domestic_engineer
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Posts posted by domestic_engineer
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(1). Did you update your iOS recently? If so, maybe it’s not playing nicely with the software.
(2). Maybe your work has a Microsoft subscription, and somewhere along the line you downloaded/replaced your 2014 copy. (Because it doesn’t make sense for a stand-alone copy to “check for updates”.)
(2a) Google gave some ideas here; the first response seems more helpful: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/blank-yellow-banner-word-and-excel-for-mac/eb70e022-4c0b-4462-8e92-7dbb81c310eb
(2b) or this one also from Google:
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I don’t know how you access PowerPoint, but to get work done, can you disconnect from the internet and just create and save to the local hard drive until the connectivity issues can be resolved?
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I’m so sorry you all had to go through such an experience.
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I don’t have advice much advice about the NP. However, I DO have a dyslexic and I did use Rightstart with all my kids. My dyslexic had the exact same things you described. I, too, pulled in Ronit Bird’s materials. And the dots/dominoes worked much better for my student for Subitizing. But what worked the BEST was pulling in the Cuisinaire Rods as our go-to manipulative. I know Dr. Cotter has her reasons for not using the rods, but it worked with my kiddo. (The website Education Unboxed is a great resource for Cuisinaire Rods.)
I do think that the NP’s hypothesis of it all stemming from issues with Rapid Naming has some merit. My kiddo has issues retrieving words and that slows things down. Another child of mine often misspoke; they calculated X in their head but then the word Y comes out of their mouth. Sigh. Have you tried taking the language aspect out of math? For example, have the student point to a “word bank” instead of having to come up with the correct word. Or use number stamps to answer questions. If you skip over the objective of being able to subitize, can you still make good progress in math? From personal experience, I’d encourage you to make sure you don’t let language issues keep you from developing their math skills.
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Seconding The Habit! We used it when it was just getting started. My kiddo enjoyed the experience, and I felt that the community was very safe and encouraging. We only stopped when that child stopped homeschooling, went to a traditional school, and had less time to write.
Here's a podcast that gives more insight (same one that is in the signature of the above post, but I know that phones don't always show signatures): https://thehabit.co/andrea-yenne-writes-with-teens/ The first step to participating is to take one of the online writing classes that is offered; THEN your student can join the writing forum.
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38 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:
Did you look at an online scheduling program or did you call? I've found that the online schedule regularly looks full but when I call, they are able to squeeze me in.
This. When i call, I try to talk to a nurse who will hopefully determine that I need to come in that same day and then the *nurse* schedules me, not the scheduling department. With our docs, they have some same-day/sick appointments that are not visible to me electronically.
If you truly can’t get in to see your PCP, then traveling to Indiana will be no worse and not worth stressing about: both scenarios would have you ending up in an urgent care facility that is unfamiliar to you.
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Windshield wiper fluid …. I don’t know if your current wiper fluid has anti-freeze additives in it, but you might want to use up your current supply and then fill your reservoir with wiper fluid that does before you get too far north.
Make sure you pack a warm hat and gloves and scarf in case you have an emergency … or just if you have to pump gas. 😜
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Be careful with the snow that has drifted across the road. Those spots are still slippery in some spots. Today, I went eastbound on an US Highway, and the road was dry. When I returned home, the westbound lanes were not clear because of drifting snow.
I don’t know what route you’ll be taking, but the new I-69 in southern Indiana is surrounded by large farm fields and few tree lines, so that might be where you’re most likely to encounter it. However, if you are headed to Indy, I bet you’ll be routed on I65 which has more trees to impede drifting snow.
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Dominoes (for knocking down, not to game with).
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Trine University
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Worse case scenario book/game
merchandise from their favorite YouTubers
there’s always gear for the survivalist…. Fire sticks, jet boil stove, knives of all sorts,
stop motion movie gear
headlamps for both
canary knife for cardboard cutting
Knot tying book and practice rope
tabletop ping pong set
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3 hours ago, JumpyTheFrog said:
Do you have any suggestions for where parents can find books for reluctant readers? I never had to deal with this myself.
Not really. I just keep trying to spread a buffet with each trip to the library. Here are some things I try:
- graphic novels and comic books
- the branches series
- non fiction that is more segmented/chunked
- High Noon books are Hi-Lo books sometimes recommended here.
- Magazines
- newsELA used to be a good source for interesting nonfiction but I think you have to pay now.
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4 hours ago, JumpyTheFrog said:
Now I wonder if I should have a video about helping kids find books they like to read. What would be some for reluctant late-elementary or middle school readers? I didn't have reluctant readers, but I know that Diary of a Wimpy Kid was a big hit here.
I like this idea! As a parent of a dyslexic and reluctant reader, *I* have a hard time finding books to suggest to my kiddo … and I know about Hi-Lo books and the discouraging effects of poorly spaced pages, small fonts, and small margins.
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Perhaps a video on stressed syllables ... reminding that one might need to change which syllable is stressed, that unaccented vowels are likely to get schwa-ed, some words are nouns when the stress is on the 1st syllable and then verbs when the stress is on the 2nd syllable.
Homophones is another video idea.
You might get some video ideas from the Nessy channel on YouTube.
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8 minutes ago, Katy said:
A thank you is definitely appropriate when someone deserves thanks. And even if her generation doesn’t do thank yous as a matter of course, the instructor is almost certainly from a generation where it’s proper. And you never know who will recommend her for a job or give a reference so it’s best to be polite. Send the one-line thank you.
So - does the teacher in this case reply to the one-line “thank you” sentence with a one-line email saying “you’re welcome”? If so, then that still seems to further validate the notion that another email motivated by courtesy is just another interruption.
Ive pondered this whole scenario many times before, so I’m curious as to what the hive will say.
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You might check out Literary-type podcasts, such as Close Reads or A Literary Life podcast. See what books they have chosen and pick from that set of books. That way you can listen to the books in the car and also listen to a discussion about the book in the car, too!
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3 hours ago, madteaparty said:
Do you think this one lends itself well to audio? I just downloaded it for our drives.
Yes - I listened to the audiobook, and I enjoyed it. The author reads it.
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I think Daniel Nayeri’s most recent 2 books might appeal to everyone: Everything Sad is Untrue and The Many Assassinations of Samir the Seller of Dreams
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On 8/30/2023 at 1:42 AM, Dianthus said:
I don't know that any program will help that. But should I try something different? Should I try Writing with Skill or is it more work?
Ds is being a bit disagreeable on this so I'd like to make it easy for him.
1 hour ago, Dianthus said:He does not type. All written by hand in cursive.
41 minutes ago, Dianthus said:I don't think it's physical. He just doesn't want to do it. He'd rather build Legos. It takes too long, etc.
... I've really tried to keep him off screens, so haven't done typing yet.
I would teach him typing before I switched writing programs. If you switch writing programs, you're going to spend time floundering and finding your rhythm with the program. I think that same amount of time can be spent learning to type, which will have both short-term and long-term benefits.
You say you want to make it easy for him, but he has to do all his writing in cursive, which is so much longer than typing (once a proficient typer)! I can still vividly remember the pain of having to handwrite things, skipping lines, then editing, and then having to rewrite everything just perfectly in pen. (Remember those horrible "erasable" pens?!? They sounded so promising, but provided so much disappointment when you used them.). The inefficiency of it irritated me as a kid and obviously left its mark in my memory; perhaps your child also sees the inefficiency in handwriting drafts.
I understand that you want to avoid screens, and you need to do what is right for your family. However, I'd encourage you to count the cost of insisting on handwritten work. Is handwriting in cursive a hill you want to die on ... especially as you enter the tween & teen years? Is it causing him to disdain writing and thus impeding his education? If all his work is handwritten, is the sum of all the writing across subjects too much? If you allow him to type/dictate his writing assignments, would that free up some of his mental energy for creating well-crafted thoughts?
If you wanted to avoid screens, you could find a mechanical typewriter or a standalone word processor for the learning-to-type stage. (Making corrections on a typewriter is no fun either. I guess I really dated myself with this post!).
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I agree with you; it stinks to not have a dedicated place for yourself and your things!
Your husband seems to be a great problem solver with both mechanical issues and with systems. Does he have any Ideas on how to give you more dedicated space?
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2 hours ago, kbutton said:
That was something we considered, but it doesn’t solve our partial day problems requiring a full extra day and a full extra night.
When we polled friends, they all pretty much did the train thing.
You are correct that I’m not understanding your goals. Are you looking to squeeze sightseeing into the partial days before and after without any additional lodging/parking expense? Or are you looking for cheaper ways to add on an extra night or extra full day?
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I’m trying to think more out-of-the-box ……. Could you drive to a city in southern/central Illinois, park your car there, and then take Amtrak into the city? Likewise, years ago there used to be a train that would take northwest Indiana citizens into Chicago. This blog post might be helpful for researching this idea.
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Yup. We’ve been there, done that.
I have no words of advice; I’m just posting in solidarity with you.-
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We’ve used the following two podcasts to listen to the news together as we drive:
www.newsypooloozi.com
kidnuz.org
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Conflict and the resistant teenager
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
I’ve been in similar disagreements with my kids. It’s frustrating and tiring!
In my attempts to solve this issue/fix my child, I did ask them to log all their time for a day/week. It’s a big pain to do, but it gives both parties a quantity to deal with rather than a subjective criteria of “enough”. This exercise hopefully will also give him insight as to how much and when he’s wasting time. Or maybe he will see pockets of time that he could put his school into, so that he’s not pulling an all-nighter.
Ultimately, though, it’s their education and their time, and as the kids age, we have less and less control of these aspects. So eventually we, as parents, need to back off and let natural consequences be the teacher … but admittedly, it’s much easier said than done.