Well, hello. You're still here.
It's been a week of it, that's for sure, what with the dramatic events of last Thursday and its aftermath.
(Did you miss that post? I got sick, dehydrated, fainted, banged my head on the way down and got knocked unconscious. Ended up being taken to hospital in an ambulance and have been woolly-headed with concussion ever since).
Today I thought I'd ease back into the blog with a wee round-up of life hereabouts, as it's been a while since I did that. A "things I'm loving" meets "wow I'm grateful" combined with "here's the haps".
I'll start with today.
Friday is my day off and since Scrag woke up in the middle of the night with a nasty cough, I kept him home. We've been playing schools. I've been putting to use all the things I've learnt since becoming a teacher aide, which means my kid has been doing spelling, handwriting and maths all morning.
Here he is on this very cool maths programme called SumDog. The kids at school use it to play math games where they can play against kids from all over the world. There's a paid-up version you can subscribe to but the free version does plenty. I introduced it to Scrag this morning and he's loving it. (that name again? SumDog. Try it, it's great for younger kids, very visual and fun).
After our lessons we had lunch. It was sunny, so we ate it on the porch.
I can tell you, I never thought I'd say this but I can actually (for the first time in my life) see the appeal of homeschooling. *GASP*
Settle down, I love my local school, and I'm not-on-yer-life gonna pull my kids out of there and start trying to teach them myself, but I have to say there's something very satisfying about working one-on-one with your kid, setting your own pace etc. Like I said I can see the appeal.
Now that I'm a *ahem* working woman again I am completely LOVING my job (which I was sadly absent from for a week after my dramatic demise). It's hugely satisfying, tremendously rewarding and perfectly tailor-made for me.
All my mummy-skills are being put to good use, I get to be creative and proactive; every day is different. Since I started I've taught my student to ride a bike without trainer wheels (!) and together with another student who I also help, we've created a super-hero called SuperCat, among other things.
We are making progress in spelling, oral language and engagement with others. Best of all, the teacher who's class I'm working in has told me my efforts are making a huge difference in the class as the boys I'm working with have settled down and it's had a flow-on effect to the rest of the class.
I am sooooo glad I acted on impulse and walked into that office last term!
While I'm gratuitously patting myself on the back, I might as well mention my writing efforts elsewhere. Here's the cover of the latest Parenting Magazine, and there's my article in the big blue writing: "Encouraging Independence". Yep, that's me. Writing about how to get your kids to do stuff for themselves so you can put your feet up and spend longer reading/doing DIY/planning parties. Haha. Seriously, it's a great parenting strategy! I wrote in brief on the same topic for the parenting website Mothering from Scratch, where I am a "MOMtor" (regular contributor): "Teaching Kids Independence". It's a survival technique.
Right. So now I have spent way too long on this post and I'm gonna run out of time to bake muffins with Scrag for our after-school visitors, so in brief:
The football World Cup in Brazil has got us up early, biting our nails, rooting for our team (England). See that box of tissues on the coffee table? Yep, we needed them.
Bye, bye England. Uruguay knocked them out. Sniff sniff. It's a valuable life lesson in dealing with disappointment, I guess. Poor Dash. His dad has had a lifetime of practise (getting his hopes up every World Cup only to have them dashed), so he can sympathise and give you some pointers. Just as well we have a life outside football, aye guys?
In general apart from an increased level of muzzy-headedness and general confusion, life goes on in its usual circus-like fashion. This is how my dear daughter turned up to school the other day. Ha.
She's a clown, alright.
Anyway, best get off here and get baking.
Have a great weekend.
xxx
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