemingly no reason.  

Natalia has also indicated that she is prone to cabin fever.  On our way back from an appointment, she asked where we were going and was disappointed to hear "home".  She asked to go to the store or restaurant!  Daddy obliged. We also had a grocery run where she and her dino helped put items in the cart, and a meal out where she noticed at the end the indoor playground and asked to go in the car they had up in the air.

OUTDOOR TIME

We didn't start getting regular good weather yet, like I had hoped, so only the first couple of days did we spend any meaningful time outside.  Natalia has started to decide for herself if she finds it comfortable or too hot to be outside.  She lets Bigos (our dog) out through the deck and goes out to see if we can also go out.  When doing laundry, she wants to go out with me to hang up the clothes on the line, but after the first trip, she realizes how nasty hot it is, and opts not to join me on subsequent trips.  One day, she actually fell asleep on the sofa while I was getting the clothes.  It was naptime, and she said she was going to wait for me.  If only all falling asleep would be that easy!