Our Little Tumblers

Tonight was our Tumbling Tots class (I think we have just a couple left), and the kids are definitely going to be sad when it is done. They were pretty shy at first, but now they are excited about it and doing well. They are still working on the very basics - standing, jumping and balancing on one foot, forward rolls, banana and star jumps (their favorite), the beginnings of cartwheels, etc. - but they have gotten better (at listening and staying in line, too - but they still struggle with the line thing) every time. Katie told me today that she loves the Y because she gets to swim there in the "whale pool" and go to Tumbling Tots! Just a couple of weeks ago, they had to be coerced into the room and quickly had to hide out of sight, and now we have to make up elaborate explanations for why we have to go to school before we go to class because they just can't wait to get there!

Their classroom has big open windows and Katie is such a ham when she can see us watching and constantly looks at us and waves or acts up. It is so different than watching her on the closed circuit tv at dance class when she doesn't know I can see her - she is a completely different child! At dance class she is careful to stay where she is told, listens to the teacher intently and tries hard to figure everything out - at the tumbling class she skips in line, only does the parts that she likes, and runs over to the window to wave and preen the entire time. It might have something to do with the time of day, but more likely it is just the same strange behavior that means they are on their best behavior around everyone but me!

Stretching at the beginning of class!

Tyler is still working hard to learn his alphabet. He has learned to spell his name - for the longest time he insisted that it was T - I- L - E - R and that it couldn't be Y because that makes a different sound (he is learning the sounds letters make). Tonight at bedtime he told a pretty shocked Lance (because it is a car game on the way to and from school to talk about what letters we see on signs and what sounds they make and what other words start with what letter, so Lance had no clue that he has been asking about his name and the letters) how to spell his name and he finally said Y instead of I! He almost has Katie's too (and Katie is getting there), but he gets caught up in telling me that they both have a T in their names for Tyler. Our discussion this morning really opened my eyes to how difficult it is to learn the English language. He was telling me what people's names start with and said So-So started with a C. I told him that it was actually "s" like snake (one that he knows) and he said "no, C like cereal." Ugh - I don't really know what to do with that one! I just thought of other S words and C words like cat and car (although he asked me why those weren't K) and he seemed to accept it, but also looked at me kind of like he was just humoring me! I might need to read up on teaching reading and literacy to preschoolers, because I have definitely confused myself lately trying to figure out how to explain the rules and how best to introduce a three year old to phonics!