Bribes -- never thought before I had a child I would use them. In fact, I thought it was a sign of bad parrenting.
Not any more. We started playing the bribes game early on. It works!
My latest guilty bribe has to do with school. See, I ordered Christian Light Education's Sunrise (or whatever the heck it's called) math for Thomas. Instead of ordering the 6th grade, I ordered 5th. Now Thomas isn't behind on math, he scores years ahead on computation and post high school on concepts on his standardized tests every year, BUT he hasn't had any exposure to algebra and very little to geometry. I was looking around at the yahoo group's photos, and they incorporate both things in the 5th grade program.
So, most of it will be review -- gravy. There will be ne concepts learned, and I'm happy with that. Now here comes the bribe. After we get it, and have worked it for a bit, I will be ordering the 600 series for THE SUMMER. I don't want Thomas getting behind on the other skills and concepts.
Bob and I broke the news to Thomas at lunch today. He was not a happy camper. He pitched a fit. He was not happy. Uffta. (When in Minnesota, talk like the Minnesotans. lol)
Thomas made a very valid point. His summers are precious to him. He enjoys the freedom of no school. SO DO I. I probably enjoy it more than he does, truth be told. Bob said that if he did this work for us, with a good attitude, we'd get him something. Something big.
Bob was talking Wii -- I told him that's too big. I came up with the perfect solution while reading the Well Trained Mind boardsd tonight: A cell phone. I ran that by Thomas and he was thrilled. He's been asking for one for a long time. All his friends have them. (eye roll) They do, but they're also in public school and going every where after school and the parents use the cell phones to keep track of where their kids are. Thomas just wants one.
So I'll buy him a Trac Phone, get a big plan for him, and we'll call it a day.
I can handle an hour of school every day this summer, right? I can do it.
The thing is -- what do I get for doing math every day this summer? Anything special for me? ha ha ha ha ha
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
brrr
Took the puppies potty a few minutes ago.
They went out the door, stayed for one second, and raced back in. I physically picked them up and put them out. Each of them. Twice. They wouldn't stay out.
The wind is blowing, it's snowing, it's a wet snow, and the current temp is -15 and our wind-chill is -43. -43. #$#@&*(
Tomorrow is supposed to be nasty cold, too. I think on Thursay, I am going to go buy a lottery ticket. I think I'll buy one for every lottery. If I ever win, I'm moving somewhere warm.
Who said there was no such thing as a cold day in hell?
They went out the door, stayed for one second, and raced back in. I physically picked them up and put them out. Each of them. Twice. They wouldn't stay out.
The wind is blowing, it's snowing, it's a wet snow, and the current temp is -15 and our wind-chill is -43. -43. #$#@&*(
Tomorrow is supposed to be nasty cold, too. I think on Thursay, I am going to go buy a lottery ticket. I think I'll buy one for every lottery. If I ever win, I'm moving somewhere warm.
Who said there was no such thing as a cold day in hell?
Monday, February 18, 2008
Back and Forth
We've had lots of back an forths lately:
Back and forth travel for Bob. We're about done with that, though. Whew.
Back and forth with the weather. It's average temperature, then it's waaay below average, then it's average again. Currently, it's 0 with a wind-chill of -21. I'd take our average of 20s in the daytime, PLEASE. Hopefully by the end of the week we'll make the swing. Life is so much better when we are in the average range of temps. 20 may not seem warm, but believe me, compared to -20, it is balmy!
Back and forth with illnesses. Thomas is still coughing away, and yesterday I awoke to greet a lovely sore throat, coughing, sneezing, stuffy nose, runny nose, or just icky nose, aches and pains and slight fever. Had it today. I'm sure it will be here tomorrow. Back and forth between who is sick. Thomas and I just keep taking turns. It's too cold to air the house out. Ick.
Frankly, I'd rather be sick at home than being sick out of town. January 6th, the day we got Tesla, the day I was throwing up and more all over Rochester, Minnesota. Yup. I'll quit complaining about being sick, because I'm HOME. What a world of difference that makes.
Back and forth with math. Gosh, our entire homeschool career math has been an issue. Thomas hates math with a capital H. Cannot stand it. I used to like math, but with the stress of all these years building up with Thomas' hate, UGH. First we did Singapore, which was not a good fit for either of us. Then we did Rod and Staff. I loved it, Thomas hated, hated, triple-dog-dare -- no wait, that doesn't apply to hate -- detested it. In between we've done a little of Lial's Basic College Math, Key To Fractions and Decimals, and Painless Fractions. We're about to finish the Key to Fractions and one have book of Key to Decimals.
I am sick of not having a set math curricula. I need something in workbook format. Thomas cannot copy problems from a book. With the Rod and Staff, that I loved, I broke the spine, tore the book apart, three-hole punched it, and put it in a notebook. Thomas wrote directly in the student text. That worked well most of the time. He really doesn't want to do Rod and Staff.
So I've been searching again. There are a few workbook format choices out there, but I think I will purchase Christian Light Education, CLE for short. Lots more algebra than Rod and Staff. The only samples I could find were at their yahoo group, Christian Light Families. Based solely on a few sample pages, plus the index, I think it might work. It's not too expensive, so I can return or re-sell it if it doesn't work out.
Time will tell. No more back and forth with math, that's my biggest desire.
No more back and forth with anything. I am sick of the pendulum. I want to stay put for awhile. I want everyone home, healthy and happy. Is it possible???
~~~~~~~~~
One more back and forth. Today, Thomas said to me, "Mom, would you please log out of my Webkinz account so I can play? We go back and forth on who is logged in. I am in love with Webkinz. I like to play Tile Towers (Tai Pei game.) I like to play go fish. I like their arcade games. I like their word games. Gee, isn't it geared for YOUNG kids? Maybe I'm just young at heart, but I really enjoy the games there. So Thomas has decided I need a Webkinz of my own. I think he's right. I just have to figure out which critter I want. They don't have a border collie -- well, they didn't last time I checked. The only down side is I make Thomas a lot of Kinzcash. Oh well, he'll have to earn it on his own.
This mom rates Webkinz as A+ for safety. I don't even worry about Thomas there because the only way to chat with others is by picking phrases from a screen. No typing on your own. So, nice and safe.
Back and forth. Sounds like a hypnotist trying to dull me to death. Sadly, I think it's working!
Back and forth travel for Bob. We're about done with that, though. Whew.
Back and forth with the weather. It's average temperature, then it's waaay below average, then it's average again. Currently, it's 0 with a wind-chill of -21. I'd take our average of 20s in the daytime, PLEASE. Hopefully by the end of the week we'll make the swing. Life is so much better when we are in the average range of temps. 20 may not seem warm, but believe me, compared to -20, it is balmy!
Back and forth with illnesses. Thomas is still coughing away, and yesterday I awoke to greet a lovely sore throat, coughing, sneezing, stuffy nose, runny nose, or just icky nose, aches and pains and slight fever. Had it today. I'm sure it will be here tomorrow. Back and forth between who is sick. Thomas and I just keep taking turns. It's too cold to air the house out. Ick.
Frankly, I'd rather be sick at home than being sick out of town. January 6th, the day we got Tesla, the day I was throwing up and more all over Rochester, Minnesota. Yup. I'll quit complaining about being sick, because I'm HOME. What a world of difference that makes.
Back and forth with math. Gosh, our entire homeschool career math has been an issue. Thomas hates math with a capital H. Cannot stand it. I used to like math, but with the stress of all these years building up with Thomas' hate, UGH. First we did Singapore, which was not a good fit for either of us. Then we did Rod and Staff. I loved it, Thomas hated, hated, triple-dog-dare -- no wait, that doesn't apply to hate -- detested it. In between we've done a little of Lial's Basic College Math, Key To Fractions and Decimals, and Painless Fractions. We're about to finish the Key to Fractions and one have book of Key to Decimals.
I am sick of not having a set math curricula. I need something in workbook format. Thomas cannot copy problems from a book. With the Rod and Staff, that I loved, I broke the spine, tore the book apart, three-hole punched it, and put it in a notebook. Thomas wrote directly in the student text. That worked well most of the time. He really doesn't want to do Rod and Staff.
So I've been searching again. There are a few workbook format choices out there, but I think I will purchase Christian Light Education, CLE for short. Lots more algebra than Rod and Staff. The only samples I could find were at their yahoo group, Christian Light Families. Based solely on a few sample pages, plus the index, I think it might work. It's not too expensive, so I can return or re-sell it if it doesn't work out.
Time will tell. No more back and forth with math, that's my biggest desire.
No more back and forth with anything. I am sick of the pendulum. I want to stay put for awhile. I want everyone home, healthy and happy. Is it possible???
~~~~~~~~~
One more back and forth. Today, Thomas said to me, "Mom, would you please log out of my Webkinz account so I can play? We go back and forth on who is logged in. I am in love with Webkinz. I like to play Tile Towers (Tai Pei game.) I like to play go fish. I like their arcade games. I like their word games. Gee, isn't it geared for YOUNG kids? Maybe I'm just young at heart, but I really enjoy the games there. So Thomas has decided I need a Webkinz of my own. I think he's right. I just have to figure out which critter I want. They don't have a border collie -- well, they didn't last time I checked. The only down side is I make Thomas a lot of Kinzcash. Oh well, he'll have to earn it on his own.
This mom rates Webkinz as A+ for safety. I don't even worry about Thomas there because the only way to chat with others is by picking phrases from a screen. No typing on your own. So, nice and safe.
Back and forth. Sounds like a hypnotist trying to dull me to death. Sadly, I think it's working!
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