Right now, I am not my kids’ favorite person, and I am completely fine with that! I realized how little my kids grasp basic school concepts!
We started this week celebrating a major win from Ricky; he received the Presidential Academic Achievement Award. Woohoo! We called grandparents and aunts and uncles to show off the stamped signature of President Trump at the bottom of the certificate and the pin that came with it. Ricky himself couldn’t believe it, and his first thought was, “Really? But I’m not that smart!” Um, hold-up, I went right into a self-help mom who needed to make sure my son isn’t suffering from some sort of low self-esteem or being way too self deprecating. I made him his favorite dinner and declared it “Ricky is the smartest in the house” day!
So, I start with that story because my son is on honor roll, and my daughter is as well. They each have only gotten one B on their reports card, so I felt pretty secure in their learning and how they were progressing. Boy, was I wrong! I don’t sport a “my kids on honor roll bumper sticker” or flash their grades in other mom’s faces to assert my dominance over their inferior children, and now I am glad. 1 – because I always thought those mom’s were just seeking approval for themselves and disguised it in talking about how brilliant their kids are. 2 – I would feel like a phony over my kids’ intellect.
I made the binder (if you don’t know what I’m referring to read Summer Is Coming) and they have been working on it every day. There are a lot of things I haven’t had total follow through and commitment with this COVID shelter in place time frame, but making the kids continue their school work is one I’m proud to say I haven’t slacked on! The binder is full of math and language arts work, and there isn’t an app or a game that goes along with it. Just straight forward worksheets. Let me tell you, my kids don’t know shit! I’m horrified! Basic math multiplication is lost on them. At first, I thought they were just being moody about doing summer school work, but no, they literally don’t know their basic math and grammar facts.
I am not placing any blame here, I mean it must seem like I’m pointing a finger at my kids’ school or their teachers. I think this comes from common core and most lessons being on apps or or a computer with multiple choice. Whatever the source of their lack of basic fundamentals, I feel it’s an issue. So it’s summer school for my two. I know they hate me right now, but that’s okay. I’m not their friend, I’m their mom. There is so much that I can’t control in the world going on around them, so I will have control over their education and make sure they know 6×7 or how to find a prepositional phrase in a sentence.
Oh, and if you are interested in making your own binder of summer fun, I found my printable sheets on a website, Teachers Pay Teachers. Check it out! The content is posted by teachers so they can make some extra cash this summer.
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