Colorado boy

So, Ian comes home with a worksheet for the letter D. He plops down with his crayons and says:
"Da da da dog.. dog starts with D"
"Da da da door... door starts with D"
"fe fe feather.. that is not D"
"Da da da doll.. doll starts with D"
and so on.
Then I hear:
"Eh eh elk. That is not a D!"

Me: "Honey, I think that is supposed to be a deer."

"Oh!"

Spiral Review 5-1

Ethan's homework for this week (Tuesday-Thursday evenings: 3 workpages + 1 hour of reading for each night) includes the following math problems:


Joylin is subtracting 97-43. She adds 4+23 before subtracting. What will she need to do?

a. Subtract 4 from the difference

b. Add 4 to the difference

c. Just find the difference

d. Subtract 2 from the difference


Ok....

WHY would she add 4+23? How is the number 27 going to help with this problem? What am I missing? I had Ethan chose answer c.

By Googling the problem I found sample worksheets with this problem and the exact same answers, only it says "She adds 4+43 before subtracting". Ok, now THAT would make sense. Typos happen - I get it. But how are 8 and 9 year olds supposed to understand a problem like that? At this age they still think adults are basically infalible. The idea of a typo on homework quite litterally flabergasts them.


Next question on the page is:

"Which property of addition is shown here: 0+7=7"

Honest question: Does it make me an idiot that I had to Google this? Ethan had no idea, so obviously the "review" wasn't working for him anyway. Why are they learning math theory in the 3rd grade? Is it more important for life-time sucess in mathmatics and applied mathmatics for 3rd graders to learn the names of all the addition and subtraction theories, or to memorize their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts?


Speaking of multiplication facts, Ethan was supposed to have learned the 1, 2, 5, and 10 multiplication tables in the 2nd grade. He didn't, so we are already playing catch-up. Despite not being featured on any of his homework for the school year, he is supposedly learning his 3x facts in class. So why did we have the following problem on the "review":


What is the missing number in the table below?

Coaches ________________ Players

5 _____________________ 40

7 _____________________ 56

9 _____________________

12 ____________________ 96


Now for those of us who have learned our 8x facts, the answer is easily determined to be 72. However, THESE FACTS HAVE NOT YET BEEN COVERED IN CLASS. This was a REVIEW sheet, not a "challenge question".


Ethan tried subtracting 40-5 and then seeing if that answer equaled 56-7. I thought that was a good try, but obviously subtraction wasn't going to help him find commonality between those sets of numbers. He didn't like my suggesting of subtracting 56-40 and seeing what he got because "That only works for that side, it doesn't work for the other side. How do they match up?" He knew, on some instinctual level, that there was a relationship between the columns of numbers, but he didn't have the basic arithmetic skills to find the answer.


You know what happened then? He got so frustrated about "not knowing this stuff because we never talk about it" that he had a melt-down and had to take a break from homework.


"Spiral reviews" are the handmaidens of the "spiral process" of mathmatics education. Simply put, rather than memorizing facts through constant repetition until a concept is mastered, and then progressing to the next concept, students climb a winding staircase from concept to concept. If the student doesn't master the lesson on the first try, it is ok, because the next "spiral" through the material will catch them - hopefully.


For example: instead of doing pages upon pages of subtraction problems until the numbers are drilled into their sub concious, the child learns basic subtraction, number placement, how to do subtraction with number placement and place holders, subtraction theory, word problem strategies, how to "flip" a subtraction problem into an addition problem, estimating answers, and greater than/less than ALL IN a one or two week course! Still cannot remember what 14-9 is? That's ok, we'll catch it when we spiral through addition, number placement, word problems, subtraction to find addition, estimation, geometry and statistics during our NEXT spiral. Maybe. If you're lucky.

I fear for the future of the republic with education strategies like this. More pressing: I fear for my sanity while I struggle to properly educate these boys.

The Homework Insanity

I think the best way to make clear the amount of homework Ethan has Monday-Thursday is to just show you. This week’s work load is typical of what we’ve had since school started. Please note that he has 3 digit number subtraction as well as basic geometry problems – and his weekly newsletter says he’s supposed to be learning his 3x multiplication tables. Nice cohesive math program, huh?

Add to this the 20-30 minutes of reading each night he is supposed to be doing for class AND his 30 minutes of “Reading Helpers” work per night.

(click on any of the images to see a full sized copy)

School Haze

School started here on August 27^th and I’m fairly certain that was just yesterday, but it might just as well have been a century. We got into a school with good test scores and class sizes, despite registering just 2.5 weeks before the start of the term. Ethan was assigned the most sought after teacher in the school and I made a friend with the mother of a boy in Ethan’s class. I should have known it was going too well.

The morning that school started we were informed that Ethan had been transferred to another teacher’s class. This was disappointing since Ethan had already met the other teacher and was very excited about knowing a child in his class. He settled into his new seat, though, and seemed to be ok with the change. Ian was literally bouncing while waiting in-line to enter his classroom. Several other kindergartners were crying and clinging to their parents, but not the Sniggett. He couldn’t wait.

Except for a small hang-up with California not accepting the Colorado IEP (Individual Education Plan) designation that Ian was given, the academic portion of Ian’s school life has been going very well. He’s been through all of the re-testing for his IEP and is continuing to receive speech therapy, literary cognitive support services (at this point that means one-on-one reading time), and occupational therapy. His teacher declares herself to be “in love” with Ian and praises his friendly, receptive attitude. Until last week she was always shocked when I laughed and told her she wasn’t getting the “treat of the full-blown “Ian Temper”.

Unfortunately, now, she has seen that he DOES have a temper. There was a boy constantly picking on Ian, and other children, during recess. The other children were running away, crying, or running to tell the teacher. Ian, however, decided he’d had enough. He turned around, clenched his little fist as hard as he could, and socked the other little boy right in the temple. I know, this is NOT the anti-bullying behavior we want to teach, but there’s still that part of me that wants to fist bump him and say “Way to stand up for yourself, son.” Sadly, Ian fighting back didn’t stop the behavior and the other child retaliated this past week. Now we have to do some serious mediation before recess turns into an all-out brawl.

Ethan is having real trouble making friends and adapting to the new school’s academic standards. Some of this we expected, since Colorado and California have different expectations for third graders and California has some… interesting… teaching methods. More on that later. What we didn’t expect was to have a teacher who flat out told me “I cannot stand it when kids fidget” and all but accused Ethan of lying when he came home upset the second week of school. There was a problem in math class that Ethan didn’t understand. Ethan, who is admittedly over-sensitive to adults’ feelings towards him, was convinced the teacher was mad at him because he didn’t know how to do division. His teacher was more concerned with convincing me that she did not “yell” at him than she was clearing up his confusion about what was expected of him. She first tried to tell me that Ethan misunderstood her and they were discussing “envision math”. But, then, I had Ethan write on the blackboard the problem he couldn’t do and he wrote 4 */* 1 = (You’ll have to translate the */* symbol into the traditional division symbol, my computer won’t let me do that one!) I said “That IS division!”. The teacher responded “Well yes, but it was just an example”.

/facepalm

I had a meeting on Tuesday the 27^th with Ethan’s teacher, the principal, the school psychologist, the speech pathologist and the occupational therapist. We enrolled Ethan in the “friendship club” to help him make new friends and learn social skills. He will get additional reading comprehension and phonetic awareness classes twice a week. I informed the principal and the OT that Ethan HAS to do some type of “fidget behavior” in order to help him process sensory feedback and to improve his focus. We outlined a few steps we can take and I made it clear that the teacher telling him to sit on his hands was NOT acceptable. We’ll see how he does.

I’ve also started a home-school math, grammar and literacy program for both boys, to ensure that they are receiving the kind of instruction they need.

Montana

After leaving the canyon area on the east side of the park, we drove west until we hit the Montana border. The scenery was spectacular:

Traffic was a nightmare, though!


This little one was smart enough to stay out of the road.


His older relatives decided it was their road and they'd cross it when they pleased. Really, it's hard to argue with something that big.



Twice during this part of the drive we stopped on the side of the road because crowds had gathered reporting a bear sighting. Sadly, we didn't see any bears. Not, that is, until we were driving back to the hotel. At dusk in Grand Tetons park we rounded a bend in the road shaded by pines and this little fellow was loping along:

This is a juvenile black bear. Notice that we were intelligent tourists and did not get out of the car to see the bear that was was five, or fewer, feet away.

After taking this shot I looked up and realized just HOW close the bear was outside my car window. He was skittish and as soon as an RV pulled up, the bear ran off into the trees.

Now having been to Estes Park countless times since we moved to Colorado, we're sort of jaded when it comes to elk and we saw a lot of elk on our trip to Yellowstone. These guys were so pretty, though, we had to stop to take a few shots.

Lakes, canyons, waterfalls!

Our second full day in Yellowstone National Park was so busy that I'm going to have to use two posts to cover it all. We started out with another pancake-less breakfast, but much better prepared for the weather conditions. The first stop was to get the obligatory family picture:

Then it was north-east on the Lower Loop road to Yellowstone Lake. The wind off the lake was cold, but we were bundled up in fleece and hoodies.

We stopped at the Lake Lodge for lunch. Ian enjoyed exploring:


We had intended to go on a short hike to the natural bridge rock formation near Yellowstone Lake, but the trail was closed due to bear activity:

So, we abandoned that hike for longer walks through the "Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone". The Yellowstone River flows through this deep gorge with layers of colorful rock down each side.


Ian needed "just a wittle west" (a little rest).

The incredibly photogenic Lower Falls of the Yellowstone river captivated us for over an hour.

Mark hates heights, so the gorge and falls were his least favorite part of the trip. He was a trooper, though, and posed for a billion pictures.


Ethan took this lovely photo of the canyon.

The sides are extremely steep in places. Even I got vertigo, looking down this decline.


Most of the trees were stubby pines. This one, though, stuck in my head as "Tenedor del Diablo" (the Devil's Fork):

More to come!

Yellowstone - Geyser day

Thursday June 16^th

Mark came home from San Francisco on Wednesday. After everything that has gone on with the house, we knew we both needed a vacation. We set things up with the realtor so folks could come in and see the house while we were gone, mowed the lawn, cleaned, and packed.

Thursday morning we headed out. Google maps told me it would be a nine hour drive from our house in Superior to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We stopped several times for food, gas, and bathroom breaks. We also hit nasty storms outside of Laramie and Rawlins, Wyoming.

This picture is of the clouds rolling past us in Laramie.

We also hit snow once we entered the mountain passes just south of Jackson. It was 84 degrees when we left Superior and at 6pm we were braving a snowstorm!

We stayed at the Best Western “The Lodge” in Jackson. The hotel has a whimsical exterior with bears and raccoons climbing the balconies and posts both inside and out. Our room wasn’t anything spectacular, but definitely comfortable enough for the four of us.

We ate dinner at "The Gun Barrel Steak and Game House". This was by far the best meal we had on our vacation. It was expensive, but the bison was incredibly tender, the kids loved their food, and the service was extremely attentive. If you are ever in Jackson Hole, I highly recommend a stop here for dinner!

Friday June 17^th

The best feature of our hotel, in Ethan’s opinion, was that it had a breakfast buffet. Sadly, though, there weren’t any pancakes. Ethan considers any breakfast not including pancakes to be sacrilegious! We filled up as best we could with cereal, fruit, eggs and bacon and then piled in the car.

On highway 191 north out of Jackson we first encountered the “National Elk Refugee”. This is a wide open floodplain. The high country snow pack was abnormally deep this year, and late to melt. The grasslands of the refuge were mostly marsh from the overflowing rivers.

Once we left the elk refuge we entered Grand Teton National Park. Just around the frist bend we had to stop because the road was blocked by cars and pedestrians. A park ranger was directing traffic. We got out of the car to see what everyone was looking at. Look what we found!

This fellow was the first of many bison we would see on our trip.

The Tetons peeked in and out of the clouds all day long.

Sixty miles north of Jackson we entered Yellowstone National Park. The southern part of the park is comprised of mountains at 7,000 – 9,000 feet above sea level. There was a deep gorge on our right side with pine trees and snow on the left. The road crosses the Continental Divide three or four times on this stretch. This is also part of the park that burned during the 1988 wildfires. There are still a few tall, dead, pines but most of the trees are four to five feet tall. We found out, later, that lodgepole pines actually re-seed better in high heat conditions. The wildfires help new trees grow by releasing seedpods and by taking out older trees that would otherwise block out the sunlight.

I designated Friday as “geyser” day. We drove straight to the Old Faithful Lodge and parked. We had to make a stop at the gift shop to pick up fleece sweatshirts and hats- it was only about 48 degrees Fahrenheit. We ate lunch at the cafeteria while we waited for the next scheduled eruption of Old Faithful.

Steam rises out of the geyser pretty regularly. Ian and Ethan both kept asking it if was erupting yet. We finally assured them that they would KNOW when Old Faithful erupted. Boy, did they ever! Their little mouths fell open in awe.

After Old Faithful was done giving us a show we walked along the paths between the different hot springs and geysers in the area. Ethan liked picking out animal tracks in the mud and bacterial mats beside the path. He also enjoyed using the binoculars to look at the bison herd across the valley.

Ian ran around giggling and trying to avoid the clouds of steam. The steam warmed us up but it reeked of sulfur! We passed pools that were brilliant blue, disgusting yellow trails of minerals and bacteria snaking down the hill, and puddles that boiled.

The Lion Geyser Group gave us a surprise show, erupting right as we walked by.

These bison were right beside the road.

After our walk we piled back in the van and drove up to the Grand Prismatic Spring area. The spring itself was a disappointment because the steam and fog cloud covered its beautiful colors. Nearby, though, is the Excelsior geyser. When active, this geyser is the largest in the world. It last erupted in 1987 but before that it was very active in the 1880’s. The eruptions were so violent that they dug out a massive crater and damaged the “plumbing” so that the geyser is more of a hot spring, now. 4,000 gallons of water per MINUTE boil out of the springs and flow into the Firehole River. The boys were VERY impressed with the Excelsior Geyser.

By the time we drove back to Jackson it was 8pm. We were all starving and tired. The guidebook recommended “The Million Dollar Cowboy Steakhouse”. I have to say, this meal was horrible. The food was tasteless and over-cooked, the service atrocious, the restaurant crowded, and the price outrageous. Save your money, don’t go here for dinner.

It was too late to visit the pool, so we all collapsed in our beds.

Vacation

The house still has not sold. The boys have no summer activities because it didn't make sense to sign them up, and pay for, swim lessons or soccer when we had no idea how long we'd be in town. Mark is coming home once every 2-3 weeks, but only for long weekends. I somehow sprained my thumb and have to spend a week with it in a splint.

Know what all that means?

VACATION.

As in, we desperately needed one. So, we're off to Yellowstone for a week.

Hopefully the house sells while we are gone.

Alone

Mark left April 2^nd to start work in California. The boys and I will be here until school is out and the house sells.

I’ve been busy taking care of all the “little” things that needed to be done before the house could go on the market. Those little things included packing up the clutter, moving boxes out of the closets and basement, straightening the garage, having the deck re-painted, having the windows cleaned, cleaning the whole house and… oh yeah, losing my mind. That last part wasn’t hard at all.

We were supposed to have a “preview” showing on Saturday morning. I worked my butt off all day Thursday and Friday trying to get everything ready. The boys and I left the house on Saturday morning with fingers and toes crossed that all would go well. I didn’t hear anything the rest of the day or on Sunday. Today I emailed the realtor to ask if there was any feedback. He responded “We didn’t see the house, the screen door was locked and we couldn’t get in.”

Sigh

The house goes on the market Wednesday. I hope we are ready.

The boys have been alternately sad and bat-shit insane since Mark left. Ethan smarted-off to me while the realtor was here last week. He failed his last spelling test in spectacular fashion. Ian left the house and ran down the street this morning after I specifically forbade him to go outside.

Mark will be home on Wednesday for a long weekend. I can’t wait.

Losing It

Things that have made me totally LOSE MY MIND in the past 24 hours:

1. Two SPAWNLINGS playing baseball with ROCKS in front of the sliding glass door. The sliding glass door attached to the house I have to put on the market in 2.5 weeks.
2. The 101 fever my husband came home with- again
3. Finding out that Fremont California has awesome! award winning! Fantastic! schools- but they are overcrowded so there’s a large possibility that your child will get bussed to the craptastical ghetto school on the other side of town.
4. Realizing that there’s no fraking way I can pay $3500/month in rent unless I sell my body to science

(Science would so totally want my body, y’all. I have flabbergasted ER physicians with not one but TWO never-heard-of-before drug allergies in the past 4 weeks. Anaphylactic shock is the BOMB, dude!)

5. Realizing that taking the boys to the beach to show them the AWESOME that is California is going to be totally foiled by the FOG and RAIN that is San Francisco weather this coming weekend.
6. The “stager” and her instance on re-painting my house.
   

(Am fine now, in case you care. Won’t be taking any fancy medication for ANY ailment, though. Not worth the misery.)

7. Told they couldn’t play baseball with rocks, spawnlings decided to sword fight with the new fake tree in the basement ( another bright idea of the stager-lady). Trees are only worthy opponents in old-school MUDs.
8. Informed boys we were riding on an airplane to California! Fun! Ethan replies “Can’t we just got to Nana’s instead?”
9. Is after 10pm and Ian just came downstairs for the 4^th time.

(Ding Dongs (the snack cakes, you perverts) are wrapped in foil, again. That is fascinating me. That is how sad my life is now. Ding dongs in foil. It’s not even as funny as dicks in the mail.)

Wagons Westward- Again

Last Tuesday I attended a PTA meeting where I happily volunteered to help coordinate volunteers for the Fall Fling and considered serving as the Kindergarten PTA rep. After the meeting several of us went out for drinks and I happily told my table-mates how much we loved Superior.

“There’s no way I would consider moving from here,” I said.

Oops

Wednesday night Mark went out to dinner with his boss Lance and company executives from headquarters in California. He came home and said “They want to move us all to California- now.” We knew this was a possibility ever since the company split. We were hoping that Mark and Lance could convince the big boss that it made more sense to keep them in Colorado- where everything is cheaper.

Unfortunately, the company number crunchers believe it would be cheaper in the long run to move everyone to San Mateo, California. I’m not sure how they are making that math work; maybe it’s special California math. I know the math certainly doesn’t work for us. Housing is ridiculously expensive out there. We’ll probably lose some of the money we put in this house, since we’ve only been here a year. The cost of living in California, (gas, groceries, healthcare, taxes) is much higher.

We LOVE Colorado. We love the weather, even the snow in May. We love Superior Elementary. Ethan is happy and making so much progress this year. He loves his Cub Scout den and his soccer teammates. Ian is very excited about starting “Bubba’s school” in the fall. We love that the kids can walk to school and soccer practice and that we live on a quiet cul-de-sac. Ski resorts are an hour’s drive, gorgeous hikes are available right across the hill, Denver and Boulder offer wonderful culture opportunities we’ve barely had a chance to explore, and we were looking forward to traveling to Dinosaur National Monument and Yellowstone Park.

In the end, though, we have to go where the jobs are. This is a great opportunity for Mark to move, with his company paying for it, to an area where there are other game companies. He loves his career and he’s well established in his field. As hard as it will be for me to find a job in the ultra-liberal San Francisco area, I cannot ask Mark to give up the career he’s been working so hard on for the past 10 years.

Our boys don’t know about the move, yet. We’re planning on taking them to San Francisco this weekend on a family vacation and making a grand adventure of it. Then we will tell them about the move and hope that having an idea of the joys California will hold for them will somehow lessen the pain of another move.

We’ll be putting the house on the market in April. Mark will have to go out to California and work while we finish school here in Colorado. I’ve got to clean and pack, fix the little things around the house, gather up tax forms, school records and medical forms. I’ve got another 1,000 mile trip to plan (we’ll make an adventure of the final drive from Colorado to California just as we did the drive from Virginia to Colorado.)

I need to shepherd the always anxious Ethan through another emotional upheaval and make sure that Ian isn’t ignored in the process. I also have to be there for my friend Beth who is going through this move too, and is just as heartbroken as I am.

I probably will rant and cry and throw a few more temper tantrums about the great unfairness of life in general and moving specifically. I will probably lose my temper with the boys when they spill something on the carpet or empty the toy box ten minutes before a showing. I will, inevitably, lose my patience with movers, the human resources department, and school boards who do not meet my time schedules and deadlines.

But, I’ll also be with my husband who loves me and two boys who can find adventure in a simple sunset.

After all we’ve survived, I don’t think California will present any challenges we cannot overcome.

Wolf

Ethan's Cub Scout pack had two special visitors last night. Ethan has been working on earning his Wolf Scout badge this year. Last night was his awards ceremony and there to celebrate with him were two real wolves!

Nico from "Canyon Critters" brought Harper ( 9 year old male) and Lupa (adolescent female) to the pack meeting. Lupa is still too skittish, and she "nips", to be petted. Harper, however, lounged on the furniture and let the boys man-handle him.

Harper was very curious about the "wolf totem" (which was actually a coyote pelt).

My, what big teeth you have, Lupa.

Harper checked out the fire pit several times before relaxing again.


That little boy with his head turned, trying to figure out where I've gone? That's my Wolf.

House of Pie

It's COLD here. No, I mean REALLY cold- so cold that school has been canceled for 2 days straight. Also, I've had what the doctor so helpfully termed "either a really bad virus or food poisoning" for about two weeks now, so food is most definitely my enemy.

But if food wasn't so evil, I would be spending all my hours with this:


That's my birthday present: a Breville Personal Pie Maker. It is officially the Best.Gift.Ever. Pictured here are my first attempts at home-made chicken pot pies.


Mark declared them yummy.

As soon as I feel like eating real food again, I'm going to be further experimenting with all manner of things pie.

Ian's recap

Ian didn't get to go camping or skiing, but he has had several months of varying adventures.

Playing in our first real snowfall of the season. It has been an unusually dry and warm winter here.

He loves this toy, especially when he can get 5 cars racing at the same time.


Christmas doughnuts!


Right before he destroyed the leaf pile his Daddy had carefully constructed.

At his friend Alec's birthday part. That is his classmate Body beside him, with Nathan across from him.

This is what happens when he gets to play in the backyard with his hot-wheels cars.