Personal stuff

[heidi]

News:
Jon is now standing up on his own, and has finally popped out a tooth.
Harry can toss a ball into the air and hit it with a bat.

Questions:
At what age is it good/safe to feed a bebe cheerios? Jon only wants grown-up food, so I'm giving him the tinist pieces of a variety of things, but when would whole cheerios be safe?

Have any of you had kids who can read but don't want to, or at least don't want to for you? What should a parent do? I don't want to overpressure Harry but I also don't want him to think we're uninterested/giving up for now...

Comments

[jayabear.livejournal.com]

What are cheerios?

[aome.livejournal.com]

Breakfast cereal, and one of the most common first finger-foods many parents give their kids.

[datta.livejournal.com]

I didn't want to learn to read when I was little. My parents would buy me a new book which they'd read to me for each book (or maybe for each five books or something?) I read out loud to them. Don't know if Harry's as book-crazy as I was, but it seemed to work for me!

[jlh.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that really the point of Cheerios is that it's something that Baby can pick up and eat themselves, that you scatter them on the placemat in front of them and they're all happy that they can feed themselves something. So really, if he's old enough to be able to pick them up and put them in his mouth he really should be okay.

I would say, you could smash them up a bit--put them in a baggie and give them a whack with the rolling pin--but I'm not sure he'd be able to pick up the small pieces and then, frustration. Besides, the thing about Cheerios is that they turn to mush so quickly that he likely won't choke on them as he'd never have a whole dry one in his mouth.

And if you're worried about additives, etc, there aren't many in regular Cheerios but you could get the organic ones.

[aome.livejournal.com]

I would think whole Cheerios would be safe - they have a hole in them. It's not like you're giving him Kix. Break in half if you really are worried, but otherwise, I think whole ones should be okay.

Can you strike a deal with Harry about reading? He reads a story to you, and then you read one to him? At least some of the time?

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

Reading: Does he do the Leap Pad thing at all? Owen really enjoys his and many of the games in the books do require them to read words. I know what you mean - O doesn't care for writing/drawing and it's starting to get to me. I know it doesn't *matter*, but still.

The ball/bat thing is awesome - I fear O has inherited his parents' hard-core geek genes. We did preschool soccer in the fall and it was a disaster - he stood in the middle of the field crying "PLEASE, PLEASE let me have the ball!" while the other kids ran around him. The one time he did get the ball he freaked out b/c the other kids were all running straight at him and he fell on the ground and covered his head. I'm thinking, OK, so we can count him out of rugby.

Cheerios: We never did baby food for either kid - they went straight from breast only to table food and really only ever ate what they could feed themselves - they were both very independent babies in that regard. I gave cheerios as soon as they had the palmar grasp so that they could practice their pincer grasp. With O I was more paranoid so I do have vague memories of trying to halve cheerios - lesson learned, cheerios don't have much structural integrity and dissolve rather than halve. :-) A had them whole from about 5 months on. Some of the organic varieties dissolve VERY quickly in the mouth and if you're really worried about choking you might try those first.

That has to be the most anyone has EVER said about cheerios in the history of breakfast cereals.

[storm-maven.livejournal.com]

My babies had strange reading habits. I have 4 children and they were all very different. My oldest (now 13) picked up reading with no problems and loved it. Still does. It went downhill from there. My youngest (now 6) is the laziest but I make her read her own homework.

As for Cheerios. As long as Jon can pick them up, he'll be OK. Like everyone said, Cheerios desolve rather quickly and you shouldn't have to worry about choking.. Just don't give him anything bigger than that.

[cat-mom.livejournal.com]

Does Harry have stuffed animals, dolls or whatever that he plays with? If so you may want to try suggesting that he read stories to them, without parental units in the room. A lot of children enjoy reading (or even pretending to read) to their stuffed animals. Less stress, no pressure, ya know?

[rachet.livejournal.com]

Ian got started on Cheerios at 7 months. It worked out well for them. But I know several people who would say to wait until at least 9 months.

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

Ooo, I'd say the Cheerios are fine, Heidi. Like Plu said, they've got a hole in the center, and they actually mush up very quickly once they get into a baby's droolly mouth :D My children were very different. Ariel didn't really eat solids until she was almost two (yes, you read that correctly); Hunter was having Cheerios, shredded apple, and crackers by five months. As long as Jon's pincher grasp is developed enough for him to pick up the Cheerios, I'd say it's fine.

I think the most important thing you can do for a child's reading skills is to read TO them; I want my kids to *enjoy* reading foremost. I know how it goes when the kidlet is uninterested, though, in practicing reading skills -- I try and break up their practice sessions, or fit them into activities we're already doing, such as cooking, cleaning, shopping, or running errands. When I actually have to sit down and do bonafide 'drills' with them (both of my kids need to know 100 words by sight by the end of this school year; we're working on that with flashcards), I try and do multiple SHORTER sessions than one great long one. Then I give them a 'reward' by reading something they REALLY like -- right now it's the Captain Underpants series, which is really geared more toward readers 7-10, but Hunter thinks it's TEH FUNNEH and just laughs, and laughs! Another thing that helps is giving my kids a bit of time at websites they enjoy: barbie.com, lego.com, disney.com, etc -- I ask them to help me sound out/spell the name of the site we're going to (barbie or lego), and then ask them to sound out a few words on the page once we get there.

Carrie's suggestion for the Leap Pad is also a good one; my personal experience is both my children didn't use the Leap Pad as it is intended until this year; we've had them for two years. But if you sit down with Harry and use it accordingly, it would be a great one to have in your bag of tricks!

[galeotti.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I don't have any children--and I'm not close to having any--but I'll put in my two cents on the reading thing anyway. If you could get something you know he'd enjoy reading and then one day, ask for his help. Say something like, "Harry, I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out what this sentence/page/whatever says. You're a good reader, can you help me?" Kids like to feel important, and maybe he'll even start offering to 'help' since Mommy and Daddy saw fit to come to him.

Hey, you never know. :)

[poconell.livejournal.com]

The beauty of cheerios is that they dissolve in the mouth fairly quickly, therefore are not likely a choking hazard. (You still have to watch!)

I've always told people that baby knows best. If they show an interest, they're ready to start. (Jack was about 8 months, Matthew a bit older.)

Cool web site here! I love my google!

[likebunnies.livejournal.com]

We have pictures of my son eating cake and other various things -- noodles, I believe -- on his 'six month birthday.' I also remember being at Disney World with him when he was about nine months, having run out of baby food and him eating mac and cheese and some turkey at one of their restaurants. He was very early in the solid foods department, though, and I blame that on me and my weariness with breast feeding. The more real food he ate, the less he needed me.

As for reading, the kiddo has been able to read incredibly well since he was four or five but he just won't do it. It bothers me to no end since at his age (he'll be eight next month) all I did was read and read some more. He has never been a reader even though he could read. I try to explain about all the things one can explore in books and how exciting it is and he looks at me like I'm nuts. So instead, we still read to him every night and ask him to read us a few paragraphs here and there. I hope someday he'll love it as much as his father and I do.

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

Just a bit of encouragement - my husband wasn't a reader until he hit 5th grade and discovered Tolkien and D&D (yes, we are old-school geeks *pines for hexmaps and polyhedral dice*) and now I can't pry the man away from his books.

I blame it on the boy go-go-go thing.

[likebunnies.livejournal.com]

I know a lot of it is the idea of sitting that long kills him when he'd rather be running around. But the other day as we were watching RotK again, he kept asking me questions and I kept answering 'You have to read the books!' I've done this with Harry Potter, too, and when I was reading Chamber of Secrets to him a while back, he said something about it being like a DVD with tons of extras. I just hope those 'extras' get him reading all the books soon!

[mars-daydream.livejournal.com]

I think Cheerios should be fine! Mila started on them at about 8 months and she does really well with them now; she's never had a problem, even though she used to gag on thick baby oatmeal in the past. If they stay in her mouth for a long time while she's chewing they just totally dissolve into mush. She loooves them! I would say if Jon can eat other grown-up food that Cheerios should be just fine. Mila also likes the tops of broccoli (the soft little floret bits) and shredded cheese.

[saucy-wench.livejournal.com]

I started Jamie on cherrios at 7 months, and that went fine. They turn to must pretty quick. Figured this out when Jamie shoved a fist full of cheerios into his mouth and I paniced a fished them out. Mush. Ew.

If Jon can pick them up, and put them in his mouth, he should be fine.

Jamie doesn't do baby food. I have this lovely food processer, and he had what I'm having, in teeny pieces. I did this up until a month ago, but now I just cut everything up really small.

He's a big fan of lima beans. My child is SO strange.

[dreamstigmata.livejournal.com]

i started on cheerio's when i was about 6-7 months. and i had no teeth. :D

i didn't start reading words longer than three letters until i was in second grade. my mother never pressured me to read, but she continually brought home interesting books. constantly new, and interesting books. i think that helped. she didn't over pressure me, but still let me know what i was missing. i would like to point out now that i read 450wpm, and far from being behind, i had a college reading level by the time i reached seventh grade. so i wouldn't be too worried about harry getting behind, yet.

[klave.livejournal.com]

Despite having no children of my own and not intending to for at least another decade, something that my parents did to encourage my sister and I to read was by asking us to read things like road signs and labels on food at the supermarket. It was good for short bursts of word recognition without the pressure of books, but it does limit vocabulary.
Cheese, Stop, Pasta,

Klave

[slightlights.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! Is Jon standing unsupported, then? Hitting the ball, that's great.

For what it's worth, Youngest happily ate Cheerios back when she didn't have teeth; I figured that when she was able to get them safely to her mouth, that was the most important thing. I suggest not cutting them in half, first because of the powder factor that others have mentioned, and also because that way they don't have sharp edges. They really do dissolve well. If Jon is teething, I'd recommend frozen corn and peas, too. About the reading... just out of curiosity, have his eyes been checked for that sort of vision? Just in case, since it's a different sort of vision than necessary for sports.

[sinisteral.livejournal.com]

Awww...that's wonderful. Makes me wanna have children of my own--*_* (rethinks that)

[anemonerose.livejournal.com]

How does he eat other solid foods? Does he just swallow them whole? Or does he "gum" them ("chew" them with his gums)? If he gums them, he can have them whole now--if he swallows things whole, I wouldn't suggest it, although you *could* break them in half. :) Oh, and make sure they're not the Honey Nut variety--just the plain ones. ;)

[nut-shell.livejournal.com]

To me, the most important thing about reading is that it's fun for them. I think the best way to achieve this is to read together. We've never done flashcards and I've never drilled him on anything. I let him take the lead and when he asks me questions, I answer him. Now that he is in Kindergarten, he reads some things to me, but when he gets frustrated, I let him stop.

I don't have any information about what you've been doing in the past, but if you feel like you've been pressuring him, I think you could back off without seeming uninterested. I'd try not to express frustration with his lack of interest at the moment. Maybe he's got something else on his "developmental table" right now and he'll come back to the reading when he's ready.

I know I may be a bit more laid back than some folks, but I figure they're *going* to learn to read. I'm not wrapped up in whether they start at age 3 or age 6. The most important thing is that it's enjoyable to them. You can't force that.

Good luck! Oh, and I think cheerios are okay now, too. :)

Question about plagiarism

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

Heidi, I'm sorry to spam you about this, but I believe one of my LJ friends has been plagiarized in a new fic on AT; I believe the author lifted a small section from someone else's fic and pasted it into his/hers (I'm basing this on recognizing the words as well as seeing a major shift in writing styles in the chapter). I'm emailing my friend to suggest that she read the (IMO) offending fic. I assume she's the person who should "report" it, if that's what should happen. I didn't know what else to do, hope that's okay. ~ Anne U

Re: Question about plagiarism

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

http://www.fictionalley.org/tou.html#copyright

[dancingrain.livejournal.com]

I didn't really read on my own until I was 6. I always loved to be read to, and I was happy to "read along" when one of my parents was reading, but I just didn't read on my own, and I had a lot of difficulty in my kindergarten (even tho it was a very cool, alternative school), when they tried to teach me to read more than simple 3-letter words etc.

Then in first grade, I sort of just became ready, and used some special learning materials (alternative school again) and taught myself to read in about a week... and became the reading monster I am today.

So the moral being, don't fret. Kids get turned on to reading at their own paces, and Harry's young.

[(Anonymous)]

Heidi,

love your blog, I visit all the time. I have 4 children, two of which wanted to read early. I just read, read, read to whomever will listen! The one that is a big reader now (at 12) wasn't much interested in the beginning, but now he is. On the cheerio thing, my second son was the same way. It was like feeding a bird all the time. He wanted nothing to do with baby food. As long as my baby was about six months and could sit up really well on his own, he could have cheerios. That's providing I was right there to do the Heimlich......Cheers!

Alora

[psychic-serpent.livejournal.com]

If I remember correctly, it was Gerber oatmeal and rice cereal at 6 mos, along with strained everything (carrots, peas, fruit, etc.) plus some hard crunchy things, since that's when the teething started to kick in. The beauty of Cheeries is not that they have a hole but that they are not one of those cereals designed to stay crunchy in milk; the point of giving them to babies is that they get mushy rather quickly when exposed to moisture (a baby's saliva) so the baby can't choke on them. Most kids will gobble Cheerios for a while, when they're "new," then fall back on them for snacking when they're bored. I can't pay my kids to eat Cheerios now.

As for reading, Harry's pretty young still. Count yourself lucky if he's not pressuring himself about this. Ben thought he'd dilly-dallied enough at the age of four and wanted to learn to read and write. When he became frustrated by the way I was teaching him to write letters (since he's a lefty and I'm not) he went off on his own and spent hours copying the alphabet over and over until he liked the way it looked. That is one intense kid. And of course he thought his sister had wasted enough time playing when she was only three and taught her to write her name at that time. ("Rachel" being a little harder to write than "Ben.")

He's a rather indifferent reader now, at age eleven (HP, Artemis Fowl, comics), although his school tested him at grade 11.7 for his reading level (eleventh grade, seventh month). Rachel, OTOH, didn't really begin reading in earnest until kindergarten and her school tested her at the beginning of fourth grade (age nine), proclaimiing that she's reading beyond high school level. Go figure. You and Aaron will set the boys a good example and Harry will see that reading is fun. He'll move at his own pace and be just fine.