Kids and Grades....

I recently had an opportunity to share some thoughts about homeschooling and grades. Wow! I have not given thought to grades since I was in college and took an American Culture class where the Professor stated we would all get A's in his class as long as we participated. When he stated that we all could not believe what we were hearing. Remarks were made and he defended his belief, what do grades mean. When you graduate do they look at your grades and say WOW! you got a 4.0, do you get a pay increase for graduating with a 4.0 and so on. Another professor stated he would rather have a C student taking care of him in the hospital then an A student. His rational was that rarely do you have a book smart person with common sense which is needed in life. I understood both of them and respected their beliefs. I worked my booty off to graduate with honors at the top of my class which I have to say has not given me any extra privileges though I'm sure it would have helped if I continued on but that topic is for a different time.

My thoughts on grades.

I had a daughter who would get upset and depressed if she did not get 100% on all of her school work. We took family skip days when she started getting stressed out. Her teacher and the school counselor were in agreement about the skip days. My son on the other hand was bored with school and most of his teachers thought he was lazy and that he need remedial classes, when in reality he was bored. How do I know that you ask, he aced his MEAP test and classes he liked.

My wee ones are homeschooled. Their homework is sent in and graded and emailed to me. They have no idea what their grades are nor do they ask. They get all A's but don't even know it. They simply get to enjoy their studies. They do not stress or worry about their grades. We concentrate on making sure they understand what is being taught. It makes our job of teaching easier and it is less stressful for them. It is a win-win situation for us.

In my opinion grades do not make a person and grades do not have to control a person’s outcome. There have been many people who graduated at the top of their class and they never amounted to a pile of beans and others who barely passed who have become very successful. They had ambition and the will power to succeed. Some extremely smart people I have known committed suicide because they could not handle failure and the need they had to be on top. One cannot help but to think this may have been focused on at an early age because of the stress to be at the top of the class. Many kids are bored in school for one reason or another which diminishes their ambition to learn. Everyone has their own way of learning that works best for them and schools are set up for kids who can sit at a desk quietly and work. For everyone else, it makes it a bit harder to learn. The main thing is not everyone who gets 'good' grades comes out on top and not everyone who barely passes is stuck at the bottom of dead beat job.

One step closer to becoming deliriously happy.

The Sweet Songs of Babies....

The joy of fussy kids! Are they really fussy or are they just singing songs out of tune? I have 9 babies and have not figured out the answer to this question.

Are their fits to get their point across or to drive you utterly insane. I know, they are learning at a young age which buttons to push to drive you nuts and which buttons push to get what they want. The have a photographic memory which holds the answers to these questions and they are able to retrieve the data at a moments notice to use it to get anything they want from you. They are cunning but oh, so lovable and fun.

The cute beautiful sneaky creatures that they are, so brilliant and deceiving a great combination! They fool you with those cute little checks that are so irresistibly pinchable and top it with sweet innocent smiles. The icing on the cake is all the kisses and hugs their unconditional love. One of their greatest gifts that they bestow on you.

With all that being said, I have figured out away to get them back a tad all in fun of course. I love to irritate them, bug them with hugs and kisses. Chase them and pick on them. Do all sorts of silly things which have the wee ones fussing and the big ones yelling "MOM". I'm the cunning devious mother who has way to much fun irritating them. A goal which I accomplish everyday according to them. LOL

We have lots of FUN everyday. There is not a day that goes by that kisses, hugs and I love yous are not passed out to everyone along with me bugging them. I would never trade the babies in for anything in this world. No matter how fussy they are, for if they were not here to drive me insane and irritate me who would do that and what would my life be like. mmmm wait minute, what am I saying. I would love to have a quiet life with no fussing fit throwing kids. If only I would of thought about that before I had kids. Just kidding; maybe!

To me having kids is one step closer to being deliriously happy!

Kids and Social Media...A Great Combination.....

There is a new social site created by three kids who wanted to make a change in their life. They wanted to start a business so they could move to the beach, start a charity, and create the life that they have been dreaming of.

Jem started twitting with me when she was 8 years old. She instantly fell in love with it and wanted to learn more about social media, blogging, and about our business. She wanted to blog so away she went and the domino effect happened with the other two kids who were 6 and 10 at that time. As a blogger myself, I find it hard enough to get people to read your blog; can you imagine how hard it is to get people to read blogs from kids. I came up with an idea while I was blogging for Saronti, a children's website, I thought how great would it be if this site had an area for my kids to blog. The owner of the site thought it was a great idea, so we did a feed and she published their blogs. I will never forget that day, the kids excitement and sense of accomplishment to see their blogs published on Saronti. It was very exciting to me as a parent because who would have read or even published a kids blog. It is no longer a pain staking task to get them to write. They write about all sorts of things from dinosaurs to whats going on with them. It is a way for them to express themselves as individuals.

Jem still was not satisfied and eager to learn more; wanted to help with business. One week she made enough money to pay for the majority of the babysitting fee for there special babysitting day. From that point on, there was no stopping her. We had a family meeting and she announced that she wanted changes in her life and she was ready to do what she had to move to the beach. Jem asked if she could start a business to help make money to move. The other two kids again jumped on the bandwagon which bought about the birth of their business.

They love connecting with kids from around the globe. A social site was created with their help so they could meet more kids and make a difference in the world. Connecting with kids from other parts of the world/country is a great learning experience for kids. They can learn how other kids live, what they think about, and what they have in common. They can also play games with educational value, practice their writing skills with blogging, learn to put what they think and change it into thoughts, create groups to voice their opinions and make a change/difference in the world. Kids connecting with kids to make the world a better place. Who says social media has to be just for adults.

There are so many teens and adults who are on social media sites these days but what about the kids? I know there are virtual worlds for the kids but there isn't nothing quite like this. The kids who created this site made it so you can blog, create groups, chat, upload videos and pictures, get free things, forums, educational games and create your own profile. The security is very high and everything is very well monitored so the kids can have a safe and wonderful experience.

Social media has made the world a smaller place and has forged relationships that we normally would of not had the opportunity to have. It plays a role in every aspect of life today from the mommy blogger, to the actor, to news media, corporations, churches, and even some schools. Social media has made it easier for people to connect, whether it be for business or for friendship. Technology has come such a long way over the years.

Hang Out Corner