When KD and I went to the library the other day, we picked up several Step 1 reader books, featuring Thomas the Tank Engine and the Berenstein Bears. The first night, we both got a bit frustrated, so I told her not to worry and we'd try again tomorrow. We didn't get around to it again until bedtime the following night. I was expecting a bit of frustration like the night before, but being prepared for it made it easier. I had to give prompting a bit and explain some of the bigger words, but SHE READ THE BOOK TO ME!
I have to admit, I'm not the most consistent homeschooling mom. I spend too much time on the computer some days. I'm behind on lesson plans, laundry and dishes. I do, however, have a very easy going, determined little self-starter. She reminds me to take her vitamins, instead of the other way around. When she's bored, and none of her pretend friends want to play, she asks permission to get on the computer and play with her reading games. The games on www.Starfall.com have been among her favorites and have made greater strides in teaching her how to read than I have. I've read countless books to her and "caught" her reading a few times, but she and I have never just sat down and tried to work through a beginner's level book together. Usually, she picks out a book from the library based on the cover art; the words used in those books are usually over her head. After we've read the book a few times, she'll come to me and say she can read it, but she's usually just working from memory.
Needless to say, I'm a lot more motivated to work with her on her reading. I don't personally know any kindergarteners in public school, so I don't know they're average reading levels. I do know that in order to graduate kindergarten, a child has to be able to read at a basic level. If that were the only requirement, I think KD would be graduating in about 2 months or so. We'll see.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Conundrum
I was supposed to hear about a 1-year contract position on Thursday, but Fay had other plans. I'm sure that the office will reopen tomorrow, so I will know for sure whether or not the next year will be spent at a payroll position. Part of me wants to get out of the house and get paid for it. I kinda miss the interaction of coworkers, the good and the bad. We sure could use the money, which is why I started job hunting again in the first place.
On the other hand, I really enjoy being a stay-at-home mom and homeschooling my daughter. We have fun learning new things together. I love watching the light of knowledge shine in her big, brown eyes. If/when I get a job that will require her to attend school, her teacher will get to see that daily (and probably won't even notice, because she has 28+ other kids to deal with). I feel like I'm failing my daughter in some way by delaying homeschooling. Truth be told, failing her in a lot of ways.
I'm not a school snob. I don't think that the parents who choose to send their children to public or private schools are doing anything wrong. I feel that homeschooling is best for our family, plain and simple. I won't go into all the reasons here (that's for another blog on another day). Suffice it to say that the pros and cons were weighed and the pros won.
$15.50 per hour doesn't seem like a lot, but that amount will make a lot of changes in our lives, for the good and the bad. And I find out tomorrow.
On the other hand, I really enjoy being a stay-at-home mom and homeschooling my daughter. We have fun learning new things together. I love watching the light of knowledge shine in her big, brown eyes. If/when I get a job that will require her to attend school, her teacher will get to see that daily (and probably won't even notice, because she has 28+ other kids to deal with). I feel like I'm failing my daughter in some way by delaying homeschooling. Truth be told, failing her in a lot of ways.
I'm not a school snob. I don't think that the parents who choose to send their children to public or private schools are doing anything wrong. I feel that homeschooling is best for our family, plain and simple. I won't go into all the reasons here (that's for another blog on another day). Suffice it to say that the pros and cons were weighed and the pros won.
$15.50 per hour doesn't seem like a lot, but that amount will make a lot of changes in our lives, for the good and the bad. And I find out tomorrow.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Higher Expectations
I'm smarter than most people I know. No, I'm not boasting or exaggerating. It's a simple fact. At 4 years old, I tested with an IQ of 163. I started school early, attended gifted classes from kindergarten through 6th grade, and participated in academic competitions from 6th grade through the first half of my junior year. I eventually came to hate being smart. In my senior year, I dumbed myself down to be accepted, instead of rising to my true potential. I skipped school, started smoking pot and graduated 6 months late with a 2.9 average. I got pregnant at 18 and married a man of less than average intelligence, then allowed him to take me down a few notches and make me feel stupid on a regular basis. The marriage didn't last very long, but the damage did.
I was in a different place in my life then. I have overcome that low point in my life, but I never got back on track to rise to my true potential. Every job I've ever taken was average. I've delivered pizza, worked the drive-thru, entered countless amounts of data that a monkey could do if employers could hire monkeys, and I've never earned more than $10 per hour. I was also an independent beauty consultant with a well-known direct sales cosmetics company, as well as a candle consultant with a popular candle company. Each time I would start becoming successful in a job or business opportunity, something happened and I'd screw things up. I used to say that the reason I job-hopped so often, was that I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up. I just think I was scared to commit to anything. I started back to school a few years ago, but allowed life to get in the way of completing my AA degree. For some strange reason, life always got in the way of my becoming successful. I always ended up on the low end of average, just like in high school.
I am now remarried to the love of my life and together we have 3 great kids. My children mean the world to me. I'm already seeing my 12 year old daughter going through the same ridicule I experienced and she's starting down the same "dumbing-down" path that I did. I'm not sure how to stop her from making the same mistakes I did, especially when I'm still making some of those mistakes and she may just be learning from my example.
It's high time I started setting a new example. I have an excellent propensity for knowledge. I've never capitalized on that propensity, always taking the easy way out. Now that I'm familiar with the law of attraction, I know that I brought those things upon me because it's what I expected of myself. Rather than wallow in self pity about my past any longer, I'm setting higher expectations. I want it all. I want to successfully homeschool my children, so that they don't succumb to the same kinds of peer pressure that I so eagerly embraced. I want to work for myself and earn enough money that my husband only works because he wants to, not because he has to. I want a professional title that earns respect among my peers and earns me the income to go along with that respect. I think I may have just found the path that I need to follow, in order for all these dreams to come true. I don't know what's at the top of the staircase just yet, but I'm taking the first few steps in faith. Faith in myself, my family and my newly acquired knowledge of how the universe answers if you just know the right questions to ask. In the meantime, I'm gaining inspiration and determination by listening to my new theme song:
I ain't settlin' for just gettin' by
Had enough of so-so for the rest of my life
Tired of shootin' too low, so raise the bar high
Just enough ain't enough this time
I ain't settlin' for anything less than everything
~~~~Settlin' by Sugarland
I was in a different place in my life then. I have overcome that low point in my life, but I never got back on track to rise to my true potential. Every job I've ever taken was average. I've delivered pizza, worked the drive-thru, entered countless amounts of data that a monkey could do if employers could hire monkeys, and I've never earned more than $10 per hour. I was also an independent beauty consultant with a well-known direct sales cosmetics company, as well as a candle consultant with a popular candle company. Each time I would start becoming successful in a job or business opportunity, something happened and I'd screw things up. I used to say that the reason I job-hopped so often, was that I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up. I just think I was scared to commit to anything. I started back to school a few years ago, but allowed life to get in the way of completing my AA degree. For some strange reason, life always got in the way of my becoming successful. I always ended up on the low end of average, just like in high school.
I am now remarried to the love of my life and together we have 3 great kids. My children mean the world to me. I'm already seeing my 12 year old daughter going through the same ridicule I experienced and she's starting down the same "dumbing-down" path that I did. I'm not sure how to stop her from making the same mistakes I did, especially when I'm still making some of those mistakes and she may just be learning from my example.
It's high time I started setting a new example. I have an excellent propensity for knowledge. I've never capitalized on that propensity, always taking the easy way out. Now that I'm familiar with the law of attraction, I know that I brought those things upon me because it's what I expected of myself. Rather than wallow in self pity about my past any longer, I'm setting higher expectations. I want it all. I want to successfully homeschool my children, so that they don't succumb to the same kinds of peer pressure that I so eagerly embraced. I want to work for myself and earn enough money that my husband only works because he wants to, not because he has to. I want a professional title that earns respect among my peers and earns me the income to go along with that respect. I think I may have just found the path that I need to follow, in order for all these dreams to come true. I don't know what's at the top of the staircase just yet, but I'm taking the first few steps in faith. Faith in myself, my family and my newly acquired knowledge of how the universe answers if you just know the right questions to ask. In the meantime, I'm gaining inspiration and determination by listening to my new theme song:
I ain't settlin' for just gettin' by
Had enough of so-so for the rest of my life
Tired of shootin' too low, so raise the bar high
Just enough ain't enough this time
I ain't settlin' for anything less than everything
~~~~Settlin' by Sugarland
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Why I Choose NOT to Vaccinate
A month after 13 year old Jenny Tetlock was vaccinated against the HPV virus, she missed the lowest hurdle in gym class. It was the first sign of a degenerative muscle disease that 15 months later left her nearly completely paralyzed.
Her father, Philip Tetlock, a professor at UC-Berkeley, has embarked on an odyssey to find out whether the vaccine, Gardasil, is to blame.
Tetlock is not the only one concerned. The public watchdog group Judicial Watch has been periodically obtaining adverse event reports on Gardasil from the FDA. 10 deaths have been linked to Gardasil since September 2007, and there have been 140 reports so far this year of serious side effects such as miscarriage and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
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