The Monthly Check In
Yes, I admit it. I’m only blogging because I illustrated a new banner for March and I desperately want to roll off that last old moldy post from February. One post in the whole month of February? What’s up B!! I don’t know.
I honestly don’t know how to answer what’s been going on with one neatly tied-up blog post. Work has been busy and exciting. Nothing I can share right now but you should see my work popping up elsewhere on the internet soon. The girls have been good.
Bug is struggling in school, particularly with math and that is taking up a lot of real estate in my mind right now. Does anybody know a good tutor? I’m hopeless at helping her. I hired a woman to come by once a week but we won’t meet with her until the week after next and I already feel like it’s too late because fourth grade is three quarters of the way over already. I know Bug is smart and she’ll pull through but life has just been really challenging for her lately.
A few weeks ago my parents rented a campsite in Doheny Beach and we met them for dinner two nights in a row. There really is nothing like dinner right on the beach on a school night. The weather didn’t cooperate but it was still magical. I really loved being with my family, doing the things I remember doing when I was little. Camping is deep in my blood.
Joon loves being a part of my family and my parents have taken her in as their own. I think they were always disappointed in me that I only provided one grandchild so an extra kid is a welcome addition.
Joon fits right in like she does everywhere. She is naturally outgoing and gregarious and everyone loves her. Naturally, Bug is jealous of someone cute stealing her limelight. I’m trying to be careful with Bug’s feelings while at the same time gently pushing her embrace having a little sister. It’s been a push and pull. Most of the time they are thick as thieves and they get along great but then Bug will lash out with rudeness and it’s lesson after lesson after lesson in exercising kindness, which is exhausting. If you’re the praying type, maybe you could pray for Bug and her growing pains.
Payam has been busy woodworking. I can’t give you the link to his Etsy shop yet but it is in the works and promises to be very exciting!
Lucy the cat is helping with missing my cats. I do see them every week when I drop Bug off at Toby’s but it’s not the same. I’m so happy they have a loving home. Toby has fallen for them hard which is really really great. But I can’t say I am not jealous that he gets to have my cats. It’s a good thing that Lucy is adorable to help me not miss them so much.
Wow. What a downer post. But please don’t think things are bad. They are really really good. Good enough that I have been able to take myself out of survival mode and notice the little things.
8 Comments
Rachel
Khan academy is a free online teaching site. It has many different topics, including fourth grade math. They breakdown each new skill into its own lesson. There is a short video and some practice questions. If you are not sure of the answer they will give hints that help figure out what to do. I hope it is helpful to you guys. Praying for you all!
Tamara Tedd
Even though I love to read about your adventures in life, I’m so glad that you are so busy LIVING them to be WRITING them. Your family is beautiful and happy and thriving so enjoy it!! We’ll be here waiting for the next little peek (and banner)
chiara
Always happy to read your updates! Hoping for things to smooth out for Bug–and know they will. Being a kid is not the joyride everyone says it is!
Julie
try contacting a local college to see if there is an education major that might be willing to tutor. Get as much help as you can now so she has a solid base to work with in middle school and high school. speaking from experience. We waited until high school and found a college professor that tutored – it helped, but would have been so much more valuable at a younger age. My son also found doing math games on the computer was helpful — he would see the mistakes immediately and learn from them.
Julie
oooh, just read the comment about Khan — yes!!! it’s great!
Amy
Also have to jump in and mention that I too have heard excellent things about Khan academy!
I also wanted to say that I have four sisters and we are all very close. We were thick as thieves growing up but could have some real tussles. They were soon forgotten and we were friends again. It sounds like Bug and Joon are bonding just like sisters and they are lucky to have each other. Wishing hi hand your family well!
Stacy
My son has struggled with math since 2nd grade (he’s in 7th). These are the resources that we use:
virtualnerd.com
Khanacademy.com
e-learningforkids.org
I pay for mathway.com – it’s free if you just want the answers, but my son needs the solution so I pay for it.
And the school pays for IXL.com – it’s suppose to be one of the best programs to help increase their skills.
There is also a program called Tabtor that is for the iPad – we did it for a few months but quit because it wasn’t what he was doing in school.
Lulu
I put my son in Kumon when he was in 4 th grade and struggling with math. It’s a twice a week class and it helps them deal with understanding math better.