Happy New Year!!!

We’re leaving tomorrow morning for Vanderbijlpark to spend New Year with my sister & won’t be back until Saturday afternoon, so I’m posting my New Years wishes early.

Our Wish For You:

 
Comfort on difficult days,
Smiles when sadness intrudes,
Rainbows to follow the clouds,
...Laughter to kiss your lips,
Sunsets to warm your heart,
Gentle hugs when spirits sag,
Friendships to brighten you being'
Beauty for your eyes to see,
Confidence for when you doubt,
Faith so that you can believe,
Courage to know yourself,
Patience to accept the truth,
And love to complete your life.

 

Wishing you all God’s very richest blessings for an awesome 2011.

Merry Christmas

An urgent note from SPCA.

I’ve just received this urgent warning via email. Please pass it on to all pet owners you know.

Please share this with all the pet owners you know and ask them to do the same.

This information will only take a few minutes to share might prevent the senseless death of other pets.

Please tell  every dog or cat owner you know. Even if you don't have a pet, please pass this to those who do. Cocoa Mulch, sold by garden supply stores contains a lethal ingredient called 'Theobromine'.

It  is lethal to dogs and cats. It smells like chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Although the mulch has NO warnings printed on the label, upon further investigation on the company's web  site, this product is HIGHLY toxic to dogs and cats.

Well done, Misha, you’re a Star!!!

 

For the past 2 years, whenever homeschooling was mentioned as an option for our boys I protested: “There’s just no way I’d be able to do that”, “I’m not teacher material”, “I’d strangle them within a week.” etc. etc. Those were my excuses… but in the end it was more a lack of confidence in myself than anything else…

Well, it’s been 2 months since we’ve started homeschooling Misha & he’s still very much alive & amazingly enough I’m more relaxed than I could have ever imagined I would be.  I have since learned that he’s a strong kinesthetic as well as Visual Spacial Learner and dug up all the info I could as to how to teach him in his learning style.

When we started homeschooling in August, Misha was completely anti-school. I started him on SmartTutor for Reading & Maths because his books from Le-Amen had not yet arrived. He was very reluctant at first, but within a week or so he started looking forward to learning. Although he still isn’t very keen on schoolwork, at least now he’s willing to do it again.

 

We’ve continued the remedial lessons with Tannie Hettie, once a week for an hour. During this time she addressed the foundation & gross motor issues. She let him do brain gym & physical activities that would promote the necessary brain development. Within a few weeks he became a very happy, relaxed 8-year old & we were actually able to see an improvement in his reading skills. Initially he hated that & refused to even read aloud to himself because this was his biggest problem area. So we worked on his rhythm & midline crossing. Lots of trampoline & skipping rope. Finally he mastered the skipping & his reading improved. Then he realized he could read & the reluctance started fading. During the holiday he went to Tannie Hettie in the morning especially to read to her class of 20 little ones ranging between 3 & 6 years old. That was an awesome sight to see. Now every week he reads to the little ones for a few minutes and like a real teacher asks them questions. His confidence is growing & with that his reading is improving steadily… He still has quite a way to go, but at this rate I’m sure he’ll get there much faster than what I could have ever anticipated.

 

 

 

Another problem area is writing, he struggles to write fast & neatly. All due to his shoulder muscles not having been exercised properly. We’ve hung a rope ladder under the carport for him to climb. This he does regularly & is slowly showing some improvement when he does his handwriting practice.

 

Of course, I knew we would have to get the books out again at some stage, but this was met with great reluctance, so I decided to leave all the other workbooks & just focus on letting him complete his portfolio for monitoring by Le Amen and just let him continue with SmartTutor & reading.

Now Misha's portfolio's back from Le-Amen & it seems they are happy with his schoolwork thus far. Here’s the feedback: "I wish you well for the next term. Keep on working well and you will succeed. Well done Misha, you're a star".

This term we hit the ground running and he’s making good progress. We still have the odd days when he’s reluctant to work, but this week he’s actually started to show some enthusiasm at getting the work done.

We’ve also invested in the WiiFit Plus & he starts every day with some physical training via the WiiFit and some exercise games to get the brain started. It’s absolutely amazing what a difference the little bit of exercise at the beginning of the day makes to his learning abilities.

I’m also noticing a willingness to help around the house. This morning, by the time I got home from dropping Jesse at school he’d already taken his washing from the line, folded it & packed it away. He’d also unpacked the dishwasher & packet the stuff away & still wanted to more stuff around the house. It took some convincing on my part to get him back to his books instead. But by the time his first break came along he was off vacuuming in the lounge & wiping down surfaces… amazing…

We try to stick to 8h00 to 13h00 school day with lots of breaks in between. Sometimes he’ll opt for a longer break & choose to do the work later in the day. Then if at times we don’t manage that we’re lenient & reschedule what we weren’t able to achieve. I don’t stress about work that’s not done & he doesn’t stress with too much workload, but somehow we’re still managing to stay well on track to have his workbooks completed by the time they need to be ready for monitoring at the end of November.

FW: A.R.R.F PORTFOLIO

Adopt a shelter dog and bring the sunshine back into your life J  Please forward and help them find forever homes. Thanks

Patti/ARRF

Short Story: The Importance of You

 

Now here’s a very encouraging story I just read at Homeschool Articles

What an eye opener. Thought I’d pass it on…

We often learn more from a story.  Below is a short story that you can use to facilitate important conversation between you and your children.

 

The Importance of You

I am about to tell you a true story of three most unlikely heroes. Seabiscuit was a race horse that was considered to small to be a winner. Mistreated and poorly trained he lost most of his races. He was seen as a “loser”. Frustrated and angry, because his natural desire to win had been suppressed, this horse had become unruly and unmanageable…angry if you will.

However one trainer, the Native American Tom Smith, saw a winner in Seabiscuit when no one else could. You see, time and time again Mr. Smith demonstrated that he had the ability to take “ordinary” horses and make winners of them. He was able to do this by understanding their uniqueness… their strengths and weaknesses. He knew Seabiscuit needed help focusing, and his legs were shorter than the other race horses. But he also knew his horse loved the competition, and had a big desire to win.

The untrusting Seabiscuit needed a jockey, but didn’t seem to like any of them until he met Johnny Pollard, nicknamed “Red” for his fiery red hair. Homeless and penniless, Red was himself considered a loser. He was considered too big by jockey standards, and was blind in one eye. But he loved horses, and had a gentle way with them. When introduced to the cantankerous horse he gently offered him a sugar cube. Seabiscuit touched Red’s shoulder in a rare gesture of affection. Seabiscuit had chosen his jockey.

Most everyone laughed at these three friends… a trainer to old to train , a jockey to big and blind in one eye, and a race horse too small. But the three unlikely winners began training, and to the surprise of those who ridiculed and laughed at them, they began beating larger horses rode by smaller jockeys.

This all took place during the “Great Depression” when many people had lost jobs, farms, and homes. This was a time when many people were feeling like losers. Seabiscuit and Red became an inspiration for the down trodden. The people showed up by the thousands to cheer on Seabiscuit, their champion. The horse, who was too small, raised spirits as he won race after race eventually even beating the top race horse, War Admiral.

But their climb to success was not without challenges. In his first race against War Admiral, Seabiscuit lost. But in a second race against War Admiral he won! While riding another race horse Red broke his leg, and was told he would never ride again. During one race Seabiscuit injured his leg unable to race or train for a long time.

Against such odds, many people would have given up. After all Red was told he could never ride again. But Red did not give up on his beloved horse, and while suffering from his own injury began caring for his beloved Seabiscuit nursing him back to health. As he focused on the needs of his crippled horse, he also began to heal. They did race together again, and again rose to the top.

Often when we focus on helping others we find our own way. Do you ever feel like you are different, and don’t belong? Are you told you are too short, to fat, ugly, stupid, dumb or other unkind things? Well remember the lesson of Seabiscuit and his friends. It is not you who are lacking. It is the inability of others to see the winner in you that is the true lacking.

How others treat you is a reflection of their character… not yours. How you treat yourself and others is a reflection of your character. When you discover the winner, you become an inspiration to others. That is your gift.

You understand what others can not. You see what others can not see. By vowing to extend kindness to those most in need of it, you have a heart when others can not find their own. And remember this one: You can not control what others do or say, but you can control what you do, and what you accept. By refusing to co-operate or be controlled by those who ridicule, you become a champion.

---

Roma Cox worked as a para-professional in the public school system. She was part of a government funded program called Follow Through in which she was trained by psychologists on how to work with the children. Roma now shares what she has learned with others through her website Read-Phonics.com, workshops, and articles.

Source: http://www.homeschool-articles.com/short-story-the-importance-of-you/

Letting Go & Moving Forward

We have a very active, yet highly intelligent 7 year old, who has been struggling through school for the past 2 years. It has recently come to our attention that his gross & fine motor skills foundation has not been addressed properly at a Gr. R level. He is also a visual & active learner & this learning style is not catered for in most of our schools today.

“A mother’s first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet and growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it for the most part spent out in the fresh air.” ~ Charlotte Mason

…that's where the "system" failed our little one quite miserably...

The school focused too early & too much on academics & neglected the motor skills as well as visual perception. Midline crossing & skipping, being very important skills for fluent reading are just 2 of many areas that have not been addressed properly. Although he can memorise paragraphs, like a parrot, he struggles to read. He Aces his spelling tests but cannot spell when writing sentences. These are just a few of the issues we’ve been working on together with his pre-school teacher to get him through Gr. 2. Up to now he’s been able to cope with his intelligence, but the struggling has impacted his self-esteem very negatively & caused him to dislike school with a passion.

Although the school tried to address the problem with remedial (at additional cost to us as parents) & extra lessons, these showed very little success, but instead placed extra workload & repetition rather than addressing the foundation of the problem... hence we've took him back to his preschool teacher twice a week since August last year so she could do physical activities & brain gym with him in order to get the brain development going. This has shown huge improvement, but his backlog is so big that he still gets very fidgety in class when he doesn’t understand the tasks at hand.

‎"Every student can learn. Just not on the same day or in the same way." ~ George Evans

We know now that Misha’s just a normal active little boy who’s trying to cope with a situation that's way beyond his control. It breaks my heart to see such a highly intelligent child struggling at school & being so frustrated...

We've recently registered him with Le-Amen Education Centre in Ruimsig & have pulled him out of school on Friday. What I like about Le-Amen is that they are registered with the Gauteng education department and they supply the curriculum at very reasonable prices. The kids’ work books have to be handed in 3 times a year to be monitored by qualified teachers & at the end of the school year they issue school reports to the children. Both parent & kids are monitored & at matric level they write the same IEB exams as the private schools.

We’ll be using this week to let him destress & deschool Misha. In the interim he’ll be using www.time4learning.com online curriculum to put the fun back into learning. Then we'll continue his schooling, but will also have to go back as far as Gr. R in order to address his foundation. I just hope we caught it on time to repair the damage & that we will be able to help him reach his full potential in life.

‎"Mothers write on the hearts of their children what the hand of time can't erase." (Unknown)

When I look at the amount of kids in our schools that end up in remedial & extra lessons, I cannot help but wonder how many of them are highly intelligent kids, like Misha, whose foundations have been proved lacking & due to that will be struggling through school for the rest of their lives… I just cannot understand how it is possible in today’s day & age, with all the knowledge available to our teachers regarding the importance of physical activities being the foundation to develop brain functions in our little ones that they still let them sit cooped up in classrooms with academics all day at such a young age. Our little ones should be playing more & learning less… the academics will follow as soon as the body is sorted…

I must confess, I’ve spent months stressing about Misha’s situation & was fuming, when the teacher’s plan to resolve this issue was aimed at Misha’s preschool teacher & myself addressing the foundation in order to get him through Gr. 2. As far as I was concerned, we pay expensive school fees & he shouldn’t have been in this situation in the first place. Today, however, I can honestly say the burden’s lifted & I have peace in my heart that we’ve made the right decision for our boys.

"When we forgive someone, it doesn't make them right or justify what they have done. It releases them into God's hands so He can deal with them. Forgiveness is actually the best revenge because it not only sets us free from the person we forgive, but it sets us free to move into all God has for us." ~ Stormie O'Martian

The school & their staff have been forgiven… I’m letting go & we’re moving forward… I pray for wisdom to make the right decisions in order to continuously guide our sons into reaching their full potential…

Released to Love - Ezine for Christian women
A free ezine to encourage women to become all they were created to be in Christ.

Revived Christian Woman—Homeschooling Begins with Home
Homeschooling is a tool for mom’s growth, too!
Become a homeschooled mom.

Friendship…

Think about this for a minute...

If
I happened to show up on your door step 
Crying,
Would You Care?
If
I called you and asked you to pick me up
Because something Happened,
Would you come?
If
I had one day left, to live my Life;
Would
You be part of That Last Day?
If
I needed a shoulder to cry On,
Would
You give me Yours?

Do
You know what the relationship is between
Your two eyes? They blink together, they
Move together, they cry together,
They see things together and they
Sleep together,
BUT THEY NEVER SEE EACH OTHER....
that's What friendship is.
Life Is lonely Without FRIENDS.
It's World best friends
Week.Send
This to all Your good Friends.
Even Me, if I am one of Them.
See How many you get back.
If You get more than 3 then you really are a
Lovable person...

Awesome Mom

This is for all the awesome moms I know…     Awesome Mom Once you have been hit, you have to hit 5 awesome Moms.. Including the one who thought of YOU today and sent it to YOU... If you get hit again, You will know you are Really awesome! So hit 5 awesome moms on your friends list to let them know they are awesome! Before I was a Mom, I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations. Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night. Before I was a Mom, I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep. Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom. Before I was a Mom, I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy. Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom Send this to someone who you think is an awesome Mom. May you always be overwhelmed by the Grace of God rather than by the cares of life

Hi Buddy!!!

Thanx for forwarding this, Toni…


HAPPY BUDDIES DAY!!!

Forward to all your friends, including me and don't tell me you're too busy for this.

Happiness keeps You Sweet,
SARS keeps you broke.
Trials keep You Strong,
Sorrows keep You Human,
Failures keep You Humble,
Success keeps You Glowing,
But Only Buddies  keep You Going!

Today is 'online buddy day ' Send this to your online friends - even me, if I'm one of them