Monday, April 30, 2012

Lueker Munchkins - School & Play

It appears we have once again exceeded our space limitation for our blog. :( I am working on getting a new blog together named Lueker Munchkins - School & Play located at luekermunchkins2.blogspot.com . Since the beginning of the year our playroom has been setup as a classroom. Since last Fall we have been working on hammering out our schedule and exactly what curriculm we plan to use with Reagan as she begins Kindergarten next Fall. Everything has gone very well and we officially started a large portion of our curriculum, "Story of the World" from "A Well Trained Mind, A Guide to Classical Education at Home," by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise, a couple of weeks ago. We are going to be using the classical education approach and I am very excited about our decision! I'm hoping our new blog will focus and document at least equally our school projects as well as our life experiences. We hope you follow us over to Lueker Munckins - School & Play at luekermunchkins2.blogspot.com.
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In the meantime, after much thought, I decided to finish this blog up by writing a little bit about each of the kids and where they are developmentally. I should do that more often anyway since I use this as my journal and memories of my munchkins as they grow.
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Our Family - Easter - April 2012
Reagan - 5 years old
If I had to choose one word to describe Missy Reagan, it would be INTENSE!!! She is so full of life and love! She feels everything and does everything full tilt. There is no half way for our beautiful 5 year old little girl and we love her for it! Everything is black and white for Reagan, which does at times make her life a bit difficult. She is so smart and funny but her temper is one to be reckoned with. We are still working very hard to help her learn how to control her impulses and express herself in an appropriate way. It is hard work for everyone around here! Reagan is an incredible and voracious reader. She can read anything you put in front of her and she is doing a great job learning how to spell. She does very well with math as well although it does not come as easily to her as reading has. Having said that, she has completed the Kumon addition book for 1st graders and is currently working on subtraction. For whatever reason, she seems to enjoy subtraction significantly more than addition. Reagan has an amazing memory which I'm sure has helped her tremendously in her academic pursuits thus far. It has also served her well in her Suzuki violin lessons. She began taking violin in June of 2010 and is reaching the end of book 1. She is currently working on Bach's Minuet 3. Even though she takes Suzuki which focuses on training the ear, she is very good at site reading music as well and loves to do so. Because she's taking Suzuki her ear is already developing and Reagan has amazed us by sitting down at the piano and playing different songs entirely on her own. The achievement that probably surprises me the most at this time is how athletic Reagan is becoming. She has incredible biceps and with that surprising upper body strength for a little girl who just turned 5. She is also developing a little six pack! She is so so strong! Reagan loves taking gymnastics and would probably spend every day at the gym if we let her. She is currently an Extended Star Filly at Legacy Gymnastics and can't wait to become a Hot Shot. The biggest obstacle facing her at present is her ability to listen and pay attention in her classes. Part of that is being the youngest in her classes but we keep encouraging her to do her best if she wants to continue to move up. While she is turning into an amazing little girl and wonderful big sister she still loves her purple blanket she received from Grammy as a baby. She can't go anywhere without it! Reagan also loves to play with Groovey Girls, American Girl Dolls, Disney Princesses (any and all) and Squigies (I avoided those as long as I could but I have to admit they are pretty cute and I would have loved them as a child). Reagan loves to play outside as well as being a big enough girl to navigate the computer on her own (especially games on pbskids.org and any dress up games she can locate). I don't know what Missy Reagan is going to do in the future, but I can't wait to see where her determination and zest for life takes her!Kennedy - 3 years old
If I had to choose one word to describe Missy K, it would be SWEET. She can be as intense as her big sister (and little brother for that matter) but she has a sweetness about her which is incredibly endearing. Her big hugs are the best in the world and I will be so sorry when the day comes that she is too big to run half way across the world to give me one of those precious big hugs. While Missy K is pretty easy going, the 1-5% of the time she decides to dig in her heals she is positively immovable. When this girl makes up her mind there is absolutely no changing it! She can be one determined and persistent girl and we love her dearly! Missy K is reading beginning books. She has not picked up reading as fast as Reagan did but math and writing appear to be easier for her. Math just seems to make sense to her and isn't even something that really needs to be explained. We are currently working on mastering writing numbers but when we begin formal addition books I expect it will take very little teaching as she does so much verbally already. She can count to 30 easily and can get to 100 with assistance. She is also doing pretty well counting by 2's to 20 and 5's and 10's to 100. Her handwriting is so good, both numbers and letters, and she is eager to work on her Kumon workbooks like a big girl. Kennedy has been taking violin for 9 months or so and is doing quite well. She is currently working on mastering "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" but also enjoys playing little songs like "Hot Cross Buns." We have always thought of Kennedy as athletic. She is not surprisingly doing very well in gymnastics as a Little Foal. She can't wait to move up in her class and become a Big Foal. Like Reagan she has a favorite blanket that was given to her as a baby. She takes her "pink blankie" from Ms. Mo'mina everywhere with her and insists that it is placed exactly straight with no wrinkles on her pillow every night. Kennedy also enjoys playing with Groovey Girls, American Girl Dolls, Disney Princesses and Squigies. Playing games on pbskids.org and outside are also favorite activities. I can't wait to see how our sweet Missy K decides to use her talents in the future!
Jackson - 1 year old (20 months)
The one word I would use to describe our little Mr. Jackson would probably be ornery, bless his little heart! He can be so super super sweet and he is extremely intense but he is one ornery little critter. I've never seen a little guy give sweet little old ladies such dirty looks. He is probably the most shy of the three when meeting someone for the first time (the girls weren't really ever shy) but he is the least shy about letting you know who he wants and when. Just like his big sisters Mr. Jackson knows his mind! Jackson loves balls, trucks, cars but most especially Thomas the Tank Engine and all his friends. Obsessed is probably a better word. He goes nuts everytime he sees a book, movie or toy that has anything to do with Thomas. He can play for hours with his Thomas toys and we literally take them everywhere with us. Jackson LOVES Thomas! Jackson also loves to read. His current favorite book is "Owl Babies" (as well as any Thomas books). As you can see from recent blog posts Jackson has really gotten into being a big kid and loves to do everything his big sisters are doing. He is so proud of himself when he opens the door to let the cats in or out. One way to get him to do things is to ask him if he wants to be a "big boy" and most of the time the answer is "Yes!" Speaking of speaking, Jackson doesn't say much yet. He has started talking some but says more if you ask him to say words than actually intiating it himself. His latest and funniest talking story we have of him is last week Reagan began referring to him as "Bubba." Jackson did not approve of this nickname and adamently responded "No, Bubba!" while shaking his head. He has continued this conversation/trick much to the delight of all of us and he is determined he is not Bubba! Again, this boy already knows his mind and isn't afraid to share his thoughts! We do not currently have Jackson enrolled in anything specific but he does enjoy open gym time during Kennedy's Wednesday morning gymnastics time so we might have another little gymnast on our hands. I am sure we'll have him begin violin in the next year or two but we'll probably wait to see what his interest level is before we decide if we begin at 3 or 4 years old. I look forward to seeing what direction my sweet baby boy's life takes as he becomes old enough to express his thoughts to us!
We are so proud of and love all three of our children dearly! Even if they provide a challenge (or two) every now and then, we feel so extremely fortunate to have three happy and healthy children! It goes without saying that we also feel extremely fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family to help nurture and provide so many amazing experiences for our children. Thank you for being a part of our lives (and our blog)! Thank you for everything you do for us! We look forward to seeing where we go and what we do as we begin the new chapter of school in our lives. It is difficult to believe it has been 5 years (almost exactly) since I began our first blog. It's hard to imagine where we will be 5 years from now but we hope to find ourselves still enjoying and sharing our Lueker Munchkins journey through life with all of you!

1 comment:

  1. LOVE the new blog but couldn't figure out a way to leave a comment on it! xoxox Mom

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