I know, I know, I was bad last week and I didn't make my weekly therapy session. I'm a bad girl....and to top it off I almost missed this weeks, but technically it's still Thursday while I'm typing so as long as I can type this up in less than 24 minutes I'm all set lol
This past week I've been reflecting a lot about my 5th grade year. As I work with my son to learn his multiplication tables so that he can make it through his "mad minutes" I am finding myself remembering all those little tricks that Mr. Hutchinson taught me to help me back then.
Mr. Hutchinson was my 5th grade teacher, he had brown hair and a brown beard to match. He had a smile that made the girls swoon and we all longed for that special one on one time with him. He was one of those teachers you never forgot because he actually seemed to care about whether or not you succeeded. So when I was struggling with some of my multiplication tables he taught me little rhymes like "8 times 8, throw it on the floor. Pick it up you got 64" To this day, when I come upon this basic math question, I find myself saying that in my head. I taught it to Orion, he thought it was silly BUT then today he ran up to me after school and says to me "What we did last night really worked mom, I got 7 more questions today than yesterday" See "Mad Minutes" is this test the kids get daily, it's 40 multiplication questions and they have 1 minute to answer as many as possible. The goal is to get at least 30 of them in the time limit. Orion has always struggled with these, not because he doesn't know the answers, but simply because he suffers from MAJOR test anxiety and time obsession. He gets so wrapped up in the fact that he only has 1 minute that he can't get the questions answered because he watches the clock, then he gets all worried that he hasn't answered enough questions that he freezes. So here at home we practice. I use an actual mad minute test and I ask him the questions and tell him to answer as fast as possible. When he struggles I try to find a shortcut to help him out. After awhile of drilling orally I give him the paper and time him. When he struggles we go over the questions again and then time again. We probably spend close to an hour doing math facts every night. But it has paid off because on Tuesday he got 8 questions, on Wednesday he got 17, then today he got 24! He's getting close to the 30 goal and I am very proud of him for it! If it weren't for Mr. Hutchinson being so understanding and helpful I would not have this wonderful way to help my boy succeed!
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Another thing about 5th grade...as I have mentioned before, it was the next to last day of my 5th grade year that I was placed into foster care and my life changed forever!
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Another reflection this week...my baby is going to be 10 years old soon! I can't believe it! For his birthday we are taking him to see our favorite band Rush in concert! The concert is next week Tuesday, a week before his real birthday, but hey we couldn't get Rush to change their tour schedule to make sure they were in Boston on the 20th lol It's still just about the coolest birthday present ever and he'll get to skip school on Wednesday because I'm sure he'll be a bit tired considering he won't get home until well after midnight! I just can't believe it's been a full decade since my baby boy arrived and I fell into the purest and deepest love I have ever known! Not even the love for my husband can compare to the love I have for this wonderful boy that is mine!
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Well, looks like I'm gonna miss my midnight deadline, hope my therapist forgives me for being late to yet another appointment. I know I didn't talk about the egg donor or the sperm donor, but this is my therapy session and I get to talk about whatever I want to lol
Have a great week everyone and be sure to look back every once in awhile because when you do you may just find the answer your child needs! I know I did....thanks to a wonderful 5th grade teacher! I wish I could thank him, unfortunately I have no way to do that so I hope someone out there has thanked him so he knows how appreciated his hard work is!
Thanks Mr. H, you were awesome!
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