Flash Cards & WiFi

In the last week, my boys have gone through 2 packs of flashcards.

My 10-year-old needed them to make a book report mobile project.
He read Gregor and Marks of Secret,
then filled out a flashcards on main characters,
which we hung from a coat hanger.

This involved yarn, hole punchers, and about 20 flashcards.
I wish I'd taken a picture!


My 15-year-old has been making flashcards for his AP World History class.
In fact, he had to make about 70 cards last night,
but when we got home, the Internet was out in our area!!
Egads!
So, like any modern day parent, I just dropped him off at Starbucks
so he could work in a good , productive atmosphere with WiFi.

Our only choices (proximity-wise) were Starbucks and McDonalds.


I use flashcards to make grocery lists or To Do lists.
And to study vocabulary.
When I was in school, flashcards were the handiest tool for memorizing and learning things.
Spanish vocab? check.
History events? check.
Periodic table? check.

What do you remember using flashcards for?
Are your kids using them now?


 

Trying to Look Smart in Front of My Kids

One of the hard parts of being a mom is answering any and all questions that come our way.
Sometimes I have the answers, sometimes I don't.
And as my children get older, the questions get harder.

My 15-year old is now in pre-calculus, which is as far as I got in math, 
so this might be the last year I can help him with anything in that subject.
A couple of days ago, he had a question on his homework that he asked for my help. 
It went something like this:

Identify which one of the following functions as decreasing

a. outdoor temperature as a function of time
b. air pressure in earth's atmosphere as a function of altitude
c. water pressure in the ocean as a function of depth
d. The Dow Jones as a function of time

I was stumped. 
I wanted to impress him with the correct answer right off the bat, 
but that didn't happen.
I turned to google.
(the correct answer was b.)

My brain capacity as a function of time: increasing or decreasing? 
(don't answer that!)


In the car this morning, I was telling my 10-year-old son about the civil war in Libya 
and how the U.S. Ambassador was killed there.
 
He asked, "What's an ambassador?"
I said, "It's a person from our country that goes to their country and lives there and does government things. And you know, makes friends there and represents our country."

His next question, "Where is Libya?"
Crap. Geography was not my strong point.
I said, "I think it's in Africa somewhere."

Then he asked me, "When was our Civil War?"
Huh.
I knew I should have paid more attention to dates in history, 
if anything so I could look smart in front of my kids.
I decided to bluff it.
"I think it was around 1860 or so."

When I got to work, I googled it.
Libya is in northern Africa.
The American Civil War was from 1861-1865.

Score!



 

The Homework Hand

One way I know my 14 yr old son has homework...

A Texas Children's Tale

Around 9pm tonight, after watching my favorite show in the world, LOST,

my 13-year-old son informed me he had an English project due.

I won't repeat the torrent of words I blasted at him...

and, I even found out that this project was actually due YESTERDAY, 

but the student he was supposed to work with flaked out.

Putting aside aside his poor planning, he's a good student, 

but I am now making him finish the project.

Tonight.

As long as it takes.

They had to come up with a 15-page chldren's story on their own; write and illustrate it.

The story they came up with together, he and his partner, was some strange tale 

about a squirrel named Barry and smoking.

I know what you're thinking.

A children's story about smoking?!!

But at least the moral of the tale was to NOT smoke.

Anyway, now that Donny is doing this project on his own, he has ditched that story line 

and, with my help, come up with a new tale.

Meet the characters:

Archie the Armadillo

and

Larry the Longhorn.

He's actively working on the story right now,

but the snobby Longhorn who looks down on the armadillo

is going to learn an important lesson

about not judging others by their looks.

And a little feisty armadillo named Archie is going to help him out of a jam.

I let you know how the finished product turns out!!

(and let's hope we're both not up all night!!)

A Middle-Schooler's homework

This was my 12 yr old son's homework last night.






A speech comparing Japanese & American School Systems
(written from a Japanese Student's perspective)

Dear Ladies & Gentlemen
I wish to bring to your eyes the state of your school system compared to ours. Your school systems reward good passing grades with more supplies and school funds, and the schools that don’t get as many passing grades get fewer funds. As to ours, where all schools get the exact same supplies and funds. Also, your schools do not challenge their students enough, like how they don’t have enough science and math classes.
. Opposed to our schools which have such high expectations they are require to take entrance exams, and they are so tough that they go to a summer school called a Juku to prepare for the exams.
Our teachers get high respect and pay, which generally increases how well they teach. Where yours are respected but not paid to well. So, I hope you take this information into consideration.
By Donny Thomas


Isn't that interesting?
Do we not work our kids hard enough?
I wonder if the Japanese have PE...or focus any on the arts?






Coming tomorrow...
how a mom in the suburbs and her two boys break the law...
all for the sake of art.

The Art of Illustrations...or my Pantyhose is choking me

As I helped Donny with his homework tonight...wait, let me clarify...I don't help him with his work until he has attempted it on his own and is stuck, then I swoop in to help him work things out, so that he has the FULL learning experience.

Why do I feel the need for disclaimers like that? Because I know people judge. And, I worry too much sometimes. I wear worry like pantyhose, it's hot and a fits too tight, but it's going out of style and I'm ashamed. I want to tear it off, but then I feel bare without it. Naked. Nekkid. neck kid. Weird word.

Ok, moving on.

Anyway, my son Donny was doing a science packet on energy. He's in sixth grade.








Here's the one we had problems with, up close. Our problem? We couldn't tell what the heck that was a picture of?! Can you?



And I swear, this photo is exactly what it looks like on the paper. We didn't mess with it at all. It's blurry and indecipherable. What the heck??




Then Remy, my six year old, drew a picture, his special brand of art work. Now YOU get to figure out what's going on in this picture.




I had to angle the picture sideways to fit it in the scanner. It was an extra-special, wide mutant piece of paper.