Article on Education

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a 3 part series on education by Charles Murray. The last part of the series was on gifted education. I found the article very interesting. You can find it here:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110009541

This is a debate we have - stay in age appropriate grade level and always be so ahead that you gain confidence but you also gain elitism. Or, accelerate to the appropriate intellectual level and then... will you feel average or not be as confident in yourself? I feel that people in certain professions need to be very confident, almost arrogantly so. When D was in the Navy, pilots tended to be extremely confident/arrogant. It could be difficult to handle but for that job, they needed to believe they were the best of the best or they would die. Other jobs require that type of arrogance - surgeons, fire fighters, etc.

C had a good day at school today. He even said he had fun. Grandma took K to a pottery place.

Home again

D came home Saturday night, he left on Tuesday. The kids were so excited to see him. We had a busy time with him gone, they did a good job being home with just me. We were out Friday night for my Mom's birthday.

So, his trip went pretty well and big decisions are coming, possibly a move. I'm not sure what to do. I think it will be better for us in the long run but I am so worried about schools. I say (D says) well we can just homeschool but I guess I'm not comfortable with that. I want to give schools a chance first. I have to try or I'll regret it.

I just got interrupted to go find Spot for K. She was crying. She usually doesn't mind if she can't find him at bed time but tonight was one of those exceptions. Everything is fine now.

Such a helper

Yesterday we had dinner at a friend's house. Her daughters are 10 and 8. K loves to draw with them, they were teaching her how to draw a puppy. She loves it. (Their Dad is something of an artist so they have lots of art supplies around the house). I've been trying to do more art with her at home. K got watercolors and pastels for Christmas but we haven't had time to do them yet. I have to do them with just her so C has to be otherwise occupied, i.e. sleeping. They both love art. We finally joined the Kids Club at the local art museum and did the first tour. They loved it.

Today C and I went grocery shopping. He is so interested in grocery shopping and cooking. He loves it. Hopefully, he'll continue to have that love. He walked the entire time at the grocery and helps me pick things out. He's really a help. He likes to wash all the fruit when we get home and then he puts things away in the refrigerator. He is very opinionated and very comfortable with his opinions. He's a big help when I cook too. He likes to cut things or he'll dip the fish in the panko crumbs. I have to remember to let him help and to encourage him to love cooking. D likes to cook so maybe it comes from him.

K has a new book from school. I mentioned to the teacher the other day that she was getting tired of her schoolbook. Today she told the teacher she wanted to switch so they switched her to The Magic Tree House chapter books. I tried these with her about a year ago and she wasn't that interested. She could read them, she just wasn't that into the story line and there wasn't enough pictures. We'll see if she likes them this time around. She's not that into fantasy books so that may be part of it. She may be a little too rational. The book I had last year had them back in dinosaur time and she couldn't get over that people didn't live when the dinosaurs lived. D and I tend to not read a lot of fantasy either so maybe she gets it from us.

School

C's first week of school has been so different for me. Tuesday when I dropped them off, he refused to let me unbuckle him and cried that he didn't want to go to school. So, I went in and of course he was immediately fine and didn't even notice I was there. That day he was called on for wrestling with another little boy (he already knew him and they play together) but of course he cried. He doesn't like other people to discipline him. Today he had snack with a little 4.5 year old girl and was called on for running in the classroom. K never got in trouble. When she finally talked too much with her friend after a year in school, the teacher and I were ecstatic. She was finally comfortable enough to be talking when the teacher was talking. C must be quite comfortable already.

Since I observed class on Monday, I got a better look at K working. She really takes up a lot of the teacher's time, she's finished with her work and wants more. BUT she is always alone. It's like having a 3rd grader in the classroom. The teachers have been doing their best to work with her. They are throwing math at her, really trying to challenge her. Monday she was doing squares and cubes of numbers. She has not been interested in reading. She has not been reading that much at home, she never wants to read me her school book. I think she may find it boring, the stories are not that interesting but they are short stories with comprehension questions at the end and she really needs that. I'll have to come up with some more ideas on sparking her interest in reading again. I think we've been doing so much Math lately that we haven't had as much time for reading. We went to the library tonight and she jumps around on the types of books. She has been really into playing lately, constantly asking me if she can just play. We did Spanish and math class yesterday and then it was time for dinner and I asked her to set the table. She cried because she didn't get enough time to play. Of course when we were doing class, she kept asking me for more work.

First day of school and Kaya

Today was C's first day at Montessori school. He did so well. I was very impressed with him. He's not shy like K. I remember her first day. (I observed both of them through the mirror/glass). K just sat on the floor and waited for the teacher to notice she was finished. C goes right up to the teacher and asks questions. He really interacted with the other kids too. Of course, tonight when you say did you like school? he says No. Just like I thought he would.

Tonight was Book Club. The book was Kaya and Lone Dog. K has a Kaya like doll so she really enjoys Kaya. They had deer meat, salmon and dried cranberries. K liked deer meat. They also made medicine bags. She really enjoys this group and is slowly starting to open up to some of the girls. It usually takes her some time to open up. Now that we are not carpooling to school - Coleman switched to afternoons - she's finally comfortable carpooling and even went out to breakfast with Coleman and his Mom on the last carpool day.

Snow

We finally have some flurries today. It has been so mild this January and rainy. I like it being mild. Hopefully February won't be as black a month for me this year. We have been so busy with all these decisions and things going on. We've been reading Guiding the Gifted Child, Smart Boys, Smart Girls, Genius Denied A Nation Decieved and on and on. I was reading The Well Trained Mind too. I really liked it but I'll have to get back to that after we figure out everything else.

K spent the night with her cousin at Grandma's on Sunday because of the holiday. She was emotional when she returned. She wanted to stay longer and the crying goes on and on. I'm not sure how to help. I'm supportive and then after hours of it, I start to lose my patience. I know she is very emotional and I have to let her cry it out sometimes but it's hard when it doesn't end.

C had special time with just Mom and Dad. I think he really enjoyed it. He's such a joy. We were watching football and Dad was trying to get C interested and said "Go Bucks!". C said "Dad, the Bucs aren't playing in this game". So true.

I'm so confused about the school situation. I still have not done my resolutions for 2007.

Top Things from 2006

1 Watching K and C grow and learn. Spending time as a family.

2 Getting K tested and starting down that path of doing. Researching and learning about her special needs. Joining a support group.

3 Family reunion

4. Visited my sister and her kids 3 times this year. The cousins have a good relationship.

5 Spending time with cousins and family in the area.

6 Building a relationship with grandparents.

7 Recognizing my own issues and my own baggage from childhood.

8 Painting many rooms in the house.

9 Going to Disney World and having a great family vacation.

10 Swimming laps. K swimming on the swim team. C jumping off the board and gaining confidence.

Back on schedule

I just realized that I have not written in awhile. School started back on Wednesday. C starts school Jan 22nd. I don't think he is very excited about it though. He'll be going 3 days a week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. K and I have been making more of an effort to homeschool in the afternoons. We did an hour of math on Wednesday. I have the Singapore Math 1B book. I got it in December and she's 1/2 way through it. D thinks it is too easy but I think there are concepts in there that we have not covered. K is still doing lots of math at school too. She's always asking to do math. We are also working on writing a book. I need to work on my resolutions and top ten from 2006.