Literacy Begins at Home

I am an avid reader. I am a believer in the many reasons to start reading with our children early. When both of my children were born, I got them their first library card. They go to reading time at the library and we read and/or look at books every day, including reading a story before bed.

Below is an excerpt from something I found at the library. According to research, there are six pre-reading skills that children must learn in order to learn to read.

1. Narrative Skills: Helps to be able to descrie things and events and tell stories
2. Phonological Awareness: Helps to be able to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words
3. Print Motivation: Helps to be interested in and enjoy books
4. Vocabulary: Helps to know the name of things
5. Letter Knowledge: Helps knowing letters are different from each other, knowing their names and sounds and recognizing letters everywhere
6. Print Awareness: Helps to notice print, how to handle a book and how to follow the words on a page.

You can go to www.pla.org/earlyliteracy.htm for more information and greater detail on the above mentioned six pre-reading skills.

Remember to have fun when reading with your children. Get them involved in picking out a book. Ask them lots of questions and answer their questions. Praise and encourage them as you see them develop with their reading. You know your child best which is why it is so important for YOU to get involved with your child's reading development. It is also a great opportunity to have some "special" time with your children and create memories for them.

Happy Reading

Entrepreneurship

Tonight I am attending my first seminar in support of Arbonne International. I've talked with many people who are in the business or know someone in the business (some I know well, others not so much). All have found great success at different levels. I also spoke to other folks who are in Network Marketing fields selling other types of products. I talked with my hair stylist and my esthetician about the produc themselves. Both are Aveda users but have not heard or read anything negative about Arbonne products. Out of the many people I spoke with and articles I've read, I only came across one negative comment about the quality of the products. Finally, I am a user of the product and have been for the past six months. I have seen great changes in my skin, especially wrinkles that were starting to appear due to age. With all that said...

I've decided to go for it an become a consultant.

I'm putting my all into growing my business. I will take as much training that is available to me, work out shifts with my husband to be with the kids (something like M/W is mine and Tue/Th is his and weekends are ours). I will attend networking meetings, use my breaks during my day job to make calls or send emails. I will do whatever it takes to reach the goal of leaving corporate america yet still make a very good salary and be available more for my children.

I'm very excited about this new path I'm paving in my life. My dream is that it is a very positive experience for me, those I meet, and most importantly my family. I hope to show my children that you can do ANYTHING you set your mind to.

Motivation

Motivation is such an internally driven action. It requires keeping your WHY in front of you at all times. I listened to a training audio recently and one thing I really enjoyed was a portion talking about your WHY. WHY is:

What motivates you to
Hang in there for
You and your family

So, I'm putting a face to my WHYs. What's important to note is that these WHYs are attainable and are things I love. It's important not to do things just for others but also for yourself. I believe that if I am happy with my WHYs, my family will also be happy.

1. Exercise: I stay motivated to exercise to stay fit and have energy to do the things I want with my family for hopefully a very long time.

2. Become an Entrepeneur: I am motivated to get involved in a great business to earn a great living for my family and obtain the flexibility I do not have in the corporate world to spend more quality time with my children, keep my home in order, and be a happier individual for my family.


Another quote worth noting I heard on this audio is; "Excuses, we all have them. An excuse is a reason with a lie attached that we tell ourselves." Pretty powerful. I will make sure to keep the excuses to a minimum when my motivation is low.

Dream

I keep seeing or hearing "It's never too late to follow your dream." What exactly is holding me from "my dream?" Do I really know my dream? All I know is I have such a burning desire in my heart to do something other than drop my children off at daycare every day and rush to work. I want to have time to read for pleasure, personal development, and education. I want to cook and clean. I want to play with my children. I want to contribute to something that makes others happy. I'm on a quest now of what my dream will become and how I will get there. My prayers will include that God make it so known to me that I know, that I know, that I know. And then, "ACTION!"

Ideas

I got to thinking that there are so many things we are missing out on.

1. I've decided to start a list of low cost or free things to do with the kids. When I'm frustrated or bored, I will review the list and do something with them for fun.

2. I've decided to start a list of how to spark up my marriage. It's kind of at a stand still - not in a bad way - but there aren't any more google eyes or cutsie things. We need that back. We are so busy being good parents and making sure we watch our finances, and eat good. We forget to nurture each other.

LOVE

A couple of times yesterday, my beautiful daughter, Tyler, told me she loved me. One time we were in the car heading to school and she said; "Mommy?" I replied; "Yes?" "I love you." I told her I love her too. She made my morning.

The other time was last night. She came with me to my room to get dressed for bed. She decided to pick out my pjs and help put them on me. After she helped me get dressed, I gave her a hug and she said; "I love you."

She has so much love and goodness in her heart. God is so all over children. It's beautiful!

Late Thoughts

I've been meaning to blog for the past couple of days. I just haven't been able to log on due to work, playing with the kids, cooking, baths, bedtime, and finally sleep.

Monday was a holiday (Labor Day). We had such a fabulous day. What made it so good was that the family was together all day. The morning was a typical morning routine of breakfast, cartoons, getting dressed. I went to work out and Gary took the kids to the park. When I got home, we played with the kids together. Tyler went down for a nap, so I got to cooking. I cooked a Moroccan Stew and some mini quiches for Thursday. While I was cooking, Gary was able to play with Ethan and bond more with him. I felt like we were a family and I accomlished something. My house still needs a good cleaning but at least we were all in good moods and had fun together.

Sometimes I forget...

Sometimes I forget that I'm not in this alone. I have a wonderful husband that is there by my side all the time. All I have to do is ask for help. The other day I was in tears because I couldn't get the printer working to print some pictures for Tyler's school project. When I told Gary about it, he asked me if I'd like him to print them at work. All I had to do was ask.

Sometimes I forget that my daughter is four. She acts so big and is so smart. When she acts impulsively and tackles her brother (11 mo. old and 18 lbs) I get upset with her. I forget she is only four and really doesn't understand cause & effect or safe vs. dangerous.

Sometimes I forget that my life is perfect. I try so hard all the time to be a perfect mom and perfect wife and perfect employee and perfect daughter. I really don't have to try so hard. It only stresses me out and everyone seems to be very happy with who I am.