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

Too young for this.

Darn it, I’m much too young to feel like such an old lady. How am I going to get my body to cooperate & do what I want it to do? At this point in time I’m ready to trade it in for a new model… any ideas where I can find a New Body Shop?

Most of you will know, I’ve been through the mill with my health last year with lots of pain & 3 operations followed by rehab to get the muscles strengthened & flexible again. I was hoping that this year I would be fully recovered…

The good news is that my back’s recovering nicely from the operation last year & the prosthetic disc wasn’t harmed during my fall in February.

The bad news however, is that I have a protruded disc & damaged vertebrae in my neck pinching a nerve and causing much pain & numbness in the hands, making even the most mundane tasks like cooking & washing painful. I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to see any more hospitals any time soon, but it seems that I’ll have no alternative but to have the vertebrae fused back into it’s place so it can stop moving & causing havoc with the nerve.

My physiotherapist & biokeneticist both agreed that there is unfortunately no alternative solution for my neck problem. I thought I could postpone this op indefinitely but unfortunately, with the right hand now also starting to become affected, & headaches more frequent, it seems I have no choice lest I loose the function of my hands. I have therefore been scheduled for a disc removal & fusion on 8th June at Flora Clinic & will be out of action for a few weeks again. However, if all goes well, Mom’s taxi should be able to run as normal again after the school holidays.

I pray for a speedy recovery & that this time it really will be the last operation for the rest of my life…