I don't like yelling and I find singing at my children when they are naughty to be three times as obnoxious anyway. I thought I knew for sure that I would be damaging any love for music that they would have otherwise developed. Not so! Elf wants to transcribe my angry song into something for EVERYONE at his school to enjoy. He envisions the entire orchestra playing the "Mad at Kids Song," originally sung by his mother but properly composed by a very small Elf. When it is finished, he will show it to his music teacher and she will love it for the masterpiece it is. Elf also wants to be sure to have some sort of memory of my song after I am dead. Nice, huh?
Woodjie! I just luv Woodjie. He was able to tell us that "ear hot" and fuss a bit so that we could take him to the doctor. Sure enough, ear infection, in the ear he indicated. Poor lil guy.
Rose can "poo poo in a potty." And is a "pwincess." And had her birthday. She lost her three! She is now four, and that means pink PRINCESS cupcakes. She has all the sparkly rings from the top of these storebought concoctions (schools don't let you bring homemade... and as there were 13 children in the class and I had to buy cupcakes in dozens... sigh). I couldn't find a good present for her and D said yesss, we don't have to spend any money! Ha. Nooo, that just means that because Rose doesn't realize she is missing out and therefore won't pester me, I have lots more time to research expensive gift ideas on Amazon. I'm thinking lifesize pink pony.
Can you tell which is Elf, and which is Emperor? They love their new Hobbit cloaks. Patrick and G want their own as well, but I will have to guess and amend the pattern so that I can make a garment that would fit much taller Hobbits.
My kid accepted a dollar in the bathroom from some man we don't really know as a prize for beating the man's friend in chess. (Both men are well over 50.) Emperor does not seem to understand why accepting money in the bathroom is not OK. He doesn't see why this is a dangerous situation. He doesn't understand why I flipped out about it and said it just looks doggone weird.
I don't know that the man was really attempting anything odd; he seems like the type who can't stop talking for an hour even if someone bet him $100... so it's hardly surprising to me that he would strike up a conversation with Emperor in the bathroom. Or strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere. He is *probably* harmless enough...
But this incident has freaked me out. D has instituted a "Mom will go with you and stand outside the door, and you will do what you have to do and get out, no chatting or accepting anything" rule for bathroom breaks that occur outside the house.
Anybody else out there think their child "knew better" than to do something and then, wow... you realize he didn't really know it? That's what I'm going through tonight.
Believe it or not, this is the home my father grew up in at Towanda, PA. Built in 1876 by my great-great grandfather William Ronan. I visited here every summer until I was married. My "Uncle" Teddy Whyte and Aunt Mary Barron lived here long after Big Gram (Margaret Ronan) and Little Gram (Bridget Barron, my Dad's mother) passed away.
The house was painted white then, but seems little changed. A scary place .. Especially the root cellar and barn out back .. A barn my Dad raised his rabbits in as a boy.
The house is at the very top of the immensely steep hills above the Town of Towanda.. And you can see the slate slag behind the house as the mountain crested. Big Gram used to drag Don and I up the hill ... with buckets ... to pick blackberries for her jam and wine. We were exhausted by the effort ... which didn't affect her ... dressed in her all-black mourning clothes and lace and black button shoes ... and she was 104 years old!
Don (my father's identical twin) and I would sleep on the upstairs porch of the house .. outdoors.. when we visited.
Weird to see this.. And I sure wouldn't pay this price .. even with the updated kitchen and bathroom!
I was floored that the kid received a "very superior" in the "verbal comprehension" subtest. VERBAL COMPREHENSION?? No, really, they think that. This is the kid who will walk right through doors that say "DO NOT ENTER" because he is exiting. Does that sound like comprehension to you? :p
But they can admit he also lacks "higher cognition skills to carry multiple objects, perform task in proper sequence or with multiple steps, and imitate actions." Translation: he's smart but not smart enough to figure out how to carry stuff? That is sooo... Emperor. And so confusing. Just... why. But hello, this is why he is not allowed to go swimming or even use sharp scissors. You might think I'm overcoddling but I'll just let you go ahead and think that and keep my kid alive and in possession of all his limbs for another day.
Anyway... I asked for testing because I was hoping that we would see some sort of offer to help Emperor with his handwriting, but they said it was just fine. Composition? Nope, doesn't qualify for help there, either. He's actually ahead. Then I sorta felt bad for bothering them, especially since I know that testing is not cheap.
It comes down to this: he'll get no extra help, really, except for maybe a "social skills" class here and there. But I know he could probably use a social skills class here or there. Maybe even a lot of them. It makes the decision as to "what to do with Emperor education-wise" that much more difficult. He tests and performs at or above the seventh grade level. Mathematics computation level? Grade 12.2. I just can't see enrolling him in fourth grade and having that be an effective use of his time. Unfortunately with all the comings and goings in the house it is not feasable to do a co-op. All SIX children will be in different schools next year; FIVE if Patrick makes good on his threat to becoming a hobo. Still... crazy times ahead. Especially if Patrick decides to become a hobo.
D says I should call the school and just ask for Emperor's flipping diploma since he tested so high. Or at least ask to place him in seventh grade or something. I sort of doubt they would consider either option but at the same time, I know that as he gets older they would help him acclimate to the social aspects of school far less. He is very socially quirky (!!) and waiting until ninth grade is almost certain disaster.
My mind is not really made up on anything. Though overall? I feel as though I want him home at least another year. Maybe two. Maybe for always. I don't know. Lots to think about. One suggestion I got from the peanut gallery was to wait until we're done with our hours homeschool-wise this year, and then try to enroll him and just figure that's your social skills right there. The only thing is that D might not let me pull him once he is in. And I really am not ready to let him go fer real (not just playing school at the end of my REAL school term, you see) just yet. We just get along too well and what would I do all day without him?
It's a crazy video this week, but you will enjoy this one. You know how when you were in school, you copied a few sentences out of an encyclopedia, changed a few words and wrote a conclusion sentence such as "I like birds alot," and that was your report? In a similar vein, DESE ("Dessie," our state ed. department) slapped together this hilariously atrocious video for our enjoyment.
*
Ok, ok. It's funny in an oh-so-unintentional way. First off, the narrator never spent more than three days in Missouri, and at least two of those were likely spent making this bad film. He sounds as though he is from "vaguely somewhere American" because he has a strong broadcaster accent. Being "Missouri Proud," as the website suggests, means we need to outsource.
*
But that alone doesn't make it obvious that DESE did a slipshod job.
*
No, folks. We need to make it more ridiculous than that. We need to have a few shots of people cavorting outside a house with a tile roof. A TILE ROOF. Do you know how long those would last with our winters? No one has a tile roof around here.
*
STILL not obvious enough. Throw in palm trees while we're talking about "Missouri pride," and that's a wrap.
*
Oh, yeah. You can see palm trees. I'm feeling Missouri proud when I see those. Ha ha ha! And I love the stock photos of "feet walking on pavement," and "man with bagel" and "overly professionally dressed teacher calling upon student." Sooo quintessential Missouri.
*
DESE wants me to do my good civic duty by alerting you to this glorious Top 10 by 20 program, and if I answer this survey, I'll even get a certificate of appreciation! Whoopeee!
