Botanical Gardens

The kids are on "Spring Break".  They get Friday, Monday, and Tuesday off.  That is NOT Spring Break.  But Mack took today off in honor of the occasion.  And since it is April and I told Mack I don't want any birthday presents but just to create family memories/experiences, we headed off on a Spring Break/Month of Monica excursion.
To the Botanical Gardens.  $8 to get my whole family into an attraction?  Yes, please!  Then I feel like we can eat there and still get our moneys worth.  Love not having to pack a lunch for seven people!  :)  I took tons of pictures.  The trees were gorgeous and the flowers were just starting to bloom.  I told Mack I want to come back in a month when more trees had leaves and the ground flowers had come out more.  It's a date.

 It was a little humid in the Climatron so these pictures are a tad foggy.

 The kids were bugged that we didn't pay to go in the Children's Garden.  It was part of my secret mission to get to come back another day.  Grandma needs to come so we can check it out together.  But they did have these few cute things for the kids to climb all over.

 Love my little girl.

 Reese wanted pictures with the dragons in the Japanese Garden.  Brisbane wanted nothing to do with the dragons. He was still mad about the Children's Garden.

 All the kids with Mack.  Look at all 6 of them looking at the camera!  I am a miracle worker!

 Look at those trees!  GORGEOUS!  I wanted to just sit and stare at them all day.  The kids thought that would be boring.

 This little English Garden was so pretty and the kids loved running around in the maze.

 We let Della and Miriam get out and walk a bit.  Miriam is a girl on a mission.

 All five of my little ducks.

 We tried to get just one picture of Della and Miriam together.  No dice!  But I love this picture of Della sitting crying with the gorgeous flowers behind her.

We stopped for lunch right after this and discovered Della's first tooth popping out!  16 months and she finally got her first one!  That would explain the grumpiness.

 They all really wanted to sit on these sheep.  At a Botanical Gardens.  I don't get it.  But they did it.  And they were happy about it.

 Awesome bridge to nowhere.

 Brisbane was not into giving me good smiles today.  So I finally gave up and asked for a goofy one.  Love my little goofs.

 This bridge was amazing.  So we did a mini-photo shoot with my sub par photography skills.

 Gorgeous girl.

 Reese was really dressed for the occasion with holes in his knees and a hand me down Lego shirt.  Classy kid.

 Jessenia started hamming it up for me and just finding cute places to pose on her own.  She might be my obedient child that will allow me to practice my skills.

 Brisbane was most cooperative sitting on this bridge.  Such a beautiful setting.

 We fed some Koi Fish.  Reese was really troubled that there were animals at the Botanical Gardens.  "This is NOT a ZOO!"

 Loved these flowers.  I wish I had clipped Jessenia's hair back today.  But we were just lucky I remembered it hadn't been brushed and grabbed the brush for her to do it herself in the car.  Thank goodness for that short hair.

 There are no words.  He just is what he is.  And it's a four year old boy.

 Della and Miriam fell asleep after lunch.  It was a tender mercy.  They were SO good this trip. Miriam didn't even scream once!

 Brisbane looks a little lost in the hedge maze.  This was the kids' favorite part.  They ran around in this maze and wanted to keep going back for more.

 I hope they always want to walk holding hands. 

 Turkish Garden

 Loved this red door.

The kids had so much fun.  I was nervous about how they would like walking around looking at plants.  Reese got tired near the end and told us he was bored.  But the kid was panting in between breaths from running around in the hedge garden.  He was full of bologna since he was basically having the time of his life.
Wonder where our next adventure will take us this month...

Brisbane is FOUR!

Brisbane is four.  Just four years ago I was working full time.  And now I am working full time PLUS some.
He just seems so much bigger these days.  It is equal parts awesome and totally depressing.  This little boy that made me a mom is such a little light in our lives.  He drives us completely batty.  But we love him anyway.

 We celebrated his birthday two days early because of Mack's crazy work schedule and his birthday was on a Sunday.  So he took cupcakes to school, we opened presents, went to Chick-fil-A, and ate cake.  It was a good day.  Unfortunately he is now totally confused and even though I told him on Sunday that it was his real birthday, he keeps thinking his birthday is just  "few days away".  I'm in trouble with this one.

 Raphael "swords"... he LOVES them!

 He is kind of totally obsessed with Ninja Turtles these days.

 Brisbane requested a Ninja Turtle Cake.  He really wanted "the red one" but I wasn't sure I could get the frosting to be red instead of pink, so I told him Leonardo would do.  He was initially a bit upset that I didn't do the whole body.  When we were buying icing he told me we would need some yellow and orange for the shell.  When I told him it would just be the face, he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

 But he ended up loving it.

Such an amazing kid.
It was a bit of a rushed celebration.  Mack and I had tickets to see Phantom of the Opera that night.  Since it wasn't Brisbane's real birthday and I was under the delusion that we could celebrate on Saturday, I bought the tickets for that day.  But then Mack ended up having late call that Saturday so we had to move it up.  I felt a little bad about ditching the birthday boy on his faux big day.  But then I realized that he was so excited about the babysitter that he probably thought it was part of his celebration.    Happy Birthday Mr. Brisbane!

School Board Speech

I recently spoke at our local school board meeting.  I told my sister I would post my remarks here so she could read them.  Please excuse any grammatical errors, I didn't read this word for word at the meeting so I didn't look it over super closely:

Good Evening.  Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to come and speak with you about a topic very close to my heart.  My name is Monica ________.  I have a child enrolled in kindergarten _________ Elementary School.  I am a former elementary school teacher, believe in the power of public education, and care that each child is given an appropriate and meaningful educational experience.  I appreciate the hard work that teachers, administrators, and staff make every day to nurture and educate children here in __________.

I am here this evening as the result of a thus far frustrating school year.  My eldest son was enrolled in first grade at _________ but I have since removed him in favor of homeschooling.  I wanted to bring to your attention some things that I have learned throughout the past several months that led to this incredibly difficult and less than ideal situation for our family.

My biggest concern about the education of all children at _________ Elementary is the lack of preassessment.  Pre-assessment is vital to the educational process.  It allows the teacher to know what his/her students already know so that they are better able to cater to the unique abilities present in their class.  Those students who need additional support can be identified and helped to flourish.  Those children who have already mastered concepts can be given additional material to challenge them and instill a love of continued learning. 

The _________ principal has told me that the only preassessment they do is DRA and AIMS Web testing.  Those tests only evaluate basic skills.  They are not unit specific or based on common core standards.  So before beginning a unit or introducing a standard, the teacher has no prior knowledge of what their class does or doesn’t know specific to that unit or standard.  Because of this, I have observed lessons that are completely inappropriate for the classroom population.  Kids are lost or bored with only a few following along.

When speaking with the _________ principal recently he informed me that all curriculum in this district is a “top down approach”.  If you don’t give it to the teachers, they don’t do it.  Since the curriculum companies haven’t written preassessments for the units or standards, the teachers at _________ don’t do any.  When I was a teacher and now as a homeschooler, I write my own preassessments, both formal and informal.  I would like to see more preassessments implemented on a unit or standard based level.

One of the best things about implementing preassessments is that it allows the teacher to then differentiate their instruction to meet the needs of their class.  The _________ principal assured me several times that all of his teachers differentiate.  But when I have asked for specific examples, he cannot give any except for the BLAST Reading program.  The BLAST program is great, but it isn’t enough when we are talking about math and science and writing and teaching kids to love learning through projects that encompass multiple subjects and standards.  I followed up with a first grade teacher on what she does to differentiate and she told me, “I don’t do it.  I just open my book every day and teach.  I don’t know what I am teaching tomorrow.  Or next week.  I just do what’s in the book.”  Is that the best we can do?  I don’t think so.  And I think our children deserve better.

I have been saddened by the lack of projects and opportunities for first graders to learn through creative expression.  I have a child in Kindergarten at _________ and she brings home great projects and really fun learning experiences every week.  My first grader did not bring home anything other than written assignments or worksheets from the beginning of the school year until he was withdrawn in February.  There has to be more that can be done to encourage a love of learning in the younger grades.  Education can and should be so much more that worksheets and writing.

I have been in continued communication with _________ teachers and administration since the middle of November.  I have been told that changes will take place and nothing happens or change happens at such a slow pace that it is inefficient.  After ten weeks of school, when I asked my son’s teacher why no new material had been introduced, she told me that she was still establishing routines.  Ten weeks into the school year and we are letting routines get in the way of introducing new material, challenging students, and providing them an appropriate education.

Not only are changes suggested that don’t happen, but I have also learned that I was lied to by my son’s teacher concerning what was happening with classwork.  There is absolutely no excuse for lying to a parent when they are trying to help facilitate an education for their child.

Between February 4^th and February 25^th, I sent three emails to the _________ principal that were not responded to until I received a phone call on March 2^nd.  Leading up to withdrawing my son from _________, I made it clear we were trying to make decisions quickly and it took the principal two to three days to respond to my questions each time.  I believe that this lack of communication and delay in responses undermines the parent/school communication that is so vital to helping our children succeed.

I have been trying to help make changes at _________ that would benefit every child.  In December I planned a Holidays Around the World Unit complete with grade level appropriate newspapers, passports, multicultural projects and writing assignments.  I have truly wanted to make this year a positive experience for my child, the other children in his class, and the teacher.  But I have been met with resistance.  Since my daughter will be in first grade next year, I am deeply concerned about the level of education she will be receiving.

I would love to see change moving forward concerning preassessment, differentiation of instruction, providing more rigorous and creative educational experiences, and better communication between parents and school.  I hope that you will support the idea that every child should learn something regardless of their current abilities.  Thank you.

Backpack

Rule number one:
If you leave something on the floor.  Della and Miriam will get it.  Use it.  Or destroy it.  This is a natural law.

Jessenia is notorious for leaving her coat and backpack lying around.  We have provided handy hooks for her to hang her things on.  It doesn't matter.  On the floor they go.  And on the floor they stay.

 Until Della and I work together to get said backpack on Della's back.

 And boy was she cute.

Off she goes to school. 
On second thought.  Don't say that.  Don't even think that.  My babies are growing up too fast!

Twin Trouble Making

The day that shall forever be known as "That Time Della Opened the Marker".
I was at the computer working on meal plans or budgets or something.  I am sure I wasn't mindlessly perusing blogs or Pinterest.  I was definitely doing something productive.  I turned around to find Della sucking on the tip of a blue Crayola marker. 
First Three Thoughts:
1.  AHH!  She is wearing a light color!  Machine Washable.  Whew!
2.  AHH!  It's in her mouth!  She is ingesting it!  Non-Toxic. Whew!
3.  I've gotta get my camera!  Must take marker away first

 Della followed.  Wanting her marker back.

 She was not happy about it.  I ended up giving her a binky to try to stop her from putting other things in her mouth and turning them blue.

 She was not pacified.  She wanted that dang marker back!

Miriam was definitely co-conspirator.  She only has a little bit of blue on her.  But that is just because Della can walk and she couldn't.  So Della grabbed.  Ran.  And bullied her way into keeping the marker.

Life with twins is nothing if not... busy!

In the Beginning...

So a few weeks ago I decided to start homeschooling Reese.  If I ever have the time/patience to record THAT long and painful story on the blog, I will.  But just know that we prayed long and hard about this one.  It is what we feel like is best for both Reese and I right now.  I was/am terrified about the whole experience.  After the first week and a half I have learned a lot.  About myself.  About Reese.  And about homeschooling one child with three others at home.  I am trying to take lots of pictures and document this crazy time in our lives.  So here we go...

 Nouns and Verb Towers.  We taped nouns and verbs to Duplos.  Reese had to sort them and then see which ones he could build the tallest tower with.  Nouns won.

 Art is a bit of a struggle for me.  But for the week of Valentine's Day we did a "Love" water color.  Reese was pretty amazed when we took the tape off and it was white underneath.  Brisbane wasn't quite patient enough.  He still doesn't understand that if we take the tape off of his it won't have the same effect.

 Miriam is adorable as ever eating her snack.

 Reese identifying the subject and predicate.

 Reese then decided he wanted to take a picture.  So why not document this terrible hair phase for the blog?  I'm waiting a few more weeks for a little more growth and then I will find someone to shape it nicely again. (The woes of growing out a short haircut!)

 Miriam again.  Same snack.  She is just SO CUTE!

 One of the tricky things about having one kid homeschool and one kid still going to public school is that one kid gets a Valentine's Party and one doesn't.  I took Reese to Target and let him pick any bag of candy he wanted.  And we played Valentine's Bingo.  My mom made these Bingo Cards back when she was a room mother.  Twenty years ago and still going strong!

 Here is another Reese picture.  Quite the photographer, I think. :)

 Our second real snow this year happened over the weekend.  Brisbane is really the only one truly interested in playing in the snow.  Unfortunately he wants a snow playing buddy and hasn't found anyone willing.  I have the weirdest kids.  I LOVED playing in the snow!

 You can see we got a few good inches on that chair.  And it was still coming down.  Super fun!

 Brisbane needs to be involved in every aspect of schooling.  I have decided that I need to get some sort of at home preschool thing going for him because he is just in our business all the time.  Cute.  But impedes progress.  And we don't need any more distractions.
Reese was very sweet though and let Brisbane roll the dice for this Commutative Property game.  They don't usually get along (we are working on that) so this was a nice moment.

 I brought a little snow into the house for Della and Miriam to try to distract them.  They have been super whiny today and that makes Homeschooling HARD.  Instead of taking pictures I should have been monopolizing these moments.  Oops!

 Miriam was the first interested.  She tasted it but didn't seem to be a fan.

 Della wanted nothing to do with the big bowl of snow.  But I made a few snowballs and then she was willing to pick it up.  And taste it.

 Such a beauty!

 And she kept going back for more.

Today the boys discovered that the back door is magnetic.  We are supposed to be working on our pirates unit now.  But I can't break up happy playing between these two (did I mention that they don't play well together?) and they are learning.  About magnetism.  Did you all notice that very homeschool-ey excuse to not have to do anything?  Good.
All in all it has been a really great week and a half.  I think Reese has learned a lot so far.  He seems really engaged most of the time.  I have only purchased one curriculum for scripture study because I don't want to spend a lot on things for the last few months of this year.  We will buy more if we decide to continue next year.  This makes for a lot of work for me as I develop activities based on the standards for first and second grade.  I'm glad I didn't know about Pinterest back when I was a teacher because I now seem incapable of planning anything without consulting Pinterest first.  Where did all of that creativity go?  (Five kids.  Oh yeah.)
Reese's favorite subject is cooking.  He made chocolate chip oatmeal muffins all by himself.  (Kind of.)  And learned that 1/2 teaspoon is WAY DIFFERENT than 1/2 cup.  These are important life lessons, especially if I want to get out of cooking duties in later years.
Mack asked Reese if he wanted to go back to public school last night.  I have been too afraid to ask so I have been avoiding the subject.  Reese definitively stated that he likes homeschool more.  When we asked him why he said, "Because I get to stay with Mom!"  He is super sweet.  When pressed further he suggested that the games we play might have something to do with it.  Thought so, Buddy.  But thanks for loving me too!