Flashcards

Before I was a mom I never realized how much work you could get done with some cheap flashcards from the bookstore. Husband taught One to read with the phonics set the summer before he went to Kindergarten, and now it is Two's turn. Two is burning up the track: he raced through consonants, then short vowels, and is on to long vowels tonight. He's so proud to be "working" with Dad every night, and when they argue about "how many cards tonight" it's usually Two pushing for the bigger number.

Meanwhile, One and I are working on multiplication cards every night, to make sure he's perfect on them by fall. His teacher mentioned at our end of year conference that she didn't want anything to slow him down in math this coming year, so this was her recommendation. She asked for everything up through 5's, but he's doing so well I think we'll surprise her and work all the way through 12's. 5-10 minutes a night makes so much of a difference: it's startling.

And I just went online and bought 2 Spanish card sets - under $7 for both of them. Two will pitch a fit, especially since he wants to learn German (and is working to convince us to sign him up for Saturday School at the local Lutheran Church) but the deal with German is - he can't quit Spanish. So maybe this is the deal: Spanish flashcards with mom, German on Saturdays. There: that's settled. Parenting decisions are fun when they've about the small stuff!

Go out and get some pretty flashcards! Your children will thank you.