It was a long day at school on Friday. Jake just didn't seem to get the hang of anything he was supposed to do. I decided to let him have an hour per class, and just move on once the hour was up. By noon, he had done 4 classes, and not a single one was completed. He worked for an hour on 2 math problems, and one of them was wrong. Sigh. I really didn't know what to do for him. I was just getting frustrated.
Then, at some point in the day (I think it was during my shower - i like to let the hot water go over my face and just think about stuff), I realized that even if he fails, it's all him. There's only so much I can do. I can't make him choose to be fast. I can't make him want to get better grades. Sure, there's thing I can do to encourage the child. I can create an environment for learning. But I can't make him do it. That's gotta come from him. I really do think it's an important thing to remember as parents. Our children have free will. They can choose their own way. We have no control over it. Sure, we have influence, but no absolute control over their will. It would make things a lot easier if we did, though - hehehe. But that's not what lifes all about.
After lunch, I told him to go back and work on all the stuff that he hadn't completed during school time. He worked on his Science lab practice write-up, on his Math Story problems, on his English summarizing project, and his History questions. It took him all day, but he got it done. And he was actually pretty pleased with himself for accomplishing it all. I think we'll be ok with this virtual academy thing. Once we get into the swing of things :)
I spent a lot of time designing today. One good thing about having a 7th grader in a virtual academy, is that they work independently. So I had a lot of time to work on designing. I get him started on a class, tell him the directions, show him what to do, then I turn him loose on it, and let him do it himself. So, I basically have 40 minutes out of the hour free. Not a bad thing :)
I'm working on stuff for my Grab Bag this next week. I have 3 WordArt packs, and an alpha pack that are mostly done right now. I also have 2 calendar packs that are close to completion, but not for the grab bag. I've got the rest of the week to finish stuffing the grab bag with TONS of WordArt goodies :) Aren't you excited!!!
The kids got home at around 4pm, and Captain America got home at about 4:30pm. Early for him! I made dinner, and the big kids actually liked it. We're at the end of the month, and I wanna see how far the food in the house will stretch. We had a TON of hot dogs left over from Manditory Fun, so I made up my own casserole. Hot Dog Casserole.
I combined a can of cream of chicken soup, a can of corn, and 3 cups of dried hash browns. Plus 1 cup of milk and 3 cups of water. Then, I chopped up ALL the hot dogs into bit sized pieces, and tossed those in too. I added some pepper, mixed well, and put in a baking dish. I used a whole bag of shredded mexican cheese, sprinkling it on the top, covered, and baked at 400 for 45 minutes. Yeah, I know. Weird. BUT, the big kids really liked it. AND, I got rid of all the hot dogs. And didn' even waste them. See, I'm good :)
After dinner, Captain America and I got ready for our date. The movie choices are dwindling, unfortunately. There for a few weeks, there were GREAT movies to see every Friday. Not so much, now. We had to choose between Julie & Julia, Post Grad, and My Sister's Keeper. All chick flicks. I REALLY wanted to see Area 9, but it's rated R and I don't watch rated R movies. Dang! Anyway, My Sister's Keeper was playing at the $2.00 theater, so it won out in the end.
I really enjoyed the movie. It bounced around a lot, but was so good. It was a tear jerker, for sure. Captain America liked it too, I think :)
After dinner, Captain America and I got ready for our date. The movie choices are dwindling, unfortunately. There for a few weeks, there were GREAT movies to see every Friday. Not so much, now. We had to choose between Julie & Julia, Post Grad, and My Sister's Keeper. All chick flicks. I REALLY wanted to see Area 9, but it's rated R and I don't watch rated R movies. Dang! Anyway, My Sister's Keeper was playing at the $2.00 theater, so it won out in the end.
I really enjoyed the movie. It bounced around a lot, but was so good. It was a tear jerker, for sure. Captain America liked it too, I think :)
Hopefully our Saturday is a nice and relaxing day. After the first week back to school, I think we're all looking forward to some rest :) And sleeping in. I sure hope my kids leave me alone in the morning - LOL! We'll see, though. I'm not holding my breath :)
Well, when my friend Cheri sent this quote to me, I just KNEW that I had to use it. Isn't it great?? And, I really like the way that it turned out, WordArt-ed. A lot of the time, I'm more about the shape of the piece rather than what it actually said - hehehe. I know, I'm strange. What can I say :)
Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!
15 comments:
Bethany, I admire you for working with Jake. I too have my own Jake, which sounds a lot like your Jake, and I know I would either have no hair or end up hurting someone if I had to homeschool him...and I am a teacher! Kudos to you for your insight and patience! Word Art is beautiful...ideas are already starting up...first day of school, graduation, birth of a child, etc. I am now inspired to go scrap! Hehehe!
Thanks for the word art, Bethany. As usual, you have done a great job of this quote!
I went to see "My Sister's Keeper" on Friday with a friend. I enjoyed it, but found it quite confronting on several fronts; I have been through cancer and chemo myself; I care for a little girl who is in palliative care, and she, too, loves to go to the beach and watch the waves. I thought the movie was quite well done.
Good luck with the homeschooling; If Jake can learn that 'learning' sometimes takes a lot of perseverance, and be proud of his accomplishments, then you have done a wonderful job in equipping him for the future!
Thank you so much for this Freebie. I want to let you know that I posted a link to your blog in Creative Busy Hands Scrapbook Freebies Search List, under the Page 9 post on Aug. 29, 2009. Thanks again.
It can take a while with a virtual academy to get into the "groove." With an acquaintance, the online stuff was different from how they'd done stuff [what was this looking up words in the dictionary and parts of speech stuff? And perfect spelling - for a first grader who hadn't had that focus before ...] - but they figured it out over a few weeks and both really liked it. So, Jake - keep plugging away at it - you'll get it!
Thank you very much. I do love you work.
Bethany, thank you for the free art work. I have use the following website to work with other 7th grade children in math. There are powerpoints and activities. I found them helpful so that it gives me an idea on how to help the students to learn. The second one has games that are about each of the different topics in 7th grade math. http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skills_7th_math_new.htm
http://sites.google.com/site/gallachermath/Home
Good luck,
Beth
Bethany, you came to a realization that most parents need to come to. As a teacher, we realize that most of the effort/desire has to come from the child. So many parents blame the teacher for their child's lack of interest...they want us to do a dog and pony show to keep their interest. We do as much/and more than we possibly can, but in the end, the child is responsible.
I read the book for my sisters keeper and it was so good! I'm worried to go see the movie as the movies are never as good as the books. I saw Julie and Julia though, and I really enjoyed it, I thought it was good, so if you have the chance to go see again, you should!
Love today's share.
My kids used to like corn dog casserole and one called penny casserole that used hot dogs, red potatoes and peas. I'm not a fan of hot dogs having had them every Saturday night growing up.
I was going to share the recipes and then realized you wouldn't have a need of them now.
Love this WA - great for our graduation photos from this year!
I also wanted to put in a plug for Julie & Julia - it's really funny, good example of supportive husbands, and ooooh - the food!! - all I can say is, be prepared to want to go out to eat afterwards!
Wow! You got comments on every aspect of the blog--almost! I like the middle photo of you two best. Now back to the other comments, I would seriously take Future Elementary Teacher's advice. I was thinking as I empathized with Jake that he needs some skills. He might not have missed something in math previously such as how to check your work or take shortcuts that help save time. It will reduce his frustration in the future if any gaps can be filled in, since math builds upon itself. Good luck!
Bethany, I love your work. Thank you so much. You are one of the blogs I have to check each day. I am working on our Nauvoo vacation and pioneers; I am also working on a shadow box for my SIL with grandma's handwork encased. Do you have any WA dealing with pioneers or ancestors? I would love to see something to use with these projects. Thanks again.
BTW: Nice pictures of you and Brent. The second one is my fav.
Shannon
Thank you! Your blog post will be advertised on the DigiFree Digital Scrapbooking Freebie search engine today (look for timestamp: 29 Aug [LA 07:00pm, NY 09:00pm] - 30 Aug [UK 02:00am, OZ 12:00pm] ).
thank you!
Thanks for the great word art Bethany, I love it. I also love reading your blog and hearing all about life over there, as it sounds so different to us here in Sydney.
Just saw My Sisters Keeper as well, and I think I cried more than I have ever cried in a movie, but it was a good movie. SoniP
Thanks for sharing your wonderful talent
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