Learning in a Classroom

Today we had co-op. I love Fridays. We are members of 2 different co-ops and both are amazing. We have a lot of fun together. I go home feeling blessed every week. 

• In team building, Skittles had to spoon cotton balls from a box on his lap, onto a box on his head while blindfolded. I wish I could have seen that. haha.
• In art, Twizzler made puppets and a stage using a cereal box and fabrics. It turned out really cool. He is very proud of it. 
• In my preschool class, we read a book about being thankful. Then we discussed what we were thankful for and drew pictures of those things. Mostly, the answer was pizza. haha. 
• In math Skittles and Twizzler are learning more about money. Hershey worked on completing patterns. 
• In language lessons, Skittles had some copywork. Twizzler had to write the name of our state with a capitol letter. I gave Hershey a picture of a turkey to trace. He mostly scribbled but that is okay. He is learning how to control his hand movements. 

Food Coloring and ADHD

When Skittles was in preschool, I remember his teacher telling me there was something wrong with him and he needed to be medicated. I am sure she did not word it like that but that was what I took away from that conversation. I knew he was ADHD. I had known it since he was born, before he was born probably. I also knew I did not want to medicate him for various reasons. Primarily because rather than masking symptoms of ADHD, I wanted to find the cause. 

I joined an online group of moms of ADHD kids. Some of these moms shared with me this radical idea that the cause of ADHD is what we eat. I looked into it further. Like all moms I weighed the pros and cons of trying out a new diet. Pros where that this diet is harmless because it does not remove any essential foods from the child's diet. All the food groups are still met daily. They can still have candy. It does not cost any extra money to try. The cons were, I would have to start reading ingredient labels. 

I learned the things that I need to avoid using the Feingold diet. If you can afford to buy the kit, do it, it will save you a lot of hassle. I could not afford to buy the book and I did not want to spend money on something that might not work so I wrote down the ingredients to look for and I started reading labels. Here is what I look for, 

FD&C colors; red 40, red lake, yellow 5, yellow 6, yellow lake, etc
Artificial flavors
BHA, BHT, and TBHQ 

 The first month was the hardest. Here is a tip, if you can get away with NOT bringing the kids, leave them at home. It is hard enough to shop when you are not reading every label. You have to check EVERYTHING unless it is organic. You would NOT believe the things that have dye in them!!! WHITE ICING has red and blue dye!!!! WHY?!?! I spent an hour longer in the store on my first trip than I usually would. That is why as a time saver, I do recommend getting the Feingold program if you can spare the money. 

I know there are skeptics out there. I know that you may be one of them. All I can tell you is that since I put my own child on the diet 6 years ago, he has been a changed child. When he does eat something with dye or preservatives in them, HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS because he looses all control. After being on the diet about 2 months, I let him have a purple lollipop given to him by a sweet bank teller. He literally ran around in circles in the yard for hours talking 1000 WPM. The last time he had dye, he literally started running across the living room head first into the couch repeatedly. I thought he was going to break his neck. 

Skittles is not the only person on the diet. Although I do not deny my other children candy and food off the diet, our home is dye and preservative free. This is Skittles home and he should be able to eat anything in his own kitchen. Also if you have an older child who is missing out on the foods they grew up with and are now suddenly denied, it is not fair to keep them around or eat them in front of him. Honestly after being on this diet for just a few months, I can TASTE the difference in dyed foods. It is pretty gross. Lots of red dye tastes like metal. When they use juices and natural flavorings, food just tastes better. Trust me or if you don't want to take my word for it, try it out. It is worth it.  

• Twizzler is still working on his copywork for language. Skittles had to write a narration about a painting.
• Twizzler is still earning about using coins in math. Skittles started a lesson on money today also. Hershey sorted out little and big leaves. Then he watched a Leap Frog video about big, medium, and little. 
• We read about Chinese family values and the boys drew descriptive pictures of what they read. 
• Our science assignment was to look up the definition of the words undergrowth and crevice. It helped to look up pictures in Google images as examples. 

         

Dinosaurs for Dinner

It is cold here in Florida. Don't scoff at me northerners! I heard you! It was 48* today. It could get into the 20*s tonight. That is below freezing ya know. Brrrrr...... Just because it is colder where you are doesn't mean you can turn your nose up at those of us shivering in the sunshine state. I had to buy socks for Hershey today people! Flip flop season is over. We might as well be in Arendelle! 

I don't like cold. My body HATES cold. All day my body has been aching like I ran a marathon yesterday. Not that I would know from experience. I only run when I am being chased by a villain or monster. Neither have happened since childhood. My running came to an end not long after my imagination. 

We did not even start school work today until mid afternoon. 

• In math Twizzler learned about using the least number of coins to buy something. He had to watch the lecture 3 times and still needed my help to understand how to solve these problems. Skittles learned about changing numbers with decimal points into whole numbers. 
• Twizzler is still doing copywork in his language book. Skittles had to find the verbs and adjectives in some sentences. 
• After the boys completed their spelling copywork, I gave them an oral drill. I asked them to spell the words from their list aloud. Whenever they got a word wrong, I made a mark next to it and they took it to their seat and wrote the word 3 times each. 
• Our history lesson was on the many dynasties that ruled in China over the centuries. After our reading they had to find one important thing to write about each dynasty for their journal. They both needed help. I showed them how to look up the first 2. 
• Science was fun. We looked up information about Tyrannosaurus Rex in our Dinosaur A to Z Encyclopedia.  Then they had to tell what they know about T-rex. Both of them tried to just write one sentence answers. I sent the papers back and told them to tell me EVERYTHING they know about T-rex. I had Twizzler dictate to me his T-Rex facts. When they were done, they had both filled a whole page. 

Yesterday I made Stir Fry as an accidental bonus to our study of China. Really I did not plan it. Tonight I made chicken nuggets that happened to be shaped like dinosaurs. I swear I am not usually the type of homeschool mom who incorporates meals into my lessons but it is neat when it just works out that way.

 

China

The weather was so beautiful this morning. I opened all the windows and let the breeze drift through the house. It was awesome. We all hung out in my room today. School work was every where. 

• In language lessons, Skittles had to find the adjectives in some sentences. Twizzler had to finish up the lessons from last week and then start some copywork. I showed Hershey that acorn starts with A. Then he used bingo dotters to fill in the letter A.  
• I had all 3 boys doing there math on a different computer today at the same time, in the same room. It was funny to me. Skittles was on my laptop, Twizzler was on the PC, and Hershey was on the other laptop playing Counting with Caillou. 
• Skittles started the first lesson in Pictures in Cursive Book C. 
• In history we read about China. We learned the legend of the silkworm and how silk is made. 
• They read their science quietly to each other but they seemed to enjoy the story. Then they colored pictures of T-rex and triceratops. 
• Twizzler read to Hershey again today. :) 
• We really tackled the Awana books today. Neither boy had really done much work in their books since last Wednesday. 

I unintentionally added some flavor to our lesson on China by making stir fry for dinner. I Googled the origins of stir fry to be sure that it really is a Chinese dish.

I thought I would share my easy stir fry recipe for anyone interested. 

What you need...

fresh chicken (not frozen) 

1 bag of stir fry veggies

Soy sauce

rice 

First I chop up fresh chicken and toss it into a hot skillet. I set my stove to medium high heat. I add about 1/4 cup of soy sauce. I fry the chicken until it is cooked through. Then I add a package of frozen stir fry veggies and another 1/4 cup of soy sauce. Stir, stir, stir until the veggies are done and serve over brown rice. I know that tradition is over white rice but we eat brown rice. 

On Being a Single Mom

Are there even words to describe it or do you have to experience it? 

I though I knew what it meant to be a single mom because I was a Navy wife. I had run the house on my own and been the sole disciplinarian during deployments. I thought I understood it. The thing is though, when you are a military spouse you have a dependable source of income. That is not to sound petty and say that a husband is just a paycheck but the fact is that when you suddenly have no IDEA when you will get any kind of money at all, well you appreciate what you HAD. You also had communication, you had love, you had someone else on the planet who was interested in the little things. You still had a best friend to confide in even if he was on the other side of the earth. Someone who knows your children as intimately as you do and gets excited about them losing a tooth or gets worried when they are sick. When you are a single mom you face every triumph and every trial ALONE. 

That is not the only thing you do alone. You do 100% of the work 100% of the time. Like this week, Twizzler has strep throat and I ran out of bottled water. I can't say, "Hey hunny, pick up water on the way home." I can't even say, "Sit here with the kids while I go get some more water." I have to take my sick kid to the store with me. It was my only option. Poor Twizzler was ready to collapse walking through the store. I hated to have to drag him along but it was my only option. I also had to take my 2 healthy kids with me to the doctor's office along with the 1 sick child. In fact, I think that is the very same way that Twizzler got sick in the first place. Tuesday I had to take all 3 children with me to Hershey's doctor appointment and the next day Twizzler was sick.

Oh and then there is the stuff that I used to be able to put on my 'hunny do' list... That 'hunny do' list is my responsibility, which is why I have had a cabinet door sitting on the floor of my kitchen for a couple of months now. I have not had time to figure out how to fix it. It is the 4th and 5th hinge that broke since I moved in and frankly I am tired of calling the maintenance guy to come fix them and I am tiny bit scared  he will start charging me for the hinges. It is better to just let it sit on the floor. 

When I have car trouble, I have to figure out a way to fix it. When something in the house breaks, I have to fix it. When something needs to be built, I have to do that too. And I have to figure out where the money will come from to do it. 

I am left with all of the responsibility of raising 3 young men. That is a daunting task. Their success or failure rests on my shoulders. I ask myself time and time again, "What qualifies ME to raise 3 boys? How can I teach them to be men?" I have never been a boy or a man. I can't know what their struggles are. Maybe it seems simple to an outsider but how many parents have decided that mom will talk to the girls about sex and dad will talk to the boys? There is sense and logic in that decision because a dad once was a boy who turned into a man. I am walking blind here. As Skittles approaches his teenage years. I am scared to say the wrong thing, to teach him the wrong thing. I want to raise Godly young men. I want them to honor their bodies but I don't want to set the bar so high that it is unattainable. I want to teach them about abstinence and the blessing that is marriage but how can I even teach THAT when I myself am divorced. 

I am starting to ramble. My brain goes in a thousand directions when I think of the enormity of the task ahead of me. I need to get back to the basics. 

I cook every meal. I wash every dish. I fold every towel. I change every diaper. I take out every bag of trash. I never get a day off, not my birthday, not mothers day. I never get breakfast in bed. 

It is very lonely. 

But I am not alone. 

For your Maker is your husband—
    the Lord Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
    he is called the God of all the earth.

Isaiah 54:5

He is my confidant. He knows my children and me intimately. He cares about lost teeth and strep throat. He knows how to fix my broken car and calls in his angels to rescue me. Every time I start to worry about how I will buy groceries or gas, God sends someone to give me a check or a gift card that pays what I need. I can cry to Him when I am sad and praise Him when, once again, He has worked a miracle. The task is still daunting and lonely but...

How to Make a PB&J

Just in case there are any moms out there who do not know how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, here are some step by step instructions.

1. Take out bread, peanut butter, and jelly and place them on the counter.
2. Tell each of your children, "I am making a PB&J. Do you want one?" Be prepared with a notepad and pen to take orders. No one will want what you are making, that would be too convenient. 
3. Make oatmeal for your 2 year-old as requested. 
4. Put chicken noodles in the microwave for your 8 year-old. 
5. Take out 2 slices of bread and place them on a plate. 
6. DING! Stir the noodles and microwave for another 30 seconds. 
7. Spread jelly on one slice of bread.
8. Make note of 2 year-old's request for noodles also. 
9. DING! Take noodles out and bring them to the 8 year-old who requests a bottle of water. 
10. Put soup in microwave for 11 year old.
11. Bring water to the 8 year-old.
12. Spread peanut butter onto other slice of bread.  
13. DING! Stir the soup and reset the microwave for 30 more seconds. 
14. Make note of 2 year-old's request for soup. 
15. DING! Stir soup. Scoop out a tiny bit into a bowl for the 2 year-old who has finished his oatmeal and is DEMANDING soup now. 
16. Deliver soup bowls to 11 year-old and 2 year-old. 
17. Put your sandwich together and cut it. 
18. Make note of 2 year old who is now demanding some of your sandwich. 
19. Pull off some of the sandwich for him. 
20. Try to eat your sandwich as fast as possible while answering questions about school work and being climbed on by your 2 year-old who has completely lost interest in eating. 

Hershey is a bit hulkish right now since he has been on so many steroids. He is hyper, demanding, and quite rough. Today he marched up to me while Skittles was doing his language lessons and demanded to do school work. When I told him to wait a couple of minutes while I finished something up, he hit me and yelled "NO!" His first lesson for the day was one about using nice hands.

Twizzler did not do any school work today because he was sick in bed. 

• Skittles circled the verbs and underlined the nouns in a paragraph in language lessons. 
• Skittles took a quiz in math. Hershey built a tower with Cuisenaire blocks.
• Skittles read about the Mycenaeans in history, then he wrote a brief narration about them. 
• In science he read about how God gives us instincts. Then he wrote about a time when God gave him an instinct to do something right. He wrote about a time when he rescued a baby bird at his Grampy's house. 
• He reluctantly read chapter 13 of Number the Stars. He knew we would not be going to co-op this week so he tried to get out of reading it. NOPE. Hershey and I read, Over the River A Turkey's Tale by Derek Anderson. 

Park Day

We went to the park. It was the first time since I went back to work that Hershey and I were able to go to park day. Skittles spent the whole time playing with his friend. Twizzler and Hershey played softball with the BIG kids. When I say big kids, I mean most of them were teenage boys. I would not normally let my 2 year-old stand in the middle of a group of teenagers playing softball but these boys were so gentle. They had two balls, one that they were really playing with and one that they took turns tossing to little Hershey who proudly stood in the middle. He thought he was just one of the guys. 

We got MOST of our school done before park day. 

• Twizzler is still looking for complete and incomplete sentences. Skittles filled in the blank by putting verbs into a short story. Hershey filled in a letter L and a leaf with bingo dotters. I got the page from 2 Teaching Mommies Tot pack about leaves.   
• Skittles learned about rounding in thousands in math. Twizzler learned about adding in your head. 
• In history we read about the Phoenecians and the Hittites. Then they wrote a little bit about them on their journal pages. 
• In science we watched a video of a bird hatching from an egg.  all three boys sat around the laptop rooting for the bird to come out of its shell. When its head finally emerged they all celebrated. Then the older boys drew a series of pictures in their science journal to show how a bird hatches from an egg. 
• Twizzler read Happy Birthday Danny and the Dinosaur to Hershey and me. Skittles read chapter 12 of Number the Stars for his book club.  

Where is God on the Bad Days?

Veterans day is a hard day for me for personal reasons. It is getting easier but I really wanted to just stay in bed all day and cry. 

All 3 boys were extra wild today. I spent most of my day refereeing them. 

Bills are piling up. I am not sure how much longer I can afford my apartment under my current financial situation. 

My car is falling apart and I have no means to fix it and even if I did the car is not in my name and could be taken away any day. 

My baby has terrible asthma. It took me 4 months just to find a doctor covered by my insurance who was taking new patients. I finally got an appointment for today and then my car battery died I had to find someone to give me a jump start just to try and get to the appointment on time and then I got lost trying to find the place. I drove in circles for 20 minutes while calling the office but no one answered. When I finally got there I had no idea where in the building to go. I was probably too flustered to read the signs correctly. I went to every floor in the building running from office to office trying to find the office I needed. I got there 16 minutes late. The woman at the front desk told me I would have to reschedule but he needed to get a referral to a pulmonologist and the next appointment is not until December. 

I wanted to take the kids to a Christian Surfer event at the beach but after all was said and done, it was too late to go. 

So where was God on this bad day? How do you count your blessings on a day like this?

I remembered the veterans in my family who have blessed me. My dad, both grandfathers and two uncles served in the military. 

I get to be a mom. Kids are hard work but if it weren't for their bickering, I would have stayed in bed all day and cried. They really are my reason for getting out of bed.

Every time I have a financial need, God finds a way to meet it. This month I found a gift card in my sock drawer from last Christmas and I have been able to use it to buy food. 

My pastor paid to have my battery replaced. So that I don't have to carry around jumper cables and beg for a jump every where I go. 

I found a doctor walking through the parking lot who was able to direct me to the office building. 

I admit I had a break down when they told me I would have to reschedule. They talked with the doctor while I stood there and sobbed. The woman behind me in line was so sweet. She gave me tissues and even tried to plead on my behalf. They did take us back. The doctor was wonderful. 

We did not get to go to the Christian surf event but we did get to go to the boys first night of soccer practice this season. Even Hershey got to kick the ball around with one of the other little brothers. 

Life is what you make it. If I chose to dwell on all the things that are bringing me down, I would never be able to get back up. If I remember to thank God for the blessings that He has given me each day, He will continue to bless me. 

• In language, Skittles had to find the verb in a few sentences. Twizzler had to find the complete sentences and cross out the incomplete ones. Hershey did another prewriting page. 
• Skittles did a lesson on regrouping in math. Twizzler took a quiz and got 100%!
• In history we read about Jonah and then Skittles wrote about his favorite part in the story. Twizzler drew a picture. 
• For science they had to define some words pertaining to animals, particularly dinosaurs, hatching out of eggs. 

Back on Track

We had such a nice school day today. When I told them it was time to start school Twizzler started to grumble and Skittles said, "Mom gave us a whole week off from school last week, no complaining," and jut like that, Twizzler turned his attitude around. 

• In Language Lessons, Skittles learned that verb is a word that shows action. Twizzler made up a sentence of his own then circled the subject and underlined the predicate. 
• In math, Skittles learned how to add with 4 digit numbers. Twizzler learned about sequences. Hershey wanted to do school today too. I had printed off a fall preschool pack from homeschool creations. He sorted the leaves and apples. 
• They all did their handwriting. Hershey was supposed to trace a dotted line from a rake to the leaves. It was beyond his skill level though. He just scribbled on it which is okay too for a 2 year old. 
• In history we read about the Assyrians. They were a very tough group of people in ancient days. The Israelites had to fight them a few times. Our book also introduced us to the Phoenecians, Hittities, Philistines, and Canaanites. 
• In spelling the boys started their new words in week 12. All of Twizzlers words show how 'c' makes an 's' sound when it is in front of am 'i' or and 'e' and sometimes a 'y'.
• In science we started to learn about DINOSAURS!!! I am SO excited! We read the first chapter about a baby triceratops as it hatched from its egg. Then they colored a picture of a triceratops. 
• Skittles read a chapter of his Star Wars book. He is almost done with it. I wish he had finished it last week but I did not have the energy to badger them about reading. Twizzler read about half of  Danny and the Dinosaur. He loved it. 
• The older boys worked on their Awana books when all of their school work was done. 
• After school we went to break dancing class. I had some car trouble so I did not get to watch them as they learned their new moves. 

Dr. Mom

Last week Hershey had a very bad asthma attack that landed him in the hospital for a few days. It was very scary. They sent him home with 7 prescriptions. When the pharmacist handed me the bag of medicine, I asked her if I could bring a nurse home with me. One medicine has to be administered on a full stomach. One medicine has a decreasing dose. One has to be given every morning and another every night.

I was scared I would not be able to keep track. I have a dry erase board that I use to write down prayer requests. This week it has been my nursing chart. 

I made note of the decreasing dosage for the steroids so that I would not forget what the dose was each day.

We have not done much school work. Hershey and I have just been resting and recovering. Skittles and Hershey had co-op on Friday. Hershey stayed with Nana. Tomorrow we will get back to work. 

Mom Bucks

First let me be very clear, I did not invent "Mom Bucks." Some of the moms at my homeschool co-op were talking about them and I thought they were a fantastic idea. I searched Google trying to find the original source of the "mom bucks" phenomenon so that I could give credit where credit is due but I had no luck. I THINK that it all started in a book called Diary of a Wimpy Kid. In the book the mom used money from a board game to reward her children for doing chores. I am using play money that I got in a pack from the Dollar Tree several years ago. I drew a read line on Skittles' bucks, a blue line on Twizzler's bucks, and a green line on Hershey's bucks.

In the book one of the children discovered more of the play money in a board game and cheated the system. I signed their names on the back of each buck so that they cannot counterfeit new bills. I keep the bucks they earn in my pocket chart so that they can see what they have earned and the money won't get lost. 

They earn a buck each time they complete a chore; loading the dishwasher, emptying the dishwasher, sweeping the dining room, vacuuming the living room, feeding the guinea pig, bringing in groceries, taking out the trash, putting away their laundry. They also earn bucks for completing a subject in school. That is a buck each for language arts, math, science, and history. They get a buck when they brush their teeth. They also get a buck if their room is clean before bedtime. That means they have the potential to earn up to 10 bucks per day and really more if they want to do an extra chore for me like; washing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom, washing their clothes, or whatever else I can think of. 

Hershey can earn bucks by cleaning his room, "doing school", and putting dirty clothes in his hamper, cleaning up his messes, helping put his clean clothes away, and brushing his teeth. 

The great thing about mom bucks compared to the other methods I have used in the past is that I can take mom bucks away. Some things I charge a buck for are; playing when they are supposed to be doing school work, fighting, or pretty much any act of disobedience. Oh and I tax them a buck every time they leave a light on in a room that is not being used. I am really hoping to save some money on my electric bill. 

Each Friday I open my mom store and they can exchange their bucks for some prizes or cash, 10 mom bucks equals $1 real US currency. The kids went with me to the Dollar Tree to find stuff to stock in my store. They picked out stuff they really want. It has been a great motivation because they know what they want to save up for. 

Because they can cash their 10 mom bucks in for $1 US, I had to price my items carefully. If I overcharge, it won't take them long to figure out they can just cash in their mom bucks and buy it themselves. 

They each picked out a sword, even Hershey picked out an inflatable pirate sword. Because those are single items and I paid $1 for each, They have to pay me 11 bucks. There is a bag of items that are 1 buck each; pencils, stickers, little cars, tops, etc. The Tootsie Rolls are 1 buck each too.  There are some favorite snacks in the box, things that I don't often buy for them. Finally I added some big prizes that are just coupons to cash in to me. I wrote things on an index card like, "Sleep over with a friend, $100" "Movie Night, $50" "Bake cookies with mom, $50" I am hoping these are more popular than the other stuff so that I don't go broke. 

So far the system is working out great for us because I can reward them immediately. They see that dollar the moment they complete a chore. It is concrete not abstract. Even Hershey understands that he is getting rewarded. Right now he is happy with just earning play money. He doesn't even need to cash it in to be happy.