dcurry
-
Posts
215 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by dcurry
-
-
I might ask around in your homeschool group where people attend church. I'm not sure it's particularly important that others in your church choose to homeschool, but if you are unhappy with your church, you could probably find one through other homeschooling families. If you *are* happy with your church, I'd stick it out and try to find some common ground with the people who are there. Maybe you will be an encouragement to these moms with young children when it comes time for them to make a decision about their children's schooling.
Our church is quite small, and has about 5-6 families with children, as well as a number of older people whose kids are grown. There are probably about 100 total in the congregation. Almost all of the families at our church homeschool- I think there may be one exception. All of the families go to the same AWANA as well, even though it is not at our church. We go there because our kids were invited to AWANA by someone at the church, and we liked the one we attended so have chosen to stick with it (even though it's not the closest one to our house). So during the school year, we see these families 2-3 times/week. But they are still not the people we choose to do things with outside of church/school. I would love to have our good friends attend the same church, but sometimes things just don't work out that way.
-
I did the Apologia Astronomy with my boys last year (ages 8, 6, & 4) and we got one notebook to share between them. It's not really necessary, but had some fun cut & fold books in there (but unless they are great at sharing, they will each want to do their own), a vocabulary crossword, and scripture copywork for each 2-week unit. We liked it, but was glad I only purchased one. My oldest did the writing in the notebook, my 6 year old made his own notebook by just drawing pictures and gluing some of the books (we split them between the boys) onto paper, and my 4 year old mostly just watched and sometimes helped cut out the books. Some of the written activities we also had him do on plain paper and put in his notebook.
While we enjoyed it, and we love having a book of what we learned throughout the year, I'm not sure whether to tell you it's worth the money or not. Another thing I liked was that it included a schedule in the front. But mostly, it was reading one week, and then activities the next, so even that wasn't really necessary.
The only things that really enforced what we learned that wasn't included in the main book were the vocabulary crossword and the mini-books. The rest was something that is easy to do on your own (even for the non-creative). There were many "blank" pages with just a title, or a place to draw pictures or write "fascinating facts" about what you learned.
So, if you have a writer, or someone who loves extra material, or loves to draw pictures & write in notebooks, it might be worth it. If your children are good at sharing, they could share one notebook and do the activities together. Or if you want them both to do the activity, one could do it in the notebook and another on paper and then switch the following week.
I hope that was helpful. If you're really short on funds, it might be better spent somewhere else. If you have money coming out your ears, it's a fun thing to add.
-
Sounds like he's old enough and responsible enough to actually *help* you with your day. You could have him read stories to your toddler, get stories on tape from the library and show him how to turn them on by himself, he could help you change the laundry, fold & put away his and his siblings clothes, etc. I'd take advantage of his wanting to be with you. I'd also make sure that he had a "quiet time" each day to give you a break. Each day after lunch for an hour or so he needs to be quietly on his bed, either reading quietly or resting. It would be tiring, but if you involve him with the things you are doing and need to be doing, even helping to entertain the little ones, it will benefit you both.
-
I disagreed, but not in all cases. Obviously if you know the person would have an objection, or if it were a picture you thought they would be unhappy about (with them in a ridiculous pose or just not a flattering picture), it wouldn't be a good idea to post it. I don't think it should be tagged with a name (certainly not a last name) for privacy issues. But if someone doesn't know the kids, and it's a group shot, and a decent picture, I don't see the harm in it.
-
Pet Hunt
Cooties
Checkers
Ant Farm
Don't Break the Ice
-
There's really nothing you can do except learn about it, and feel better that you are not alone in your tendencies. God makes us all different, and you have some unique abilities and characteristics. Do your best with what you have.
Knowing your weaknesses, you may want to take steps to overcome them, or at least teach your children about them... for example, signing them up for a play group once/week, or a PE class, or something else that you know you have a hard time with.
It's not like a mental illness. But there are things you can do once you are aware of your own personal tendencies. There are many books out there about it.
Take advantage of and use your strengths.
-
We have a laundry sorter in our laundry room. There are 3 bags, labeled, "Hot, Hang-ups, and Everything Else". Hot is for sheets, towels, underwear, socks, etc. Hang-ups is for things that need special attention right out of the dryer, or special care in the wash like delicates, etc. And Everything else, is, well, everything else.
Everyone sorts into these bags whenever they change clothes. (There is one hamper in the back of the house that we throw things in if we're back there, and I bring it out to sort it when it gets full).
The sorter is nice because when I'm doing laundry, I can just pull all the darks or lights out of the appropriate bag. It's much easier to sort that way. Sheets come off and go back on later in the day when they come out of the dryer.
I can go a few days w/o doing laundry and then do it all in a day or two, or I can keep up with it by doing a load first thing in the morning and then another sometime during the day. Usually, it waits until the end of the week where we toss clean clothes on the couch all day long and then put a movie in and fold it all in the evening. Everyone puts away all their own clothes except the youngest, and I put away clothes for my dh & I.
-
I, too, thought I had math figured out through high school, and that we would stick with ABeka math. I loved that it was "advanced" and that my kids could do it, and also that there was not alot of teacher involvement.
I think that was my mistake. Math needs teacher involvement. My kids could get the right answers, but didn't understand the concepts behind them.
Sorry I can't help you between SM and MM, but we've decided to switch to Singapore (we've never heard of MM) next year. I also hate switching math programs, but when my kids don't have a conceptual grasp of place value at a late age, or when they ask after doing averaging problems for a couple of weeks, "What IS averaging, anyway?", I decided to switch. (Besides, they also hate math... it is busywork to them w/o much meaning).
I'm ok going backwards to solidify concepts. I've heard that Singapore will teach everything up to Algebra in the first 6 books. If that means my 4th grader has to start with book 2 and not be ready for algebra until 9th grade, but that he actually understands the concepts and loves math (and doesn't spend 2 hrs/day on it either), then I'm ok with it.
We'll see how it goes after a year. I think it doesn't really matter what curriculum you use, as long as there is teacher involvement. Find something that appeals to you both.
-
What a great room! So much potential!
-
Several of us in our family have been reacting very strangely to mosquito bites recently. The first one to react was me, and we know it was a mosquito because we saw it. It bit me right under my eye, and it started swelling & burning immediately. I couldn't get something on it for about 15 minutes, and by then half of my face was swollen, hot, hard, and burning. I took some benedryl, (and put "sting-eze" on it) and over the next couple of days, it went away.
My kids have been getting bites like this too, on arms, mostly. I think I would watch it, and if it's getting worse, I'd go in to get it checked. But if it is getting better over time, it's probably ok. We have black widows around here, too, but since we've seen the mosquitos, I'm just assuming that's what the bites are. None of us have ever reacted like this before. What area are you in?
-
If she is family, and staying in your house, and under 18, she should live by your rules. My children (even my almost 15yo) don't shower unless I tell them to. I have a couple picky eaters as well. I hate sending them to their aunt & uncles because I don't want them to have to deal with the eating issues. I don't think they should cater to my picky eaters, even though I do quite often.
What I would do about the eating, is find a food that she will eat (with my son it's a pb&j) and have that be the "forever alternative" if she doesn't like what you are eating. As for your kids, you can let them know that she is a guest, and isn't used to doing things your way. If she doesn't like what you are having for a particular meal, she is always free to have a _____ (after she sits with the rest of the family for the meal). (I'd make it as healthy as possible, and preferably with protein & carbs).
As for the showering, you could just say that before anyone does anything else for the day, they must: (and then your list). You could have her check it off (use a page protector and a dry-erase marker over your list). Or, you could have the list for the day and if it's all checked off today before she goes to bed, then she has certain privileges tomorrow.
I do hope the 2 weeks go well for you. You could offer to keep her for a longer time if you think it would benefit her and if she is enjoying her stay.
-
Sounds like it's time for an informal talk with the Mom. I know for here, it's hard for me to have kids over since I have many of them and there is not a lot of room. The kids play better when they can go somewhere with a yard & there are no younger siblings. (But we still do take our turn at hosting).
It is most likely a problem with the spouse or something on their end. I wouldn't assume it's you or your kids at all.
I'd be open with talking with the Mom about:
- the one child who is disrespectful
- that you only want the kids to come who are your children's friends, and not the younger siblings (unless it's arranged ahead of time that you are "babysitting")
- whether your children are ever trouble at their house
Once you have these things established, you might learn something about their situation. But you will have set your boundaries and let them know what you are willing to do. It seems if you enjoy having the older boys around (your sons friends), that you might just have to be the one to host.
-
My husband and I celebrated our 20th anniversary December 2009, and my parents sent us on a 7-day cruise to Mexico (from Los Angeles). It was the perfect anniversary gift for us for several reasons:
-All meals were included (excluding any alcohol), so we didn't have to worry about extra expenses. The meals were VERY good, and a different menu each night. The dining room was really nice, with appetizers, main dish, & dessert. Service was GREAT.
-We also didn't have to pay for hotel. We had a balcony room, so it felt big enough for us and we had complete privacy.
-We weren't rushed going from place to place or trying to fit everything in. There were 3 ports, only one of which we paid to do something extra (snorkling). The rest of the time we just enjoyed being with each other.
-The cruise ship had lots of entertainment if you were interested, but we could choose what to do and when.
-The weather in December down in Mexico was quite warm and enjoyable. I remember wishing I had brought shorts.
The difficult things were:
-The entertainment was sometimes not what appealed to us as Christians- there was a casino that you HAD to walk through on the main floor of the ship to get from one side to the other (unless you walked up or down a flight and then across), and tons of bars & alcohol served at every event. We just chose to skip those activities.
-We had to be very careful of the "hidden" costs, which is where they actually make their money. All alcoholic beverages (we don't drink, so that wasn't an issue), any food you ate out of the refrigerator in the room was VERY over-priced (we chose to walk to the 24-hour snack bar and get a free snack to bring back to our room), any activities you want to do at the ports were priced fairly high... We also were expected to tip the room attendant, the waiter, head waiter, and assistant waiter on the last day. (We were more than happy to do that, though).
So maybe, if you chose the KLOVE cruise, it would eliminate (or lessen) some of those things.
I had never in my life (even on our honeymoon) been out to eat 3 times/day, not had to do dishes or cleaning, or even make the bed. The service was wonderful. No phone, computers, and just each other for company. No responsibilities, cleaning, laundry, etc. It really gave us a chance to just enjoy being together.
Since you are not people who like things very busy, and also have a limited budget, it seems a good fit for you.
Where-ever you go, do have fun. Happy anniversary!
-
I understand not liking the name DH picks. What we did once when I just could not get used to the name he really wanted, was the name my husband liked became the middle name. How about Naomi November?? Or another first name you like that sounds good with November as the middle name?
But whether we like it or not, the decision should be between you & dh.
-
I got a 48.48%. I was never good in history, and all I've learned has been from homeschooling my own children. I have a college degree, but never could grasp history until using Beautiful Feet's Early American History when my kids were in 1st & 3rd grades. (That was years ago). (I was a teacher before having children, btw, but not a college professor).
I have no trouble with most other subjects- history was just something I really struggled with. I'm thankful to be learning it now.
-
It counts as a book read if you are interested in them knowing the content. It does not count if you are working on reading skills. For a proficient reader, I would allow this. Especially if they are an auditory learner. My kids prefer to actually pick up the book & read it. I like to encourage listening on tape to strengthen their auditory skills.
At our library, they have a summer reading contest. Books "listened to" count as a book read. Reading aloud actually does improve reading skills. But I wouldn't rely on it exclusively.
-
I have loved the Beautiful Feet curriculum we have done so far. One of them was the Early American History for the primary grades. Honestly, I have never heard of the other curriculum. It may be just as good.
-
We've been using ABeka math, and my kids were using just the workbooks & were self-teaching. I just realized this year, though, that while they were able to get the problems right, they were not grasping the concepts. I really think you need to at least cover the concepts in math each day no matter what curriculum you use (unless you use videos or a self-teaching curriculum like Apologia science).
I am now switching to another curriculum where the concepts are explained more completely. I hate that it took so long for me to realize that they had no idea what they were doing or why it worked. I feel like I now have to re-teach all the basic concepts... (place value, averaging, etc). But I am glad I caught it now.
As for my older kids- I think I'll have them work with the younger kids on the concepts to re-inforce the ideas w/o making them go back very far.
In other words, no, ABeka is not really self-teaching. It's written for a teacher & a classroom.
-
Thank you for all of your suggestions! We ended up with 10 acceptable movies, and there were 4 girls who were staying over. (The more conservative Mom's picked up their girls at 9pm). I had each of the 4 girls pick two movies that they did not want to see and give them to me. They ended up with a choice of Nancy Drew and Crissa Stands Strong (American Girl). Both were fine with all of the girls, but they chose the Crissa movie since two of the girls had already seen Nancy Drew.
Now I have 8 movies that I want to see with my daughter before we have to return them next week! :001_unsure: We'll see what happens with that. I'll probably put them on a list and get one per week for the entire summer or something.
The party went very well. But I'm glad it's over!
-
I'm so sorry for your loss. I went through this a year ago this week. It was a scary time for me, too. If you want to email, please feel free to do so.
-
You definitely can't count both the 3 and the 4 runs. If it's a run of 4, you count it as such. A double run of 4 would get 2 more points than a double run of 3. It's in the official rules.
-
For those that know Cribbage can you score this hand for me.
6c, 9c, 8c, 8d
Starter 7d
I came up with 28, but I'm not sure I'm counting the runs correctly.
I'm only counting 16, but it's been a while. The runs count like this:
6c, 7d, 8c, 9c = 4 points
6c, 7d, 8d, 9c = 4 points
8c, 8d = 2 points
(So this run would count total 10 points instead of the usual 8 for the double run plus the pair).
Your additional points for the 15's are:
6c, 9c = 2 points
8c, 7d = 2 points
8d, 7d = 2 points
making a grand total of 16 points.
I know it doesn't seem like a lot, since it really is a great hand. But the biggest hand possible is 29 points. It's a double *double* run that gets you the points- like if you would have had a 7c instead of a 6c in your hand. Then you get to count the run twice- like:
7c, 8c, 9c = 3pts
7c, 8d, 9c = 3pts
7d, 8c, 9c = 3pts
7d, 8d, 9c = 3pts
plus your 2 pair for a total of 16 points, THEN add the 15's for an additional 8. You would have had 24 points in that case.
I hope I'm counting correctly and that it wasn't too confusing or too much information.
Hope that helped.
-
Thanks again for all these suggestions! Princess Bride is one of our favorites. My husband and I can probably quote it through.
A question for i.love.lucy- I was surprised to see you mention Lemony Snicket, and also mention your daughter was too sensitive for LOTR or Pirates. I watched Lemony Snicket with my husband (because my dad wanted to take my kids to see it) and we couldn't believe how horribly depressing it was. We saw a little of the humor, but some of it was just stuff that we thought shouldn't be joked about. I agree with his warnings, and we heed them. :-) Did your daughter actually enjoy that movie?
For dansamy- you wouldn't *believe* the suggestions we got from people doing a google search. Most of them even *I* wouldn't want to see. I guess most people think "slumber party" = "horror movies". I had no idea!
I will look up these movies, and I'm sure we'll come up with a great list. Some of these I haven't even heard of. Thanks again!
-
Thanks so much for these suggestions! The party is later this week, so I will keep watching for ideas. I was planning to ok the movies with the Mom's as they arrive- I know there is no "typical" homeschool mom. But I wanted our list of potentials to have minimal rejections. I love the idea of letting the mom's take out the movies that are objectionable and letting the girls choose from the ones that are left. The more conservative moms are not letting their girls spend the night, though, so we should be able to find a few that are ok with everyone who is staying. My daughter is highly sensitive, so movies like LOTR and pirates are out already. But this is a great list. (Not like the one I got when I looked for suggestions in a google search).
Neat website where you can post curriculum to give away, or that you're looking for
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Thanks for this link. It looks like the site has great potential. I just signed up. It sounds kind of like "freecycle" to me except with curriculum only. You have to offer something first, before you can reply to any post. After you've offered something, then you can post a want or reply to an offer.
Such a great idea!