I spent some time searching the internet high and low for something simple but creative to solve my dilemma. You see after a few months my daughter and I got tired of her creative writing workbook. My knowledge of middle eastern culture and the workbook’s ignorance of it while setting all the story prompts therein, kept me in such a state of angst, I ended up tossing it against the wall of the chicken coop.
I set out to find writing prompts and suggestions for creative writing topics that would not elicit a groan of despair from the bright ruby red lips of my high schooler. I couldn't find a worksheet for my ends so I have created some. Here is my first assignment which brought forth laughter and some very silly creativity from my teen, which is far better than groans of despair or that odd huffy noise followed by a rolling of her ocular apertures. I bring you my Fractured Fairy Tale Worksheet with the warning to the teacher, to read all the directions to the end before you begin.
link to Google Doc: Fractured Fairy Tale
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Friday, July 12, 2019
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Patience
So many people over the years have looked at me and said "Wow you have so much patience. I don't know how you do it." Want in on my secret? Most of the time, I'm faking it till I make it. Seriously I'm just faking it. I look like I'm really calm, tolerant, persevering, long suffering... but I'm not Caillou's mom. Nope I just have made a habit of being that way on the outside. Where as on the inside I could be seething with impatience (I don't have time for).
I can hear my Mom saying "Andeale Vamonos" (meaning move hurry) in my head as I wait in line at Starbucks wondering if it is ok to use my Mobile App to order drinks... get out of line and grab the 2 comfy seats in the corner before someone snaps them up. I find myself timing things. For example it takes 10 minutes to get to ballet practice if I don't catch the 3 lights on my way there, but if I get all the lights it will take me 14 minutes... unless there is a stray car and that one light that is always green goes randomly red because SOMEONE needs to turn left, then it's 16 min. If ballet practice is in 20 minutes do I have enough time to find the socks Tippin stole, get my shoes on and herd these kids out the door? Hey look kids, life is word problems. To sock or not to sock that is the question.
My sighs are not sighs of forbearance but ones of come on move it! It's just too tiring to be all hepped up on all the teen drama, in fact it's exhausting... so when I'm not "faking" my patience, I'm usually just to tired to bother. I'm in that stage where at 6pm I can and often do fall asleep if I sit down. But I'm wired for sound at 1 am in the morning? What is up with that bio rhythms? You need to get in line with the sun!
I can hear my Mom saying "Andeale Vamonos" (meaning move hurry) in my head as I wait in line at Starbucks wondering if it is ok to use my Mobile App to order drinks... get out of line and grab the 2 comfy seats in the corner before someone snaps them up. I find myself timing things. For example it takes 10 minutes to get to ballet practice if I don't catch the 3 lights on my way there, but if I get all the lights it will take me 14 minutes... unless there is a stray car and that one light that is always green goes randomly red because SOMEONE needs to turn left, then it's 16 min. If ballet practice is in 20 minutes do I have enough time to find the socks Tippin stole, get my shoes on and herd these kids out the door? Hey look kids, life is word problems. To sock or not to sock that is the question.
My sighs are not sighs of forbearance but ones of come on move it! It's just too tiring to be all hepped up on all the teen drama, in fact it's exhausting... so when I'm not "faking" my patience, I'm usually just to tired to bother. I'm in that stage where at 6pm I can and often do fall asleep if I sit down. But I'm wired for sound at 1 am in the morning? What is up with that bio rhythms? You need to get in line with the sun!
How often do we look at a situation and only see the outer shell, the public persona. That person we think we know from Facebook and Instagram. When in reality the opposite of what we see is what is actually happening. When that person gets home do they too primal scream in the back yard, and later that day do they too dance in the "Super Moonlight" with their beloved? I hope they do, because this election cycle we all need a bit of primal screaming and being someone's beloved.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Do Homeschool's Give Detention?
So getting back into the swing of things after the winter break, did not go as well as one could hope. We have been focusing on independence for Sweet Potato, otherwise know as "Lets all get Mom to stop being a nag."
Some things that were suggested but due to distractibility and what I call the "Ho Hum Factor" we have tried that before and it flopped in motivating her. Let her do one subject then get a mini reward such as drawing a picture or candy...
Why this doesn't work for my kiddo...
If you stop her she looses traction. She doesn't like to draw and she doesn't like most candy.
Let her have a 15 min break every 45 minutes (like Finland!) This was a flop. She took 15 minutes to get into her work and within 15 minutes was asking when the next break was. Sadly this worked out as 30 min of work then 15 min of distracted non work 15 min of play, 15 min to settle down into her work, repeat. Epic Fail... sorry Finland.
An event scheduled later in the day: This was 50-50 in success but tiring for mom. It also backfired into us having to get ready for an event and her not being done, thus making us all late. *Fume*
One thing that worked wonders is telling her she could go to Macy's and spend her gift card. Wow that motivated her in a major way she was done and done well by 1pm that day. Both her therapist and I decided 1. This was not cost effective. & 2. Not a good plan, ever!
So you ask have I found something that works? Well I think so, it maybe too soon to declare it a winner, but I have great hopes. I sat her down and talked about her need to do her work well, be on time for school and not be late. We are talking 9 am here, In PJ's is fine, but she needs to have all her medical stuff done, she needs to have eaten, and finished self care by "School Start." I took the approach that if this were her job she would get fired. Of course she took this opportunity to point out, in her world that wasn't a bad thing. Fired From School Wooot!!! Can I have Instagram now and the keys to the car too??? Back tracking I told her getting fired from school was unacceptable. If she is on time and does all her check listed items she gets "jewels." (Dollar store). When she has 30 jewels she can spend up to 3$ on an app or buy a song on her iPod.
I continued with: If this was a public school you would be tardy, and unexcused tardiness gets you dentation and "No, playing with the dogs for an hour is not an acceptable excuse." In fact there really is no excuse other than sickness, you live and work here. You can present yourself ready at the proper time if you choose to, the choice is up to you. Oh and how ever long you are late, is how long the detention is, It is all in your hands my dear. During detention you will write lines, but not with Professor Umbrage's quill that would be cruel.
Day 1 Late
Day 2 Late
Day 3 On time barely because Mom broke the rules and rousted her out of bed *Bad Mommy*
Day 4 Late
We are not talking 5 min late some days she was 1 and a half hours late. It was amazing the dawdling she could come up with.
I thought this is not really getting the job done. Conferring with the principal brought about a brain wave... the mindset of our parents, what would have happened to me if I got detention in high school? Oh wait I did get detention in High School... ONCE... my dad was the Vice Principal at the time, I toed the line in and out of school or there were pretty sever consequences. It was not an act I wished to repeat... EVER. It wasn't worth the risk. Now after 1 detention (for being disrespectful to a teacher) I got grounded at home. Just once... here this child has been in detention 3 times... So she got grounded for being in detention 3 times. It was not fun. While she was grounded, she had to do school work. No sitting around in your room alone. *nope* (She got one and a half school day's finished!)
Day 5 On time
The next week (Day 6) she was late AGAIN! not so badly but still late. I was PMS'ing I hit the roof. Mom doesn't want to nag I don't want to loose it, I don't want to be angry every morning, it's not peaceful. It hit me I was having her write the wrong things. I changed what she had to write about being late. It is not respectful to be late. I will treat my teacher and school with respect. When I turned it around and asked her if when she went to public school if she would have been late 4 times? She said NO!
OH wait I sent her in once without an excuse (yup you guessed it dawdling) she got lunch detention and never ever did that again. So why did she "hurry up" for school??? because she didn't want to let her teacher down. Can you picture me rolling my eyes... So How bout now? How bout we try this?
New lines about respect and pointing out as parents we still will give consequences for "school" misbehavior. Grandma would never have put up with a kid that got multiple detentions. Nope not happening. Not tolerated, you want a life? You do your "job" of school or your life gets uncomfortable real fast. So you were late again, guess what school gives you detention and Mom and Dad give you extra chores that eat into your iPod time.
Oh and we have decided the iPod is not healthy so it's now limited to 4pm-8pm.
Day 7-11 On time sometimes she's early and has already started.
*boing* *boing* *smash*
That's my eyeballs falling out and my jaw dropping in shock.
Today she counted out her jewels and bought a song her sister also wanted. Since we have family sharing, her sister also got to download it. This is so unusual and awesome! Sweet Potato choose a song she knew they both wanted. *Win Win*
Some things that were suggested but due to distractibility and what I call the "Ho Hum Factor" we have tried that before and it flopped in motivating her. Let her do one subject then get a mini reward such as drawing a picture or candy...
Why this doesn't work for my kiddo...
If you stop her she looses traction. She doesn't like to draw and she doesn't like most candy.
Let her have a 15 min break every 45 minutes (like Finland!) This was a flop. She took 15 minutes to get into her work and within 15 minutes was asking when the next break was. Sadly this worked out as 30 min of work then 15 min of distracted non work 15 min of play, 15 min to settle down into her work, repeat. Epic Fail... sorry Finland.
An event scheduled later in the day: This was 50-50 in success but tiring for mom. It also backfired into us having to get ready for an event and her not being done, thus making us all late. *Fume*
One thing that worked wonders is telling her she could go to Macy's and spend her gift card. Wow that motivated her in a major way she was done and done well by 1pm that day. Both her therapist and I decided 1. This was not cost effective. & 2. Not a good plan, ever!
So you ask have I found something that works? Well I think so, it maybe too soon to declare it a winner, but I have great hopes. I sat her down and talked about her need to do her work well, be on time for school and not be late. We are talking 9 am here, In PJ's is fine, but she needs to have all her medical stuff done, she needs to have eaten, and finished self care by "School Start." I took the approach that if this were her job she would get fired. Of course she took this opportunity to point out, in her world that wasn't a bad thing. Fired From School Wooot!!! Can I have Instagram now and the keys to the car too??? Back tracking I told her getting fired from school was unacceptable. If she is on time and does all her check listed items she gets "jewels." (Dollar store). When she has 30 jewels she can spend up to 3$ on an app or buy a song on her iPod.
I continued with: If this was a public school you would be tardy, and unexcused tardiness gets you dentation and "No, playing with the dogs for an hour is not an acceptable excuse." In fact there really is no excuse other than sickness, you live and work here. You can present yourself ready at the proper time if you choose to, the choice is up to you. Oh and how ever long you are late, is how long the detention is, It is all in your hands my dear. During detention you will write lines, but not with Professor Umbrage's quill that would be cruel.
Day 1 Late
Day 2 Late
Day 3 On time barely because Mom broke the rules and rousted her out of bed *Bad Mommy*
Day 4 Late
We are not talking 5 min late some days she was 1 and a half hours late. It was amazing the dawdling she could come up with.
I thought this is not really getting the job done. Conferring with the principal brought about a brain wave... the mindset of our parents, what would have happened to me if I got detention in high school? Oh wait I did get detention in High School... ONCE... my dad was the Vice Principal at the time, I toed the line in and out of school or there were pretty sever consequences. It was not an act I wished to repeat... EVER. It wasn't worth the risk. Now after 1 detention (for being disrespectful to a teacher) I got grounded at home. Just once... here this child has been in detention 3 times... So she got grounded for being in detention 3 times. It was not fun. While she was grounded, she had to do school work. No sitting around in your room alone. *nope* (She got one and a half school day's finished!)
Day 5 On time
The next week (Day 6) she was late AGAIN! not so badly but still late. I was PMS'ing I hit the roof. Mom doesn't want to nag I don't want to loose it, I don't want to be angry every morning, it's not peaceful. It hit me I was having her write the wrong things. I changed what she had to write about being late. It is not respectful to be late. I will treat my teacher and school with respect. When I turned it around and asked her if when she went to public school if she would have been late 4 times? She said NO!
OH wait I sent her in once without an excuse (yup you guessed it dawdling) she got lunch detention and never ever did that again. So why did she "hurry up" for school??? because she didn't want to let her teacher down. Can you picture me rolling my eyes... So How bout now? How bout we try this?
New lines about respect and pointing out as parents we still will give consequences for "school" misbehavior. Grandma would never have put up with a kid that got multiple detentions. Nope not happening. Not tolerated, you want a life? You do your "job" of school or your life gets uncomfortable real fast. So you were late again, guess what school gives you detention and Mom and Dad give you extra chores that eat into your iPod time.
Oh and we have decided the iPod is not healthy so it's now limited to 4pm-8pm.
Day 7-11 On time sometimes she's early and has already started.
*boing* *boing* *smash*
That's my eyeballs falling out and my jaw dropping in shock.
Today she counted out her jewels and bought a song her sister also wanted. Since we have family sharing, her sister also got to download it. This is so unusual and awesome! Sweet Potato choose a song she knew they both wanted. *Win Win*
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
The Dreaded Algebra
Funny how I dread teaching ALGEBRA, but as I was working through how to at least get a start on school while we wait to move in to the new house, and I'm still in NY and not in TX... Oh the ramblings and meanderings of my mind. What to do? What to do?, and who calls but Mike Austin, looking for the web guy, who is not in NY and his old phone number is not forwarding properly. Mike was so helpful, and one email later, I have a few things headed our way that we can start on that will help us not fall too far behind.
I already had the No-nonsense Algebra here so I got it out and sat down with Little Miss Sunshine... Sweet Potato is doing summer schooling with it... we at least have moved one whole chapter! My sister found an error in the guide. Lesson 4-6 it's problem 15 or 16 I have forgotten which one but 3 of us all kept coming up with one of the answers but the other one didn't match the answer key. My sister picked it apart for 45 minutes before declaring the key was wrong. Her father in-law a long time math teacher said "Oh the stories I could tell you about wrong answers in the the answer key." Oddly he didn't actually tell us any.
So we finally got into the fun part of algebra solving X & Y because we have 2 equations. I told Sweet Potato it was magic math... (insert flying rainbow unicorns here) we don't know the variables but we have enough information that we can *still* solve them. It was fun.. I can't believe I just said algebra was fun, but there it is on my computer screen. This from the girl who never understood square roots. So as Sweet Potato and I slog through algebra going at her pace of learning. I'm at that point where Little Miss Sunshine is starting.
What a difference, I wonder if she knows how amazing it is to be introduced to negative numbers and immediately grasp if you have -45 -3 you add them to be -48 or that mental gymnastics of -32+56 =24 even the tough ones 3-4+7-10 =-4 type didn't stump her.
She told me she hated math and algebra was hard... I told her not to be scared and discussed real life negative numbers. You want beef jerky but you didn't bring your money it costs 4$ I buy it for you you now owe me (-4$) and you give me 5 dollars when we get home how much money do I need to give you back? It seemed to do the trick... (Think it was the beef jerky example beef jerky always holds her attention.) Suddenly she just understood *boing* like that... I kept giving her harder and harder problems and she just kept working her way through them.
Later as Dad and I were driving to the hardware store he said... "You are a good teacher. You praise her so much and encourage her that is the key." Thanks Dad! We had a good discussion on how hard it is for me to find things to encourage Sweet Potato on, and yet how important it is. Her stubbornness has been imprinted in her mind from the time of her birth, it kept her alive in the orphanage, yet now it causes her to not listen. So often I have to let her figure it out, you can do it your way 15 times and bang your head against the problem your way and when you figure out you need help and are ready then and only then are you teachable, and ready to learn... Maybe some day that persistence will create some new invention. I certainly hope so, but for now I can look forward to a few weeks of light school, that she can choose to make hard or easy.
I already had the No-nonsense Algebra here so I got it out and sat down with Little Miss Sunshine... Sweet Potato is doing summer schooling with it... we at least have moved one whole chapter! My sister found an error in the guide. Lesson 4-6 it's problem 15 or 16 I have forgotten which one but 3 of us all kept coming up with one of the answers but the other one didn't match the answer key. My sister picked it apart for 45 minutes before declaring the key was wrong. Her father in-law a long time math teacher said "Oh the stories I could tell you about wrong answers in the the answer key." Oddly he didn't actually tell us any.
So we finally got into the fun part of algebra solving X & Y because we have 2 equations. I told Sweet Potato it was magic math... (insert flying rainbow unicorns here) we don't know the variables but we have enough information that we can *still* solve them. It was fun.. I can't believe I just said algebra was fun, but there it is on my computer screen. This from the girl who never understood square roots. So as Sweet Potato and I slog through algebra going at her pace of learning. I'm at that point where Little Miss Sunshine is starting.
What a difference, I wonder if she knows how amazing it is to be introduced to negative numbers and immediately grasp if you have -45 -3 you add them to be -48 or that mental gymnastics of -32+56 =24 even the tough ones 3-4+7-10 =-4 type didn't stump her.
She told me she hated math and algebra was hard... I told her not to be scared and discussed real life negative numbers. You want beef jerky but you didn't bring your money it costs 4$ I buy it for you you now owe me (-4$) and you give me 5 dollars when we get home how much money do I need to give you back? It seemed to do the trick... (Think it was the beef jerky example beef jerky always holds her attention.) Suddenly she just understood *boing* like that... I kept giving her harder and harder problems and she just kept working her way through them.
Later as Dad and I were driving to the hardware store he said... "You are a good teacher. You praise her so much and encourage her that is the key." Thanks Dad! We had a good discussion on how hard it is for me to find things to encourage Sweet Potato on, and yet how important it is. Her stubbornness has been imprinted in her mind from the time of her birth, it kept her alive in the orphanage, yet now it causes her to not listen. So often I have to let her figure it out, you can do it your way 15 times and bang your head against the problem your way and when you figure out you need help and are ready then and only then are you teachable, and ready to learn... Maybe some day that persistence will create some new invention. I certainly hope so, but for now I can look forward to a few weeks of light school, that she can choose to make hard or easy.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Creativity
I had a talk with Sweet Potato about creativity today. She had turned in a hurried essay on the Holocaust. You could tell it was done in a rush and was done for "doings sake" not for achieving merit in school. I'm really struggling on how to foster creativity in this "entertain me" child.
I asked her what did creativity mean to her? At first all she would say was "I don't know." I pointed out there was no right or wrong answer to the question. I just wanted to know what did she think when I said creativity. After a few moments she said all in a rush "Drawing and stuff like that, and I'm not a good drawer." The answer was exactly what I suspected it would be. How often do we get caught up in the thought that creativity is only regulated to the muses, the arts, and never to applied to work or relationships?
To me creativity is in all walks of life. The cook who makes substitutes to the recipe and it tastes better, the manager who figures out who is best suited to each task and has a smooth running department. The janitor who figures out an efficient way to clean the floors and happily hums as he works. The child who piles all of the pillows under the blankets and declares a dinosaur is sleeping.
We delved deep into this idea that creativity is not just art but for example; her pursuit of Star Wars videos via apps on her iPod is creative. I think she got it because she said "Wait creative writing I have a book called creative writing, so writing is creative too! You know Mom it was that other school - my teacher that told me to only be creative in drawing." I'm sure this statement taken in context would totally make sense :-) but I'm not sure I like her interpretation of it at this time.
Fostering creativity in this child has always been a struggle for me. When I try to teach her the skills needed to excel at a task where she can be creative, she just wants to learn the rote way. When given tasks that need problem solving she sits and waits for it to be solved for her. Sadly she did learn "If I wait long enough someone will come and fix it." mentality in special education. *sigh*
My current prayer is to foster creativity and problem solving in her, how I do not know. I'll keep casting my net out and trying new ways till the spaghetti sticks to the wall. :-)
I asked her what did creativity mean to her? At first all she would say was "I don't know." I pointed out there was no right or wrong answer to the question. I just wanted to know what did she think when I said creativity. After a few moments she said all in a rush "Drawing and stuff like that, and I'm not a good drawer." The answer was exactly what I suspected it would be. How often do we get caught up in the thought that creativity is only regulated to the muses, the arts, and never to applied to work or relationships?
To me creativity is in all walks of life. The cook who makes substitutes to the recipe and it tastes better, the manager who figures out who is best suited to each task and has a smooth running department. The janitor who figures out an efficient way to clean the floors and happily hums as he works. The child who piles all of the pillows under the blankets and declares a dinosaur is sleeping.
We delved deep into this idea that creativity is not just art but for example; her pursuit of Star Wars videos via apps on her iPod is creative. I think she got it because she said "Wait creative writing I have a book called creative writing, so writing is creative too! You know Mom it was that other school - my teacher that told me to only be creative in drawing." I'm sure this statement taken in context would totally make sense :-) but I'm not sure I like her interpretation of it at this time.
Fostering creativity in this child has always been a struggle for me. When I try to teach her the skills needed to excel at a task where she can be creative, she just wants to learn the rote way. When given tasks that need problem solving she sits and waits for it to be solved for her. Sadly she did learn "If I wait long enough someone will come and fix it." mentality in special education. *sigh*
My current prayer is to foster creativity and problem solving in her, how I do not know. I'll keep casting my net out and trying new ways till the spaghetti sticks to the wall. :-)
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Homeschool 2015 January
I'm so happy I have allowed other kids to come be schooled in our schoolroom. The benefits far outweigh the inconvenience. I'm happy because I love to fill my life with people. I know it doesn't look like that from afar but its true. I get warmfuzzies from serving others. Sweet Potato is still not pushing as many of mom's buttons because well other people are there and she doesn't do that when other people are around. I rather like it, it's nice to not be on watch all the time. I'm sure it is good for us all. It falls into the getting it right the first time category. I love that bit, laying down neruo-pathways of doing it right.
I am getting pushback from Sweet Potato but it's not really bad at all, kinda normal and I'm glad she is defending herself and her actions. That shows a spark we need to see in her. Now if we could just direct it to positive school energy... well may be not, but I can hope right?
Little Miss Sunshine is doing well and plugging along with school. I belive she likes having a companion to do school with. Her best friend has also come to share our schooling space but I'm grateful they are not in the same program. I'm not sure any work would get done if they had shared books. Sadly right after "best friend" joined us she had to run of too another state for a family emergency. Happily she is homeschooled so her work could be packed up in a carry on and traveled with her. I do love the portability of HOD. Many support trips we have just taken school along with us.
The dynamic of the small one room school house feel makes my heart happy. I can cover one topic they all are learning about and then I can work one on one with my kids where they need help. It is taking longer and I do need to supervise the chit chat but I'm happy they are such diligent kids they stick to their work. Sometimes all it takes is a *ahem* from me to have them realize chatting is for Lunch time.
I have found I need to order my days more carefully and this week I required of myself a meal plan for the week. I love to cook and just make what my fancy strikes me of our "regularly" scheduled meals but I know my days will be happier if I have a plan and stick to it. I'm trying to feed my Knight in Shining Armor a more Mediterranean diet. Altho Monday I made his favorite P. F. Changs copycat lettuce wraps without the sugar they were so yummy!
I'm debating whether to make lamb stew or moroccan soup... I have turnips to cook :-) I think it will be the soup, in actuality there is little difference between them, just a matter of spices and my menu says soup... using up lamb looks to be the order of the day.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
We All Need a Little Respect.
I've been trying to implement 2 pieces of advice that we received during our TBRI training. Part of me thinks that during implementation they appear to be contradictory. I must be doing some of it right because she is now consistently coming to me for comfort asking for help, and seeking loving touch.
The first one is; Stop bad behavior at the source by requiring respect. Respect is the key, any and all disrespect is jumped on not allowed. It really is the beginning of all bad behavior. When we treat each other with respect bad behavior just disappears. It really works! I've totally stolen Mike and Amy's line "Can you say that in a respectful tone of voice?" I think I must have said that 20 times the first day back from Allume, and 10 times the second day back. It's quite funny as most her responses the first day back was "No I can't." upon which I replied "Maybe you should reconsider saying it." or I gave her a polite way to say what she was trying to express.
The second thing I have been working on is being Sweet Potatoes cheerleader. So often in our relationships with our adopted children they feel like they cannot be loved because birth mom "gave them up" "abandoned them" they feel deep down inside there must be something wrong with them. This shows up in relationships as behavior that pushes people away rather than drawing them in. This has been so hard this last week because of what I have dubbed the one thing leading to another principal.
I grab the Ipad to watch some Netflix while I work on handmade Christmas presents. I find it is on youtube. Ergo someone was using the Ipad for access to youtube, and the last person to use it was Sweet Potato. I don't let my kids watch youtube, have you seen the risque positions they put legos in? So I sit down and have a talk with Sweet Potato who admitted to not playing minecraft but instead as soon as no one was watching switching over to youtube and looking up celebrities. Now for all of you who think I'm being a helicopter mom... the conversation led to her being upset that she found in her words "Gross pictures of Legolas" and "I want to watch the movie White Hot with Mark Hamill in it." When in reality the movie is called The Big Red One, and she's never expressed an interest in WWII history before how odd...
So after that discussion I return to my project and Netflix only to discover shows Mom has declared off limits were watched during our absence. *sigh* can I just go bang my head against a wall. Checking with the sitters, one of them was agast as the girls assured her they were mom approved shows they were Disney shows, they weren't disgusting... or anything. The main problem being, is when my children observe these shows the themes of parents learn lessons from children, father figures who are bumbling idiots that can't find their own toes without help, and parent acknowledges the child's superiority of intellect, money management, behavior, open mindedness etc. seeps into their hearts. They actually start to say and act out the lines from the shows. Which brings us back to Mom having tojump on bring into the light all disrespect. So back out I go to chat with both my children about character issues...
How much work did I accomplish on my Christmas project??? next to nothing, but hopefully I got through to my childs heart.
The first one is; Stop bad behavior at the source by requiring respect. Respect is the key, any and all disrespect is j
The second thing I have been working on is being Sweet Potatoes cheerleader. So often in our relationships with our adopted children they feel like they cannot be loved because birth mom "gave them up" "abandoned them" they feel deep down inside there must be something wrong with them. This shows up in relationships as behavior that pushes people away rather than drawing them in. This has been so hard this last week because of what I have dubbed the one thing leading to another principal.
I grab the Ipad to watch some Netflix while I work on handmade Christmas presents. I find it is on youtube. Ergo someone was using the Ipad for access to youtube, and the last person to use it was Sweet Potato. I don't let my kids watch youtube, have you seen the risque positions they put legos in? So I sit down and have a talk with Sweet Potato who admitted to not playing minecraft but instead as soon as no one was watching switching over to youtube and looking up celebrities. Now for all of you who think I'm being a helicopter mom... the conversation led to her being upset that she found in her words "Gross pictures of Legolas" and "I want to watch the movie White Hot with Mark Hamill in it." When in reality the movie is called The Big Red One, and she's never expressed an interest in WWII history before how odd...
So after that discussion I return to my project and Netflix only to discover shows Mom has declared off limits were watched during our absence. *sigh* can I just go bang my head against a wall. Checking with the sitters, one of them was agast as the girls assured her they were mom approved shows they were Disney shows, they weren't disgusting... or anything. The main problem being, is when my children observe these shows the themes of parents learn lessons from children, father figures who are bumbling idiots that can't find their own toes without help, and parent acknowledges the child's superiority of intellect, money management, behavior, open mindedness etc. seeps into their hearts. They actually start to say and act out the lines from the shows. Which brings us back to Mom having to
How much work did I accomplish on my Christmas project??? next to nothing, but hopefully I got through to my childs heart.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Doing Hard Things
Today I was reading Matthew chapter 7 13-14
It made me think about something Sweet Potato has been saying a lot lately. You see whenever school, chores or relationships become difficult she proclaims them "to hard" and stops trying. When I encourage her to work harder, step up or just care about her schooling. She just whines and moans "Its Toooo Hard I just want to do easy things." Where in the world did she get that from this is sooo not us. She has been having a poor attitude toward school for a while. We have turned a corner and it's getting better but it's been a rough couple of weeks. I have found sticking the consequence of detention for being late (going to bed early) and suspension for 5 tardys (getting grounded all day Saturday or Wednesday and doing chores), requiring all her work to be turned in by 4pm or it was an automatic zero this was to stop the doing school from 9am -8pm daily dawdle , (a zero in the grade books means the itouch is now confiscated for 24 hours), got her attention.
Part of me did not want to dig out the consequential parenting tool from my tool box, but Time In's and talking reasonably about it were just not working. I wonder if this falls under the "high structure" requirement she needs as a sensory overloaded adopted child. Homeschooling can often be relaxed and loosey goosey. In one way it is helpful, as you can focus on the needs of the child, allow them to grow into the work if needed, but I think for Sweet Potato she needs more structure than I was providing. Once I started enforcing the detention missing prayer meeting OH MY! and re-explaining how her tardiness affects the entire school day for everyone. Then I restructured the school schedule, added disincentives to fail, and it seems to have pulled school back from frustrating to workable. Sad to say I can't say "joy" yet but my hope is in Christ :-)
I saw this Fox News snippit on a new book that shows authoritative parenting produces higher grades made me remember all my training from the Monroe's at our church and I felt better about my parenting goals in no way have I arrived :-) this is a journey...
I have been training and turning over responsibility of remembering to take your medication to Sweet Potato. Were in the "Trust but Verify" stage of this process, in 3-4 years I hope to not have to worry about the verify part, because ultimately it's not my body, it's her body, and she needs to self care. It's all part of my ultimate plan for my child to grow up and out. For her to be able to do that means I need to share power with her and allow her to fail, make mistakes and get messy. I think homeschoolers in general do the last 2 really well and the first one not so well. So I'm trying a new approach; allowing failure to be an option. So now she can fail in a safe environment all the while knowing I still believe she can do it and I'm here to help all she needs.
Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate. 14But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.
It made me think about something Sweet Potato has been saying a lot lately. You see whenever school, chores or relationships become difficult she proclaims them "to hard" and stops trying. When I encourage her to work harder, step up or just care about her schooling. She just whines and moans "Its Toooo Hard I just want to do easy things." Where in the world did she get that from this is sooo not us. She has been having a poor attitude toward school for a while. We have turned a corner and it's getting better but it's been a rough couple of weeks. I have found sticking the consequence of detention for being late (going to bed early) and suspension for 5 tardys (getting grounded all day Saturday or Wednesday and doing chores), requiring all her work to be turned in by 4pm or it was an automatic zero this was to stop the doing school from 9am -8pm daily dawdle , (a zero in the grade books means the itouch is now confiscated for 24 hours), got her attention.
Part of me did not want to dig out the consequential parenting tool from my tool box, but Time In's and talking reasonably about it were just not working. I wonder if this falls under the "high structure" requirement she needs as a sensory overloaded adopted child. Homeschooling can often be relaxed and loosey goosey. In one way it is helpful, as you can focus on the needs of the child, allow them to grow into the work if needed, but I think for Sweet Potato she needs more structure than I was providing. Once I started enforcing the detention missing prayer meeting OH MY! and re-explaining how her tardiness affects the entire school day for everyone. Then I restructured the school schedule, added disincentives to fail, and it seems to have pulled school back from frustrating to workable. Sad to say I can't say "joy" yet but my hope is in Christ :-)
I saw this Fox News snippit on a new book that shows authoritative parenting produces higher grades made me remember all my training from the Monroe's at our church and I felt better about my parenting goals in no way have I arrived :-) this is a journey...
I have been training and turning over responsibility of remembering to take your medication to Sweet Potato. Were in the "Trust but Verify" stage of this process, in 3-4 years I hope to not have to worry about the verify part, because ultimately it's not my body, it's her body, and she needs to self care. It's all part of my ultimate plan for my child to grow up and out. For her to be able to do that means I need to share power with her and allow her to fail, make mistakes and get messy. I think homeschoolers in general do the last 2 really well and the first one not so well. So I'm trying a new approach; allowing failure to be an option. So now she can fail in a safe environment all the while knowing I still believe she can do it and I'm here to help all she needs.
Friday, June 28, 2013
CTC Unit 33 Watercolor Tutorial
Ok I've been Promising and Promising to get this last tutorial up. Can you tell I have trouble finishing things? I actually edited these photos on the airplane on May 18! I had high hopes of getting this up ASAP but alas my life got majorly in the way. I thought I could do it while at my parents house in early June but you see there was this large stack O' wood that was just dying to be split and I couldn't resist splitting it.
I love how this painting uses orange peels.
DAY 2
Here is what our supplies looked like, you will also need a sea sponge for day 3.
I have enhanced my stonewall line in photoshop.
don't make your dark like this make it light and fluffy. I made mine bumpy,
because stone walls are not usually perfectly straight.
don't make your dark like this make it light and fluffy. I made mine bumpy,
because stone walls are not usually perfectly straight.
Wet the paper.
Blot the paper.
Paint an even blue sky. Note how I'm using the side of my brush to follow the stone wall edge.
Ahhh I like that.
Mixing up some grey. I used just a tiny dab of black.
Fill the grey in the wall.
I worked my way up from the bottom with a spring green.
Set your painting aside to dry in a safe place.
DAY 3
Add a tree
Don't forget to add details in to the limbs.
Sponge on leaves I used a light green and then added a dark green over the top.
Here I'm mixing up several shades of brown, orange, and grey.
Rip or cut out a small stone shape out of the orange peel. Work carefully around the tree and you don't want to overlap the trunk with stones.
I did a bunch of the same color by painting the piece of orange peel
I kept adding in stones in a semi random pattern.
Experiment, I would add grey to an orange, Some times the leftover paint would create a new color on the orange peel when I would paint it with grey or brown. let this happen it helps your painting feel more realistic.
of course I dropped my peel! Right on the light green Grrrrrr... Well I can fix that just wait and see.
Almost done just a few more stones.
Oh look we need to paint grass around the wall I know just where to start!
That will get rid of my mistake.
That will get rid of my mistake.
Ahh all done.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Mondays...
I'm beginning to rethink Sweet Potato's Sunday nights. She has life groups where part of the time they are in a big mass of teens all eating what ever is for dinner in the commons at church. The other part is when they get together in age appropriate groups and talk about what ever five 6th graders would talk about while a leader keeping tabs.
I do like the life groups because Sweet Potato is so accepted and loved on. I don't like it because Mondays are so difficult when she goes to life groups the night before. By the time we get home get her medications, vesting, snack, water, and bed time ritual were pushing 10 pm... then the inevitable chatting with sister all about how great her friends at church are. Many is the night I'm the heavy sneaking up to the door waiting till they are chatting full on... I swing open the door and quietly say "Girls... don't make me have to send you to bed 30 minutes early tomorrow." In that ominous parenting tone. I always do my best to sound like my father used to. I have to hold my giggles till I get back to my room.
Mondays after life groups are so awful when she doesn't get enough sleep. Her brain is in S...L...O..W Motion. Her school can easily last from 9am -7pm. While her sister with (no extensions) takes from 9am-12pm max. If I send her to her room to do her work she gets "distracted" from the toys/legos/DSI. She at least looks like she is doing her work if she is at the kitchen table. It seems every time I plan on watching a netflix movie in the afternoon she dawdles through school. Its like she knows what my plan is!
I could tell she was off in la la land today when she finally got to DITHOR Sweet Potato narrated to me from her Chapter in Narnia novel Voyage of the Dawn Treader after reading 3 pages of her chapter... and claiming she read it all. She finish reading the last 2 pages of her chapter to me and told me it was a scary green island scene where Edmond the dragon kills the sea serpent. (That is what happened in the movie not at all near what happens on Goldwater Island.) It was all I could to to keep a straight face. While she was sot in the corner for deception, she read the chapter in it's entirety.
Part of me kicks against the goads on days like this, part of me knows I just need to hang on and next week will be better. Last week I was feeling icky and my kiddos did fabulous. School was completed by 1pm and we watched lots of Man vs Wild, and got grossed out while learning valuable life saving skills on survival. Who knew you could eat scorpions! (high Ick factor tho). Of course last week I felt Icky on Sunday night and didn't take her to life groups... am I the only one spotting this pattern?
Update: I was on the right track http://nymag.com/news/features/38951/ This home work made me shift lots of stuff so my kids can sleep MORE!
I do like the life groups because Sweet Potato is so accepted and loved on. I don't like it because Mondays are so difficult when she goes to life groups the night before. By the time we get home get her medications, vesting, snack, water, and bed time ritual were pushing 10 pm... then the inevitable chatting with sister all about how great her friends at church are. Many is the night I'm the heavy sneaking up to the door waiting till they are chatting full on... I swing open the door and quietly say "Girls... don't make me have to send you to bed 30 minutes early tomorrow." In that ominous parenting tone. I always do my best to sound like my father used to. I have to hold my giggles till I get back to my room.
Mondays after life groups are so awful when she doesn't get enough sleep. Her brain is in S...L...O..W Motion. Her school can easily last from 9am -7pm. While her sister with (no extensions) takes from 9am-12pm max. If I send her to her room to do her work she gets "distracted" from the toys/legos/DSI. She at least looks like she is doing her work if she is at the kitchen table. It seems every time I plan on watching a netflix movie in the afternoon she dawdles through school. Its like she knows what my plan is!
I could tell she was off in la la land today when she finally got to DITHOR Sweet Potato narrated to me from her Chapter in Narnia novel Voyage of the Dawn Treader after reading 3 pages of her chapter... and claiming she read it all. She finish reading the last 2 pages of her chapter to me and told me it was a scary green island scene where Edmond the dragon kills the sea serpent. (That is what happened in the movie not at all near what happens on Goldwater Island.) It was all I could to to keep a straight face. While she was sot in the corner for deception, she read the chapter in it's entirety.
Part of me kicks against the goads on days like this, part of me knows I just need to hang on and next week will be better. Last week I was feeling icky and my kiddos did fabulous. School was completed by 1pm and we watched lots of Man vs Wild, and got grossed out while learning valuable life saving skills on survival. Who knew you could eat scorpions! (high Ick factor tho). Of course last week I felt Icky on Sunday night and didn't take her to life groups... am I the only one spotting this pattern?
Update: I was on the right track http://nymag.com/news/features/38951/ This home work made me shift lots of stuff so my kids can sleep MORE!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Homeschooling Bloggers Guide To...
Coming home after being stranded due to Hurricane Sandy.
Step 1. Toss your expectations out the air plane window.
Step 2. Ignore the mess, and turn off all the kids alarms. Allowing ample time for you to sleep in. Really just walk past it. It is not going anywhere, it will be there tomorrow. My Knight in Shining Armor was single parenting while I was away. This is actually not bad for 7 days unbridled vacation. Sleep as late as the kids will let you.
Step 5. Unpack luggage and take that swag bag that is so NOT you and, offer it to your fashionista. Win win for all involved! Now your the best mom on the block!
Step 7 A. Realize you have slept through breakfast and it's nearly lunch time. Decide to "surprise" Daddy at work and take him out to lunch. (So you don't have to cook or think about what may or may not be in the kitchen.)
Step 7 B. Go for Thai so you can talk about how Thai isn't an "English" word. because it ends in i.
Step 8. Reset your bio-rhythms by doing missed parts of school outside at the park.
Step 9. Take a walk to the playground.
Step 10 C. When they can't decide throw caution to the wind and buy both bags.
Step 11. Buy air dry clay so they can finish independent history and let it be a joint project so you don't have to supervise and you can go tweet how much more your child loves you than candy.
Step 1. Toss your expectations out the air plane window.
Step 3. Cancel any new school till your sure you are current on your existing unit.
Step 4. Seek and destroy all sticky spots, wet spots and spilled sodas the monkeys kids ignored.
Step 6. Realize your child is wearing 3 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, 3 pairs of socks and a sweater when its 75 degrees outside. Upon finding out she is prepped and ready for Hurricane Sandy, hold a geography lesson on where WE are and where the frankenstorm is now breaking apart.
Step 10 A. Buy your kids happy hour drinks at Sonic and get them half off candy because as Little Miss Sunshine put it to her friend Lullaby "I want to see my mom more than I want candy, so I'm going to the airport to pick her up."
Step 10 B. Feel special cause your kid loves you more than candy.
Revel in the fact they are smiling.
Step 12. Explore the refrigerator and concoct a simple one bowl meal so you have time to blog about what a great day you had with your smiling kiddos.
Step 13. Go to bed early so you have energy to clean the kids room tomorrow.
On a sadder note:
Hopefully this week I can get up a post about my wonderful Grandma who passed away on October 31st. She was amazing.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
The Joys and Sorrows of Cooking With Children
Heart Of Dakota on Facebook posted some suggestions of what to do with your kids for breakfast. Since that first meal can set the tone of the day.
I replied saying I had trained my kiddos to make their own breakfast since I have a grumpy Gus, she has to be hooked up to her Vest Airway System for 20 minutes each morning. Letting her have control over this aspect of her life is beneficial for all parties involved. Not to mention the added benefit that Little Miss Sunshine now makes smashing omelets, and Sweet Potato makes great tho slightly wet scrambled eggs.
I have to admit this road was paved by my Mom. Can you guess who the grumpy Gus was in her house...can you? Huh Huh Huh? I was beyond annoying in the morning. I was hard to get out of bed and not fun to be around before 10am. Oddly enough when Mom put breakfast squarely in my hands I became the pancake maker for my siblings. Looking back on the wisdom of myancestors elders, I have followed suit.
I have to admit it took a good year to transition to self made breakfast.
The Sorrows...
I lost sniff sniff my best beloved Calphalon Omelet pan in the process. I live in hope that when they grow up and realize how much one of those costs, they replace it. It's fine for other things now but no longer suitable for making omelets.
Letting kids in the kitchen means you will have large messes to clean up, and they might lose a bit of fingernail in the process. I'm a believer in giving a kid a SHARP knife to cut with. Once they have the mechanics of cutting down. Imho DULL knives cause more injuries than sharp ones. Sharp knives cut, dull ones slip off the red bell pepper and into child's hand, leading to a run to the bathroom for band-aids.
Don't forget if it's glass, it is going to break, expect things to fall and smash beautifully while your all walking around with bare feet.
They will put the $10.99 a pound cheese in their omelet and not leave any for you, because "MOM this Cheese is fantastic." You will run out of eggs halfway though the week when you have no more money in the food budget envelope, because they burned them, dropped them and/or left them out.
Not to mention the time it takes to train them! When you can do it faster, and more efficiently by just kicking them out of the kitchen. It's not easy having that little one with sticky fingers touching all the drawers and handles that will need to be cleaned up after. You know your not gonna be happy till all the honey is off the fridges handle, And your going to be the one to clean it. But as they age up they actually start putting away the eggs with out being told. Even soaking the pans.
The Joys...
The hard work of training them is beginning to pay off. No longer are my quiet times reminiscent of Nehemiah's emergency prayer requests. Quiet Time is in the morning before I get out of bed. I grab my itouch and open up my bible reading program and read, think, pray. It's fabulous I can't believe I'm 62% done on my bible reading plan! It helps me be a slightly more patient Mom, and it gets me more awake and functioning. So I can face the math! Cause lets face it I'm still not really wake before 10am still!
I have found my kids will eagerly show off their egg cooking skills, and make me a tasty breakfast in bed. Unlike some of the nasty burnt creations of my child hood. Those I lovingly carried up to my parents room. BTW Mom/Dad I'm so sorry for all the nasty eggs you had to secretly feed to the cat. My kids make food you can eat, delish even.
Allowing the freedom to fail, leads to creativity in the kitchen. It's amazing the MEALS yes I did say meals Little Miss Sunshine will make. I'm so proud of her when she asks to make dinner at 10 years of age.
They can cook... think when they go to college they can cook for all their friends. Who are resorting to Raman cup-o-soup.
They appreciate food more. If I made Sweet Potato eat eggs everyday for a week she would have a whine fest. Yet this same child can make herself eggs for 10 days in a row without complaint. Odd isn't it??? I think this falls under Giving Voice, in the ideal parenting model. Like Burger King they can have it their way everyday as long as they clean up afterward.
I now have helping hands, yes the pieces of green bell pepper may not be cut into OCD precise cubes, but hey you didn't have to cut them up!
I'm making memories, of failures fixed by a dash of this and that, or standing by and letting them cook it all by themselves. That first loaf of bread or batch of cookies they did while you "spotted" them in the kitchen.
The joy you feel when Daddy praises you for a great dish, and you nod your chin at the children and you coyly say "They made it." I swear their little faces beam back at you.
Update: Yup we have had a glass smash! added photos :-)
I replied saying I had trained my kiddos to make their own breakfast since I have a grumpy Gus, she has to be hooked up to her Vest Airway System for 20 minutes each morning. Letting her have control over this aspect of her life is beneficial for all parties involved. Not to mention the added benefit that Little Miss Sunshine now makes smashing omelets, and Sweet Potato makes great tho slightly wet scrambled eggs.
I have to admit this road was paved by my Mom. Can you guess who the grumpy Gus was in her house...can you? Huh Huh Huh? I was beyond annoying in the morning. I was hard to get out of bed and not fun to be around before 10am. Oddly enough when Mom put breakfast squarely in my hands I became the pancake maker for my siblings. Looking back on the wisdom of my
I have to admit it took a good year to transition to self made breakfast.
The Sorrows...
 |
| Look at that nice tiny dice and she's only 10! |
Letting kids in the kitchen means you will have large messes to clean up, and they might lose a bit of fingernail in the process. I'm a believer in giving a kid a SHARP knife to cut with. Once they have the mechanics of cutting down. Imho DULL knives cause more injuries than sharp ones. Sharp knives cut, dull ones slip off the red bell pepper and into child's hand, leading to a run to the bathroom for band-aids.
 |
| Was once a butter dish! Smashed 5 days after post. |
They will put the $10.99 a pound cheese in their omelet and not leave any for you, because "MOM this Cheese is fantastic." You will run out of eggs halfway though the week when you have no more money in the food budget envelope, because they burned them, dropped them and/or left them out.
Not to mention the time it takes to train them! When you can do it faster, and more efficiently by just kicking them out of the kitchen. It's not easy having that little one with sticky fingers touching all the drawers and handles that will need to be cleaned up after. You know your not gonna be happy till all the honey is off the fridges handle, And your going to be the one to clean it. But as they age up they actually start putting away the eggs with out being told. Even soaking the pans.
The Joys...
The hard work of training them is beginning to pay off. No longer are my quiet times reminiscent of Nehemiah's emergency prayer requests. Quiet Time is in the morning before I get out of bed. I grab my itouch and open up my bible reading program and read, think, pray. It's fabulous I can't believe I'm 62% done on my bible reading plan! It helps me be a slightly more patient Mom, and it gets me more awake and functioning. So I can face the math! Cause lets face it I'm still not really wake before 10am still!
I have found my kids will eagerly show off their egg cooking skills, and make me a tasty breakfast in bed. Unlike some of the nasty burnt creations of my child hood. Those I lovingly carried up to my parents room. BTW Mom/Dad I'm so sorry for all the nasty eggs you had to secretly feed to the cat. My kids make food you can eat, delish even.
Allowing the freedom to fail, leads to creativity in the kitchen. It's amazing the MEALS yes I did say meals Little Miss Sunshine will make. I'm so proud of her when she asks to make dinner at 10 years of age.
 |
| Frying up spices to replenish our Garam Masala spice jar. |
They appreciate food more. If I made Sweet Potato eat eggs everyday for a week she would have a whine fest. Yet this same child can make herself eggs for 10 days in a row without complaint. Odd isn't it??? I think this falls under Giving Voice, in the ideal parenting model. Like Burger King they can have it their way everyday as long as they clean up afterward.
I now have helping hands, yes the pieces of green bell pepper may not be cut into OCD precise cubes, but hey you didn't have to cut them up!
I'm making memories, of failures fixed by a dash of this and that, or standing by and letting them cook it all by themselves. That first loaf of bread or batch of cookies they did while you "spotted" them in the kitchen.
The joy you feel when Daddy praises you for a great dish, and you nod your chin at the children and you coyly say "They made it." I swear their little faces beam back at you.
Update: Yup we have had a glass smash! added photos :-)
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Creation To Christ HOD Unit 1
Yesterday we finished Unit 1 took over a week but were easing into it.
The kids had a blast with the science experiment. Making a royal mess but having so much fun!
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| Sorry about the blur they were moving so FAST! |
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 |
| Yeah! skittles, who knew the blue would be the hardest to find. |
Another reason is the new book shelves yeah! that give me ample room to store the school books. A couple of bins to box and banish the art supplies and all things that clutter up school.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
CTC First Day
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If the clutter gets out of control we'll go back to schooling in the kids bedroom. As it is, I love how I have homes for all the books. Mise en place works for school as well as the kitchen :-)
Little Miss Sunshine and Sweet Potato are able to share a curriculum this year. I love how I can combine them, they are very much in the same place in math, science, history, and reading. Sad for Sweet potato that she is not progressing as rapidly as her sister but she is progressing! Little Miss Sunshine thinks math is fun and interesting. While I wonder what is wrong with her I do rejoice that she likes math...
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As we were working through some math (review) on how to say big numbers, I was yet again reminded of my childhood. Ever have flashbacks to events when you were a kid? It was just like being back in my 3rd grade class room. Terrified of Mrs. Beecher the creature and that I had to say 10,506 in front of everybody. I failed miserably, Instead of saying ten thousand five hundred and six I gabbled out ten, five, six. Zeros were a mystery to me. It's as if they have some mystical power. Really how can you have 5 divide it by nothing and end up with nothing... what happened to the 5????
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We took two days to do Unit1 Day 1, I'm fine with taking extra time. Getting back into the swing of things is always difficult. As I see it any "one day" we get done in the heat. Is a day off we can have during the great fall weather of November.
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