The escape artist

Right before spring break, I was surprised to have Dominik come out of his room during school.  "Hi Mama!"  Wait, you were in the crib!  My first solution was to put him in his sleep sack during play time in his crib (which is when I do the major instruction for Lukas' lessons).

But the next day he came out of his room in his sleep sack!  He climbed out of the crib with his legs confined by the sleep sack!

Immediately, I looked on Craig's List for a crib tent.  I picked one up the next day for $30, installed it the following day, and Dominik used it for a few days before we went camping.  He loves it!

And now we can finish the six weeks left of the school year with him contained for a short session while I instruct.  We might get out of the habit of his morning quiet playtime in his crib after school is over...I need to work with him on quiet play in his room by himself, so he can be ready to do the same thing when we start school in the fall.  Of course I say that now...but it very well might not happen!

Here is my list of things to work with on the kids this summer:
Lukas:  flashcards for addition & subtraction to 12 families; multiplication & division to 5 families.  These math facts were hard won this year and we don't want to lose them over the summer!  One batch a day should do it.

Natalie:  writing!  Another hard won skill that cannot be left for more than a few days or she really puts up a fuss.  I also want to work with her on addition & subtraction to a total of 10.  She knows the doubles (2+2, 3+3, 4+4, 5+5) but other than that she doesn't know math facts.

Konrad:  reading.  We are on lesson 75 of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  We should be close to the end already, but somehow when Konrad asks for his Legos in the afternoon (when I normally work with him on reading), I use his occupation with Legos to work with Lukas more.  Next year is going to be soooo busy with Lukas in 3rd and Konrad in Kindergarten.  But the plus will be Natalie will be in school longer, for 1st grade.  Which means when she gets home, it will be all about her homework!

Dominik:  to make all that happen next year, I need to train Dominik to play alone in his room for 30-45 minutes, and to do schoolwork at the table quietly.  Right now he sings a lot when he does "schoolwork", which is distracting to the other kids.  Dominik is quite happy sitting at the table coloring, playing with Play-Doh and putting puzzles together...the challenge is the noise. 

If I make it a priority, it will happen, right?