Homework wars are wearing me out.

[BigV]

Very wise, wolf. It certainly worked for me.

Now the issue is selling it. I am not above bribery, but for him the coin of the realm is electronic games.

[wolf]

Electronic games that require reading to play are often a good ploy. My best friend intentionally hooked her son, who was having some problems with reading and comprehension, on Pokemon. She is also doing this with her daughter.

[Becca]

What kind of homework does he have? I was always good at school and liked it but they had us do some of the most inane things for homework. It didn't seem so much about teaching us and getting the concepts across as it was getting out the right amount of homework. I have friends whose children are in school and the schools are pushing more for getting their students to pass the standardized tests more than learning.

Have you thought of homeschooling? It's really not as hard as people would make it out to be. There are literally hundreds of ways to homeschool.

[BigV]

Elementary math facts/worksheets. Spelling tests with words taken from current history chapters or some other topic in class. Vocabulary the same. Penmanship is an issue. The occasional large project requiring reading a section and deciding the answer to some questions and/or working in a small group.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by BigV

I'd have to kill five or six televisions. And I'd be alone in my relief, trapped in the company of three jonesing addicts. And then there's the several hundred videos and dvds. And the elimination of the tv would seriously dilute the threat of losing game console privileges.

Why does it have to be all or nothing? m-o-d-e-r-a-t-i-o-n

Just typing that out makes me weary. I am not equal to that task. I can imagine I could put the heel of my boot to the throat of the monster--strict time limits on screen time. A program like that is already in place at HouseofV. Limits, yes. Absence? It's not really practical, not possible.

It's already in place so all you have to do is tweak the limits

For one thing, the television is one of two links to SonofV the Elder. You may remember he is enrolled at Gallaudet University (waaaay the heck over there), and since he's deaf, if we want a realtime conversation, we use the tv for videoconferencing. In the past we've used text messages, email, voice relay, tty, etc. They're ~ok~ but definitely lack the immediacy of seeing each other talk (sign).

Wow, talk about lame assed excuses. 6 TVs have to be on 24/7 so you can use ONE for videoconferencing, how often?

Ok, I've revealed my weakness. I've shown my desire to make excuses. But my commitment to SonofV the Younger is undiminished. I know it's a harder road to travel when staying away from the tv requires discipline, compared to not having the temptation.
I'm not saying you're not right--I'm saying I'm not strong enough for that part of the task.
He and I sure do need to trade in some habits. The which and the how is the tricky part.

So the bottom line is, you don't want to make him do what's best for him because it might diminish your status in his eyes? Your ego takes precedent over his wellfare?


(peeking around corner) It it safe to come out? (peeking around corner)
Hey, I'm just fucking with you V. It's the worlds toughest job, man, and you are obviously doing your very best to maintain balance in V world.

Seriously, if you want the boy to read, give him access, preferably covertly, to dirty books. No, not penthouse forum, but there are a million books that contain dirty words or risque scenes that ain't gonna hurt him a bit.
Catcher in The Rye or Hawaii might be a little tough for starters but you get my drift. I'm sure your librarian, perverts that they are(Mari :p ), can help you find all you need.

[Happy Monkey]

"Illuminatus!" has some dirty bits.

[footfootfoot]

It's ahrd to say, not knowing the littlev, and alos hrd to say after a couple of vicodin, (No, V, bTW I don't mix them w/ the booze as per your other comment hwich I cna't find now)

Back to my tangent. The idea of homeschooling has merit esp. when a child has a different trajectory of learning and interst than the rest of the class. (or his brainiac dad )

Sometimes regime changes come about without the need for a bloody coup when an outside influence displaces the habits that are entrenched.

I know that whenever I am trying to get on the "good foot" if I have to travel or somethinng breaks up my nascent routine, it is usually lost. Such as an excercise regimen for example. perhaps using the same principle you may be able to change mini v's paradigm.

Let's say you were able to go on a two week camping trip, backpacking. you want it, you carry it. after a few miles of hiking, the gameboy is left behind. esp. when the batteries die. (maybe you 'help them' die early)

while hiking/camping you can help trun his attention to the natural world, maybe finding something he is intersted in, maybe some early gary snyder poems. perhaps you copuld explain the fibonacci series and it's expression in all things natural. see how many examples of it you can both find, etc. and before you know it he is seeing math in real life. he may never be great at it, but you may plant a seed.

two weeks is a good amount of cold turkey time. when you and he return you find all the tvs are gone (mrs. V helps) and the only one remaining is in an uncomfortable room and is only set up for video conferencing with medium V. You'll save a lot on cable tv and that can be used for pizza.

jsut one scenario, and it seems to make more sense than a squirrel nutkin alter ego.

[BigV]

A couple of updates.

The book order form came back from class earlier and SonofV was pretty excited to order something. It was either the talking dog tag or a hardback edition of four stories by Edgar Allen Poe. A brief aside--when I was his age, give or take, I bought with my own money, the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe. I didn't read them all, some were boring to me. But some others made a permanent mark on me. The Cask Of Amontillado. Hop-Frog. The Tell-Tale Heart. The Raven. I could almost feel the goosebumps just typing that...oooohhh. You can guess which choice I encouraged!

Regarding math:

He has permitted me to flog him with a multiplication grid 12x12 each night. We time it. Half the battle is getting him to consent. Half the battle is that he doesn't like School House Rock's songs for 4 and 8 (Figure eight, is really great ice skater...). Well, tonight he was *on*! He beat his previous record by over four minutes!! He completed the whole grid, zero errors in under ten minutes. That is success folks!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

[footfootfoot]

Congrats sonofV! and BigV too.

How old is sonof? Would a father/son building project help to make the math less abstract? Is that an issue? Is sonof more of a concrete thinker, e.g. "oh 12 inches =1 foot, 24 inches= 2 feet, 36 inches = footfootfoot." That sort of thing.

It helps me understand math when I can see the tape measure. If I see something I can understand it easier often. With the exception of other people's driving interpretations.

[Griff]

oooooo concrete thinking. You are pouring a wall and footer...

[footfootfoot]

haha