Rough Week

Amy si having such a hard time getting back into the swing of things after our vacation. The first was okay, I guess the novelty of getting back to school and all, but this week she just crashed and burned. She is super excited about Halloween, and also a field trip that she is taking on Sunday with the school. She also has a bunch of extra-curricular activities going on this week that of course are way more fun than school. So Tuesday night she was up until 11:30 working on classes, (I thought.) When I checked her planner to see what was going on and why she had so much work to do I found that nothing had been done for two days! Aack! When I approached her about it she explained how she is just distracted by all her other activities and asked me to step in and ban books, T.V., laptop, friends and Nintendo until classes are through for the day. I told her I would do this. I felt proud of her for asking for help and I have been stepping in to be the "bad guy" this week to help her stay focused. Ninth grade is a huge transition and even though our kids are more mature than when they were in eighth they still need us to be on the sidelines stepping in when we need to and backing off when necessary.
I just hope next week is better!!

So Proud Of Miss Amy!

Today just validated why we chose to pull Amy out of traditional public school and work with her at home. I posted earlier this week about her "daunting" algebra test and I was sure it was going to be a killer exam for her because I felt she was not paying attention as closely as she "should" be. Well, when I administered the test today she basically just breezed through the thing!! I was totally surprised and yet at the same time I knew she was capable of this type of work. It was a validation that she is listening to me and her instructors. It was just a good day in Algebra Land!!

Back To Reality!

I don't think any of us wanted to get up this morning and get back into our daily routines. Hawaii was a wonderful trip, full of memories and lots of relaxing which we all needed, but now it is time to get back to business. This morning Amy slept in a little, and I have been drinking a nice cup of tea while listening to the rain and going over her schedule for the day. She has a Algebra test to take which looks pretty daunting to me! I think I will spend at least an hour with her today going over some of the key concepts to refresh her mind and give her some practice problems to work on and then have her take the test tomorrow.
Other than that it is just a nice quiet Monday here!

Off to Hawaii!!

Well, Amy managed to get ahead on all her studies so she can fly off to Hawaii with a clear schedule. We are packed and ready to go. The only plans we have are for a luau on Saturday night, other than that it is total rest and relaxation.
I will post pictures when I get back!
Aloha!

Working on Saturday

Next week we take off for Hawaii!! Can you say "Alooooooha?!" We are getting pretty excited about it and Amy is working this weekend to meet her teachers requirements. Some of them have requested that she complete all her work before she goes, others have requested she work while in Hawaii and still others are letting her finish at her own speed. So this weekend is all about Biology, English, P.E. and Spanish. It has actually been a nice change from the usual routine. She did some work this morning, and now she is at her babysitting gig and when she gets home she will complete the rest of her work. I have had music playing all day and it has just been really relaxing.
I will definitely have to post some of the pictures she takes when is Hawaii. Her photography teacher has requested some underwater pictures of tropical fish so those should be pretty.
Thats it for now, back to packing and planning!
Aloha!

Algebra!!

Today I was helping Amy to review for her Algebra test. Since she is a kinesthic learner I had her use the dry erase board and instead of x's and y's as variables I chose to use sunshine and smiley face symbols. She can relate to those more than x's and y's. So in the middle of one problem I asked her how would the product of 5 plus smiley face and sunshine be written? (of course I used the symbols!) So she wrote the sentence as "5 smileyshines." We had a nice laugh over that, but the point is that she grasped the concepts. I explained to her that if she comes across an algebraic sentence that has variables which confuse her, replace those variables with symbols that she likes. It can be anything from Howard the Duck to a rainbow. It made her feel as if she was in control of the algebra, (which she is) and not the other way around. This is another reason I love having her home...being able to teach her concepts in a way that she actually learns.
Smileyshine for now!!

Dust is settling

So, Amy got off to a very bumpy start. Her schedule was just too overwhelming with honors classes as well as a class that she chose to take as a freshman but actually should not be taking until her sophmore year. The first week she was working until 9:00 p.m., not finishing, stressing out and just plain hating school.
After a quick consult with her counselor within 45 minutes her schedule had been changed and within a day I had my carefree daughter back. Love Connections!!
Amy is finding that this year Biology will be her toughest course. The teacher, Ms. Patzin, is super, but she is also super tough and the curriculum is very demanding. Amys favorite class is definitely Digital Photography-I think she will finish that class early because she ends up completing two or three assignments each time it is scheduled.
On a side note, we are leaving for a family vacation to Hawaii in two weeks (can't wait, have never been!!) And Amys teachers have been great about working with her to either work ahead, take some work with her for the plane trip or just catch up when she gets back.
So, goodbye to Summer, hello to Fall and it looks like the beginning of a great freshman year!