Cat Snot

This quitting smoking thing is really hard. Trust me, I've tried it many, many times. I have lots of experience at quitting smoking. I really stink at it. Realistically, I'm doing pretty good coming off the week we've had around here. Yes, I've cheated...a little. I'm weak; I admit it. I'll get there eventually. This time I have to. So...

There I was sitting on the front steps sneaking cigarette #5, when E's obnoxious cat comes up and starts rubbing against my leg. That cat is annoying. She is needy, meows incessantly, eats more like a pig than a cat, and gets hayfever twice a year. Anyhow, there she was meowing at and rubbing on me. I patted her head hoping she would go away. Nope. She stuck around rubbing on my leg. Well, I kept sitting there resting my elbows on my knees. Suddenly, without any warning, she sneezes one of those huge, sloppy sneezes right onto my arm. It was gross.

I had no choice but to put out my cigarette and go wash the cat snot off my arm. So, there I was vigorously scrubbing my arm wondering "why me?" Then it occurred to me...if I hadn't been sneaking a cigarette I wouldn't have been there for the cat to sneeze on. I really gotta quit. And, I really don't like that cat.

Our New Approach to Language Arts

Language arts isn't going to change too much. I don't feel comfortable skipping ahead with it. Also, it was the weakest area on the CAT tests last year. They still did well; but, there were a couple of weak spots in mechanics and usage. I want to remedy the weak spots and hopefully get them more enthused about creative writing.

Creative writing has been a problem since kindergarten, especially for K. They were in public school until last year. Around here, the public schools have them doing journals in Kindergarten. That never made much sense to me. How can a kindergartener produce a journal entry when they haven't even learned to spell much? Isn't a journal a tool for reflection - a means by which a student can examine his thoughts as well as his progress? Anyhow, it created a problem. K decided she absolutely hated writing. Getting her to write was a fight since kindergarten. She was able to do it. When coerced she could write wonderful stories. But, I never liked the idea of having to force her to do it. So, last year, I laid off of creative writing giving a minimal amount of writing assignments. I didn't want to spend the first year of homeschooling in an all out war with K over writing assignments. The person that said it takes about a year for the kids to deprogram and decompress after leaving public school was absolutely right. So, I decided not to push the button on the creative writing bomb. Now, I think it's time to tackle it. To my amazement, K started writing stories on her own and keeping a diary last year. I'm taking that as a sign that she is ready to begin creative writing. I'm also thinking of letting them keep journals this year. Now, they are old enough for a journal to have a meaningful purpose.

So...

Reading: Spectrum reading and phonics workbooks and homemade lessons

Literature: book study (Vocabulary comes from these.)

Grammar: Spectrum Language Arts, several other WBs, and homemade lessons

Spelling: Spectrum Spelling (accelerating the lessons as some are too easy) as well as homemade spelling lists.

Creative Writing: Spectrum Writing and Evan Moor "Writing Fabulous Sentences & Paragraphs" (We all really like this one.); homemade writing assignments in all subjects; and journals

Handwriting: cursive writing practice (oh boy, do they need practice!)

Our New Approach to 4th Grade Math

This morning E and I were talking about math - in particular multiplication and division. It always seemed to me that a person doesn't really "learn" multiplication until they "learn" division; and, one doesn't truly "learn" division until they "learn" fractions and decimals. To my surprise E agreed with me. I expected him, being a math teacher, to say one must be mastered before moving on to the next.

We started this year with a 3 week review of 3rd grade then started long division. The textbook spends half the year on long division. The kids have already grown tired of it. I have decided we won't be spending half of 4th grade on the drudgery also known as long division. Instead, we will spend another week or so doing long division problems. Maybe, we'll have a contest to see who can do the longest division problem correctly. Then, it's onward to more interesting math problems. I think the kids will enjoy a faster pace. (Of course, we will review long division periodically throughout the year.)

That's our new plan for 4th grade math. Normally, speeding ahead at such a fast pace would cause me to worry that they might not remember it all later. But, the kids like math and they're smart enough to handle the pace. Also, I have E to fall back on if I screw up.

Reorienting My Mind

Do not be bullied out of your common sense by the specialist; two to one, he is a pedant. --Oliver Wendell Holmes

That's good advice. It seems like there are all sorts of specialists these days - reading specialists, behavior specialists, curriculum specialists, etc...I think, too often, we parents get caught up in the notion that these guys possess some superior knowledge or insight simply because their job title contains the word 'specialist'. There are reading programs marketed as superior due to being written by a specialist. Behavior specialists who spend minimal time observing a child tell parents and teachers how they must interact with the child. Public school teachers are required to follow such plans whether they agree with the specialist or not. Curriculum specialists put together programs; and, we subscribe to the false belief that the program must be good. How could it be otherwise? After all, many specialists were consulted in the creating of that program. It would be interesting to know when, in the history of education, specialists first appeared. I don't recall anyone ever mentioning them when I was in school 20 years ago.

I was blog surfing last night and came across a blurb about how much money per year is spent on educating one public school student. It was upwards of $7000. The guy writing the blog questioned what it was being spent for. I think the answer is specialists. It's simple. Those people get paid. If the public school system hires them, then the money comes out of school budgets thereby increasing the average cost to educate students. What a waste! I can think of lots of better things they could spend the money on.


Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I can move on to examining my curriculum choices for this year; because, I am thinking that I, myself, have gotten somewhat pedantic lately. What was I thinking when I ordered all 4th grade level materials? The answer: I thought they had to have a 4th grade education; because, they're in 4th grade. These kids scored 99 and 97 percentiles on last year's CAT-5. It's no wonder they have been complaining.

Now, I get to spend my weekend revamping my perfectly put together curriculum. I'd rather be out in the yard weedeating.

ARGH!

ARGH! It's been one of those days. K spent the morning seeing how much work she could sham out of (a record-setting amount.) T spent the better part of his day on the computer researching stoneflies for a report that is due tomorrow. That would have been terrific except for his constantly yelling "Mom" every five minutes (I am not exaggerating.)

Then there was R who had to get in on the "let's drive Mom batty today" routine. First, during the only time I actually had both K & T working instead of arguing with each other, he decided it would be great fun to pelt them with Legos. Of course, that broke their concentration. Then, while I was on a very important phone call, he decided to flood the kitchen.

To top things off, I have spent the parts of my day that were free from fights and toddler induced disasters wondering if I should overhaul this year's curriculum.

I say it again...ARGH!