And The Winner Is ...

We are two weeks into summer vacation.  You can tell because I haven't been blogging as much.  Oh no, I have plenty of material, you should see some of my Facebook status', however I haven't had time to sit at the computer and write.  In the evening, after the kids go to bed, I'm usually falling flat on my face.  Problem is, it is usually on the couch, I can't make it to my bedroom.

Before school ended I began writing two little posts about all the end of school activities, and the kids adjusting to a summer vacation schedule.  A schedule, much to their dismay, that does not allow them to sit in front of the TV/DSi/Computer/ITouch playing Angry Birds all day long. 

But that is for another post.

Today's topic is the Annual School Awards Assembly.

Thoughts, feelings, comments, opinions?

Well, here is mine:  Oy Vey!

I've heard the reports,read the books, that we have become a society that praises our children too much.  Our children have become a generation expecting a prize and applause for getting out of bed in the morning and changing their clothes. 

Actually, for my boys that is applause worthy.  If they change their underwear I put their name on a plaque.

:::ahem:::

Sorry, I digress.

The school awards assembly is a case in point. 

Yes, there are the "Straight A" awards and "Perfect Attendance" certificate.  Those are accomplishments worthy to be praised.  Thought, the perfect attendance award did create some snickering.  You heard it too, you may have even said it, "AKA: I was sick but my mom still sent me to school award."

Oh, and in the spirit of full disclosure, one of my children did receive the perfect attendance award.  No, I never sent him to school sick, unless you call a cold being sick.  I call it putting on your big boy pants, have a dose of cold medicine, don't forget your pack of tissues, and learn how to function in the real world.

We also have the "All B's Gets You A Certificate As Well" and the "Missed A Couple Days, Good Enough, Have a Certificate" award. 

It may be time to raise the bar.

Is a 2 hour awards ceremony ... FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL really necessary?  Do we need to recognize EVERYONE who come to school and completed their work?  You are supposed to go to school, it is the law.  You don't receive a certificate for completing what is expected of you. 

Oh, to top of the fun and festivities, there were awards for the best lunchroom behavior.

:::crickets:::

Yes, they gave awards to students for behaving themselves in the lunchroom. 

Unfortunately, there was no recognition given to the 7+ outstanding teachers and assistants we lost at the end of the school year. 

But, we awarded good lunchroom behavior. 

School: A Recap

The school year is near its end.  Here is a recap:

• First, how many painting projects did I complete and closets reorganized? 

Well, I'm not employed yet, so there is always next year.  Let us move on.

• All three kids were in school full-time.  It took a couple of weeks to get used to my new freedom.

• I volunteered way to much, and began subbing at the school.

• One child is receiving the Citizenship Award, for her class, at the end of the school year.

• Another child spent a morning in the office due to undesirable behavior.

Just another validation that it is all nature, nurture has nothing to do about.

• Apparently, I joined a paramilitary group, plotting to overthrow the school, and the entire school system

... at least that is what one may believe if you listen to the school board and certain critics.  All this fuss, because a large group of parents asked for an independent, third-party climate survey to be conducted at our school (which our state's Department of Education does free of charge for any school district that asks).

• The homeschool debate returned, this year I took it as far as ordering catalogs.  There are some great programs out there, and if I had the money I would purchase one of them, just for fun.

• Then, we began looking into private school, which is obviously more expensive than homeschooling, but worth its weight in gold when it comes to mental health and a peaceful house ... according to Hubby.   So, we are looking into sending our oldest next year.

• Hmm, looks like I need to put aside those painting jobs and stop volunteering.

In many ways, summer has already begun around our house, which makes the school year bed time a complete bore for the kids. 

We are all looking forward to the summer break, and it is promising to be fast and furious.  I can only hope that the kids learn to sleep in, because the mom will be.

Did I Just Say That?

It is that time of year again, standardized test time.  I am not a fan for standardized tests, but I keep my opinions to myself.

Regardless of my feelings towards something I see as limiting my children's education, my kids don't know.  They will be taking the tests, so there is no reason to gripe about something they can't change.

Actually, as a rule, we toe the school line at our house.  The kids may complain about this project, or that teacher, yet we simply tell them to suck it up.  It does help that we have had amazing teachers, who don't ask for, or do anything, over the top.  I have no problem supporting them at home, or at school.

At the beginning of the testing schedule ED was talking about how nervous he was about the tests.  He was mainly worried about passing, so he could get the prize all who did pass would receive.  I tried talking to him, telling him not to worry, he would do fine, and that the tests didn't really matter, and I didn't really care about the tests.  The conversation went down hill from there.

Oops.  Open mouth, insert foot.

The next day the stinker goes into school and announces to the whole class "my mother thinks the tests are a waste of time and she doesn't think we should take them".

Thankfully, his teacher has a sense of humor, and is much better at digging out of my holes than I am.

She laughed.  I apologized, again, and again. 

If your school has standardized tests you have probably received the note that informs you that tests will begin, that the kids should have a good night sleep, and have a good breakfast in the morning.  Maybe, they should have also added something about parent's keeping their opinions to themselves.  :::cough:::  :::cough:::

Learning Curve

When will my children learn, or will they ever learn?

"Yes, dear children, Mom and Dad talk, to each other."

We also talk to their teachers.  Their teachers write us notes, they have our email address, and our phone number.  I walk the kids to their classrooms, most days; even in the chaos of morning routines, much can be said, and learned.  Oh, so much can be learned, and then Mom has all day to plan the punishment. 

Bwahahhahaha!

So, maybe they haven't yet learned.  Maybe, it won't click anytime soon.  Though I hope it does, which would make our lives a little easier.  Until then, I shall keep a list of those punishments, which I have all day to plan.  If the learning curve is a big one, we may need a long list. 

Wrestling the Hassle

If you have school-age children you have made the same homework battle cry and pull-out-your-hair dance as I have.

In our house it usually involves our oldest.

I was moaning over this fact with a friend, when she recommend John Rosemond's book Ending the Homework Hassle.

Are you familiar with John Rosemond? Maybe your newspaper runs his article? He takes a no-holds bare to parenting. You are the parent. They are the children. Shape up, or ship out.

He has some good points, though we haven't entirely Rosemond our house.

The first family, described in his book, was us. He had me nailed, and we needed help.

We implemented many of his ideas. We may not follow all of them, some we have modified, but what we are doing is working for our family.

Peace, for the most part, reigns in our house during homework time. In fact, homework time is probably the most peaceful time in our house.

Go figure.

Since then I have recommend the book to friends, and acquaintances. Some accept the recommendation, ask questions, one friend even borrowed my copy of the book.

Some give a blank stare (or if it is on Facebook, will ignore my comment) and continue complaining.

Oh, my bad, you just wanted to complain. Carry on. I'm moving on to another conversation.

And, some will question, but with great skepticism. Really, can an elementary-age kid be self-motivated enough to complete their homework without us hovering over them.

Rosemond's point is, it is not the parent's responsibility to make sure the child's homework is completed. It is the child's.

If they don't learn responsibility now, if they don't learn time management now, if they don't learn how to motivate themselves now, then when?

Does the thought of homework time make your knees tremble, and you break out in a cold sweat?

Give the book a look. Try some of the ideas. It may just be worth it.

That Is The Question

To homeschool ... or not to homeschool?

It is a question I have contemplated since my oldest started school. And, a question I ask every year, over and over again.

For the record, we LOVE our public school, we LOVE our teachers.

For a variety of reasons, the desire to homeschool has become stronger.

When you are standing at the edge of the cliff, thinking of jumping, what do you do? You call the person who will nudge you over the edge.

Well, in my case, I called a friend who does homeschool her kids.

In her defense, she is the best person to talk to, because she won't tell you what to do; she will listen to your ramblings, give some insight, and offer herself if you need to talk some more, at a later time.

The opposite of me who would tell you what to do, and how to do it. I'm working on being more like my friend.

So, we chatted for awhile. That evening I talked with Hubby, who prefers a sane wife and understands I may have some ulterior motives to wanting to homeschool. (Like the fact that all three of our children will be in school this coming school year, therefore I'm not wanting to let them all go.)

Recently, my homeschooling friend shared that she owns a laminator.

OK, if there was ever a reason to homeschool, rationalizing the purchase of a laminator would be one of those reasons.

Well, maybe not; but, I so want a laminator.

As for the homeschooling question. The kids are all registered for public school, this fall, but it feels like the status quo could change with any undesirable changes made at their school

Then again, ask me in a couple more weeks how I feel about keeping the kids home year around. I may be ready to send them to school, regardless of any changes.

That is the Question

It is that time of year when I think homeschooling would not be such a bad idea.

Between half days, rain days, snow days, and no days of school it seems my kids are home more during the school day then at school.

If we home schooled then they would be learning something during these winter months when Mother Nature seems to be against the school systems.

And to be perfectly honest, I kind of like my kids at home. They aren't that bad, some of the time.

And then I ask, AM I OUT OF MY GOURD?

I love my kids. I like having them home. I also like going to Target and the grocery store BY MYSELF. I like not organizing lesson plans, trust me that cannot turn out well. And, as much as I hate getting out of bed in the morning, if it wasn't for the impeding arrival of the school bus, I would probably end up homeschooling my kids from my king size bed.

Plenty of space for everyone to spread out, and when we need quiet time, we are ready.

The Picture

For anyone, breathlessly, waiting for a picture of JT's walnut boat mobile .... TA DA:



No, that isn't seaweed hanging off the mobile, it was hung under my donkey's tail plant.

One night, after the project was finished and before he turned it in, the poor kid came downstairs and confessed that he was feeling nervous. He was afraid that people would think the project was silly.




Far from it. The morning he turned it in kids and teachers were admiring the mobile. One teacher commented on the wonderful use of recycled materials. Actually, she made that comment twice.


I laughed. Nothing was recycled. Everything (except the paper and tape which were already on hand) was bought specifically for this project. Shhhhhh.

Anyone interested in half a bag of whole walnuts? Do nuts go bad?

Parenting Tip #79

If your child wants to do a school project using walnut shells, just say no.

That is the short version of my story. Here is the long version, so if you have a minute or two, grab a snack and make yourself comfortable.

This is our first year of school projects. Those projects which are assigned several weeks ahead of the due date, require some creativity, a bit of time, and parents realize they are their own worst enemy. (How much help is too much help? How much help is too little help?)

Assignment: Research an early explorer and create a mobile, ship, write a paper, ... to share information about that early explorer.

First, JT said he wanted to make a mobile. OK, that sounds like fun. Then he said, "I want it to be a ship mobile." Again, OK. Let's do some research on mobiles themselves and decide how to construct it.

First mistake.

We found information on walnut boats, guess what he wanted to make his ships out of?

So, I said yes.

Second mistake.

I am now convinced that only two types of people work with walnut shells. Martha Stewart types and those who have never worked with them before.

I am not Martha Stewart, and until this weekend I never attempted to make walnut shell boats. After this weekend, I will never again venture toward any craft requiring walnut shells.

First, where do you find walnuts, still in the shell? That was easy enough, being the holidays and all, every grocery store in town has bags of whole walnuts.

Second, how do you cleanly crack walnut shells in half. Thank you Google, and the many, many blogs out there that do cover such topics. How did anyone accomplish anything in the years before Google? And who spends their days figuring out how to cleanly crack a walnut shell? Not that I'm complaining or anything, I'm very glad you did, but ...?

Instructions on cracking walnuts shells found here: Debbie Thinks Deep.

So, after stabbing my hand with a steak knife (which no longer hurts since slicing my finger tip with a Creative Memories Cutting System Blade, but I digress) and singeing them on the hot walnuts (handling the first 15 weren't that hot, it was the last 15) we obtained enough cleanly split walnuts to get to work.

However, the work did not end there. Though the walnuts were split I still had to dig out the nuts themselves, or the "meat" of the nut. Do nuts go bad, moldy smelly bad, once the shells are open? Just wondering, in cases I didn't completely clean out the shells. ***And if some of you are wondering why my son is not doing all the hard work please reread the paragraph above. Sharp knives were involved, and a bit of stabbing. OK, moving on.

The mobile is completed, hopefully I'll get a picture of it to post. It doesn't look half bad, and maybe the walnuts were worth the trouble.

So the moral of the story, if you have never used walnuts for a craft, and you are not Martha Stewart, then considered yourself warned.

Oh, by the way, does anyone know what to do with roasted walnuts? Please send me recipes.

Under the Big Top

Friday the school hosted a carnival. All the games had circus related names, thanks to some creative college students. There was food, games, and an auction. The committee had 8 weeks to plan this fundraising extravagance. This was the first carnival and auction the school had hosted for many years, meaning none of us on the committee had done this before. So, after 8 weeks of sweat and planning this is what we came up with.

The local paint your own pottery store offers a great fundraiser for schools. The store provides plates, supplies, and the use of their kiln, at a discount. Each class places their thumb prints around a plate, someone very creative (our art teacher) decorates the plates, and the pottery store fires it. What comes out are some beautiful plates and a keepsake for the winning family. (At a different school one of these class plates went for $2300. Yes, you read that right, with a "thousand". The highest one of our plates went for was around $200; which still seems outrageous to me, but it was for a good cause.)

Each class also assembled a theme basket for the auction. Along with donations from local business' the auction was a success.My sister-in-law was on the food committee. Before the carnival she was ready to throw the cotton candy machine out the window. Thankfully one of the volunteers had worked a cotton candy machine before and my SIL was saved from a sticky h***.

EM spent the evening asking for cotton candy, she even threw a cotton candy denied tantrum. I kept saying no because she doesn't eat the stuff. And if she doesn't eat it that means JT will end up eating it, and he doesn't need sugar, or I will eat it, and I don't need the calories. Near the end of the evening she finally gave in and ate her popcorn, finished the popcorn, and then asked for cotton candy. (I'm guessing that she thought if she ate what I wanted her to then she would be allowed to eat cotton candy. Yeah, not so much.)

Games, games and more games. The teachers provided most of the games. The Boys and Girls Club and Big Brothers, Big Sisters also came in and hosted activities. (This made the games committee job very easy.) The two and half hours slated for the games was not enough time. But it didn't matter. To play a game each child (or adult if they so wished) had to purchase a game ticket. At the end of the evening, or the parent's patience, the ticket was handed in for a prize bag. The prize bag was the same, regardless of the number of games played.

We projected 350 kids (plus adults) and around 425 game tickets were sold. Our fundraising goal for the evening was $1500. Though we don't have the official tally yet, it is safe to say we cleared $5000. Oh yes. That will buy some new playground mulch, maybe a smart board or two. Or, my personal request, repainted parking lines.

A very big THANK YOU goes to the committee and our fearless committee leader Melissa. Our teachers who went above the call of duty (like always), the many volunteers (many high school and college students who spent a Friday night hanging with us), the custodial staff who were at the school all day, late into the evening, and returned Saturday for another function. And, finally to all the parents and children who's attendance made this a success.

Is your school planning a carnival, or maybe thinking about the possibility? Oh, it is so worth the hard work. Does your school host an annual carnival and/or auction? Leave a comment and tell us how it works. As we reflect on Friday's event we are looking at what needs changing for next year, and would love to hear how other schools run their carnivals.

School Talk

Kid's say the darnest things, and when it happens at school it becomes twice as funny (most of the time.)

Last year JT brought home a note informing us he was not completing his homework, Notes From School shows you the note, and what his excuse was.

This present school year has only been in session for a month and we already have material for their school books.

The first day of school ED was reprimanded for something. He bent down on one knee, took his teacher's hand and kissed it. All the while telling his teacher how attached he is to her, ..., an auspicious beginning to his school career.

Last week my hubby asked ED what he liked about his teacher. "She looks nice" was his reply. Oh my, we are in trouble.
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Presently, JT is just whining about his school work. Nothing fun about that, and a reason why I don't home school. (Oh, I would much appreciate any tips on teaching math to a 2nd grader.)
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EM isn't talking much in school, hey I'm not complaining. But, her teachers wonder if she has a chance to talk at home. They know her brothers and know how much they talk. "Have no fear dear teachers, give her a little time and she won't stop talking. This is the same kid who falls asleep mid-sentence, talks in her sleep, and wakes up continuing the conversation."
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For more Tiny Talk laughs head over to Not Before 7. (BTW, I love her blog title being a night owl myself, and who God blessed with morning children.)