Showing posts with label Letters for JD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Letters for JD. Show all posts
Sarah
Hi everyone!

Well, the rainy day has come and gone and we are heading back to 80+ degrees today. My list? Well, I did get SOME of the items off but, of course, the list was a bit more ambitious than I was. ;)

Here is the original list...
Laundry
Clean basement
Reorganize school room
Children complete character sketch essay
Registrations for camps
VBS flier
VBS sign ups
Practice skit with children for Sunday's service
Bake
Plan and cook evening meal
Visit Grandpa in nursing home


And, here is what I have left...
Reorganize school room
Children complete character sketch essay (1 got done, 1 still in progress)
Registrations for camps
VBS flier
Visit Grandpa in nursing home


So, it is a bit improved, but I also was able to weed the garden at the end of the day, and managed to sit on the front porch for a bit, so all in all, it was a successful rainy day. :)

Today, I am filling out our calendar and looking to see how we can fit some schoolwork in between all the activities. :) I not only want to finish up everything from this year, but want to get a jump start on next as well. This allows us the ultimate flexibility to travel in the fall and spring if we want to, and helps when I have to work at Brad's office occasionally.

Summer school is going to be casual though, and here is what I hope to accomplish: (I'm obviously into making lists right now! I seem to be so much better at making them, though, than accomplishing what's on them...)

Complete last two science units
Spelling (new list each week)
Cooking camp
Household management camp
Daily reading
Art 2x/week
Restart piano lessons
Daily math practice (pre-algebra prep...nailing down the basics!)

So, hopefully I can get this organized into a plan of attack very soon, and we can get down to the business at hand. We will take weeks off here and there (for my sanity as well as my kiddos) so I anticipate it to be a fun summer.

Yesterday, my oldest was figuring out that he will never be able to buy everything he wants to play with in his childhood years, so he is feeling the desperation of this situation. His amount of cash accrual is not equaling his desire for cash outflow. So, he is shamelessly seeking gainful employment. So, yesterday he made a sign that he put on his front and back, advertising "Happy Housecleaning. Fast and efishint." (His spelling, not mine. ;)) JT hired him to clean his room, so he was able to make a fast $1 there as his room is probably the cleanest one in the house. However, much to his chagrin, his mother did not have any duties for him, stating that his allowance was providing adequate compensation for the jobs she needed him to do. He proceeded to lament the fact that allowances are only paid once a week, and he needed to make some money on a daily basis. He then decided to write a business letter (we learned how to do that in composition last week - good to see the school work going to good use!) to his father, outlining a business proposal in which he would be responsible for push mowing the clinic lawn.

Dear Mr. B,

I have hear that you need a mower for your work; I may be able to help. For jest $50, this will cover gas, oil changes, and transportation.

$11 for gas, $3 set aside for oil change, $1 for transportation each way, equals $15. That would be reduced from the cost for your expenses. I am vary excited for this job. I hope you will agree.

Sincerely,


JDB


Problem is, we are not sure he's tall enough to even push the mower, so there may be a slight kink in his plans.

I guess I better get the stuff out and have him wash the windows at least and earn an extra buck or two - gotta give the kid a bone when he works so hard to play the part, don't you?

So, if you need a good hired hand, I have a child desperately seeking employment. Sounds like he'll do almost anything. And, if you can request a business letter, that would make the teacher happy, too.

Have a great day - of to make a list, and hopefully check something off it, too!
Sarah
As usual, today was a busy day. I managed to find a bit of time to continue the process of re-establishing all the programs on my computer. I was able to successfully load back on my Microsoft Office components, restart my Outlook program for email, and load on our office software to be able to again work from home. Next, I will start transferring files and pictures...I'm excited about once again being able to view and share pictures!

This day was also full with the responsibilities of teaching my kiddos, a VBS meeting, and a "coffee chat" with some fellow homeschoolers. During this chat, I was convicted of something that has been bothering me as of late. My oldest child, age 11, seems to be at the age when anything and everything can innocently become a volatile situation. What may start out as a basic request or question can, amazingly, all of a sudden become a source of contention and frustration. JD seems to be, at time, fighting and struggling with all types of emotions and I truly thing he just doesn't quite know what to do with all he is feeling. There are great days when everything just runs so smoothly, and then we have days where we start out on the wrong foot and it all goes downhill from there.

Today, I thought it would be fun for JD to share the adventure of math with his brother JT. Through an activity called "Marshmallow math", both of them were to work together to solve a number of area and volume problems based on different geometric shapes and a marshmallow ruler. I thought this would be quite fun for them both, and certainly an opportunity to work together and share the camradarie.

Of course, I was wrong. Problem one was that I waited untl about 4pm in the afternoon to do this activity. Nothing good school-wise happens after 3:30pm in this house, at least for the oldest. His brain is done, turned off, and onto other much more *important* things by that time. When he saw that the activity was four pages long, he hit the ceiling and went into full fledged melt down. Bottom line, the work ethic was not to my standard, and I needed to remove him from the situation to calm down and regroup. JT was instructed to complete the activity independently and JD would return to work on it when he was in a better mindset and had his emotions under control. Needless to say, the outburst just came out of nowhere which I think is typical of this age group.

Through all this, I have realized that I am doing him no favors by assisting him with certain school activities when he is perfectly capable of doing it on his own. While he may try and fail, he at least is in a safe situation, and we can use it as a learning activity for working harder and more thoroughly in the future. I have done this particularly with history, where I have been reading the text to him to make sure he is spending enough time and effort on the content rather than allowing him to do it independently, as he was not grasping the information he needed to. He is a smart kiddo, but fails to take the time to prepare and "inwardly digest" the material due to his tendency to just "get it done". He may just have to learn that he will end up redoing a unit and lose that much time if he fails to do the work to the standards that have been set. He is at that age where he claims to just be making silly mistakes, or "I didn't read that" or "I didn't understand.." It's time, I believe, to call a spade a spade, and work on these study skills that will only help him in the long run. The challenge will now be to balance his difficulties in writing and spelling with his lack of concern for being thorough and complete. Now is as good of time as ever to establish the boundaries, expectations, and consequences, so we can finish the school year strong. It's going to be a tough road, but I am sure it will be worth it.

Anyway, I am excited to have just one day of school left this week, and then a wonderful Easter weekend ahead of us. I am hoping to now go check out some of the blogs that I have been unable to stop by as this whole transition has been taking place. By the way, my aunt's procedure all turned out well, in fact, there were no heart issues after all the tests and procedures were completed. A false positive echo, a negative angiogram, and a number of symptoms culminated into a variety of preconceived notions in regards to a diagnosis that ended up being unfounded. She is heart healthy and now will pursue different options in order to determine the cause of her issues. But, we are thankful it appears there is nothing life threatening.

Off to organize the Resurrection eggs for tomorrow's activities...if you want some great ideas and the details of these eggs, head over to my friend Chris's blog to get the details!

Until next time...
Sarah
This has been floating around on Facebook, so I thought I would give it a try. I figured it would be interesting to have the same questions answered by an 11, 8, and 6 year-old. I made sure to interview them all separately so as not to influence their answers. So, without further ado (from oldest child to youngest)...

What is something Mom always says to you?
JD: JD, I need you. JD, can you get (something) please?
JT: Time for school.
TJ: Thank you.

What makes Mom happy?
JD: Books, seeing her children
JT: Her kids obeying her
TJ: When we give her a present or if we love her which we do

What makes Mom sad?
JD: Us fighting
JT: Her kids not obeying her
TJ: When we do something bad

When does Mom look pretty?JD: When she has her hair back and when she's on vacation with her sunglasses on
JT: Whenever she thinks she's pretty
TJ: When she wears a pretty dress

What do you think Mom was like as a child?
JD: A little darling, white dress with little curves on the bottom
JT: Well disciplined
TJ: Happy, playful

How old is your Mom?
(They all got it right - so, no need to post the info!)

How tall is your Mom?
JD: 5'9"
JT: 5'8"
TJ: I'm not sure

What is your Mom's favorite thing to do?
JD: Read books
JT: Snuggling up in a bath, reading a book
TJ: Staying with her kids

What does your Mom do when you're not around?
JD: Work and read books
JT: Have tons of fun without us
TJ: Eats popcorn with daddy and watches "Top Chef"

If your Mom were to become famous, what would it be for?
JD: Cleaning the house and great K12 seminars
JT: Her homeschooling
TJ: Her heart

What is your Mom really good at?
JD: Cleaning, fixing computers, and cooking
JT: Making tator tot hotdish
TJ: Loving her kids

What is your Mom not very good at?
JD: Playing what I like to play, and sometimes gets a little crabby
JT: Telling me who to play in Madden
TJ: Holding her temper

What does your Mom do for her job?
JD: K12 seminars, clean the house, and be a good mom
JT: Goes on sessions and teaches us school, and helps dad with work
TJ: Homeschools her kids

What is your Mom's favorite food?
JD: Casseroles, going to Bahama Breeze in Florida
JT: Fresh shrimp with a tinse of lemon juice, toasted just right
TJ: Tator tot hotdish

What makes you proud of your Mom?
JD: Just being my mom
JT: She's the best mom in the world
TJ: When she spends time with me

If your Mom was a cartoon character, who would she be?
JD: Olive Oyl
JT: Popeye
TJ: A queen

What do you and your Mom do together?
JD: Dates, eating at a restaurant, going for ice cream, school
JT: A lot of things
TJ: Dates

How are you and your Mom the same?
JD: Both have blue eyes
JT: We try to do what's best for the family
TJ: We;re girls

How are you and your Mom different?
JD: She's older and a girl
JT: I like video games better than she does
TJ: One's older and one's younger

How do you know Mom loves you?
JD: She teaches school when she doesn't have to and when we fool around in school she tries to be as patient as she can
JT: The things she does for me
TJ: Because she shows it

Where is your Mom's favorite place to go?
JD: Bahama Breeze in Florida, her bed to read a book
JT: Caribou Coffee with her kids
TJ: The coffee place

Thanks to my precious children, who were honest, but not brutal. :)

Love you all...
Sarah
JD,

You did a really nice thing yesterday. The phonics reader you made for your sister was a gift from your heart. I know you love to draw, so that part was easy for you. But to add all the words and strive to have perfect spelling and handwriting, that is a gift of love.

I will treasure that special book, and I absolutely love "Beed" and "Bob". You have such a gift of drawing. God has blessed you with that talent and you absolutely amaze me with how you can continue to improve with how you show movement and perspective. Keep using your talent for God's glory.

Love,
Mom