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January 24, 2011

Easy Sunday

Monkey could say most interesting things nowadays.

When MonkeyMama was preparing lunch, Monkey asked her if she always wanted two girls.

MonkeyMama replied yes.

Monkey then said, "I think you should have 3 children."

MonkeyMama smiled, "Another girl? That would be nice."

"No, a boy!" shouted Monkey.

"Well, I don't know about that."

Then Monkey asked, "How much is a baby?"

"About 200,000 dollars."

Monkey was so shocked, she didn't know what to say. MonkeyMama then told her that yes, one should have a job before having a kid, otherwise you would end up like this so-and-so who had only yogurt in the fridge because they had no money to buy food.

Later all the girls took a nap together. They got up around the dinner time. Because the nap was so late, Monkey couldn't sleep when it was time to go to bed.

She hung out with MonkeyMama and watched her study. She asked, "Why can't you study at work?"

"I have to do work in the office," explained MonkeyMama, "Like you, you do homework at home, not at school."

"So do you have a test?"

"Yes."

"What if you don't do good on the test?"

"Well, in that case, I would take the test again."

Monkey made a face as her mom told her how many times she had to take the last test.

Monkey then asked, "Does your boss know the answers?"

MonkeyMama tried to control herself, "I don't think so. Maybe many years ago, but I don't think so."

Monkey watched a lecture on options and decided that all those Greek symbols are Chinese.

Speaking of Chinese, Monkey has been telling her parents that she wanted to learn Chinese, so she can tell secrets in Chinese to her mom. That is a good reason to learn Chinese.

Posted by Mike at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2011

Future Actuary

Monkey's class got to fly kites in their science lesson today. They were supposed to learn about the properties of air.

MonkeyMama and MonkeyDaddy were both there to help the class. Kids were very excited to fly kites. They each got one cheap kite and they had to put it together.

Monkey's kite broke down several times. She cried, and her daddy would go over and fix it for her. Later, MonkeyDaddy was busy helping other kids with their kites, so MonkeyMama helped Monkey to fly the kite. They managed to get the kite highest in the sky.

MonkeyMama was so excited because she never flew a kite before, so she let the string go, but Monkey was very upset: "No! No! Not so high!! It would break!!!" She was so risk-averse, she would make a fine actuary.

Monkey stared crying again, MonkeyMama told her that the kite should fly high in the sky. Monkey refused to listen; her mom got mad and left.

Monkey's friends helped her bring down the kite.

At the end of the class, Monkey gave her daddy a hug, "I like you better than Mommy."

Whatever.

Posted by Mike at 10:55 PM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2011

Homework

We are entering the fifth month of the first grade. Here is a question on Monkey's homework:

There are 2 classes in the first grade. There are 14 children in each class. Both first grade classes go to the book fair. Each child gets 2 books at the book fair. How many books do they get in all?

We are dumbfound. How exactly do they expect us to help them?

Right now, they just barely learn how to add single digits. Just this week, they started to learn to count by two.

It was obvious to us that it might be possible to teach a six-year-old how to add 14+14. But to get to 28+28 is virtually impossible for the addition would involve carrying over. Yes, we explained to Monkey how carrying over works, but why pushing so much information onto the kids when they can barely add 2+1?

Another solution would be draw pictures of 28 children and count by two from the first child to the last. They might as well ask the children to simply count by two without tortuous word problems. They can do word problems when they read on their own.

This school year has not been fun for us. It is quite stressful. Her teacher emphasizes reading. We focus on math. There is no instant click between us and the teacher. She is a great teacher; Monkey can read on her own. We just wish the math assignments could make more sense. But this is not really the teacher's fault, as she didn't get to pick curriculum. It makes you wonder who decided on the materials. Ed.D? Homeschooling is looking appealing.

Posted by Mike at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)

January 08, 2011

Rough Day

Monkey had a really rough day today.

We were going to Incredible John's to lunch. When we got there, MonkeyDaddy told MonkeyMommy that Monkey said to him that she wished he were fired so she would not have to go to the daycare.

MonkeyMommy was furious. She started yelling at Monkey for saying selfish things and got mad at MonkeyDaddy for not telling sooner. We turned around and didn't even enter the place. There is no need to reward bad behaviors.

Then later Monkey was doing math drills. She was not doing well. She couldn't do simple additions. It just made her parents even angrier. She was sent to bed early that day.

Some days are just worse than others. Maybe tomorrow will be better?

Posted by Mike at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)

January 07, 2011

Orange Sash

IMG_0720.jpg

Monkey moved up from the white belt to the orange belt. She was nervous demonstrating for us.

Posted by Mike at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2011

Winter Break Over

We told Monkey that she had to go back to school tomorrow. She was not happy to hear that the break was over. She said she hated school. Alarmed, MonkeyMama asked her why.

She said, "I don't like tests."

I don't think any of us does, including her teacher. It seems like there is a daily test going on; it is virtually no fun to be a student today. Is there any private school that doesn't do testing today?

Posted by Mike at 11:39 PM | Comments (0)

January 01, 2011

New Year Resolutions

Monkey's New Year resolution is to make gifts for friends and families this year.

Her New Year resolutions for her parents are to stop buying things we want, stop going out to eat, and save money to buy a beach house. After we have a beach house, she said, we could fill it with things we want.

I think all this money talk seems to give her a decent sense of finances. She would ask us to find coupons before she goes to the stores to buy things.

Posted by Mike at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)