Talk me down from the ledge - I'm about to put Sam back in school

Re: Cuss words in Foreign languages....

I learned Russian back in the 90's...
Imagine my shock when commercials for Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan first hit the airwaves. (That movie with the actor pretending to be from Kazakhstan, traveling through the usa) .......



Well.....

In Kazakhstan, they speak Russian.....
They were a part of the U.S.S.R.
Kazakhstan declared itself an independent country on December 16, 1991, the last Soviet republic to do so...

ANYWAY......

Borat is Russian for (Insert word that means wifely duty and starts with an F)

Yea! THAT word!

The joke is on the US for broadcasting that word all over their airwaves..
Even Russian papers were laughing about it.
But...
In Russia, the Federal Culture and Cinematography Agency refused to certify the film for distribution, effectively banning it from the country's theaters.[97]

 

Ouch!

 

Hey Tiffany, wanted to say happy birthday tomorrow. Mine is tomorrow too! I will be 30, ugh! Anywho, i hope you and your dd have some luck soon. My dd and i occasionally have issues with school, and it is usually math, lol so i know how you feel. I think it is sweet that you two will have a sleep over, i may have to do that with my dd sometime! Heather

 

Jeannie gives me baloney everyday about math. Since it cannot go this way, I asked myself-

am I reviewing enough? It needs to be done everyday, until I see she completely gets whatever it is.
Am I explaining enough? I need to remember this is new to her, and she needs to be instructed from the ground up.
Why am I losing my temper with her? Getting in a back and forth mouth battle isn't going to get the math done. I've started moving on and coming back to it- the same day. No leaving it for tomorrow. This means skipping activities sometimes.

Her evaluator told me today to not be afraid of holding her to a higher standard. They would in school, so I should, too.

I also want to say that she goes for testing in March, at the elementary. All the county third graders are, and hsers can opt in. I totally expect her to not do as well in math. If it's bad enough, I will enroll her next year. Hsing isn't worth it if the child isn't getting what they need because of daily arguing over a subject. JMHO.

 

Becky I needed to read your post. I am in the middle of a battle trying to get reports written for co op. sigh, How can I go over somthing a million times and they still don't get it? Am I that bad of a teacher?
sorry if I hijacked, but Im on theledge now! Lol!

 

OK, you gals are not going to believe this, but...

Elijah and I did the steps (thanks Jennifer). He thought it was a game, but when I was done, it was like a light bulb went on. He thought that was really neat and said you must be very smart.

Anyway, I also decided to make the cards with formulas on them. As I sat and did that, I got out his next book - Pre-Algebra - and was going to write formulas for that too. He came to me and asked what I was doing. I told him looking at the next book, he said I know how to do most of that. He asked if he could start right now - I told him if he could do one of the problems in each lesson, he could go onto the next lesson. He is on Lesson 20 already and going strong. I can't believe he wanted to do this on his own. He was so excited:shock:

Has he finally growing up and maturing or is he finally understanding why? I'm so excited, can you tell?:wink:

 

Ok, blushing over here....
Glad it worked for someone else!
It only works for someone who is having trouble seeing the whole "Point" to math..
And I think, only for the lower grades.. I haven't made it past third grade yet, so I am no expert for sure! hahahaha!

 

The evaluator said today that certain phrases can have ulterior meanings. 'I don't know', 'I can't', 'I don't remember', 'this is so stupid', can all mean there's an issue with the subject that the child needs help with. Finding that issue is the problem when you're at your wit's end and the child has a wall up. Personally, I don't get this jazz during science, social studies, health, or any of the other things I do with her here. So, I ask myself 'What is it with this math???' I don't have an answer, TM. I wish I did. I hate being aggravated with my little girl, because I love her with all my heart. I've started telling her she can do the work now, or later instead of swimming or-my personal choice:wink:- Brownies. Yes, I will hold that page for two weeks, until her next meeting! I hate being a bitch( please excuse my language), but her education so so important I'd rather have her where she needs to be and mad at me, than to cave in and have her mathematically ignorant . I'm always afraid one of the snootier ps Brownies will start asking her about being hs'd, and I don't want her made fun of.

 

Tiffany, I just think you need a rum and coke and new math book and you and Sam will be happier...
Try teaching textbook it works wonderful.

 

Can I say something else that is just my own personal opinion?
Taking a 'break' from a stressful subject solves nothing. It only puts off handling the situation. I'd be taking a bunch of breaks from math, if I could, because I get so very, very worn out from the daily battles over it. I dread it like some of you do, and when you add in the rest of the usual home stressors, you get pretty tired.

 

Becky, that is so true but changing the book could be the answer. Or trying something different. We have to remember ever child is different and learns differently. What works for one might not another. All you can do is keep trying different things until something works.. then again it might never work, math might not be her strong subject.

 

Wow! I go off to dance class and this thread has taken off!

You all are a huge help to me - you have no idea. I love to read this because it helps me look at this situation from different perspectives which is totally awesome.

Becky I kind of agree with you on the break thing. We tried taking breaks before but it actually just gets worse when we come back to it.

Kris you are right girl I need to head to Jen's and have a drink. (actually dh just brought me a cold beer) He said I look like I needed one after a day of dealing with this and then teaching dance classes I am worn out.

Monday we will start fresh. BOTH of us. She isn't the only one. I loose my temper with her too much and like Becky said I hate that I love my little girl!

I just want to thank you all for all your support. I'm gonna eat a big ol piece of birthday cake for each of ya and pretend you are all here! Hey Jen and Kris you two aren't too far. Come on for some cake and rum!

 

Tiffany, sounds good to me, I will be there. Then maybe we can work something out with Math, you know more then one head together can get alot of work done....

 

Oh yes Kris! Great idea! You and Jen will be so much help in the math department.

And I have been wanting to meet up with you anyway. What a better way than with rum and cake?!

 

I personally know that going from curriculum to curriculum can create gaps. Jeannie has yet to do much with measurement, because so far, the curr's we have used did little with it. Before she goes for testing, I have to try and squeeze in a measurement unit. Our state school website has sample test questions, and there were some on there I know Jeannie will not be able to answer. I promise you we did math just about every day of every school year since K. So, what happened??:?

 

Getting mad at Jeannie over math made me stop and really listen to other moms talk about how they deal with their kids concerning troublesome subjects. I regularly heard these words-

crying(the child)
yelled/yelling/yell(mom)
scream/screamed/screaming(mom)
hate( the kid hates the subject, the mom hates the behavior)
'can't stand'( as in can't stand the kid)

Today a friend told me she said to her 7 yr old, after punishing her over school, 'What do I have to do to break you down??' I understand the mom's frustration, but the comment made me so very sad for her and the girl. What a sad way for the child to learn each day. Between that and what Jeannie's reviewer said, I decided I need to change things, too. I want learning to be positive for her. I want her to look back and think what a phat childhood she had, and what neat things she learned about. My heart really does burst with love over this girl. And- I don't want Jeannie doing this to her daughter, you know?

(Note to Amy when she reads this post- I will still occasionally want to be shot so I can't hs anymore! Lol!)

 

Well, for my dd, it didn't work to just stick with the program. She was doing Saxon 7/6. She could do the work fine, but she hated the repetition! She built up a dread of math in general because she hated the math program we were using. By the time I came to the conclusion that we should do something else, she said she HATED math, couldn't remember multiplication, got frustrated easily....we had a long row to hoe to get to the point we are now. She did Teaching Textbooks Pre Algebra last year and liked it, which was a HUGE step for her! She finished the book by the end of the year, but said she didn't want to do TT again. Yikes! We had gotten Life of Fred Algebra I (he'd had some math troubles too) for ds, and as she was looking through it she asked if she could try it. She'd grab the book and read it all on her own, and ask dh questions about the problems when he got home! We decided to do the LoF Fractions and Decimals books first, though, since she still has a bit of math phobia, and is scared of Algebra. She loves them, and has gone quite far through them. I'm hoping they will help build her confidence so she'll be ready to tackle Algebra when she's done with them!!!

I feel that if I would have made her tough it out, and she was fussing about it daily, that she would totally hate math, and lose out on possibilities she is very interested in right now. I think Saxon is a great program, it was just not one that worked for her at all! Also, she LOVES Chemistry, and needs maths to be able to do that!

So, I'm VERY glad I didn't try to force her to do it my way! I mean, that's one reason I homeschool, so they get the education they NEED, not one that's forced on them even when it doesn't fit!

Just another angle to look at things!

 

:lol::lol:That's SO my DD Kelsie! We tell her that all the time. She'll even say..sorry I had an ADOS moment.

As for the memory issue, I suffer from it as well. My memory is horrible. However, I've found that it helps me to write EVERYTHING down. It seems as if I write it, then I can remember it better. That's even if I don't look at what I wrote again. Maybe having her write down the rules for fractions could help?

 

i was reading the posts and something hit me, i think sometimes i forget she is starting from the ground up in math, and really doesnt know it already. I remember loving learning a new thing in school, and i hope i can help her love learning also. I also started to think about how I feel if im trying to learn how to do something and im just not getting it, im embarresed, im upset,mad, and i feel stupid, so i guess i need to remember that she is really not acting, sometimes she really doesnt understand, or really doesnt remember. just a thought! good ? though

 

Becky, I tried the same approach to writing out the reports as they are using with math, explaining why and how much I want from them, and when they had first heard of this etc.
Later I heard ds tell dh he was wrong when he got all upset at me for telling him he had to write it right then. HE admited he had forgotten I told him he would have to write it 3 months ago and now is sitting at the table finishing off two more paragraphs.
From these he will give a speach so I am proud of him!
He is a great writing person when he sits down to do it.
SO I am limiting time on screens and limiting late nights as much as possible to see if that helps too