School Age Children

Bouncing around topics… This one is about our 2 Kindergarten girls. *L* My daughter who lives with us 100% of the time and *A* who we get every other weekend. Both girls are in kindergarten at different schools. *L* is very interested in learning. Before she even went to kindergarten, she wanted to know all the letters and numbers and sounds and math… ect… so we have been using workbooks from like target and she loves it. *A* on the other hand, likes to learn but is more of a “free spirit” If I were to categorize, *L* is more of a book worm and *A* would be more of an activities girl. Well, *L* has not missed one day of school because she wants to get the perfect attendance award at the end of the year. She has excelled in everything in school and impressed the teachers with her quick learning and knowledge. She is a smart little cookie. She even read me a whole book a couple months ago (an early reader book). I have read to here every day since she was born. I believe that reading to a child improves speech and comprehension dramatically more than if you don’t read to them. Now, with *A* we read to her every day when we have her, but we cannot control what *H* (her mom) does. *A* has some speech problems which I believe stems from a lack of being read to and she is having more problems with letters and sounds and things like that…. Which I believe is also from a lack of being read to. *H* does not realize that school is as important as it is. *A* Was enrolled in pre-school and *H* took her out partially through the year because she wanted her to be home more.  *A* has not really had a stable home for quite a while. In the time that I have known them, *H* has lived in 6 different places. Moving around like that is not good for children. Plus… *H* has already had 2 more kids since then. It has taken a toll on *A* and we see it but I don’t think that *H* does. She takes *A* out of school whenever she wants to. She takes her out to go to the mall, she will skip the whole day if they sleep in late. I mean it is just not fair to *A*. We got her 2^nd report card in the mail the other day and the amount of time she is missing is definitely causing problems at school. She has “needs improvement” is quite a few places when she really shouldn’t. She is a very smart little girl and she is not getting the chance to learn because she is not being kept in school on a regular basis. I hope that at some point in the future, we can use all of this information to get full custody of *A*. The girls are getting to the age where they want their privacy and want to be able to do everything on their own. Which is hard for me as a mom because I want to be needed by them haha. *L* was funny, a couple of months ago, she did something by herself and I was sad and said “You don’t need me anymore” and she said “mom, I will always need you” and I asked for what and her response was “to cook dinner and wash my clothes….” I laughed so hard I cried. Such a sweet and honest little lady. So I think in my first blog I said that I separated the girls rooms so they each has their own and I was not sure how *A* was going to do with it. Well, she did very well, she was very excited and she just loved it!! *L* loves it too because she always blames *A* for messing up her room and she was just so happy for her room to stay clean all weekend because *A* didn’t mess it up. She gets excited to the point where she has been making her bed every day and if the dogs jump up on it, she even gets frustrated because they are messing it up J What a hunny! So anyways, I think school is going to be a big competition point for the girls because they are in the same grade and its going to be hard. I am excited to see how they both progress through the years. I just hope that *H* realizes how much she is hurting *A* by not having her attend school on a regular basis. If anyone wants any tips on how to trick your kids into learning before they start school just ask!!! I got a lot of fun tricks up my sleeves. J

*K*