Shelly wrote a post titled
WHY HOMESCHOOLING WORKS and she also wrote
TEACHERS ARE NOT BROKEN. These two posts were like a breath of fresh air to me.
Shelly writes,
"Men and women work very hard in college to train. They have high hopes of becoming the teacher kids enjoy. They want to teach with their own personality, in their own time-frame and with the ability God instilled in them. What they find when they arrive on the job are rules, stipulations, road blocks and denial. They must force the kids to know the material "on time" for the test. They must force parents to teach at home. They must force families to push their children beyond their capabilities at times so the child is not behind. The joy is stripped of teachers in such a way that it is very hard to pass the joy of learning on to their classroom full of students."Today is the first day back with my students. The 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students will be spending the next 3 weeks doing the SBA's,
New Mexico's standardized testing. To put it bluntly....
IT SUCKS! Everything comes to a screeching halt while we're doing these tests. All the extra programs, like P.E., art, computer lab, etc. are cancelled because we use all available teachers. Administrators are so stresses about doing well on these tests that they have passed this stress onto the teachers and we feel compelled to teach a certain way and cover a certain amount of material, no matter whether the children are getting it or not.
How do these tests tell you whether I am a good teacher or not? I know you have to evaluate me, but really!?! Now, what about coming in,
unannounced, on any given day? That will give you a better picture of my teaching ability. Whomever designed these tests needs their head examined! Why would you put a question on a test asking a kid in New Mexico (remember now...we are landlocked)...about a YACHT! I've taught for 19 years and 95% of my students pronounce this word:
y (as in the spanish work "ya")...a (as in "at")...ch (as in "church")...t (as in "Tom")!
Don't even get me started...I could go on and on.....
My other point: How does one test or set of tests tell you all the things your child knows or their true ability level? Many students have a fear of tests, don't eat breakfast most of the time, don't care, or have a different learning style. I know tests are a given and children need to learn to deal, but aren't the elementary years when I should be helping them overcome these fears, figure out how they learn best and giving them a love of learning. These tests just freak the children out.
No Child Left Behind is a crock of
@#$% and so is
standardized testing. I refuse to put more stress on these 10 year olds then they already have. During testing, I bring in snacks every morning, suspend homework, do a lot of art projects and tell them to do the best they can.
Until the public school system gets a major overhaul, keep homeschooling your kids. You're the best teacher they could ever have. 
Remember I had a five part rant (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5) about my crappy neighbors...
THIS IS THEIR EMPTY, DESTROYED YARD. THEY HAVE PACKED UP AND MOVED AWAY....IT WAS VERY SUDDEN, SO WE'RE NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED...COULD HAVE BEEN A FORECLOSURE BECAUSE WE NEVER SAW A FOR SALE SIGN. I HOPE THE NEXT OWNERS ARE FRIENDLY AND HAVE KIDS. WISH US LUCK!
Look what we got in the mail yesterday from Grandma Apple....cute clothes for summer! I love Carter's and and OshKosh clothes.
These overalls are from Aunty Leslie. Having a boy makes shopping so much easier. I don't have to worry about dresses, stockings and hair accesories. Samuel is going to look so cute crawling around! He's growing fast. I already have him in 6 month clothes and he's not quite 4 months old yet.
Being a new mother I seem to get a lot of advice, which can be helpful, but is also very frustrating when it's from people who are insistent that their way is the BEST way. I also get advice (because I'm an adoptive mother) from those who think that my son is just a stand-in until I get "the real thing." 
Shelly wrote a post titled WHY HOMESCHOOLING WORKS and she also wrote TEACHERS ARE NOT BROKEN. These two posts were like a breath of fresh air to me.
My mother has always had a prayer list and I've now started one of my own. So each Sunday I will publish the prayer requests of anyone who e-mails me. Please keep us updated as God answers your prayers too.
I have the "bestest" chocolate cookie recipe! As you can see by the picture, these cookies don't last long in my house. I made this batch of 3 dozen, the day before yesterday and the cookie jar was FULL! No, Samuel doesn't eat cookies yet...I wonder who could have eaten them?
...is dangerous while doing this....
The people who need this ban to know it's not safe, are also the people who need warnings about not drinking bleach, not putting plastic bags over their heads and not putting paperclips in electrical outlets.
is for....Grandma Apple. Grandma Apple raised my wonderful husband to be the man he is today. What a great gift she has given to me. Now she's a loving grandma that everyone calls Apple. What a lucky family we are!
To all my adoption, and infertility friends, I debated about posting about this at all because I don't want anyone to think the drivel this person posts is worth their time. On the other hand, I want others to know this garbage is out there. Check out these four sites and make your OUTRAGE know! This person obviously has no idea what he's talking about and he's painting the entire global community with the same distorted brush!!! UGGGHHH!
Introducing....Sam's new Harley Davidson Motorcycle!
It's even personalized!
It's now fully assembled! It even makes "Vroom, Vroom" noices!
Dad takes it for a quick ride, to check for safety!
Samuel even has is own black, leather jacket!
Grandpa, Grandma and Cousin Stephanie came to play at my house today.
Cousin Stephanie has been visiting since last Friday. We've had a lot of fun. I've even taken her shopping. We had a lot of fun today with my play matt.
Isn't my cousin pretty!?! She's adopted just like me!
We got this sweet card in the mail back in January saying that a personalized gift was coming for Samuel. Ahhh...how sweet!
Today, we got this nice card in the mail with the gift.....
OH MY GOD! MY SON HAS A HARLEY DAVIDSON MOTORCYCLE!
