A World of Learning

 It's the holiday season again! It all starts with Halloween! I don't get to see the kids in their costumes, but I can still give them a treat bag and see their carved pumpkins! There are some fun ones! I saw one that was carved (presumably by an adult) that was a curve of the moon and several stars, but I didn't get a picture of that one. 😑 Anyway, here is what I did get pictures of! Happy and safe Halloween to all of you! Show me some of your kids' (or your) pictures in costume! I'd love to see them!

 The kids I tutor are also into sports! Soccer, Football, and Gymnastics! I've never been one to play sports, but I do enjoy watching them. I've been to a few of Jasmine's soccer games, which were last summer. She was 14 then. I was tutoring her in spelling. But I have since moved on from her family. Now, Kingstyn plays football, and he is only 8 years old. He plays defense. He's pretty good at it. I was able to go to one of his games, as it was the only local one. The rest of the games were played in other cities. But I enjoy supporting my students and cheering them on by being there for their sports games!  I've never been to see any of Emily's gymnastics training, but I don't think she's at the stage where they're in competitions yet. I see her doing a lot of "bridges" and cartwheels, though. 😊 Jasmine is at the front, #29, with the light blue ponytail Kingstyn is #59! Go Kingstyn!

 Upper case and lower case. Today, I have to start with a fun fact. I recently found out (I don't absolutely know if it's true) that the reason the letters are called upper case and lower case is because, back in the days of the printing press, it was necessary to use letter "tiles" or whatever they're called to make the articles for the newspaper. So, when the letters were not being in use, they were kept in cases in alphabetical order. The Capital letters were stored above the other letters, hence the names "Upper case" and "Lower case." Interesting fact for the day. Can anyone find another reason why the letters got their names? I don't know of one. 😊 At any rate, back to the main point. There are upper case and lower case letters. I'm finding that, when tutoring writing/spelling, the kids often combine upper and lower case letters in the same sentence, putting a capital letter where it isn't supposed to be. They'll even put

 I have been noticing lately that my students' folders were tearing along the spine, even after I had taped them. Also, the pencil bag (makeup bag?) that I was using to carry pens, a big eraser, a pencil sharpener, and a pair of scissors was just a little bit too small. I also used to have a Scotch tape dispenser in there, but it no longer fit. I recently started getting teaching booklets from Hooked on Phonics, which are great for my six-year-olds!  Anyway, I knew I needed to get some new things, but I can't afford to spend a lot of extra money right now. So I started a "GoFundMe" with a goal of $300. I met my goal in two days!! Many thanks to the generous donators!!  As you can see, I was able to get new folders- plastic ones, not cardboard! I also purchased more construction paper, which I use a lot of, the Hooked on Phonics workbook and stories, a new pencil and supplies bag (my tape will fit now, along with new pencils, which wouldn't fit in the other bag. I

 Well, I'm guessing that all of your kiddos are back in school, in their varying grades! No matter what grade you're in, there's always those worries - will my teachers like me? Will my friends be in my classes? Will I remember where all of my classes are, in the right order? I remember worrying about that when I started middle school. I still have dreams about that. Do you? Anyway, getting to the point... I've had to rearrage my schedule with my tutoring kids a bit since they're back in school. Three of them are homeschooled, so my Mondays were going to stay the same. Then my Tuesday girl had to be moved to Monday. Then my Saturday boy had to be moved to Sunday because of football practice and games. (His team is so far undefeated!) Then one of my little Monday kids started preschool, so it's kind of up in the air if he'll have the attention span or desire to do any more work with me after school. Then there's my Friday student. We're still not sure

 Howdy, folks! It's been a while! I've honestly been so busy pet sitting, tutoring, studying to get my B.A., and working on one of my latest novels to think about my blog. (Actually, I'd forgotten all about it!) But then it hit me - I haven't posted in forever! So, I have a new topic today. I subscribes to Hooked on Phonics. Now I get an istruction book to help kids sound out letter blends (nd, nt) along with two short stories for the kids to read. I will be able to use parts of the instruction book for two of my beginning readers, but for now I think the stories are a little too advanced for them. They're still reading Bob Books. But I'm looking forward to having a new curriculum to work with! Here's a picture of the books I just got! By the way, it's a little late to be saying this, but happy September! Any back-to school stories you want to share?