Wonder Why Wednesday: Chutes and Ladders

Ty, my three-year old, asked to play "Chutes and Ladders" with me today. We got the game, sat down to play, and reviewed the rules.

I find innumerable teaching moments when we play board games:

1.  We review rules, which works his memory.

2. We have to follow rules, a life skill.

3. We take turns and use niceties as we play.

4. It takes patience, because these preschool games take quite a bit of time.

5. We finish what we start.

So, number 5 did not really happen today, and as usual, I am wondering if I did the right thing.

Ty wanted to disregard the spinning-number part of the game. He wanted to climb ladders and go down chutes. I told him that was fine, but then we were not playing and he could just mess around with the board. This resulted in a screaming crying fit. I stood my ground, but should I have modified the rules, just once?

I wonder, because he is only three. He is small. He wanted to have fun. Is one game of Chutes and Ladders that impressionable for the rest of his life?

I wonder, because what I do matters. I want him to understand rules and know that consistently his father and I enforce them. I want him to know we don't cheat (even though that probably wasn't his intention).

I want him to be happy and know that I love him. I want him to be prepared for life, for me to give him as best a handbook as I can. I just always wonder if I do.

Wonder Why Wednesday: High School to College

Time and time again as a high school teacher, I have students return to see me, often for lunch or a quick Facebook chat. After talking for a bit, many casually mention they have left college. I always wonder why.

I believe there are many paths to success. Sometimes I send off students to college shaking my head, because I know he or she does not have the drive, nor the academic skills to stay there. Other times, I do wonder if some of my college dropouts were really gems, just covered in soot, that nobody took the time to dust.

How do we Americans have this problem of college freshman performing so poorly that they leave? Does society expect too many people to attend college? Is college for everyone? Do parents send kids to college with little help?

I read "High School to College Transition, Part I: The Freshman Myth" yesterday. This article built off these questions I always wonder. In it, Brian Harke wrote for the Huffington Post:

...college is one of the biggest transitions a person will make. Therefore, it only makes sense to focus more attention on high school to college transition.

I agree. Harke mentioned several other ways this should happen, such as counselors helping students (at the high school level) and colleges helping at (of course) the college level. Most importantly, he wrote about healthy dialogues that parents should have with their children. As a high school teacher, I see so many parents that think their influence with their teenagers is nil. It isn't, and discussing college in a realistic way will shape students' views and attitudes upon arrival on campus. After all, as Harke so truthfully stated about college:

The students have already arrived with ideas and perceptions about college that are often more romanticized notions than accurate reflections of college life - ideas created by admissions brochures, a campus visit, stereotypes in the media and stories from family or friends. This leaves many new students struggling to adjust to their new environment.

I "went away" to college my junior year. I remember sitting in my dorm room, wondering what to do. I had new towels, a clean room, and a loaded laundry card. I ate some Ramen noodles because I knew that people in college "survived on those" -- whatever that meant. I don't even think I was hungry. I simply did not know what to do. I wonder how many of my students feel that way. I was lucky, figured it out, and graduated. I took plenty of wrong turns and could have quit or "taken a semester off" as so many of my former students word it. When a student tells me of leaving college, I always return to that feeling of eating Ramen noodles, even though I wasn't hungry.

Harke promises to continue writing about the transition from high school to college, and we probably should too. So... what were your expectations when you went to college? How will you help your child make realistic goals and expectations for college? Do you already talk to your child about college? What is a good age to start? What do you talk about? Anything else I left out?

Almost Done Feeling Sorry For Myself

I really am. I can do this whole SAHM gig. I will find time to do writing and blogging, because I love it. I miss all my bloggy and twitter peeps. I am going to get going again, and this my pep talk.

I've wallowed enough. I will ignore the older person who told me over the weekend that I was "a lady of leisure" because I didn't work everyday. Completely dismiss her.

I will balance, I will: I teach two hours in the morning? I have grocery shopping to do? Carpet to vacuum? A husband to watch the telly with? Laundry? Dishwasher? Kitchen floor? Toilets? Kids to read to? posh, posh [insert hand wave above my head]

I will blog as well, because it is important to me.

I will also exercise more, because that is important to me as well.

Shucks, I might get this SAHM concept yet. I will and I will return. This is all just part of the journey.

Getting "It"

And, if you can tell by my lack of posts, I'm struggling again with this SAHM gig. I don't know how to balance the kids wanting food every two seconds, Ty mad because I'm holding Za, writing, blogging, doing laundry, doing dishes, scrubbing floors, showering, exercising, changing diapers, helping go potty, reading, kissing, shopping, and such.

I wonder if I'll ever get it.

Sleep

I wonder when I get to sleep.
Ever.
Again.

Educational Theory of the Week: Synthesis

Educational Theory of the Week covers different theories that teachers use and impact our children. They can easily be applied outside of a classroom setting.  

Last week in Bloom's Taxonomy, we looked at analysis. This week is synthesis, or taking ideas or objects and putting them together. It of course is building on the other parts of Bloom's Taxonomy. A child must have knowledge of the objects, understand (comprehension) the parts of the objects, be able to apply different uses of the objects, and then analyze them objects. (Phew. It takes longer for me to write that out than for children to do it).

Questions

You can ask your child several questions when working with synthesis from Bloom's Taxonomy.

Can you put these blocks together?

How would you put these train tracks together? 

What plan should we have for going to the park? 

Imagine what would happen in the story next.

With older children, they would use synthesis when they write research papers or speeches. They would take their ideas and research and combine them into one object--their paper or speech. Little kids synthesize in different ways, such as building or mixing paint colors.

Application to Ty, age 3

Ty builds and builds. When his little feet plant on the floor each morning, he is building with his blocks.

He's become better as he ages. His towers once fell, bridges collapsed, train tracks didn't go anywhere, it was frustrating. No longer!

When building towers, bridges, and tracks, a little boy must know (knowledge) his materials. (Here is the run-down using the taxonomy!)

* After he knows his supplies, he can predict/explain (comprehension) what will happen, like that small blocks can't be on the bottom. * He constructs (application) his buildings by taking all of these ideas into account. * He analyzes where more blocks need to be so the individual pieces don't fall. * Finally, he creates (synthesis) the entire project, like putting the bridge over the tracks and the trees and flowers around the skyscraper.

Reflection

Synthesis is a huge part of everyday life. It is often expected (as a higher order process it is highly desired in the educational and work fields). How do we make sure our children can reach it?

When we build, Ty and I discuss what worked, and what we could do better. The picture at the top of this is Ty deciding he wanted to arrange his buidling's color with a rainbow pattern.

Finacial Friday: Odd and End Savings

Financial Friday covers a few tricks I have found as a SAHM for cutting down on bills since my family is down an income. 
 
I promised my husband that when I started staying home, I would save money in mysterious ways. (I also promised him that he could be included in a blog, so here you go sweetie). I tried many ways to save money and while some have worked, others not so much. Here are a few of my assignments, and in true teacher style, their grades:

Ironing shirts. (D) My husband takes his work shirts to the dry cleaner to be washed and ironed. That is about $2 a shirt. (Thought process: That is how much a can of starch costs! I can do that!) So, I washed his shirts and set out to iron them. I started off ok, but never finished the first set of shirts. I loathe ironing and my husband thinks I do a messy job, which might be true. Also, I can't iron when the kids are awake. They want to be around me and when they hang out around the ironing board, I am nervous because of the hot iron. It didn't work out and he takes them back to the cleaners. Every once in awhile when the kids are taking long naps, I wash and iron a few shirts. A few.

Cooking from scratch. (B) Staying home with fewer resources (money to buy whatever I want at the store and a lack of time to get to the grocery store) has made me a better cook. I also need to cook FAST sometimes because small stomachs empty quickly. This has left me with odds and ends at home, crying kids, and nothing but my imagination. This works most of the time and I have created dishes I didn't think I had it in me to make. A few failures: homemade bread, spinach noodles, and guacamole made from peas (I read it somewhere). It is sad to throw out the failures, but they are pretty inedible. Most of the time, we do save money from cooking at home, from scratch. 

Buying in bulk. (B+) I never knew this before, but my husband taught me: grocery stores have the price broken down, like per ounce, on their products. When you look at a big box of cereal compared to a small box, the big box probably costs less per ounce than the small box, even though the big box costs more overall. If you buy in bulk, you often save money, which I knew but just didn't know how or why. Because I have more time as a SAHM, I buy in bulk and divide the food between small containers. This also makes traveling pretty easy, as I can grab a container of graham crackers as we run out the door. The only problem I had with this was a few items went bad, so be selective about what you buy in bulk. I bought peaches and divided and froze them, but defrosted they were brown and the kids wouldn't eat them.

Making cards. (A) A few months ago, I went to a bridal shower. As the bride unwrapped her presents, she handed the card to her mother along with the wrapping paper. The mom put it all in a garbage bag. It made me so happy that a complete $1 or more was not put in that bag because I make my own cards. Scrapbook paper, ribbon, glue, stamps, and stickers--I either have the ingredients or can buy them inexpensively. Look at the bins at Wal-Mart or other fabric stores for leftover ribbon, tulle, and sequins. Find out the bride's wedding colors, the mother-to-be's nursery decor, or the birthday child's favorite activities and decorate your card accordingly. My first cards were pretty plain, but they have improved and I am not an artist. Sometimes they are even passed around the party. :)

Those are four simple ways I tried to cut expenses when I became a SAHM. They might work for you or my failures may be your successes. Good luck.

In no way was I compensated for this blog entry.