In the Bible, Numbers 32:23 says, "But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out". In essence, even if you think no one will know, the Lord knows, and what you did will eventually be revealed.
Rachel and Samantha spent the last week at my mom and dad's. My parent's needed a distraction from some anxious events this week, and Rachel and Samantha's misbehavior on Monday provided an opportunity to send my parents a distraction that included some slave labor. Mom put them to work weeding gardens, moving rocks, and planting trees and shrubs, all the while subjecting them to lectures about "not making your parents crazy because you still need them sane for a few more years.
While they were away, eggs that Samantha had placed in the incubator because she had, "forgotten to collect them for a few days," hatched. Now, it takes 21 days for chicks to hatch, and the eggs were in the incubator for about 8 days. You do the math. Either we have miraculous chickens laying miraculous eggs or, Samantha is lying about how long she neglected her coop. Your sin will find you out.
This week we had a young friend visit us for a few hours. She wanted to play in Samantha's room, but it was quite messy. Sam and our young friend cleaned up her room and found empty wrappers of various snacks tucked in corners and other hidden places. Your sin will find you out.
While with my parents, mom asked Rachel to do some math while they were shopping, and she struggled with it, ending up using her fingers to do the calculations. Upon interrogation by my mother it was revealed that there has been some cheating on math work. Your sin will find you out.
I decided to do a little checking on our Netflix account in light of my mom's revelation regarding schoolwork. It seems my students have become well versed in various TV shows during times when TV is not allowed. Computer history checks also revealed they are spending quite a bit of time on internet games. Thankfully none of them were anything bad, but certainly they didn't involve math facts or fraction usage. Your sin will find you out.
So in light of all this, some new barn rules are in place, snack purchases will be curtailed, the WiFi USB is securely hidden, the Netflix account has been terminated, and they have a new memory verse to learn. Life as they have known it is gone. Welcome to the new normal girls!
Showing posts with label Samantha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Samantha. Show all posts
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Friday, May 3, 2013
Track Meet
Rachel and Samantha are running on the track team this year.
They both run the 100 meter. Rachel does the long jump and Samantha does the shotput and the discus.
They both run the 100 meter. Rachel does the long jump and Samantha does the shotput and the discus.
Friday, April 3, 2009
The Parent/Teacher Conferences
In the disaster that was this past week, we had several events happen upon which I should elaborate. For today, I will cover Rachel and Samantha's Parent/Teacher conferences.
Rachel's was first. I met with Mrs. Orlando for a few minutes while we waited for the special education entourage to make their way down to the multiage wing. She told me what a delight Rachel is in the classroom and how she always wants to help. Mrs. Orlando described how last Thursday she had announced to the class that she would be absent on the next day and discussed appropriate class behavior. A little while into the day, Rachel approached her and asked, "When you're absent, which kids should I keep an eye on for you?" I'd say she's feeling comfortable in the classroom!
Once the special education teachers arrived we sat down to discuss Rachel's progress. All are in agreement that there has been some really great gains in many areas. She still has things to improve and work on and some areas are slow in coming along, but there are signs of progress, even in those areas. Her speech and language has improved by leaps and her math has finally seemed to really click. Her reading and spelling are making good gains, while her gross and fine motor are still not quite there. All the teachers were quick to tell me how sweet Rachel is, how she takes direction well, and is a hard worker.
Once Mrs. Orlando and I were alone again, we discussed third grade for Rachel. It turns out the upper multiage classrooms are run differently than the lower multiage. Rachel will the majority of her time with one of the teachers for her major subjects instead of switching teachers after several weeks. This means that Rachel and Samantha will be in the classroom together next year. Everyone agrees it shouldn't be a problem as Rachel and Samantha are as thick as thieves the majority of the time and when they aren't together, they still get along well.
Samantha's conference was next. I was ready to push for services and testing as I believe Samantha's struggles, while not as severe as Rachel's, exist because of some of the same issues as Rachel. Samantha's teacher explained that she had already had a meeting regarding Samantha and getting some interventions put into place for her. At that point Samantha's reading support teacher came into the room. She showed how Samantha can read, but she adds in or takes out extra words as she reads. The words she adds or subtracts do not change the meaning of the story but they are not the words on the page. (I call it editing!)
She has excellent comprehension and if we ignored the ommissions and additions, she would be reading on a much higher level. The reading teacher was very much supportive of my insistence that we not wait for the intervention process. It would take too long and we would be into late May before we could even try to get testing done (they won't test that late anyway, which puts us back at the beginning of the process again in September). She even made some suggestions to Samantha's teacher that she should send an email to the OT/PT teacher for an unofficial classroom observation of Samantha. The results of which could be used at the next meeting to advocate for additional testing. I announced that I wanted to be notified of that meeting and would be in attendance. The reading specialist advocated for the classroom teacher to put in the request for the meeting immediately so as to get a date in mid April rather than late May. I am hoping Samantha's teacher has done all those things. I will be sending an email on Monday morning to ask just that question. The meeting ended and I again thanked Samantha's teacher for her patience, telling her I understand how difficult Samantha can be.
I am so thankful that my girls have teachers who are diligent and supportive of them and our family. I am thankful for teachers who even after they have retired, are still advocating for and supporting us.
Rachel's was first. I met with Mrs. Orlando for a few minutes while we waited for the special education entourage to make their way down to the multiage wing. She told me what a delight Rachel is in the classroom and how she always wants to help. Mrs. Orlando described how last Thursday she had announced to the class that she would be absent on the next day and discussed appropriate class behavior. A little while into the day, Rachel approached her and asked, "When you're absent, which kids should I keep an eye on for you?" I'd say she's feeling comfortable in the classroom!
Once the special education teachers arrived we sat down to discuss Rachel's progress. All are in agreement that there has been some really great gains in many areas. She still has things to improve and work on and some areas are slow in coming along, but there are signs of progress, even in those areas. Her speech and language has improved by leaps and her math has finally seemed to really click. Her reading and spelling are making good gains, while her gross and fine motor are still not quite there. All the teachers were quick to tell me how sweet Rachel is, how she takes direction well, and is a hard worker.
Once Mrs. Orlando and I were alone again, we discussed third grade for Rachel. It turns out the upper multiage classrooms are run differently than the lower multiage. Rachel will the majority of her time with one of the teachers for her major subjects instead of switching teachers after several weeks. This means that Rachel and Samantha will be in the classroom together next year. Everyone agrees it shouldn't be a problem as Rachel and Samantha are as thick as thieves the majority of the time and when they aren't together, they still get along well.
Samantha's conference was next. I was ready to push for services and testing as I believe Samantha's struggles, while not as severe as Rachel's, exist because of some of the same issues as Rachel. Samantha's teacher explained that she had already had a meeting regarding Samantha and getting some interventions put into place for her. At that point Samantha's reading support teacher came into the room. She showed how Samantha can read, but she adds in or takes out extra words as she reads. The words she adds or subtracts do not change the meaning of the story but they are not the words on the page. (I call it editing!)
She has excellent comprehension and if we ignored the ommissions and additions, she would be reading on a much higher level. The reading teacher was very much supportive of my insistence that we not wait for the intervention process. It would take too long and we would be into late May before we could even try to get testing done (they won't test that late anyway, which puts us back at the beginning of the process again in September). She even made some suggestions to Samantha's teacher that she should send an email to the OT/PT teacher for an unofficial classroom observation of Samantha. The results of which could be used at the next meeting to advocate for additional testing. I announced that I wanted to be notified of that meeting and would be in attendance. The reading specialist advocated for the classroom teacher to put in the request for the meeting immediately so as to get a date in mid April rather than late May. I am hoping Samantha's teacher has done all those things. I will be sending an email on Monday morning to ask just that question. The meeting ended and I again thanked Samantha's teacher for her patience, telling her I understand how difficult Samantha can be.
I am so thankful that my girls have teachers who are diligent and supportive of them and our family. I am thankful for teachers who even after they have retired, are still advocating for and supporting us.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Maybe Not Mother of the Year
I think I just lost my contention for "Mother of the Year"!
Yesterday, I arrived home from work around 3:20PM, after also running to the town library (to return overdue books, again!) and the bank. I sat down to deal with mail and homeschool papers. Twenty minutes later, Rachel and Samantha arrive from school and all the girls are sent outside to take care of the animals. I begin working on the 4-H meeting agenda in preparation for the meeting last night.
The plan was: as soon as the animals were taken care of, we would eat quick sandwiches and then head to the grocery store (my list had grown to about 30 items that we needed!) before the 4-H meeting. As I said, that was the plan.
Around 4:15 I hear loud crying and it's coming closer to the house from outside. Rachel bursts in the back door, yelling that Samantha fell and is "reaallyy bleeding," with all the drama that only Rachel can muster. So of course, I jump up and open the back door to see Samantha, literally covered in blood. Her head, runnning into her eyes, the front of her coat, her hands and her arms are covered. Samantha manages to tell me that she hit her head on a log. I look at her head and see that all that blood has come from a deep laceration just above her eye.
So why am I not Mother of the Year? Because my first words to Samantha are: "I really don't have time for this today." The look on her face was something akin to "Um, Mom? Do you see what I look like?" I then started issuing orders for a towel, ice pack, and washcloth. I phoned my other 4-H volunteers to see if they could cover the meeting since emergency visits are never quick and (of course) Sam was at work. I cleaned Samantha up of the majority of blood, stopped the bleeding on her head and gave her the freeze pop ice pack (hey, dual-purpose: after the injury is dealt with, she gets a treat!) to hold to her head while I drove her to the walk-in clinic.
Amazingly, they took her in right away and put in three stitches. She was very brave and held very still while the doctor put in the novicain. We were out of there by 5:30! So we made it to the 4-H meeting and the rest of the evening went off without a hitch. Except, I am still out of milk, bread, cheese, and baking powder.
Yesterday, I arrived home from work around 3:20PM, after also running to the town library (to return overdue books, again!) and the bank. I sat down to deal with mail and homeschool papers. Twenty minutes later, Rachel and Samantha arrive from school and all the girls are sent outside to take care of the animals. I begin working on the 4-H meeting agenda in preparation for the meeting last night.
The plan was: as soon as the animals were taken care of, we would eat quick sandwiches and then head to the grocery store (my list had grown to about 30 items that we needed!) before the 4-H meeting. As I said, that was the plan.
Around 4:15 I hear loud crying and it's coming closer to the house from outside. Rachel bursts in the back door, yelling that Samantha fell and is "reaallyy bleeding," with all the drama that only Rachel can muster. So of course, I jump up and open the back door to see Samantha, literally covered in blood. Her head, runnning into her eyes, the front of her coat, her hands and her arms are covered. Samantha manages to tell me that she hit her head on a log. I look at her head and see that all that blood has come from a deep laceration just above her eye.
So why am I not Mother of the Year? Because my first words to Samantha are: "I really don't have time for this today." The look on her face was something akin to "Um, Mom? Do you see what I look like?" I then started issuing orders for a towel, ice pack, and washcloth. I phoned my other 4-H volunteers to see if they could cover the meeting since emergency visits are never quick and (of course) Sam was at work. I cleaned Samantha up of the majority of blood, stopped the bleeding on her head and gave her the freeze pop ice pack (hey, dual-purpose: after the injury is dealt with, she gets a treat!) to hold to her head while I drove her to the walk-in clinic.
Amazingly, they took her in right away and put in three stitches. She was very brave and held very still while the doctor put in the novicain. We were out of there by 5:30! So we made it to the 4-H meeting and the rest of the evening went off without a hitch. Except, I am still out of milk, bread, cheese, and baking powder.
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