We FINALLY got started on Science.  I have borrowed another My World Science curriculum from another homeschool family and we have started talking about the African Savana.  We are in week 1 and so far, so good.

I have a link to an African web cam.  It is of a watering hole in, coincidentally, the African grasslands.  We have already seen quite a few animals that are discussed in our book.  So, I'm going to have the kids keep a journal.  I'll assign each of them a 30 minute time period a couple times a week - a time that is really active, and have them write down which animals they see at which times, and why they left, etc.

 African Webcam

Today alone, I saw some Gazelles drinking.  They perked up when they heard some noises, and then moved off, at which point some Zebras approached the water to drink.  Almost immediately, we heard very loud barking and the zebra went running off.

We still don't know what scared off the zebras.

Later, we saw 2 Impala "fighting" and clashing horns.

It is pretty neat.

Just when I think I have my act in gear about science, I get smacked down again.  I had decided to do another year of My World Science.  This year was going to be African Savana, Electricity, ...  Well, I borrowed the Instructor Guide from a neighbor.  I went online today to purchase the curriculum to get the student guide for my kids - and they are OUT OF BUSINESS.  I was just looking at them a week ago!!

So, I need to see if the mother I borrowed the IG from has the electronic student guide.  I've emailed someone else I know that has used MWS in the past to see if she has one.  I hope I can find it, because that's what I wanted to do.

Ugh!

I just haven't been keeping up this blog as much as I should.

We started our year off ok, not as gangbusters as I would have liked, and I think we've been suffering as a result.  I've been having a hard time getting in and keeping the groove.  We just don't have the momentum that we should.  Some of my challenges:

• I have almost completely neglected Science, which is going to change this week as I'm going back to my previous approach with My World Science.  I have borrowed the books until I get my own.  I just realized over Christmas as my kids played a game of "Are you smarter than a 5th grader" and I heard some of the science questions that I'm just not covering some of the things I should
• We had to finish up Core 3 History.  That put us a bit behind on Core 4.  I finally admitted that the only way to get it done this year was to switch over to the 4-day schedule and still try to fit it into 5 days.  I'm going to give the readers that are "Skipped" to Samantha because she is always ahead of our History and Read-Alouds, and I already supplement with different books for Michael since most of the Core 4 readers are way too hard for him.  But, I'm slowly catching up.  We should be on about Week 16 and we're on about Week 10.  I tell you - the best thing I have done is gone back to Read-Alouds on CD.  Mike has been out of town this week, so we listened to our Read-Aloud at lunch AND dinner this week - per the kids request.  I actually had to do some catch up with the History reading to catch up with the Read-Aloud since we had been doing it so quickly.
• I slowed down Samantha's Sonlight LA 4 to stay on pace with History, since the assignments co-incide.  So, she "feels" like she is behind but I don't feel too bad, because I ALSO have her do Writing Strands assignments from time-to-time so I think she's getting enough grammer.  I also am keeping pace with Grammar Ace.
• Michael is also a bit "behind" on his Sonlight LA.  But, I think I'm gonna find a couple of weeks that I can just "Skip".  I wanted to get the writing instruction but intended to use First Language Lessons as my primary Grammar - are we are doing ok with that.  So, we'll be ok with that.
• Both of the kids are doing OK in math.  They are both advanced in that area, so I'm not particularly worried if I don't finish a curriculum on a certain schedule.  Michael is getting ready to finish Horizons 2, which includes multiplication, so I feel like he's already in 3rd grade math (he's only a 2nd grader).  Samantha is doing Saxon 8/7, so I don't care if it takes her 2 years to finish it, since she's only a 5th grader.

So, I think in a couple areas if I can just pick up the pace a little, and manage my expectations that we will go well into June, I think the pressure of feeling "Behind" will go away a little.  That is, of course, if I get moving on Science so my "Mommy Guilt" will go away.

Schooling has also been challenged by Emma, who can't be left alone for too long without getting in lots of trouble.  As with many homeschoolers, I don't have "Mrs. Cleaver's house".  I have stuff everywhere.  Emma tends to exploit that and find pens and markers and necklaces and things she shouldn't and do things she shouldn't, to the tune of broken necklaces, permanent marker everywhere, crayon all over the walls, etc.  At least now she is fascinated with her "painting with water" Christmas present she got, so that is keeping her out of trouble right now.  But, my curriculum choices this year require more of my time one-on-one with the kids, and that's tough with trying to keep Emma occupied.  I'm just trying to finish getting her potty trained and then there is a preschool that is willing to take her and learn about her diabetes.

So, that's where we are with our homeschooling year.  I'll try to do a better job of updating where we are with things!

Yay!

I sat down today and STARTED lesson planning.  It was for Samantha.  For her, we are continuing with some curriculums that we had started last year.  But, we hadn't quite finished the edition we had for last year, so my initial planning had to incorporate the remaining lessons from last year's edition and THEN start in on this year's edition.

Her math is the most difficult.  I have Saxon 8/7.  A lot of it is repeated from 7/6.  I don't want her to just "do it again" kind of thing.  AND, as I was reading through a few lessons I found some terminology or things that seem NEW.  So, I'm trying to figure out how to proceed along in that book.  I'm going to have her take the pre-test as a "Warm up" and then the tests in sequence in the book, throwing in a lesson here and there, until we reach a point that its too much new stuff. Then, we'll hit the lessons in full force.   I also have a Word Problem Book and Logic books that we want to incorporate this year, so its a bit of a struggle.

I sat down and I wrote down the first few weeks of Wordly Wise Vocabulary and Sequential Spelling.  Then, I pulled out my Sonlight LA IG for her.  There were spaces right there to write it in.  What they had proposed was completely different than what I am doing, but I just put a single pencil line through what they had and put my own lessons.  So, all of her "Language Arts" is together, including Grammar Ace, Spelling, Vocabulary, Handwriting, and Creative Writing.  I like it.  I MAY or MAY NOT even load it into Homeschool Tracker, because it seems so easy this way.  If only they left room for Math on there, I'd be set.

Tomorrow I need to look over Michael's subjects, many of which are just continuing from last year, and figure out what we are doing.  And then I need to look at History and Science, which we are doing together.  History corresponds with Samantha's LA, so I need those to be in synch as much as possible, but the Science is up to me to just start picking some experiments and doing them.

And I need to schedule Latin for Samantha.  My brain was tired when I got there, so I just stopped and figured that I wouldn't start it on week 1 anyway.

I volunteered to take on the role of organizing our PE co-op this year.  I didn't think it would be that big of a job and my kids really enjoy it, so I wanted to make sure that it continued.

Boy has it been an interesting journey!

We started with adding a number of families and the group getting huge.  AND, in addition to being large, the demographic has gotten OLDER so we starting discussing how to change the focus a little.

Then a few families dropped out, making the size much more manageable but still needing a slight change in focus due to the age.

Then a couple more families have dropped out and now the size is a bit on the small size.  This is mainly a problem because it means that the moms each have to commit to more weeks of teaching lessons.  Not many of us are real interested in that.

So, now we are brainstorming our next step.  A call to the local Rec Center yielded  a potential for having them teach a PE class weekly for us.  Some families are interested in that.  Another person suggested turning PE into Recess and just planning time to get together and play games.  Not a bad idea but 1) someone has to make some decisions about when and what games; and 2) these games aren't as fun if people don't show up.  The bad thing about having it more informal is that its easier for people to NOT come. There were lots of instances where folks didn't come when it was organized.

So, we have two ideas floating around and I am suspecting that in the end, we'll do some of both.  We are close to having enough people to have a class at the Rec Center, so I'm going to call them back tomorrow to discuss a couple of younger kids and see how they feel.  We may take on the "Recess co-op" idea as well, as just getting out and playing some games with other kids is equally fun.

Boy, this is so much more than I expected and the pressure to try and make as many of the families happy is tough.

I have targeted August 20th (or somewhere around there) to be our first day of school.

I guess that means I have to start planning.

I think I am being "lulled" into a false sense of preparedness by my Sonlight curriculum.  You see, they have nice neat little grids of lesson plans for each week in their manual. Much like the ones that I like to create.  They are pretty easy to use and follow.   So I'm thinking I'm lulled into thinking that I can just "pick up the book" and start.

Its not quite going to be that easy.  In addition to Sonlight History (and Samantha with Sonlight LA and Grammar Ace), they both have Reason for Handwriting and Wordly Wise Vocabulary (different years).  Samantha has Sequential Spelling and Michael has Spelling Power.  Michael has Horizons Math and Saxon Math.

By the end of last year, I got lazy.  Each day (or couple of days), I would just open their books and see what lesson was next and say "this is your assignment for the day".  It works.  If the next worksheet in the math workbook is Lesson 67, then that's what you do today.  If its Tuesday of Week 7, then look at Tuesday of Week 7 in the book to see what's next.

I guess I ought to do something - maybe at least get the first 4 weeks of lessons typed into Homeschool Tracker.  And Maybe I should pick 6 or so Science Experiments from our book to get started.  I think that HST might be what is overwhelming me.  Don't get me wrong - I really like it and its not too hard to use.  But I'm questioning WHY I Have to when it seems so easy to write lesson plans each day on the back of scraps of paper.  AND I have to get the new school year set up, which will be the biggest struggle.

But, we'll start on time - I guarantee you.  Its just a matter of how much we do the first week above and beyond just looking at our fun new books and school supplies.

When Emma was first diagnosed with Diabetes, the adrenalin kept me going.  Kept me going through 3 nights of little to no sleep in the hospital (including a drive from one hospital to another at 1am the first night, and a switch from the PICU to the Pediatric floor at 1am the 2nd night).  Kept me going through conflicting Doctor's orders and late food (which is an issue for a diabetic).

Once we came home, I got emotional.  It didn't take much to set me off.  I was driving through the neighborhood a few days later (thankfully alone) and rolled through a stop sign.  My mind was a thousand other places other than my driving.  I was pulled over.  By the time the police officer had gotten out of his car and reached my car, I was a basket case - just bawling there sitting in the car.

The first month she was home was a blur.  Hundreds of readings we didn't understand, constant calls to the Doctor, then the change to a new Doctor, lots of training with the new Doctor, and finally stabalizing a little.

We still get up at least once a night, and usually twice.  Typically around midnight and 3am, based on what her readings are and what time we eat dinner.  This is to prevent VERY SCARY low blood sugar readings overnight.  I have told many people that its like having a newborn (having to get up overnight) without the sleeping during the day that helps a newborn's mother recover.

Now the reality of our life is really setting in.  As I sat on the couch to give Emma her two injections after dinner I just sat there a minute and realized "this is my life".  Until she leaves my house as an adult, I will be responsible for making sure she gets her medication all day and night, every day of my life.  What an awesome burden.  I'm so tired.  And we've only just started. 

There are lots of advancements on the horizon.  Continuous Blood Glucose Monitoring.  Infrared BG meters.  Insulin Pumps.  But, the only way to change this is to find a cure.  In my lifetime.  I can only hope.

But for now, I'm just tired.  My brain is so tired of the responsibility.  So tired of the worrying.  So tired of watching the clock because I really want to know if her insulin worked at the 3 hour mark.  So tired of testing her blood because she's fussy and I can't tell if she's just being 2 or her blood sugar is low.

I'm just so tired.

"Joy in the Morning" is the name of a blog that I often frequent.  This woman is an inspiration.  She strives to find joy in the morning despite some serious challenges in her life, including several miscarriages, a lost child at birth, serious childhood illnesses and the loss of a child at age 16.  I think I would just curl up and die but she goes on and thrives.

I don't have nearly the challenges this woman has in her life.  I don't have nearly the challenges that many others have in the lives.  I do have challenges - don't get me wrong - but not like some others I read.

One of my challenges right now is wondering if I will EVER get more than 6-7 hours of sleep a night - and that is INTERRUPTED sleep.  I see no prospects in the future for CONTINUOUS sleep.  We have to get up with Emma at least once, and often twice overnight, to check her blood glucose levels.  And worse than that, if we have to treat her, we have to stay awake at least 30 minutes to check her again.  And if we aren't happy with the results, we have to treat her again and wait another 30 mintues.  And I remind you this is often at 3am.

We are tired in our house.  Physically tired.  Emotionally tired.  Completely drained.  It is just so affecting our overall lives in so many ways.

I'm having trouble finding joy in the morning - most days I'd just like to find sleep.  I hope the joy finds me again soon.

This time last year, I had most of my curriculum and I was furiously putting things together and building lesson plans for each of my subjects.

This year, the books are sitting on the shelf.  I have one more order to place this week and I will have most of what I need.

Am I going to build any lesson plans? Maybe.  I found that I was getting lazy by the end of the year and just looking at what we did the previous day in order to decide what to do.  It was often written on the back of a shopping list or other scratch piece of paper.

Lesson Plans make me accountable, though, so I probably should.

Here is our plan for the year:

Samantha: Sonlight LA4, Sequential Spelling, Reason for Handwriting, Saxon 8/7 and Critical Thinking (Bright Minds), Sonlight Core 4, Developing Critical Thinking through Science, Latin for Children

Michael: First Language Lessons, Spelling Power, Reason for Handwriting, Horizons 2 and 3, Sonlight Core 4, Developing Critical Thinking through Science

They will both take Art from the great art teacher we had last year, Piano Lessons, and PE through the co-op.  They are also signed up for Soccer in the fall and Michael will take Tae-Kwon-Do and Samantha will take Dance.

I need to add Health back in (I kept skipping it this past year) and some Religion/Bible Studies, but I haven't quite decided what to do yet, and these are the things that keep getting left behind when I get lazy.

So, there it is, the plan for next year.  Is it here yet?

I agreed to help out with our homeschool group this year by organizing our PE co-op.  I thought it would be simple, right?  All the topics are right there from this past year, just take all the families and distribute the moms teaching.

Oh yeah, and call the Community Center about winter time PE.

Oh yeah, and find a few lesson plans on the web.

Oh yeah, and figure out how to distribute the kids in classes since 75% of them now fall in the "older" class.

Oh yeah, and reschedule the class time to swap with another activity.

Oh yeah, and a couple of families aren't going to participate this year so the % of time each parent has to spend teaching is increasing.

Oh yeah, and make sure I find out when everyone's vacation is so that I don't schedule them to teach; and find out what topics they are really good at so I can assign those.

Whew, its exhausting!

Thankfully there are a couple of other moms who are great in bouncing off ideas and looking at things from different angles!!  I'm just trying to figure out how I will get this all sorted out in time to actually START the co-op after Labor Day.

I spent a lot (ok, too much) time on a scrapbooking message boards.  While it is predominately for scrapbooking, there are quite a few "non-scrapbooking" forums, where just about anything can (and is) discussed.  Someone recently posed the question "If you homeschool, why".  Many of us answered with a variety of answers, including the fact that usually the reason we START homeschooling isn't what drives us to KEEP homeschooling.

The thread was generally gentle and there weren't many arguments.  Then, someone felt the need to pose the "opposing" poll (maybe they were feeling their personal choices attacked by those expressing why they love to homeschool) - "If you don't homeschool, why not".  So that's fine, people have reasons for those choices just as much as we homeschoolers have for ours.

But that thread degraded into a lot of very negative and hurtful comments about homeschooling.  Three or four posters specifically felt the need to OVER and OVER say that they could tell a homeschooler across the room because of their "social ineptude".  How their kids in college complained about students who tried to "monopolize the professor" and it was always a homeschooler.  And I think those were the "nice" generalizations. People also felt the need to express that they felt that if they homeschooled, that they would deprive OTHER people of the experience of interacting with their kids, and with them as they volunteer in the classroom - and that we have a responsibility to that.

Horse Hockey.  That's all I have to say about that!

Well, my planning for next year started about the time I heard the Sonlight catalog was in the mail!!

I'm actually close to knowing what I want to do with the kids.  So here it is:

Samantha:

• Sonlight Language Arts 4 with Grammar Ace
• Wordly Wise 3000, Book 2
• Sequential Spelling, Book 2
• Reason 4 Handwriting Cursive E
• Sonlight Core 4 History

Michael:

• Sonlight Language Arts Grade 3-5
• First Language Lessons for additional Grammar
• Reason 4 Handwriting
• Horizons 2 & 3 (already part-way through Horizons 2)
• Sonlight Core 4 History tagalong

Samantha and Michael will also continue their art class with the homeschool group and participate in the PE co-op.  Samantha will definitely continue with Drama and I'd love to get Michael involved, but he really, really dislikes talking in front of other people, so I doubt that will happen.  They will also both continue with their piano lessons with their fantastic teacher!

Two major decisions that haven't been made yet:

Samantha's Math:  Samantha is completing Saxon 7/6 (she is completing 4th grade).  Moving forward will put her in a pre-algebra class, which I think is a bit much for a 5th grader.  So, I think what I'm going to do is get her an easy curriculum to keep her skills (or have her redo the tests from Saxon 7/6 throughout the year next year).  I'm then going to focus on Critical Thinking and Mathematical Reasoning skills this year, because she still needs to improve in this area.  I'm not 100% sure yet but I think a combination of books from Bright Minds and possibly the Singapore Creative Word Problems books

Samantha and Michael Science:  I just don't know what I want to do.  I don't think I want to do Sonlight or Apologia, which focus on a single subject all year.  That is one thing I like about My World Science - 3 subjects.  But, I don't know if I want to pick another MWS or go another route.  Science is my one area that I struggle to even pull it out, so I want to find something that I like that would make it easier for me to do.

So that's what I'm thinking for next year - all comments welcome!!

Feeling a little bit of Spring fever.  Temperature is actually warm, we have reached a good groove with parts of our curriculum, but BOY do I want to do a thousand other things instead of doing lessons.  I find it harder and harder to pull it out and read each day.

Not too many weeks left - about 6 - and then we'll be done!!

Someone asked me today if I was going to continue homeschooling next year.  This isn't an unexpected question, since this is our first year of homeschooling.

My answer was of course Yes.  But it was a hard yes to give.  There are some days when I realize how easy it would be to shuffle the kids off to school and have almost seven hours alone with just me and Emma (my 2 year old).  It would be so easy to keep the house half-way organized, and deal with her running all over the house, and all of the additional issues with her Diabetes that we are now dealing with.  It would be so much easier to get a nap each day, which I feel like I need right now since I feel like I have a newborn with all of the waking up we have to do at night.  It would be so much easier to know that math and grammer would be covered each day and science and history would be completed.

But I know that this is better for the kids.  Michael would not be doing well in the over-crowded 1st grade classrooms at our local elementary school.  He would be having problems with his hand strength and his sensory issues.  Its not that he isn't having those issues at home - he is;  but I am able to help him deal with it in a way that I couldn't in his classroom.  And Samantha is able to move ahead in her math unlike she would be doing in the public school.  And she is participating in a fantastic art class and a drama club; opportunities that she wouldn't have in her public school. 

There are days that I'm really excited about what we are doing.  And there are days that I have trouble even getting off the couch; which means the kids don't do everything they should be doing.  And that is especially hard for a "box checker" like me.  I am starting to know that its ok if we don't finish Samantha's math during the year (keeping her going over the summer will keep it fresh for her).  I know that Michael is fine with Math because we have already finished a one year curriculum and have started the second one.   And he knows more grammar than many 1st graders and is moving along nicely with narration and memorization.  I think the thing that is probably bugging me the most is the "180 requirement".  The state doesn't check it but I know.  We started 2 weeks before public schools started in hopes of finishing a bit before they do.  Between an unplanned week in Disney World, and almost 2 weeks of no lessons recently with Emma's recent hospitalization, our 180 days now goes beyond the public school schedule.  The kids won't understand that.  It was hard enough starting while their friends were still out playing during the day - I can't imagine trying to get them to focus when they are out of school.  And there are still three field trips - one local, one semi-local and one long-distance that I need to plan; one of them recently derailed by Emma's situation.

So, today is one of those days that is making it tough for me to "see it through" with Homeschooling.  I have to keep telling me that its the right thing because right now, public school is REALLY feeling like the easy thing.

I'm feeling good starting off this week!!

The public schools are on Spring Break but we are going strong.  After almost 3 weeks of off-and-on because of Emma's illness, we needed to get back in a groove.  I spent some time this weekend getting my assignment sheets ready for the week (that I haven't done in 3 weeks) and planning some History and Science.  We will be finishing up our American Revolution studies this week.  The kids will watch the last 10 episodes of Liberty's Kids and finish about 3/4 of their Dover Coloring Book pages.  We will also complete our timeline (we have 1780 - 1783 left).  I have really enjoyed the studies but I'm ready to move on.  From this point forward, I'm going to shift to a little more of a focus on the Sonlight curriculum (Core 3) and a little less on the Abeka.  That is mainly because I have decided that we will use Core 4 as our main history next year and I want to get the kids into the "Sonlight mode".  It will require a trip to the library this week to get the books for the next 3 weeks of Sonlight!

We will also be finishing up our Science unit on Astronomy this week (except for tracking the phases of the moon for 1 month).  We were in a good groove and then hit the "February doldrums" followed by the "March illness" and haven't done science in quite a while.   We already did our science lesson for today and we only have 2 lessons to finish up the Astronomy Unit.  Perhaps next week I will plan a trip to DC - I'd like to go see what is left of the Cherry Blossoms (without the crowds that will be there THIS week) - and we can go to the planetarium at the Air and Space Museum.  I haven't done as much as I had wanted to do for Astronomy, but I'm sure the kids learned a little.  Then, we will jump into our unit on Oceans.

I think the new Sonlight catalog and the prospects for next year have really motivated me.  I get it when people say they want to hurry up and finish their current materials so that they can get new ones!!  I feel the same way.

Mike is in San Francisco for the week.  I can already tell I'm going to be tired from having to get up twice a night with Emma.  I have posted an update on her condition on my family blog at http://stopperfamily.blogspot.com

Things with Michael have reached the point that Mike and I are throwing up our hands.  The screaming, the tantrums, the stomping to his room, the crying at the drop of a hat (or the saying of a word he doesn't like) has just gotten awful.  It is certainly ALL of our fault - we yell too much, made worse right now by our raw emotions and exhaustion.

I am reading and making Mike read "Parenting with Love and Logic".  We are going to give it a shot.  I really want to see it work, because if we don't, the next step is to see a therapist to get at the deeper rooted anger issues.  I am worried that the anger he's exhibiting at SIX could be so much worse when he's SIXTEEN.  It hurts my heart to think about it.

So, be thinking of us and praying for us as we try this method to get through to Michael (and Samantha) and bring peace to our house - something that is so desperately needed right now.

I can really see the impact that Emma's diagnosis is having on our family.  Its been a rough few days.  We have been focusing on getting Emma's level's steady and making the adjustments to our schedule and our diet to accomodate Emma's needs.

We have also been trying very hard not to make everything about Emma and her disease.  They "understand" that things have to change, but of course there are things they don't like about.  The disruptions in our lives and schedules I think has been hardest on Michael.  I had been getting frustrated with his level of anger for a while and had been working to get that more under control and then this happened.  The past few days have been pretty miserable with him.  He screams at the littlest things (which isn't exactly new), but the screaming is more frequent now.  I know its made worse by lack of sleep but his arguments about that just make things worse.

I'll getting ready to call a friend to play to try and get him out of here for a while - hopefully that will help.  I just don't have it in me to deal with his outburts and my own emotions and Emma's medical needs all at the same time.

(This is a cross-post with my family blog for anyone who reads both)

For those in our immediate family and close friends, this is not new information. For others, it is.

Last Wednesday night at 10pm, I took Emma (our 2 year old) to the Emergency Room with extremely high blood glucose levels (a normal person would be between 80 and 130 and she was at 580). She was immediately admitted to the ICU and diagnosed with Type I (insulin dependent) Diabetes.

She stayed in the hospital until Saturday when she returned home and we began the processing of testing, and insulin shots on our own. I have spoken to the Doctor no fewer than 2 times a day since we have returned, and we have constantly been tweaking and modifying her injections until her body adjusts to the insulin and stabailizes.

I am happy to say that she has been "almost" stable for 24 hours. She had one "higher than normal" reading overnight, but the Doctor is fairly confident as to why this is happening and after leaving things alone today, she may make one more adjustment tomorrow that will probably address that reading.

But that's not the end of it. She will always have to monitor her sugar levels, and watch what she is eating. Right now, the struggles are making sure a 2-year-old eats what she needs to eat based on our injections. As she gets older, it will be more a "defiance" that will cause our challenges. And each growth spurt, and illness will be cause for adjustments.

But for now, we are just happy she is home and acting as though nothing has changed. She acts like nothing has happened and right now, she is currently transferring crayons back and forth from a lunch box to a Ziploc and back again (I think she has done this about 10 times now).

So for us, we have a goal of this having the least impact possible and being able to do things just as we normally have done. I do expect, however, that she will be eating more than one meal fed from tupperware at the soccer or baseball field so that she doesn't get off schedule.

From time to time, I will provide updates here, as its easier to cover everyone here than remembering all the emails I need to send!

Samantha has a tough time following directions.  More specifically, she says that she doesn't LIKE to follow directions.  I have tried to tell her that she will have to follow directions for the rest of her life, so she better get used to it.

Her Grammar test said to underline the verb TWICE.  Did she underline it twice? No. Just once.  This is the third time I've had to take an assignment back to her to follow directions.  Her response?  "There was nothing else to underline so why did I have to do THAT twice?" 

Her writing book (Writing Strands) actually starts the first lesson with the title "Following Directions".  It said that its main purpose was to see if you can follow directions.  I pointed that out to Samantha again.

I had given her a math problem to do redo and specifically said "get a clean piece of paper and rewrite this problem" (she missed it because she scribbled her answer into a space too small and missed something as a result). She brought the problem back squeezed onto the bottom of another sheet - AGAIN.  Her answer: "That's a waste of a piece of paper".  I told her if she told me that again, she was writing the problem again five times and each time would be on a new piece of paper.

Whew!  She's gonna be a handful!