Homework assignment for James: Come up with your own mythology: 3 sentences, less than 1 piece of paper. I weep.
James has been fascinated with the deer who live in the area around us. He loves to spot deer on rides through our agricultural region. Today we took our first drive along Geyser Road since the fires came through and ravaged our county a little over a month ago. It was very evident that this road served as a major firebreak.
During the hour plus-long drive, all I heard about were the deer. Did we see the deer? What did they do? What do they eat? Did they escape the fires? Do they get hit by cars and die? We did saw the deers, didn't we?
He gave the deers voices and dialog, usually "Oh no, we're on fire!" or "The deer are eating, Mother, hear them? Munch, munch, nom-nom-nom." and "Crash! The car smashed into the mommy deer and the baby deer! Aaaaah!"
We saw one deer dash across the road out of a burn zone, across the road, to the foliage on the other side. We talked about that one darned deer for 37 minutes.
All this came together for the Mythology assignment:
The deer had bright colours (like purple and red).
Well, it's Tuesday night and another fun, action-packed 10-hour day is finally calming down.
Holidays
Due to way the heck overload on the visits to doctors and medical places in general, sometimes have this amazing schedule: work by 6:00 am (5:30, upon occasion), lunch around 10:30 am. Big "lunch" break that is actually used for medical/appointment runs.
I must say, we live in a beautiful region. The trees are still flaming gold and red, brilliantly lit under stormy skies by stray ray from a Fall sun and framed by dark wet branches and trunks. Gold leaves lie in piles on the ground. The vineyards retain some colours yet as well. I see ravens, egrets, and countless other birds. Rainbows happen.
Traffic happens too, and drivers panicked by the recent election and rain on the roadways, but I digress.
Then back mid-afternoon for a couple hours of wrap up, to depart around 5:00 pm in the deepening gloom to pick up James from Boys and Girls Club (BAGC). Or is it the BAGC? Mr. Tumnus greets me at the door. A huge painting of a Lion proudly looks out over the room from a wall. Three snowy trees with beavers under them have displaced the Lost and Found table. On top of the backpack cubbies is a curious wardrobe. A castle gleams, far in the distance!
As we drive to the library or home, we take new streets, hoping to see new Christmas lights along the way. Christmas songs have been known to be sung.
Homework
Dang, what a difference a good teacher and IEP team makes! We are starting to receive Math sheets, Reading and content analysis, and more advanced spelling lists. James usually whips through this, sometimes at the BAGC's Power Hour (read "homework time"), sometimes at the desk in his room, but most often with me. He is much more independent when he works, and I am proud of him.
He has been asking about Egypt and Greece, so I know he is taking in some history.
Every now and then it is hard to get James to focus. He falls apart as I watch. He is almost 12, so I make him some more dinner. That usually makes a big change for the better. He is getting much better at keeping track of his homework and putting it in his folder, then the folder in his backpack.
Hornsby
Sometimes, there is too much cacophony in the house. At times like this, I break out music. James likes Mozart and Bach. I like Christmas music and ... Bruce Hornsby. I play YouTube videos so James can watch him play. I also like Bruce Hornsby best during his live performances. After all the hectic craziness of the day, I find his music to be rich, full of life, and relaxing.
Every now and then the homework push overshadows the actual assignments. As a single parent, even the easy assignments James has can be difficult to make time for. James is also recovering from the flu and the persistent head cold that followed. The heat poured back on this afternoon, flirting with breaking 100°. The homework ch'i was wan and lacking. There was stimming and whining.
Time for a change.
I had James pack his backpack. I planned to go to the gym, with its nice lighting, air conditioning, and change of atmosphere, but completely forgot the after work crush that mobs the parking lot. No problem, just down the road was my ace in the hole: the airport:
We knocked off the spelling assignments and most of the read and answer sheets. Helicopters lifted off, passengers deplaned right onto the tarmac near us, and small planes took off into the softening blue sky. James really wanted to go back to the gym, so that is where we finished the last few assignments and then sat out near the pool, feeling the cooling breezes while the sun went down and lit the clouds a la Maxfield Parish.
We came home full of accomplishment and a much better attitude.
James has started to independently complete his homework! Rather than just leave him to it, I seem to get best results by being nearby, working on things of my own.
Tonight was novel: After finishing math on his own, James read aloud to me for 20 minutes while I dismantled the Christmas tree (still within the one month from Boxing Day: not bad for me). As I slowly cut the tree into pieces and loaded it into the recycling bin, James plowed through The Magic School Bus: The Electric Field Trip, making darned good decoding attempts on topics such as hydroectric power, geothermal plants, and nuclear energy.
The big word we spent time on? Molecular. James kept at it until he nailed the pronunciation.
As I tackled the tree trunk with first the loppers, then the pruning saw, James wrote 3 sentences, all on his own. Upon review, he needed to swap verbs for the first and third sentences and completely reconstruct the middle sentence. They were simple sentences, but they covered key information about what James read. Yes!
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! These books are gifts that keep on giving.
James had an assignment for a class project: choose a family tradition and write about it.
I discussed traditions and ran a few examples by him. He chose one and we talked about it. I did some Q&A on him and did some ghost writing but here it is, in his words:
James typed a bit but then stopped in frustration. We are working on typing on the computer with him. He gets frustrated because he's used to tapping and swiping on his iPad. I finished typing what we'd written. I chose the font based on an article I'd seen on the Read Regular website (a fascinating look at how font choice and spacing can help those with reading difficulties) and printed out the finished product. Then I asked James to get the printout and read it.
I thought he'd just skim it, but he read the entire thing aloud. At the end, he looked up, excited. Because he recognized his words. On paper. Just like a book!
And it did become part of a book - his class sent home a bound book of traditions, and James' was right there, along with everyone else's.
One very nice dividend of James' Dad working closer to home: now we can share homework duty!
It was sweet to hear James read to his Dad from the big purple chair. He did a great job too. Then they did math card drills. I got a set each of addition and subtraction cards from the Dollar Store this summer. I have a feeling, though, that he prefers the cards his aide made for him.
His reading homework.
I used the microwave timer to make sure they hit the allotted minutes of work. I was in the kitchen, filling out forms. Ye gods and little fishes, such a lot of paperwork for parents!
I'll get my turn of reading and addition math flash cards at bedtime. Piece of cake.
