Our excitement for the morning included spotting a fox in our backyard and making cookies. I must admit the fox caused more excitement as we make cookies pretty regularly. Unfortunately, the fox was quick, and he/she did not stay in our yard for long. By the time I got AJ to the window, the fox was gone. It did not stop him from looking longingly out the window for about 5 minutes, though. Meanwhile, K was saying excitedly, "F-O-X, fox! F-O-X, fox!" I guess she is learning something from her spelling lessons after all.
On another note, for those of you who are wondering how well K can really read (probably just family), I went online to do a home reading level test. I had her take 3 to assess her reading level more accurately. She is reading at a 4th grade level, or as well as an 8-yr-old, depending on what test results you go by. This was good for me to find out as I look at purchasing or borrowing more children's books for her to read.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Life in General
Okay, so some of you probably wonder what life is like for me here. There are a multitude of questions to answer. The Swedes wonder if I like it here, and I usually answer that I do. I don't like everything about living here (like taxes -- 25% sales tax, over 50% income tax, enough said), but I like enough about being here to be happy.
I think part of my happiness comes from the friendliness of our neighbors. They have helped us in so many ways through this transition, and they help us when we feel like stupid Americans who can't speak the language. Plus, our kids play well together. That has been such a blessing. I know that K was not happy about leaving her friends, but she has adjusted, and she is slowly developing friendships. As to how they communicate: they speak Swedish to her, and she speaks English to them. The hard part is when there is some sort of conflict. I can't help run interference, and she has gotten the short end of the stick more than once. Overall, she does well, though.
Once or twice a week we go to what translates to "Open Preschool". This is another source of friendships for K, and even AJ to some degree. It is mostly unstructured, then we all sing Swedish kids songs and have fika (but without the sweets). They serve coffee, tea, saft (kind of like putting naturally flavored syrup in water to make a beverage), crackers, and cheese. I also usually bring some fruit to give to my kids. Some moms bring food and feed their babies lunch. Most of the moms who go have babies 18 months or younger, depending on what their maternity leave allows (one year to 18 months is typical here). I think I am the only true SAHM, which is fine with me. With the high cost of everything here, most homes have to have both parents working to afford, well, life.
The days we don't go to the "Open Preschool", we stay home and have home school. K is doing so well with her reading. For those of you familiar with the McGuffey Readers, she finished the first reader, and she is now on the second one. I like the format of these books for a couple of reasons. First, they are broken down into short (manageable) lessons, and, second, they usually teach a good moral lesson. We also do spelling, writing, and simple math. I am just counting by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's with her now. We also have done some number ordering (smallest to largest, for example). Once I get a little more organized, I will start teaching her some basic addition (she knows some, but we have not done anything really structured). As for AJ, I am working on teaching him to read. It is hard to say what he knows, but I know he can read several words. He knows his colors and several shapes. He is also very good at all our wooden puzzles. Some days he is really into learning words, and others he has a mind of his own, which is fine. Of course, all our "school" time still leaves plenty of unstructured playtime for the kiddos, and we also try to bake and paint every week. Oh, and the kids are great about helping me clean (for the most part).
Well, that should give you all a fairly good idea of what my day-to-day life is like. Nothing that different than what I would do in AR, except that we are learning Swedish in the midst of it all. :) Hej då for now.
I think part of my happiness comes from the friendliness of our neighbors. They have helped us in so many ways through this transition, and they help us when we feel like stupid Americans who can't speak the language. Plus, our kids play well together. That has been such a blessing. I know that K was not happy about leaving her friends, but she has adjusted, and she is slowly developing friendships. As to how they communicate: they speak Swedish to her, and she speaks English to them. The hard part is when there is some sort of conflict. I can't help run interference, and she has gotten the short end of the stick more than once. Overall, she does well, though.
Once or twice a week we go to what translates to "Open Preschool". This is another source of friendships for K, and even AJ to some degree. It is mostly unstructured, then we all sing Swedish kids songs and have fika (but without the sweets). They serve coffee, tea, saft (kind of like putting naturally flavored syrup in water to make a beverage), crackers, and cheese. I also usually bring some fruit to give to my kids. Some moms bring food and feed their babies lunch. Most of the moms who go have babies 18 months or younger, depending on what their maternity leave allows (one year to 18 months is typical here). I think I am the only true SAHM, which is fine with me. With the high cost of everything here, most homes have to have both parents working to afford, well, life.
The days we don't go to the "Open Preschool", we stay home and have home school. K is doing so well with her reading. For those of you familiar with the McGuffey Readers, she finished the first reader, and she is now on the second one. I like the format of these books for a couple of reasons. First, they are broken down into short (manageable) lessons, and, second, they usually teach a good moral lesson. We also do spelling, writing, and simple math. I am just counting by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's with her now. We also have done some number ordering (smallest to largest, for example). Once I get a little more organized, I will start teaching her some basic addition (she knows some, but we have not done anything really structured). As for AJ, I am working on teaching him to read. It is hard to say what he knows, but I know he can read several words. He knows his colors and several shapes. He is also very good at all our wooden puzzles. Some days he is really into learning words, and others he has a mind of his own, which is fine. Of course, all our "school" time still leaves plenty of unstructured playtime for the kiddos, and we also try to bake and paint every week. Oh, and the kids are great about helping me clean (for the most part).
Well, that should give you all a fairly good idea of what my day-to-day life is like. Nothing that different than what I would do in AR, except that we are learning Swedish in the midst of it all. :) Hej då for now.
Springtime in Sweden
Springtime in Sweden begins when they have a week of temperatures above freezing. Coming from AR, this was a very different definition than what I am used to. The good news is that it finally does feel like spring. A couple of weeks ago, the ground was covered with little white wildflowers they call vit sippor. We had many in our backyard, and they were also all over the place along the paths where the kids and I go walking. Most of them are gone now, but I can still see a couple out my back window. The trees are also finally green or blooming, and there are birds and squirrels running around. I did not realize how much I missed the sounds of the birds singing until I heard them again.
We have a lot of nature near where we live. There is a large lake close by, and there are many trails to and around it. I think it is great to have a place to walk outside that is peaceful and beautiful, and the kids like to be able to walk and run around without having to worry about cars. Now that the weather is a little warmer (but still cool enough to wear a light jacket in the evenings, and, sometimes, during the days), we have been spending more time outdoors, and I hope we are able to do so throughout the LONG summer days (I think in June there are only about 2-3 hours of real darkness). Of course, summer is a ways away. We supposedly had frost this week, and I don't think we are free from that risk until late June.
Enough ramblings about the weather and nature. It is just so nice to see life outside again.
We have a lot of nature near where we live. There is a large lake close by, and there are many trails to and around it. I think it is great to have a place to walk outside that is peaceful and beautiful, and the kids like to be able to walk and run around without having to worry about cars. Now that the weather is a little warmer (but still cool enough to wear a light jacket in the evenings, and, sometimes, during the days), we have been spending more time outdoors, and I hope we are able to do so throughout the LONG summer days (I think in June there are only about 2-3 hours of real darkness). Of course, summer is a ways away. We supposedly had frost this week, and I don't think we are free from that risk until late June.
Enough ramblings about the weather and nature. It is just so nice to see life outside again.
Finally Have Internet
Well, for those of you who have given up hope of ever reading a new post on my blog, this should come as good news. We finally have Internet at home. No, the cable that was broken during the construction of our house is not fixed (even though we have lived here more than 4 months). I don't know if it is a socialist society problem or what. We have Internet thanks to the generosity of a man Timo works with via a USB device. We still hope to get that cable fixed, but at least we have something for now. :)
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