They Go Low, You Go High

Isaak was big time bullied last week. To the point where I wanted to stomp right into his school and scream. Of course I didn't. But I wanted to. 

Two bullies kept calling him the “N” word in PE. Not a word we use ever. Anyhow after them repeating it all throughout gym class, he broke down crying, and took himself on over to the councilors office. I’ve been crying just thinking about it. He didn’t want to tell because he thought that would make things worse for him. I told him that if people asked why he was crying they are the good people. But if he didn’t want to talk about it, he could just tell them he got hurt. They don’t need to know it was his feelings that got hurt. He’s a freaking great kid, empathetic, and pretty good looking. Nice people get picked on. What the heck is wrong with people?! I told him to talk to his teachers, tell them what happened, and to watch for this repeat behavior. I’ll be emailing them as well. The “N” word should just never be used. I wasn’t going to say anything, but that just makes situation like this worse. We need to talk about shit shows. Bullies shouldn’t and can’t win.

Here’s something you don’t usually hear...artist types are often made fun of because we’re odd, different, look at the world differently. It’s not always a skin color, male vs female thing. Guess what? I’d rather be odd, and think outside the flipping box that non artist types make. 

I even grew up hearing my mom's side of the family say to me, "Oh you're just like your father!" Kind of in a snarky way. I know they love me. They appreciated him too. In a, You do so much for me kind of a way. When they needed landscaping help, he was there, he helped with my cousin's Boy Scout Troop, and way more. I may have been young, but I remember all that kind of stuff. I just don't remember my math facts, and academic stuff.

So I hung out with Isaak while he built a desk. He’s did an amazing job. When people are pushed down, they can rise up by building something.

#backtoschool With #ZOHAN

I've mentioned before that Isaak's oh so slow when it comes to doing homework. It's great that he can now listen to his teachers, with little to no distractions. They are still remote learning. He also gets involved in less drama. 

I don't know, maybe he does have some form of ADHD, but he's not the type of kid that's bouncing off the walls. I'd rather deal with his problems in other ways, then with medicine. He still gets distracted even with us. 

I'm pretty sure he gets this trait from me. I was/am a horrible test taker. That's part of why I don't want to go back to school to get my Education Certificate. I'm a mega hard worker though. I catch on to things quickly. Process things are easy, for me to understand. 

Thankfully I got noise headphones to review. 

Zohan Has Four Different Designs to Choose From:

• Nebula
• Rap
• Unicorn
• Flamingos

I was between the Nebula and Rap designs. The others are more girly of prints. Isaak would have liked the Rap one, but I chose Nebula. Last year he picked out a shirt at Christmas that had that pattern. Why not stick with what I know he likes? I honestly wanted it to be a surprise for him. 

Cost: 

$14.99 for all of the different designs. You can get them on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MT9JMWD. 

Size:

They are kid sizes. BUT Isaak and I have skinny heads. I often have to tie or loop my masks. These fit just fine. They even fit me. Of course they are adjustable too. 

Do They Work?

I put them on, and they do block out noises. Not totally. I can talk, and hear my own voice. It makes all sounds seem like I was underwater. 

What was your biggest struggle in school?

Disclaimer: I got this product for a discounted price, for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.

Conferences

We had conferences last week. Both boys ended up with A's and B's. I couldn't ask for better report cards.

It was the first time Isaak was in middle school, and the middle school is very different than Mica's. As much as we didn't try to contrast, and compare it was natural to do so. 

We have, and continue to find all the staff at Mica's school to be so positive!

He's the news man in the morning. He loves doing it! He's free to change up things within reason. So he changes his accent almost every time. He makes silly jokes. A sixth grader came up to him in the hallway and said, "Are you the guy on the screen in the mornings? Man you're a good actor!" It cracked us all up, when we heard that story.

His Language Arts teacher likes that he puts his personality into his work. Not every kid feels free to do that.

His Healthcare Academy teacher is all over the place, but it's only because she likes to fit in as much as she can, within reason. She gave Mica a book about Polio, that he has to do a book report on. My Mom had that, so it's interesting. In the middle of talking to her the phone rang. She's like, "Mica can you get that? It's blind people that need to be escorted down here." He got the phone, but his ditzy Mica self said, "Ok come on down to room blah blah blah." It was like the blind was leading the blind. Ha! His teacher said, "No Mica you have to get them. They can't see!"

At the end of conferences I complimented Mica's last teacher. I said, "You know what? I know you don't feel well (she had a cold), but you should be proud. I haven't met a single bad teacher, since Mica started school here three years ago. You're all good." Then I walked away.

I do wish all the students at his school knew the capacity of the teachers, and how wonderful they are! Many don't seem to be as into things as Mica is.

Mica got all A's and one B.

Just like he tries different accents on the morning announcements. He tries different faces when we go out to eat.

Isaak's school had less walking, for conferences. All the teachers had their own little table in the gym and cafeteria. One would think that would be great. It annoyed Travis. He felt it was less personable. Voices echoed badly. There were only 3 chairs at any given table, so if anyone had an extra kid they had to stand.

There's only two teachers of his that I find great! The rest are just ok. I thought I'd think otherwise, considering that Isaak goes to an art magnet school.

Travis and I wanted feedback on how Isaak works in the classroom. His life seems to be school and homework. We don't want his whole life to be like that. I was looking for teacher tips on being more productive. Like, "Rule out all the answers you know are wrong, to pick the right answer.", "Do the easy homework first, and follow up with the harder things., "Talk less." and so on. Not one really gave us any tips. I've learned more from watching YouTube videos on anxiety in kids than I could get out of his teachers. One actually told me that boys just work slower than girls. Right away I thought, bullshit! Mica hardly has homework. He's a guy. That's an old way of thinking.

One teacher asked me who he has for Math. When Isaak said, she said, "Oh..." insert awkward silence here.

Isaak's teachers weren't mean. They just weren't out of the box thinkers, like I thought they'd be. 

Top teachers for him were Piano and Language Arts. He stops Piano now, and takes Drama. They have a rotating wheel of different arts they take. Yay Drama, but pout no more Piano. They seemed to understand creative kids the most.

Isaak got a two or three A's the rest B's.

I am happy both boys are doing great in school, but worried about Isaak's work load. How can I make the boy go faster? I'm not trying to change him. I just don't want his school life to always be homework. With ACT's and SAT's time is a factor. Life doesn't stop for people that go slow. 

WW: Awards {Linky}

At Mica's school he had an award ceremony.

The little tall boy likes to wiggle on stage. He seriously does this gig, which makes it hard to photograph him.

He won:

• Geography Bee Contestant
• Astronomy Academic Excellence
• Social Studies Academic Excellence
• Student Council
• Quiz Bowl
• Language Art Academic Excellence
• Student of the Week
• Outstanding Achievement in Music
• Renaissance Gold
• Perfect Attendance

He thought they missed him for Think Tank. I told him he's good. He and a friend like to compare how many awards they got. It's a healthy competition.

He was pretty proud of his awards. So am I!

Post ANY post you want comment love on! It doesn't have to be wordless or wordful. I like rules sometimes, but they are meant to be broken. Link up a post! 

Random Tid Bits

1. Isaak just got in trouble at school the other day. The whole class was told to be quiet in line. A boy turned around and burped in Isaak's face. Isaak said, "Excuse you." He was nailed for talking. When he tried to explain what had happened, she thought he was back talking. She said she'd talk to his parents. When I heard about it I said, "Good! I wouldn't want someone burping in my face either. What was he supposed to do?" Possibly he shouldn't have used the tone he did, but again who wants someone burping in their face? Seriously it comes down to just having manners! If someone snaps a bra, burps or spits in someone's face, wipes poop on the wall, and so on they should be in trouble. Someone that calls someone out for their bad behavior shouldn't be in trouble. Just my opinion.
   
   The crazy thing was that this didn't happen with his teacher. I know we've had problems with her too. Class sizes are too big. It's got to be hard to control large numbers in a room.


2. We've had another problem with Isaak in school. Travis and Mica were both noticing he smells. I of course can't smell much, so it went right on past me. I was looking up stuff on B.O., puberty, and bad breath trying to figure out what to do. My sister said, "Have Travis smell his clothes to see where it's coming from." It was his pants. It's only humane to go to the bathroom when you need to go right? I found out he can only go 2 times a day. I pee way more than that myself. I drink a lot because of my allergies. I said, "Isaak if you have to go to the bathroom, raise your hand and go. If the teacher doesn't like it go see the Principal. Tell him your Mom said to do that. Let me get in trouble."
   
   I then read an article written by a Pediatric Urologist for Parent's Magazine about how unhealthy it is for kids to hold it. Like the Urologist, I believe that when someone has the urge to pee they should go. They shouldn't go 10, 20 or 60 minutes later! I understand that students can be stir crazy, and not trusted. Possibly go in teams. This is the first I'm hearing about this problem, so maybe just more breaks is all that's needed.
   
   Then I started thinking about girls that have gotten their period. A girl doesn't even know or understand what her body is going through at that age. What about the kid that has diarrhea? Yes if he/she has that they should be home, but if they get it in school there may be some problems. 


3. Our roller skating rink closed down. Do you have a rollerskating rink where you live? When Isaak found out it was closing about a month ago he said, "Since it's closing we should go there everyday!" The rest of us looked at each other, shook our heads and said, "Umm nope." 









4. Isaak's still in school choosing limbo. The school district I went to he toured. It's a brand new school. The only things is that he'll have 1 more year of elementary school + it's farther. When he visited he was like, "Everything is so little!" I think he's ready to move on up to middle school. What grade do they start middle school or junior high where you live? Here it depends on the district, and school. The district he's in now starts middle school in fifth or sixth grade depending on the middle school. The other district starts in seventh grade. 


5. We're supposed to have another arctic blast later this week. I hope it's not too bad. We're supposed to go from shorts to snow gear. Do you believe in global warming, or do think it's just weather being extreme? 

Random Tid Bits

1. Now I really don't know what we should do. If you kept up with last week's Random Tid Bits - Isaak got into the crappiest of Omaha Public Schools - middle schools that's on the news for fights and problem kids.
   
   Travis took him on a tour to their art magnet middle school called Beveridge, which is totally Isaak. They have art, music, strings, theater, learn Adobe programs, 3D printing, and do things like learn how to weld. They want him. We won't be able to get the transfer papers until April 15. They winked at Travis that they'll more than likely have room. The high school that connects up with that middle school isn't very feasible because it's so far away.
   
   Then a few days ago we got a letter saying he got into District 66, which is a different school district all together. That school was just redone. It would be another year of elementary; their middle school is 7th and 8th grades. If he goes there, he'll be able to go to middle and high school with his cousin Elijah.
   
   The District 66 schools only has one middle and one high school, which I love. The district we live in - Omaha Public Schools has way too many choices, and bad apples! BUT Beveridge is so Isaak. That paperwork for for both schools overlap. When we've signed up for one, the other has yet to come out. I never thought middle schools would be this stressful! Where I went had only 1 choice. 


2. I happened upon this website. Touchy feely...ya think? 








3. I just finished up making another batch of what I call "Citrus Sugar". I just wash up a citrus fruit peeling after we have eaten it, rip it in pieces, and dry it out. I keep stirring it, and rotating it, so it doesn't mold. Sometimes I bake it to dry it out more. Then I grind it up with a coffee grinder. I add sugar to the mix. It tastes great in baked goods. We have less white sugar intake. 





4. I saw on the news that Nebraska and Iowa have record high tree pollen. Possibly all the rain we had triggered that. I'm not really sure. I've sure had itchy eyes. Are there people complaining about allergies where you live?


5. We need to have Isaak call people more. He's incredibly awkward when he has to call a friend. I think that's the good thing about me having a house phone when I was growing up. It was second nature to answer the phone. 

WW: Quiz Bowl {Linky}

My son Mica has been enjoying Quiz Bowl. It's kind of like Jeopardy, except they don't answer with a question. It's every other Saturday. It lasts from 8:30 to usually 1:30 or 2.

This last weekend it lasted until 4! He was one of the last and many groups that placed. His team didn't win, but 4th place among many other smart kids is really good.

I can't really take pictures, or video. There is no phones during the event. That would disqualify the team. Only practice rounds.

I have to say that I appreciate his social studies teacher so much! She's there every Saturday that this takes place. She also has practice for them once a week. I appreciate her more than other teachers for sure. I think when the holidays roll around I'll get her something. Middle, high and college teachers usually don't get anything.

We usually stay through the first few practice sessions, then leave. Isaak grumps the whole time. I have to remind him that Mica has to sit through all of his basketball games.

Here's Travis and Isaak having their fingers dance to some tunes. Passing time between Quiz Bowl practice rounds.

Ten Awards!

I do feel bad that Mica had an award ceremony, and neither Travis or I could go. Travis' work has had one less employee because he was away in the Philippines for a month. It's a really busy time for me with finals coming up! I can't just skip my own class.

His school takes 20 minutes to get to from our house, which means a good 30 minutes from our work(s).

I explained that he's had many other events that we have gone to, and that we may have to skip some of Isaak's events in the future as well.

It drives me nuts that schools put events right smack in the middle of the day. I know teachers don't want to stay later, but it's hard to leave work at times.

As it turned out Mica got THE MOST AWARDS in the entire sixth grade class! That made me feel even more guilty about not being able to go.

He got not 1, but 10 awards!

1. Outstanding achievement in computer applications 
2. Student of the week 
3. Outstanding achievement in music (band) 
4. Metropolitan science and engineering fair participant 
5. Science academic excellence 
6. Geography bee contestant 
7. Renaissance silver 8 social studies academic excellence 
8. Mathematics 
9. Academic excellence 
10. Science fair excellence 

My goofy response to not being able to go was, “Well you just have to stop winning so many things Mica.” He knows I’m kidding.

Roar!

Mica can listen to music in some classes if they are doing computer work.

He decided to listen to something different. It kind of surprises, and makes me proud that he went outside of the box when it came to what he chose to listen to.

What did he choose to listen to? Katy Perry's Roar. I'm not a Katy Perry fan, but will listen to her if she's on the radio. I still like that he chose something different.

As he was listening, his headphones came out of the computer, and the whole class could hear Katy Perry's song playing really loud. Mica was panicking. He didn't know what to do. Finally he pressed the mute button. The whole class was laughing. 

I'm glad that Mica found it funny, and laughed too. 

What's an embarrassing moment that you had when you were in school?

Talking To My Kids About More Than Just Sex

Did I get your attention with that title?

Mica got his first love letter at school. Someone handed him a folded up piece of paper. 

Notice the full heartbeat on, "With You" and the flat line on, "Without You"?

She love - likes him. The little person on the bottom with the heart is cute.

So we talked about it. 

My Advice:

Mica don't ignore her, be nice to her, don't spread rumors, and just tell her that you want to focus on school right now. If he felt like it he could say, "My parents don't want me dating yet."

At School:

He did his best to avoid this girl. In fact he ran from her at recess. She stopped him at different times during the day to ask what she could do to make things better? He said, "Drop it. Drop the whole thing." 

The Dare:

Apparently there is a game played at school where 2 people have to play some kind of game. Whoever looses gets a dare. A girl dared another girl to ask Mica out.

When the girl asked Mica out he responded with, "I think that dare game should be banned at school." Ha! 

She proceeded to tell Mica that other girls liked him. 

I just hope this stuff doesn't go to my 12 year old's head. I don't need a cocky child! 

What kind of advice would you give a 12 year old on the opposite sex?

Middle School

If you remember last week I mentioned that we had a middle school open house for Mica last Tuesday night. We took 2 of our nephews with us because my sister was still at the hospital with my nephew Emerson.

That whole night went fine. To get into middle schools in the district we had to fill out paperwork with our top three choices. 

Of course Mica wants to go to the school that's in the most dangerous part of town. It's the best school in our opinion. When we walked into that school last year they had a hydroponic system going to grow plants, it's the only middle school in the metro that has their own planetarium, and they had all these tools set out under a sink. What were they teaching? Plumbing of course. 

The open house he went to recently is a school closer to our home. It's his 2nd choice. No bells and whistles, but it is close. They do have a pool and weight room that they never showed us. 

His last choice is a magnet school that gets money from Warren Buffet's foundation. Their focus is on journalism and broadcasting. Those aren't really Mica's areas of interest, nor are they taken seriously now a days, but the school is nice because of the funds they get. It's always filled, so I doubt he'll go to that one. 

More on middle schools later. It's a lottery system, so we'll see what he gets into soon enough.

Isaak and my nephew Edison are in the photo below. Edison was keeping us entertained that night! These two thought they were ready to go to middle school. 

I never knew picking out a middle school was going to be such a pain. 

• They actually start at different grade levels in the district: Some in 5th, some in 6th, and some in 7th grade. 

• They each have their focus. I'm kind of neutral with that. They are in middle school. How specific do they really need to get? 

• The better schools seem to be in crappier parts of town. That sucks! 

• There are so many options! I grew up in a different district. We had 1 option.

• You have to live in a certain area (zone) to qualify for bussing. The bussing isn't rated super high here, so Mica's getting a cell phone for his birthday. 

What age does middle school start where you live?

Random Tid Bits

1. The kid that Isaak was having trouble with at school is giving other kids grief now. I'm glad it's not just our little boy. 


2. We went to the school district's main building to check out middle schools. This is the 2nd year we've checked them out. We really like one school, but it's in a crappy part of town. Mica would be bussed too. Some middle schools are going though growing pains. They made 6th grade a part of many middle schools last year, but there was no transition/training for the teachers. I kind of want to pick a middle school for Mica that already had 6th grade in the school prior to last year. I never knew that picking out middle schools would be such a pain.
   
   The school district I went to had 1 middle school and 1 high school. There were no decisions to make.





I wanted to get a photo of the whole pencil, but there were girls climbing on the other side.

3. Travis chopped his hair (see the photo above). It cracks me up because he has a white spot in the front. It looks like he's bald there. Ha! My hair is very grey, but it's grey all over - evenly. I tell the kids that I have frosted highlights.


4. Isaak's been Mr. Forgetful. He forgot his homework a few weeks ago. He left it at school. Yesterday he left his jacket on the bench at recess. It was nowhere to be found. He's so hard on himself about forgetting things that I don't make a big deal out of it. I did tell him that if he takes his coat off be needs to run it in to put in his locker. My kids have never lost anything at school. In my mind that's a pretty good track record. 


5. My students just did fliers for nonprofit organizations. I was really impressed with all of them except for 3. Their job is to bring awareness to the nonprofit, and to get people to donate to it. In the 3 I didn't understand what the nonprofit was about, so they didn't do their job. 

School

I usually don't take my kids to school, nor do I pick them up. Travis does that.

Of course since Travis was out of town a lot I did a lot of dropping off, and picking up. Isaak loves the before and after program; Mica on the other hand could do without it. They are both so different. Isaak loves people, while Mica needs time to himself.

One morning we were on our way to school and saw this:

It's unusual to see a wild turkey in the city. Then it started to cross the road. We started telling, "Why did the turkey cross the road?" jokes. Isaak was really worried it would get hit by a car. I've seen them before, but not very often. We had a few that lived behind the school where I work for awhile. One day I was standing talking to my Dad outside, and a turkey flew over my head. It reminded me of a Wallace and Gromit movie. It was this big massive thing in the sky.

Where the kids go to school they have two trees that are blooming right now. They are so pretty. I call them popcorn trees. For some reason small white blooms look like popcorn to me.

We filled out paperwork to see if Mica could get into one of the three middle schools that start at 5th grade. The school district I went to had elementary that went from Kindergarten to 6th grade. The boy's school goes from Kindergarten to 6th grade now. Next year they are dropping 6th grade. This district is really odd because some middle schools start in 5th grade, some in 6th grade, and there were a few that started in 7th grade. It's super confusing!

They have magnet middle schools, which is also new to me. Mica is into science, reading, writing, and drama. Those are totally different subjects. That doesn't make it easy to pick what middle school fits him. I just think it's odd that one would have a focus on a particular subject in middle school. I have college students that don't know what they want to do when they grow up. How could one expect a middle schooler to know what they want to do? 

We were open to the idea of seeing if Mica could get into one of the middle schools for next year. Both are rated high, both are far from our house, and one is in the crappiest part of Omaha. Mica was accepted into the crappiest part of Omaha one. On the letter of acceptance it had a phone number to call. The number wasn't the right number - it was out of order. LOVELY! Regardless of only sort of liking the 5th grade teachers at the kid's current school, we made the decision that Mica should stay at his elementary 1 more year. The middle school is wonderful. I've heard all good things about it. It has a planetarium, a hydroponics growing system, and more. We just can't see how bussing Mica far away in a crappy part of town can be a good thing for him. He's also not ready to depart from his friends. If he gets sick, or has to leave school for appointments it would be much harder if he's far away. 

We called the school's headquarters to know what to do to keep him in his elementary school. The paper I filled out to select a middle school actually transferred him! No one explained that one to us! It was just a single paper that had our name, address, our first pick of school, and the second pick of school. That was it. I even talked to a few upper people about middle schools, saying that we just wanted to see what might happen, they just nodded to understand us.

I got an email saying to come to the middle school to register. We went last night. Now we have to fill out a form to have him transferred back to his elementary. What a mess!