Yes. We eat a lot of oatmeal around here. (It's a very good workout recovery meal.) And Tom and a friend from work went in together and bought steel cut oats in bulk and split it. Ahhh, where to store pounds and pounds of steel cut oats?
Um. NOT on the floor!
Oh, that Cooper. He sure does add a lot of work to my load. He is very lucky that he's cute. And so darn huggable!
And an update on the Murphy front:
First, I want to thank all of you who sent me personal, very well thought out messages! You all offered such great advice, which I am totally going to use! I am always so overwhelmed by your willingness to listen to me day after day, week after week, and take your valuable time to sit down and write out your thoughts and advice for me. Who needs Google when you have a blog with knowledgeable, experienced, faithful readers?
Second, I want to thank all of you that have had to listen to me face to face and over the phone drone on and on about this subject! Someone just tell me to shut up for once, okay?
You are all awesome. Thank you!
So, for the update... I got a response today that was very informative and helpful. So, I feel better. What it boils down to is that he is not listening, paying attention or staying on task. He gets easily distracted. And for some crazy reason, he isn't very confident in his ability to learn.
We clearly have our work cut out for us. Today she said that she had him sitting beside her working on his assignment. And he still didn't do it correctly. He is just not listening to the instructions. And once he doesn't know what to do, he checks out.
We do have to repeat ourselves a lot around here. Heck, we have to tell him to go and put on his pajamas no less than 5 times on average. And he'll get distracted in the 10 feet between the bathroom and his bedroom. It is frustrating. So, I can imagine if he were in a classroom with 20+ students, the teacher can't tell him what to do 5 times. Of course, I can't believe that he is the only student with this problem, right? This sounds like most 6-year olds if you ask me!
Anyway, I have a meeting set up with the school counselor tomorrow. She knows me, Murphy and Harlie - and knows our living situation. So, hopefully she'll be able to give me some insight, tips and suggestions to get things turned around. They have to deal with this on a regular basis (right?) so maybe they have some resources in place already that could help.
So, I feel slightly better now that I know where we should focus our attention. And once I get the counselor on board, I think that will definitely help, too.
And the bottom line is that I don't believe anything is wrong with him. He is a typical 6-year old boy who wants to play rather than do his work in school. But I want school to be a positive experience for him. And I don't want him to fall behind.
We just need to build his confidence and his attention span. And find his listening ears. And his motivation and drive to learn. And get him to eat something other than peanut butter and jelly for lunch every day.
I will certainly let you know how things go!
Again - thank you, thank you, thank you!
~Christy
PS - I do have a bunch of Harlie updates, but there's only so much time in the day and I guess it's fitting that Murphy take front seat for a change.
3 comments:
So glad to hear you got some additional info. Hope the meeting with the counselor went well today. Prayers!
Kristi,
When he was with me at 3 Oaks he had a hard time believing in himself. He CAN do the work. What worked for me is that I sat close by and checked in on him often. He was perfectly able to work and stay on task for me. He was proud to complete work and got lots of positive feedback, which kept him going. There is NO reason at all that he can't do this work when he WAS working on and above his levels at school. Right now I am at Montessori Center for the Child as lead primary teacher and have 2 Kindergarten flunk outs from last year. After assesing home life, records and personalities I have come up with a pro-active lesson goals that support their needs. My oldest boy reminds me alot of Murphy and has done well with the same goals that I laid in place so many years ago. Christy, you should REALLY REALLY REALLY think about sending Murphy back to Montessori. He will do well with the program and more realisitic expectations. He needs a much more individual approach than a school that is focused on testing and teacher's raises depending on the passing of a test. Murphy is bright, smart, and talented. You can tell his teacher to stick it in her ear. If you need more information on what Murphy did at school, how I worked on his self-esteem and confidence building, and focus on the whole holisitc needs of Murphy let me know. My e-mail is amyfields417@yahoo.com. I can also talk about better schooling options with you. Just because a school is in your back yard does not mean it is the best choice. Anyway, off of my soapbox, missing you guys!!!! Take care and let me know if I can help you out!
Kristi,
When he was with me at 3 Oaks he had a hard time believing in himself. He CAN do the work. What worked for me is that I sat close by and checked in on him often. He was perfectly able to work and stay on task for me. He was proud to complete work and got lots of positive feedback, which kept him going. There is NO reason at all that he can't do this work when he WAS working on and above his levels at school. Right now I am at Montessori Center for the Child as lead primary teacher and have 2 Kindergarten flunk outs from last year. After assesing home life, records and personalities I have come up with a pro-active lesson goals that support their needs. My oldest boy reminds me alot of Murphy and has done well with the same goals that I laid in place so many years ago. Christy, you should REALLY REALLY REALLY think about sending Murphy back to Montessori. He will do well with the program and more realisitic expectations. He needs a much more individual approach than a school that is focused on testing and teacher's raises depending on the passing of a test. Murphy is bright, smart, and talented. You can tell his teacher to stick it in her ear. If you need more information on what Murphy did at school, how I worked on his self-esteem and confidence building, and focus on the whole holisitc needs of Murphy let me know. My e-mail is amyfields417@yahoo.com. I can also talk about better schooling options with you. Just because a school is in your back yard does not mean it is the best choice. Anyway, off of my soapbox, missing you guys!!!! Take care and let me know if I can help you out!
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