Ben Can Spell Relief with a B

Ben's first high school exam week starts tomorrow, so a few days ago we went onto the school website that allows students to check their progress.

We'd been meaning to do this for quite a while, but between Ben not having his password and me forgetting . . . here we were just a few days before final exams . . . finding out Ben was barely passing math with 53 percent.

Since Ben had told me several times that his math class was quite chaotic and that his teacher had some difficulty managing the group, I knew he might not have been at his usual "B," but I was kind of surprised to see such a low C-. He also had a C+ in English. Yikes!

It would not be exaggerating to say there was a bit of panic, not just on my part but on Ben's as well. Some kids might count on a final exam to help them squeak by in such situations, but I didn't think this would be the case with Ben. 

We made a plan for Ben to talk to his teachers the next morning, and I started looking up information about summer school. I also wrote his math teacher a note asking him to let me know if Ben had assignments he could catch up on or re-do. 

I spent a restless night worrying about all these things and hoping that things would turn out alright for my firstborn. I wondered if it had been a mistake to send him back to school, rather than keeping him at the virtual school where I could be more involved with his education. I questioned whether a chaotic arts school was the right fit for him. I thought about how neglectful I'd been with checking his progress online or asking about his assignments. I wondered why I hadn't done more to help earlier.

The next morning Ben and I reviewed the plan about talking to his teachers, and then I sent him into school. I asked him to call me if he could and told him I would come in after school to meet with both teachers if he thought it would help. I thought of little else all day. 

Finally I pulled up at the school, and Ben hopped in the car.

Me: "So . . . how did things go?"

Ben: "I actually have a B in math."

Me: "WHAT?!?"

Ben then explained that his teacher hadn't entered grades yet for some of his completed assignments. Ben had also retaken some quizzes throughout the semester, and his teacher had not updated his scores. 

We went home and double checked online. Sure enough, everything Ben had reported was true. With the new scores, he had a solid B, and his teacher told him that even if he got every question wrong on the test, he would still pass the course.

We had similar glad tidings concerning Ben's English grade. He'd missed an assignment while he'd been sick in November, so once his teacher removed that, he was doing even better in English than in math.

He's spent this weekend working on an art project, for another class where he is sitting at a solid B.

So, even though he's still a little stressed going into his first high school exam week, he is under nowhere near as much pressure as he thought he'd be, just a few days ago. Such a relief!

Packing Up Christmas

Today we packed up all our Christmas decorations and put them away until next December. One last thing I need to do, though, is write about our holidays!

The last week of school was really busy, with Alaina's concert on Tuesday night, Janae's on Thursday night, and Eric's on Friday morning!

Alaina's class sang the usual Grade 4 lineup: "Hot Chocolate" and "Christmas Wish." Alaina did a great job. Eric wanted to run around in the half of the school gym where the kids weren't performing, and after a while I said he could do it between songs. Once he started, there were at least ten other little brothers and sisters who joined in :) Needless to say, we left him home with Ben for Janae's concert.

Janae's school performed A Christmas Carol, with lots of music, dancing, and--of course--acting. Janae's class danced in one of the opening numbers. Jason and I were amazed at all the talented singers and dancers throughout the program.

Eric's class sang several songs including "Jingle Bells," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Away in a Manger," and some other ... alternative ... Christmas songs like "J-E-S-U-S" sung to the tune of "Bingo" and another one about the stable animals sung to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus." It was definitely entertaining. Afterwards, we did some crafts and had some snacks. 

Ben had talked me into letting him miss the last day of school, saying nobody in high school went on the last day, so I insisted he come along for the preschool concert :)

On Sunday we were somehow organized enough to get a couple of pictures by the tree before church. Janae played her violin with the Primary as they sang "Mary's Lullaby." I had missed her playing during the Primary presentation in October, and I'd also missed Eric saying a part in the program for the first time, since I was in the hospital that Sunday, so I really appreciated being there on Christmas Sunday.

Christmas Eve I made Finnish pulla, then we visited my mom and dad. We came home and watched The Muppet Christmas Carol, then the kids exchanged their gifts for each other.

Finally, the big morning arrived!

Eric (the only one who would sit with Santa at the mall this year!) had asked for a wooden space station, and it was the biggest package under the tree.

The rest of the day was spent building, reading and playing, until it was time to go to Jason's mom's house for dinner.

Anita and her family came up on Boxing Day, and we all celebrated Christmas together at Tina's house.  My mom's turkey dinner is always the best, and the kids had fun playing with their cousins.

This year, we snuck Eric's birthday party in before Anita went home ... and before everyone gave up sugar as part of their New Year's resolutions :) Eric wanted a Ninjago cake, and since the white ninja (Zane) is his favorite, that was pretty easy.

We had Grandma and Grandpa over for New Year's Eve Chinese food and our annual Studio C marathon. My parents went home at around 9:30, but everyone else lasted until midnight. Eric and I went to bed at around 12:01, and Jason stayed up with the other kids to watch a movie.

New Year's Day we went on a hike--one of our kids complained the ENTIRE time, but it was still nice to be outside. The weather was great, and we all got in our 10,000 steps for the day.

Now it's all packed up, and we're setting our alarms for early tomorrow. I'm so happy we could enjoy the holidays together, and I'll be counting down the days until we can do it all again!