He Stood Up For His Values

Yesterday at school my son stood up for something he believed in.

And I am so proud of him for it.

Heard of the movie The Lorax?

Pretty hard not to.

Our school is decorated cutely with silly Dr. Seuss trees and flying Seuss birds.  The little boys came home bearing some sunflower seeds and some sort of official looking paper that said they had taken the Lorax pledge or something another.  I honestly didn't pay any attention to it because they were just happy about the seeds.

Yesterday S1 came in rather glum.

"What's up?" I asked as I scooped them out some special dirt cake we made on Oreo cookies birthday.

"I had a rough day at school," he said.

He's had a rough year at school.  Keeping in mind what Sue said on the Real Mom's of West Michigan Tuesday, I reminded myself to just listen to what he was about to tell me.

"Tell me about it," I encouraged.

He then explained to me that the teacher had asked the class to sign a Lorax pledge.  He didn't care to sign it, he could care less about the seeds they were giving out since we would have plenty of seeds to plant this spring anyhow, and so he didn't sign it.

He didn't make a big deal about it.  He just didn't sign it.

I would have been proud of him for that.

But then the teacher asked him why he didn't sign it.  He just shrugged and said it wasn't something he agreed with.

The teacher then pulled him out of class and explained to him what it was.  S1 still didn't want to sign it so he just told him he wasn't going to.  And then my son went back to his school work.

Over the course of that day, the teacher pulled my son out of class FOUR times.  Yes, four.  He told him he didn't need to be so black and white on things.

S1 still didn't sign it.

But what got my son right to the heart was when the teacher said, "Don't you read your Bible?  Don't you think we should take care of the earth?"

And my son, he looked right at his teacher who is in authority over him, and was brave enough to say, "I don't want to sign something that is making a bigger deal over creation then the Creator."

I nearly cheered when he told me that.

He had left the school feeling beat up but he left with his head held high.

And I am insanely proud of him for doing so.

My quiet 12 year old son who is growing into a little man already, who is nearly as tall as me, who quietly does his work and is a huge help to us all, who has decided to read his Bible in a year and has kept up with that schedule...I am so proud of him I am crying as I type this.

He asked us not to make a big deal of it.

But when I seen MobSociety ask for a linkup for Let's Hear it For the Boys, I couldn't resist sharing this story.

I hope that I would be as brave as my son has been.

How To Help Your Kids Do Well In School

This morning, my friend Sue spoke on How to Help Your Kids Do Well In School on the radio station Star 105.7 with Tommy and Brook.  She talks on a different subject every week in her radio spot of The Real Moms of West Michigan.  You can catch her on Tuesday mornings around 7am...right about the time that things are crazy in your house, I know.  But still, try to catch her if you can.

She and I had talked about this subject and I heard what she had to say and I thought she had some great points.  You can read her post she wrote on the subject HERE.

I have been going through this a lot lately with the boys.

S1 has had an overload of homework this year.  Seriously tough stuff, hours worth of homework.  As you are all well aware, we live in a small farmhouse with lots of "oddities" in it.  You know, that stuff that makes an old house unique but no way would you ever do it that way in a new house because WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!

Yah, that.

Well, the boys rooms are just plain weird.  You walk into S3 and S4's room to get into S1 and S2's room.

S1 would shut the door to his room and then he would get cold because the wood heat vent wouldn't reach him.  He would come downstairs and get distracted at the dining room table - the hub of our family everythings - so we were sorta at a loss.

Then I thought of our landing upstairs.

S1 helped me and together we put together a little study for him.  Is the landing ideal?  Not really.  Does it work?  Oh yah!  It's his own little space that he can sit at and do his homework.  When his brothers go to sleep, they always keep the landing light on to see on their way down the steps so when S1 is sitting there working on homework, it doesn't bother them a bit.

He feels rather grown up of his little space that is all his own.  He's decorated it a bit and takes pride in the landing study.  It's never stayed so clean!

The other issue we have had in school this year is S3.

S3 keeps forgetting.

He forgets his glasses and then he can't see.  He forgets his homework, over and over and over again.  He forgets to bring home his reading.  He does his reading and forgets to take it to school.  He forgets his lunch.  He brings home a milk carton in his lunch on Friday and forgets it till Monday.  He remembers his lunch box and forgets he didn't pack anything in it.

I could keep going.

It literally makes me pull my hair out some mornings.  Okay, lots of mornings.  And evenings.

We took away tv.  We took away his leapster.  And when we did, he had no motivation to do well so believe it or not, he forgot even more!

I didn't think that was possible.

So, in order for us to keep our sanity - and get him out of the second grade - I bribed him.

Yes, I did.

I told him if he remembered his full lunch, his glasses, his homework, his book, etc, for FOUR weeks, he would get a new game for his leapster.

I have never seen a more motivated kid.  In fact, after agreeing to this arrangement, he immediately put on his glasses to make sure he didn't forget them for school the next day. With something to focus on and work for, the child is shining.  He scored five out of five on his reading test.  I literally did a dance of joy.

It's not perfect.  It's not the same for each boy.  I have just boys and they all learn so differently.  Where S1 needs silence and to be left alone to study, S3 can be in total chaos and stay on task.

I think that's the key.

Teaching each kid the way they are meant to be taught.

Is that easy?  No. Way.

It's time consuming and makes you go a little insane.

Especially if you have a S4 who asks allllllllllllllllllllll day long, "How do you spell 'hi'?  What is 1-1?  What is 7 times 20? Did I make this right? Are you sure you know the answer?"


All.  Day.  Long.

But if you find something that works for your kids, work it!  Keep in mind, however, that you need to be willing to change it.

And that is my two cents worth for the day.

Now, be sure to read Sue's blog on this.  And don't forget to tune in and hear her!  iHeart radio is a handy little link that keeps us all on the same page here.  Can't beat that!