Continued Thoughts

Thanks for your comments :)  Just to clarify a little, I wouldn't hesitate putting Amelia in Kindergarten this year.  BUT we don't really know about placing both Amelia and Eli in the same grade.  Any thoughts about that?

I could place Amelia in Kindergarten with Eli, then next year move up Amelia to 1st grade and Eli to a kinder plus program, but I think Eli would get bored really fast.  He's a really smart kid.  Then again, I know a lot of smart kids who enter the kinder plus program because of maturity issues, not intelligence.  Sigh.  Such tough decisions!

I also appreciate the comments about being cautious about having a Russian speaking tutor.  I got the same advice from the tutor we contacted.  She suggested having her enroll in the phonics program they have.  It's a once a week program with 3 other children.  They have 3 homework assignments each week, which would help me work with her at home (I'm completely lost in all this stuff!).  The lady who owns the company is Russian and her two kids had to learn English at 8 and 12.  They learned through immersion, which she said is the fastest way for kids to learn.

In other news, things are going alright.  I'm really having a tough time with her...girls are SO different from boys.  The whining is going to be dealt with starting today.  I've had enough of the whine and point to get what she wants (this doesn't work with me at all, but now there are going to be consequences with whining.  And she's given me a couple reasons not to trust her, so I have to follow her around the house making sure she's not getting in to trouble (ie destroying things, playing in the sink, pushing buttons, sticking things in her mouth).

She's a very curious girl who likes to take things apart (like beaded necklaces) and push buttons (like her CD player).  But her attention span isn't very long just yet.  She still won't sit through more than about 20mins of a cartoon, unless it has music.  And she doesn't like being read to yet (which is a bummer because I love reading to them!).

She sticks everything in her mouth...we found out after her dentist appointment (which she did great!) she has no cavities, but 4 of her teeth are wiggly and her 6 year molars are probably coming in.  That makes sense.  Now let's hope her teeth fall out when Dave's home.  That's one thing I don't want to deal with!!