TAKS week!!!

TAKS testing all this week, fun!!!  Not really, I think the people that work for the state should come in one day to any school and see what actually goes on in a classroom and see how tedious of a job is to have these entire tests. Teachers stop teaching their curriculum to teach to the test, what are kids learning then. To take a test and forget about it once the test is over.  Yes, I am against all these tests that the state now requires kids to take. It’s a waste of quality teaching time and kids are not learning anything, they are memorizing. I would imagine that they should have gotten the hint that something is wrong with our education system, with all of the research that is out there. Letting everyone know that the U.S. has a very low education system, yet we spend big amounts of money in it. I really do not understand it.

toddler school programs ???

Does anyone know about any pre-school programs around the Lake Worth area? My daughter will be four years old this November, therefore she will be behind a year when she starts school and I personally think that she is ready to start. We might start with something that is only half day, or a couple of days a week since she will be going from grandma’s house to a whole new place. Her grandparents think that she is too little to start school, but I want her to start socializing with other kids and get used to the idea that one day she will go to school all day. Also, I don’t think being exposed to different environments and learning new things will harm her, what do you think? Children learn so fast and the more exposed to different environments, ideas and persons the bigger and brighter their world will be.

Tree service :/

This past week with the storms and all, we noticed that one of our trees in the driveway had broken in half and was just hanging on branches ready to fall. We started looking around to see who can come and cut that tree down and remove it since it was dead already. Well we call several people and got quotes from them. Guess what? I never knew cutting trees was such an expensive thing to do, the cheapest quote we got was for $900. Yes, that is right. I was shocked when the gentleman said that, and that was not including taking all the debris. They were just going to cut it down and set everything aside for us to get rid of. That is crazy!!!!  So I mentioned it to my dad and he was also shocked, and told me I’ll go take care of it this Saturday….See I’m a little scared sometimes to ask my dad, because he thinks everything is easy and he can do it on his own. Which he can, but most of the time he does it without even thinking what if something happens, now what? So, I told him, it’s ok Dad, can you just look around see if we can find something cheaper, I don’t want you climbing trees and have part of it fall on the neighbor’s house…lol..

Of course, he said no and guess who was at my house at 8am on Saturday morning? My dad and my uncle ready to cut that huge tree..I cannot tell you how scared I was that the broken part would somehow fall on the neighbors house, then that was going to be more expensive that hiring those fancy tree people..anyways, thankfully we were able to get that whole tree cut in half and no accidents. It took us all day long, I was  so exhausted by that evening that as soon as I took a shower and ate dinner I fell asleep. I don’t know how my dad does it, but he can never be still, he is always up and down. I remember when we were younger, we used to pretend we were busy when he came in or else he will find something for us to do outside. But that’s my father and I love him.

So if anyone needs fire wood, we have enough for the whole year I think…  J

It's Baseball time!!!!!

I am soooo ready for 4 o’clock….My weekend will start and tomorrow it’s opening day for the Rangers…Yay!!!  Although, I don’t get to go with my husband, I get to go with some of the kids at school. They are super excited as well, we have a mentor program through the Texas Rangers and the kids will be volunteering tomorrow at the ball park for half of the game, them the rest we all get to enjoy. It will be a great time. On the other hand, I am so not ready for Easter, I have all my family coming over and I have not got a thing ready, yes that is bad, but I’ll get it done the day of…hehehehe

Hope everyone has a good weekend and enjoy!!!

I don’t know what to call this one…..

Yesterday, a classmate and I went over to TCC to do observation hours for one of our classes.  The class is an ESL class for adults, ages varied from 16-70, very interesting group. I have to say that I actually enjoyed working with the group; they are super friendly people and eager to learn everything about our language.  Although, we were both there to observe and somewhat help them with their tasks, I learned a lot from them.  I noticed that they pay attention to every detail in a reading and actually take the time to understand every word and phrase of the text. Unlike us, that we skim through everything or if we do read the entire text, we read it so fast or in a way that we have no idea what we just read.

On the other hand, I was very shocked to hear what some of the students had to say. They were asked to share some of their experiences when they first arrived in the country and most had bad stories to tell. I know that anyone would be out of place coming to a new country, not knowing the language and not knowing anyone, but it was very shocking to find that many people in this country are still very egocentric.  This student shared with us that in one occasion she was at the gym and was on a phone call talking to a friend in Portuguese, her native language. Well this lady came up to her and tap her in her shoulder and told her that this was America and she needed to speak English.  I thought that was so rude of that stranger to come and tell someone she does not know what she needs to do in this country.  I cannot imagine what she must have felt at that time, considering that she barely spoke any English, as she has only now been here 14 months.

Nonetheless, this incident made her think that all Americans are the same way and that is not correct. Not everyone is so self centered and rude to do that. We should all think twice before doing something similar, it is very inappropriate, it creates a stereotype for the whole country , and most important it makes that person feel so small and lost. We do not know if they are on vacation, to attend school or just recently arrived in this country. And aren’t we a country of multiculturalism why should everyone lose their roots and language when they arrive here or any other country, it is already a huge step to be willing to learn the language of an unfamiliar place; and actually that makes them a much more competitive individual for speaking more than one language and not just English because she is in the U.S.

:( spring break, where did you go?

It’s over!!!!!!  What a short week that was, although I did enjoy that week off, I did not get as much done as I had planned. Out of my to do list, only one thing was completed and another one started.  I did get to paint and finish up with my dining room, I had asked my uncle to knock down a wall to open up some space( which my husband had no idea that I asked him to do this until he came home that day and a wall was missing….hilarious). My uncle did a great job and only took three days (that’s why I asked him, because I know he is good at what he does and pays attention to detail). But anyways, other than that, I spent as much time with my daughter as I could. We did little stuff here and there and I really enjoyed it.  Took her to ride the train at the Trinity River, which she loved, went to the park and played, had lunch. We visited the library did little arts and crafts. It was truly very nice, I know the time where she no longer wants to do these things is coming very fast, so I enjoy every second I can. Well welcome to reality everyone and welcome again those late nights doing homework for me. So much fun!!!!

Happy International Woman's Day!!!!

Oh, how I wish that I would be able to stay at home with my daughter all day and be a stay at home mom.  But I guess we all want what we don’t have and what we have others wish they had. Today is international woman’s day and I was thinking how there are many that think being a homemaker is the easiest job in the world.  I thought about this because, when  you go somewhere and they ask where you work and you answer, oh I don’t I stay at home.  Mostly everyone’s reply is,  “lucky I wish I could stay home”.  Personally, I don’t see how you can call that lucky to “not have to work”. I would love the opportunity to be able to stay home and do all kinds of things with my daughter, instead of being stuck at work for 8 hrs then only spending a couple of hrs with her before going to bed.  But that doesn’t imply at all that I would stay home and do nothing. Being a homemaker is the  hardest, most demanding job work one can have and you are on call 24/7. I loved that my mom was able to stay at home with all of us and not have to go out and work, because that gave her more time to pay attention to us, she had breakfast, lunch and dinner ready for us everyday. We had clean clothes to wear, our house was never messy and most of all she had to be there when we needed her.  So even though it is hard work and you are never on break,  I would do anything to be home with my kids and give them all that attention that I received from a great woman.  And if I were ever asked what you do, I would say: I am a mom, wife, cook,  doctor, counselor,  secretary, hairdresser, maintenance person, coordinator,  life coach etc.