update: stella

Our little Stella has had a very big year and a half since I last posted. She turned 7 years old in August last year. For their annual birthday date, she and Jason decided to visit the restaurant at the Georgia Botanical Garden, which is right here in Athens. So instead of taking their photos in our front yard like I do every year, I took their photo in the truck first and then followed them in the van to the gardens for a much nicer photo background!









I'd say that the most life-changing thing that has happened for Stella since then was becoming a competent reader. This has given her so much confidence and independence, and opened up so many new opportunities for her! She has helped out so much by being able to read to Lyle, and can fill those hours of "boredom" with lots of reading. She can visit websites she enjoys without needing help from others, and is now learning to spell with more confidence and writes all the time.



It was a lot of fun watching her become a reader, since she is the first of our kids to learn to read outside of a school environment (we began homeschooling when Daisy and Hazel had just finished 4th grade and Kindergarten). It was a very natural process and has reinforced to us that this is one thing that we have definitely done right. We read all the time at our house- to each other and to ourselves. Ever since they were born we have read to the kids, and now we couldn't stop them reading if we wanted to! Not once did I sit down and try to teach Stella about phonics or encourage her to drill words or even sound out an assigned set of words- we just read to her. And helped her when she asked how to read words she did not know. We talk about why words are spelled how they are when they come up in a book or in her writing, or how crazy some of the rules are for the spelling and pronunciation of words in our language. She learned to read by being around avid readers, and by just doing it herself. She may have learned a bit later than the average kid in school, but she did it at the pace that worked for her, and now she has the skills she needs to learn about anything she wants for the rest of her life. That is so exciting!! Among her current favorites are the Penderwicks series, the Emily Windsnap series, and the Judy Moody and Stink books. She and I are also working our way through the Harry Potter series for our evening reading- she mostly listens but can read several pages at a time with help on the big words. We are more than halfway through book 4 right now!







Writing is something that is also coming along well, and Stella has learned not to worry about whether things are spelled perfectly, and just enjoy the process of putting her thoughts down on paper. The spelling will come along naturally, just like the reading did- by doing it all the time! Recently she decided she wanted to learn about Abraham Lincoln, and do a report about him. We went to the library and got books, and she copied down facts she found interesting about this very important president. We all learned some things we did not know about him in the process, and she learns spelling by copying text out of books.





Stella has learned many new things in the past 18 months. She is tying her own shoes, had her first sleepover with her best friend, Bernadette, and is sewing on the sewing machine (with supervision).



Here are the pieces for the quilt Stella is working on right now- a rainbow!



She is also newly able to get across monkey bars!



Stella & Hazel have come together many times recently over their love of taking silly pictures.



I do not know where they learned this from.





Stella also got a camera of her own for her birthday this year, and is taking some great photos. Here is one she captured of herself and Bernie :)



Embracing her love of nature, Stella has spent a lot of time outside. She especially enjoys the cooler months, when there are fewer bugs and you can use layered clothing to adjust your body temperature (she does NOT like being hot, and likes mosquito bites even less...) Here she is on our recent camping trip, with a bag of acorns she had gathered. She really loves being in the woods, and so do I.





This is a bit out of order, but I need to back up to her 8th birthday in August this year! She and Jason went on their date, this time to Ryan's buffet, which was Stella's choice.









Hazel got this great photo of Stella blowing out her (trick relighting) candles! Notice the pierced ears that were also one of her birthday gifts. Another big step for her!



Stella is growing into such a wonderful girl, and I am having a lot of fun being around her as she explores all these new and exciting things to do in life. She and I have learned a lot about patience together, and I know we will continue to learn along with her as she grows into a young lady in the coming years.