learning

All posts tagged learning

Cabin Fever, In October :-(

Published October 22, 2013 by Angela

My girls seem to be bickering in their “it’s-cold-and-winter-and-we’re-stuck-in-the-house” attitudes, and it isn’t even November. Which means it’s time for me to get creative.

My girls get bored. Quickly and easily. I can take them to the craft store and get them anything they want, and after a couple hours, they are done with it. So my new strategy is taking them places that have been around their whole lives but they have not experienced yet. Unfortunately I get bored even faster than they do, so I may have to travel some distances to get them out of their element.

I have a feeling I need to get settled into what could likely be a long, cold, winter season with a smile on my face and bells on my shoes.

No, literally. It would likely take that much to get my girls to smile with their attitudes right now 🙂

 

This about sums it up! :-)

This about sums it up! 🙂

You’re mad at me? Really???

Published October 15, 2013 by Angela

one-other-children-did-family-ecard-someecards

Because I won’t let you play a game on the laptop? Did you ever think that maybe I am mad at you for not doing any of your homework yesterday?

“But she got to have her turn on the computer yesterday!!!”

Me: “She went to school!!!”

And maybe I really didn’t feel like spending 3 hours reading a World History book to you when you could have had it done. Easily. But I did.

And why did I do it?

Yep! Because I love you 🙂 

(Yes, she had no response to that. Sometimes I enjoy making a point a bit too much, but I think it got across to her). If homework gets done today, she gets the laptop tonight.

I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to be a non-issue for me today 🙂 I may get the hang of this homeschooling yet!

You did not just say that, did you? (PG)

Published October 3, 2013 by Angela

Oh My Goodness. Church was interesting tonight. After several years of teaching youngsters of various ages many lessons, this is the first time I was speechless. Only for about 3 seconds though, then I tried to fix the problem.

The theme tonight? Saying you’re sorry. What do I do? Ask if anyone has had to apologize to anyone recently. All the hands went up, so I gave everyone a turn to answer. The last boy of about 8 or 9 years old? Yeah, he got me good.

Boy: “I had to apologize to my friend when we were playing soccer for hitting him in the balls with the ball.”

Me: JAW-DROP

Me again: “We can’t say that in here, we have to find better words to use.”

You would think I would have kept a closer eye on him for the rest of class, but noooooo, I tell everyone when it’s time to go to their next class to take their I’m Sorry cards they had made for someone with them. Without looking at them.

Thank goodness one of the other ladies happened to see his card before he got out the door and in his parents car because Yep, he made a card with a really accurate drawing of this said incident and wrote “I’m sorry I hit you in the nuts with my ball.”

😦 Let’s see if I can stay one step ahead of them next week. And how was YOUR night?

Calculators or no?

Published September 6, 2013 by Angela

I am finding myself (OK, putting myself) in a dilemma about whether or not I should let my 7th grader use a calculator for her homeschooled math. I know the public schools definitely allow it in high school, and I believe in middle school as well. I know I wouldn’t have gotten through all of my math and accounting classes for my Associates and Bachelors degrees without a calculator.

She hasn’t asked, but I reviewed her pre-test comprehension skills to see what pace she is at. Any mistakes were fairly simple ones that will take just some practice. As the book goes on, the work gets much harder.

Does anyone have any advice on if they do or don’t use a calculator, and why? I will be honest and say it is likely at some point in the near future I will be giving her my calculator. I also feel at some point as her math advances in future grades it will not be possible to solve math problems without a scientific calculator. Any thoughts on if I am cheating her out of a learning experience if I let her use a calculator?