School Ramblings

When we took Turtle to school this morning, it was 46 degrees outside. In September. It's not supposed to be 46 degrees in September. Do you know how cold that is? Before we moved out here, I didn't think the weather would affect me so much. I am not a cold-weather person at all. It is miserable. What's worse is I feel lied to...betrayed. California is supposed to be warm and sunny. Nice beaches. Palm trees. Well, let me break that illusion for you...it's not. At least, it's not up here in northern California. Here it's cold all year long, except for about three weeks at the end of August/beginning of September. But even then, it was chilly in the mornings and at night. I guess I didn't pay enough attention in Geography class. Yes, Oregon is cold and wet. Guess what? Northern California is right next to Oregon. I guess it never clicked in my head that the climates would be similar.

It is beautiful, though...

Speaking of school, I am in the middle of two online classes: medical terminology/anatomy and cultural anthropology. I am really disappointed in the anthropology class. I have been waiting for this class to open up and was so excited when I started it, but it is not what I expected. I haven't really learned anything from it that I didn't already know. Basically, I'm just memorizing vocabulary words for the tests. On the other hand, I really like the medical terminology class. I was surprised at how much I already knew. The words are all like little puzzles that you take apart to find out the meaning. For example: "arthr" means joint and "itis" means inflammation. Hence, "arthritis" means an inflammation of the joint.

I'm still not sure how I feel about online classes. These are the fifth and sixth online classes I have taken. Basically, you just read the textbook, take a few quizzes, two exams, and maybe write a paper or two. That's it. The instructors don't really teach anything; just answer any questions you might have. I just don't feel like I'm learning anything. Maybe that will change when I start taking upper level classes. Good news is I only have two classes left (after the current two I am taking) and I will have my long-awaited associates degree. I have been working on this since 1996, so twelve years now. Granted, I haven't been working really hard on it. We move a lot, so I take classes here and there. Of course, between working, the boys, and J's work schedule, it's never been a good time for me to really go to school. So, online classes work well right now. I wish I could go to a real school for my last two years, but I don't see it happening.

In other school related news, Turtle is doing well so far in first grade. He still has trouble with language arts, but he is actually reading a little now. He has a list of sight words he knows and he is starting to figure out how to sound out new words. Math is still coming really easily to him. His teacher even said that "math is his thing!" I'm glad he has something that he is really good at. It boosts his self-esteem so much. Now if we could stop the talking in class, we'd be doing great! Friends are still the most important thing, though, so I have a feeling this is going to be a problem for a long time.

Frog is starting to freak me out with his math skills. When he was two, he was already counting...and I don't just mean by rote. He loved to count objects and line them up, take some away, and then re-count. Now he is doing it in his head. He'll just look at something and say "there are five cars on the table" without counting them out loud first.

I'm glad my boys seem to like math. I watched how J and other members of my family have struggled with math over the years and I was worried the boys would have trouble, too. But so far, so good.

In a little bit, I have to head out to the store. Somehow I volunteered to bring in snack for Turtle's class to celebrate his b-day tomorrow. Yes, I know his b-day was in August, but it's a long story I will share later.