Lisa: We were honored with the opportunity to give our presentation “Reach Higher” at the Maronite Youth Organization (MYO) regional retreat on February 17 in Cincinnati, which was one day after Sophie’s 15th birthday! Father George and Father Gary, thank you so much for inviting us! I was really proud of Sophie and …
“High-Functioning? …or Hard Worker?”
Lisa: There was a time when Sophie was so fearful of the water that her crying would clear out a public pool! Fortunately, she worked hard to overcome a myriad of issues (sensory, tactile, etc.) and now loves the water! Sophie’s swimming instructor Stella is currently working on helping her to master …
“Dignified Speech”
Sophie: Hi everyone. I just love my blog. This post is about how I need to use Dignified Speech. Bob and Ellen say I am highly capable. Please read this. Lisa: Ever since I started homeschooling Sophie, I’ve mandated a household rule that we call “dignified speech.” What does that mean? It means that when …
“My Swimming Instructor Stella”
Sophie: Stella is my friend and my swimming instructor. She is amazing! I like her very much. We have so much fun together in the pool at the club. Before I met Stella I could not swim. Now I swim well. Lisa: For a long time, I wondered if Sophie would ever learn to swim. …
“Update on Sophie’s Vegetable Garden”
Sophie: I water my garden every day. Yesterday we planted spinach because I eat it all the time. I love my garden, but I hate mosqutios. Goodbye folks!
“Picture This!”
Lisa: Do you have any hobbies? We learned early on that Sophie was attracted to electronic devices. She is pretty computer savvy and just naturally picks up on the operation of handheld devices. I remember once when she and I were driving to Mount Washington Children’s Hospital in Baltimore from our home in Pennsylvania. (I …
“Miss Vera”
Sophie: Miss Vera is my brand new piano teacher! She is very nice, and also, she is amazing, and she also just delivered her twin babies! She is from Hungary, and her husband is named Christophe. With her as my teacher, I played in my first piano recital this past winter. My next performance is …
“The Day She Cracked the Code”
Lisa: As per instructions from Bob Doman at the National Association for Child Development (NACD), we began flashing picture cards to Sophie when she was 9 months old in order to build receptive language. Cards were flashed in categories several times a day in short, high-intensity spurts. When Sophie was about 23 months old, Bob …
Sophie reading at age 2 1/2
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Sophie working out on the treadmill
Ever since we began homeschooling Sophie, we have stressed physical activity as much as cognition building activity. Unless she is going to swimming or mother-daughter exercise class, Sophie is expected to do a minimum of 20 minutes on the treadmill as well as a calisthenics routine daily. A big fan of most genres of music, …