Summer Fun--and Frustration!

I wish summer could be carefree and fun. But the girls' school assigns summer work. For most kids, it's probably no big deal. For mine, it means a summer of frustration. In fairness to the girls, I have Kaleb do the same summer Bridge Book Kayla does.

The bridge books are a good idea, but my kids don't just sit down and do them. We had hours and hours in the car driving to New Orleans and back, and to Indiana and back. FL to IN is 16 hours one way. If they were focused, they could have the whole book done. 

The skills in the book are supposed to be ones all fourth graders learned in the previous year, but that isn't always true. Some of the pages were super easy, others had math problems that I had to sit down and figure out how to do.

It's set up to do a two page section a day--if you have 100 days of summer. We don't. Plus Kaleb was at camp for a full week. 

Jasmine just finished her second week of band camp 10-4 & 6-9. She has to read Fahrenheit 451 and do some journal activities with it. She also has a math pack that she can't do because she wasn't in regular 8th grade math last year.

So it's a summer long struggle for us.

But we make time for other things. Scuba, snorkeling, swimming, running, movies, reading for fun, crafts, frozen yogurt etc.

We meet for family circle time every day. All of us wrote out a wish list/goal list for the summer. One of mine was to read 100 picture books to the kids this summer. You are never too old for picture books and never too old to be read to. So we read picture books, plus we just finished Journey to the Center of the Earth and are starting the Prince and the Pauper. We read the Wizard of Oz earlier in the summer. We talk about character traits, find verses about them and watch videos such as The Book of Virtues, do The Christian Girl's Guide to the Bible and talk about long term and short term goals in circle. It's a no fault, no penalty zone. Sometimes that takes a lot of determination on my part.  

The twins just finished their workbooks. We have two weeks until we go back to school. Next week is play week. The Missoula children's theater group travels to different places and does a play in a week with the local kids. On Monday morning the kids try out. For those who make it, rehearsals start immediately. They practice all week, and perform the play on Friday night.

So if the kids get parts, that will take up the whole week because the script has to be memorized in the evenings. We've tried out the last two years. (I didn't know about it before that). The first year Jasmine and Kayla were in it. The second year only Jasmine got a part. This year the play is The Little Mermaid, and I hope they all get a part. They always do their own version of a fairy tale. Last  year was Hansel and Gretel, and the witch was a vegetarian.

The final week of summer vacation we plan to skate, bowl, swim, snorkel, watch DVDs, read, finish up projects and do some new crafts.

In upcoming posts, I'll share some of the kid's summer goals and their thoughts on summer.

Summer Reading-Start Now

This is my last post about summer reading other than to share what we are reading. Probably the most important book for kids going into 6th or 7th grades is this one:

Please don't let the cover keep you from buying it! It is for boys and girls, all colors!! There is a lot of good stuff in it. Students younger than 6th grade can benefit from it too, because it covers important topics for any student. 

Here is the information from the publisher's website:
Who is this product for? 
Middle school: a fun, sometimes chaotic existence where students discover who they are, what they want, and how to survive. This survival manual with a strong Christian emphasis is a must read for every student entering middle school, along with their parents and youth group leaders. 

What does this provide for you? 
• Practical tips and ideas for success.

• Real-life stories to remind students they are not alone.

• Quizzes and questions to help students actively survive middle school.

What is it?
Entering the world of middle school is scary and exciting. But with a little help from a book called The Middle School Survival Manual, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. This book is written in a straightforward, conversational style to pique students’ interests and guide them through their days as a middle schooler. 

With the manual, middle schoolers will learn to:
• Give grades a boost
• Make testing as easy as 1, 2, 3
• Face life in a new school    
• Set goals
• Deal with old and new friends
• Live their faith at school
• Plan their own activities
• And lots more!

Students learn not only how to survive but how to make each day great because God is with them. It’s also a great read for parents and youth leaders to understand what they’re students are experiencing and to help inspire conversation.  

PLEASE TRY YOUR LOCAL CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE FIRST. If they don't carry my books, you can order this through the publisher HERE  or through amazon HERE

I have three daily devotion books through Tyndale. Two of them are One-Year books, but you can jump in anywhere. So if you start reading them tomorrow, just start on June 9th's devotion and read until next June 8. The other has 100 undated devotions.

 Starring Women of the Bible will help girls ages 10-14 learn about more than seventy-five Old and New Testament women and the issues they faced. Those issues included many of the ones the readers are facing today: dealing with change, struggling with jealousy, overcoming obstacles, sibling rivalry, fear, purity and more. This book can be used individually or in a small group situation. Each day has a "Thinking it Through" feature and girls may want to keep a journal of their thoughts. You can order it through amazon HERE

 Bible Trivia, is for both boys and girls ages 8-12.Each devotion starts with a trivia question from the Bible. Readers choose an answer, and then read the devotion to learn the answer. The "For You" feature helps the reader apply the information to his or her own life. In one years' time, boys and girls will learn important truths from Genesis to Revelation. A fun way to learn more about the Bible. You can order it through amazon HERE CAUTION: I've noticed that there are some other copies of my books being listed on amazon that are through other places selling them and charging two or three times the real price.

This book is for girls 7-11 although the content will hold the interest of girls up to 13 years old. This devotion book shows girls that living as God's princess begins with knowing they're a child of the Heavenly King. One hundred devotions are each based on favorite Scripture verse and talk about a topic relevant to today's girls. Topics include claiming God's promises, finding peace, knowing God has a special plan for them, how to grow in faith, following the Shepherd, inner beauty, loving those hard to love and lots more. Each devotion contains both an interesting story or information and practical applications to daily life. You can order it through amazon HERE

But no matter what you choose to read, please read with your kids this summer. We have a goal to read 125 picture books this summer (no picture books aren't just for preschool children!!) plus the classics we are reading in circle as well as The Christian Girl's Guide to the Bible and The Christian Girl's Guide to Me: The Quiz Book. If we have time left (doubtful), we are going to read The Middle School Survival Manual.

Kid Updates part 2

Jasmine
Jasmine had MPA (Music Performance Assessment) on Saturday. Thirty two bands from our county and surrounding counties played for judges to get a rating 1-Superior (best)  2- Excellent 3-Good. I don't know what 4 & 5 are. Probably means you should have stayed home.

Jasmine played orchestra bells.  

Vibraphone, xylophone and bells

You can see the chimes, bells and xylophone behind her. We couldn't really see her once the tubas were in place.

Jasmine is still part of the county Christian youth choir but has decided not to go on the Boston tour this summer. We were hoping that it would work out so I could meet her there, and we could do our NYC trip. But they are flying to Boston, starting there and working their way back south.

 We have been planning a trip since she was in 5th grade. It keeps getting put off, so we've decided to do it as her 8th grade graduation present because she is not going with her class on the Williamsburg trip or with the choir to Boston. 

She originally wanted to go to Mount Rushmore for our trip, but changed her mind after hearing about Jessica's trip to NYC last year.

Ready to leave for hip hop class.

In our back yard

A lady from church gave "The A (for awesome) team" pillowcases.

Sometimes it's tough being the brother.

Kaleb

Kaleb is playing baseball for the first time. He has practice Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. His team has been invited to be part of a very competitive league, and the opening day exibition game is Saturday. He is not very athletic, but he is trying. He is almost ten, so he is on the nine and ten team. He's delayed enough he'd fit in with the seven year olds, but that's not how it works. Opening day is Saturday but it is supposed to rain, so we'll see what happens.

Good news is, I did get the okay to take him for specialized pysco/educational testing, so maybe we'll get some answers. I know they say boys mature more slowly, but the delays are more serious than just that. I'm hoping he's not on the autism spectrum. The problem is in getting an appointment scheduled. They are closed the month of March!

A lot of times he just really doesn't get it. And some days his behaviors are so immature the other boys avoid him. He's normally a very nice kid, but does things like rolling on the floor, laying on other kids, dancing around pretending he's a ballerina, and other things you'd expect from a four year old, not almost ten year old. 

In fact, at gymnastics, he was put in the 5-6's class because that's how old they thought he was when observing him during a trial to class to see if he'd like it.

Hopefully we'll get some answers for him, because like I said, he is a nice kid.

Kayla

Kayla finished basketball. She's taken a few steps backward in behaviors, and it started when she started basketball. 

The goal of discipline is to change hearts, and nothing is working right now. So she is staying near Rick and I at all times during this time she needs to be so closely monitored. 

It's hard when other people are involved (coaches, Sunday school teachers etc) because, as you adoptive parents know, people see what they want. They don't realize some kids are masters of manipulations and play right into it often reinforcing and even rewarding the behavior because they miss what's really going on. 

For her sake, I chose to post photos where she is smiling.

Max always lays on someone's circle time notebook. Crazy.

We continue our circle time at night when we can. This is a time that everyone is together. No matter what has  happened earlier in the day, everyone is on equal footing during this time. We talk about a character trait and watch videos or songs from youtube about it. Look for verses that go with the trait, and try to find real-life examples. 

We did "respect" and the kids learned the respect rap and respect song from youtube. We just finished "perseverence." We watched the Book of Virtues stories on youtube for both. We also found videos of a boy named Ezra Frech who is a good example of a lot of things. If you haven't heard of him, check out his interviews on youtube. We are starting "initiative."

When we have more time, we watch the "That the World May Know" DVDs that give really good background knowledge about Bible lands and times. 

We also read aloud, because I think it's important to read aloud to your kids no matter their ages. We read The Courage of Sarah Noble, The Giver, Call it Courage, Number the Stars, Heidi, The Year of Miss Agnes and have started The Children's Classics version of Robin Hood from 1923.

At the end of each month we review the goals we chose for the year and to see how we are doing on them. Everyone also has a wish list for the year, and we check off the things we've done.

So that's the update on all the kids for now. If you missed the older kids' update, go back a post. And I did hear back from Jeff. He said he's on the Army combative team. It's a military martial art competition.

Circle Time

We are back to a rut, er, routine now that the holidays are several weeks behind us. History fair project is turned in and the second quarter of school has ended. Unfortunately, not very successfully for any of the youngest three. Sigh. Such great kids, such struggles with school. 

So we try to focus on what they can do and who they are apart from what report cards show. Because really, report cards don't really tell you much about a child. If you've read chapter twelve of the book below, you know what I'm talking about. I'm thinking we might read this book in our evening circle time.

(And by the way, I did ask them to consider redoing the book cover because I think having a lone causcasian boy on the cover keeps many people from choosing it)

Circle time was added to our routine in December after I read the book below about how you can have an influence on others around you including your kids.

It's a good book to read. And it prompted circle time at our house. Everyone comes to circle time no matter what kind of day it has been. Two days a week there is no circle time due to schedules and sometimes we only meet for a few minutes because life is crazy. But if we do have circle time, everyone comes. During circle time only positive things can be said. We don't deal with any issues or behaviors. No one can criticize or be rude to another person.

The part of the book that made me start circle time was a story about a father who started a reading time with his daughter after they'd lost other family members and it was only the two of them left. They read at least one chapter of a book every day. They were only going to do it for a set number of days, but ended up continuing it clear until the daughter left for college. They started with The Wizard of Oz. We have a couple different sets of classics so I thought "Certainly we can read a chapter of a book every night." We have done this off and on in the past reading books like The Giver, The Forgotten Door, Number the Stars, Call it Courage and so on.

I chose Heidi to begin with. I thought we could read it and then watch one of the movies based on it. The book I'm reading is from 1924 so the wording is old fashioned. Fun to listen to, but a bit frustrating at times. I find it interesting that a secular classic talks several times about praying to God and asking him for what you want. Then understanding that if it doesn't happen, it's because he has a different plan or he plans to give you what you ask for but at another time. Clara's grandmother tells Heidi this several times. Then later Heidi talks to her grandfather about God and prayer.

Anyway, so we started reading Heidi. And I had everyone start a journal. Since it was near the end of the year, I asked everyone to write down their favorite things from 2014. The next day I asked them to write a wish list for 2015 (I plan to help as many of those happen as are realistic and possible), and then a couple of days later I asked them to write actual goals for 2015. We also watch for interesting or inspiring quotes and share them in circle time and write down the ones we like best. So the journals have a lot of different stuff in them, including notes from the DVD series shown below.

There is no penalty for not writing things down and there is no criticism so that everyone can be vulnerable with their feelings and goals. There are small daily rewards and other rewards like rubber band wrist bands with verses on them for continued good effort (not necessarily results).

We added in watching a DVD series that gives a lot of Bible background, but we can only watch it on the days there are no evening activities. I really recommend this to families who are interested in Bible study. It will give you a better understanding of Bible times and places.

And we've started a character trait of the month. January's trait is Respect. Tonight we went to YouTube for some songs and raps about respect and the three decided to learn a couple of them and perform them on video for me in the next few weeks. It's good to see them excited about working together on this. There is some frustration because one child can act well below age level and annoy the other two. Said child is going in for ADHD testing next week because it has affected school behavior--not being able to stay on task and in the seat long enough to complete a simple assignment or lesson--to the point where repeating a grade has become a real possibility.

So circle time varies every day by what we have time to do and which things we choose to do--read Heidi, talk about goals, talk about respect, and watch the DVD series. Not everything happens everyday. We also need to finish Just for Me: My Family that we started clear back in the summer. We just need to do the last chapter and I think we are going to do the pinata for Valentine's Day. Since each chapter talks about an animal family I promised them a trip to the zoo when we finish the book. That will happen after we do the pinata.

If you have children 5-8, check out the family oriented activities in this book. You can order it HERE.

When we were starting circle time, we were talking a lot about being the light to others and that somewhat became our theme for 2015. 

Be the Light.

Matthew 5:14-16New Living Translation (NLT)

14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.