TanksHill...Roll on!!

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Thursday, Today is our Friday. The kids have tomorrow and Monday off. This year they jerked around our vacation schedules. Took a whole week off of spring break and sprinkled the days here and there. Tomorrow and Mon, are a couple of these days.

Which totally chaps my hide. The two weeks in spring were the only extended period of time where we could manage to drive the rig anywhere of great distance. Most of our long haul vacations take at least 10 or 11 days.

maybe I will just have to pull them for a couple days. I am starting to loose faith in our public school system. Yes I know most of you have known this for a while but I always felt I would give them the benefit of the doubt. Well I have tried and its not working. DD8yo is making very little progress in reading. Sons work is getting done, not up to my standards but in comparison the the ESL students he looks like a freeking genius. So the teachers are accepting it.

I had a one sided conversation with my dh in bed last night about how I feel I am failing the kids by not helping them more. After looking over that home school program someone posted here yesterday, I think my kids could totally benefit. I like the idea of starting all of them at Kinder level. To fill in the gaps on things they have missed. I wonder if I could do both, public and some home stuff?

Its overwhelming for me. :th

It finally rained here yesterday. A cold mostly drizzle all day long. The ground is nice and soft and ready for my rototiller, that's for sure. there are lots of projects around here that are just unfinished. Pears on the counter, 6 meat birds down the hill, the corn stalks are falling on my driveway. I guess if the sun comes out today I should put some of this time off to good use. Maybe get the kids outside to help me a bit.

I was thinking about Justusnak 31st wedding anniversary yesterday. And all of the seasons a marriage must endure in 31 years. My dh and I have been married for 12 years now but together for about 17. Of course times have been up, down, sideways and backwards but we always progress and learn. I have people in my life who have not been so lucky. I have seen divorce come and go, finger pointing and children who suffer because of it. Sometimes I wonder if these folks have just lived such easy lives that when they hit a bump in the road they tend to over steer? Sorry for the lame analogy but that's what comes to mind. Business is slow, the house is upside down, instead of buckling down they freak out. And it only makes things worse.

I am thankful for my simple life. I am thankful for this board and the common knowledge of friends helping friends prepare for the bumps in the road. I really thought that for some, church was kinda like this place. A sounding board, a place of good advice and help in preparing. But it seems even that is not the case.

So how would you breach this topic with someone? Especially if they thought you were crazy for storing food or processing your own meat. If they treated you different and looked down their nose upon your simple ways? I don't want to be the "I told you so" kind of person. I would like to help, but I think it might almost be to late. :idunno

Ok now I am rambling.

Off to do soe laundry.

g
 
Thank you thank you thank you! I love my apron! I wore it this morning....LOL

As far as everything else goes...:hugs

I told my husband last night that I am constantly second guessing myself and doubting the kids' schooling and progress and what we are doing (or aren't doing) because I know that DS will have to be tested with the Iowa test of basic skills or the California test of basic skills and I have no idea what's on them or how I'm gonna find someone to administer it to him. I know he is doing fine and progressing but there are days when I just feel like I'm not doing enough. There are days that I doubt everything I'm doing. He was very good to me and told me that he was proud of what I was doing and that our kids are just fine and to heck with whatever anyone else thinks. That helped some but I still have doubts.

I woke up this morning to NINE dead meat chicks....huge failure...I managed to get them to send me replacement birds but now I'm trying to figure out what the heck I've done wrong in the 36 hours I've had them.

Farming, on any scale, is like that. It's full of failure and heartbreak and rewards and triumphs and that is hard to explain to someone on the outside. They don't understand why on earth we would put so much work into something when we could just drive on down to the store and buy something that has already been done for us. There are some people that will never "get it" and that's okay, it takes all kinds of people to make the world go round.

I guess we just have to hope that people will accept what we are doing and if they don't then they aren't worth our time talking about it to them.

As far as the kids go....what kinds of things are they having issues with....if your daughter is 8 and having problems with reading that's not altogether unusual to be honest. Some kids don't read on their own until they are 10 or 11....my suggestion to you is to find some chapter books that have subject matter that she is interested in and read to her...everyday. Don't press her to read it to you....just let her absorb it....just try to find quality classic books with good language in them....like maybe the Little House books, or Witch of Blackbird Pond, or Sarah Plain and Tall, or any classic books that may have subject matter she is interested in. If science is her thing then incorporate reading into science experiments....you can find all kinds of science experiments to do for her age group and then have her sit down to read the directions and then do the experiment and then have her write out the predictions and results. If music is her thing then pick out a biography or autobiography about someone she likes and read it together. Same with art or history.

Textbooks are boring...real literature is NOT. Don't you remember a favorite book you read? Do you remember what you read in your 4th grade textbooks??? Find what they are interested in and see if you can do an independent unit study on it at home...make it fun and relaxed and structured but not so structured that they feel pressured into it.

You can suppliment their "school" stuff with all kinds of fun things that will keep them engaged and if you need to pull them out of public school then so be it, but just remember that if you do they will need time to adjust to not being in school and doing things differently. Talk to some local homeschoolers if you can and see if they have some ideas for you to suppliment their education while they are still in public school.

There is a book that you should read called "Guerilla Learning" by Grace Lewellyn....it is for parents of all children regardless of how they are educated.
 
Ok time for some catching up.

Thank you both for the encouragement.

Lori, your welcome for the apron. I have 3 of that fabric and it's nice to see it will have a good home.

I also read the first chapter of Farmer Boy to DD8yo today while she ate her lunch. A captive audience. :D

Kids have a 4 day weekend. We were thinking about going to the desert but hit several obstacles. Dh Mom was having a b day. I really had a ton to get done around here and most of all with DS's new quad we cant fit all our cr@p into the back of the toy hauler.

Is that sad or what? You know you have problems when you have so many toys they don't fit and you cant go. :barnie

The problem is my OHV is so wide that the new quad does not fit in the rig anywhere near it. We tried to get it in the back of the truck but the fifth wheel hitch is in the way. So dh bought steel yesterday. His solution is to build some kind of platform that slides into the hitch. Poor kids quad is going to be hanging off the back of my 40 foot trailer. I hope is survives. :hide

So I have managed to accomplish a ton of stuff since yesterday.

Friday early am. Normal routine, dh off to work, breakfast for him then for the kids. Kitchen, laundry light house pick up. Then I ran to the store for ice. I had the last 7 freedom rangers in the dog kennel. I managed to process all 7 by myself. Did the first 3, plucked and processed then moved on the last four. I have to say this past week with only the soaked organic grains and the 3 way/ wheat mix I give them made a wonderful difference. These girls had some gorgeous fat on them. All up around their neck and at the tail end. I imagine the corn and grain was the reason for this.

So do you think I should do anything special with these 7? Save as roasters, cut up and use carcases for stock? What would be best???

Anyways, after I processed the birds I pulled the 50 ft row of dead corn stalks, which are still laying in my driveway. :hide

Then I brought out the big guns. I got the rototiller out an hit the ground running. We had just enough rain on Wed to soften things up but not be muddy. So I tilled the pen I had the meat birds in. Dang that soil looks great. I am going to seed with the organic mix I am using for feed. Then close the gate and hope for the best. :fl

That went well so I kept tilling. Back and forth, back and forth. My orchard was all holey form the gophers and chickens. It was nice to turn under all the poops and get rid of the holes. The chickens were so funny following me around. They were in bug heaven.. So after about 1/4 acre I collapsed of exhaustion. Managed a hot shower then off to the MIL for b day dinner.

This morning I'm on house detail. Started moving furniture again. This is normal for me with the seasons. My dining room table is now on the east side of the house and my family room back to the west room with the fire place. We still need to switch the china cabinet with the TV cabinet. Thank goodness for those furniture slider things. They make everything so much easier. I like to clean and dust as I move things. Kinda like spring cleaning but it's fall.

I set out and cleaned up my sewing stuff. I plan on starting some winter skirts and Christmas projects soon.

Oh, my juvenile turkey girls started laying yesterday. We got one speckled brown egg. I know it's not a chicken egg. So the old lady turkeys can go to SIL ranch now. I don't feel bad. Good thing I didn't butcher them yesterday as planned.

I hope to get the house finished up tomorrow. The kids want the Halloween costumes out and I would like some fall decor I think. Normally I skip it and just wait for Christmas. But I guess It wont hurt. I told my girls they had to clean their rooms first. Who know that may take until Christmas. :lau

Well other than that I have some pork chops in the oven and need to get moving again.

Talk to you soon.

g
 
I didn't read all of what was wrote...sorry, I am a slacker!!

The CAT test. EASY to do! I administer the test myself. I order it from Christian Liberty Press. $25 each, I think. You can also just take the test online. But if your kids struggle I would suggest taking the paper test. The online test IS timed! There is no Social Studies, Science, History, Geography on the test. Math, Reading, and English are on it. There are two or three stories (selections) that they read and then answer questions about. Punctuation and Capitalization and then sentence structure and then spelling for English. Math...story problems, one Roman Numeral question, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and FRACTIONS...lots of fractions! Adding and subtracting dates/amount of time or distance...like 3 days 4 hours 6 minutes minus 1 day 6 hours 20 minutes. If your child has an IEP (MY) state allows for the test to be read to the child.
In my school district we just have to submit a request to homeschool with our intended curriculum to the school board. To REAPPLY we take the CAT test and then copy and submit the results with our request to homeschool with our intended curriculum.

If you have any questions about the CAT test that I did not cover you can ask me. Oh yeah...and the kicker...my school distract says they just have to Pass the CAT test in the 25% or better bracket in order to be re-approved for homeschooling! If you have the extra cash ($25) order the test have your child take it and then turn it in for the results...while it does not really count...then you will know how to take it and what is on it and how your child will really do on it.

I LOVE homeschooling! We have done public school...for 4 years. All of my kids love homeschooling too! My children will all go to the local trade school their junior and senior year though to learn a skill.
 
I actually had not written much about the kids and their school stuff. I am just a bit frustrated with the lack of attention my kids are getting. Our schools here are overcrowded and I feel the ESL students take a huge amount of attention. :hide Sorry but it's true. DD is having reading issues. Son has an IEP but the jr high lady says her job is just to give a bit of homework help. Uhhh no I don't think that's true. I need to talk with my sil, she has experience with this, and then call the district.

g
 
You might also want to find out what graduating with and IEP means for your DS as well. I was recently told by someone else, who's son has an IEP that he would not get a REAL diploma but a 'Certificate of Completion' when he graduates.

My personal opinion: Some kids are visual hands on learners and need to learn a SKILL. They need to have a vision for the future. Not everyone can be doctors and lawyers that require tons of book learning. Sometimes sitting in a class room and being forced to do only book can be very frustrating for kids who are not book learners. Ok, and I just love have my family together all day everyday!
 
sorry for the full plate you have right now Gina

too much for your shoulders gal.....relax any stinkin' way you can. take time to really work thru your problems and ideas to correct them. no fast jumping lol

somedays are overwhelming.....your mind is going full speed. take a detour somehow lol

:)
 
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