Dave's job had to pick a week in which a book report is due to send him to a conference in Urbana, Illinois. Though we've been working on this report pretty much every day for weeks, it's still crunch time this week. It's due Friday, but they have a field trip Friday so it ends up being due Thursday, and he has soccer practice the night before. So we (we?) really need to finish it this week.
This poetry report includes picking a poem, memorizing and reciting it, and writing it on a poster. Then they have to answer a questionnaire called "Poetry Potpourri" about what you liked about the poem, images it brings to mind, things like that. Then there's an outline they have to write up. Finally, from the questionnaire and the outline, there's the actual 5-paragraph essay they have to write. In addition, there's the A-B-A-B poem that they write themselves -- in class thank goodness, but the final "published" version is done at home. Plus the rehearsals for the presentation of the essay they wrote, and the two poem recitals.
This project had a lot of steps, no wonder we've been working at it for so long! (And this time I bought two poetry books so we have to compete for poetry books at the library or worry about return dates.)
Tonight we finished up the poster (Gabriel wrote it all but I still had to direct him what to do and help him with some gluing), and rehearsing the presentation. Gabriel's articulation has gotten pretty poor, and we really need to take him to have his hearing checked again. So getting him to enunciate and speak clearly takes some practice.
Then there are other challenges to presenting.
Gabriel's in-class written poem, called "I want a robot."
I recorded the poem he memorized, called "My brother shaved his teddy bear" by Jack Prelutzky, and his essay, but frankly they're pretty boring even to me.
Not to mention the homework Gabriel had tonight, including writing his 25 spelling words 4 times each, and some long math problems. I didn't even glance at his homework, I was just too overloaded.
Then Julian. He was pretty good tonight, doing his homework without complaint. After dinner, he and Katrina happily ran upstairs together so he could give her a bath!
I had to interrupt him from reading her a story however, when I read his "Go Home Book," with daily behavior reports from his teacher. I had to have a very stern talk with him for his relentless pestering of a classmate, today which included a smack on his friend's rear end and Julian getting sent to the office.
Julian's pestering and messing around and disobeying are really, really a problem, at home, at school and at the CDC after school. He's not bullying, he just wanders around the classroom, drags his heels, makes stupid excuses, goofs around, then focuses his attention on his friend and pesters constantly, disrupting the class. I really don't know what to do about it, and his teacher seems pretty fed up too. He whines and complains when I take things from him, but he can't apply the lesson the next day.
Maybe what Julian needs is 2nd grade and its 6 book reports. Oh joy. I can't wait.
3/28/2011
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