Lorihadams-- hi guys...been busy!

[aggieterpkatie]

Hey Lori I saw you need a SS pot for milking. I ended up getting mine from Hamby Dairy Supply . I got the 6 qt one with the lid. It was only around $20. I'm not sure what TSC has them for, but when I was looking Hamby had the cheapest ones. The only thing that I don't like is the lid doesn't fit tightly, so it sometimes falls off, but it only falls off when I accidently carry too much and bump it.

 

[lorihadams]

Thanks!

The one at TSC is actually in with the dog bowls but it is solid one piece stainless steel and the small one (I'm gonna have nigis) is only $9.99. I don't foresee me really needing a lid cause I'm not going that far with the milk, ya know. They're in my back yard. My only concern is that it may actually be too tall. I have seen my breeder milk with a stainless steel saucepan cause the girls are so short

 

[lorihadams]

Wednesday

Got a phone call last night from the babysitter's little sister and she wants me to "help" her with all her subjects in school.

I told her to come on Wednesday nights while the kids are at their music class at church with hubby so that we can actually get something accomplished. I am going to meet with her to see what she needs help with and then send her home with a price for her parents cause I ain't-a-gonna do this for free. I'm thinking $10/hr cause she's in middle school, close to high school.

I'm trying to make a dinner list/grocery list for this week and go to the store later when Chad gets home. There is a homeschool group of moms that are meeting at the church on Thursday mornings and there is an art class called "Young Rembrandts" that I may enroll the kids in, we're gonna check it out tomorrow.

I am trying to regroup with the homeschool stuff. I know part of it is cabin fever and part of it is just me not being motivated and being selfish. I tried to do a lesson on classifying objects/graphing/recognizing beginning letter sounds with the kids this morning and it was pretty good. I made my own flash cards with cut out magazine pics and wrote the words underneath. Then I made letter cards with uppercase on one side and lowercase on the other and let them pick a card and then find all the pictures that began with that letter. Then we did "graphs" with them on the floor and it really helped them visualize which we had more/less of.

History is gonna be my big challenge. I hated history until I got to college level where we could actually analyze events and discuss things. I hated memorizing dates and facts. BOR-ING.

I'm hoping to find some good living history type books for when the kids are older to read aloud but for now we really aren't doing much in the way of history at all.

I'm trying to get my son to get back into doing 3-4 workbook pages per day so he can practice writing. His problem is that he doesn't want to follow the directions in the workbooks. For example, this morning he did one on the color red. Trace and then write the word red, color the pictures of things that are red, then draw something red and write a sentence about it. Well, he wanted to color all the pictures different colors, not just the red ones. I moved on to a classifying sheet. Same deal, color the pictures of PEOPLE. Well, he wanted to color all of the pictures.

He does NOT want to go to school....he says so. He doesn't understand that there 30 other kids in the classroom and he can't talk, go to the bathroom, get something to eat, get up and move around, etc. whenever he wants to like he does at home with me. He complains about church classes too. Structure is NOT his thing.

And people wonder why I'm frazzled???

 

[TanksHill]

Good morning Lori,

One thing I want to say before it slips my mind. Structure.... Has your son ever experienced a real classroom before? He probably has no idea how nice it can be. My sil kids went from a modified part time school atmosphere to public two years ago. They are thriving. Making new friends and enjoying the very "structure" she and they balked at.

I think educating your children is wonderful. But I also think there are many things they can not learn at home. I think in a perfect world they would have both.

LdyChef was doing a summer of history with her Granddaughters before she left. There were many wonderful books people suggested for her. Maybe if you stop by her blog she could give you a list.

g

 

[CrimsonRose]

Hugs I feel for ya! I have 2 that are home-schooled and they have attention issues... you can get their attention for about 15mins anything after that goes in one ear and out the other...

My son is in kindergarten and he can't focus to do the "busy" work on his own... He does great if you sit there and instruct him on each step... but tell him to finish up and walk away and he either rushes through not trying and circles whatever... or he comes to you with each question to show you his work... Makes it hard to find one on one time with my daughter to do her lessons...

As for wanting to color the whole pic my son does that too... here is what I did to work with him on the issue... I told him he is being graded on following directions... to ONLY do what the instructions say to do... If he does follow the directions correctly I praise him like crazy! Then if he does that right he can finish the picture how ever he wants.... So after he colors the "red" things and I see he did good... then he can color the rest of the picture however he wants... giving him the option to finish it after the "red" part really seemed to help some... They get their mind set on what "They" want to do instead of what is needed... so as long as you give them the option to do what they want they are more likely to do what you want as well...

 

[MsPony]

Dr Laura (*controversy!!*) had a son in jewish school, and they took the boys on walks to do certain lessons. Could you do that with yours? I do believe (and this is genralizing) need far more stimulation and acitivity to learn, they are built to move and work.

 

[lorihadams]

I can't stop yelling at my kids. My 5 yr old is driving me crazy. We are going to a homeschool class at church in 30 minutes. All he does is aggrivate his sister. I really think the weather is part of it cause they are not like this the other 3 seasons of the year. Maddie will go outside in the cold weather but Tyler won't have any part of it.

I get frustrated cause I really truly do not have any time to do anything for myself. When Chad gets home he wants me to pay attention to him, then I have to cook dinner with 2kids and a dog under my feet, then I have to clean up from dinner, then I have to get the kids in the bath, dressed and hair dried, then brush teeth, read books and sing to my DD. By then it is almost 9pm. Hubby wants more attention now that the kids are asleep and all I want to do is be left alone. I usually will sit in the living room watching tv while reading a book until 11 and then it is off to bed where, you guessed it, hubby wants MORE attention.

I'm okay when the weather is warmer and we can go outside a lot cause we'll go to the park, to the river swimming, to the library once a week, we have picnics, we go outside and go fishing, we collect leaves, we do outdoor projects, we aren't in the house much at all. We work in the garden, we'll have the goats to attend to soon, and the birds.

I am now tutoring our friends DD who is in the 8th grade, last night I had to feed her....good thing I bought that extra ham steak. She is okay in everything but math...algebra. I gave her a good website to help her during the week mathisfun.com She really just needs the opportunity to ask questions.....her teacher won't let them and her mother doesn't get it.

I'm just burnt out and have gotten lazy. I need to get back into the swing of things. The most frustrating part of it all is that people keep telling me to just put them in school. Hubby says that if I put them in school I'm getting a job. We yes sir, massa. *pardon the slang*

I just feel in my heart that this is what I'm supposed to do, I have just gotten out of a routine and I need to find it again.

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[TanksHill]

Hang in there Lori.

 

[Dace]

Lori I feel you pain! I had three under 5 yes old and young kiddie are a challenge!

I think that you are probably right on the money about your boy being cooped up from the weather and taking it out on his sister. You need to find a way to turn things upside down on him. I don't mean punishment just change things up enough to make life interesting....come up with something for him to work on/spend time and energy on that HE is interested in. Easier said than done I know. Really really focus on rewarding good behavior and do your best to ignor what you don't like. The more you acknowlege it the more it is reinforced......I know that you know this but sometimes when we are in the thick of things, we forget

 

[aggieterpkatie]

My mom used to make us a set schedule when we were home during the summers. Can you do that now? Make one for yourself too! I would absolutely include some phys. ed time for the kids, and even yourself if you're wanting more exercise. Can you find some exercise videos on youtube or something? It can be their class, just like they would have in school. Also, it's not too cold for them to go outside and play, just bundle them up! Sometimes my step kids don't want to go out and play (any time of year, not just winter) and we actually have to tell them not to come in until we call them. They watch A LOT of TV at their mom's house, so they have to "remember" how to be creative when they come back here.

Also, talk with your hubs about setting a schedule for the two of you in the evenings. One of you can do dinner, the other can get the kids bathed or something like that. You shouldn't have to do dinner all the time, or get the kids taken care of all the time.

Tell him if he splits stuff with you in the evenings, you'll have way more energy and incentive to actually spend time with him. Also, put the kids to bed earlier!