How you keeping yourself busy?

[ducks4you]

Cruising the Interweb for stuff that just keeps POPPING up, like this one.

Wild animals are reclaiming cities and streets during coronavirus lockdown

It’s an animal party.

nypost.com

Check out the video of goats meandering through Llandudno, Wales.

 

[flowerbug]

Concrete'd in old wooden posts are the BAIN of my existance on my 5 acres!!! I can Tolerate the ones where the horses are Not, but I'm pretty sure that my QH, "Ro Go Bar", (1982-2009, RIP) got nailed by one where they Also used a fencepost under the 8 inch diameter wooden fence post. I got ALL of those out. When they put in new fencing the idiots left those behind. I used cinderblocks on top of them and anything ELSE that I could do in their 4 acres of turnout. My hay guys wrestled the last one out of the ground a few years ago. We dragged it out to a bed north of the garage. It left a gaping hole, but we were stripping the horses' shelter, so we drove over and dumped a full tow wagon load of used bedding right on top. I knew that the mound would settle, and it did.
I had already dug out and dragged 4 others of these to the front of the property, where I dug them each a 10 inch hole and buried them, metal side down. I guess they look artistic, as the cement erodes and exposes aggregate, but the metal will rust where it won't hurt anybody.
There are solutions, if you are creative.
Seems like no matter What you do shortcut cleanup, the muscling jobs still remain. It was much easier than trying to hammer the cement. Maybe this will help you figure out what to do with your "stupid cement jobs from a previous owner."

i have some old chunks of concrete with rocks embedded in them that used to be the base of various posts. they make good things to hold down other things with since they are cup shaped. the toads and froggies can use the center hole as a hiding spot. so i don't break all of them apart when i find them, but i'm sure i'll bust more before they bust me.

my worse bane is sticks not being cut off at ground level. i almost broke my arm once and nearly had several severe puncture wounds because a plant wasn't trimmed off at ground level and the sharp stick poking up out of the ground grabbed my pantleg as i walked by and it caused me to trip and fall right in the middle of a bunch of other sharp sticks.

 

[ducks4you]

I thought this was just a cartoon...

Looks a LOT like those Welsh goats, imho.

 

[seedcorn]

We started with those hours because those were the hours he was in school, so I assume that's how long it takes for him to learn things. He has been struggling in school, but not allowed to be held back because it's not allowed with an IEP. When we went into quarantine he could read at a 2nd grade level, write at an end of kindergarten to early first grade level, and had an understanding of math around midway through 2nd grade. He's supposed to be in 3rd grade going to 4th.

Since we started working from home his learning has skyrocketed! He can now read at a 4th going on 5th level, his grammar is all over the place, but he's able to understand concepts up to a 5th grade level (I'm not teaching him 5th grade stuff, but we have educational games that he can pick, and he has picked some 5th grade level ones.)

We're currently filling in all the gaps, which there are fewer and fewer of, and working towards the future at the same time. By the time he goes back to school, he will be well prepared for 4th grade and possibly ahead.

As for how long we spend on school, that's been cut down to however long he needs to complete the work. This varies from all 7 hours plus more to usually 2-3 hours. It depends on what we're doing. We did a lego display for "Art" that took my entire lifetime it felt like, but it was worth it. Next art day is going to be an experiment with stop motion which will probably be another all dayer.

The reduced hours have definitely been easier on me, but my son has switched from hating school to whining because there's no school on the weekends. -.-
View attachment 35228
Since you asked, this is his fact fluency score alone! The teacher actually recommended home schooling for him since he's grown so much.

This illustrates why parents have to supplement the teachers efforts with at home learning. Obviously your son is intelligent enough to keep up or excel, in a class room situation he chooses not to. This is quite common.
When public education resumes, hope you keep on. Wouldn’t be surprised if your son wasn’t one of the top on grades in his class.

 

[ducks4you]

This ALSO illustrates how the NEA promotes lousy teacher training. I KNOW, bc I was in the PS system, took the same classes as teachers 20 years younger than me, and regurgitated the same junk that they were being trained to use that passes for education nowadays. I am SO happy that you now realize that you CAN be your child's teacher. Too many parents don't think that they can do this.
The process is:
1) memorization
2) practice practice, practice
3) comprehension
Common core math is the absolute WORST!!!
My family, DH, and all 3 DD's are very good at verbal and communication skills, both verbal communication and written communication. That is really the hardest to teach. Languages evolve all of the time. It is hard to convince people that spelling does count, yet spelling evolves, too.
Mathematics, on the other hand (pre-Calculus) is concrete, always and ever the same answer to the same equation. Common core uses many different ways to answer mathematical questions, many of them are very popular with math-whizzes who thoroughly enjoy crunching and recrunching numbers in many different ways.
While it is true that children Can learn math in different ways, all children understand when they buy something and expect change, they will KNOW when they didn't get enough back.
It should always be the simplest subject to learn.
Fractions can be difficult, as well as percentages. If you teach them in a way that Means something to the child, that child WILL understand and, after practice, comprehend.
Don't believe me? Next time that there IS a parent/teacher conference, ask the teacher about comprehension. That teacher will defend 'til the end the way that that teacher was Taught to Teach mathematics.
Don't even get me Started on how History isn't taught anymore.
Ignored history professors figured out that they can rewrite history and get accolades on their "Newly discovered perspective." DH used to teach history, Middle School, then later at Community College. OUR DD's Know American History, and recognize the PC garbage that is scooped out and delivered to PS students.
Ironically, my youngest DD had a surprisingly accurate textbook on American History for a class that she took as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois. I read it, kept it, and refer to it bc it is an accurate study of 19th century America and how the slave states in the south fully controlled Washington, D.C.
The "3/5th's rule" was used for decades. It allowed Any slave owner who owned 2 slaves to be able to vote 1 extra vote for the Presidency. 3/5 + 3/5 = 6/5, or 1 and a 1/5, bc the worth of your "property", the "slave" gave you that right as a voting male south of the Mason/Dixon line. Any of you understood that from your history classes?
Here is an example of how it could be applied today.
I own 3 horses. Each of them (could be) worth 3/5 each, total 1 4/5, then I get an extra vote for President this November.
EDIT: Bad math, but I fixed it. (Shoulda bought another horse!)
Here is the book, if you want to buy a copy.

Amazon.com

The author includes all pertinent votes in Congress
ANYWAY, I am SO HAPPY that you are enjoying educating your little one, @AMKuska !

 

[AMKuska]

This illustrates why parents have to supplement the teachers efforts with at home learning. Obviously your son is intelligent enough to keep up or excel, in a class room situation he chooses not to. This is quite common.
When public education resumes, hope you keep on. Wouldn’t be surprised if your son wasn’t one of the top on grades in his class.

He's already on track to do so. He's growing at an incredible pace, and lack of comprehension can usually be gotten around by trying different things until he does understand. He's currently struggling with past tense, but we've created flip books that show the past, present, and future of different things we do and that has really helped.

This ALSO illustrates how the NEA promotes lousy teacher training.

To be fair, he hasn't exactly been a willing participant in school. It's hard to grade them on their teaching abilities when they have 20 kids to teach, and one that turns his ears off as soon as he doesn't have one-on-one interaction.

Common core math is the absolute WORST!!!

Yeah, couldn't figure it out so I'm teaching him the regular way.

Don't believe me? Next time that there IS a parent/teacher conference, ask the teacher about comprehension. That teacher will defend 'til the end the way that that teacher was Taught to Teach mathematics.

Parent teacher conferences usually involve my teachers showing me IQ tests and finding ways to say, without saying, that he's an idiot that will never amount to anything. Every time I've been to a conference I think I'm going to have to find him a nice box to live in after I've died.

The difference at home is just so huge, it's hard for me to understand what is going on. At school I literally had to stop sending him cold lunch because he would lay across his desk eating chips when he was supposed to be learning. -.- Yet at home he asks if he can take this homework book or that to his room to do pages just for fun, and gets excited about science experiments or book reports.

He's incredibly smart, no matter what their tests say.

 

[digitS']

Recognizing your interest in accuracy, @ducks4you , the skink isn't a salamander (amphibian). It is a lizard (reptile).

I probably misled you saying it was a river bed during high water, before the European Americans arrived with their dynamite and dam building.

One really wouldn't have realized that river water had once flowed there because of the nature of the soil (rocky and quickly draining) and that the river was at such a distance. However, you had to think about where the water would go if the river overflowed its banks (& have read a little area history ).

Another clue was the fishing net-weight that I found in the soil:

Artifacts, found in Your Garden

About the most obvious artifact showing that the big veggie garden was once a part of a farm field is the "dead furrow" precisely in the center. The moving of soil from the center is matched by berms along the sides. These are the results of using moldboard plows. I came across more likely...

www.theeasygarden.com

Steve
still waiting for @so lucky to find an artifact in her garden soil .

 

[seedcorn]

Public education has always been a crap shoot. Older cousin was just passed through as he refused to learn-he got a great job of building golf courses. If I had tried that, Dad would have worn out his belt on me. While some should never have been allowed into the educational process, most get frustrated by students, parents (if there are parents) and the system. System is broken, never to be repaired again because of trash. TOO many “civil” rights lawyers ready to make a name (& $) for themselves.

How am I keeping busy? Complaining on this board..... Need to go play in dirt. Soil for those Agronomy types.

 

[baymule]

He's already on track to do so. He's growing at an incredible pace, and lack of comprehension can usually be gotten around by trying different things until he does understand. He's currently struggling with past tense, but we've created flip books that show the past, present, and future of different things we do and that has really helped.




To be fair, he hasn't exactly been a willing participant in school. It's hard to grade them on their teaching abilities when they have 20 kids to teach, and one that turns his ears off as soon as he doesn't have one-on-one interaction.



Yeah, couldn't figure it out so I'm teaching him the regular way.



Parent teacher conferences usually involve my teachers showing me IQ tests and finding ways to say, without saying, that he's an idiot that will never amount to anything. Every time I've been to a conference I think I'm going to have to find him a nice box to live in after I've died.

The difference at home is just so huge, it's hard for me to understand what is going on. At school I literally had to stop sending him cold lunch because he would lay across his desk eating chips when he was supposed to be learning. -.- Yet at home he asks if he can take this homework book or that to his room to do pages just for fun, and gets excited about science experiments or book reports.

He's incredibly smart, no matter what their tests say.

Hooray for you and hooray for your son. I am glad for his sake, that he has this opportunity to actually learn and is excited about doing so. Sounds like to me, that you are a darn good teacher.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

We started with those hours because those were the hours he was in school, so I assume that's how long it takes for him to learn things. He has been struggling in school, but not allowed to be held back because it's not allowed with an IEP. When we went into quarantine he could read at a 2nd grade level, write at an end of kindergarten to early first grade level, and had an understanding of math around midway through 2nd grade. He's supposed to be in 3rd grade going to 4th.

Since we started working from home his learning has skyrocketed! He can now read at a 4th going on 5th level, his grammar is all over the place, but he's able to understand concepts up to a 5th grade level (I'm not teaching him 5th grade stuff, but we have educational games that he can pick, and he has picked some 5th grade level ones.)

We're currently filling in all the gaps, which there are fewer and fewer of, and working towards the future at the same time. By the time he goes back to school, he will be well prepared for 4th grade and possibly ahead.

As for how long we spend on school, that's been cut down to however long he needs to complete the work. This varies from all 7 hours plus more to usually 2-3 hours. It depends on what we're doing. We did a lego display for "Art" that took my entire lifetime it felt like, but it was worth it. Next art day is going to be an experiment with stop motion which will probably be another all dayer.

The reduced hours have definitely been easier on me, but my son has switched from hating school to whining because there's no school on the weekends. -.-
View attachment 35228
Since you asked, this is his fact fluency score alone! The teacher actually recommended home schooling for him since he's grown so much.

Thank you for such a thorough answer. It makes sense now. And I am so happy to hear that he is caught up (and beyond) and that he loves to learn. I dont even know him, but I'm cheering him on! Some of the greatest minds of all time were told by their teachers that they wouldn't mount to anything. Maybe your son's learning style is not the same as the teachers teaching style. Keep up the good work!