Happy Holidays! Enjoy your Family, your Holidays and your Life! ~#bebacksoon

Happy Holidays from my family to yours! 

Excuse us while we take some time away to spend with our family during Christmas and New Years! Join us back here in 2016, for another great start to another great year!

#excitingthingsareunfolding #faithinprayer #sunshine

What your child’s teacher wishes you knew

Your child’s teacher is reading, with

 your child, every day. 

This is a fact. It begins in Kindergarten and builds. It is critical that reading does not stop once your child gets on that bus at the end of the day. 

This sheet can help break it down and
allow your child to think as they read!

I am fortunate to have my child(ren) attend a school that gets Parents involved in everything that is going on in the classroom. It is reinforcing my child and defining her as a successful student. 

From first hand, I have seen the success. 

She is in first grade, reading chapter books for 4th and 5th graders. She reads out-loud and to herself and is a confident reader. She will try, no matter if she is right or wrong, which is quite a statement. But further than that, she is dissecting the story as she is reading. She stops to ask questions, she reiterates the story to me for clarification and she will go back and re-read if something is missing, lost or not making sense.

This is our goal when independent reading.

If you have a child in elementary school, they are, no doubt, being expected to read.  Did you know that they are not only judged on HOW they read, but also on HOW WELL they can RETAIN the information (comprehension)?  If your child is reading words like “opportunity”, but is reading books with words closer to “apple”, there is a reason.   They can not move up to the next level if they have not mastered the skills associated with the level that they are currently reading.

Many times, a child can read words, but not yet retain the information given.  

There are things that you can do to help.  

These are the same things that your child’s teacher is asking your child at school.  Here is what your child’s teacher wishes you knew about reading…

1- Looking at the cover, what do they think this book will be about? 
Let them guess what they think will happen in the story.

2- Do a picture walk (flip to each page and look at the pictures and talk about them) and let them guess again.
Did they change their minds?

3- Point out words that are going to be difficult.   When you are looking through the book, during your picture walk, look for difficult words.  If you see the word Mountain in the book and you know that your child has not seen this word before, introduce it to them.

4- If the book is shorter, have them read it once to you and once or twice by themselves. 
I used to have my students read their leveled reader books three times.
The first time (out-loud): Learning the words
The second time (silently): Understanding the story
The third time (out-loud again): working on their fluency (being able to read it without a lot of pauses and mistakes)

5- When the story is done, ask them the following questions:

Tell me what happened in this story.  (They have to be able to tell you things that happened – I aim for three things when asking our daughter what she remembers) Tell me about the beginning, the middle and the end.   (I want these things in order.)

Follow Up Questions:

• What did this story make you think about?  
• Did it remind you of anything?  (“No” is not an acceptable answer- they will lose points on their score-sheet if they cannot relate it to something)
• What characters were in the story?
• Where did the story take place?
• What was the problem/conflict in the story?   (after this answer, move onto….) 
• Did they solve it?  How?

These questions will be asked by your child’s teacher, so it is better to prepare them to think this way when reading.  Just being able to read the words will not help your child succeed- they need to comprehend what they are reading.

Enjoy this time with your child!

@KelleyAmstutz

/kel.amstutz

KAMSTUTZ09

11 Sites that will PAY YOU to test WEBSITE from HOME

Best 12 Companies That Pay You To Test Websites from Home

As a website tester, your job is to make sure a website is very easy to navigate.  

What exactly does a Website Tester do? 

A website tester is someone who gives their opinion about a random website. Some companies may require you to install a software, which will enable your activity to be recorded. You may be informed to speak about the design of the site, quality, and ease-of-use.
What are the requirements for this job?

You will need to have a fast PC with high speed internet. You will need to be able to speak basic English and have good writing skills, because some companies may ask you to write a small report after each completed test.

12 Companies that Will Pay You To Test Websites from Home

• Whatusersdo – Pay is $8 or more via Paypal. Test takes around 15-20 minutes to complete. You must have a Mac or PC, Internet access, and microphone.
• UserTesting – Pay is $10 per test. Do not need a web cam with this company.
• YouEye – Pay is $12 per test study. A smartphone is recommended to receive more tests through their official app.
• Enroll – Get paid to test websites, before they are published. Earn in cash rewards.
• UTest – This company offers a variety of website testing opportunities.
• UserFeel – This company pays around $10 per test.
• Feedback Army – Website tester jobs. Pay varies with this company.
• Analysia – Test takes around 15 minutes to complete. Pay is $10 per test.
• TryMyUI – Tests takes around 15-20 minutes to complete. Pay is $10 per test.
• Userlytics – Both webcam and microphone are required to complete test. Pay is $10 per test.
• Amazon Mechanical Turk – This company offers website testing, but the pay may be much less than the others on this list.
• Loop 11 – This company recruits members as young as 14 to test websites from home. Tests takes around 10 minutes to complete. Pay is $5 per test.

Do you currently make money from home as a Website Tester?

If you do, I want to make this a great resource page for those who are looking for a website tester job. 

Feel free to share information to make this page more helpful for us all. 

Thanks!

@KelleyAmstutz

/kel.amstutz

KAMSTUTZ09

[PERSONAL POST] As darkness approaches, you will find the light... #mystory

Things are TOUGH. Tougher than I could have imagined. 

Looking at my life six (6) short months ago, yeah, the struggle was real- but the happiness filled the air.  

Where did that happiness go? 

Today I just feel like I am a zombie. 

• I wake. 
• I work. 
• I drive my long commute home. 
• I sleep. 

You call this living? 

Right now, I am low, down, raw with emotion, or lack there of. 

I might be somewhere in-between. 

I fake happy. I never thought I would ever have to do that. 

That is true. 

I am alone.

I show signs of life when I am with my girls. They seem to be the light that shines brightest inside my body. 

But, that too is short lived, as the time keeps moving forward, days keep passing by faster and faster. 

I keep missing. 

I am alone.

I have a husband. 

I think. 

I hardly see his face. I hardly hear his voice. 

I am alone.

Once you hit rock bottom, and only then, do you know what you want. 

I know that this is true. 

I do not think that the bottom has hit yet but I wait in anticipation, as I know that it is not far from this moment in time. 

Surely, with this anticipation comes this know. 

• I know where I want to be. 
• I know where I need to be. 

• This is important. 
• This is the hope that I hold onto. 
• This is where my happiness lies. 

The struggle, however, is that this know if just beyond my reach today. 

• Does this mean I give up?  
• I relinquish my weapons and retreat from this fight that is slowly killing what is left inside of me?

This is what my Husband calls Drama. I am creating my own drama, or so he says. It is funny how those around us judge us so, and have no idea what we feel, how we are doing or what is happening to our souls. This is disheartening.

But, I have not given up. 

I have some fight left and keep giving what I have. 

• I am not being selfish. 
• I am actually being selfless. 

My reasons for wanting to move on are solely in regards to the needs of my family: 

• being a wife
• being there for my Husband
• being a Mom
• having my kids be able to depend on my
• handling the needs of the house and all that that beast entails.

Having children has changed me. 

• It has changed my identity
• it has changed the way I think
• the way I look at the world
• the way my eyes see things in general

It has changed: 

• my wants
• my needs
• my goals in more ways than one. 

I can say the same about having a Husband. It is just troubling that this is not getting through to other parties that are said to be living this life among me.

• I am bitter. 
• I am angry. 
• I am truly unhappy, to the point that this person who faces you is unbeknownst to me. 

The face looking back at me is not the face of the me that 

• I want to be
• that I know I am
• that I can be. 

Frustration surrounds me. 

Aggravation haunts me. 

Happiness has left long ago. 

I am on an incredible journey though.

The skies are blue and the sun shines bright where I want to be, where I will go. 

Life is complicated. 

I believe that the world grows darkest, collapses before the sun shines bright again. 

This is where I am at.

I am still alone.

This is as raw as I will ever be. 

These emotions, this writing is as deep as I go, and yet it will be misconstrued and used to somehow manipulate. 

I think that everyone gets to this place at some point in their lives. 

It is the way of life. 

You need to be reborn in some aspect, and for me, this is that first look into the bright lights. 

For me, I write to help with my personal conflicts. 

You can image how much I have written in the past six months then, right.  

This is my channel, my outlet, to allow me to refocus on myself, gain insight on my feelings and reflect on how I can improve on my emotions. 

Those who KNOW me know that I tend to be cold, rather than show any form of emotion. #truestory

My emotions are usually only felt in my writings, or if you really upset me. Yes, it is something that I work on daily. #Elsasyndrome #dontfeelconseal

I have walked down this road of finding myself, trying to understand what my life's goals are, praying to God to lead the way...and, unfortunately, I am usually met with a GIGANTIC road block, which makes me turn around and head back where I started. #oldme  

Not anymore! 

I am on a quest. 

I want to be a Substitute Teacher. 

Maybe even a real, deal Teacher, since I am literally 7 English classes away from my English Certification in Middle Childhood Education. #whatapity

Well, this process started about a month ago. 

I was approached by my Husband (he is a good man) and it took me a whole second to think about it and start the process. 

Since then, I have spent A LOT of money, hit two (2) major roadblocks and yet, here I am, giving it my whole fight, not giving up. 

I know that 

• this is where I am supposed to be
• this is the path that I am to take at this moment and time. 

I will prevail past these roadblocks, that much I promise. 

This is my HOPE.

For me, this means:

• Teaching
• Being at the school where my children are
• Doing something that I truly love
• Looking towards my future

It has brought questions:

• What do I do if I want to be a real-deal teacher?
• When can I start?
• Can I wait any longer?

And with this, I feel awake.  

I am sharing because this is going to happen. 

I am going to fight for this and it will be my future because for the first time 

• I know that this is what will fulfill me, 
• this is what will make me happy 
• this is something that I will be proud of 
• this is what I will be at my best. 
• this will be my happy.

#staytuned

#bringthehope

#shareyourstory

#backfromthedarkness

#mykidsaremylife

@KelleyAmstutz

/kel.amstutz

KAMSTUTZ09