Resistance is futile, SCube

Sounds like a good first week, Gris.

Also, I just remembered that I'd promised you an email about some graph theory lesson plans. I'll get to that soon.

I just had a salad with blueberry stilton and sliced apples on top. It was yummy. (I also just had a quesadilla, which was also yummy, but much less interesting-sounding.)

I discovered yesterday that Trader Joe's sells plastic bags of pizza dough, both regular and whole wheat. I'm having all kinds of, "Oooh, I could make some mini-calzones and take them for lunch!" plans.

Brendon was classified by his gifted team last year as exceptional and unmotivated. He understands everything. He tops every test that comes his way. He doesn't study. He hears it or reads it once and he gets it. He absolutely does not care about anything. He thinks he is going to be an NBA star. Last year his testing 99%tile on everything. Reading scores and vocabulary out of sight. He ended the year with a 1.5 gpa. 100 on most of his tests. Zero on most of his homework. This is why he is my very special project this year. We basically have a deal. Money bribes for good grades and no life without his homework done. I sit with him like a 1st grade student and go through his backpack every day. We go over every class. I've told him he really has no other option than success this year.

Bobby is a whole other issue. He is bright enough, but he has a hard time learning. Huge attention issues. He has been classified ADD so he gets extra time for his tests and goes out of the classroom so he can better focus. He does very well in math, and he loves science and history. Language is pure torture for all of us. I can't get him to write an entire sentence without a trip to the bathroom, a snack, he has to tell me something, etc. He can't spell. He wrote his address last week as Laik instead of Lake. He's 12.

I have his father working with him since he is just as ADD and somehow they work better together. We have him writing on the computer so he can see his spelling errors easier, but sometimes he is so far off that Word can't help. We have voice recognition software and I am considering using that because he can spew out a 500 word story with ease but he can't write it out. I think he might find it fun to watch the words printing out on the screen. His teachers don't care how he gets the work done. They are very flexible that way.

Parenting, very tough. Any suggestions on helping this bright child learn to write are more than welcome.

Also, how could you tell?

Hee, I mouse over your user name and see your number. It flashes Newbee. You may see that I am sweet 16 by doing the same.

Laura, I'm no ADD expert, but I know kinesthetic learning is best for kids with ADD. The voice-recog software is a great idea.

What about applying magetic paint to a wall in his bedroom and getting a shitload of the Magnetic poetry kits? That was, maybe he can stand and physically arrange words into sentences, and then copy them down. Gets him off his ass, and doing stuff with brains AND hands. I'd make areas for the different types of words, too; you know, CONJUNCTIONS, ADVERBS, VERBS, NOUNS, etc, so he can also learn the parts of speech and not waste time looking for the right words. Then, at the end of each lesson or homework assignment, he has to put the words back into the correct category, so it would reinforce parts of speech. And since the words are already pre-spelled, it would reinforce spelling, too.

Magneticpoetry.com

Also, what does he LIKE to do? Sometimes, you can come up with really creative ways to learn paired with activities that kids love to do anyway.

Throw me a couple, and I'll see if anything pings.

Welcome, Scube.

He walks differently...like strutting.

Emmett calls this their Proud Trot. "Look at that Dachsund's Proud Trot. He's little but he's proud."

Wow, the school year is definitely on. Wishing much vibes to all our Buffista teachers, and fellow parents of school-age kids. Emmett's slid into 5th grade pretty well. His third grade teacher (who he actively disliked) gave him tons and tons of homework (3 to 5 pages a night, including weekends). Last year was less, and this year is less still. He only gets about one page of homework a night now, and he finishes that up in aftercare.

I can't tell you how much of a difference it's made in the quality of everybody's happiness that they have enforced homework time at his aftercare. It's just what his social/peer group does, so there's less resentment about it. And EM and I don't have to be the homework cops.

He's already gotten into the social swirl of his new class, and Neelia knows that he's got a crush on her. (His friends told her. Emmett didn't mind. We don't know Neelia's response to this. As far as I can tell [and recall from my own experience], crushes at this age don't have much to do with actual romantic interest as much as an elaborate social sorting ritual. Or maybe I've been watching too much Meerkat Manor.)

I've been fortunate that Emmett's basically been on autopilot at school for a few years. In second and third grade there were some crying meltdowns over writing projects (he hates it when teachers ask him to do anything with fuzzy parameters. Like...express himself), but he's over that hump and has been grinding through the curriculum at a quick and steady rate. He's not very academically motivated (except for some math pridefulness), but he does well. He reads for fun, but not with the absolute eagerness I (or his Mom) had at his age. He does show an occasional research interest, like his Alcatraz obsession. Last night I put him on wikipedia and he was looking up all the Presidents. I see a list next to the computer where he's written down their years of office and their party. (Federalist 1797 - 1801. Democratic-Reublican 1801-1809.) That's cool.

Lessee...

Today I have:

Witnessed a bad accident on the 101.
Given out a few loaners.
Watched a guy flip out on our MOD, cursing, swearing, and just being your average jackhole.
Applied for two scholarships so far. I have eight to go and hopefully more to find. I'm applying for anything and everything. I also have to re-do my app for a Pell Grant, which I doubt I'll get.

I want my lunch and a nap.

God, I can't believe Emmett's in 5th grade! Craxy.