the kids finally had homework to do, so we wanted to get that done first.
i worked with kimberly, michelle's second daughter. kimberly's real quiet. not like shy quiet, but she just doesn't say much. she likes eating. but she's a good girl. she listens.
she got through her three pages of spelling and reading pretty quick. we read magic treehouse together.
then we had homemade tostadas for dinner (so good.. have you ever thought about frying thick tortilla in a puddle of oil?! i haven't.. it's freaking delicious..)
when i finished my tostada and she finished her five, it was time for math.
kimberly's a fourth grader, so she's beginning to learn division.
we sat down, and i told her to do her math. she stared at the page.
"how do we start this?", i asked. she just continued to stare. she had no idea..
"mm.. okay, how many times does 3 go into 4?"
"3?"
"mm.... no.."
so i used my fingers and had her make groups, and she discovered that there is 1 group of 3 in 4.
she didn't know what to do with that "1". how was i going to get her understand that the "1" goes on top of the line, right above the "4".. how was she going to understand that now we had to multiply 3 by 1 and subtract that from the 4..
"now, what's 3 times 1?"
"uhm.. 4?"
"no.."
kimberly doesn't know division. she doesn't know multiplication. she doesn't know math.
i understood why she insisted on doing math last.
while i was trying to help kimberly, crystal's (crystal is in the same class as kimberly, but she goes to the after school program and her mom is much stricter about her doing her schoolwork) mom noticed that she was struggling. we got through about 3 problems in 15 minutes and then kimberly went to use the restroom. all the other kids had finished their work and they were playing outside with the boys. she didn't come back.. after 5 minutes, i went out to get her. i wasn't going to let her go to school without her homework done. which probably happens every other day.
crystal's mom talked to michelle.
michelle responded by yelling across the house,"kimberly!!!! tell your teacher you should get tested for Rsomethingsomething!!" (some learning disability)
she was quiet.. everyone was.
my mother would never do that. she'd hide it from me if she could. not that that's good parenting either. but it saves me the humiliation.
what i'm trying to say is i'm beginning to see the fighting.. the need.. every week, a little more. this is the way it goes. and we must stay unchanging. let our light expose every darkness. i'm not afraid! i'm not discouraged. i'm not worried. i carry the very fragrance of my father.
"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved, and among hose who are perishing..."
2 Corinthians 2:14
