Snow Days

We had another snow day yesterday - and it was lovely. I had the opportunity to really pay attention to Jess and how much she does, as a big sister, to make life easier and more fun. Sam's at a particularly tough age - three and a half is old enough to really, really bug his sister, and he's embraced the role of irritating little brother. He asks specifically to watch shows that Jessie doesn't like, yells at her for walking too close to him and in general, makes it his personal goal to make her day miserable. And I'm not saying that there aren't times when she hauls off and whacks him, because there are. But mostly, she sort of rises above it, has mastered the art of pretending to hate shows she really loves because then she can watch them without him screaming. She gets him drinks, and helps him paint and engages him in games and projects all the time, somehow knowing that even when he's snarling at her, he really does love her. Because he does - she's his best friend and arch nemisis all at the same time. She gets that he's three, and not the most rational of creatures. I was so proud of her, especially because I really kind of felt incapacitated yesterday - it takes a while for me to get up once I sit down, and it hurts to move quickly, so a lot of time, I'd ask her to fix whatever he was hollering about.

In other news... not too much going on these days. I spoke with Jessica's teacher earlier today, inquiring about options for her. She just seems to be ready for more than what she's getting in first grade, and I was wondering if there was any sort of gifted program at her school. There isn't. Just isn't. There's no additional support for kids that aren't special needs. If she was special needs, there'd be all sorts of stuff she could qualify for, but because she's not special needs - she doesn't get anything. I'm horrified by this - and so wish that we could afford some sort of private school for her. She's such a smart girl - and so eager to learn and I wish that the school would step up and help her reach her full potential. She's seven - and literally reading the Harry Potter books on her own. She's plowing thru her math, seems to really like that the best of all topics, and is eagerly seeking out additional books and information on whatever science/social studies topic they are studying in class.

I'm going to just continue with what we've been doing - which is going to the library a couple of times a week, and encouraging her to learn as much as she can about topics that interest her. We've got a couple of homeschooling books at home too - I'm going to get some more of those and see how far we can get there. She is getting a lot out of school - socially, she's a shy kind of kid, so I think it's worthwhile for her to keep going - but I definitely do not think she's working up to potential, academically.