Friday, April 24, 2009
Almost Done....
Look how short the "4th grade curriculum" list is over on my sidebar. That's all we have left!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Guest Post by my Daughter, C. age 10.
10 year old C writes a weekly journal entry for her spelling class. Her assigned topic this week was to tell about a time someone she knows did something wrong. She was to write about how she reacted, how she could have responded, and what she would do differently, if anything. C chose to write about a certain girl who made her life pretty miserable 2 years ago in public school. As this is her final weekly journal entry for 4th grade, and as I thought she did a fairly decent job free writing, we decided she could type it here for all to see a sample of her writing.
The following is written and typed by C:
People were always mean to me when I went to public schools. They called me names. Once T shoved her desk into my desk and hurt me. When I hurt my foot, T made fun of me.
If I could go back to second grade, I would try to be nicer to T, by inviting her to my house and birthday party, and trying to play with her on the playground. When T called me a name I could have told told her the Bible says to treat others as you would want them to treat you. I was not ever mean to T, but I could have been nicer.
The following is written and typed by C:
People were always mean to me when I went to public schools. They called me names. Once T shoved her desk into my desk and hurt me. When I hurt my foot, T made fun of me.
If I could go back to second grade, I would try to be nicer to T, by inviting her to my house and birthday party, and trying to play with her on the playground. When T called me a name I could have told told her the Bible says to treat others as you would want them to treat you. I was not ever mean to T, but I could have been nicer.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
A Typical Day Teaching 4th and K/1st
I just read a typical day in the life of Susan Wise Bauer from fall of 2000. At the time she had 4 children, ages 9,7,4, and newborn. I got a headache just reading it. I do not know how this woman has time to author so many books! For any non-homeschooling parents reading this, SWB was homeschooled, and now homeschools her children. She also teaches college part-time, and has written/co-written with her mother several books about the "Classical" method of teaching, and various textbooks. We use her "Story of the World" series as a history spine, and once E is old enough (next year) I plan to use her "First Language Lessons" and "Writing with Ease" books. C is, sadly, too old for the levels of grammar/writing that SWB has published thus far. I also just ordered the infamous, "Well Trained Mind" book for myself. I have been wanting this book for a year, and finally decided to splurge for myself for once, and buy it. My teaching doesn't fall into one, specific category, but I'm somewhere in the middle of "classical" and "Charlotte Mason". Much more classical, than CM. If you'd like more information on schooling methods, you'll have to google these terms. There are oodles of sites to find who can explain it much better than I, and I want to get on to my typical day. : )
After reading Ms. Bauer's day with her 4 young children I first want to remind myself to NEVER complain, or think I have it hard, again. She didn't complain, but, her day was just so hectic, and I could commisserate with her on the issue of her constatnly hungry, crying baby. My little E was like that, for what seemed like forever. She is still constantly hungry, but, thankfully, somewhere in the past 5 years or so she has outgrown the crying, and whining she did the first year, and turned into a sweet, gentle, intelligent, yet intense, little lady.
Our day is something like this:
I wake up anywhere from 5:00-6:30. This is my favorite time of day. I drink my coffee, as I read and reply to any e-mails, check out a couple of forums, blogs, and news sites. When it is light enough to see I pay bills, read the Bible, and begin laundry. I clean cat-boxes, start dishwater, make our bed if D's working, (otherwise he sleeps in), and deal with letting dogs in and out, giving all dogs water, feeding the inside cats and sometimes the outside cats. Most days C(10) takes care of the outside cats' food and water, and the dishes. If D works, I also try to practice my guitar for 20-30 minutes before the girls wake up.
I wake the girls up between 8-8:30. E eats breakfast, cereal, and C almost never does. We try to begin school around 9 every day, but this isn't set in stone. The glory of homeschooling is doing what works for *us*, and I can't understand people who act like their home should be run like a miltary schedule, with mom and kids fully dressed, mandatory breakfast, and sitting at a desk like a bell is going to ring and make them tardy. We are at home, and we like to be comfortable. I never shower until our basic school day is over, and chores are done. I certainly don't waste time putting on clean clothes, when I haven't showered yet, so I'm in my p.j.'s. The girls usually dress, but not first thing, and usually only when the weather is nice enough they will be going outside.
C's school takes much longer than E's. Even a full day with E takes only 60-90 minutes, and rarely do I do a full, complete day with her. C starts off doing her spelling, grammar, and Bible. She can do all these herself, except Monday's, when we do a spelling "pretest". She also does her English alone most days, but that's only because the book we're using to finish this year is really, really simple, and alll review for her. When she runs out of work she can do on her own we do math. (When she isn't done with it for the year.) Most days I run over the lesson with her, ask her the mental math problems, and sit with her while she does the practice problems to make sure she understands the new concept. Sometimes the concept requires her to write the problems, and most days she just does it orally, and I wonder why they think someone needs to practice something so simple. I do not make her write out every problem of every lesson. Saxon has 30 problems/day, and most can be done mentally. I have never skipped a single problem, but I just don't make her write them all. That's just busy-work, and a waste of time. If she *can* do them in her head, why write every, single one? I couldn't stand that when I was in school, and until she reaches Algebra I see no point in it. We can do half the problems orally in under 5 minutes, or add another 20 minutes to our day to write them all down. One day a week I make her write all the problem. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I want to make it look like she actually did something. LOL *I* know she does them all, but if the homeschool secret police show up they'd want proof. For C we only do math 4 days/week, Wednesday's being our light day, with no math or English. As long as she continues excelling in math, and being ahead, she can keep doing it that way. If she ever slips down to a "B" , or gets behind, she will have to do it 5 days a week because I'm just mean like that.
While C does her written work, I do school with E. You must understand, though, that E is a free-spirit, and learns things the first time we discuss them, so we do NOT do school every day, and we do NOT do it on a set schedule. I try to at least have her do phonics, reading, and math 3 days a week, but those days might be on the weekend, they might be in the evening, or they might actually be in the morning when most people do school. She may also go a month between any written schoolwork. If E is happily playing or doing puzzles, or (gasp) watching TV, I'm not going to bother her. If she is bored, and wanting some school we do 2 pages of phonics, and at least 2 pages of math. If she still wants more we do Bible, more phonics, flashcards, Language Lessons, map work, or read some science or health. E is SO easily bored that I vary her schoolwork quite a bit. This is why she has so many different books. Many times I just let her pick which phonics or math book she wants to do, or we do them both. I let her pick what she wants to read aloud to me. I let her pick if she wants to write in pencil or varying shades of green colored pencils. : ) She just turned 6, and technically would still be in Kindergarten. She's been doing 1st grade work with no problems, and if we did it daily, and with only one book per subject, she'd be done with that now too. I don't WANT her to get too far ahead, and I don't WANT her to dread sitting in a chair doing busy work. So, as long as she remains 6 months to a year ahead, she can take it easy in these early years.
Another thing with E, is that she is extremely kinsthetic. That means she is a "hands-on" learner. She cannot stand being read to, but if I give her something to DO while I'm reading she is happy. She cannot stand writing, but if we break it up into short increments she does well. One day she might complete 2 pages of math and 2 pages of phonics in under 5 minutes, with perfect handwriting, and the next she might take half an hour because she is busy making up stories about the pictures, or drawing pictures because there aren't any, or somehow falling out of her chair or poking holes in her clothes with her pencil that is supposed to be on her paper. She may go along just fine, and then jump up to go run and play a self-composed song on the piano. She likes "sad" songs, and will play the most beautiful things. Then she will turn to me, and ask, "Did you like my sad song, Mommy?" and tell me an entire story to go along with the song she just played. Then, like nothing happened, she will return to her little chair and finish whatever worksheet she was doing.
I really can't tell about a typical day with E, because every day is different, but I assure you, she learns and progresses no matter how it gets done.
By this time, C will be finished with math, and most likely she has done the dishes for me, and fed the outside cats. If I'm still busy with other things, C will read a book or occassionally watch TV, although most of the time I discourage TV until school work is done. Lately, C likes to get on the computer and write e-mails to her e-pal. Our longest subjects are science and history, and I learned early on to leave these till the end of our school day. We get carried away talking or looking things up, and if I began our day with science or history we'd probably never do the 3 R's. Whenever we get to them, we sit on my bed and read together science and history. We read the textbooks, and about half the time I have her do the review questions, or make a list of vocab terms for science for her to look up. If she has any experiments we do them. For history we either take turns reading aloud, or I assign her a section to go to her room and read, and then have her narrate back to me what she studied. Once a week or so I have her do mapwork, which she loves. If History seems to be in one of the chapters the publisher just skims, and leaves most of the interesting, or important stuff out, she just gets to listen to me ramble on and on until I notice her stomach is growling, and it's almost noon, which is lunchtime. : )We add many read-alouds to history. I choose appropriate books to coincide with the time period we're learning in her textbook. If the book seems a little "difficult", or has things in the story I want to discuss with her we read it aloud. If it's just a fictional story or biography she reads them on her own. C loves biographies, and they are excellent learning aids.
I always try to finish C's schoolwork by lunchtime. In 3 hours we have no problems completing grammar, spelling, english, Bible, math, and at least one of science or history, and usually both. The girls eat at noon, and when they finsish I take a shower or bath. (I'm paranoid about one of them choking on food while I'm in the shower, so I won't go in the bathroom until they finish lunch.) While they eat I check my e-mails, and talk to D on the phone if he's working. After lunch and shower time we either have "quiet time" or the girls can go out to play in nice weather, or sometimes visit the neighbors across the street. If it was up to them they would go visiting everyday, but I don't want them to be pests. : ) C enjoys talking to her friends on the phone, but only one of them is homeschooled too, so usually C has to wait till after 3 to get her phone time. Now that E has a girl her age on the block she usually runs down to this girls house to get her to come over here to play for the afternoon. When we have quiet time one of the girls goes to their room for an hour, and the other one can play at the kitchen table or watch TV. After an hour they switch area's. C likes to play "Guitar Hero", which I allow because it REALLY helps her learn to read notes and learn basic music topics such as rythym, melody, and timing. C is awesome at this game, and the only one in our house that can beat her is me...because I'm even more awesome at it. LOL D and I have even discussed letting her compete, but most people that play it are teenage boys, not little girls or middle aged housewives.
One of the reasons I bought my own guitar is because I intend to teach C how to play after I get better. Real guitars are far different than plastic video game ones. I also have recorders for both girls, but I don't want to start them on those until I teach E such basics as time, counting, and reading notes on a staff. She knows a little from piano, but I'm sort of lazy on giving piano lessons. E makes such pretty songs without me interferring, and C has no interest in the piano at all.
I'm sure many people reading this (if many people actually do read this, which I doubt.) are by now probably thinking what a horrid mother I am letting my children watch TV or play video games. D and I both think all the people who carry on about how dangerous video games are ridiculous. If someone thinks a video game corrupts the mind of a child into a serial killer then they probably should spend more time with their children, playing WITH them, and teaching them the difference between cartoony images for entertainment, and real life. I don't let my girls play any games with killing, or violence, or sex. (And yes, there are tons of those, but seriously parents...pay attention to each game, and if you think it's bad don't let them play those. ) They play the Wii games, and C will play GH. Wii is about as tame and innocent as they come, and gives great physical exercise, in addition to one of our favorite games, "Big Brain Academy". BBA is basically critical thinking skills, and problem solving skills on a TV that the whole family can compete in for better scores. As for TV...the girls are limited in WHAT they watch, but I don't limit amounts of time they spend watching. If it's raining, or cold, and school is done, chores are done...they can watch. C adores the "Animal Planet" channel, and learns tons from watching real life surgeries, animal rescues by the A.S.P.C.A, and specials on different breeds of animals. Why in the world would I NOT want her to watch that? I could never in a million years teach her all that. C also likes game shows, in particular, "The Price is Right". I don't see any harm in that. They also watch plenty of junk, but I hope I've raised them to see how stupid most of the junk is, and even to argue the discrepencies on certain shows. C enjoys watching the "History Channel" with D and I too, and seeing the places is much better than reading about them in a book with maybe one or two photos. We've actually gotten her up out of bed before to see a show on the Roman aqueducts, Great Wall of China, or the Pyramids of Egypt. Our family has had great discussion and Bible study over a certain show that airs disputing Biblical prophecy. There's nothing like pulling out the Bible, and laughing at how the government sponsored show only tells 1/3 of the story.
So...there you have it. My long-winded account of a typical day in our home. Summer is far different, because we spend so much time outside. We swim daily, C does softball for 3 months 4-5 evenings a week, and we only work on school very lightly...2 or 3 subjects, 2 or 3 days a week. E's schedule doesn't change...in summer we still do school when she asks, or when I feel it's been a while, and we should do some. They watch far less TV in the summer than during the cold months, and in fact, we sometimes go days only watching the news or weather channel.
If anyone read all this you deserve an award. : ) I began this blog as a journal and a place to write my own personal opinions, mainly on homeschooling,. although sometimes I digress. It remains that way, but I imagine it is only interesting to myself, and even then, it will only be interesting years down the road. *I* don't even want to go back and read what I just spent an hour writing, so as usual, please excuse the typonese, and have a great day!!
After reading Ms. Bauer's day with her 4 young children I first want to remind myself to NEVER complain, or think I have it hard, again. She didn't complain, but, her day was just so hectic, and I could commisserate with her on the issue of her constatnly hungry, crying baby. My little E was like that, for what seemed like forever. She is still constantly hungry, but, thankfully, somewhere in the past 5 years or so she has outgrown the crying, and whining she did the first year, and turned into a sweet, gentle, intelligent, yet intense, little lady.
Our day is something like this:
I wake up anywhere from 5:00-6:30. This is my favorite time of day. I drink my coffee, as I read and reply to any e-mails, check out a couple of forums, blogs, and news sites. When it is light enough to see I pay bills, read the Bible, and begin laundry. I clean cat-boxes, start dishwater, make our bed if D's working, (otherwise he sleeps in), and deal with letting dogs in and out, giving all dogs water, feeding the inside cats and sometimes the outside cats. Most days C(10) takes care of the outside cats' food and water, and the dishes. If D works, I also try to practice my guitar for 20-30 minutes before the girls wake up.
I wake the girls up between 8-8:30. E eats breakfast, cereal, and C almost never does. We try to begin school around 9 every day, but this isn't set in stone. The glory of homeschooling is doing what works for *us*, and I can't understand people who act like their home should be run like a miltary schedule, with mom and kids fully dressed, mandatory breakfast, and sitting at a desk like a bell is going to ring and make them tardy. We are at home, and we like to be comfortable. I never shower until our basic school day is over, and chores are done. I certainly don't waste time putting on clean clothes, when I haven't showered yet, so I'm in my p.j.'s. The girls usually dress, but not first thing, and usually only when the weather is nice enough they will be going outside.
C's school takes much longer than E's. Even a full day with E takes only 60-90 minutes, and rarely do I do a full, complete day with her. C starts off doing her spelling, grammar, and Bible. She can do all these herself, except Monday's, when we do a spelling "pretest". She also does her English alone most days, but that's only because the book we're using to finish this year is really, really simple, and alll review for her. When she runs out of work she can do on her own we do math. (When she isn't done with it for the year.) Most days I run over the lesson with her, ask her the mental math problems, and sit with her while she does the practice problems to make sure she understands the new concept. Sometimes the concept requires her to write the problems, and most days she just does it orally, and I wonder why they think someone needs to practice something so simple. I do not make her write out every problem of every lesson. Saxon has 30 problems/day, and most can be done mentally. I have never skipped a single problem, but I just don't make her write them all. That's just busy-work, and a waste of time. If she *can* do them in her head, why write every, single one? I couldn't stand that when I was in school, and until she reaches Algebra I see no point in it. We can do half the problems orally in under 5 minutes, or add another 20 minutes to our day to write them all down. One day a week I make her write all the problem. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I want to make it look like she actually did something. LOL *I* know she does them all, but if the homeschool secret police show up they'd want proof. For C we only do math 4 days/week, Wednesday's being our light day, with no math or English. As long as she continues excelling in math, and being ahead, she can keep doing it that way. If she ever slips down to a "B" , or gets behind, she will have to do it 5 days a week because I'm just mean like that.
While C does her written work, I do school with E. You must understand, though, that E is a free-spirit, and learns things the first time we discuss them, so we do NOT do school every day, and we do NOT do it on a set schedule. I try to at least have her do phonics, reading, and math 3 days a week, but those days might be on the weekend, they might be in the evening, or they might actually be in the morning when most people do school. She may also go a month between any written schoolwork. If E is happily playing or doing puzzles, or (gasp) watching TV, I'm not going to bother her. If she is bored, and wanting some school we do 2 pages of phonics, and at least 2 pages of math. If she still wants more we do Bible, more phonics, flashcards, Language Lessons, map work, or read some science or health. E is SO easily bored that I vary her schoolwork quite a bit. This is why she has so many different books. Many times I just let her pick which phonics or math book she wants to do, or we do them both. I let her pick what she wants to read aloud to me. I let her pick if she wants to write in pencil or varying shades of green colored pencils. : ) She just turned 6, and technically would still be in Kindergarten. She's been doing 1st grade work with no problems, and if we did it daily, and with only one book per subject, she'd be done with that now too. I don't WANT her to get too far ahead, and I don't WANT her to dread sitting in a chair doing busy work. So, as long as she remains 6 months to a year ahead, she can take it easy in these early years.
Another thing with E, is that she is extremely kinsthetic. That means she is a "hands-on" learner. She cannot stand being read to, but if I give her something to DO while I'm reading she is happy. She cannot stand writing, but if we break it up into short increments she does well. One day she might complete 2 pages of math and 2 pages of phonics in under 5 minutes, with perfect handwriting, and the next she might take half an hour because she is busy making up stories about the pictures, or drawing pictures because there aren't any, or somehow falling out of her chair or poking holes in her clothes with her pencil that is supposed to be on her paper. She may go along just fine, and then jump up to go run and play a self-composed song on the piano. She likes "sad" songs, and will play the most beautiful things. Then she will turn to me, and ask, "Did you like my sad song, Mommy?" and tell me an entire story to go along with the song she just played. Then, like nothing happened, she will return to her little chair and finish whatever worksheet she was doing.
I really can't tell about a typical day with E, because every day is different, but I assure you, she learns and progresses no matter how it gets done.
By this time, C will be finished with math, and most likely she has done the dishes for me, and fed the outside cats. If I'm still busy with other things, C will read a book or occassionally watch TV, although most of the time I discourage TV until school work is done. Lately, C likes to get on the computer and write e-mails to her e-pal. Our longest subjects are science and history, and I learned early on to leave these till the end of our school day. We get carried away talking or looking things up, and if I began our day with science or history we'd probably never do the 3 R's. Whenever we get to them, we sit on my bed and read together science and history. We read the textbooks, and about half the time I have her do the review questions, or make a list of vocab terms for science for her to look up. If she has any experiments we do them. For history we either take turns reading aloud, or I assign her a section to go to her room and read, and then have her narrate back to me what she studied. Once a week or so I have her do mapwork, which she loves. If History seems to be in one of the chapters the publisher just skims, and leaves most of the interesting, or important stuff out, she just gets to listen to me ramble on and on until I notice her stomach is growling, and it's almost noon, which is lunchtime. : )We add many read-alouds to history. I choose appropriate books to coincide with the time period we're learning in her textbook. If the book seems a little "difficult", or has things in the story I want to discuss with her we read it aloud. If it's just a fictional story or biography she reads them on her own. C loves biographies, and they are excellent learning aids.
I always try to finish C's schoolwork by lunchtime. In 3 hours we have no problems completing grammar, spelling, english, Bible, math, and at least one of science or history, and usually both. The girls eat at noon, and when they finsish I take a shower or bath. (I'm paranoid about one of them choking on food while I'm in the shower, so I won't go in the bathroom until they finish lunch.) While they eat I check my e-mails, and talk to D on the phone if he's working. After lunch and shower time we either have "quiet time" or the girls can go out to play in nice weather, or sometimes visit the neighbors across the street. If it was up to them they would go visiting everyday, but I don't want them to be pests. : ) C enjoys talking to her friends on the phone, but only one of them is homeschooled too, so usually C has to wait till after 3 to get her phone time. Now that E has a girl her age on the block she usually runs down to this girls house to get her to come over here to play for the afternoon. When we have quiet time one of the girls goes to their room for an hour, and the other one can play at the kitchen table or watch TV. After an hour they switch area's. C likes to play "Guitar Hero", which I allow because it REALLY helps her learn to read notes and learn basic music topics such as rythym, melody, and timing. C is awesome at this game, and the only one in our house that can beat her is me...because I'm even more awesome at it. LOL D and I have even discussed letting her compete, but most people that play it are teenage boys, not little girls or middle aged housewives.
One of the reasons I bought my own guitar is because I intend to teach C how to play after I get better. Real guitars are far different than plastic video game ones. I also have recorders for both girls, but I don't want to start them on those until I teach E such basics as time, counting, and reading notes on a staff. She knows a little from piano, but I'm sort of lazy on giving piano lessons. E makes such pretty songs without me interferring, and C has no interest in the piano at all.
I'm sure many people reading this (if many people actually do read this, which I doubt.) are by now probably thinking what a horrid mother I am letting my children watch TV or play video games. D and I both think all the people who carry on about how dangerous video games are ridiculous. If someone thinks a video game corrupts the mind of a child into a serial killer then they probably should spend more time with their children, playing WITH them, and teaching them the difference between cartoony images for entertainment, and real life. I don't let my girls play any games with killing, or violence, or sex. (And yes, there are tons of those, but seriously parents...pay attention to each game, and if you think it's bad don't let them play those. ) They play the Wii games, and C will play GH. Wii is about as tame and innocent as they come, and gives great physical exercise, in addition to one of our favorite games, "Big Brain Academy". BBA is basically critical thinking skills, and problem solving skills on a TV that the whole family can compete in for better scores. As for TV...the girls are limited in WHAT they watch, but I don't limit amounts of time they spend watching. If it's raining, or cold, and school is done, chores are done...they can watch. C adores the "Animal Planet" channel, and learns tons from watching real life surgeries, animal rescues by the A.S.P.C.A, and specials on different breeds of animals. Why in the world would I NOT want her to watch that? I could never in a million years teach her all that. C also likes game shows, in particular, "The Price is Right". I don't see any harm in that. They also watch plenty of junk, but I hope I've raised them to see how stupid most of the junk is, and even to argue the discrepencies on certain shows. C enjoys watching the "History Channel" with D and I too, and seeing the places is much better than reading about them in a book with maybe one or two photos. We've actually gotten her up out of bed before to see a show on the Roman aqueducts, Great Wall of China, or the Pyramids of Egypt. Our family has had great discussion and Bible study over a certain show that airs disputing Biblical prophecy. There's nothing like pulling out the Bible, and laughing at how the government sponsored show only tells 1/3 of the story.
So...there you have it. My long-winded account of a typical day in our home. Summer is far different, because we spend so much time outside. We swim daily, C does softball for 3 months 4-5 evenings a week, and we only work on school very lightly...2 or 3 subjects, 2 or 3 days a week. E's schedule doesn't change...in summer we still do school when she asks, or when I feel it's been a while, and we should do some. They watch far less TV in the summer than during the cold months, and in fact, we sometimes go days only watching the news or weather channel.
If anyone read all this you deserve an award. : ) I began this blog as a journal and a place to write my own personal opinions, mainly on homeschooling,. although sometimes I digress. It remains that way, but I imagine it is only interesting to myself, and even then, it will only be interesting years down the road. *I* don't even want to go back and read what I just spent an hour writing, so as usual, please excuse the typonese, and have a great day!!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Why am I writing on a Sunday Evening?
I doubt anyone has noticed, but normally I write in the early morning hours. The hours before the kids wake up, and before the coffee kicks in. Well, the official reason I'm writing at approximately 10p.m. is....I'm bored. Yep. I think I can honestly say this has been the laziest, most boring weekend I've spent since my pre-motherhood days.
First..my husband got this brainy idea that he would enjoy all his video games even MORE than the endless hours he already does if he bought a router to hook his PS3 to the internet. He bought the router, hooked everything up, and, of course, nothing worked. Well, the router worked, the modem worked, the computer worked, the PS3 worked. There was just the slight issue of the PS3 didn't work WITH the router, so he had no internet connection. SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS LATER (3 of which he spent on the phone with various tech support people in various countries around the world) he discovered that our wireless security cameras cause interference with the wireless router. Go figure. Seven and a half hours to find out that him taking 30 seconds to unplug the security camera will unblock the wireless internet interference.
That pretty much sums up yesterday. I did do a science experiment with C, which took up at least a whopping 5 minutes. We added food coloring to a cup of hot water, and a cup of cold water, to show that molecules in hot water move faster and farther apart than in cold water. I took a shower somewhere in there, read a lot, ate a lot, and that was about it.
Today. Well, right off the bat I noticed the adorable, dead, baby bunny on my front porch. One of our outside cats was quite proud of himself. We went out for brunch. We came home and buried the cute, little bunny. (Yes. We ate first, and left it on our porch. )I did dishes. I read some Bible to the girls. I read some "Farmer Boy" to the girls. I read some of my book to myself. I tried in vain to find new interesting posts on my homeschool forums to read. (That's always a lost cause on Sundays because everyone else has churches to go to and families to visit on Sundays, so why would they be posting on forums?!?)We ate supper. We watched one of the 4 shows on TV I actually can tolerate. ("Amazing Race", if you must know.)I read some more. I played with E and her Mini-Luk thingy. (an amazing educational product. If I was a better blogger I'd review it one of these days.)I watched E and C play Checkers. I put E and C to bed. And THAT is where things got interesting.
Whilst in the middle of prayers I hear A, 17, hollering for a flashlight, and my hubby actually (gasp) PAUSED HIS GAME. At 9:00 on a Sunday evening, in the middle of a span of rain reaching across our entire state, our sub-pump broke. I can't figure out why, after 50 years of the original machine working fine, it decided to rust through now. Luckily for us we have another, equally as old pump, and my husband is currently working on somehow splicing parts of one old pump to the engine of the other old pump. He's sitting in the water-filled (okay, not filled yet...just filling) basement jury-rigging ancient electrical equipment. I'm up here, because someone has to be around to call 911, right?
First..my husband got this brainy idea that he would enjoy all his video games even MORE than the endless hours he already does if he bought a router to hook his PS3 to the internet. He bought the router, hooked everything up, and, of course, nothing worked. Well, the router worked, the modem worked, the computer worked, the PS3 worked. There was just the slight issue of the PS3 didn't work WITH the router, so he had no internet connection. SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS LATER (3 of which he spent on the phone with various tech support people in various countries around the world) he discovered that our wireless security cameras cause interference with the wireless router. Go figure. Seven and a half hours to find out that him taking 30 seconds to unplug the security camera will unblock the wireless internet interference.
That pretty much sums up yesterday. I did do a science experiment with C, which took up at least a whopping 5 minutes. We added food coloring to a cup of hot water, and a cup of cold water, to show that molecules in hot water move faster and farther apart than in cold water. I took a shower somewhere in there, read a lot, ate a lot, and that was about it.
Today. Well, right off the bat I noticed the adorable, dead, baby bunny on my front porch. One of our outside cats was quite proud of himself. We went out for brunch. We came home and buried the cute, little bunny. (Yes. We ate first, and left it on our porch. )I did dishes. I read some Bible to the girls. I read some "Farmer Boy" to the girls. I read some of my book to myself. I tried in vain to find new interesting posts on my homeschool forums to read. (That's always a lost cause on Sundays because everyone else has churches to go to and families to visit on Sundays, so why would they be posting on forums?!?)We ate supper. We watched one of the 4 shows on TV I actually can tolerate. ("Amazing Race", if you must know.)I read some more. I played with E and her Mini-Luk thingy. (an amazing educational product. If I was a better blogger I'd review it one of these days.)I watched E and C play Checkers. I put E and C to bed. And THAT is where things got interesting.
Whilst in the middle of prayers I hear A, 17, hollering for a flashlight, and my hubby actually (gasp) PAUSED HIS GAME. At 9:00 on a Sunday evening, in the middle of a span of rain reaching across our entire state, our sub-pump broke. I can't figure out why, after 50 years of the original machine working fine, it decided to rust through now. Luckily for us we have another, equally as old pump, and my husband is currently working on somehow splicing parts of one old pump to the engine of the other old pump. He's sitting in the water-filled (okay, not filled yet...just filling) basement jury-rigging ancient electrical equipment. I'm up here, because someone has to be around to call 911, right?
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Week in Review
C is almost finished with 4th grade. She completed her math book 2 weeks ago, so our school days are shorter. I feel like we should be doing math. Then I try to remember how often I ever completed a whole textbook when I was growing up. Never. I can not recall one year, or even one subject, that we made it through an entire book. I didn't consider that when we began our year, and it's never been an issue here. I bought the books; we will finish the books. We are even finishing a month before public schools end their year, so we have a month of lovely weather to enjoy before softball season starts. : )
This week C finished all but the final test for her 3rd "Light Unit" in Bible. We are about 1/2-way through the last unit of science. She is on Lesson 121 of 180 in Language, and should easily finish the book by the end of May. The lessons are short, simple, review for her. We are around page 80 in Grammar, and will continue working on that next year. This coming week she will complete Unit 12 (out of 36) in her 5th grade spelling, and that was my goal for this year. We may or may not complete the book when 5th grade resumes. She doesn't really need spelling help, but I can tell she is learning some valuable skills from the book. (Dictionary skills, figuring out word problems skills.) We possibly have one unit left of U.S. History. I say, "possibly" because the unit skims over WWI and WWII, and I don't like skimming. I'm not sure how I could begin to cover not one, but both World Wars in roughly 20 pages.
Anyone who knows me knows I love History, and my "specialty" is WWII. I am fascinated by anything in that era, the people here at home, the soldiers, the European theater, the Pacific theater, but above all the Holocaust. I began my interest working with elderly in my pre-mom days. My step-father, and others I was close friends with fought in WWII. I've spent hours looking at pictures, reading letters, listening to stories, and as interesting as I find it all, it all boils down to the years 1933-1945. Hitler's years. And what our men and women went through serving our country pales in comparison to the Jewish people in Europe. How can I begin to teach my daughters about this in half of one chapter of a 4th grade History text? I had planned to spend a minimum of 1 semester, maybe at least one full year, on the World Wars when my daughter reach 8th or 9th grade. A friend of mine lives an hour from here. She was ten years old when her entire family was taken to Auschwitz. Only she, and her twin sister survived the war, out of a family of 6. They survived only by being twins. The infamous Dr. Mengele intentionally sought out twins for his "medical" human experimentation in the camps. I can assure you, virtually any other 10 year old would not have survived a concentration camp, because only the strongest, healthiest, adults were kept alive for their work value. What saved her life was Dr. Mengele's obscene fascination with twins. This lady now lives in the U.S., not far from me, and has a Holocaust museum. I hope one day to take my daughters there to meet her first hand. I have the book she authored, and hope to let them read it, along with at least 50 other books I own on the Holocaust. And even though my C is the same age as Eva was when she was taken, I'm not sure I'm ready for C to know the full extent of WWII. I've studied it extensively for 14 years now, and even I am still deeply affected by new information, new biographies. Conversely, I don't want to just skim an overview of dates, either. I don't want WWII, or any other war, to be "just another power/land struggle" between selfish rulers. So...while we have this one chapter left in C's history book, I'm still undecided as to how we will go about doing this chapter, or even IF we will do this chapter. My family knows my passion with WWII, and C probably already knows more than I give her credit for by living in the same house as me.
Back to the Week in Review. E had a productive week. She hasn't had much interest in school since about the beginning of March, so I was pleasantly surprised when she bagan asking for it again this week. She did quite a bit over 4 days. 12 pages of Math, her second-to-the-last unit in phonics. (ETC 2), 5 or 6 lessons in her Bible book, 2 pages in her other phonics book, 4 lessons in her language book, and reading practice. She worked on 3 stories in her Reading Primer. She is becoming quite fluent. I STILL can't get over the fact that I've taught a child to read. In fact, having never been to public school, I can take credit, or accept blame, (whichever may be applicable) for all my youngest knows.
E and C also made me some spring artwork. They cut and pasted their own designs to make me some beautiful, (and in E's case, very colorful) flowers. A few weeks ago we planted apple seeds, from apples they ate, and saved the seeds from in the fall. Somehow, out of 20 seeds, all but 3 disappeared by planting time. I wasn't expecting much in the way of results. However...all 3 seeds have sprouted, and we are eagerly hoping we can keep them alive. We haven't had much luck with things we've grown in the past, but I'm hoping apple trees will be hardy enough to survive our "brown thumbs".
The last major happening here has been that my husband has returned to work. Finally, after 5 months, he worked Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We are so blessed that he has this job. So many in the country are being laid off, and losing not only jobs, but homes. It actually felt kind of weird this week without him here.
B called us last weekend twice. It was hard to find things to make "small talk" about, and no one here really wants to talk to her. Well, the 6 and 10 year old do, but none of us that understands what's going on. Hubby has to go to court again Thursday. I won't be going. No one wishes to hear what a step-mother who raised her for 11 years has to say, and frankly, I have better things to do than waste time sitting in a court room trying to refrain from opening my big mouth. Step-parents in my state have no legal rights what-so-ever. Hubby plans to officially tell the judge he gives up, and B can have her way. I'm sure they'll say that after fifteen years he is a horrible father for giving up. They don't take into consideration the other 5 people this well benefit and protect.
Have a great week, anyone who reads this! Since my posts are fairly sporadic, I'll be back in a day, or a week, or a month....
This week C finished all but the final test for her 3rd "Light Unit" in Bible. We are about 1/2-way through the last unit of science. She is on Lesson 121 of 180 in Language, and should easily finish the book by the end of May. The lessons are short, simple, review for her. We are around page 80 in Grammar, and will continue working on that next year. This coming week she will complete Unit 12 (out of 36) in her 5th grade spelling, and that was my goal for this year. We may or may not complete the book when 5th grade resumes. She doesn't really need spelling help, but I can tell she is learning some valuable skills from the book. (Dictionary skills, figuring out word problems skills.) We possibly have one unit left of U.S. History. I say, "possibly" because the unit skims over WWI and WWII, and I don't like skimming. I'm not sure how I could begin to cover not one, but both World Wars in roughly 20 pages.
Anyone who knows me knows I love History, and my "specialty" is WWII. I am fascinated by anything in that era, the people here at home, the soldiers, the European theater, the Pacific theater, but above all the Holocaust. I began my interest working with elderly in my pre-mom days. My step-father, and others I was close friends with fought in WWII. I've spent hours looking at pictures, reading letters, listening to stories, and as interesting as I find it all, it all boils down to the years 1933-1945. Hitler's years. And what our men and women went through serving our country pales in comparison to the Jewish people in Europe. How can I begin to teach my daughters about this in half of one chapter of a 4th grade History text? I had planned to spend a minimum of 1 semester, maybe at least one full year, on the World Wars when my daughter reach 8th or 9th grade. A friend of mine lives an hour from here. She was ten years old when her entire family was taken to Auschwitz. Only she, and her twin sister survived the war, out of a family of 6. They survived only by being twins. The infamous Dr. Mengele intentionally sought out twins for his "medical" human experimentation in the camps. I can assure you, virtually any other 10 year old would not have survived a concentration camp, because only the strongest, healthiest, adults were kept alive for their work value. What saved her life was Dr. Mengele's obscene fascination with twins. This lady now lives in the U.S., not far from me, and has a Holocaust museum. I hope one day to take my daughters there to meet her first hand. I have the book she authored, and hope to let them read it, along with at least 50 other books I own on the Holocaust. And even though my C is the same age as Eva was when she was taken, I'm not sure I'm ready for C to know the full extent of WWII. I've studied it extensively for 14 years now, and even I am still deeply affected by new information, new biographies. Conversely, I don't want to just skim an overview of dates, either. I don't want WWII, or any other war, to be "just another power/land struggle" between selfish rulers. So...while we have this one chapter left in C's history book, I'm still undecided as to how we will go about doing this chapter, or even IF we will do this chapter. My family knows my passion with WWII, and C probably already knows more than I give her credit for by living in the same house as me.
Back to the Week in Review. E had a productive week. She hasn't had much interest in school since about the beginning of March, so I was pleasantly surprised when she bagan asking for it again this week. She did quite a bit over 4 days. 12 pages of Math, her second-to-the-last unit in phonics. (ETC 2), 5 or 6 lessons in her Bible book, 2 pages in her other phonics book, 4 lessons in her language book, and reading practice. She worked on 3 stories in her Reading Primer. She is becoming quite fluent. I STILL can't get over the fact that I've taught a child to read. In fact, having never been to public school, I can take credit, or accept blame, (whichever may be applicable) for all my youngest knows.
E and C also made me some spring artwork. They cut and pasted their own designs to make me some beautiful, (and in E's case, very colorful) flowers. A few weeks ago we planted apple seeds, from apples they ate, and saved the seeds from in the fall. Somehow, out of 20 seeds, all but 3 disappeared by planting time. I wasn't expecting much in the way of results. However...all 3 seeds have sprouted, and we are eagerly hoping we can keep them alive. We haven't had much luck with things we've grown in the past, but I'm hoping apple trees will be hardy enough to survive our "brown thumbs".
The last major happening here has been that my husband has returned to work. Finally, after 5 months, he worked Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We are so blessed that he has this job. So many in the country are being laid off, and losing not only jobs, but homes. It actually felt kind of weird this week without him here.
B called us last weekend twice. It was hard to find things to make "small talk" about, and no one here really wants to talk to her. Well, the 6 and 10 year old do, but none of us that understands what's going on. Hubby has to go to court again Thursday. I won't be going. No one wishes to hear what a step-mother who raised her for 11 years has to say, and frankly, I have better things to do than waste time sitting in a court room trying to refrain from opening my big mouth. Step-parents in my state have no legal rights what-so-ever. Hubby plans to officially tell the judge he gives up, and B can have her way. I'm sure they'll say that after fifteen years he is a horrible father for giving up. They don't take into consideration the other 5 people this well benefit and protect.
Have a great week, anyone who reads this! Since my posts are fairly sporadic, I'll be back in a day, or a week, or a month....
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Tired....
I'm getting tired. It's nearing the end of the school year, and my first thought upon waking this morning was, "Thank God it's Saturday!" Our goals for the academic year are almost met. Only 4 days in math, 1 chapter of science, 1 in history, 3 spelling units, and that's about it. We'll finish every book we are doing, with the exception of Spelling and Grammar. Both of those subjects are intended to last through next year, so technically I can say we're just working ahead in them.
I haven't been doing much for 1st grade this whole past month. My only goals for her are to finish her current phonics level, (ETC 2), complete our Habit unit in her MBTP concept, practice math facts, and read more.
I'm tired of school. I want to begin all the new books, but we need a break first.
I'm tired of worrying about my step-daughter. At our request, she has been in foster care the past 6 weeks, which is a step up from jail the previous 5 months. After 3 years of daily therapy, counseling, medication, psychiatric hospitals, juvenile detention, and her violence, arson, and other extreme mental health disorders,it was the only thing her counselors and the court could figure out to get her help.Because of DCFS being involved we feel like we're bad parents. They talk to us for an hour, and write 40 page reports on our entire lives as if they really know us. Because B (15 now) is LOVING all this attention she is refusing to come home, visit, or even speak to us. She now wants to go back to the biological mother who terminated her parental rights, and contributed greatly to the way B is now. My husband and I are tired of it all. DCFS feels he needs to attend mandatory counseling to gain "empathy" for B. I guess no one needs to empathize with the danger and fear we live in while she is here. I guess no one empathizes with the hours of time my husband has spent dragging her around the state to different doctors, hospitals, couseling centers, etc....all while missing work, supper, time with his other 3 kids, and in many cases, sleep. No one empathizes with a 3 year getting hit, or a 17 year old (30 pounds smaller than B) getting held down on the floor, choked, punched, and being told she was going to be killed, because B got caught stealing. No one empathizes with my upstairs being literally DESTROYED....carpet set on fire, every piece of furniture broken beyond repair, windows, door frames, walls, and ceiling panels ruined. No one cares.
We're all just tired. We haven't missed B a bit the past 6 months. We know going back to her mother will only harm her, yet...we give up. For the best of 5 people in the house, we will sacrifice one. Again. The only thought I gave her on Christmas and her birthday was, "What a blessing I don't have to waste money buying nice things that always are torn up or broken within 4 or 5 days of being given to her." The only regret I have is asking for help from an agency that now feels my husband must be a horrible person for B to not want to even speak to us. Of course she doesn't. We actually have rules, and are consistent, and we care about every child doing their best. We don't fall for theatrics and violence and threats and lying. In our opinion, the child support we will have to pay to a woman who shouldn't even have the right to speak to this child will be more than worth the peace and happiness we've all had this year.
Congratulations, B. You got your way again. Don't call us crying like you did when we let you live with her before. For one, we won't believe you after the lies you told about your dad. For two, we're not into playing games. And for three...if you call us I will likely call the phone company and have our number changed, since I can't afford to move. When I was 15 I worked, excelled in school, and helped support my mom and dad. You are plenty old enough to know right from wrong, and your behavior is chosen and puposeful. It's all a big mind game to you, but guess what? You lose. I hope you think from time to time what a happy family we are, and all the fun we had. (when we weren't leaving restaurants due to your temper tantrums, or having people in Wal-Mart laugh at us upon hearing you and saying, "Look...THAT's what happens when parents don't spank their chidlren.")
And on top of all this I'm tired of my husband being laid off "temporarily" for almost 5 months now. As much as we enjoy each other, and as fun as it is to have him home all day...it's nice to have money to pay bills, food, and other neccessities, too. And, admittedly, it would be nice to have a TV free day once in a while, too.
I'm ready for a school break. I'm ready for hubby to go back to work. And I'm ready to stop taking away from our other children. They don't deserve being treated the way their own sister treated them. They don't deserve going hungry because you ate ALL the food in the house, and pay day is a week away. They don't deserve having to be sent to their room to keep them safe or for us to spend 6, 10, and in 2 instances, 14 hours straight, with crisis workers called to our home to deal with a child WE couldn't deal with. They shouldn't have to see you punch our dog, or kick our sweet cat across an entire room. My 6 and 10 year old should NOT recognize police officers by first name because of all the times they've been called to our house, and they should not look upon Norma (dear as she is) as a surrogate grandmother. She's not. She's a crisis intervention worker, who feels exactly the same about B as we do. A 6 and 10 year old should not know their way around the high school from all the time we've been called there because the schools couldn't deal with B either.
My apologies for any typos. I'm also tired of writing. : )
I haven't been doing much for 1st grade this whole past month. My only goals for her are to finish her current phonics level, (ETC 2), complete our Habit unit in her MBTP concept, practice math facts, and read more.
I'm tired of school. I want to begin all the new books, but we need a break first.
I'm tired of worrying about my step-daughter. At our request, she has been in foster care the past 6 weeks, which is a step up from jail the previous 5 months. After 3 years of daily therapy, counseling, medication, psychiatric hospitals, juvenile detention, and her violence, arson, and other extreme mental health disorders,it was the only thing her counselors and the court could figure out to get her help.Because of DCFS being involved we feel like we're bad parents. They talk to us for an hour, and write 40 page reports on our entire lives as if they really know us. Because B (15 now) is LOVING all this attention she is refusing to come home, visit, or even speak to us. She now wants to go back to the biological mother who terminated her parental rights, and contributed greatly to the way B is now. My husband and I are tired of it all. DCFS feels he needs to attend mandatory counseling to gain "empathy" for B. I guess no one needs to empathize with the danger and fear we live in while she is here. I guess no one empathizes with the hours of time my husband has spent dragging her around the state to different doctors, hospitals, couseling centers, etc....all while missing work, supper, time with his other 3 kids, and in many cases, sleep. No one empathizes with a 3 year getting hit, or a 17 year old (30 pounds smaller than B) getting held down on the floor, choked, punched, and being told she was going to be killed, because B got caught stealing. No one empathizes with my upstairs being literally DESTROYED....carpet set on fire, every piece of furniture broken beyond repair, windows, door frames, walls, and ceiling panels ruined. No one cares.
We're all just tired. We haven't missed B a bit the past 6 months. We know going back to her mother will only harm her, yet...we give up. For the best of 5 people in the house, we will sacrifice one. Again. The only thought I gave her on Christmas and her birthday was, "What a blessing I don't have to waste money buying nice things that always are torn up or broken within 4 or 5 days of being given to her." The only regret I have is asking for help from an agency that now feels my husband must be a horrible person for B to not want to even speak to us. Of course she doesn't. We actually have rules, and are consistent, and we care about every child doing their best. We don't fall for theatrics and violence and threats and lying. In our opinion, the child support we will have to pay to a woman who shouldn't even have the right to speak to this child will be more than worth the peace and happiness we've all had this year.
Congratulations, B. You got your way again. Don't call us crying like you did when we let you live with her before. For one, we won't believe you after the lies you told about your dad. For two, we're not into playing games. And for three...if you call us I will likely call the phone company and have our number changed, since I can't afford to move. When I was 15 I worked, excelled in school, and helped support my mom and dad. You are plenty old enough to know right from wrong, and your behavior is chosen and puposeful. It's all a big mind game to you, but guess what? You lose. I hope you think from time to time what a happy family we are, and all the fun we had. (when we weren't leaving restaurants due to your temper tantrums, or having people in Wal-Mart laugh at us upon hearing you and saying, "Look...THAT's what happens when parents don't spank their chidlren.")
And on top of all this I'm tired of my husband being laid off "temporarily" for almost 5 months now. As much as we enjoy each other, and as fun as it is to have him home all day...it's nice to have money to pay bills, food, and other neccessities, too. And, admittedly, it would be nice to have a TV free day once in a while, too.
I'm ready for a school break. I'm ready for hubby to go back to work. And I'm ready to stop taking away from our other children. They don't deserve being treated the way their own sister treated them. They don't deserve going hungry because you ate ALL the food in the house, and pay day is a week away. They don't deserve having to be sent to their room to keep them safe or for us to spend 6, 10, and in 2 instances, 14 hours straight, with crisis workers called to our home to deal with a child WE couldn't deal with. They shouldn't have to see you punch our dog, or kick our sweet cat across an entire room. My 6 and 10 year old should NOT recognize police officers by first name because of all the times they've been called to our house, and they should not look upon Norma (dear as she is) as a surrogate grandmother. She's not. She's a crisis intervention worker, who feels exactly the same about B as we do. A 6 and 10 year old should not know their way around the high school from all the time we've been called there because the schools couldn't deal with B either.
My apologies for any typos. I'm also tired of writing. : )
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