Tuesday, June 29, 2010

uno, dos, tres...

Say what you want about children watching TV, they can learn from it.  Maya came walking downstairs last night counting in Spanish!  She can count to 8 all by herself....and to 12 with a little help! 

We don't watch a lot of tv in our house, but I do allow the children to watch morning cartoons on netflix.  They usually choose Diego, it's the only show ALL the kids can agree on.  It gives me a little time to myself to drink some coffee and check my email and facebook. 

I got all excited when I heard her and decided to sit the girls down just to see how smart they were.  We got some of our favorite counting and color books and I got to work quizzing them. 

camille

That's when I observed something very interesting in my girls. 

I've been asked several times "Which one is the dominate twin?"  I never really know how to answer.  They are just different.  Both have pretty strong personalities but neither one dominates the other. 

When the girls are together Maya answers all my questions.  She is very bright and articulate and loves to "play school."  Camille lets her sister do all the work and just sits there quietly listening.  She doesn't speak up or participate.

I separated them and asked Camille her colors and we practiced counting.  She did great....away from her sister.

So this makes we wonder about school in a few years.  As parents of twins we have the choice to separate them or keep them together.   On one hand preK is a HUGE adjustment and maybe having each other would be nice....but I want each of my girls to shine and not be thought of as a unit. 

Maya Princess

A while back at our TMOM's (Tulsa Mother's of Multiples) meeting we had a panel of older twins and their parents.  One mother decided to keep her boys in the same class throughout elementary school because she wanted her children to have the same foundation in education.  She feared one twin would get a "better" teacher.  Not to mention the annoyance of different homework. 

I have 2 years before I need to make a decision, but this observation in my girls really got me thinking on the subject.  A question for other MOM's ......

Are you going to separate or keep you twins together in school?

8 comments:

Heather said...

LOL, all my kids are together...we homeschool!

suburban hippie mama said...

heather~ i totally LOVE and respect that you homechool! i HOPE one day i will be organized and disciplined enough to consider it with my own children! i would LOVE to pick your brain and learn how you do it!! ;)

Darla said...

For pre-k they will be together. After that we will take it year to year with input from the teacher. I don't think either of my twins is really dominate over the other either. They are each more outgoing or dominate depending on the situation. I think they balance each other well and if that stays the same I think they will be fine in classrooms together. As a teacher, I totally agreed with the mom at the meeting about the foundation of education as well as the homework issue.

Oklahoma Running Mom said...

I obviously don't have multiples but my husband Tom has a twin brother and his mom seperated them for Kindergarden all the way up. Tom said that was the best thing she could have ever done.

Brenda Collins said...

oh gosh, school?!?! i think i'll just try to make it through today for the moment and come back to this post in a couple of years. ;)

Martha said...

I think we will keep ours together for at least Pre-K and then see from there. I think that Hosea is definitely the dominant one, which I don't really consider a bad thing, I think Micah may have more of my personality where he is more laid back and likes to check out the situation before jumping in, where Hosea is more out going. So Micah may be using Hosea as a buffer, know what I mean?

Busy Mommy! said...

I homeschool my oldest and hope to be able to continue that with the twins. I think that I will try to put them into separate social events so that they get to socialize separately and I will also get alone time to teach at their own pace.

Btw... the pic of Camille...I had to take a double look because with Maya right behind her, I thought Camille was standing in front of a mirror.... too cute!!

Anonymous said...

Well i dont have twins or kids but I think that they should be seperated only so that they dont feel like the one or the other has to take charge for both of them. In seperate classes there wont be that tension to pick one or the other to ask questions. plus i think it will give them a chance at independence. as they say "distance makes the heart grow fonder" even if its 2 rooms down or cubicle. :) Plus i think public school also get the kids to socialize a lot more and to adapt to the outside world plus the girls will make a lot new more friends, take it as a good thing they will be bringing a lot of their friends to meet mom and dad :)