Transforming Children’s Anger With Empathy Listening
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Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday, November 23, 2009
Right where you are...
The past couple of weeks question of "what grade are you in" has popped up. My 7 year old has a cousin who is his age and she is in 2nd grade, so he likes to consider himself as a 2nd grader. The 6 year old thinks that Kindergarten sounds cool and that's what he says when people ask. I have told them that they can say they are homeschoolers, but it seems that they have learned that adults feel the need to "quiz" them. They make it clear with their expressions that they are not trained seals and usually the adult gives up the silly questions.
My 7yr old has been working on reading and we had a really good time with sentence structure and the use of periods as sentence stoppers. Math and science have been his biggest loves lately and he and the 6yr old take great pride in paying for their purchases at the gas station themselves. Which leads me to a tiny rant...we (myself and our 4 boys - DH stayed in the car) went inside a convenience store on Friday night and the decision regarding what non-sticky/chewy candy each of them should buy usually takes FOREVER, but makes them very happy when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that there was someone watching us. I looked over and noticed the cashier was standing there watching us and I was ticked off to say the least. I mentioned to the boys that we were being watched and that it was time to make our way to the counter. Once we reached the counter, the cashier was very rude and ordered us to place all our items on the counter. I explained to him that the 2 oldest boys would be paying for their items themselves and it was important to them to do so. Typically that gets a big thumbs up from the person working and they are glad to help out with the math lesson. Not so much with this guy. The 6yr old made his purchase with exact change, but when the 7yr old handed over the $1.20 for $1.18 purchase, he received no change. I questioned the cashier and he replied, "Does he need it?" to which I replied, "Yes, sir. It is his money." Not exactly what I was thinking in my head, but much nicer said outloud.
Then I had to have a conversation about being on point with the boys. It's already a crazy world, but as homeschoolers we are a pretty laid back family. My sons are fairly easy going and think the best of people. They are always surprised when people are rude. I had to explain to them that people have prejudices that we aren't always prepared for, but need to be. Because we were a family of young children at the candy isle, this person assumed we would be more likely to steal. If my husband would have been in there, it is possible that he would have had an issue with him because of race. Anyway, it is really hard to balance being a nice person with being prepared for other people's baggage...
Ok, enough of that and back to some cool stuff.
We examined a grasshopper yesterday and found (and picked up) a cool caterpillar that I need to research and find out more about it. Cool website for those with nature loving families is www.acornnaturalists.com
Enjoy these beautiful fall days and hug your family!
Peace & Blessings.
My 7yr old has been working on reading and we had a really good time with sentence structure and the use of periods as sentence stoppers. Math and science have been his biggest loves lately and he and the 6yr old take great pride in paying for their purchases at the gas station themselves. Which leads me to a tiny rant...we (myself and our 4 boys - DH stayed in the car) went inside a convenience store on Friday night and the decision regarding what non-sticky/chewy candy each of them should buy usually takes FOREVER, but makes them very happy when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that there was someone watching us. I looked over and noticed the cashier was standing there watching us and I was ticked off to say the least. I mentioned to the boys that we were being watched and that it was time to make our way to the counter. Once we reached the counter, the cashier was very rude and ordered us to place all our items on the counter. I explained to him that the 2 oldest boys would be paying for their items themselves and it was important to them to do so. Typically that gets a big thumbs up from the person working and they are glad to help out with the math lesson. Not so much with this guy. The 6yr old made his purchase with exact change, but when the 7yr old handed over the $1.20 for $1.18 purchase, he received no change. I questioned the cashier and he replied, "Does he need it?" to which I replied, "Yes, sir. It is his money." Not exactly what I was thinking in my head, but much nicer said outloud.
Then I had to have a conversation about being on point with the boys. It's already a crazy world, but as homeschoolers we are a pretty laid back family. My sons are fairly easy going and think the best of people. They are always surprised when people are rude. I had to explain to them that people have prejudices that we aren't always prepared for, but need to be. Because we were a family of young children at the candy isle, this person assumed we would be more likely to steal. If my husband would have been in there, it is possible that he would have had an issue with him because of race. Anyway, it is really hard to balance being a nice person with being prepared for other people's baggage...
Ok, enough of that and back to some cool stuff.
We examined a grasshopper yesterday and found (and picked up) a cool caterpillar that I need to research and find out more about it. Cool website for those with nature loving families is www.acornnaturalists.com
Enjoy these beautiful fall days and hug your family!
Peace & Blessings.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The Joy of being autodidact!
Life has been hectic, but learning continues everyday! WKRP (7) has been teaching himself how to read and at a pretty rapid rate. It's amazing how fast he can pick up words that he has seen on billboards and tv, etc. DAP (6) is having a little bit of trouble with attention more so than the words as he is reading some easy books that I printed out for him. A good site to access some free books is www.readinga-z.com.
Money and time are also big topics for all 4 boys. They love being able to count out their change at the convenience store and buy something. Although sometimes the decision as to what to buy can take up 15 minutes as they determine price and volume of each item. So needless to say, we try NOT to be in a hurry on those trips!
I am hoping that after our move we will be able to set up an area that is just for their books/workbooks/art stuff. I think it would be helpful for the boys to have an area that is just for them and they can control what happens in that space.
Wanted to share this quote as I enjoy Jung's theories:
If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves. ~C.G. Jung, Integration of the Personality, 1939
Peace & Blessings.
Money and time are also big topics for all 4 boys. They love being able to count out their change at the convenience store and buy something. Although sometimes the decision as to what to buy can take up 15 minutes as they determine price and volume of each item. So needless to say, we try NOT to be in a hurry on those trips!
I am hoping that after our move we will be able to set up an area that is just for their books/workbooks/art stuff. I think it would be helpful for the boys to have an area that is just for them and they can control what happens in that space.
Wanted to share this quote as I enjoy Jung's theories:
If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves. ~C.G. Jung, Integration of the Personality, 1939
Peace & Blessings.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Crafty mamas (and dads) and a swap idea
I am a crafty mama with a similarly crafty husband and sons. We come up with all kinds of ideas to create items and especially love to use recycled materials. But it is always great to find sites and blogs for inspiration. Check out http://www.skiptomylou.org/ and there are instructions for a juice pouch pencil case and a crayon roll. Two ways to organize our tools and a wonderful way to transport those tools while in the car!!!
Also, as we who unschool/homeschool are always looking for frugal ways to take care of our families...anyone interested in participating in a swap (clothes, small housewares, books etc) in a couple of weeks? Just need a popular location where we can all meet up and the ability to pass the word out to other families. Any takers?
Also, as we who unschool/homeschool are always looking for frugal ways to take care of our families...anyone interested in participating in a swap (clothes, small housewares, books etc) in a couple of weeks? Just need a popular location where we can all meet up and the ability to pass the word out to other families. Any takers?
Youth friendly theater productions
I have heard good things about this theater company and my boys enjoyed a production they saw last Spring. Here is the upcoming schedule located at http://www.interactivetheater.org/on_stage.html
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