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Pitching the Heat & Contract Extension

(Josiah pitching against the Twins)
Yesterday, Josiah almost pitched the entire game! He was so excited, his team, the Defenders, won 10-4. Josiah said that he was "pitching the heat!" Since we went to Great Wolf Lodge this weekend, & Rod needed to make up work time, he wasn't able to be at the game.

I was really so proud of him! He's come a long way in his pitching since the first of the season. Interesting as it is, the team is now beginning to "get good" and they only have four games left. It was so much fun to see him striking kids out left & right.. as well as seeing him chase down a runner for a double play. As you can tell, I was so proud! Hopefully Rod'll get to see both the boys play again before their seasons are out.

It's the oddest thing, him not having the flexibility to take a day off. When Rod was at Verizon, he could just adjust the days he worked. It's also been an adjustment to him not having a day off in the middle of the week... I'm usually warn out though, but the time Saturday comes. I really liked it when he took Wednesdays & Sundays off. Maybe someday he could do that again. Microsoft doesn't work weekends - so as long as he's there he'll have them off.

He's been so busy the last couple of weeks. Which is one reason you haven't seen me blog... I've been trying to help him do background stuff related to school so that he can get his schoolwork done or trying to keep kids quiet. Before last week, Rod's been spending about 2 hours per night & 8 hours Sat/Sun to get his schoolwork done. Apparently, this quarter, it wasn't enough. Last friday he had his first real due date in two classes & in one week, he had about 20 assignments to finish.

Funny thing, he wasn't as stressed out about it - or at least it didn't show. I guess he didn't have the time for it. I helped keep him organized & stress ate. I wish I could help him with his schoolwork. He put his nose to the grindstone, got 4 hours of sleep a night & finished. I was a proud little wife-y! He's on the end stretch of this quarter - no more sets of assignments, pretty much just finishing up his websites for class. It'll be nice when this quarter is over. He's supposed to have one more quarter - Summer quarter.

I guess it should be "big" news: Rod's contract got extended until Feb 2010!!! We found out about the time that I miscarried. We were relieved & excited about it - but preoccupied with the obvious. So he will definitely have a job through then & after that... his contract type will either have to change so that he can stay on OR he'll end up back on unemployment.

We celebrated by going to the Great Wolf Lodge for Sun/Mon. Will blog about that next :D Although, we had it planned a few weeks ago - many, many First Class'ers from all over WA got together & GWL gave us a fantastic group rate!!

Long Division Recovery

(Photo: Josiah on the Pitching Mound.)
Yesterday I worked with Josiah on his long division. He's quite good at Math in general. Multiplication & Division do not seem to phase him. He can do long division in his head. But try to get the kid how to understand how to do it on paper? Let's just say I was in worse shape than he was, when we were done.

When I was going to college, Western, actually - I took extensive language classes. I took French and Spanish. I took some Greek and some Hebrew. I've even taken some Russian and some Japanese. I took classes on how people learn language - Spanish classes on phonetics - classes on How to teach language. One of the key things you learn in learning and teaching a language is that - It does not matter how loudly you say it, if they don't get it, they just don't understand. Talking louder does not help comprehension.

How that hit home today with long division! The more Josiah did NOT get what I was explaining - the LOUDER I wanted to explain it! It makes me laugh at how poorly it all was going & the fact that I actually tried talking louder. Sorry Jos!

We did keep going over and over and over more problems. They really felt problematic. I'm thinking that if this goes on much longer, I'm going to take him over to Christina - who I believe knows how to teach math. Afterall - SHE is a MATH teacher. I am a "just" a homeschooling mom who is doing my best, even when I am out of my element!

I finally did wisen up and tried explaining it a different way. That helped. We are on the road to long division recovery.

Critical Thinking Co. Review

One set of books I've been given to review are the workbooks "Building Thinking Skills" in Levels 1 (grades 2-3) & 2 (grades 4-6) from the The Critical Thinking Co. These are really large reproducible workbooks, 363 pages, which retail for $29.99 each. We've been using them for some time now and I really like the work that the boys do. Some of the worksheets the boys think are quite easy and some of it stretches them to their limits.
The workbook material contains activities in logical thinking, similarities & differences, sequences, spacial awareness, following & writing directions, vocabulary development, geometry as well as many other things.

What I really like about the material:
*It uses clear and concise instructions.
*Both of my boys (Ages 8 & 10) are forced to really think about their work.
*They are forced to compare, look for similarities and differences.
*There is varied material, so they boys don't get board with the work.
*The workbooks are large enough, that they will last for quite some time.
*Material is Age & Grade appropriate.
*Plenty of Practice.

Sometimes, we Moms, as homeschoolers, want the kids to be doing quality schoolwork that isn't necessarily Math, Reading or Spelling. These workbooks are quality, educational and they would be a great supplement to any homeschoolers schoolwork. I would recommend to any Mom who has a desire to begin training their children's brain's in critical thinking/logic skills.

If you are interested in taking a look at these in person, just let me know - I would be willing to bring them with me to co-op to show you!

The Critical Thinking Co. has many, many books as well as software available in a variety of topics. You can try their products risk free - guaranteed or your money back. Shop over the phone (800-458-4849) or online at www.CriticalThinking.com.

At Critical Thinking online they have sample activities for other products and free software downloads. You may also request a catalog. Some of their titles include: Developing Critical Thinking through Science, Math Detective, Word Roods, Language Smarts, Rocket Phonics and Mind Benders. Many titles available in book or CD form.

Specific information about the workbooks:
Building Thinking Skills, Levels 1 & 2
Critical Thinking Skills for Reading, Math, Writing & Science
Level 1 for Grades 2-3
Level 2 for Grades 4-6
by Sandra Parks & Howard Black.
*Logical Thinking
*Similarities & Differences
*Sequences
*Classifications
*Spacial Awareness
*Geometry Concepts
*and much more
*includes answer guide

Family Identity

The other day I was talking with a couple of friends of ours... We were discussing issues with family, teens, kids... And one of the things that came up in my heart was that they don't seem to have a Family Identity. My question to them was - What do you do for Family Time??

Family time is one of my hot buttons, one of my soap-box speeches to friends.

I'm not talking sitting in front of the TV and watching TV or DVD's. I'm not talking about riding in the car to and fro. I'm not talking about "going to church" (church is great, please get my point) where each one in the family goes their separate ways once they get into the building.

Those are the things that we do - at the same time - but they aren't spending time TOGETHER - interacting.

I'm not even talking about Parent/Child time. P/C time is fantastic and necessary. You can read a book with a child in your lap, go hit balls together in the front yard, have a tea party with your little girl... those things are together - but not family time.

I'm talking about ALL (Mom & Dad & all of the kids) of your family doing an activity together for the purpose of being together and creating a bonding experience, a memory. Putting together a Lego set or building sandcastles at the beach as a family does way more for your family than it appears - it helps create or fortify who you are as a family.

How do you build a Family Identity? Through Family Time & Family Traditions. We as families, need to create an atmosphere in our family, where we want to be together.. Build a basis of family fun & friendship! As they get older, and want to hang out with friends, you'll have that basis to build on!!

How do we incorporate Dad into the equation? We try to do only "fun" things like going to the Science Center or the Zoo when ALL of us can go. We schedule "fun" things around Rod's work schedule. If Rod really needs to be somewhere, he adjusts his work schedule so that he can participate.

Below is a list of some of the things that we do - our kids are 10 & under. I'm sure the list will change somewhat as they get older :D

Nelson Family Time:
*Reading a book together on the couch before bed
*Going to each others Baseball Games or Performances
*Mariners games or Concerts
*Taking bike rides
*Going to the park
*Playing Baseball or Football in the yard
*Flying Kites
*Road Trip!
*Going to the Pool or Beach
*Taking family pictures - This is one of the reasons I love photos, they capture those memories. You'll see we often take family pictures. That's one of our family things.(Kids love to see themselves & it's amazing how on purpose pictures show the kids they are loved & valued!)

Family Traditions:
*Yearly Family photo at the Tulips
*Yearly Family photo at the Pumpkin Patch
*Mariner's Games
*BBQ at my Mom & Dads for Mother's Day & Father's Day
*Camping during the Summer
*Trick or Treating on Halloween or Halloween Party
*Lefse & Krumkake on Thanksgiving & Christmas
*Mini pumpkin pies for the kids on Thanksgiving
*Blueberry Pancakes Christmas Morning
*After making pies, we cook leftover dough with Cinnamon & Sugar. YUM!
What is Family Identity? Togetherness. Cohesiveness. It's those things you do & character that you instill into your kids (each other) that testify to you & your children that you are more than a group of people, related, that live together.
Copyright © 2009 by Zindra Nelson, zindra@yahoo.com