Here they are, in no particular order. Well, OK, in the order they pop into my head.
10. The sound of my husband laughing.
9. Two words: back rub. Or better yet: hour long massage.
8. A clean house!
7. Waking up and realizing it's Saturday.
6. Compliments.
5. My children, especially when they are cracking up laughing about something together.
4. Going out to eat (no cooking, no messy kitchen, it's all good.)
3. Positive pregnancy tests. (Not that I've had one in a while...don't get all excited, Kathy!)
2. When something good happens to someone I love.
1. Counting my many, many blessings.
There you go, Terry. Thanks for the tag. I am tagging Lisa @ My Surviving Thoughts. Maybe that will get her to post more than twice a month. (I mean, what does she have to do besides raise kids, keep house, go to work, and get settled in her new house? Sheesh!)
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
Pssst! Pass It On!
I have an assignment for you! If you are a homeschooler, or have friends who are, please pass this question on to them. I would love to gather as many ideas in the comments as I can. (And by that I mean numbers in the double digits--which would be a first here at The Family Revised!!! Whoo Hoo!)
I remembered we had a Scrabble Junior game yesterday. I thought, "Wow. That would be a great way to sneak some spelling in with Sweetheart (2nd grade) and have fun, too!" So here's my question:
What ways do you sneak learning in?
And just for the record, I'm not talking about that rationalizing we all joke about. You know where we say to ourselves, "Sorting laundry is TOO math!" :) I'm kidding. (I mean, it is math for my 3 year old, but not so much by say, 5th grade?!)
So how about it? What wonderful ways have you found to get your kids involved with learning before they have a chance to figure out it's really "school." I need some help from the veterans here!!!
Thanks and have a great weekend!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
What Really Matters...
This is a conclusion to the post The Things That Really Matter. Click here to read the first part.
Before school started each year, the teachers in the district where I taught had to undergo 7 days of torture, otherwise known as teacher inservice. We would sit through about 5 days of meetings, and then have 2 days to work in our classrooms. Our principals' hands were tied, but they tried to make those 5 meeting days as interesting as possible.
One year we had an inspirational speaker. He was a really good speaker and very entertaining. Our school was about 95% Hispanic and he was of the same origins as many of our students. He told about growing up in a household where there wasn't much money and lots of hilarious stories about his mama. Then he went on to tell how he finished pharmacy school and fell in love. His new bride and he decided they wanted a large family. I can't remember all the details but after having a child of their own, they soon began adopting. They adopted almost all of their children from foster care. He told about a little 3 or 4 year old girl they adopted who wanted to be held all the time. While her older siblings were acting out or destroying toys to vent their feelings, this little one just wanted to be held. All. The. Time. After being in foster care, most children would get nervous whenever the family started to load up in the van to go to church, or to a bar-b-que at a friend's house. "Where are you taking us?" they would ask. It took lots of reassuring that they were not going to be dropped off anywhere, but instead the whole family was going somewhere together and then coming right back home--together. So, he understood there were a lot of security issues with these children. He made a decision about his little 3 or 4 year old hanger-on. He told himself, "I will not put her down until she is ready." Every day when he got home from work, she ran to him to be held and he held her all night until bedtime. Whether he was eating dinner, unloading the dishwasher, talking on the phone, or watching TV, all was done with his new little girl attached to his hip.
It took 4 months. One day, finally, she said, "Daddy, I want to go play." And he VERY happily sent her on her way. I was just riveted by this story. Wow. What a family! He told us that he was getting worried because his wife saw a picture of a sibling group that needed a home and their 15 passenger van was going to need to be replaced with a small tour bus. We laughed.
Then he told us, "The last 3 children we adopted came from this district. Who had Stephanie in their class?"
With goosebumps, my partner teacher and I raised our hands. He told us "thank you." I cannot even begin to tell you how I felt at that moment. This was the family Stephanie had gone to? (His wife, whom we had met, was not Hispanic and for some reason I just didn't put it all together--and it had been several years.) I was so glad and full of joy that people like this family existed. The little girl in his story had been Stephanie's little sister, by the way.
After the meeting, he stopped by our classroom to give us an update on Stephanie. He said she was reading on grade level, loved to read, was on grade level in all other areas, and was taking ballet classes. She smiled all the time and was doing great. I couldn't help but be reminded of what his wife had asked us: "Don't you think self-esteem has so much to do with it?" I admitted to him that at the time I had agreed with her, but had my doubts as to how much success Stephanie would really see in her future.
He shared with me what he had seen over and over again at his own house: when children feel loved and secure--they learn, they grow, they blossom. I just could not get over it--how could the sad little girl I had seen struggling to write the date on her paper be replaced in my mind with a happy, smiling ballerina?
And so I thought of Stephanie yesterday when I was wondering (again) if we had done "enough" school. My children are already at a HUGE learning advantage simply because they are home. They may never have to know the insecurities of middle school, of being compared to classmates who do better, of "falling behind" the state's standards. They are loved, they are secure--they will learn, grow, and blossom.
I realize not all homes are ideal environments for children. Our principal used to remind us that for some children school was the best place to be because there was air conditioning, people smiled at them, they were going to have plenty to eat, there were books to read, and they were safe. Having been on some home visits, I would agree. Money does not make an ideal learning environment--love does. If my daughters feel safe and loved--they have already met half the battle. The best programs and materials and personnel money could buy was not going to help Stephanie, until she had the other. Those things that matter most.
So, instead of worrying about not doing enough and tearing out another page for Sweetheart to do, I think we will cuddle up with a book. We will have hugs and math practice together. She will learn--and I will remember what matters most.
Before school started each year, the teachers in the district where I taught had to undergo 7 days of torture, otherwise known as teacher inservice. We would sit through about 5 days of meetings, and then have 2 days to work in our classrooms. Our principals' hands were tied, but they tried to make those 5 meeting days as interesting as possible.
One year we had an inspirational speaker. He was a really good speaker and very entertaining. Our school was about 95% Hispanic and he was of the same origins as many of our students. He told about growing up in a household where there wasn't much money and lots of hilarious stories about his mama. Then he went on to tell how he finished pharmacy school and fell in love. His new bride and he decided they wanted a large family. I can't remember all the details but after having a child of their own, they soon began adopting. They adopted almost all of their children from foster care. He told about a little 3 or 4 year old girl they adopted who wanted to be held all the time. While her older siblings were acting out or destroying toys to vent their feelings, this little one just wanted to be held. All. The. Time. After being in foster care, most children would get nervous whenever the family started to load up in the van to go to church, or to a bar-b-que at a friend's house. "Where are you taking us?" they would ask. It took lots of reassuring that they were not going to be dropped off anywhere, but instead the whole family was going somewhere together and then coming right back home--together. So, he understood there were a lot of security issues with these children. He made a decision about his little 3 or 4 year old hanger-on. He told himself, "I will not put her down until she is ready." Every day when he got home from work, she ran to him to be held and he held her all night until bedtime. Whether he was eating dinner, unloading the dishwasher, talking on the phone, or watching TV, all was done with his new little girl attached to his hip.
It took 4 months. One day, finally, she said, "Daddy, I want to go play." And he VERY happily sent her on her way. I was just riveted by this story. Wow. What a family! He told us that he was getting worried because his wife saw a picture of a sibling group that needed a home and their 15 passenger van was going to need to be replaced with a small tour bus. We laughed.
Then he told us, "The last 3 children we adopted came from this district. Who had Stephanie in their class?"
With goosebumps, my partner teacher and I raised our hands. He told us "thank you." I cannot even begin to tell you how I felt at that moment. This was the family Stephanie had gone to? (His wife, whom we had met, was not Hispanic and for some reason I just didn't put it all together--and it had been several years.) I was so glad and full of joy that people like this family existed. The little girl in his story had been Stephanie's little sister, by the way.
After the meeting, he stopped by our classroom to give us an update on Stephanie. He said she was reading on grade level, loved to read, was on grade level in all other areas, and was taking ballet classes. She smiled all the time and was doing great. I couldn't help but be reminded of what his wife had asked us: "Don't you think self-esteem has so much to do with it?" I admitted to him that at the time I had agreed with her, but had my doubts as to how much success Stephanie would really see in her future.
He shared with me what he had seen over and over again at his own house: when children feel loved and secure--they learn, they grow, they blossom. I just could not get over it--how could the sad little girl I had seen struggling to write the date on her paper be replaced in my mind with a happy, smiling ballerina?
And so I thought of Stephanie yesterday when I was wondering (again) if we had done "enough" school. My children are already at a HUGE learning advantage simply because they are home. They may never have to know the insecurities of middle school, of being compared to classmates who do better, of "falling behind" the state's standards. They are loved, they are secure--they will learn, grow, and blossom.
I realize not all homes are ideal environments for children. Our principal used to remind us that for some children school was the best place to be because there was air conditioning, people smiled at them, they were going to have plenty to eat, there were books to read, and they were safe. Having been on some home visits, I would agree. Money does not make an ideal learning environment--love does. If my daughters feel safe and loved--they have already met half the battle. The best programs and materials and personnel money could buy was not going to help Stephanie, until she had the other. Those things that matter most.
So, instead of worrying about not doing enough and tearing out another page for Sweetheart to do, I think we will cuddle up with a book. We will have hugs and math practice together. She will learn--and I will remember what matters most.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The Things That Really Matter
Constantly after we have finished "school" for the day here at our house, I wonder in my head if I did enough. Each day I pray for the Lord's help for me to figure out the proper balance of work and play with my children. Yes, they need to learn to do things that are not particularly enjoyable. I cannot let their will dictate our day, for they are young and unwise and they don't know what they need. AND YET, they need to play and be children and not sit at the table too long doing school work. It's not the only way they learn and I know that.
Today I was reminded of a former student. I truly cannot remember her name because she was only in our classroom for a few months. We'll call her Stephanie. Stephanie came to our classroom (I shared the class with another teacher) in the spring of first grade. She moved here from another school where she had been with a different foster family. Stephanie had many brothers and sisters, but 3 of them had travelled together. Her older brother was next door at the middle school and her little sister was at home, with their new foster family. She was a sad little girl and she could not read very much at all. She could barely write. Oh boy, I thought. What are we going to do to get this little girl being successful by May? My partner teacher and I were both trained in Reading Recovery through Ohio State University. Taking on non-reading 1st graders is what we did. Obviously, Stephanie was going to be our next student in the program, which worked one-on-one with students intensely and daily.
But then I checked her folder. Uh oh. She had already been through a full program of Reading Recovery at her other school. And this was as far as she got? I called her former RR teacher and chatted for a while. She just wasn't making progress. This was looking bad. Stephanie had already undergone some of the most intense programming available in public school and she still wasn't keeping up. In fact, to be perfectly honest, if she had been starting first grade instead of finishing first grade, she might have been OK.
We didn't give up on her by any means. She saw the counselor regularly, we encouraged her, we worked with her. But in the back of everyone's mind...we knew her future. Either she would be retained in first grade, or she would be tested for special education. Those were the choices in her future.
But God had other plans.
A month or so after Stephanie arrived in our classroom, we were called for a parent conference. The lady who sat in front of us introduced herself and wanted to talk about Stephanie. She and her husband had 11 children (both homemade and adopted) and were planning to adopt Stephanie and her other 2 siblings that were with her. What good news! we said. This lady was so nice and sweet and we were so excited for this little girl whom we did not know very well. The lady explained that they homeschooled their other children, but since Stephanie and her siblings would not be officially theirs for a while, they would have to be in public school a while longer. So, she wanted to know, how was Stephanie doing in school?
Gently, gently we explained the situation. Almost everything has already been tried. We told her what had been done at the other school, showed her samples of the work from our classroom, and tried to focus on the positive, while painting a very real picture of where Stephanie should be right now (according to the state). Honestly, we told her, if she were to remain at this school, she would either be retained or tested next year.
Her soon-to-be-new mom didn't seem the least bit ruffled. She asked us one question:
Of course it does, we agreed! Of course when a child believes they can do it, they are more successful. Of course Stephanie's home situation is affecting her performance in school. Of course it is. Unfortunately, schools are not allowed to take that kind of information into consideration when reviewing a student's progress. They just either can or can't. There is no chance to put a post-it note on the report card saying, "I really think she's capable, but there was just so much going on at home..."
So Stephanie ended the year and went off to live with her new family. Our thoughts and prayers went with her and I thought that was the end of the story.
But God was going to give me an update one day.
Click here for the conclusion.
Today I was reminded of a former student. I truly cannot remember her name because she was only in our classroom for a few months. We'll call her Stephanie. Stephanie came to our classroom (I shared the class with another teacher) in the spring of first grade. She moved here from another school where she had been with a different foster family. Stephanie had many brothers and sisters, but 3 of them had travelled together. Her older brother was next door at the middle school and her little sister was at home, with their new foster family. She was a sad little girl and she could not read very much at all. She could barely write. Oh boy, I thought. What are we going to do to get this little girl being successful by May? My partner teacher and I were both trained in Reading Recovery through Ohio State University. Taking on non-reading 1st graders is what we did. Obviously, Stephanie was going to be our next student in the program, which worked one-on-one with students intensely and daily.
But then I checked her folder. Uh oh. She had already been through a full program of Reading Recovery at her other school. And this was as far as she got? I called her former RR teacher and chatted for a while. She just wasn't making progress. This was looking bad. Stephanie had already undergone some of the most intense programming available in public school and she still wasn't keeping up. In fact, to be perfectly honest, if she had been starting first grade instead of finishing first grade, she might have been OK.
We didn't give up on her by any means. She saw the counselor regularly, we encouraged her, we worked with her. But in the back of everyone's mind...we knew her future. Either she would be retained in first grade, or she would be tested for special education. Those were the choices in her future.
But God had other plans.
A month or so after Stephanie arrived in our classroom, we were called for a parent conference. The lady who sat in front of us introduced herself and wanted to talk about Stephanie. She and her husband had 11 children (both homemade and adopted) and were planning to adopt Stephanie and her other 2 siblings that were with her. What good news! we said. This lady was so nice and sweet and we were so excited for this little girl whom we did not know very well. The lady explained that they homeschooled their other children, but since Stephanie and her siblings would not be officially theirs for a while, they would have to be in public school a while longer. So, she wanted to know, how was Stephanie doing in school?
Gently, gently we explained the situation. Almost everything has already been tried. We told her what had been done at the other school, showed her samples of the work from our classroom, and tried to focus on the positive, while painting a very real picture of where Stephanie should be right now (according to the state). Honestly, we told her, if she were to remain at this school, she would either be retained or tested next year.
Her soon-to-be-new mom didn't seem the least bit ruffled. She asked us one question:
Don't you think self-esteem has so much to do with it?
So Stephanie ended the year and went off to live with her new family. Our thoughts and prayers went with her and I thought that was the end of the story.
But God was going to give me an update one day.
Click here for the conclusion.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Random Ministry is Not Enough
So, I can't agree with the idea that we are to just go around scattering the seeds of God's love and hitting them with whoever happens to cross our path AND praying that it's enough. (Read the first post here). I think we need to be more purposeful than that.
Even though my family is my primary and first ministry, I cannot ONLY minister to my family and leave the lost to find their own way. I have Good News, and it needs to be shared. So how can this be done, if not soley by "random acts of God's love"?
We have some friends whose son is autistic. Even though they would NEVER choose to have things as they are, they admit they have found a group of people (parents of children with disabilities) who need ministering to. And for reasons they could not have forseen, they find themselves able to do the ministering. For the last few years my husband has served as "part-time" youth minister at our church. So, for us, our other ministry was also clear. I know people who make it their ministry to reach out to other mothers while waiting for preschool to let out. They purposefully speak to and listen to these moms who are also waiting for their children. I know couples who take a younger couple under their wing--inviting them over for dinner and spending time with them, perhaps even leading into Bible study.
The point is, we must be aware of the different ways we can minister--and plan accordingly. I read on an old post at this blog about how she intended to get out the crock pot before Sunday church so she could be ready at a moment's notice to invite a new family over for lunch after services. This is what I'm talking about: being ready to minister, really minister to others. And teaching our children to do the same.
Do unplanned ministry moments happen? Of course! They can be a huge blessing. My daughters and I are FOREVER helping lost children find their parents. I don't know why this always happens to me. I seem to notice lost children everywhere we go. But that's not exactly the "helping the lost" I'm talking about!
Now that we are not actively helping my husband in youth ministry, what will our ministry be? Who could I reach out to? How could I do that?
What type of ministry are you involved in?
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