Talk Thursday: Winning.....

As far as Charlie is concerned... I am somewhere between WTF? and pity.

I don't keep up on celebrities. Some how this ties into a 5-year-old little girl's deep fascination and love for the newly married Princess Diana and the disgust that grew from watching the press and public feed on the miseries of her life. I refuse to support it. I whole-heartedly refrain from being informed on their pitfalls, missteps, and self-degradation. I sure as hell don't want people shadowing me and my bad choices.

So, winning....

Burp wanted to vote for the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards (Yup! cuz we're just THAT dorky!)... and the category was Best Female Vocalist. Out of 4 choices, the last two were Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.
Burp: "Ahhhhhh it's too hard!"
Me: "Well, who do you like more?"
Burp: "I don't know!"
So I have a great idea... I go to YouTube and pull up videos. I start playing my favorite Katy Perry/3OH!3 song "Starstruck", which we've watched too many times to count. And we get to the good part, Katy in the fountain in the tight pink and black dress, soaking wet... and I'm sure, I mean absolutely positive, that Burp is 2 seconds from SOLD!
Burp: "Uhhhh, OK.. That solves it. Taylor Swift!"

ZzzzzzzzzzzzzWWwwwwuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrkK! (you know.. needle scratching record sound)

Me(slightly dumbfounded): HUH?
Burp: "MOM! Katy Perry is HIGHLY inappropriate! This is the KIDS Choice Awards. FOR KIDS!! SHE HAS NIPPLES, MOM! She's way too sexy!. It's inappropriate! Taylor Swift for sure!"

Me: "Uhhhhhhh.....ok....."

..................... I'm still like.... w t f ?... but then I feel good too. Like "YAY, wholesomeness won!", "I must be doing something right!" .... but then the other part of me is like.... really?

So, winning.....

I have decided to wage a major battle on Burp's math issues. He is in the 4th grade and somewhere around the 25th percentile, but the school doesn't get concerned until they drop into the teens. (The TEENS, are you fucking kidding me????)  He can't count his 3's beyond, maybe, 21 and from there it just goes downhill. He does not understand that "countby's" directly correlate to multiplication, and doesn't get that division is just multiplication backwards. They never really had the kids learn times tables. He has only vaguely learned and retained any of these processes. Now, they're starting fractions and percentages.

Maybe you're wondering why I haven't addressed this sooner... I've tried... I've tried to explain to the teachers over the years that if I know what the curriculum is, then I can work on it at home. I've requested EXTRA homework. Most of the time, he only has math homework 1 day a week.. and that's a one page photocopy with no explanation of what's expected to be done. My mom helped Burp with fractions last weekend and was like "WTF is this?"

Well, I'm calling bullshit on the process and taking matters into my own hands... We're starting at the beginning and learning it all over again. I bought a big magnetic white board and rolls of magnetic tape and I've made "math magnets".

We're starting with 2's and the first thing he has to do is write and say his 2's. (2,4,6,8, etc.. to 100)

Then, with the magnets he has to put the "answer" magnets with the correct problem magnet, show me that his answer is right with "grouping" and pair that problem with the corresponding division problem and answer, again proving his answer with grouping. Then we go through and read them all out loud. (2 x 2 = 4, 4 / 2 = 2)

Then, I let him have 20 minutes or so off to play a multiplication based video game.

Then, back to the whiteboard. I put up a problem and he tells me the answer. (I do this because he always does them in order... I mix them up) He has a small whiteboard that he can work the problem on using grouping. Then he has to tell me what division problem goes with the multiplication problem.

We will do this the same way everyday until he seems to know it. Then move on to 3's.
I'm hoping that the repetition will help some with memorization, but some Aspie kids just can't memorize... Most Aspie kids suck at math unless math is their "THING". I just know that if something isn't done now... then either it never will, or right about middle school, they'll put him in special ed... and really, I have to say that would be a matter of the system failing him. It's obvious that he has a problem.. but at this point, it isn't severe enough for them to intervene. I don't understand this mentality. Instead of trying to catch it before it gets too bad (which I think it already is), they'll just pass it along until they can't ignore it anymore. BULLSHIT!

I will win this one.

There's no other choice.