My child gives me courage.

Tonight, Miss J helped me catch a cockroach that popped up while Miss B was drawing on the carpet.

Miss B shrieked and ran for the bedroom.

Miss J hung around to help.

She kept an eye on the cockroach's movements while I worked out what would be the best way to nab the gross creature.

Normally, I leave pest control to hubby, but unfortunately he wasn't home yet, so it was up to me.

I got on my rubber gloves and a plastic bag, but C wouldn't cooperate. We shifted the furniture around as C tried to elude us by climbing the wall. Finally I asked Miss J to get me a glass jar with lid. I tipped C off the wall into the jar, screwed the lid on tight and placed the jar on the bench for hubby to 'inspect' when he walked through the door.

"Why don't we flush it down the toilet?" suggested Miss J. "That's what Daddy does."

I did as she suggested and together we watched C finally get flushed away.

I congratulated Miss J on a job well done and for her bravery. I also wisely chose not to compare her with her sis, so I didn't say what was on the tip of my tongue, "You're so much braver than your sister."

That would have been very uncool.

This has been a fascinating week for me observing the kids.

On Mon night, hubby's college friend E and her hubby D, and her sons I and S, visited us at home. They have lived in Sydney since 2003 and the last time we saw them, Beth was a newborn (the one-month-old party) and the boys must have been about 7 or 8. S is now in Year 11 and his older bro will soon read Economics and Law at ANU.

What was really interesting was watching how the girls reacted when I told them we were having visitors, which would include two teenage boys.

Beth became very motivated. She showered without being reminded or nagged. Did her hair all by herself and impeccably, for the first time in her life (she is normally very  随便, hair falling out of her hairclips and hairties, very unkempt appearance). She sat on my lap for most of the evening, listening to the adult conversation while reading an Amelia Peabody mystery.

Miss J took a different approach. She stayed in the lounge the whole time, got out her toys and paper and textas, and started drawing. When S wandered out to see what was happening, she engaged him in her chatty 5 yo way. No shyness or reticence at all. She was just being herself, in her familiar territory, eager to show the visitor what she loved doing.

On Tue, the girls played so well together that I remarked to hubby how rare it was. And he agreed.

Today, they were back to the usual. One would want a toy, the other would want it also. B would refuse to share, J would insist on having the game her own way. La di da.

Tested Miss J again with WOMBAT, KIWI, CUCKOO and KOALA.

She is still spelling them perfectly!

VICTORIA is a bit of a challenge though. She can get up to VIC-TO, then she forgets what the last chunk is. More work needed here. It is a fairly long word for a 5 yo.

NLP is simply amazing.

Now to spread the word...

Beth stunned me twice this week by actually trying out her new Grade 3 Piano for Leisure pieces.

In four years of learning piano, she has never shown this level of interest.

On hindsight, allowing her to make the decision to switch from classical AMEB to PFL is turning out to be one of our better parenting decisions.

Batman's Theme and Gershwin's Fascinating Rhythm are so much more FUN, UNSTRUCTURED and ... HER.

NLP Learning Strategies

At NLP Prac in Dec, we learned NLP spelling strategies and how to teach them to children.

I've been practising them on and off on Miss J, who just turned 5.

Before her birthday, I taught her to spell VICTORIA and AUSTRALIA.

The minute she clinched it, I posted this update our intake's FB page. One of my fellow coaches was so inspired she said she's going to spend the summer hols teaching her Grade Prep son to spell so he can "shock" his teacher when he starts Grade One. :)

Last night, I taught Miss J to spell WOMBAT, KOALA and CUCKOO.

This morning, I tested her again...and she could spell the words perfectly.

Tony Robbins is right. Even with my amateurish style, it works. Imagine what I can contribute once I have learned to do it confidently!

At church yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak with the father of one of our SS kids who struggles with literacy and spelling. The son is a kinaesthetic learner but because the school system focusses so much on visual and auditory learning, he can't keep up. He's good with numbers, putting things together (Lego) and loves handheld computer games.

I'm wondering how to use this knowledge to help him be more engaged at school and in SS.

The goal is to have a chat with his mum before the school year starts. I want to share with her the NLP spelling strategy and to invite her and her son to a session where I will teach him the strategy and elicit his motivation strategy so he can rediscover his love of learning and his aptitude for it. He has the potential to become so much more than he is currently defined by.