Study Group

School is in full force which means every day my kids tote home loads of homework.

I was never much for homework. I'm sure I must have had homework in my classes as a child, but I really don't remember spending too much time on it. Did my grades suffer? Sure they did, but not to the extent one might imagine. My report cards were simply average. Later on in highschool I prided myself on not having to study for tests. Fortunately memorization came very quickly and naturally to me. Read a book...pass a test. If I was lucky enough to have a teacher that loved writing information on the board...all the better! That info just stuck (many thanks to Mr. Reynolds-sociology & psychology-grades 11 & 12). Heck, I even remember making the honor roll a couple of times and never cracking a book. All this and I graduated with two babies. Can you imagine how well I would've done had I applied myself in class? (Yes mom, I get it now!!)

Unfortunately, my lack of study skills are now coming back to haunt me. I have such a VERY difficult time teaching my children HOW to study. One would think this task to be simple, but let me assure you, it is not. It's much like tossing a city girl in front of a dairy cow and telling her to milk it. You know it can be done, and perhaps have even witnessed it first hand, but the actual ACT of milking seems all together foreign.

So here I am, 28 years old, baffled at how, besides reading them over and over, I can get these vocabulary words to stick in the mind of my 2nd grader. Begging my 5th grader to look over the map again for his impending geography test, because I truly don't know how on earth one would study a map. Or pleading with my 6th grader to go over her flash cards just once more, without giving her the impression that math is my nemesis. It is the one thing that completely eludes me.

I am thankful however. This "memorization" ability is seemly passed down from generation to generation. My mother is a brilliant woman and so is Alex's mom. And whether or not he would ever admit it to anyone, studying comes very naturally to Alex. He simply doesn't struggle. Now my theory is proving true in my own children. Most of our kids have no trouble with spelling tests (Ash obviously inherited some throw-back gene from an ancestor with terrible spelling). On the other hand most things really do stick in her mind if she focuses enough to absorb them.

Math comes very naturally to both Isreal and Tristyn (they obviously did not get this from me). As a matter of fact, damn near everything comes naturally to Israel and Tristyn who must have gotten hit with the study stick at birth. Kayl on the other hand struggles a bit more than the other kids. Thankfully though,he applies himself like no child I have ever seen. I have to admit there is something to be said for someone who has to work a bit harder for what they want. It will carry him far in life.

What am I most thankful for this year? Ashton and two of her friends from class began a study group. We all live in the same neighborhood, which makes alternating houses easy. And all the girls get along (most of the time) which is a feat in itself when you are discussing 12 year old girls. So basically a couple times a week 3 pre-teens invade my dining room, eat and drink everything within reach and ask me questions about fractions and Egyptian pyramids. Whatever, Ash is getting her homework finished and I don't even have to listen to her complain that life is passing her by while I force her nose into a book. It's like killing two birds with one stone, she socializes and passes her classes. Thank heaven for small miracles!

Life is good, school is good, and my laundry is done. Who could ask for more!!