I want to thank Ron for his comment to my last post. It has inspired me to elaborate on our current homeschool conundrum.
It all began six years ago when Alex was in second/third grade (public school, or government school as I sometimes refer to it). To make a long story short, we noticed that he was being passed through the grades without really understanding the lessons, primarily in Math. The "new" math curriculum was such that Vicki and I had no way to help him because we didn't understand these "new" ways of teaching this subject. After two years of futilely attempting to get help and answers from the school, we threw our hands in the air, and pulled Alex and Connor out of the system we deemed broken. Alex had just been promoted to fifth grade; Connor to second. BTW, Connor's issues were antithetical to Alex's. In first grade, by March/April, Connor had completed all the material available to his teacher, who had "run out" of material to give Connor and essentially just began to give him busy work until the school year ended. That was unacceptable to us.
Skip ahead. I now have five students, a two year old, and a three month old in the classroom. The grades I teach are 8, 5, 3,and two first graders. Of course, all but the first graders are not really doing grade level work. Alex is almost finished ninth grade math. Keep in mind, when I began homeschooling him, he was at least two years behind, in math comprehension. Connor is advanced in all but Science, as is McKenzie, who I think is 'the most' advanced, compared to where her brothers were at the same age. Over the years, each of the older three has become more and more independent; as they could handle more, I let them have it. Now, other than review and checking (I check and discuss all their work, every day, to make sure they understand their lessons, which are pretty much self-guided), they are pretty much on their own until they come to me for help with some new concept.
The problem. Recently, meaning since about the beginning of this school year, Alex has become less and less enthusiastic about just about everything. He maintains a high level interest, to the point of a life's passion, in the care and well being of his siblings. He loves his baby sister, feeds her, changes her, looks after her whenever he can. Same with Bekah, the two-year-old. Oh, and of course, he'd spend every other waking moment in front of PlayStation or cartoons, if I let him. He won't show any interest in anything else. He even says he doesn't want to play baseball this Spring. Playing baseball has always been the reason for existence, for him. I've tried talking with him, to get him to understand that he can have a say in what he does, if he just talks about it. I'm answered by silence and shoulder shrugs. I'm chalking the change up to the beginnings of puberty, but that doesn't make it easier for me to deal with in the middle of all the other things going on around here. I don't want to throw away this school year by continuing to do something that simply has not been working; that is: he and I butting heads every day over his school work. I still am not confident that I know exactly what he wants. He's said he wants to try school again. But he's also said that he doesn't. And he's never given a reason for either option. Well, since we do want to do what's best for him, the first step seems to be changing the situation we're currently in. The only way to do that, within our budget, is to send him back to the government school for at least the remainder of this school year. We'll see what happens from there.
I've talked to friends and family. No one has the answer, except that what's happening now is not what's best for this family. I still feel a little uncomfortable about sending him back to school, but it doesn't have to be a permanent decision.
We are scheduled to meet with the school tomorrow morning to get Alex registered. The third quarter starts on the 24th, his birthday, so he'll have about a week to acclimate to the new arrangement before his grades will start to count. Nothing else to do now except wait and see how it goes. I don't think it'll be worse than staying home and doing what we've been doing (I also don't think it'll be any better, but you never know).
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Back to School
I'm having a real hard time with our decision from last night, to send Alex back to public school. Please help me pray for guidance and acceptance of this new direction, and to be as sure as possible that it's what God wants us to do, not just a way of making our lives less complicated, for our own convenience.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
My Labels
Ok, I got really curious and checked. My number one label, so far, is "chickens" (what else) and "Kenzie" comes in at number two.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Another Kenzie Gush
As you've probably read here, Kenzie is on a regional, travel softball team. This means we practice twice a week, about 40 minutes away from home. It's a pain, but worth it for the joy she gets from playing, and learning, the game at a high skill level, not what you see in a regular recreational league. Well, last night, a guy (Mike) I've coached baseball with (his son and Kenzie have been on the same team) for a couple years called me. I told him over the summer that I wouldn't be coaching with him this year because of Kenzie's softball. There would be huge schedule conflicts, and travel softball would take priority over recreational baseball. Mike insisted that, in his opinion, having McKenzie play part time on his team would be better than having most of the boys her age play full time. I knew that ;o), but it was nice to hear someone else say it. I told him I'd talk to Kenzie, and call him back. Kenzie took about a half second to decide she'd love to play baseball with the boys again. I half-jokingly asked her where the money's going to come from for her to play in both leagues. Without hesitation she said she'd pay for it from her Christmas/birthday money. Okydoky. I called Mike back and told him he can have Kenzie. Of course, that also means I'll be coaching baseball again. At least this time I'll only be an assistant, not the manager like I usually am.
I think if you did a search of my blog, you'd find Kenzie mentioned more than anything else. I feel a little guilty talking about her more than my other kids, but I really can't help the fact that she does so much stuff, and does it well. Alex, Connor, Tay, Ty, et al, also do what they do, well. They just don't do as much of it.
Oh, I can mention the fact that Alex joined an indoor soccer team yesterday. It was a last minute thing, and I still haven't even gotten him officially registered; thankfully, the coach is a good friend of mine (Godmother of two of my girls) so we could work around the technicalities. Without even going to a practice, he scored a goal in the first game of the season. Yeehah!
I hope to soon get to topics here that can include some pictures. These long, picture-less, blogs are going to get tedious, and I may start losing some of my vast audience. Hang in there, please.
I think if you did a search of my blog, you'd find Kenzie mentioned more than anything else. I feel a little guilty talking about her more than my other kids, but I really can't help the fact that she does so much stuff, and does it well. Alex, Connor, Tay, Ty, et al, also do what they do, well. They just don't do as much of it.
Oh, I can mention the fact that Alex joined an indoor soccer team yesterday. It was a last minute thing, and I still haven't even gotten him officially registered; thankfully, the coach is a good friend of mine (Godmother of two of my girls) so we could work around the technicalities. Without even going to a practice, he scored a goal in the first game of the season. Yeehah!
I hope to soon get to topics here that can include some pictures. These long, picture-less, blogs are going to get tedious, and I may start losing some of my vast audience. Hang in there, please.
Trouble in Chicken World
Our new roosters are beginning to cock-a-doodle and Vicki's getting, to put it gently, worried about what the neighbors will say. I say, when the neighbors get rid of their massive Rottweiler and the howling Beagle, they can say something about our roosters. As far as I know, there is not a single, legal thing anybody can do about our having roosters in the back yard. I think she's afraid our psycho neighbor might sic his mastiff on our hen house, or something, and that has a very messy potential, especially if Kenzie sees the beast chowing down on her chickens. Actually, we only have one really loud and very persistent cockerel so far, and I already said he's on the menu in February.
Well, a bargain was cut (unbeknownst to Chicken Girl) and now, in my eldest daughter's eyes, I am a traitor. Here's the deal. Since I only wanted one rooster to propagate the flock, I bargained away all the roosters for permission to mail-order a bunch of new hens (shipped from the hatchery the day they hatch). This is a much more efficient way of raising egg-layers, anyway, since you can order just hens, and not waste food on raising a bunch of roosters. And you can still eat any hens that aren't pulling their weight in the egg-laying assignment. So, I just placed an order for 25 new hens, of various breeds, just to add color to the flock. They should arrive on February 12 or 13. I was told by the hatchery that the post office will call me when they arrive and I'll have to pick them up, but our mail lady knows I'm home, so she may deliver them to me. We'll see. Oh, and the hatchery also includes an extra, 'surprise chicken' with baby chick orders. It's supposed to be "rare or special" breed that we can attempt to identify as it matures. Hopefully, they also send the answer along, just in case we can't figure it out.
Back to the deal. Although Kenzie got to pick exactly which breeds of chicken she wanted (which she did), and she's thrilled about the "surprise" chick, she's not so pleased at the prospect of losing Nugget. She doesn't appreciate the fact that, come meal time, he'll become an integral part of her life. I didn't use these exact words; I think they would fall on unappreciative ears. Kenzie is even less thrilled with the prospect that we'll have way too many hens and will have to cull the flock (more yummy dinners) if we can't sell or give the extra hens away. She's gotten so bad that, tonight, when we had a very tasty slow-cooked, store-bought chicken, Kenzie wouldn't eat it because she said it tasted like a home-grown chicken. I love the fact that she relishes (no pun intended) her role as a backyard chicken farmer, but I think she's been ruined on chicken dinners for years to come.
Today, in the muck of our back yard (we've already had three inches of rain this year, on top of an exceptionally wet December), Kenzie, with the enlisted help of a reluctant Tyler, was measuring for an extended chicken run. We want to add a second run so we can alternate between the two. This should allow us to grow grass in the area the chickens destroy (it's amazing how fast they can defoliate an area) while providing them with fresh grass and bugs, at least periodically throughout the year. At least the areas that get consumed by chickens will be well fertilized.
Well, a bargain was cut (unbeknownst to Chicken Girl) and now, in my eldest daughter's eyes, I am a traitor. Here's the deal. Since I only wanted one rooster to propagate the flock, I bargained away all the roosters for permission to mail-order a bunch of new hens (shipped from the hatchery the day they hatch). This is a much more efficient way of raising egg-layers, anyway, since you can order just hens, and not waste food on raising a bunch of roosters. And you can still eat any hens that aren't pulling their weight in the egg-laying assignment. So, I just placed an order for 25 new hens, of various breeds, just to add color to the flock. They should arrive on February 12 or 13. I was told by the hatchery that the post office will call me when they arrive and I'll have to pick them up, but our mail lady knows I'm home, so she may deliver them to me. We'll see. Oh, and the hatchery also includes an extra, 'surprise chicken' with baby chick orders. It's supposed to be "rare or special" breed that we can attempt to identify as it matures. Hopefully, they also send the answer along, just in case we can't figure it out.
Back to the deal. Although Kenzie got to pick exactly which breeds of chicken she wanted (which she did), and she's thrilled about the "surprise" chick, she's not so pleased at the prospect of losing Nugget. She doesn't appreciate the fact that, come meal time, he'll become an integral part of her life. I didn't use these exact words; I think they would fall on unappreciative ears. Kenzie is even less thrilled with the prospect that we'll have way too many hens and will have to cull the flock (more yummy dinners) if we can't sell or give the extra hens away. She's gotten so bad that, tonight, when we had a very tasty slow-cooked, store-bought chicken, Kenzie wouldn't eat it because she said it tasted like a home-grown chicken. I love the fact that she relishes (no pun intended) her role as a backyard chicken farmer, but I think she's been ruined on chicken dinners for years to come.
Today, in the muck of our back yard (we've already had three inches of rain this year, on top of an exceptionally wet December), Kenzie, with the enlisted help of a reluctant Tyler, was measuring for an extended chicken run. We want to add a second run so we can alternate between the two. This should allow us to grow grass in the area the chickens destroy (it's amazing how fast they can defoliate an area) while providing them with fresh grass and bugs, at least periodically throughout the year. At least the areas that get consumed by chickens will be well fertilized.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
What An Amazing Day
Who could have predicted that, when we scheduled our trip to D.C. to tour the White House, the weather was going to be 75o and beautifully sunny on January 6, right smack in the middle of Winter?! Wow!
I took the three older kids, and we met some friends of ours, and headed to DC. We took the Metro, which the kids always think is more fun than the rest of the trip. Take us country bumpkins to the city and we can have all sorts of fun with things like subway rides and chasing pigeons.
The only disappointment was the actual tour of the White House. I couldn't even take my camera because they don't allow cameras into the White House, and that really bites since when I go "tourist" I need my camera. I was tempted to take a cell phone picture, but I didn't want Secret Service agents to come out of some secret entry and body slam me against the wall and smash my phone. The Secret Service (what a misnomer: everybody knows who there are; it's no secret) has got to be the most unfriendly bunch of people you'll ever meet on the planet (no offense meant to any agents out there that I haven't met, and who might be friendly). The friendliest guys we talked to were the ones out front, holding their giant P-something guns and looking very military. They chatted with us and the kids and were very nice, and willing to answer our silly questions that I'm sure they've heard a gazillion times. Back to the tour: you walk through the metal detector, through a few rooms with antique furniture, and back out another door. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was a little more than that. I had much more fun, a couple years ago, touring George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. You got to see much more of the house, and were allowed to roam around the grounds and get a really good feel for what life was like in the late 1700's. Today, we didn't even get to see the White House bowling alley, which the guards told us was directly beneath the spot at which we were talking to them. They could have told me I was standing over the Bat cave for all I know, but it sounded good.
Next stop was the Washington Monument. I was in it a few times as a kid, but my kids never got to go in, so they thought it was pretty neat. The elevator takes you to the top (when I was a kid, they allowed you to walk up the stairs, but the stairs are closed now because of too much vandalism-a sad statement on society, if ask me). The whole thing stands about 555 feet high. The observation area has windows that face all four directions of the compass, and you can see everything. This was absolutely the perfect day for this. You could see all of DC, into Maryland and Virginia. Alas, no camera, or I'd have some incredible pictures to show you.
Then we tried to visit the American History Museum. After walking almost all the way around the building, we discovered it was closed. Some better signage would have been helpful.
So, next door to that, we headed to the Natural History museum. That's a hard one for me to visit because so much of what that museum expresses as fact is, in fact, theory. Namely, all that stuff about Evolution. It was still a theory the last time I checked, but you'd never know from the exhibits. Us wacky Christian Creationists just don't get it, I guess. It still gives me 'teaching moments' with the kids where I can explain some of the faulty logic and unproven 'facts' that can be found in the Evolutionist doctrine.
Then, we found out about an exhibit about the Bible at Sackler Gallery. We thought we'd try this, but the exhibit was a two-hour guided tour, and was absolutely packed (it closes tomorrow so it seemed everyone waited until the last minute to visit it). We had a bunch of tired kids and one pregnant lady with us so we decided that would be too much for us to handle.
We headed back home, via Metro, the kids again having more fun on the train ride than at our nation's capitol (except for when they were chasing pigeons). I wish Vicki could've gone, but, besides having Kearsyn to lug around, Tyler wouldn't have lasted two seconds in the White House without breaking something or setting off some kind of alarm and shutting down the whole city.
Next time we go, we'll skip the White House and take a camera.
I took the three older kids, and we met some friends of ours, and headed to DC. We took the Metro, which the kids always think is more fun than the rest of the trip. Take us country bumpkins to the city and we can have all sorts of fun with things like subway rides and chasing pigeons.
The only disappointment was the actual tour of the White House. I couldn't even take my camera because they don't allow cameras into the White House, and that really bites since when I go "tourist" I need my camera. I was tempted to take a cell phone picture, but I didn't want Secret Service agents to come out of some secret entry and body slam me against the wall and smash my phone. The Secret Service (what a misnomer: everybody knows who there are; it's no secret) has got to be the most unfriendly bunch of people you'll ever meet on the planet (no offense meant to any agents out there that I haven't met, and who might be friendly). The friendliest guys we talked to were the ones out front, holding their giant P-something guns and looking very military. They chatted with us and the kids and were very nice, and willing to answer our silly questions that I'm sure they've heard a gazillion times. Back to the tour: you walk through the metal detector, through a few rooms with antique furniture, and back out another door. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was a little more than that. I had much more fun, a couple years ago, touring George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. You got to see much more of the house, and were allowed to roam around the grounds and get a really good feel for what life was like in the late 1700's. Today, we didn't even get to see the White House bowling alley, which the guards told us was directly beneath the spot at which we were talking to them. They could have told me I was standing over the Bat cave for all I know, but it sounded good.
Next stop was the Washington Monument. I was in it a few times as a kid, but my kids never got to go in, so they thought it was pretty neat. The elevator takes you to the top (when I was a kid, they allowed you to walk up the stairs, but the stairs are closed now because of too much vandalism-a sad statement on society, if ask me). The whole thing stands about 555 feet high. The observation area has windows that face all four directions of the compass, and you can see everything. This was absolutely the perfect day for this. You could see all of DC, into Maryland and Virginia. Alas, no camera, or I'd have some incredible pictures to show you.
Then we tried to visit the American History Museum. After walking almost all the way around the building, we discovered it was closed. Some better signage would have been helpful.
So, next door to that, we headed to the Natural History museum. That's a hard one for me to visit because so much of what that museum expresses as fact is, in fact, theory. Namely, all that stuff about Evolution. It was still a theory the last time I checked, but you'd never know from the exhibits. Us wacky Christian Creationists just don't get it, I guess. It still gives me 'teaching moments' with the kids where I can explain some of the faulty logic and unproven 'facts' that can be found in the Evolutionist doctrine.
Then, we found out about an exhibit about the Bible at Sackler Gallery. We thought we'd try this, but the exhibit was a two-hour guided tour, and was absolutely packed (it closes tomorrow so it seemed everyone waited until the last minute to visit it). We had a bunch of tired kids and one pregnant lady with us so we decided that would be too much for us to handle.
We headed back home, via Metro, the kids again having more fun on the train ride than at our nation's capitol (except for when they were chasing pigeons). I wish Vicki could've gone, but, besides having Kearsyn to lug around, Tyler wouldn't have lasted two seconds in the White House without breaking something or setting off some kind of alarm and shutting down the whole city.
Next time we go, we'll skip the White House and take a camera.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Whew!
It's been a while since I posted! That time just flew by, didn't it? Vicki has been doing a little blog-updating during the holidays, so at least there isn't a complete void of goings-on around here.
In a nutshell: Christmas was great. I got to go the midnight Mass, which is my favorite thing to do for Christmas, especially with my older boys as altar servers. Tyler and Kenzie even went with me this time around. Kenzie still doesn't believe in Santa, even though he gave her coal in her stocking for not believing. All the kids got just about everything they asked for, and were still grumpy from all sensory overload that comes this time of year. Around here, the gift-giving process took several days. We had Christmas morning at our house. Christmas afternoon my sister's (where my mother challenged me to fit all the stuff into the van; that van hasn't failed me yet, but it was tight this year). The day after with my in-laws. A day or two later, the in-laws again with stuff they forgot to bring to us the previous trip. A few days later, my mom again. She was bored and came to visit. This time she brought stuff I had forgotten, and left at my sister's house on Christmas day. We'll be seeing her again soon because she had to exchange a few things that were duplicates or broke.
New Year's Eve was fantastic. We spent it at a local church (I think Vicki wrote about it), not our own. Our church doesn't do the fun things other churches do. Well, that's not fair, I guess. They do fun things that are oriented toward an older crowd, not one whose average age is 14.25 years old, as it is in our house. Anyway, we got to see some great amateur entertainment and enjoy some wonderful Christian fellowship. Kenzie and Connor even played the piano as part of the talent show. They played four different times over the holidays for family, friends, and on stage. Tyler did, too, except for the talent show. He got shy, with the piano being up there on a stage.
Back to the grind today. Vicki went to work, I tried to do a little school (not the full load on the first day). Other than dealing with Tyler's mood this morning, it was a pretty good day. As you know, we were expecting this first day to be a real bear with Kearsyn. She has been refusing to drink from a bottle and her schedule, well, she doesn't have one. To my surprise, she slept 'til 10:30 am (from about midnight). She drank two ounces in ten minutes, then waited until the rest of us ate lunch before wanting more. Then, while I was helping Alex and Connor with math, Kenzie gave Kearsyn three more ounces with no trouble at all. She drank another ounce for me, and another for Alex, while I was taking the piano players to their lessons. I also took Bekah and Tay with me so Alex could focus on Kearsyn only, while I was out. By the time I got home, Alex had Kearsyn asleep again. I am assuming tomorrow I am going to pay for such a smooth day today. And it was a Tuesday, too!
I have more to say, but there are more important things to do right now. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to this soon.
In a nutshell: Christmas was great. I got to go the midnight Mass, which is my favorite thing to do for Christmas, especially with my older boys as altar servers. Tyler and Kenzie even went with me this time around. Kenzie still doesn't believe in Santa, even though he gave her coal in her stocking for not believing. All the kids got just about everything they asked for, and were still grumpy from all sensory overload that comes this time of year. Around here, the gift-giving process took several days. We had Christmas morning at our house. Christmas afternoon my sister's (where my mother challenged me to fit all the stuff into the van; that van hasn't failed me yet, but it was tight this year). The day after with my in-laws. A day or two later, the in-laws again with stuff they forgot to bring to us the previous trip. A few days later, my mom again. She was bored and came to visit. This time she brought stuff I had forgotten, and left at my sister's house on Christmas day. We'll be seeing her again soon because she had to exchange a few things that were duplicates or broke.
New Year's Eve was fantastic. We spent it at a local church (I think Vicki wrote about it), not our own. Our church doesn't do the fun things other churches do. Well, that's not fair, I guess. They do fun things that are oriented toward an older crowd, not one whose average age is 14.25 years old, as it is in our house. Anyway, we got to see some great amateur entertainment and enjoy some wonderful Christian fellowship. Kenzie and Connor even played the piano as part of the talent show. They played four different times over the holidays for family, friends, and on stage. Tyler did, too, except for the talent show. He got shy, with the piano being up there on a stage.
Back to the grind today. Vicki went to work, I tried to do a little school (not the full load on the first day). Other than dealing with Tyler's mood this morning, it was a pretty good day. As you know, we were expecting this first day to be a real bear with Kearsyn. She has been refusing to drink from a bottle and her schedule, well, she doesn't have one. To my surprise, she slept 'til 10:30 am (from about midnight). She drank two ounces in ten minutes, then waited until the rest of us ate lunch before wanting more. Then, while I was helping Alex and Connor with math, Kenzie gave Kearsyn three more ounces with no trouble at all. She drank another ounce for me, and another for Alex, while I was taking the piano players to their lessons. I also took Bekah and Tay with me so Alex could focus on Kearsyn only, while I was out. By the time I got home, Alex had Kearsyn asleep again. I am assuming tomorrow I am going to pay for such a smooth day today. And it was a Tuesday, too!
I have more to say, but there are more important things to do right now. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to this soon.
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