Monthly Archives: July 2015

Teaching and not teaching “responsibility”

Okay, bear with me here… this post started with my penchant for country music.  My oldest will be the first to tell me that he should be able to listen to mainstream radio because my country music is “just about drinking beer”.  Touché

But this morning I was listening to a song as I drove Girly to camp and it got my gears going about how kids who grow up out in the sticks are forced to think in ways that other kids are not.  I feel similarly about kids who live in cities like Manhattan and such.  My exposure to these groups is that they are required to think about how to handle situations that my kids in the ‘burbs are just not.  I started wondering if this was something we should address…

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Summer camp

The picture says it all folks.  Summer camp.  A joy so genuine that it is worth the fortune of money paid, the hours in the cars, the dislocated workplaces of the parents, and the jumbling of task management at home to accommodate All Of The Joy.

What kind of summer camps provide the faces you see above, you ask?

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BigGuy enters “middle school” for 2015-2016

My BigGuy would be entering 6th grade in the fall if he were in public school.  As we were discussing what he’d like to learn this year, he noted that Algebra I and Physics would normally be high school classes.  I agreed.  He asked “If that’s the case, what grade would I be in if I were in school?”

That was a relatively long discussion.

Continue reading BigGuy enters “middle school” for 2015-2016

Considering first grade for 2015-2016

I have so much to say about first grade and yet, I have so nothing to say about first grade.  I think the only thing I can firmly say is: if Girly were in public school, she would be in first grade.

But she’s not in public (or private) school.  She is homeschooled.  And she is starting to need more than I have previously offered her…

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Pre-algebra is officially completed

BigGuy set a goal and met it.  He wanted to finish Pre-algebra before July because it was the only way he could start Algebra I in the fall… and he did it.  He actually did it ahead of time, but took some time today to resubmit two homework assignments so that he could bring his final grade up over 90%.

Who is this kid…?

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While you were busy with June…

… this Mama’s college coursework started.  Which you can see affected my writing/posting… Because I’m human and I have a lot to do, y’all.

My undergraduate and graduate degree are in non-science majors and I am now undertaking another Master degree in a science-related field.  That means taking a handful of science prerequisites.  It’s been a while since Mama has been in school (not THAT long) and it didn’t occur to me that summer session effectively takes a 16-week semester and crams it into 8 weeks.

Continue reading While you were busy with June…