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Friday, August 31, 2012

The First Week of School

Wow, this has been a long week for all of us. Our transition into the school year could have been a little easier, but I still feel compelled to be the "teacher" and my kids do, in fact, need a little more hand-holding than they really want.  For example, we started Beast Academy 3A this week and lemme tell you, it ain't easy.  I have never been a geometry lover and memorizing different shapes' names and attributes is really not all that fun.  We made it through the first 3 chapters this week, but honesty, I'm really not sure we need to know the term "rhombus" or that a Square is actually a type of Rectangle in the future. I call these "cocktail party facts" that only your favorite show-off Geek may actually mention in conversation. Perhaps I'm wrong about that - please post back if you know where that info is potentially helpful!

On the other hand, Life of Fred - Apples has been so delightful.  We worked through the first seven chapters this week and BOTH kids can't wait for the next one, even though this is the very first book of the Elementary Series, meant for kindergarten or 1st grade.  We learned that the first day of the week is Sunday, some basic algebra, and that Archimedes estimated that the universe could hold 1 vigintillion grains of sand, among many other interesting things that included basic addition.

Dreambox online math has turned out to be a success.  Ooka Island reading is kind of "eh" for PJ.  We worked in some writing books to practice our letters and T wrote some fun paragraphs, even though getting either of them to write is sometimes like pulling teeth...

We played The Allowance Game, that earned a big Thumbs Down from The T Man but little PJ loved it so much he had to get dad to play every morning.


We visited the Cerritos Library (wow!) and found some fun reading there.  PJ is a very big fan of "Biscuit" the fictional dog.  He read a couple of those to me while T discovered a graphic novel about "Ug" the stone-age boy genius.  P.E. followed in the fountains in about 90 degrees.  Very fun.  Thanks to my dear friend Claudia for taking us along!  We all have so much fun together.

We are lacking in hard physical activity this week.  It's so hot outside, we're staying under fans!  And while we've had two playdates this week, I'd like to improve on that as well.  Baby Steps...

Moving Beyond the Page is barely moving.  The kids are not crazy about the "Community" topic because they have 1) studied it before and 2) don't find it all that exciting. We reviewed Rural life versus Urban Life.  It was a little lost on the Peej.   I'll be picking out the fun bits and moving right along in it next week.

I never realized that Slime, aka "Gak," could be so much fun.  T was using a straw and blowing it up into different shapes of human organs.  Wish I had caught a photo of that.  He also created a Minecraft scene and made a pretty good looking "Steve" and "Creeper" character out of the awesome non-drying modeling clay from Lakeshore Learning.

Are you exhausted just hearing about this week yet?  I'm not even done!

Life skills were folding and stowing laundry and putting away dishes for little PJ while T was getting handy in the kitchen.  He used the microwave to heat something and then made a new creation: a peanut butter pickle dog with mustard.  I didn't think he actually would like it, but low and behold... he did.  Perhaps it was just because he made it himself...  He also tried his hand at hand-washing dishes since our washer went kaput a few weeks ago.  A green-tinged face appeared at my desk exclaiming "I can't do it! There was CAT food on a bowl!  It just grossed me out!  I'm just too sensitive for that!"  Inwardly I sigh, but I was the same way at that age.  Maybe next year... :-)


It's now almost 5:00pm on Friday and Mama is tired and we are starting our long weekend.  Thank. Goodness.

You are probably thinking about now... Wouldn't it just be easier to drop them off at school?  If you have been reading my blog from the beginning, you know that it wouldn't.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Surprise! School Starts TODAY!

It is a beautiful warm Summer Friday and my foot is still out of order, having twisted it nearly two weeks ago and then aggravating it Monday while squatting down and digging for sand crabs at the beach. (I know, poor me! ;)   It has been a rough couple of weeks trying to keep these boys entertained at home while I use crutches and try to keep my foot up.

This week I was coaxed into purchasing the PC version of Minecraft, the hugely popular video game that the kids have been in love with for months on the Xbox360. I was crossed-armed adamant that this program would not enter my home, but logic won over when our new playmates created a server and wanted to meet online for private building parties. This was safe and T would be learning to type/chat online and get to spend quality brain time with a kid just like him.  A kid that happens to live a good 45-60 minutes away, depending on the infamous Los Angeles Traffic.

So now they've got the full online version of Minecraft and it is much more educational than the Xbox version. It is also infinitely more addictive.

We think we found Lucky's twin!
It's now Friday and here we are on this beautiful Summer day at the park throwing the ball for our fluffy pal Lucky and his presumably twin sister.  As I chat up the other dogs owner about the similarities in the pups, Lucky sniffs his new friend's rear and the boys stand entranced by the workers pouring concrete and smoothing it down on the brand-spankin' new playground. This lasts for maybe 8 minutes and then I've got two little boys hanging on my waist and arms (adding unwanted pressure to my sore foot) and whining about wanting to go home. "Why?" I ask. I am surrounded by lush green grass and fresh air and lovely trees and dogs to play with and throw balls for... what the heck? "I want to play Minecraft." my 8-year-old sulks. Seriously? My eyebrows and #11 frown line queries the child.

Oh yes, we were going home alright. And we were starting school. It is only 11:30 am!

After making a healthy lunch of their favorite tuna salad, I grab up Moving Beyond The Page and their newly decorated Spelling and Vocab books. I gave them 6 words to write and we discussed them with what felt like sheer glee! These kids were into it! So we covered Urban, Rural, Goods and Services, Wants and Needs. Interesting and fun to hear their ideas on these things. We moved onto Community Buildings and identified them on worksheets, skipping the whole "add a sentence" section, as that would probably end up more like the "add some tears" section   Next we moved over to the couch and read "Give a Pig a Pancake" and laughed our butts off. After that, a surprise Mad Lib and then two more because they begged.  PJ is starting to get what a Noun, Adverb, Verb and Adjective is!

T began his online math with Dreambox and found it pretty entertaining and educational, while PJ and I played the card game War and then did some Oooka Island. PJ took at turn at Dreambox while Tommy read some Horrible Science.

Next we made borax-based Slime for T and homemade Play-Dough for PJ and decided we need to hit Lakeshore Learning in the morning. We need a lot more Elmer' Glue because we want to test the degrees of stringiness based on how much Borax we add.

By now it's time for cleaning up the kitchen, picking up the living room and for Mom to start dinner. Minecraft at 4:30?  Be. My. Guest.

While tucking them in that night I asked them what they thought about their first day of school.  They said "It was Awesome!" I'm a happy mom.

Saturday morning and I'm woken with my new (un)favorite query...PJ stands by the bed and asked "Can we play Minecraft?" Oh dear, it's going to be a long day...

10:30 and we grab "Life of Fred: Apples" and cozy up on my bed. We laughed through two chapters and wrote our simple math in a separate workbook.  T can't stay away even though he already knows this stuff. We end up in a tickle attack because a resistent PJ won't recite the Days of the Week for me... Yes, this "schooling" is really stressful and rigorous ;-)

Next stop, Lakeshore Learning outlet where I scored big time on some awesome science stuff and filled the cart with educational games.  $175 later, we're ready to rock this school year.  Oh, darn it, I forgot the glue...

It's now Sunday morning, and Daddy finally has a day off.  T walks in at 7am says "Mom, can we play Minecraft?"  Oy, here we go again...

Monday, August 13, 2012

My Little Blond & Blue...gifted Intensities

My dear friend Claudia requested to hear more about little PJ.  Well, to begin with, he is super cute.  I don't mean just his appearance - granted he does have twinkly blue eyes, a dimple when he smiles and soft, luscious blond hair.  I've been told more than once that he's a "mini Brad Pitt."  He's not just cute outside, but inside as well - funny and playful and sweet as can be.

Proudly displaying Minecraft pick axe (note his attire)
I was told just a few weeks ago that PJ has a gift.  This enlightening comment came from an Indian woman who was enjoying the hotel pool in Las Vegas.  She was in her mid-fifties with kind eyes and a nice smile.  She sat in the shallow end of the pool, tossing the small water ball back and forth between PJ and another lady.  When I approached her to thank her for playing with my gregarious little son, she smiled and laughed and told me something like this: 

"Your son has a gift.  I know this because he reminds me so much of my daughter.  He came to me and my sister and asked if we would play with him.  I explained to him that I am here to relax, that I did not want to play.  He wouldn't take no for an answer.  He directed me and my sister on where to sit and began to toss the ball back and forth.  To be able to convince people to do what you want them to do, that is the gift.  My daughter is just 22 and has just bought her first home.  This is a gift, and you should be very proud."
Well, that is a gift for sure.  It's just that when I say "No" to him, you'd think I'd just whipped the kid.  Woah, Nelly - watch out!  We spend a lot of time working through the "no and why" but to see this kid have a tantrum, you'd think him the most spoiled child on earth!

In Kindergarten, PJ decided that he didn't like any of his clothes.  The tags itch him, the waist is too tight, the arms are too tight, the pockets too scratchy.  The shoes are too tight, too scratchy, too whatever.  This boy wore the same loose pants and shirt and Target brand girls faux-fur lined boots for about 4 months.  He now favors a pair of Gap cut-off sweat shorts and Crocs.  He hasn't worn socks or underwear in a year.  He is naked at every opportunity.

He has what the gifted community call "intensities."

Kazimierz Dabrowski ( (1902-1980) coined the phrase "Overexcitability" to describe the intensity, sensitivity and tendency toward emotional extremes in the gifted population.  PJ has what he would call Sensual and Emotional Overexcitabilities (2 of the 5 he has defined).  An overexcitability is described as that "which is a great capacity to be stimulated by and respond to external and internal stimuli.  Overexcitability permeates a gifted person's existence.  Whether it's music, language, physical sensing, kinesthetic activity, imagination, or something intellectual, an overexcitability orients and focuses them.  Overexcitability gives energy to their intelligence and talents.  It shapes their personality development.  Like a plant turns toward light, overexcitability draws out a gifted person's thoughts and behaviors.  An overexcitability is a temperamental disposition toward a class of stimuli that the gifted person notices and responds to.  It is a lens that opens, widens and deepens their perspective." ("Living with Intensity" by Daniels and Piechowski) 

I call it a royal pain in the butt. 

PJ and new Berkeley college friends at the park
We do our best to work around these intensities and try not to make them a big deal. Each day we talk about our emotions, think on our options on how we could best respond, etc.  We have given up on fighting for clothing while at home, so don't be surprised to find a naked boy playing Legos on the living room floor.  But if we have a fit about getting clothed for an outing, it is possible that we will not be leaving the house (this is a most effective tactic! :)  Most often, he consents to some item of clothing, though in the end, he may look a little like a beggar.

Regardless of the issues, my little one's gift serves him well.  He is always finding new friends to play with, where ever we go.  He is a happy, charismatic child and loved by all. 

I did mention in my previous blog that my children were not simple or easy. This is part of that.  I am waiting patiently to see how these overexcitabilities play into little PJ's talent. In the meantime, we take one moment at a time, one day at a time...

Friday, August 10, 2012

Maybe I Am a Little Bit Nuts

LAUSD's start date is August 14th, just a few days away.  We were supposed to be going to the local Gifted Magnet today for Orientation, but instead, I am cleaning house and doing laundry while the boys systematically destroy all my efforts at my heels.

The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over
and expecting a different result.

T and P's work of Art
That is what being home with two little boys is all about.  "Sure honey, try out the new paints and all the cool tools!"  15 minutes later there is paint all over the classroom tables, each of the 15 tools is covered and the boys are grinning ear to ear, holding up their hands, "Look mom, it's like I have gloves on!"  Sigh.  I thought we were over this about 3 years ago.  Apparently not.

So while all the new families are welcomed to the school, I continue to pursue my own private insanity.  And the question you may be asking is why are you doing this to yourself?

The answer, while not simple, is easy for me.  I refuse to put my children into the care of people who do not understand them, who have rigid rules (such as lining up with their hands behind their backs, or not being allowed to talk to each other during their 20 minute lunch) and who have little patience for the kids that just don't fit in their "box."  They expect small children to sit for long periods of time, quietly listening, reading or writing in their journals.  Their box has straight edges and each child must fit in neatly or they become a problem.

There is nothing neat about my children, nothing "straight" about them.  They are not quiet and complacent.  They do not accept everything an elder tells them, and in fact, will tell an elder a thing or two.  They often do not accept NO as an answer without a highly dramatic response.  My kids are messy.

At 5 1/2 my eldest began Kindergarten a month late in our local LAUSD school.  We had just relocated to Cali after 12 years in Seattle.  It was, shall we say, quite an adjustment going from a white-bread to a melting pot community.  "T" didn't know that the little boy on the playground was speaking Spanish; that he did not know how to speak English.  But the classroom was nice, the kids sweet and the teacher, a buxom blond with bright blue eyes, seemed like a good fit.  That is, until I was able to volunteer in the class.

I witnessed the teacher yelling at the kids across the room.  She also had moments where she made fun of them.  She was a drill sargent with a stick (literally!) running them through their reading lessons.  One day, when reading a story to the kids about weather, I sat at the back of the rainbow rug and listened.  The pretty picture book explained how water evaporated into the sky and came down in the form of rain or snow.  When my little guy raised his hand and said "Did you know, that the water we drink today is actually dinosaur spit?"  She rolled her eyes, took a deep breath and told my 5-year-old that he had better "check his facts" and moved on.  That was heartbreaking for me - the lady who was doing science experiments with him months before and read that little factoid to him. (pardon my angry sarcasm here, but how DARE he make such a connection and interrupt her curriculum??)

My little son, a boy who has loved books, puzzles, and logging onto NickJr.com at age 3, was not happy.  Soon, he was pressing his pencils into his shirts and cutting them with sissors.  He refused to do coloring and would scribble black crayon across the sheet.  He became the Rebel.  It wasn't long before I had a conference where I was told he was very bright, but that he would "be a hoodlum one day" if I didn't do something now.  Later, I was told that I needed the 'Super Nanny.'  (No, I'm not kidding!!)

So for the 1st grade, we tried the local Math/Science & Technology Magnet.  Fail.  He was so bored, he "compulsively" drew on his desk (which I discovered was the entire town of Spongebob's Bikini Bottom) and the teacher was convinced he had ADHD.  Sigh.  By February of that year, I had him at Neurologists offices, trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with him.  He became angry and, now I realized, depressed.  He was basically anti-social, kicking rocks on the playground, going to the nurse every morning, and he had no friends at all.  It was the saddest thing I ever saw.

And I asked the school to test him:  Oh! Congratulations! Your child is "Highly Gifted!"  (What does THAT mean exactly?)

School #3, a brand new hybrid homeschool/2-day-a-week Charter.  Fail.  My genius IQ child was bored, didn't fit in, and developed a case of anxiety that had him puking his guts out into a trashcan in the office by the time the winter holiday rolled around.

We are done with school.  Our last straw was the Gifted Magnet's Principal telling me that he would not fit in, that the children who attend this school are "Academic Achievers" and enjoy the stress of a rigorous curriculum.  There is not a lot of accomodation for children with "issues" and they have one boy similar to my T, and he is a handful.  Translation:  There is only one other child in the 3rd grade that is actually "gifted" in the way that my child is.  Grrreat.

So today we have painted, camped out in the closet with our stuffed animals, flashlights and snacks, we created an air-conditioned shirt by placing a wet t-shirt into the freezer, and we started a mold experiment with a slice of bread placed in a baggie in a warm location.  (None of these were my idea, by the way).  And it is only the noon hour on a Summer day. "School" will not start for us until at least September 15th, but I'm pretty sure there is some amazing learning going on any way.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Moving Beyond the Page - Getting Started

I just started to review the first lessons of this curriculum, designed for homeschooled gifted kids.  The first Unit is Communities Around the World.

So far, I see we need the following resources (among a huge list of other things I already have):
  • Spelling/Vocab Journals for each of the boys
  • A Globe
  • Poster Boards
  • Books on Holidays and other Countries, specifically Canada, China and Mexico
The lesson surrounds three books sent with the curriculum:  Hungry Planet, If you Give a Pig a Pancake and The Little House.

Vocabulary Words include:
Rural
Urban
goods
service
need
want
money
research
natural resource
human resource
history
vote
consequence
law
rule
authority

Wow, okay, those are GOOD.  I'm on board.

ACTIVITY 1
The first lesson is to ask the children what a community is and to describe theirs.  Places in the Community and has a worksheet where they label a building and then write a sentence. I will need to copy these worksheets.

ACTIVITY 2
The next is to Read aloud, a story in the workbook "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse"  I will also have T read it aloud, discuss the story with questions from parent guide

ACTIVITY 3
Fold a piece of paper in half vertically and label columns Rural and Urban and ask kids to list advantages of living in Country or City. Using worksheet from activity book, have them write three sentences about the place they would rather live.  Cover Nouns and verbs in sentences, having them circle the noun and underline the related verb.

ACTIVITY 4
Discuss Maps and review worksheet from book that has a map of the community, reading and locating labels on he map.  Review map key, show them scale. Use a ruler to measure distances.

That concludes DAY 1.  I'm looking forward to getting started.  Now if only I had a high speed copier instead of my little photosmart :-)

Friday, August 3, 2012

Curriculum Complete...or is it?

I've spent the last month collecting what I think will appropriately feed my children's minds for the next school year.  The plan is to have a loose curriculum and a flexible schedule; to set some goals and meet them, instead of trying to force the poor things into doing worksheets so we have something to show our Education Specialist at the Charter.  That was just too much pressure and we all were miserable with it!  This year we're going free form and filing a Private School Affidavit.  Yay! 

So here's what I've collected, I hope it works.  And if it doesn't, I'm not going to stress about it, but just roll with some changes. :-)

Mom's Classroom Curriculum Corner
Language Arts
  • Moving Beyond the Page ("MBtP), Ages 6-8
  • Ooka Island reading online (just for P)
  • Grammaropolis online
Math
  • Life of Fred, Elementary Series
  • Beast Academy (3rd grade)
  • Murderous Math
  • Basher's Science - Algebra and Geometry
  • MBtP
Social Studies:
  • The Story of the World, 4 book set and Activity Book
  • Chester Comix - American History, complete set
  • Horrible Histories - Western Civ, complete set
  • MBtP
 Science:
  • Basher Science Set, Chemistry, Physics and Biology
  • Horrible Science Box Set
  • MBtP
  • The Elements and Element Vault
Art:
  • Game Design with Dad
  • Studying the Masters with Mom
Music:
  • Guitar Lesson for T
  • Piano Lessons for P
PE:
  • Golf Lessons
  • Park Play
  • Jump Rope/Yoga with Mom
Life Skills:
  • Cooking
  • Dishes
  • Laundry
Social: 
  • Playdates
  • Field Trips with friends
Field Trips:
Griffith Observatory, Science Centers, Yosemite, Redwoods, Geocaching