This is very cool. It’s like your party trick!

What’s the weird thing you know a lot about? What topic could you talk about all day?

Which nonsense words did you use? I searched the forum and there aren’t many book recommendations.

This is such a timely thread! I am so befuddled by this. My DS5 reads at a 2nd grade level. I have taught him phonics (daily!) since he was 3 years old. And he just…can’t do it. It‘s like nothing I’ve experienced with teaching other kids to read. I can only describe it as though he memorizes a word and applies the pronunciation to like words (e.g. he‘s memorized „right“ so can flawlessly read „might“, „tonight“, etc. but cannot pronounce „ight“ as a rule). I have no idea if this will become an issue in the future, but I am following this thread!

This is very cool! Do you have a picture? I love quilts so much, and the skill of creating one is nothing short of wizardry to me.

Interesting! What is your dissertation topic?

I‘m sorry you have this awful struggle. It sounds like a life and time-suck. There is so much more to you as a human being than what you eat or your size. I hope you can turn down the volume on that aspect so it’s not distracting you from life so much.

How interesting that so many goals are education-related! And so many books to be written. 🙂

What is your unreached goal? Why haven’t you met it? Do you think you will ever accomplish it in your lifetime?

Thank you! I just got this from the library upon your recommendation. 😉

…how did they get it? Reading a lot? Studying Latin? Learning other languages? Thank you!

Working memory is just the ability to hold multiple variables of a problem in the mind simultaneously while trying a solution. Have him practice really convoluted word problems and solve equations not using paper and pencil. When you tax working memory over and over again, day after day, kids develop really amazing problem-solving skills.

I really like Training Hearts, Teaching Minds for young children. In my humble opinion, young children who have first gone through that book + memorized The Catechism for Boys and Girls are better prepared to engage in a Bible curriculum. It’s sort of the phonics of Bible-reading if that makes sense. cfba.pdf

This is a really tough story. What made him leave your faith?

That is such an odd thing to say. Was there no place in the car to store the drinks but their lap?

Thank you! 🙂

Can anyone share a book that features accurately named shapes for young children? I’m having trouble finding a book that doesn’t name geometric shapes “kite” or “almond”.

Act 1: All three children and husband were sick this week (not Covid, they were tested). So I did all the cleaning, caring, feeding, etc. Act 2: Now I’m exhausted from a week of sleepless baby, cranky little boys and a DH who slept through the whole thing. So I packed snacks, checked into a hotel and watched Netflix in silence all day…JUST KIDDING! It’s Monday and I need to fold laundry. Close Curtain

+1 Some users are really insightful and looking at their post history gives you good ideas.

This thread is nuts. I hope my cheerful, smart children don‘t force their dumb interests onto emotionally overtaxed PGs and their parents. There is an old joke about how you know if someone is a member of Mensa, and this thread is the punchline.

This is timely! I was just having a conversation with my 69 year old friend (long story, I am an old soul and only have older friends 🙂 ). She said that she was feeling particularly ornery this week, because she has always been in a „caretaking“ role of helping others. Errands, chores, generally a „helping“ role. She said she felt that she rarely gets to just take care of herself and her purpose is doing things for family members. It was a very honest thought, and I can appreciate that many women end up feeling this way in later life.

ETA: I was trying to quote this “The biggest issue I have run into is that the more outnumbered I am by children, the more they speak English amongst themselves. And the more they speak English amongst themselves, the less German there is all around.” This is so true. My kids are 3, 5 and 7. I finally enrolled my eldest into Saturday language school, which will hopefully help my pursuit in making them fluent. I’m so discouraged! I mistakenly assumed if I just talk to my kids in their second language, they will pick it up naturally. Silly me! 😀 Both my parents spoke English to us, living in Germany, which is how I learned it. It seems like one parent isn’t enough, or maybe it’s just me!

+1 I had a very gifted friend. She was one of those people that can do anything after learning it once (calculus, oil painting, theoretical physics). I could tell she sort of talked at „our“ level. But she is very funny and humble, and as a result has a lot of friends, both average and profoundly gifted. I actually think parents with gifted children ought to pay special attention to teaching them social graces.

My second grader uses McGuffey‘s fourth eclectic reader. I love it! It asks reading comprehension questions at the end of each passage, along with great vocabulary words. If you are searching for more direct reading comprehension instruction, we‘ve done all of A-D Continental Press Reading Comprehension workbooks, and they are amazing (and cheap!). https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0845416847?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

Haha! I know this issue. It is especially problematic when it concerns forums that don’t technically relate at all to you and you feel like you have to qualify: “on this online forum about fundie drama, someone posted something about someone they and you and I don’t know, but it was crazy”.