At least it has cooled down some!
Things have been kind of hectic around here. Saturday night we got a call from Orian's teacher, requesting a conference on Monday or Tuesday. As it turns out, Orian is failing EVERYTHING. Yeah, EVERYTHING. He has a 10 in spelling!!
He just doesn't do his work in class. He might start something but only does a small portion of it before he begins goofing off.
All his testing shows he has a high IQ and that his abilities match (and often exceed) those of his peers, so it's not like he's struggling and doing his best and just not making the grade.
He is just extraordinarily lazy. I'm about at my wits end with it. We can motivate him for a short period of time, but as soon as he thinks he can start sliding by, he will. UGH.
Tuesday after the conference his work had improved. He simply HAS to get serious or he will repeat the 3rd grade. Pretty sad for a kid recommended for TAG.
Annnyways...
So, it's been getting colder here. Isabella hasn't been playing outside as much lately but she insisted on Monday. It was cold so she was in tights and a long-sleeved dress, but she quickly stripped off her tights.
She enjoyed drawing with sidewalk chalk and picking small flowers. (Ignore the yard, Adrian has decided mowing season is over, LOL)
We had a busy day that day and she had gotten up early so she was cranky. After the Parent-Teacher Conference, we came home to find a package from my new favorite website (www.figleaves.com). She entertained herself by peeling all the shipping stickers off the box.
I left the room for a few minutes and noticed that she was quiet, even for sticker-peeling. Imagine my surprise when I came back in the room and discovered that she was dead.
Ok, luckily she wasn't dead, but I've never seen a child fall asleep in a more alarming position and I've seen kids fall asleep in A LOT of positions. No worries, I laid her down and didn't leave her like that!
Yesterday was busy too as I had so much work to catch up on to prepare for our trip. One of the things I worked on was a set of votive candle holders with colored leaves and decopa...decopague...decopaj...with water and glue...and tissue paper.
Isabella had a great time "helping" and painting with water and drawing with her crayons.
Later when I finally got her down for a nap (naps 2 days in a row...it's incredible!), I worked on the kids' annual Thanksgiving shirts. I'll post pics of the boys wearing theirs when we get back, but here's Isabella's T-Day outfit.
I would have liked to pair her shirt with a denim skirt and some crazy fall-patterned tights but we didn't have that, so instead she gets hokey turkey pants, haha!
And of course, things can NEVER go smoothly. Yesterday Xavier came home from school and informed me that he had left his "jacket" at school. What he meant by "jacket" was $30 GAP pullover hoodie that matches his brother's and is absolutely perfect for pulling on when it's cold and taking off when things warm up.
I was not happy about it. The boys keep leaving crap at school.
I sent him back to go get it. He had left it in his desk, which is not allowed. His teacher took it out of his desk and then another student came in and took it home with her.
How this student didn't realize it didn't belong to her is beyond me. And how his teacher didn't realize that Xavier wears it to school several days a week and so it must belong to him...especially since it came out of his desk...again, beyond me.
I was a little angry.
Xavier felt horrible about it, and he kind of should. He has to pay attention to his things. I don't look for the hoodie to come back. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.
Of course, that doesn't do us any good for the Thanksgiving break.
I took him to GAP and got him a new one. The only pullovers they had said "Football" on them, so we got a zip-up. The new one has a fur-lined hood and jacket lining inside. It's a size 12 too so he should be able to wear it next year and then gift it to Orian.
So now I've got cleaning, packing, and cooking to do. And of course I'm sick again. But I'm excited about our trip!
3 comments:
I've heard that there's no such thing as a bad (or lazy) student, only ineffective teachers. Maybe he could be "unschooled." It's a hippie-ish method of educating children by taking them out of the classroom and giving them lots and LOTS of real-world exposure. Video games & TV don't count. I'm no star parent, I'm just telling you what I've read :)
Isabella looks really TALL! Her legs look really long in that "dead" picture. What a hilarious point of view you had there!
So did the hoodie come home? I don't think it would be out of line for you to ask that girl's mom about it. Does the school give out a directory? Or could you look up the number in the phone book?
Does it scare Orian when you threaten that he might have to repeat third grade? I am still thinking of other ideas to help motivate him.
I have to somewhat disagree with the previous comment. Not that there aren't ineffective teachers, but there are many reasons that a child could be unmotivated, not necessarily having to do with the teacher. Though that could be it. If he doesn't feel any personal connection with the teacher he might not feel motivated. But I suspect more than that he has already reached the stage where he isn't super worried about disappointing grown ups and is not old enough to understand the importance of grades, hence why they aren't a big motivation.
Anyway, I'm just blabbing now. I'll email if I come up with anything good. :)
Oops, yes, I disagree with my comment too. Ever since I wrote that it's been bugging me. Instead of "ineffective teachers," I meant to say, "ineffective teaching methods."
:)
I hope Orian is on a road to improvement, in whatever shape or form. I'm worried about my son too. I short, I'm confident that he's not being intellectually stimulated enough. And this is only KINDERGARTEN! They're always giving the kids mindless busy work, like coloring. My son hates to color. Gosh, if I could get my act together, and if we were independently wealthy (haha) I'd be taking him to museums and senate meetings and Kindermusik... OK, so I'd save the senate meetings for a few years down the road...
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