thescrappyhomeschooler
-
Posts
8,994 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by thescrappyhomeschooler
-
-
Wow, thanks, everyone. I truly appreciate all the responses.
I guess I should give a little more background. I don't want to get into any philosophical debates about religion, but I was raised in a Christian home and went to Christian schools, and most of my siblings are born again, Bible believing Christians who attend various denominations of church on a regular basis. As an adult, I choose to believe in God, but not in any particular religion. I think that our minds are too finite to comprehend God and that there is merit in all religions and that as long as people are trying to do what is right and good, they are okay by me. I don't ask anyone to believe as I do, and I don't judge anyone else for their beliefs. I find that people who have strong religious beliefs have strong minds and strong morals, even if I don't always agree with them.
My husband is Jewish, but more of a "traditional" Jew than a spiritual Jew. He wants the boys to associate themselves with the Jewish community, so we attend a reform temple that has many interreligious couples like us. He would probably be disappointed, but would get over it if they chose to become Christians at some point. They are constantly exposed to Christianity by my family and we celebrate both Jewish and Christian holidays in our home.
I do pray, and I do believe that God is listening and does answer prayer, but it's not an area I can approach dh about. Our religious views are very different.
Another thing, when I had a conversation with him last week about the math program they use in school, and going over my afterschooling plans, dh said that he didn't want our kids to be "too smart" and go around spouting off information about things to people all the time. I honestly didn't know how to respond to that. In the first place, older ds does this already. He's very bright and has spoken in clear diction since he was 2. It freaks people out. And, I agree that our kids are already going to be a little weird as it is, because we are weird parents! We are older- I'm 40 and dh is 50, and we don't exactly mesh with many of the parents in our dc's age ranges.
Because both of my sisters who have kids homeschool, I have researched support groups. Where my one sister lives, there are tremendous support systems, and she also participates in Classical Conversations. The problem I'm having is that the support groups I'm finding around here are a little too "Christiany" and I think he would have a problem with that. I would be very happy to start my own secular homeschooling group. Our community has very good sports programs, and both kids have participated in them, and I have looked into Cub Scouts and stuff like that, but he still thinks they need to have a bunch of school friends. His reasoning for that is because he still has a dozen friends from elementary school that he still talks to and sees on a regular basis.
Thanks again for your feedback. You have given me some ideas on how to keep approaching this. Dh did agree that last year was a waste of time, so maybe if this year is the same for the boys, I can get him to agree for next year.
-
I am afterschooling my two boys because I read WTM a couple years ago, and simply love the classical education model. I would love to do this full time with them. My older ds has always been verbally advanced and can read very well. He got almost nothing out of kindergarten last year.
My second ds started kindergarten this year and doesn't seem to care one way or the other about it. We did handwriting, First Language Lessons, a little math, and some science experiments over the summer. My sisters both homeschool, and one of my sisters made library cards for her kids to pick out books from each genre. My mom made some for my kids, and they love picking out the books from their cards. So, we get plenty of reading. I make them read individually, too. We work on phonics, and younger DS is making his way through the Bob books.
My problem is my husband. He is adamantly opposed to homeschooling, although he really has no solid proof to back up his reasons. He has the idea that homeschooled kids are too sheltered and weird and cannot cope with the world. He also thinks the kids need to make peer connections that they will carry with them into adulthood. We chose to live in this neighborhood because the public schools are ranked highly, but I don't see this as a result of anything the schools are doing. I believe it is because parents who value education and place a high emphasis on their children's success move here for the schools. It is the parents' involvement and concern that motivates the high test scores.
School has been in session for 1 week. Last night, dh sat down with both boys and asked them specific questions about what they did in school. 1st grader said he had 3 recesses. Dh asked, "What did you learn today?" Ds replied, "Nothing." Dh asked, "You didn't learn one thing today?" Ds, "No." Dh, "Did you do any work at all?" Ds, "We worked on our classroom quilt." I interjected, "Aren't you going to reading group?" Ds, "No." Me, "I thought you were supposed to be in reading group?" Ds, "I don't know." But, this didn't seem to phase Dh.
At school for 6 hours, had 3 recesses and worked on a quilt. What a waste of time!
I've asked Dh to read WTM, at least the first two chapters, and he said he would, but he still hasn't. How did you come to agree that homeschooling was the right choice for your family?
-
I think it depends on how much pumping you plan on doing. I only needed to pump occasionally to go out for an evening or something, so I used the Avent manual pump, and it work out fine for me. It got enough milk out and was easy to use.
-
I live in an area which is somewhat known for snotty women. I discovered exactly what this meant at my son's T-ball games, where I couldn't even get anyone to make eye contact to say hello. It's ridiculous. And, I think the only pastime of the majority of them is shopping at high-end retailers and driving around the suburbs in their brand new Hummers. (Boy, I am on a judmental roll this morning (see Duggar post)!). Needless to say, I'm not into joining groups in this community, either. I always thought I didn't get along with women, either, but I discovered there are women out there who share a similar viewpoint to me, and have made a nice little circle of women friends. It's very refreshing. I do enjoy spending time with them, because we talk about our kids, of course, but also about books we've read, projects we want to do, trips we'd like to take, etc.
-
Sounds delicious! What a great idea. Thanks for posting recipes.
-
They have the older children raise the younger children. That's how it's worked historically. My mother was the 7th of 8 children, she was raised by her older sisters.
I'm the oldest of 5 kids. My youngest sister and brother are 8 and 9 years younger than me. I know how it is to take care of younger siblings. I helped change diapers, fed them, packed lunches, got them dressed, french braided two sisters' hair every morning- the list could go on and on. I don't say there is anything wrong with older siblings helping out the parents. That's just what happens in large families. My father was one of 8 kids who survived infancy (I think my grandma had 10 pregnancies). But with the Duggars, that's more than twice that many kids! How can a kid with a problem really expect to get individualized attention for any significant period of time? I had two kids 16 months apart, and even with my husband and mom helping me a lot, it was exhausting. I usually don't judge other people's choices at all, so this is out of character for me, but I don't agree with their choices. Even if you don't believe in birth control and that God will only give you what you can handle, most Christians also believe in free will, and God gave you a brain to use. You can make some intelligent choices for yourself and your family. I don't care if she is the heartiest woman in the world, having 19 babies cannot be good for the body.
-
I have to wonder, even if they can financially support 19 children, are they supporting them in other ways? I know you can't judge their family life from a TV show, but it doesn't seem like they have much of a life. It's all about how to "manage" things with that many people. It's like the mechanics of the family is more important than the actual family life. I mean, how can you spend quality time with any of the kids? Sorry if I seem cynical, but it doesn't seem fair to the kids.
-
Lots of good responses here. I think every mom has been in that boat. It just seems so futile to do all the work you do, when you turn around and someone has made a giant mess in the area you just worked so hard to clean up. It is incredibly maddening.
For what it's worth, here's how we get the clean up going fast. I bring out the vacuum, and say whatever is not cleaned up in 15 minutes is getting vacuumed up. DH brings out a black garbage bag and says the same thing. I've vacuumed up legos, action figures, etc. DH has "thrown away" (I go through the bag and donate anything good), lots of stuff. It only took a couple times of actually carrying out the threat for it to work. If they see the vacuum or garbage bag coming, they hustle their tails!
-
My kids like bagel faces. We spread cream cheese on whole wheat bagels and add raisins for eyes and strawberry slices for the mouth.
-
So, when you pulled the paint off, the drywall underneath was okay? The top layer of paper on the drywall was still intact? I can't say I've ever had that experience, but maybe whoever painted originally did not prime the drywall first. If the drywall is still good, I would put a couple coats of primer on and then paint. I always paint at least two coats of any color, and for darker colors, sometimes 3 coats is necessary. Best of luck!
-
I graduated high school in 1987, and learned almost nothing about WWII, the Cold War, or Vietnam in high school. However, in 8th grade, my social studies teacher did a segment on current events, and I learned quite a bit. I think current events should be a separate class from history, so that kids can learn the facts about what is happening in their world, because I think it does take a while for events to be considered as "history" and it is hard to write textbooks about things until they is enough distance to give an accurate portrayal.
-
It blows my mind when strangers interrogate children for any reason. I also have a painfully shy ds5. He is even shy around extended family. I have had to tell people to stop talking to him, as they are only making the situation worse. If it's a stranger, my son will fuse his body into the flesh of my legs and start sobbing about wanting to go home. It's extremely difficult to handle, and when the interrogator doesn't catch a clue and leave him alone, I have to say something.
And at the PO, I would have acted completely flabbergasted and said, "
HOW CAN THEY CHARGE $201.00 FOR A MONEY ORDER!"
-
I knew how to do all the things it takes to manage a household when I got married. I was a good cook. My mom forced us to clean well and do laundry as children. I also had been doing yardwork, small repair and maintenance jobs, painting rooms, etc. for many, many years before I got married. As the oldest of 5 kids, and a decade of babysitting jobs, I knew how to take care of children. I was 32 when I got married and had been taking care of my own house for years.
However, just because I am capable of doing all of these things, and doing them well, doesn't mean I like to do them, or that I do them well at the moment. My dh is an incredibly picky eater, so I don't enjoy cooking anymore. I don't enjoy cleaning up after 4 people, or coordinating schedules for 4 people. I don't enjoy spending a whole day doing laundry. It's exhausting and thankless work most of the time. My mom is forever telling me that she doesn't know how I turned out to be the way I am. She "accuses" me of preferring to spend time with my children over doing housework. That's absolutely true. If I had the choice to read my kids a pile of library books or fold a pile of laundry, the library books will win out every time. What's wrong with a few wrinkles? :glare:
-
My dh is similar, but not quite as picky. He does like to fish, so on our few family vacations, we have chosen a locale where he could fish, and I could take the kids to do other things. It gets annoying to have to cater to the needs of someone so particular and difficult. I've taken many vacations with just the kids, or with my mom, siblings, friends, etc. If these grown men are so difficult to please, they will just have to deal with the consequences of their own choices. I agree with one of the previous posters that said it's time to grow up.
-
That is an annoying thing to deal with. Fortunately, none of the people with whom I have regular contact are like that. But, one of my sister's friends is like that. My sister can't spend too much time around her. I have no problem recognizing my own or my children's faults! No one is perfect, and it's ridiculous to think that any child would behave perfectly all the time.
-
Do you have hours and hours of free time to scan it all into the computer and save it on disks? Or could you assign this project to someone else? That way you could keep the "work" without having to use so much storage space.
-
Add my son to the ranks of 6 year old Casanovas! He has a mental list of all his girlfriends and when he sees a pretty girl, he tells me he's adding her to the list. I would not be at all surprised if he started drawing nude pictures, except that he doesn't lilke "art" very much. And both he and my 5 year old son are obssessed with boobs, and constantly want to see them and touch them. It's a challenge.
-
Well, I didn't read all the responses, but I could have written your post. My son's K teacher last year, when I discussed his reading with her, said, "He shouldn't be on that level, yet." Huh? He WAS on that level. And, when I discussed the Everyday Math curriculum with the principal, she said, "Well, we do recognize that Everyday Math is weak in certain areas, such as learning math facts, so we supplement." My question is, why wouldn't you just use a math curriculum that actually teaches math?
My husband doesn't believe in homeschooling (yet, but he might if we have another year like last year!), so I am afterschooling my boys who will be in K and 1st grade this year. I am continuing with the phonics we've already started. (1st grader is reading and comprehending at about a 4th grade level, Ker is just getting through the 2nd set of Bob books.) I also started First Language Lessons with 1st grader. He loves memorizing the poems. Those are easy things to fit in after school. Husband does agree with me that we will have to teach math facts at home if they are not getting it at school, so we will begin math soon. I also ordered the CDs of SOTW, so we can listen to them in the car. We already read tons and tons of books before bed, so I think that will be enough for now.
Thanks for your post, and for all the responses. I will read more of them now.
Did you and spouse agree on hs right away?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
I know that little kids often say "nothing" when asked what they did that day, but dh was asking him pointed questions, too, like "Did you color any pictures? Did you do any math? Did you go to gym? Did you write your name on any papers?" All of which my son answered in the negative. So, who knows what he did? This is why I like ds2's K teacher. She sends an email home everyday with a brief synopsis of what they did. I know that ds2 practiced writing his first and last names and the date, talked about the weather and the days of school chart, went to music, had rest time after lunch and recess, the teacher read Miss Bindergarten to them, they had snack, did a measurment game for math. Good to know.
Last year, I asked ds1's K teacher for a weekly email update on what she planned on covering in class. She sent me one once, and nothing after that. I have absolutely no idea what my son did in Kindergarten because all he ever told me about was what he played with in free choice. I became the "crazy parent in the office" by spring, so the principal put them in classes with "communicative" teachers. So far, the K teacher has been very communicative, but the 1st grade teacher hasn't really done much communicating, yet. Tonight is parent information night, so hopefully, I'll get some info!