School Daze

I guess I'm feeling a little preoccupied with school this year because this is my second post about it.  Today I'm thinking about all the things my kids are doing that we never had to do.  It seems a little different from the conversations my generations had with their parents about school:

"When I was a kid, I walked 3 miles to school in the snow, all uphill."

Even though I spent 12 years in Catholic school, the stories I could tell my kids pale in comparison to the things I see them do in connection with school:

They carry too many books.  My 98 pound kid is carrying 30 pounds of books.  All the time.  To every class.  Everyday.  My daughter has a rolling backpack that has a broken zipper because it's stuffed with books (and she still carries a 3" binder separate from the backpack).  Our solution?  We just bought an extra set of books for my son ($60).  It's absolutely worth every penny.  We have found some of my daughter's books online so she doesn't always have to carry her binder.

Homework.  Where do I begin?  I know I've said here that I've done too many salt dough maps and book reports.  I know my parents didn't do that, probably because I was kid #4 and they refused to go there again.  I understand that kids have homework, but I just didn't realize we they would spend so much time each night doing homework.  2-3 hours is not unusual.  And is it really necessary to do 30 math problems every night?

With all the books that are coming home and the amount of homework we are doing, I'm wondering what they do at school?

cindy

The Art of Learning

On Saturdays, it's my job to teach my 11-year old son, because my husband does it all week.  I teach Language Arts and Art.  Language Arts is fine - I'm pretty comfortable with that - but Art is another issue.  I am creative, but not artistic.  I can craft, but don't make me draw a picture.  There is a lot of picture drawing involved in this class.  There are no patterns involved.

As part of this teaching gig, I'n learning about elements of art.  Line, color, shape, texture, are part of my vocabulary now, but only to the extent of appreciation.  Today we were learning about balance.  The easy type of balance is "formal."  It's the easiest to understand because it's simple symmetry.  We also learned about radial balance, in which items "radiate" from a single point, frequently unseen.  The best example I can give is a fan.  Finally, the last form of balance we learned about was "informal" or asymmetrical balance.  That one was the most interesting, but also the most difficult to understand.

As part of the lesson, Christian and I had to walk around the house looking for examples of each type of balance so he can sketch them.  Here's his example of formal balance (symmetry):

What I realized is that there is a natural sense of balance in all kinds of things.  I didn't realize that what I find myself doing when I take pictures is trying to achieve a type of balance, especially asymmetrical balance.  (Photography is the closest I get to being an artist, and I'm hardly a good photographer.)  But, I will say that learning some of these elements of art might make me a better photographer, so at least my scrapbooks (if I ever make them), will be more interesting.

One of the best things about working with my son is that I get to channel my inner teacher.  I've taught a bit, mostly informally.  I really like it.  If I weren't a lawyer, I would like to be a teacher.  But doing this one-on-one with my son is a great opportunity to connect with him on a totally new level.  It's awesome to see the lightbulb go on when he grasps a new concept.  So, with something like art, we're learning together.  Cool.

cindy

Friday Coffee Date

If we were having coffee today . . .

I would tell you how I haven't really been too interested in blogging or crafting lately.  I don't usually enjoy just relaxing doing nothing, but that's all I've been doing lately

After all, I'm sitting here having coffee with you.

I worry if I don't blog more, I will lose the small audience I have.  I have so much sewing I want to do, I just can't decide where to start.

School is in full swing and we are just as busy at night as the kids are.  Every night before bed I try to think of something to write (like now), but end up falling asleep.

Maybe I need a coffee date at night.

cindy

Coffee Dates is a concept from Alissa at Rags to Stitches.  Drop by and pull up a chair every Friday - better yet, come over to Rags to Stitches and catch the whole coffee crowd.

Another Day in History

The Battle of Cowpens - I know more than I ever wanted to know.  Yes, it's another one of Christian's school projects.  We have done some book reports and a salt dough version of the State of Arizona (another project I will look forward to next year when Mackenzie is in 4th grade).  This time we did a model of a Revolutionary War battle.  We chose the Battle of Cowpens because it was the battle we could find on the internet with a schematic.  I have to admit it was interesting, but that's because I like history.  I'm also proud of this model.

It's not easy to see, but the red and blue sticks represent British and Colonial armies.  The trees are made of cotton balls dyed green on brown sticks and the movements of the armies are shown in arrows.  Yeah, I did  some a lot most of the work.  Christian helped paint the sticks, made the cotton ball trees and mixed a bit of salt dough.  I don't remember having to do so many of these projects when I was in elementary school.  Maybe I do them because I love crafty things and I'm challenged.  Now that it's done, I wish I could have spent the weekend doing something else.  Actually, I'm just happy it's done.

Bring on Arizona in salt dough!

cindy

Homework

So school has been in session for several weeks now and it's starting to get difficult for my dear son.  Maybe that's not quite right - it's starting to get hard for ME.  We have been trying to work on our routines and coping strategies and it has worked somewhat.  However, he is still having problems getting the homework turned in and assignments written down in his planner.  With activities getting into full swing, it's getting frustrating for both of us.  (When activities get going, that means Kentster is not home in the evenings because he has rehearsals and meetings.)

To add to the frustration, dear daughter wants more attention while she does homework.  She doesn't have the attention problems dear son has, but she does resent the amount of time her brother gets every night.  (You really have to sit on him so he stays on task with the homework and his sister is a serious distraction if she is in the same room.)

I'm trying to regroup on the strategy while I write this.  We have eliminated television during the week already, but I think Kentster and I need to eliminate computer time until all homework is completed.  We also need to keep the bedtime routine on schedule, beginning at 8:00 p.m.  It's all written out on laminated papers stuck to the bathroom mirror - each of them has a schedule that goes in the opposite direction:

Shower (wash & brush hair)
Brush teeth
Lay out clothes for tomorrow
Get backpack together (binders, homework organized)
Put shoes and backpack by the door

It's much easier than nagging because all you have to say is:  "Look at your list."

I think something else we should try is to specifically schedule homework time for timeframes between school and bedtime.  What I mean is everyday has a different schedule of activities - performing arts, choir, instrument lessons, Girl Scouts, etc.  If we have set times on each day, it might make it easier for me when I'm sitting here at 8:29 and dear son hasn't started his bedtime routine that was supposed to begin at 8:00 p.m.  We can also give him a sense of time so he has a better concept of how long it takes him to do his homework (and everything else).

Breathe deep and count to 10 . . .

cindy