Ben Reading Update

Those of you who know me, know I can't pass up a good garage sale.  One of my favorite days of the year is the first Saturday of June, when the small town of Eagle, just to the West of us, has their annual garage sale day.  It is the kind of place where you park your car and just walk around from sale to sale until your arms are full and you have to go back to your vehicle and unload your purchases.

 I have scored some great things over the years there: a swing set, tiller, clothes and sports equipment for the boys, books, yarn and more.  But the best by far, was an oak wash stand that belonged to my Grandfather, that my dad sold at an auction.  It was painted pink when he sold it. and I purchased completely refinished.  

But back to this year's garage sale story.  A retired teacher was having a sale, and I found a giant picture dictionary that I thought would make a great addition to my Signing Time sign language classes.  Since Ben learned to read from watching Signing Time videos where he was exposed to the word and the signs at the same time, I wanted to make sure to include written words, when I teach signing classes at ABC Signing Kids, as well.  The large size will make it easy for kids to see in a class or library setting.  Plus it was only $3.

 As soon as I got it home, however, Ben staked a claim on it, and was having a ball reading it and looking at the pictures in the giant book. I was really shocked at how many of the words he knew and how well he was reading.  I asked him what one of the words was, on top of a page, but he was being stubborn.  He said "No Mommy!   I will not read apple, dog, flower, ladybug, umbrella, banana, orange, carrot, pencil and ball" as he recited every word on the page.  I said "OK.  You don't have to read it to me", in hopes he would "not" read more while I slipped off for the video camera.  Unfortunately I only got him reading a couple more words on video,before he discovered what I was up to, but here it is.  I really think he is doing good for someone who has not been to Kindergarten yet.  Enjoy.

It's Baseball Time

It is the month of June, which for our family means baseball.  We are lucky this year that a few of John and Noah's games have been on the same night in the same town, one playing just after the other.  However, we were unlucky this week, in that John and Noah both played in Syracuse and Ben had his first ever T-ball game in Elmwood (at the same time as Noah's game).   Randy took Ben and I took the big boys to their game.  It did give me a chance to get the first baseball photos of the year.  Randy and Ben showed up at the start of John's game, and Ben and I left about 9, since Ben was wearing a lot of field from his game and needed a bath.  That is why there are only a few photos of John and more of Noah. 

 John at bat. He has been hitting great this year (so long as I am not at the game). 

Ready on first to field the ball.

 Relief pitcher Noah.

 Trying out the new bat. It worked.

 Getting ready to steal 2nd

Sliding for no apparent reason.

Pictures and/or a video of Ben's game will be in the next post, so stay tuned.

$10 Signing Time DVD Sale

 * This sale is over now, but to be sure you don't miss out on the next one, please subscribe to this blog, or like the 

ABC Signing Kids Facebook page.

This awesome sale happens just once per year and this year it starts at 12:01am MST on Monday, June 3 and ends at 12:00am MST on Wednesday June 5.  This is a great time to build your collection of Signing Time DVDs to help the children in your life improve their vocabulary, fine motor, communication and reading skills while they reduce frustration.  This even includes the DVD and CD combination sets.  Go to signingtime.com to start shopping today.  If you are local to Southeast Nebraska, you can place your order through ABC Signing Kids and save shipping costs.
This sale is too good to pass up!

When is Early Reading a Bad Thing?

I did find one down fall to Ben's learning to read early.  We were at the car dealership the other day waiting for our van to be repaired and it was time for Ben to go potty.  He has been doing really great with using the potty, and is day trained, but sometimes needs to be reminded to go. 

He agreed that it was potty time and we headed off toward the restroom.  When we got there Ben went straight for the Men's room.  I took him by the hand and started to lead him to the Women's restroom, and he dug his feet in and said "No Mommy!  Men's!"  I tried to explain that I could not go in there and that he was not big enough to go alone.  We started to go towards the Women's again and he stopped saying "No No NO!  Mommy, No WOMEN'S!

I had wondered why he seemed to be fighting me more and more when we were out in public and it was time to go to the restroom.  However, most of those times, Randy was along and just took him.  It finally hit me that day, the reason we were having such issues.  Ben was reading the signs on the bathroom doors and knows that he is supposed to go to the Men's bathroom.  ( I think they may be working on that at school too.)  No wonder he does not want to go with me anymore. 

A few days later, when school was out all three boys and I stopped at McDonalds (He can read that name too and screams it when ever we go by one).  Again it was potty time and he again refused to go with me and went with his brothers instead.  They reported that he went, though I doubt he washed his hands. 

So the question then becomes, how old will Ben be, before I let him go to a public restroom by himself?  Until he can go without messing around?  Thank goodness many stores now have the family restrooms, as he seems OK going in those.  

So I was joking about the early reading being a bad things.  It is awesome that he is reading the signs when we go out in public and that he knows what they mean.  He is learning, growing and understanding, which I hope he will continue to do when he starts kindergarten next year.  The sky is the limit big guy.  Keep on amazing us. 

SIGNING TIME OUTLET STORE

Two Little Hands is clearing out the Baby Signing Time Sign and Read versions of the Baby Signing Time videos.  These are the same as the regular Baby Signing Time videos, except they show the written word additional times when the signs are taught.  In my opinion these are the best versions of Baby Signing Time for our kids and can help encourage sight reading.  They certainly helped my little guy who started sight reading before he was 3.   They are already sold out of the first volume of Baby Signing Time in the Sign to Read version, but you can get volumes 2, 3 and 4 plus the music Cd's of Baby Signing Time for just 29.99.

Another steal today is the ABC 123 / Leah's Farm combo pack for  $19.99.  These are the exact same videos you would buy separately, but they were packaged in the same box and left over from a previous promotion.  

Click HERE for a link to the sale items.  


Get them before they are gone!

Field Trip!

Last year the 3 and 4 year old preschool classes took a field trip to the SAC Air and Space Museum.  To me, it did not seem like an appropriate place for a field trip for children that young and I was very worried.  While seeing the big planes were cool, I was very worried about Ben not sitting still on the bus, running off, not eating lunch, and in general not doing what he was supposed to do.  The field trip turned out better than I expected.  They had activities for the kids, a movie, and we got to eat in one of the hangers under the wing of a big plane.  In general, Ben did OK.  He ran off a couple times, ate OK, and only had one "drop and flop" on the floor when it was time to use the bathroom.

So when the flyer came for this year's field trip, I was surprisingly not worried. 

This year the class went to a park to play and then to a tour of  Memorial Stadium (home of Husker football). With as much as Ben loves sports, I knew this would be right up his alley, because he loves to explore the football fields, run for touchdowns, and count the numbers on the field. 

We got to the playground and I admit it was a bit scary. Not only was the playground big, but it was tall and had a big lake behind it.  While it was a nice day, I did not have any desire to go jumping in that lake after Ben.

But he did great.  He played with his friends.

 

He climbed the rock wall.

 He enjoyed the swings.

 He ate most of his lunch.

He even stayed still and smiled for his class picture.

Then it was time to go to the Stadium.  I drove separately and was told to meet the group at gate 20.  While I graduated from the University (over 20 years ago), I had forgotten how hard it is to find a parking space, but finally found one in a garage across the street.  About 30 minutes later (after being told the wrong gate, construction, walking around the stadium twice, I finally caught up with the group, just as they were starting the tour.  Lucking Ben was still with them and had gone potty (the bathrooms at the park were locked).  He did get away once, got the door open to the weight room and got a few steps in the door, but for the most part he did great.  

Two of the dads lifted each child so they could touch the lucky horseshoe that the players touch before each game. 

They got to feel the field turf.

And of course they got to run on the field.  

 All that running wears a kid out, so after looking at the stadium and the practice fields, the group watched a movie and it was time to go.  Ben enjoyed checking out the statue on the way to the car, but was a bit miffed that those guys would not share their football. 

Over all it was a fun day and Ben had a nice nap on the way home!