learning

All posts tagged learning

Anyone Else Feel Like This?

Published March 25, 2014 by Angela

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/common-core-parent-facebook-post-indiana-school-181841158.html  

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!

 

Online School for Homeschool

Published March 6, 2014 by Angela

It’s about that time; I will begin the enrollment process for my homeschooler so she can do 8th grade in an online environment.

I almost feel like I am giving up, passing the buck, putting the responsibility on someone else. Yeah, I probably am. But with everything I have tried for the past 7+ months, I cannot seem to find what is needed to motivate Erin to be excited about learning. She used to love school (before the bullying issues) and she does really well with some of her homeschooling. World History is a breeze; math, not so much. Reading stories and doing book reports? Piece of cake. Science, ehh, she could take it or leave it.

I think something more structured, with a set schedule and hard and fast deadlines will help her stay on pace. Obviously I cannot do anything to reward or punish her enough to make her want to do her work consistently. I realize that homeschooling is generally a more laid back type of learning environment (I mean that in the best way possible), but unfortunately, I have the personality of schedules, time frames, and deadlines. This is still an environment I am trying to adjust to.

Having experience with online learning for numerous years, I do think she will do well with this.

Have you done online learning, and what did you think about it?

 

On To A New Week!

Published February 10, 2014 by Angela

I feel like I have been falling behind on several things since 2014 began. I would like to blame college but that 1st class was only 3 weeks long, and it ended a couple weeks ago.

I really think the lack of sunshine is making me so tired (and yes, bitchy! Remember that last post?) I have stocked up on some Vitamin D, hoping this helps. Normally I would go tanning, or fake-and-bake as we say here in Michigan. As much as I love the look of a nice tan, I have stopped doing this a couple years ago due to concern about the safety of it, as well as skin cancer. Being red-headed, fair-skinned, and full of freckles, I should have never had a tan, ever 🙂

I feel like I have been getting off-track on the homeschooling. If Erin is getting behind, it is because I am not pushing her hard enough. And I am not talking about making her do school 8 hours a day (although I wish she would!) I am talking about making the time I need to in order to make sure she is understanding everything, and what she has questions on. Checking her work every day is just not enough, and what used to be hours a day discussing her work feels like less and less.

So as each day here in West Michigan gets a bit longer with more sunshine (even though we don’t see it), I am refocusing on staying on task, and keeping Erin on task. I would like to wrap up her 1st year of homeschooling on a positive note, having accomplished everything we planned out last August. My intention for her 8th grade year is to enroll her in online school. I think that will help keep her on task and more focused. She sure gets distracted easily! And yes, she gets it from me 🙂 Online schooling takes a special kind of discipline, and since I have been going to college like this for more years than I’ll tell you, I think this is definitely going to help both of us with homeschooling.

 

What Do You Mean You Can’t Read or Write in Cursive?

Published January 30, 2014 by Angela

How did I not know that my 9 year old, 4th grade daughter cannot read or write in cursive? What else have they stopped teaching in public schools? It’s bad enough they changed how they teach math that I am no longer capable of helping her. But to stand behind her while she is on the internet and she tells me she cannot read the text because the font is in cursive. WHAT???

What happened to this?

What happened to this?

She “learned” it in 3rd grade, her 4th grade teacher has not once mentioned reading or writing in cursive. I fear that we are getting to the point where kindergarteners are going to learn how to type on a tablet, and they won’t even know how to write or what a pencil is.

How my 4th grader feels about cursive writing

How my 4th grader feels about cursive writing

So, my solution is I am going to teach her cursive reading and writing. And then I am going to wait for her to tell me what her teacher says when she turns in her spelling words written in cursive.

Does everything in our lives have to change or disappear because of technology? Can’t they coincide and get along???

What are your kids not being taught anymore?

Well That Wasn’t So Bad!

Published January 15, 2014 by Angela

I have officially made it through my first week of college for my MBA. I have to be honest and say this is only a 3 week course, to go over the school policies and requirements for writing essays, with about 6 assignments due a week, and 2 quizzes. Then I have a short break before the real fun begins; Research and Statistics. Yep. That type of class. The last one made me cry on a daily basis, nearly have a nervous break-down, and almost give up on getting my BBA.

I’ve gotten over that though. I didn’t give up. I didn’t have a nervous break-down (I am honestly not exaggerating here, it WAS that bad for me). I am going into this next class with a positive, can-do attitude, and know if I keep the right attitude, the class will fly by.

That about sums it up!

That about sums it up!


 

One thing I have noticed in 7 days, is I have no time to blog. Keeping my two blogs is my evening (morning for most of you) relaxation and unwind time. It’s what I do when I get home from work and get the kiddo’s up and off to school. I dig into my bowl of chocolate candy sitting right next to my laptop (like that’s going to help me sleep!) Then it’s a movie in the DVD player, ear plugs in, eye mask on, and hopefully some sound sleep before the kids start coming home.

My nightly snack (not all at once!)

My nightly snack (not all at once!)

So until I figure out how to add college back into my schedule and not give up the things I enjoy, my postings may be few-and-far-between.

Here’s to higher education, and the things I willingly put myself through.

I Can’t Pick Up After You Forever

Published December 9, 2013 by Angela

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!

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?

I hope I made the Right Decision!

Published December 3, 2013 by Angela

Ordering my next set of textbooks to start on my next college degree came with mixed emotions.

I am excited to begin working on my Master’s Degree, and sad that I will lose the little bit of free time I had. I am excited to be learning new things again, and worried I will get stressed out.

So here’s to taking it one class at a time, and before I know it, I will be finished like I was with the last 2 degrees.

My kids think I’ve lost my mind; I think they may be right 🙂 Here’s to never-ending education!

 

 

I have to be honest, it is a pet peeve of mine :-)

I have to be honest, it is a pet peeve of mine 🙂

You Ate WHAT For Lunch?

Published November 21, 2013 by Angela

I can understand the cheeseburger that Erin fried up, even the scrambled eggs she had (hopefully for breakfast), but I cannot fathom what she did with the rest of ALL of my eggs that she hard-boiled. I am talking about an 18 pack of eggs. Let’s say she was really hungry (she is a growing 12-year-old) she could reasonably eat 3-4 scrambled eggs. I mean, we all know eggs shrink by ½ once they are scrambled, right? But what she did with the other 14 eggs that she says she hard-boiled is beyond me. She does not like egg-salad, or the egg yolks in boiled eggs, but she will eat deviled eggs. Yes, it makes no sense. But it is what it is.

I was actually more concerned that she possibly did eat an extraordinary amount of eggs, and was looking at her sideways all of last night for any excessive flushing of the face, or nausea, or anything else that would indicate she was having a protein/cholesterol overload.

What is even more scary, is that she did not eat all of these eggs, and they are still in my house, somewhere, and I will likely discover them a day past their “beyond ripe and smelling” expiration date.

So today, I am making her a PB & J sandwich, putting some chips in a bag, and apple and a yogurt, a couple small pieces of chocolate, and hoping she finds it sufficient and doesn’t decide to cook the turkey in my freezer for a snack between lunch and dinner.

I’m not kidding folks, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried 🙂

Those Three Beautiful Words

Published November 14, 2013 by Angela

After a good night’s sleep, or in my case less than stellar sleep, I always hear the same thing from any one of my girls, generally all 3 by the time they all see me. Yep, you could set a clock by it.

“What’s for dinner?”  (I should clarify I am a shift worker, sleeping during the day while my kids are in school, or homeschooling, getting up as everyone is getting home for the day). So as I am rubbing sleep out of my eyes, wishing my 20-second Keurig coffee pot could brew even faster, they want to know what’s for dinner. Not “How’d you sleep?” or “I love you”.

So as I am waking up, and getting ready for my day, knowing I couldn’t eat a bite of anything I am cooking them, they want to know what is for dinner, and how fast can I get it cooked? We have slowly adjusted to this type of schedule, but I do wish I could eat the dinner I make for my family with them. Instead, I am eating a yogurt and piece of fruit, or a bowl of Honey-Nut Cheerios (YUM!) while they are eating tacos, or spaghetti, or any other meal I would love to share with them.

The problem gets worse as even though I am eating my dinner at 2am in the morning, my body knows it is 2am, and that I really shouldn’t be eating a meal at that time of day. So I tend to eat a lot of soups, or anything else that doesn’t bother my “it’s-2am-you-should-be-sleeping” stomach.

I tried to have a normal schedule on the weekends I don’t work, my body doesn’t appreciate that either. I can only hope that this situation I volunteered myself into is not going to be a long-term situation, and I can eventually feel like a normal person who has a normal schedule and normal eating habits.

Are you a shift worker? If so, how do you adjust to it?