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MeaganS

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Everything posted by MeaganS

  1. I know this is sort of weird, but I was wondering if there was any curriculum for any age, but preferably younger, that studies Rock and Roll history and music or Jazz? Studying Rock is a hobby of my husbands. He listens to it for enjoyment, but loves analyzing it and writing essays about it, etc. He was a TA for 3 years in college for History of Jazz. When we homeschool, both will have a place in our curriculum (We're thinking of doing it the same way as history,the 4-year rotation- Classical, Jazz, Early Rock, Late Rock). So I was just wondering if anyone knew if anything like this exists, or if I should start asking my husband to write one.
  2. In my church, we use only the KJV. Besides the fact that it's beautifully written, I think it helped me have a one-up on other kids in school. When we read Shakespeare, I could read and understand the language way better than my peers, mostly because I'd been reading that sort of writing for my whole life.
  3. I don't have any older kids, but I am the oldest of 6 kids and feel like there's something I can contribute. The younger children not getting as much attention is common in most families, not just homeschoolers. We were public schooled, and my parents spent way more time on me than my younger siblings. I think this is common everywhere. I also didn't get the cool toys and gadgets because my parents were poor when I was little. Now they have more money and my younger siblings get a nice car. It's a tradeoff that isn't necessarily fair, but realistic nonetheless. Mostly I just wanted to point out this isn't because of homeschooling. If the kids where in public school, the younger kids would get ignored when they got home from school anyways. I'd be willing to bet they get as much attention throughout the day as a public schooler's younger sibling.
  4. My one year old is in a similar program in my state. She's been in it almost since she was born because she was failure to thrive and then had gross motor delays. I like it because it gives me lots of information. One on one time with a physical therapist (in our case) is nice because she can answer any questions I have about most things with my daughter. Our program is technically through the public school system, but at any time the parent can withdraw, so no risk. I would definitely give it a try!
  5. If you live in Utah, http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com can't be beat. They do tons of add match-ups and it's free and great! My other favorites are http://www.moneysavingmom.com and http://www.moneysavingmethods.com.
  6. I'm not in the camp that online charter schools are inherently bad. I think that they serve a good purpose and are a good option. If you would rather have your child at home, but need the accountability, I'd go with the charter school, and I've heard both good and bad things about both. You'll just have to research a little to see which is the better fit for you. But I'd definitely go the charter school route.
  7. As far as what you can do instead, I would maybe suggest using a template for her blog that doesn't link to other blogspot websites. You can add your own for a little more effort, although I think in order to have one without the blogger navigation bar, you might have to actually pay some money. That may be worth it to you, however. Other than that, I would definitely report abuse, even though I'm not sure what their policies are. I've been mostly impressed with google websites in general.
  8. It's actually used by mostly non-homeschoolers. I think homeschoolers are in the minority on blogspot.
  9. Maybe it's just me, but I'd be honest with them. If I were your in-laws, I think I would want to know if I was just being a burden and not especially welcome. If they want to come, maybe have them come for a week after Christmas or something, but come up with something that works for both of you. Also, it's not the end of the world if they spend Christmas together alone. I think that if your in-laws are reasonable people, then honesty is the best policy.
  10. I use Thirsites and think that they are great. The duo is especially nice. My daughter is skinny and we use indian unbleached prefolds too, and they fit her just fine. I've only once had a blowout with the Thirsties cover, and it would have been a lot worse in a disposable.
  11. A secret shame of mine is that I absolutely love the dehydrated onions McDonald's use. Are they gross, yes. Are they delicious anyways, also yes. I don't know why.
  12. I just got one today, as luck would have it. You get triple points for Amazon purchases, double points for drugstore, gas, and restaurant purchases, and single points for everything else. I like the looks of it a lot!
  13. My husband was just received his first acceptance to medical school! We worked a long time to get here, and just kept telling ourselves that once we got on acceptance, we'd feel much better and be able to sleep easy. Well, I don't know about the sleep part yet, but I feel much better!
  14. We use frugality as a way for me to stay at home. When my daughter was first born, I quit my job not knowing how long we'd last until I needed to find another, but praying I could stay home. I decided that because I was home, it was now my responsibility to do whatever I could to help us spend as little money as possible. This was after looking for work-at-home options and not finding anything. It started with little things, canceling the satellite, getting rid of texting on our cell phones, and just sort of rolled on from there. I think frugality is addicting! I feel a great sense of pride knowing that we live more comfortably now within our means than we did when we were when we were making 75% more money. We are doing this while my husband is in Medical School, which he should start next fall. So...we'll be crazy frugal (cloth diapers, not cloth tp) for at least 4 more years, and probably 5 or 6 more than that while we pay off student loans. I've learned to like it and enjoy the challenge!
  15. I don't know, but I think that this is a good idea. I took my daughter to get vaccinated yesterday and we had to stand in line for 2 hours. I think if they can make it easier (with parental permission) then it would be fine. I grew up in school often not being able to do things because of religious beliefs, etc., and kids usually thought it was cool and didn't ever make fun of me. They would ask questions, but I don't think any kid is going to make fun of another kid for not having to get a shot. Probably they'll think that they are lucky!
  16. Well, besides the organic/cruel-free/seasonal route, I'd buy lots of fun different kinds of cheeses and meats. We have a cheese of the week tradition at our house, and it's way fun and opened up our world to all the cheese out there. Cheese is expensive, though...
  17. We don't use CDs at all anymore. Even for my daughter's room, we're getting a cheap little 2 Gig mp3 player (around $15) and some speakers (around $15 also -both found at Walmart) for Christmas. This way we'll be able to put about 32 hours of music on it. We keep all of our music on the computer anyways, so this is much easier than burning her cds all the time. For the living room, we just use our sound system hooked up to one of our mp3 players. I can't remember the last time I used a CD, but if we really need to, we just put it in the DVD player and it works great! We do still use records on occasion though :001_smile:.
  18. My mother had six kids and she always dreads the age from 12-14ish. Sometimes a little earlier, sometimes later. Every one of us were obnoxious during that age. That's why middle school is the way it is. Get a bunch of hormonal crazy 13 or 14 year olds in a group, and you have the horror that is middle school. I don't really have much advice because I haven't been there yet, but I know it's completely normal and they usually do get over it eventually.
  19. I always found that if I drank soda in during or a few days before, that I would get cramps worse. So there's something that might help. Other than that, I also vote for Aleve.
  20. I went to a grand total of 11 schools K-12 in 6 different states. I think that this gave me a unique perspective on public schools. Of those, I would only say that 3 were "good". And two of those were not standard public schools (charter school, experimental science/math boarding school). So that puts only 1 school as "good". The rest varied from mediocre to really poor in quality. When I think back to elementary and middle school, the first emotion that I remember is boredom. Even as a kid I realized that school was remarkibly inefficient. I was in all the gifted classes, etc, but I really don't feel like that did anything except make school more fun. I don't think I learned much more than any of the other kids. I remember as a kid wanting to homeschool because I wouldn't have to sit around and wait for the other kids. For example, in 8th grade, I read The Three Musketeers in 6 days entirely during school after I finished assignments. My parents always tried to help us as best as they knew how. They allowed me to try experimental schools and graduate early. This is what started me thinking outside of the normal educational "box". I don't want my kids to have to waste so much of their childhoods sitting around being bored. I feel like I can give them a good education much more efficiently.
  21. That sounds like a lot to me. I would find an older teenager or something to teach them at first. Pay them $10/lesson and it's worth their while ($20/hour, way more than they'd get cashiering or something). Then, when the kid gets better and is past the basics, I'd look into someone more "qualified". I'm sure there's some stay at home mom or teenager who would love to earn a little using their piano skills!
  22. I'm in Provo, but not for long. Only until December.
  23. I really don't see the problem. This kid is pretty old, like 14, right? It sounds to me like this adult was giving him/her constructive criticism and was being respectful. I don't know what you're looking for...
  24. My husband is currently interviewing with medical schools. He is actually a business major who just took all the medical prerequisites. From what I've heard, medical schools like students who have a well-rounded degree, something besides science, maybe humanities or something. There are a few things I'd recommend. One is to get your hand on the MSAR (Medical School Admissions Requirements). It's a book you can buy on amazon. Basically it lists every medical school in the United States, what their averages are and a bit about the school. Another thing I'd recommend is to get some experience in a medical setting. My husband volunteered at an E.R. for over a year. The longer the better. A third thing I'd highly recommend is for him to get some research experience. Medical schools look highly on this and it will make him way more competitive. As far as choosing a medical school, your best bet will be a state school. Not only will it be significantly cheaper, but he will have much better odds at getting in. After a state school, your next best bet would be private schools, because they don't care where he's from, although they are significantly more expensive. You have little to no chance at most state schools outside of the state you live in. You will probably want to start saving up now for applications and interviews. So far, we've spent over $3500 just on them alone. Good luck. It's a long, stressful road, and it's good to start thinking about it now.
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