The Kiddo Report

Athena 

I woke up this morning and walked out of my room to see my two year old beaming with excitement. She ran to me with a bounce in her step exclaiming "Mommy! Mommy!"
Pure joy and happiness. That is my daughter. And so full of love.
I picked her up in a hug. With her check pressed against mine she said "Love Mommy."

Mind you, she isn't always pure happiness everywhere we go. But at home , in her heaven, she is.

Even if she feels disobedient and destructive and winds up in trouble. She can bounce back in a moment and be all smiles and warmth.

Last night we had our weekly Friday pizza and a movie family night. She had apparently missed daddy that day because it was him she wanted. She sat on his lap and kept hugging him until their faces squished cheek to cheek. "Love Daddy!" she would say.

She also loves her brothers. She wants to be with them and hug them, sit on their laps and lay with them on the couch...even when they are telling her to go away.

I want her to stay this positive, hopeful,loving and happy forever. I want her to dream big and know that she can do anything with her life is she wants it big enough (determination and hard work). I hope to help her be strong and make her dreams come true. Hopefully with Sterling and I raising and supporting her it will be enough to keep the world from breaking her spirit.

The Boys

 Now that the school year is getting late in months our boys' teachers are asking more of them. More of their behavior and more of their work.
Tiberias has had a hard time learning to control himself and follow the rules at school. He was to be wild and play fight. He loooved school until a few weeks ago. Now he is tired of being told to control himself.

We thought about homeschooling because our boys' teachers are having a hard time getting the boys to be how they want them. However, looking at the pros and cons of them attending school vs homeschooling I have decided it is best for them to go to school. Best for them to learn to control themselves, follow rules and get their work done on time.

Tiberias

Tiberias has a hard time listening when instructions are given, doing what he knows he is suppose to and keeping his shooting sounds and fighting moves inside of himself. He also tends to be in his own head instead of paying attention to what is going on in the class.

Sterling and I changed our children's lifestyle about a week ago. We stopped giving the kids sugar in the morning (poptars, pancake syrup, sugar cereal, muffins). We limit their electronic time. They get about an hour a day...which they earned themselves by doing chores, homework and remembering to do things without my telling them.

Tiberias uses his electronic time to sit and watch a movie for a rest in the evening. Sometimes he likes using 5-10 mins on his tablet during the day.

We have also started giving Tiberias green tea before school. If he has ADHD, which he very well may, the caffeine will calm him down.

Here is what has changed with Tiberias since the sugar and electronic cutback:
He is calmer in school. He follows rules better and has stopped getting in trouble. Everyday when I pick up the kids I ask "How were you in class today?" Ty always says something like "I did amazing!" And he is proud of himself. Of course I email the teachers to make sure my kids are giving me the correct reports on their behavior.

We will probably cut out the green tea one week and not tell his teacher. Then when the week is up let her know we did and ask how his behavior was.

One huge discovery we have made is that sugar makes Tiberias go crazy. I think I always gave him sugar all day even if just a little so I never had anything to compare it to. But now that he gets sugar only after school I can see a difference. He is well behaved and calm then I give him some cookies or muffins and he gets wild , loud and too silly.

It's a good thing Tiberias loves healthy food too because he's about to lose most of his sugar from now on.

Lachoneus

Luke's problem in class is that he is bored so he gets distracted by anything that will take him away from having to write on paper.
If all learning was on electronics Luke would become a genius. He is a very smart boy but hates paper...unless it's art. He loves doing art.
But electronics are so fun to him that he would excel if given all work on electronics.
The problem there is that he then learns to be always entertained and instantly gratified. Real life requires doing things that are not so fun. Real life also requires doing things on paper...some times. ;)

 I think that , it being late in the school year, Luke's teacher is requiring the students to do a lot more writing paragraphs. Luke is not great at coming up with things to write. He doesn't like having to use his brain that way. That is the biggest problem with his paragraphs. If you tell him to write about something he loves he will still sit there for a long time claiming he is thinking. Claiming he is trying to come up with what to write and he never does. He doesn't know what words to use or what to say.

Lately he has been bringing school work home because he doesn't get it done in time during class.
To motivate him to get his work done during class we have said "If you do extra well in class your teacher will let us know and you will get 30 extra electronic minutes. If you do not get your work done in class you will lose 30 minutes." And, "If you are good all week you get to pick a prize from the dollar store" (big motivation).
Unfortunately this week he did not do well. Twice he brought home class work to finish.

Parenthood

It's not easy being a parent. And we are trying so hard to be amazing parents. It's a lot of work and meditating. And we pray our children will grow up to lead healthy, success lives and be happy during it.