…she is beginning to find her focus, her groove, her motivation to stay on task for her homeschooling. Maybe it was the threat of the laptop disappearing (I can guarantee it was), but she definitely did what she needed to yesterday, and her grade improved 19%. Which makes her a very happy teenager, and me a happy mom.
I am crossing my fingers that it was not a fluke, and we can keep to a reasonable schedule from here on out.
What do you do if you find things getting off task?
I am seeing a pattern. And I am not liking it. I seem to be spending more time going through my 8th grader’s homeschooling work, checking her calendar, making sure she has her schedule for the day, etc. etc. You probably know the drill.
But I am not seeing her put forth the same amount of effort as I am. I do not know what else to do to motivate her, but I am fast running out of ideas.
I either need better bribes, or better punishments 🙂
and how is your week going?
It seems I have been asking the “Did you get your assessments done today?” Several times a day, only to go and check anyways, and then spend more hours getting said 8th grader caught up.
The plan is to be back on track by Sunday night, with all grades going up a level. It is way too early in the school year to start getting behind 🙂 How do you keep your homeschoolers on task?
So True!
I have to say, this has been one long week! I am super-happy that Erin’s Friday classes I had to take her to are done for the year. I am also still waiting to hear from the K12 program to get her enrolled in online school for 8th grade. Kendall’s Drivers training got pushed out from starting Monday to starting on April 14, which makes me super-happy as well.
Statistics ends on Wednesday, so I am going to be spending my weekend getting my final assignments and exam finished.
It appears that it is going to be a very rainy weekend here in West Michigan, but it isn’t snowing and I’m not complaining!
What are your fun plans (or maybe not-so-fun chores) for this weekend? Enjoy it, no matter what you are doing 🙂
I have been dealing with this common core math teaching issue for a couple years. My 9 year old is doing basic math problems in such a manner that I cannot help her. I literally cannot help her. I have taken numerous math-based college classes, I have 2 college degrees, working on my 3rd, and I cannot help her.
Honestly, it pisses me off a bit. OK, a lot. She is not going to be taught how to write in cursive (other than by me), and she is processing a basic math problem that can be done in a couple steps in 20+ steps.
How exactly are we helping our children’s education? How are they learning to be successful? Much like the father in the above link points out, if anyone tried to do their job by completing math in this manner, they would be fired. No employer wants you doing a 3-step process in 108 steps. 108 steps!
Check out the link, and let me know what kind of ridiculous public school teaching/learning situations you are dealing with!
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Since Erin and I have been experiencing some difficulty with her homeschooling (it is beyond difficult getting her to complete her daily assignments, on a daily basis) I am looking into a virtual school for 8th grade. I think this type of set schedule will definitely keep her on pace better than I have been able to, and the social aspect will definitely help her. She certainly isn’t entirely to blame for this; I seem to be a poor motivator (threatener, punisher, reward-giver, and whatever else I have tried).
I can enroll her in March, and as I know she is not ready to go back to public school at this point, I think this is the best option for both of us. I am working on my Master’s degree, online, and will be for a couple of years. I think her being in the same school-type environment as I am will be good for her.
Have you done a virtual school for your child/children? Did it work for them?
It’s pretty bad when they can only show 1 warning at a time!
School is closed by 6pm for tomorrow. Wind chill warnings and non-stop snow until at least Wednesday. Warned by police to stay off the roads unless necessary, I am sure my employer will find my attendance at work necessary 🙂 It is becoming difficult to find things for my girls to do that keep them quiet during the day while I need to sleep. They are burning up their laptop and the Wii, but have been getting along rather well. I fear the number of days they may have to go to school into their summer vacation due to this cold snap that seems like it will never end.
OK, let’s be honest, them going to school through the summer would honestly make me happy 🙂 There, I said it!
I know the feeling!
Even my online classes are having connection difficulties! We are hunkered down, taking it a day at a time. I stop to the store each morning buying what I think we may need to get through a couple days if we end up completely stuck in the house. The worst is yet to come, so I need to be prepared.
Yes, I think 3 gallons of milk in the fridge is enough (actually, I ran out of room). I guess I could buy more and keep it in my snow bank! My girls are tearing up the latest boxes of cereal I bought, therefore the fear of a personal milk shortage.
What are you doing to keep yourself and your children busy when it’s too cold to leave the house?
I bring you sunshine and smiles 🙂
5:45 am-
15 y.o.: Mom, where’s my “To Kill A Mockingbird Book?”
Me: In your bag
15 y.o.: No, it isn’t
Me: Well the last time I saw it, it was halfway under the sofa because it fell out of your book bag that you dropped in the middle of the living room floor for everyone to trip over.
15 y.o.: I can’t find it
Me: Well, I would move the sofa out. Your sister hung up your book bag for me and I told her to put your book in it.
No Luck…. I didn’t tell her I have a copy of it in the bookshelf in the basement.
I can’t get mad at her messiness, because I know I was the exact same way. But it seems like every day I am playing Sherlock Holmes, looking for school books, homework, socks, and toys.
Toys. Toys I don’t even remember them having and certainly didn’t play with 🙂 Toys they try to describe to me and I do not understand. I know for a fact 2 of the three have brand new school clothes floating around this house somewhere, still with the tags on and never worn! Because I ask them where it is and they don’t know.
What I should do is find the stuff myself and wrap it up as Christmas gifts 🙂
When did I become so old? LOL
I completely understand why my Dad went through my bedroom every month while I was growing up, with a garbage bag, and threw out everything on the floor. The only difference between he and I though, is that he would never replace something he threw away because of my messiness. (Yes, I have thrown stuff out, only to buy it again, and I am fully ashamed to say that!)
Nothing in the world is truer than this!
As I complain (sarcastically) I am very lucky to have 3 awesome girls still at home (4 awesome girls, one being a Junior in college). They do very well when asked to do something for me, but I swear to goodness I will never, ever know how after a pair of socks are worn once, its mate is never-to-be-seen again!
Do you have any special tricks to get your kids to be organized?
Since I have been up for hours (it is currently 5:45am) as is normal for me on weekends that I don’t work, I figured I would watch “The Sound of Music” which was shown live Thursday on NBC. Did I want to watch it? Not particularly. But the aftermath that went on from this live version really had me wondering “How bad could it really be?” So I had to see for myself.
I am not an actress; I have never been, or wanted to be. I have never been in a school play, a production of any kind, and the most I got in front of a crowd was for band concerts, one invisible kid in a crowd of kids. So I am not going to make any comments of what I feel the quality of the acting that happened during this LIVE performance was. And I will not write the names here of the previous actresses whom acted in the original movie version with Julie Andrews, as the various children in the movie. They do not deserve mention, and should wholly be ashamed of themselves.
What I would like to know, is exactly how many takes each one of their scenes took, because every single time they made a mistake, someone said “Cut!” and they got to go back and fix it. Time after time. After time. How would they have done live? Probably not so hot. But they would not have gotten bullied while they were continuing to act live on a stage knowing the whole world was waiting for them to fail. Hoping for them to fail.
“How dare you try to play a role Julie Andrews played!” “Almost painful to watch!” Really? Painful? What is painful is reading comments from a couple has-beens who are sitting behind an electronic device giving criticism on a role they never had to perform. I agree with Carrie Underwood that these critics need Jesus. Boy do they ever. They need a lot more than that. Would putting them on the other side of the fence make them understand? Not likely. Most bullies do not ever believe they have done anything wrong. Not all, but a lot.
Am I a fan of Carrie Underwood’s? No, I am not. I think she has an amazing voice (I can’t carry a tune in a bucket!) but I do not like country music. I am familiar with some of her songs; they are catchy and good, but I haven’t heard a song yet that has me going to the store to buy her CD. But that doesn’t mean I wish her to fail.
As a parent of a child who suffered through 3 years of terrible bullying before finally telling me the whole truth of what was happening to her, to what I went through for 3 years fighting with a young girl every single day to go to school; being threatened with court, jail, and fines; to having a homeschooler who is calm, content, and successful, I have to say, this display of public bullying really, REALLY pisses me off. (I just had to erase what I typed after that because it was not what Jesus would say, and I will not allow someone to turn ME into a bully too!)
I understand we live in a world of instant information, and I still can’t say that I think this is a great thing. When I was growing up, I could go home, not answer the phone, did not have a computer or cell phone going off non-stop, and could have peace and quiet. Now our children can be harassed 24 hours a day, and it is a very difficult thing to stop.
We can all be better people, and make better examples for others. We can each make a positive difference, if we choose to. Or we can be part of the problem.
Be a friend, not the enemy.
I want to be part of the solution. Who’s with me?
parenthoodandotherhorrorstories 