Goosey Lou is now nine weeks into her fifth grade year at school. I have to say that it has been a bit more challenging this year on many levels. However, I think the biggest issue is that she has a hard teacher. Mrs. W is "old-school". She is direct, does not coddle, works them the entire period, and expects them to do their very best. Goosey has struggled with this math teacher mainly because she is intimidated by her. A few chats with Goosey and reassurance from Mrs. W that we don't have a major problem going on has gone a long way in smoothly things out.
Last week, Goosey receives her results of some new testing that is going on at school. It is done in order to benchmark where each individual student is and then set goals to become better learners. Goosey excels in just about anything she does. She had very high marks in math but extremely high marks in language arts.
Her homeroom teacher, Mrs. D, met with Goosey to chat about her results and to help her set goals. She stressed that Goosey needed to be reading on a certain level in order to make progress in her critical thinking skills. Goosey came home and went on and on about how she needs these levels of books.
I asked her "Can you give me examples of this level of book? 'Little Women'? 'Tom Sawyer'?" She responded, "Mrs. D named a book that I needed to be reading independently... it is about donkey coyotes."
Me: What in the world are donkey coyotes?
GL: I have no idea! Never heard of them until she mentioned it. Maybe there is a list of books on my levels.
Me: Hmmmm, that is weird. Donkey coyotes.
Perplexed, I could not figure out what in the world she was referring to.
Fast forward to homework time last night...
GL: I found out the name of that book she thought I should be reading.
Me: The one about coyotes?
GL: Yeah. I heard it wrong. She wants me to be reading 'Don Quixote, Man of la Mancha'.
Me: 'Don Quixote'? Donkey coyotes? Bwhahahahahahaha!!!!
GL: Moooommmmm! I did not hear her correctly....
Me: That is hilarious...kind of like the Guatemalan Cletis, huh?
...and that is a whole other story!
I love that girl of mine!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Book 'Em, Danno!
I sent this email out to family about two weeks ago. It is pretty funny in hindsight, but scary at the time....
So, I had to attend the school board meeting tonight. Daddy Mac decided to take the kids to McDonald's as a treat for dinner. I ran some errands, went to the meeting, and then stopped to get me something to eat.
When I got home, the kids were in bed and Daddy Mac was sitting in the silent living room. I was standing at the kitchen counter getting my food plated when I asked him how the night went. He mumbled something but I caught the words "gun" and "police". I stopped and asked him again what he said. I don't WHAT he said, but what I HEARD was "I had to call the police because they held a gun to Goosey Lou's head."
My blood ran cold. I almost passed out. I ran into the living room screaming "WHAT!?! WHAT?!?! What happened?"
Daddy Mac then proceeded to tell me the CORRECT story:
Goosey and Little Man were playing with our neighbor boy, Caleb in his front yard while Daddy Mac was patching part of our fence in the back. He said that Little Man came running to the back yard and very excitedly told him that the boy across the street had a gun and had pointed it at Caleb's head. Daddy Mac started asking if the kid was still outside? Did Caleb's dad know? Had they called 911? etc. LM did not know, but said that the boy had gone back inside of his house.
I guess Daddy Mac felt that the problem was solved.
A few minutes later, LM came bustling back with the house phone in hand and says "Dad! Here's 911!" Daddy Mac looks and sees that the phone is on "talk"...and hangs up. Of course, they call back. He explained that his 6 year old had called and they asked about the alleged gun issue (that LM had told them about). Daddy Mac told him he did not know what had happened but the kid was not there anymore.
Que the 5-0.
The police roll up and want to talk to the kids. Daddy Mac & our kids, Caleb & his dad. Caleb confirms that the kid had a gun and was pointing it at him. When the officer asked if it was real, no one knew...so he walked across the street, knocked on our NEW neighbor's door and interview the perp who is about Goosey's age. Turns out that it looks like a real handgun except for the small orange tip. He said that at a distance it would look real.
He told everyone that LM did the right thing...no harm, no foul.
The mom marched the kid out and made him apologize for pointing the gun at Caleb.
The neighbors up the street came out to see what the show was about. It must have been very exciting for all.
I hope that our new neighbors, who have rescued our escaped dog, will not poison said dog or call the law on us for not having her leashed when she does escape again. I am horrified.
Moral of the story: Don't ask 20 questions to an excited 6 year old...get up and see for yourself or he will call the po-po.
Now off to try and sleep with a spike of adrenaline.
So, I had to attend the school board meeting tonight. Daddy Mac decided to take the kids to McDonald's as a treat for dinner. I ran some errands, went to the meeting, and then stopped to get me something to eat.
When I got home, the kids were in bed and Daddy Mac was sitting in the silent living room. I was standing at the kitchen counter getting my food plated when I asked him how the night went. He mumbled something but I caught the words "gun" and "police". I stopped and asked him again what he said. I don't WHAT he said, but what I HEARD was "I had to call the police because they held a gun to Goosey Lou's head."
My blood ran cold. I almost passed out. I ran into the living room screaming "WHAT!?! WHAT?!?! What happened?"
Daddy Mac then proceeded to tell me the CORRECT story:
Goosey and Little Man were playing with our neighbor boy, Caleb in his front yard while Daddy Mac was patching part of our fence in the back. He said that Little Man came running to the back yard and very excitedly told him that the boy across the street had a gun and had pointed it at Caleb's head. Daddy Mac started asking if the kid was still outside? Did Caleb's dad know? Had they called 911? etc. LM did not know, but said that the boy had gone back inside of his house.
I guess Daddy Mac felt that the problem was solved.
A few minutes later, LM came bustling back with the house phone in hand and says "Dad! Here's 911!" Daddy Mac looks and sees that the phone is on "talk"...and hangs up. Of course, they call back. He explained that his 6 year old had called and they asked about the alleged gun issue (that LM had told them about). Daddy Mac told him he did not know what had happened but the kid was not there anymore.
Que the 5-0.
The police roll up and want to talk to the kids. Daddy Mac & our kids, Caleb & his dad. Caleb confirms that the kid had a gun and was pointing it at him. When the officer asked if it was real, no one knew...so he walked across the street, knocked on our NEW neighbor's door and interview the perp who is about Goosey's age. Turns out that it looks like a real handgun except for the small orange tip. He said that at a distance it would look real.
He told everyone that LM did the right thing...no harm, no foul.
The mom marched the kid out and made him apologize for pointing the gun at Caleb.
The neighbors up the street came out to see what the show was about. It must have been very exciting for all.
I hope that our new neighbors, who have rescued our escaped dog, will not poison said dog or call the law on us for not having her leashed when she does escape again. I am horrified.
Moral of the story: Don't ask 20 questions to an excited 6 year old...get up and see for yourself or he will call the po-po.
Now off to try and sleep with a spike of adrenaline.
Flying the Friendly Skies!
Daddy Mac has been gone for several days. Grandpa Mac has been pretty ill with his lungs, so Daddy Mac decided to help out his sister and take a turn being a nurse for the week. The kids have really missed him but have done pretty well.
Yesterday was Little Man's first day back to school since Daddy has been gone and I expected that he would have a rough day. We have struggled this past year with some serious issues at school so I was preparing myself to have to deal with consequences at the end of the day. However, I was surprised that Little Man only came home "on yellow" for talking!
While we were waiting for Goosey Lou to get out of her piano lessons right after school, I was reading my book and LM was playing in the back of the vancar with his legos. I heard him making the regular crashing, shooting, destruction sounds as his spaceship was battling an alien. All was right in the world.
Then I heard Little Man begin to talk....
Yeah, my dad is in the military so we have to move around a lot...My mom and I have lived in Paris and in London. We are always 'flying those friendly skies'!
I put my book down and turned to ask him what.in.the.world was he talking about. I fully thought that with all the talk on the news, and the fact that his teacher's husband is going to be shipped out to Afghanistan, that he believed that he was a military brat. He said "Mom! It is part of Hannah's musical 'Life School Musical'" and began to repeat word for word the drama lines that precede a favorite song from the CD "I Love Bugs".
It caught me off guard that from just listening to his sister's CD that he could recite a play and sing the song perfectly. I just hope that he doesn't tell the tale at school while his dad's away for the week!
Yesterday was Little Man's first day back to school since Daddy has been gone and I expected that he would have a rough day. We have struggled this past year with some serious issues at school so I was preparing myself to have to deal with consequences at the end of the day. However, I was surprised that Little Man only came home "on yellow" for talking!
While we were waiting for Goosey Lou to get out of her piano lessons right after school, I was reading my book and LM was playing in the back of the vancar with his legos. I heard him making the regular crashing, shooting, destruction sounds as his spaceship was battling an alien. All was right in the world.
Then I heard Little Man begin to talk....
Yeah, my dad is in the military so we have to move around a lot...My mom and I have lived in Paris and in London. We are always 'flying those friendly skies'!
I put my book down and turned to ask him what.in.the.world was he talking about. I fully thought that with all the talk on the news, and the fact that his teacher's husband is going to be shipped out to Afghanistan, that he believed that he was a military brat. He said "Mom! It is part of Hannah's musical 'Life School Musical'" and began to repeat word for word the drama lines that precede a favorite song from the CD "I Love Bugs".
It caught me off guard that from just listening to his sister's CD that he could recite a play and sing the song perfectly. I just hope that he doesn't tell the tale at school while his dad's away for the week!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
She Makes A Difference!
I will start this entry out with no guilt. I just refuse to lament about what a blogging slacker I am. =)
I felt so compelled to document this one because it is the epitome of what my daughter is all about...
A little background: Last year in third grade, Goosey Lou made a great friend, Queen Bee. They were very tight and it seemed like it might be of the sort that would last a long, long time. However, as the year progressed, I noticed that Goosey was not speaking about Queen; she was not calling her friend on the phone; and she seemed to be unhappy when this child's name was brought up.
One afternoon, Goosey came home and while we were chatting about her day, she started to cry and said "Mom. It is so hard to do the right thing. I don't know if I can do it." The 'right thing' in the case was standing up to Queen Bee when she called the kids in special ed "morons" or laughed at the girl who was a bit larger than the rest of her peers. You know the type.
But in particular, there was a little boy, William, that was new to the school. William was pretty awkward, loud, socially backward, and pretty lonely. He did not know how to be friends and never had anyone to play with. Goosey noticed. She began inviting William to play with her and her other friends. Queen began to call him names....Loser, Weirdo, etc. She informed Goosey that if she played with William, then she would make sure that no one played with her. And she was pretty successful in doing just that.
It is hard to do the right thing. I left it up to her. I told her that she needed to think about what kind of person she wanted to be and that Psalm 1:1 says "Blessed is the man who does not walk with the wicked or stand with evildoers or sit with the mockers." I told her that she did not have to be William's best friend, but it sounded like he might need a friendly face in the sea of kids who could not care less.
The ending to this story is that Goosey Lou gave up Queen Bee as her friend. She confronted her and actually made some mature decisions regarding her relationship. She lost her "best friend". She grieved and simply knew that she would never have the BFF that girls her age long for.
I met William last year at Goosey's birthday party. She invited him and about 12 others from her class. If I were being honest, I would say that William was the most annoying children I have encountered in years. He is REALLY awkward, VERY loud, SEVERELY backwards socially, and has one friend. =)
Fast forward to today:
Goosey's school has given out this rubber bracelet's with the words "I MAKE A DIFFERENCE" on them. They were given to each child to give to someone that he/she perceives to make a difference in their lives or their communities. They can be given to a staff member, a custodian, another student, etc.
Goosey waited until we were walking in the house today and said "Guess who gave me a "DIFFERENCE" bracelet today? William. Even though he is in another class, he walked into my room and handed me one."
I asked if he said why. She replied "He said that it was because I was a good friend to him. Even when no one wanted to include him, I always was his friend. Wasn't that nice of him?"
Wasn't that nice of him? I absolutely wanted to bust with happiness that my sweet, sweet daughter has such compassion for those kids who just want to be accepted.
Doing the right thing is really hard sometimes. She makes a difference though...every single day.
I felt so compelled to document this one because it is the epitome of what my daughter is all about...
A little background: Last year in third grade, Goosey Lou made a great friend, Queen Bee. They were very tight and it seemed like it might be of the sort that would last a long, long time. However, as the year progressed, I noticed that Goosey was not speaking about Queen; she was not calling her friend on the phone; and she seemed to be unhappy when this child's name was brought up.
One afternoon, Goosey came home and while we were chatting about her day, she started to cry and said "Mom. It is so hard to do the right thing. I don't know if I can do it." The 'right thing' in the case was standing up to Queen Bee when she called the kids in special ed "morons" or laughed at the girl who was a bit larger than the rest of her peers. You know the type.
But in particular, there was a little boy, William, that was new to the school. William was pretty awkward, loud, socially backward, and pretty lonely. He did not know how to be friends and never had anyone to play with. Goosey noticed. She began inviting William to play with her and her other friends. Queen began to call him names....Loser, Weirdo, etc. She informed Goosey that if she played with William, then she would make sure that no one played with her. And she was pretty successful in doing just that.
It is hard to do the right thing. I left it up to her. I told her that she needed to think about what kind of person she wanted to be and that Psalm 1:1 says "Blessed is the man who does not walk with the wicked or stand with evildoers or sit with the mockers." I told her that she did not have to be William's best friend, but it sounded like he might need a friendly face in the sea of kids who could not care less.
The ending to this story is that Goosey Lou gave up Queen Bee as her friend. She confronted her and actually made some mature decisions regarding her relationship. She lost her "best friend". She grieved and simply knew that she would never have the BFF that girls her age long for.
I met William last year at Goosey's birthday party. She invited him and about 12 others from her class. If I were being honest, I would say that William was the most annoying children I have encountered in years. He is REALLY awkward, VERY loud, SEVERELY backwards socially, and has one friend. =)
Fast forward to today:
Goosey's school has given out this rubber bracelet's with the words "I MAKE A DIFFERENCE" on them. They were given to each child to give to someone that he/she perceives to make a difference in their lives or their communities. They can be given to a staff member, a custodian, another student, etc.
Goosey waited until we were walking in the house today and said "Guess who gave me a "DIFFERENCE" bracelet today? William. Even though he is in another class, he walked into my room and handed me one."
I asked if he said why. She replied "He said that it was because I was a good friend to him. Even when no one wanted to include him, I always was his friend. Wasn't that nice of him?"
Wasn't that nice of him? I absolutely wanted to bust with happiness that my sweet, sweet daughter has such compassion for those kids who just want to be accepted.
Doing the right thing is really hard sometimes. She makes a difference though...every single day.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Feeling a bit lost...
Well, I will admit that I am a blogging slacker. Seriously. Why have a blog if you only update it once a year? Good grief.
I can't even attempt to try and recap everything that has happened in the past 6ish months. It would be feeble. However, we have had a MAJOR change in the household this past week: Little Man is officially a kindergarten student.
I have to say that so far, I have handled the reality of the situation pretty well. The first day of school, Daddy Mac and I packed up the vancar with our kindy and 4th grade students and hauled them across town to their school.
The school has staff located all over the place to greet students and help direct lost looking families to their correct classrooms. Little Man was more than happy to return their "Good Mornings" with a "Hi! My name is Little Man! I am a kindergartner!" He said it to each and every staff member we encountered. Upon arrival to his new class, he said "Good Morning, Mrs. B.! I am a kindergartner!" A few snaps later with the camera and he was set.
We did walk Goosey Lou up to the third floor where the fourth grade congregates. This was a much quicker process. I managed to snap one last pic before she hit the hallway to gossip with the BFFs.
I cried all the way home. Daddy Mac was no help at all. The Tennessee Grandparents were visiting so I really did not have a chance to process what had just happened....until they left. Holy smokes, it was super quiet around the house.
I don't know what this means for Mama Mac. I feel a bit lost at what my role will be from 8 AM - 3 PM. Going back to a full time job is not an option. Daddy Mac would like for me to hold the course for a while and see what will happen.
Monday is going to be a difficult day for this mama who is preparing for her babies to fly one day...
I can't even attempt to try and recap everything that has happened in the past 6ish months. It would be feeble. However, we have had a MAJOR change in the household this past week: Little Man is officially a kindergarten student.
I have to say that so far, I have handled the reality of the situation pretty well. The first day of school, Daddy Mac and I packed up the vancar with our kindy and 4th grade students and hauled them across town to their school.
The school has staff located all over the place to greet students and help direct lost looking families to their correct classrooms. Little Man was more than happy to return their "Good Mornings" with a "Hi! My name is Little Man! I am a kindergartner!" He said it to each and every staff member we encountered. Upon arrival to his new class, he said "Good Morning, Mrs. B.! I am a kindergartner!" A few snaps later with the camera and he was set.
We did walk Goosey Lou up to the third floor where the fourth grade congregates. This was a much quicker process. I managed to snap one last pic before she hit the hallway to gossip with the BFFs.
I cried all the way home. Daddy Mac was no help at all. The Tennessee Grandparents were visiting so I really did not have a chance to process what had just happened....until they left. Holy smokes, it was super quiet around the house.
I don't know what this means for Mama Mac. I feel a bit lost at what my role will be from 8 AM - 3 PM. Going back to a full time job is not an option. Daddy Mac would like for me to hold the course for a while and see what will happen.
Monday is going to be a difficult day for this mama who is preparing for her babies to fly one day...
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Strategies for Math
At the dinner table this week, Daddy Mac had asked Goosey Lou how her school day was. Her standard answer lately has been "Fine" followed by "the usual" when asked what happened.
So Daddy Mac prodded her a bit and asked what she had learned in math that day. Goosey recited that her class had reviewed multiplication and addition strategies. Trying to drag conversation out of her, he asked what strategies were. She explained that they were ways to solve a problem.
Daddy Mac launched into a talk about how in battle, you can attack the opponent, or in this case the math problem, directly or you can go around it or you can do both.
Goosey sat for a minute and then replied, "I think that every single student I know would just prefer the 'go around it' strategy and move on..."
Pretty clever.
So Daddy Mac prodded her a bit and asked what she had learned in math that day. Goosey recited that her class had reviewed multiplication and addition strategies. Trying to drag conversation out of her, he asked what strategies were. She explained that they were ways to solve a problem.
Daddy Mac launched into a talk about how in battle, you can attack the opponent, or in this case the math problem, directly or you can go around it or you can do both.
Goosey sat for a minute and then replied, "I think that every single student I know would just prefer the 'go around it' strategy and move on..."
Pretty clever.
Aliens and Sisters
Little Man is exponentially learning and understanding things. He listens and ponders and has started to form thoughtful questions concerning his world. We had the following conversation in the car this week:
LM: Mama? I need to ask you a question. Goosey Lou told me something and I want you to tell me if it true.
Me: OK. What did she tell you?
LM: Mama? Goosey says she is an alien.
Me:
LM: She told me that she is an alien, mama? Is that true?
Me: No. She is not an alien. She was probably trying to tell you that the word "alien" means "stranger". For example, if we went to another country like France, then we would be aliens to their customs, language, etc.
LM: No. She meant REAL-LIVE-ALIEN from outer space.
Me: Well, she is not an alien from outer space.
LM: Are their aliens from outer space.
Me: I don't think so.
LM: I think so.
Me: Why would you think that there are aliens from outer space? (Thinking that he saw something on TV or from playing with kids.)
LM: You just said that there were aliens from France. You told me.
LM: My sister is an alien.
Later, when I spoke with his sister about the alien conversation, she informed me that she was trying to "expand his vocabulary" and taught him that another word for 'stranger' was 'alien'. She said it took multiple times for him to grasp it. I told her that he did not grasp it. He thinks she is an alien.
She looked somber and shook her head..."Maybe we should stick with the basics."
LM: Mama? I need to ask you a question. Goosey Lou told me something and I want you to tell me if it true.
Me: OK. What did she tell you?
LM: Mama? Goosey says she is an alien.
Me:
LM: She told me that she is an alien, mama? Is that true?
Me: No. She is not an alien. She was probably trying to tell you that the word "alien" means "stranger". For example, if we went to another country like France, then we would be aliens to their customs, language, etc.
LM: No. She meant REAL-LIVE-ALIEN from outer space.
Me: Well, she is not an alien from outer space.
LM: Are their aliens from outer space.
Me: I don't think so.
LM: I think so.
Me: Why would you think that there are aliens from outer space? (Thinking that he saw something on TV or from playing with kids.)
LM: You just said that there were aliens from France. You told me.
LM: My sister is an alien.
Later, when I spoke with his sister about the alien conversation, she informed me that she was trying to "expand his vocabulary" and taught him that another word for 'stranger' was 'alien'. She said it took multiple times for him to grasp it. I told her that he did not grasp it. He thinks she is an alien.
She looked somber and shook her head..."Maybe we should stick with the basics."
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