starting over, starting slow

Wow it's been a while since my last posting. Many things have happened. One thing is that we have had a complete technological meltdown in our home. We have three computers that all crashed and burned within a week or two of each other. For those of you who live and breathe by your computers you know what that means...madness, mayhem & withdrawl! I never even thought it was possible, but we are making it. Thank goodness for the internet capabilities of my phone, without it I fear I would be completely disconnected. Gasp!

All of our homeschooling files are destroyed and I will basically have to start my collection of resourceful sites from scratch. We are starting over, and for added measure we are having less than filling school days due to my surgery and recovery. More on that later ... yeah I know, too much.

Not alone in the struggle

I was at the library recently and was looking for something educational for the kids to watch on video. I saw one that immediately grabbed my attention, because it spoke to my heart on a personal level. It was a video from the Stuttering Foundation of America. Stuttering: for kids, by kids. I got the video because ever since I was a young child I have struggled with stuttering, some times worse than others. Over the years, into adulthood I have found my own ways of coping with it and minimizing it. However, it still poses a challenge for me.

Imagine my feelings when I realized that my son would also be dealing with this issue. It became noticeable when he was around 7 that he was a stutterer. Over the years he has been teased because of it and I can tell that it makes him feel somewhat inadequate, different from the rest. My heart goes out to him. I know the struggle.

Somehow, I came across something on the Internet this week that said this was International Stuttering Awareness Day. HA! I was so surprised to see this. I never knew there was an organization out there dedicated to supporting, educating, treating and preventing STUTTERING. http://www.stutteringhelp.org/ holds a wealth of information for parents, teachers, children and professionals. If you, your child or someone else you know is dealing with this issue please send them to the site. It's worth a try.

Click this link here to watch the video that I watched with my son. I'm glad we watched it, so he could see that he was not alone.

Something is starting to click

Today during math, my daughter began to really complain about a lesson that she claims she had completed on a previous day. Now mind you it was on her daily planner as a new assignment, and although she did not have any record of completed work in her notebook, she was holding fast to her claim. So, since it was just a review of everything she has done in the last week I did not bother with trying to prove my point. Frankly, I was not in the mood for the parent-child argument. The child can be quite the drama queen especially when she believes herself to be right.

In view of that fact I moved her on to the next step on the agenda which was an assessment. During this time both she and my son are doing math. She gets to a point where she has trouble with a problem, and I say to her very matter-of-factly "maybe you should have done the review." Well that caused a slight rise in her, that yet again I decided to not give audience to. The interesting aspect of this scenario is that I did not have to say anything, because the big brother stepped in. As she is ranting he says to her "you really shouldn't complain about doing reviews. Even though you have done the work before, it's just good practice. I don't really like to go over my math facts everyday, but I listen to mom and do it anyway. And when I am doing my work I get more answers correct because I've been practicing. It's just better for you Indya...Listen to me I'm just trying to help you out." (insert raised eyebrow from mom watching silently on the side)

That was a moment of pride for me. It showed me that even though the children sometimes give me a hard time, they are hearing me. It may be a insignificant point to some but it was a big step forward to me. It showed maturity and growth with my son and perhaps that a sturdy foundation is being laid for good study habits...I hope. :)

Great American Authors

PBS activity packs

I know many people are familiar with the PBS Channels and of course the PBS websites. But did you know about the website for PBS Teachers? If you do, then great! You already know about the gems that are laying within. The site is full of topics and resources for teachers to expand the minds of students. One tool that I am liking a lot is the Activity packs. Each one focuses on a curricular theme and includes links to great PBS resources and supplemental activities.

I figured with the opening of the new movie: Where the Wild Things are, it would be good to use the Language Arts activity pack for American Author Maurice Sendak. I think it's cool because it takes heavy work out of my hands, and is sort of a one stop shop because of the resources that have already been gathered for us. Even cooler is the widget that I can post and share with you. Whenever we use an activity pack for a particular topic or subject you will be able to see it here and perhaps grab it for yourself.

I spy with my little eye

We are so excited! Today I bought a telescope for us to gaze into the sky. I had seen this telescope made by Emerson at CVS, Of all places for $14! The children and I really enjoy looking up into the night sky. We are always very fascinated with the beauty of the constellations. However I have always put off buying a telescope because I cringe at the thought of paying out a lot of money for it. In my mind, a good telescope was an expensive telescope.

So, I'll admit it, I originally turned my nose up at it. But for some reason I couldn't get it out of my head. So, today I went and bought it. I figured why not give it a try? I'm sure I'll get my $14 worth.It's a good start. I was pretty impressed with what I was getting for the price:

1. 50x/100x refractor telescope with adjustable tripod.
2. A high-quality glass optic.
3. Interchangeable 50x and 100x lenses.
4. An adjustable full sized tripod included.

I wonder what amazing sights we will see?

I smell a astronomy project coming up...

It's gonna be a peice a' cake! NOT

Well, well, well. School has been back in effect for about a little over a month now and to say the very least it has been hectic. In an effort to make things easier for myself and more challenging for my daughter I enrolled her in the k12 program. It has definitely been a challenge, but easier? Nah! not at all. I guess the jokes on me with this one. Between trying to navigate the k12 system, the seemingly daily assessments, and the weekly online classroom meet ups, EASY is not the current adjective of choice.

On top of it all, it has become an even bigger struggle in balance for me because the children are on a totally different curriculum now. In the past year and a half that I have been home schooling, both children primarily learned from the same lesson plans for their various subjects with the exception of math. While it is nice to only have to work out lessons for one child, it is still very stressful. The way things are now, EVERY SUBJECT is completely different for my little students, pulling me into a whirlwind every day. Which currently leaves me wishing that I had a mommy clone! Each week that goes by I am getting things a little bit more smoothed out than the week before but it it is still a work in progress.

I am currently working on getting the lesson plans for my son set up for the next 8 weeks. You know good organization is the key to this mom's balancing act, although I sometimes am lacking in that area. I have lots of ideas these days for some fun projects and I feel really good about that. I feel like my creativity is coming back (seems like I was going kinda dull there for a moment), really! I'm serious this time *winks*smiles*. I am working on a new book list for the children, which I will be posting here. It is my goal to have them to each read a new book every 4-6 wk complete with a simple book report. There are so many times that I get great joy and satisfaction from creating my own lesson plans for school. It is nice to be able to study what ever specifically interests us, and to learn about it in a way that is exciting for us. Which is why I have not enrolled both of my children in the k12 program. I don't want to totally lose that creative control....yeah, I might have some control issues *side eye glance*