More on math....

 Well, I have had a "Thunderbolt Moment" regarding math. I will share that in a bit but first I want to share a little of what I have learned in my research (not that any of you care to know but I will remember better if I write it out :o). My research indicates that there are 2 primary methods/types of math curriculum available. There is the Spiral method and the (forgive me here I can't remember exactly what it is called) Mastery method.  When the Spiral method introduces new math concepts it only has the student practice a few of the new problem at a time, actually of any of any given type of problem at a time. For instance, if the new concept is carrying then the student is given maybe 6 of these problems to practice. The rest of the page is filled with various problems the child has learned in the past and there is never more than about 10 problems of each. With the Mastery method a child is given a new concept and given many problems of the same type. There is little repetition of  old concepts. Each method has it's "selling points". The Spiral method, which is found in ABeka, Horizons, etc....., is loved for it's emphasis on review so that the child doesn't forget and for the reason that kids are less likely to get frustrated and bored because there is so much variety on each page. The Mastery method, which is found in Saxon, Singapore, etc....., is loved for it's emphasis on making sure the child masters each new concept before moving on.  They often have reviews every so many weeks to make sure the student still remembers the mastered skills.  There are many variations in each group some of which are  heavy on manipulatives, video interaction, games, etc.... and you will find that people tend to either love or hate them.But, as LEAT pointed out in the comments on my last post, each child is different and what works for 1 may not work for another.
    Now for my "Thunderbolt moment" :o)  As I was assessing what about our math program I was unhappy with and why I didn't think it was a good fit, it occurred to me that the problem was not the program. J is not struggling in math, she is doing quite well even BUT she is frustrated. I finally realized the frustration was not with the type of math, with the program we have used, or with the difficulty of it. Her frustration is because I am so limited in how I can help her with school. Because of my current health issues, I am not able to sit with her, be in the same room the while she is working, or go to her when she needs help. When she has a question or a problem she has to come to me. That may seem small but my girl is very social and does her work best and fastest when I/someone is near. I think the stress of our current situation is wearing on her too. School is much less structured and consists of fitting in the bare necessities whenever we poss can.  Anyhow, I may still change brands but probably only if the other comparable one is cheaper than what we got this year.  Being able to really look at the root of our frustrations has really helped me be less frustrated with the math we are using. 

Homeschooling

  As I have mentioned in previous posts, we have used the My Father's World program for our home schooling. It has been a really great fit for our family and I am so thankful for how laid back and flexible it can be. I am afraid we would be repeating 1st grade if it hadn't been because of all that our family has been through this year (Primarily because this program is not labor intensive for the teacher).  I have not been as crazy about our math though and recently started researching other brands...... I have to say that researching home school programs is one of the most overwhelming things that there is! Everyone has an opinion and and often are VERY strong in voicing that opinion.  I am finding that I need to sit down and write our my goals for home schooling, my ideas/theory of education and how I hope to implement that so I can filter what I read through that plan. I recently read 'For the Childrens Sake' by Susan Schaeffer McCaulay. It was a very well written book and I very much appreciated it's views on education. It really addressed a lot the things that I have been mulling over and I am looking forward to re-reading it often. 
I wish that decision making was something that I enjoyed/was good at. I hate making decisions and researching math and such only makes me hate it more! I am hoping that if I actually will sit down and write out my home-school plan it will make the decision process easier.  There is a big Home-school conference in June, I wanted to attend last year but wasn't able to. I am trying to decide if it would help or hurt for me to go this year and if I will feel up to it.  Anyhow, that is what my poor little mind has been mulling over lately..... :oP

Kids...... part 2

 Well, this weekend B said something really funny so, as she got neglected in the last post, I thought I would give her her own post. :o)

On Sat. afternoon we were outside soaking up some sunshine, I was lounging in a camp chair, the kids were exploring the yard and hubby was getting ready to get in the car to go get our mail. B came running up to him and they had the following conversation....

B: Daddy if you see an octopus will you kill it for me please?
Daddy (rather unprepared for this request): What?
B: If you find an octopus will you KILL it for me?
Daddy (rather amused): Why?
B: So I can have his ink.
Daddy: Why do you want his ink?
B: Because I found some feathers! (showing him 2 rather bedraggled crow feathers)
B then dashes off and Daddy is left laughing. Ink for crow feathers? What in the world?  "Well, obviously," I laugh with him " Feathers make pens, pens need ink, and an octopus has ink! :o)  I then told him that I did NOT want him looking for any octopus because if he (who does NOT swim) sees an octopus, it will be the last thing he sees in this life. He laughed and assured me he would be avoiding the ocean. :o) 

I love kids and all the cute things they say!

kids stuff

As I want to post and can't think of anything deep or thought provoking, not necessarily interesting, I am going to bore you with the cute things my kids say sometimes. :o) 

  Currently my eldest is doing school at the kitchen table and singing  "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good". I am not sure if I should assume that this indicates what she thinks of writing or not?  As it is the second time she has had to write the paper (we are learning the importance of neat hand writing) it probably is! LOL!  She also just came to me with an apple and said "what are these called again?" I just stared at her for a minute til I realized she was asking what kind of apple it was.... :o) She likes Braeburns :o) 

My middlest :o) is a pretty serious gal which makes it hard to convey her funnies to "paper".  I will have to think and see if I can find a way to write them in which you can "see" how funny she is. :o)  

  My youngest is in that phase where it seems something funny issues forth almost every time he opens his mouth. I say almost because I can not see humor in whining and he has recently become quite proficient in whining. :oP   As he is currently still not potty trained (we have decided not to push it while there is so much upheaval in our lives) he still gets diaper rashes on occasion. It is sooo cute when he tells me about it though because he does not say bottom like the rest of the world he says "Mommy, owie bommit" or when he is running around without a diaper he will pull his shirt down and say "Me hidin' bommit". He is currently obsessed with marriage and insists "Me marry ......" his fav is B but we all get included occasionally. 

 Now that you are all asleep :o) I will bid you Adieu!

Rebel

So, I realize this is a ridiculous thing to post about but, I am feeling like a rebel. I am one of the only people in the world without Facebook. I had an account before it really got big and, as I only knew 1 person on it, I thought it was a complete waste of time. Now I would know a lot of people but I don't want to do it. I have flirted with the idea but find that I feel very rebellious about it. I DON'T want it!!! I realize such a statement could get me ostracized from all internetdom but, so be it. I find myself making all sorts of excuses for not wanting FB, some of them are good, valid reasons but really, I am just a rebel. I like blogs and resent that there is so much less blog activity when people are on FB. Silly, huh? 

 So there you have it..... I am a rebel! 

(Of course, now that I have posted this, my rebellion will probably dwindle and one of these days I will have to make an embarrassing confession. :oP  )

Spring?

 The weather has been amazing the last week and my kids have all enjoyed the freedom of Papa & Grandma's big yard.  They have played outside for hours and come in tired, dirty, and very happy. The freedom to explore is so good for kids and is one of the things that I will miss the most when (and if? JK Mom!!!) we move back to our place. I desperately long for a place to live where my kids can play outside.  But this post is not about that....... this post is about the weather and what it has resulted in. :o) The last 2 days my girls have brought me flowers!!! FLOWERS IN FEBRUARY?!?!?!?  They have brought me daffodils, periwinkle,salmonberry flowers, crocus, rhododendron (or azalea? not sure), and an extremely fragrant little group of flowers that I have never seen before. They grow on a small bush (according to the flower pickers), they blossoms look and smell like jasmine but the flowers are a dark pinkish-purple on the outside of the petals and a very pale shade of the same on the inside. The blossoms grow in round cluster on the end of stems, no leaves came with the flowers........  Does jasmine come in colors?  My Grandma often had jasmine plants when I was growing up but the flowers were larger, always white, and the plant was more viney than shrubby.  The stems of "my" flowers were thicker and stiff like a shrub and not viney at all.  Anyhow, I was/am thrilled with their gifts and can't believe that we are already getting flowers!!! I guess it has been a mild winter over all.......  The problem is that all of this sunshine and flowers makes me start dreaming of a garden and I am not sure where to put one! :o)  I really want raised beds but that is just going to have to wait until we have a better and more permanent housing situation.

Of Pink and Blue........

Way back in my premarriag/early marriage days I was a receptionist at a veterinary hosp. I LOVED my job and the people I worked with. One of the vets was the mother of 2 adorable kids and she would let me babysit them, hang out at her house, stay nights when the weather was too bad for commuting, etc.... We were friends and I ADORED here kids. Anyhow, she was telling me one time that (now this is the jist of the conversation. 9+ years have taken their toll and my memory and there is no way I could tell it verbatim!) BEFORE she had kids she had bought into the theory that boys and girls are only different because of how we raise them.... meaning boy are more masculine and like "boy toys" because that is how we parent them and girls like "girly things" because that is what we raise them to like. I think because she was rather tomboyish herself it made understanding girly girls easier. Anyhow, THEN she had kids! LOL!!!!  Her little was one of the girliest little girls! Dresses every day, froofy, frillies, tea parties and baby dolls. Her boy on the other hand couldn't have been more BOY.  Tractors and equipment, farm work and cars. :o)  You know I laughed to myself rather smugly because, even without kids of my own, I knew that God created boys and girls very differently. There are different variations within each gender and manifests itself differently in each child but girls are girls and boys are boys.  Being thus convinced, I didn't think I had any surprises in store when I had girls and then a boy. I mean seriously, I KNOW they are different but somehow knowing and experiencing on a daily basis are very different.  There are days I shake my head in AMAZEMENT at the difference. I mean WOW!!! My girls are VERY much into tea parties, playing house, comforting and caring for the sick stuffed animals (who have always fallen prey to some supremely tragic fate), or some other such thing. Even their outside play is tinged with it. Forts become personalized and made homey, they name them. For instance then have a large puddle/overflowing ditch/? named "Charlotte" and a tree named "Luke".  They make garden areas in these forts and just, in general, practice for their roles as "growned up" women, and I LOVE it.  Now my BOY on the other hand, although he doesn't mind playing such things with the girls on occasion , wants to be "WORKN".  He may build boats out of the couches (WHY CAN'T THEY BE BOATS WITH THE CUSHIONS ON?!?!?!), pound on the closest available surface with his toy hammer,  make everything into a tool, "huntin' elk and eatin' elk" with his pretend guns (usually his hands or a stick, dig in the mud, or use a vacuum cleaner end to "clean" every available surface (particularly the dangerous ones that you have to stand on the back of the couches to reach).  He doesn't want to just play, he wants to work, and the delight of his life is to have a job to do (other than picking up toys of course! lol) esp. if that job is with Daddy. There is nothing in the world like "helping" him.
 Anyhow, all that to say that, I love to watch the difference between boys and girls! And, I have learned, that I knew all about marriage and child rearing BEFORE I was either wife or mother and now find that I know nothing! LOL!!!!  All my theories and ideas were foolishness. Those wonderful absolute statements (MY kids will NEVER....., My spouse and I will ALWAYS........., etc....) have primarily proven false and my pride has received several nearly fatal (though not fatal enough!!!) blows in those areas. :o)