nd293
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Posts posted by nd293
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We aim for 40 weeks of homeschool, although we take our breaks every 5th week. I'd probably try to say something like that "We need to do 40 weeks of school to get through out curriculum, and we can't fit in any breaks right now".
Overall though, I have to say, I can't even convince my student that this is "real school", so what hope do I have with anyone else?
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We found an egg sac, and dh left it in an unsealed container for me to deal with, then went away. I had other things to deal with, and soon that included hundreds of teeny tiny praying mantises all over my kitchen counter... We only kept 5 or so, and tried feeding them aphids, but it didn't work, and they died. If I were to do it again, and wanted to raise a couple to adult stage, I'd probably let them eat each other. Yuck.
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When we switched from Horizons to Singapore I found we were behind in skills (although not content) and needed to review a year. So instead of using the "full" Singapore with textbooks and workbooks, I chose a couple of the stand-alone workbooks, making sure I chose ones that had fully worked solutions so we could figure out the Singapore approach as we went. Doing something like that might work well if you wanted to combine both programmes. I bought directly from Singapore (SG Box) - I think the range of books is a little different from what the US supplier carries.
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If this is a public school, then the rules might be going to far. If it is a private school, and rules are known in advance, then it seems quite reasonable to me. Either way, it is the school which has to deal with the fall-out from poor eating (if you agree that poor diet affects learning and behavior) and so they should have some control over what children can eat during school time. As for good-eating being parents' responsibility - it sure is, and as a group, parents are failing miserably. Better the school steps in than that children suffer.
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The term "3rd world" is perhaps a poor choice. At least, it was discouraged when I was studying and working in the field of international development. Those of us from the "3rd world" prefer to be thought of as from a "developing country" as though we have some hope of getting to where the rest of you are. ;)
That said, I think there's value in eating simple food, and remembering that for many that would be luxury. There's value in remembering we don't need aisles and aisles of food to eat well. And there's value in using food as a way of connecting children to places they have heard about, or to stay connected to places they've been to.
Our menu has certainly become more international over the years, and many of the meals we have added are from poorer countries, and tend to include more vegetables and pasta / rice than meat. And our children are expected to eat what we eat, and get used to a range of foods.
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Writing Strands. I just couldn't see where it was going...
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I LOVE our schedule. We work 4 weeks on, 1 week off, with the two remaining weeks of the year used as extra holiday weeks. Our summer holiday is in December, and it is worth saying that it was very difficult to keep to schedule when everyone was off and the weather was great. We ended up taking an extra week off, then working 8 weeks straight, which after a nice long break, actually felt OK.
This year we will allow for the summer holiday feeling with a 4 week break. I anticipate continuing on our schedule through to December, then tacking our 2 extra holiday weeks on after the last block for 3 weeks of holiday. Then we'll take the first week of January (i.e. the new school year for us) off, and work 8 weeks before our first break.
That sounds a little incoherent, but the point is you might want to juggle things a little so you get a bit of a longer break in summer, but otherwise the system works fabulously. At least for us!
Nikki
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I think what you do at age 3 depends so much on the child. With my dd, we were playing phonics and maths games by then, and she was learning to read at 4yrs. My ds3 doesn't seem to have completely clear speech yet, and has absolutely no concept that words begin with sounds, doesn't have good pen control, and doesn't have much concept of numbers (he counts, but does not recognise the 1-to-1 correlation between the words and the objects). Doing more with him would be silly. I'l relook at things when he's 4yrs. Then we'll start working through the Learn Every Day preschool book.
Nikki
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Even though we were on good terms with her, we simply said no to my mother-in-law coming for a 2 week visit when we were living (as a couple) in a 1 bedroom apartment. We welcomed her for a 5 day visit instead. And we made it clear she could not smoke while with us.
Some things have to be said, even though they are tough to say.
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In South Africa children either use first name or call an adult "Aunty + first name". In Australia it seems to be mostly first names, although I have heard "Mrs + surname" used in one instance.
I prefer to be called by my first name. Mrs sounds odd and too formal for social situations. And I don't particularly like being called Aunty.
Respect is in tone of voice, behaviour and choice of words, rather than in titles and terms of address.
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If it's a habit that she is happy to break, but needs help doing, have her paint the ends with the stuff you use to stop biting your fingernails. It tastes revolting, and will end any unconscious pencil-biting.
Otherwise, I wouldn't fuss, unless she has to take a pencil out with her when she leaves the house! I used to bite on the end of a pen when I used one all day for work. I figure it was a nervous habit, like smoking, but far better for me. Out of that environment, it stopped automatically.
Perhaps you could give her something like a string of "worry beads" that she could hold and play with while reading? With me, it wasn't so much about biting on something as having something to do distract me, I think.
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We lived in the Middle East, so had traditional henna hand designs on occasion. They are beautiful. Rubbing olive oil on will enhance the colour, although I'm not sure if that only works immediately after the henna paste crumbles off.
My dd's international school used to host students from the local teacher training college. As a "thank you" before they left, they once did henna for the class, and were highly amused (bemused? confused?) to find that the boys also had to have henna, in the form of tattoo style designs on their hands or arms. In Arabic culture, it is a women-only thing, and just the floral-geometric style designs on hands and feet!
We also had them in Zanzibar (in Tanzania), which has a Muslim culture with strong links to Arabia - there they use Japanese black hair dye, instead of henna. At least, that's what they use on the tourists!
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Sorry, didn't realise this was an old thread...
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It sounds to me like you should pick one subject, decide on your approach, then jump in. I can almost guarantee you will change something within the next few years, and probably lots of things.
Take reading: are you after a phonics or sight word approach? If you're after a phonics approach, are your kids desperate to read? If so, jump in with Bob Books. If they're not especially interested yet, you could try something like Explode the Code. Dd9 reads and spells well above her grade level, and we never did a formal phonics programme (although taught reading entirely by phonics, without any sight word practice) - we worked from Explode the Code to Bob Books to "proper" reading, then went to a good spelling programme around Grade 3. If researching is interfering with your kids learning, then just set them loose with www.starfall.com while you think it all through.
If you're sure about Maths, then start with Maths. Could be it will be a great success, and give you the encouragement to decide on the programme for another subject. Could be, as kalanamak points out, that it will be a complete flop, and you'll have to try something else.
Good luck!
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We jumped into Singapore at Grade 3 level. I made sure to get a book with worked solutions. As this is a repetition for us (in theory - dd is Grade 4, but Singapore is much more demanding than what she was doing before) we didn't go the text book/workbook route. I selected Classroom Maths Workbook and Classroom Maths Problem Sums. Not sure what Grade that series goes up to. I bought directly from Singapore (SG Box). It's been a tough adjustment, but very much worthwhile.
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I really can't remember washing anything first after the clothes I bought pre-birth. So ... 4-6 months? I might wash first if clothes seem stiff or if they are "personal" clothing, or if I am bored and have nothing else to do. That doesn't happen often!
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Has anyone had this happen to them before? Will Rainbow Resource ship a replacement ASAP without charging me again?
Yes.
I had an overseas parcel that went missing. Overseas parcels that are sent normal mail are untraceable once they leave the country of origin. Rainbow resent the large parcel at no cost to me.
As it happens the original parcel turned up 4 months later (along with another parcel sent to me from a different country that was 2 months overdue - I guess they lost the postal bag behind the couch or something). I contacted Rainbow who said I could sell the materials and refund them, or return the books. Not many homeschoolers where we were, so I returned the books.
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I hate days like that... I was also wondering if your dh knew someone with enough wasta to sort this out. A phone call might be all it takes. Could he try again in the hope of finding someone more understanding? We once entered the UAE with an expired passport, so I know these miracles can happen. My dd's passport had expired 3 days before, and I mistakenly took that one instead of the new one. The man behind my dh in the queue was quite overwhelmed - said he's never seen something like that from passport control. We think dh won over the passport control officer with his attempts to speak Arabic ;-)
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We are all going to die some day of something. Isn't there a point at which we can say, "this is healthy enough for me."
My thoughts exactly. I think I'm healthy enough, and I even drink soda. :eek:
Probably, by the standard of many people on this board, we are unhealthy. But we very, very seldom get sick, are all well within the healthy weight range, eat our veggies and don't overdo the meat. That's good enough for me!
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I had assumed that as it is a gifted curriculum the children it is aimed at are already writing well above their grade level, and that MCT writing offers a more specific and analytical "upgrade" to writing skills, rather than general writing instruction. I feel dd writes well for her grade level, but not so well that we can skip the basics. We are not using the full IEW, but rather one the theme-based books, without any of the dvds.
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My only problem with Henry would be if you had a lisp. I have met a few Henwy's (all British, incidently). I don't exactly understand why you would call your child Henry when you can't actually say the name, kwim?
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Dd is the same age as your niece, and I agree with you that some guidance is needed. I recently gave her a pile of books to read on the Middle Ages, and it was a complete waste of time. Now I give her some sort of clear instructions. I think I would approach it exactly as you have.
In terms of a writing curriculum approach, I have seen two things that might be relevant. First off, SOTW will have a fairly long passage as read-aloud, then ask for a short narration. I think the guideline is one sentence per grade or something similar. This is more the "something that looks interesting" approach. Later outlining is introduced, starting with one level (main ideas only) then adding further levels of detail over time (think I am right on the latter - we are not quite there). Currently we are using IEW for writing. They teach outlining using much short passages, as does Beginning Outlining, a book we used successfully to introduce outlining (Remedia Press, I think).
I think you might want to hone in on a couple of specific areas (in a country paper - famous place, famous person, famous event perhaps), but also teach how to make a simple outline.
Hope that helps - I have a 3yr old tugging on my hand so it might be a bit disjointed!
Nikki
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At 9, he should be able to understand that sometimes things don't go the way we want them to and we have to make difficult choices. Tell him that out of respect for the living and the dead, you need to do this.
Have a special afternoon with ds on Thursday, followed by a special dinner. Let him stay up until midnight and toast his birthday! On Friday morning before you leave, go out for a special breakfast.
:iagree:I would give him more freedom than usual to plan how he wants his celebration to look, but at 9yrs I would certainly expect him to understand that sometimes life gets in the way of what we want, as painful as that is. It's OK for him to be sad, though...
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Sure. Memberships are for financial support. I don't think they care of you live near.
Tara
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Recommendations wanted for operas suitable for children....
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
I recently came across a book by Barefoot Books that retold opera stories for children - "Barefoot Book of Stories from the Opera". That might be a place to start. Although you won't know what they've edited out, of course!
(I haven't read this particular book, but have read others by the publisher, and they're all lovely.)