Dai Bee’s schedule for his junior year came out: 9 Honors, 4 math classes, and orchestra all year round. Heavy load, but at least he has music (something he enjoys) to get him through it.
Archives for posts with tag: school
Track meet today – this is his 800m. Boy was so exhausted by the time he’s done. He ran for 100m, 200m, 400m and today 800m so far. The school takes his best event and see if he qualifies for the All City trials. 
Ah Lo joined track this year and he is enjoying it very much. Though he comes home exhausted every day after school, he talks about beating his time all the time during dinner conversations. Luckily his older brother did it before so they understand each other.
Today was his first track meet – running 200m. Hopefully, all this running helps build his stamina and increase his endurance on the basketball court.
I love making these rolls for the boys, especially for their after school snacks. These scrumptious are soft and fresh by the time the boys get home. Sometimes we might get leftovers for the next day breakfast, and sometimes they clear it in one sitting.
Some of my sisters have Back to School Night yesterday and asked me to babysit. This is what it looks like. 5 here working on their homework, and 2 outside practicing basketball. Yes, even with 7 kids in the house, there’s still peace and quiet. 
It’s only the third week of school and I’m already seeing 2 B’s and 1 C in Ah Lo’s progress report – all due to incomplete or missing assignments. I am seriously loss of words and ideas. I’ve tried giving him the electronics option (when done with HW), taking it away because of low scores. I’ve tried yelling, and then encouraging. I’ve made threats. I’ve tried having his older brother talking to him. He listens with his head down. Said he understands, and then reverts back to not turning in HW the next day.
Starting this week, we are trying a different approach. We agreed that he doesn’t touch any electronics throughout the week until Friday (when he comes home). He will check his grades, and if there are missing assignments, he won’t get the iPAD for the weekend. Not sure if this does anything, we’ll keep trying.
I understand grades are not everything. However, it’s hard for me to accept that a smart guy like him can have such low marks due to laziness. Perhaps he’s disorganized? Is he distracted? What else can I do? I’m not giving up though.
One pot turmeric chicken over rice for dinner tonight.
I was confused when Evan told me he received a new schedule for his classes today. He got a different history teacher but now ended up with the worst math teacher at the school. The new schedule gave him guitar (which is what I requested besides Spanish) and a good history teacher. When I was contemplating whether to have him keep the new schedule or not, his standardized tests results came in the mail. Last year, Ah Lo had a terrible math/science teacher. The teacher was new (thus inexperienced) and spent most of her time controlling the class, instead of teaching. Parents complained. Help was brought in from the District. Nothing changed. In the end, the students in her class suffered. His math test scores dropped from level 4 (above standard) to level 3 (meeting standard). He needs a strong (or at least a decent) math teacher this year. Obviously, he needs to catch up some work.
I found out more about his new math teacher (in his new schedule). The more I heard, the more I must get him out of there. Yes, even that means to stick with the original schedule with a bad history teacher. So tomorrow, again, I will go talk to his counselor to go back to the original schedule. Though that’s not the best schedule, I have to advocate what’s best for him…to be continued…
Meatless Monday meal was supposed to be this garlic heirloom quiche. It wasn’t fully cooked so we didn’t get to try it until the next day.
Today was also Ah Lo’s first day of school. A couple of days before school started, we found out about this class schedule. He’s been assigned to one of the worst teachers in school as his social studies teacher. He also requested for Spanish, but ended up with an elective he already took last year.
This morning, I went to school early to talk to his counselor, in hopes to get him a different teacher and get him a different elective. Apparently, the matrix of class assignment is tricky as the school pairs good teachers with the not-so-good. If he wants a good teacher for history, he will get a bad math teacher, etc.. Since his math teacher is someone we know to be a decent one, I didn’t request for any changes, except his elective. Hopefully, there will be good news soon.
One of my goals this summer was to design an escape room at home. For those who don’t know what an escape room is, it is a physical game for a group of people working together to solve puzzles and riddles with given hints and clue to complete an objective in a certain time frame. I designed my escape room around ‘back to school theme’ in my own dining room so my family can play during our Back-to-School party a couple of days ago.
For the past few months, I researched online for ideas, hacks, and tips for crafting my 1st escape game at home. It was a challenge to transform my dining area into a game room. I didn’t want to spend too much money, so I had to be creative to come up with what I have. From brainstorming to put it together seamlessly, this entire thought process took longer than expected but it was extremely exciting for me.
I started out with this:
Of course, watching this unfold was the icing on the cake.
Back in 2013, two of my nieces moved in with us for a couple of years. Today I held back tears watching one of them walk across the stage, accepting her diploma and so ready to move on the next chapter of her life. She has grown from a clueless insecure teenager to a confident young woman. I know it wasn’t easy for her to get to where she is today. She listened to her heart, jumped through hurdles and stuck to what she believes in. She wrote me the sweetest note thanking me for helping her to get here. Those 2 years were hectic for me, but seeing her today has validated my decision (to have the Girls living with us) was correct. So, thank you!
“Oh, the places she will go…
Oh, the things she knows…
Once she sets her goals…
All her hard work will show…”
We couldn’t be more proud of you and your accomplishments! We 
❤️ you.
Made her a money lei/necklace, a poster and “GRAD 2018” (cut out from cardboard). My sisters and I all chipped in to give her some cash (per her request). Instead of handing off checks to her, I put them in a pizza box. Mr. Piggy came up with the line, clever as always.
All About the Kids 