Drawing

Something we always seem to leave out it drawing and time for art. I think it is a shame, when we do make time for it, Hayden is very creative & he loves to draw. Today in one of his religion assignments he had to draw a self portrait. He really made a cute picture then we had to make something (animal, person, thing) from a squiggly line which he was eager to do.

Point is, I need to stop leaving art out of our class time as well as reading. Hayden is at a very imaginative, however not grounded in reality, stage which is cool & I need to encourage this part of his development! Plus it is really fun. :)

Not understanding field trip

Is it possible that an 8 year old doesn't know what a field trip is? Looks like it. Hayden said today that he wasn't sure when we went on field trips where the field was? Why were we never getting to it? Really? Does he think that type of thing sounds cool or something? Does he understand that saying that makes him sound like an idiot? Does he want to be an idiot? Does he think he's getting to me or something? I really hate kids, I really do!

School went pretty well today. Trying to downplay my negative comments. Trying to just spoon feed Hayden if he needs it. Went back over Pronouns, the workbook we are using I think got it all backwards on how to teach this stuff & I wish I would have been more up on it to have caught it. However we can not go back, we can only move forward. So I actually taught what was last first & we will go over the first stuff again last & move on from there.

Math seems to be going okay. When Hayden is asked a logic question he just can't seem to figure it out even if all the pieces are on the page -- he just has to put them together, it worries me but I will keep trudging on.

Patrick keeps thinking that meds are the answer -- maybe they are.

I think I hate school

Is it just boys or just this boy? ha I can go over information with him & when I ask him to give me the knowledge back he won't or can't. What's the point. I mean really. Teaching is fun, when the people you are teaching learn or want to learn. I think I really hate this. Maybe we need a break from school -- like we haven't had enough already. I think I hate teaching this kid.

Failure

Hayden took a science test on life cycle of animals. He failed. Which means I failed. So where do you go from here.

One question: How is a dragonfly's life cycle different from a butterfly's life cycle? Hayen's answer: A dragonfly's life cycle is different from a butterfly. Really? Okay & yesterday we drew a zen diagram talking about the differencs & likness of the lifecycles.

I just don't know where it goes all wrong. Two weeks wasted. So do we review again, do the chapter again? Move forward?

I will figure it out tomorrow.

Today I'm going to try not to be so disappointed.

Monday is Monday

Getting back in the swing of things after having Brenda here & being off sure is hard. We were actually able to do math & some English most days while we were Spring Breaking it, so that was good.

One thing that made school easier today is we got to go on a field trip to the Republican club. We did get through some Math & English before our field trip. Republican club is really fun & Hayden got to talk with one of our Senators Michael Watson, wish I would have had a camera! I left my phone at home even!

Don't know how much Hayden understands while people are speeching it, but I do know one thing, conserativeism will be in his blood & he will remember being a little kid going to the meetings with Nina & I.

Spring Break

Since Brenda came for a visit, we decided to take this week for our Spring Break.

We enjoyed Auntie B hanging with us. We did do a little something something everyday. Math mostly but a little writing as well.

Next week back to the grind stone so we can get this stuff done.

Busy Life that Gets in the Way

Been crazy busy around here for the past several days, no end in sight.

Friday we worked on the fly, got math & English under our belt.

Worked in the car today. Hayden read some, did some noun & adjective work. A little of math.

Brenda is coming to town Thursday, Patrick will be back Thursday. This Saturday is Old Fashion Day, Sunday is Polocrosse practice. Think I might have a nervous breakdown, but until then making school a priority is really a challenge. Tomorrow should be a bit less hectic & hopefully we can get back in the classroom.

Nouns

Okay what's up with the nouns? They are everywhere, they are all around us. We have gone over & over nouns & Hayden can barely come up with three on his own. Then THEN if you ask him to make them proper nouns you might as well go cut your head off, because he just doesn't get it.

You just have to laugh out loud because murder is illegal.

Busy Days

We have been busy here at Haggerty's Academy. Seems like the more I try to push forward the farther behind we get. Not to worry though, I will keep pushing forward.

Is it normal for boys to forget everything over the weekend? We will have something down perfect on Friday, come back to review then add to it, on Monday but it is like Hayden has never seen the material before! How frustrating. But I have just come to the conclusion that no matter how long it takes we will just go over it again, and again, and again.....

We have been learning other things outside of the classroom, in this month of March. We had a field trip to see "Swan Lake" the ballet, in Mobile, which was wonderful. This was my first time seeing it & I must say it is one of the best I have seen in a while.

Then we took off to the Port of Pascagoula one afternoon to meet up with one of the
Republican candidates Mitt Romney. We were early so we were right up in front, it was thrilling. Hayden shook Gov. Romney's hand & Nina had him sigh her shirt. We have pictures, it was great.

Hayden is one of only a few 8 year old boys, that I know, who know all the presidential candidates. It is really fun. He also loves going to the polls to vote with us. Hopefully when he gets older he will continue to love the process and maybe run for office himself!

Just Don't Know

I just don't know about little boys. One day we have everything figured out and going fine, the next day it is like we haven't even covered the material that we mastered yesterday. How frustrating is that? Let me tell you it is VERY frustrating. Is it just boys or do girls do the same thing? Is it the weather, or just attitude because no one wants to do school? Who knows but I might have to go to jail for homicide though.

Barometer Bash

Besides it being Monday, today was overcast and rainy. I guess that would explain why everyone was crazy including Hayden today.

We started out with reviewing math skills, of which today Hayden couldn't master. Couldn't figure out how to borrow during subtraction, couldn't figure out how to then add. Couldn't tell me a long i from a short i, they all sounded the same to him, then on top of everything, couldn't copy words correctly so he wrote the wrong spelling of two words thirty times! Oy, if that won't make you crazy I don't know what will.

On days like these I'm not sure what your suppose to do, because teaching is out of the question!

Happy New Year

New year, new nine weeks. Exciting times. Have once again changed up the teaching style. We will see if that helps. Hayden is still having problems with basic things. I want to really teach Hayden how to figure logic problems out. I don't want to keep getting frustrated because Hayden can't get it. If he doesn't fine, just keep going over similar problems until He does get it. Also we need to review basic info, such as address & phone number, weekly, if not daily.

I believe we are not putting enough emphasis on school and it's importance. Want to do school everyday in some form. Go over math, reading, Spanish vocab, something. I think that will be the best thing that will help Hayden.

We have started reading "Oliver Twist" in class with vocabulary. Then for bed time we are reading " Smells Like Dog" a very cute story. We should be reading more & hopefully we will make that a priority in our daily lives.

Nina & I are reading a story as well. Patrick got us going to a book club. Only draw-back is they met once a month, but the first one we attended was fun and we are looking forward to he January meeting.

Looking forward to this next nine weeks & all that it will bring.

Happy reading!