Hobbes
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Posts posted by Hobbes
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IMO, the 'Christmas Spirit' is supposed to be one of grace and peace... which should include any approach that gives you rest and calm over this season. Giving yourself time to heal and rest is most important. I hope things improve!
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So far, massage therapist (she makes me functional) and library staff are getting jars of homemade toffee. Co-op teachers got jars of homemade salsa and jam. And I hadn't though about garbage collectors, but maybe I should...
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Thank you for sharing all this. I'm not naturally good at reaching out, but my parents tend to be and I'm personally trying to be more warm and welcoming. We go to a large church with a lot of people in a city where people come and go. I've never been the person moving, so it is so helpful to get advice from that perspective.
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For those of you who have moved long distances and taken a while to adjust, what did you find most helpful from those you met in your new place? Say at church - would you like new friends to offer a lot of help and interaction, or to leave you space to initiate relationships? Etc...
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I'm just amazed how many people have the energy and brain power to not only do chores after school, but to organize their kids chores. :D By the time the school day is done, I'm wiped. Getting dinner on the table is my only priority at that point, anything else is bonus. And yes, my house is a mess. I hate it.
I organize chores ahead of time for this reason. There is a chart on the fridge with space for check marks. It requires no brain power on my part, which is a win. 😀 And I get the added bonus of having other people clean at my tired hour!
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This. I had four natural home births, which are highly regulated in Ontario. My own experience is that it is painful but possible right up until it isn't... and that's when you have the baby. And then? The high is amazing. And I felt great instantly afterwards. And yes, I always forgot the pain... until the end of the next pregnancy. 😕Just when you think you can't take it anymore, it's over. Really.
We aren't sure if we're having more and if we don't, I will feel a sadness about never feeling that "baby high" again.
I used a birthing pool and had three water births (with one I couldn't due to meconium). The water was AMAZING for pain management and freedom of movement.
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Bacon-wrapped dates are The Thing in our house. Especially when stuffed with goat cheese.
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They make beds and do a quick roon tidy (nothing deep) before breakfast and then we dive right into school. Weekly chores and piano practice happen after school, often after afternoon quiet time. They each have something to help with around dinnertime (set or clear table).
Weekly chores (1x/week) include:
- sweep upper level
- sweep basement
- clean out van
- dust upper/main/basement
- sort/fold own laundry/put away
- wipe bathroom sinks and mirrors
I've found kids as young as six can do all these things well.
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Kombucha is a good source of probiotics, and dairy free if that is needed.
Gelatin can help soothe an irritated gut and make things welcoming for probiotics. Bone broth is great for this.
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SOTW gets done here. Audiobook, colouring page, narration questions, mapwork. Often that's it, but I do request some of the suggested books from our library and they sometimes get read, sometimes by my 8yo independently. Occasionally we do one of the extra projects, if it is appealing and simple.
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I think I would try having HER write up the procedure for whatever it is she's supposed to be doing. Among other things.
I was thinking about this thread and thinking that this approach would be very effective with my almost 9yo. "It seems you are having a lot of trouble understanding what I mean when I ask you to do things, so I would like you to write out the steps so that it is very clear what is expected." It would be quite the deterrent!
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We have LOVED this doll and have three of them: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00AGI2SVA/ref=psdcmw_3245219011_t1_B00R7P7XVA.
Small enough for a little one to cuddle, real enough to grow with a child. My 7yo still adores hers, which she got at age 2. For our boys, we've bought the "bath friendly" version in case it gets wet. Very durable, but nice to hug.
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Taking notes. 😀
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My sadness about Treasured Conversations is that, PayPal or no, you can only buy the PDF if you are in the US.
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Can you do a read aloud or something during breakfast? When you're done, breakfast is done and then after teeth brushing or whatever you just move to the next subject? Then you're killing two birds with one stone, but not throwing your day completely off.
I do this. Mine are generally awake by 7:30 and if they arent, I figure they need the sleep. Sleeping past 8 doesn't happen, really. By 8:30 we are eating and then, because I eat about 8 times more quickly than they do, I start our morning time. They finish eating as I read aloud and lead memory work, etc. We clear plates as we go and continue with the more interactive portions of group work. Staying at the table means the toddler can also take all his time with breakfast without holding us up... plus, he is contained and occupied!
When we finish, they pull out their individual work and we do that at the kitchen table until it's done, taking brief individual breaks as needed.
I'd really love to have a morning time on the couch, but once we sit down for breakfast I have to keep the ball rolling or we get all sidetracked and the day disappears.
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We use GSWF orally. I want to start writing the sentences on a whiteboard, but I wouldn't buy another book for that. (I am actually working on the iPad from the Kindle version, which has been great).
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I would like more completely at home days than we have, but I am also happy with the activities we have. I think we are at a decent balance, though some weeks it sways one way or the other.
Monday and Tuesday are home. My sister teaches my kids piano here on Tuesdays. Wednesday mornings is our combo women's Bible study (where I teach)/homeschool group and childcare. Thursdays at noon we head to my mother's and have lunch, then the kids stay there for the afternoon and evening. I do errands and then we have date night.
Fridays are sometimes home, sometimes out for activities, etc. Probably 50/50.
Since many of these things are luxuries for me (women's group! visit with my mom! date night!), it helps my introverted self with the week. If the activities were more demanding of me, I'd need fewer of them and more days home, especially in a baby year.
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We started our oldest daughter in piano lessons with her aunt at 5 because she was so eager and had been asking for about a year. She is almost 9 and still loves it. Our second daughter started this year at 7 and it's going well. I think I wouldn't start again before 7 unless the child was very motivated. Before a child can read, practicing requires a great deal of parental input and so is very time-consuming.
Growing up, our family rule was that you had to hit grade 4 piano before beginning another instrument, to gain basic theory and musical knowledge before branching out. I think we'll go that way here as well. Oldest is eager to start guitar next, but it can be a hard one on little fingers
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I just got the Scholastic Children's Dictionary at a library sale for 50¢ (thrilling!). I'm impressed with it - the entries are clear and there are enough pictures to be appealing to young kids.
ETA: there is a basic pronunciation key after most words and it shows part of speech
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Got one at a Costco this summer and it's been great for keeping my 2yo amused in church. I have to say I'm impressed... he is very hard on it and it's holding up fine. I wouldn't say it breaks easily at all.
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We are also using Duolingo plus Getting Started with French. GSWF is not independent for us because I'm doing it orally with a 3rd and 2nd grader, but it seems like it would be great for 6th independently.
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I love quizzes. 😠I got 11 for both MM and SM, which is about right - I love using MM and the only thing that has kept me from Singapore is juggling the multiple books.
All that to say, I don't start MM until 2nd. Before that, we talk about math and do hands-on stuff. Neither child has had a problem jumping right into 2nd. If you do real life math with kids your age, you can get them pretty far.
Some things we did before 2nd:
- counted things a lot
- divided chocolate chips among siblings 😠(always guaranteed to be accurate)
- measured things around the house with strips of paper, then with kid tape measures. they liked making charts of measurements.
- counted beans into jars with numbers on the front
- played with MUS blocks
- discussed "how many" to learn addition (There are six in our family and four in theirs, so how many plates do we need for dinner? You have three library books and you are allowed to choose five, so how many more can you get?)
- played with tangram shape puzzles
- Legos
- baking - discussed fractions, added when doubling
- lined up numbers on the kitchen chalkboard to try vertical addition. one kid adored this and asked for a wall full of problems several times a week.
- pointed out calendar dates
- board games (Uno, Dutch Blitz, etc)
That sort of thing. I haven't noticed any difficulties jumping into 2nd. And a plus is that they thought all those activities were games and many I introduced and then let them go, so it was often quite independent. It's also basically free, aside from maybe a kid tape measure and MUS blocks.
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Almost never. I will sometimes cut a subject within our day... skip an unnecessary lesson or move it to another day. But I have zero desire to add a week at the end of the year and that is enough motivation for me to do what is needed. I also want to teach my kids how to adapt but keep going when things are hard.
I only really scrap the whole day when there's a legit emergency or I'm sick enough that I would call in sick to a regular job. Even then... I have to be sick enough that having to do the work later is worth it.
I don't answer the phone when I'm teaching, or if I need to, I keep it short and tell them I'll call back later. A package delivery means answering the door and then setting the package aside to open later. Kids aren't allowed to get up from their work and off task for this. And a failed experiment means a discussion about why, then moving on. A narration about why something failed can be very useful in understanding a concept (or so I've found so far).
I can't quit a day because of distractions. We have a 2yo and 9mo around... we would quit every day. I can commiserate with the desire, though. 😞 Some days are hard.
Making checklists for each kid each week has been helpful for me. The work is set out and we can all see it, so the temptation to just not mention something isn't there. And the row of checked-off work is sooo satisfying (at least to this task-oriented mama!).
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abebooks.com has treated me very well. :)
What age to watch Little Women (1994 film version)?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
We really limit what our kids watch and they tend to be sensitive. They saw Little Women at about 5 and 7 and were fine with it. They liked it... though I realized afterwards that they didn't get it that Beth died, since it wasn't shown on screen and it's only alluded to afterwards. So that helped. ðŸ˜