AHASRADA
-
Posts
1,541 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by AHASRADA
-
-
I would recommend Timberdoodle. They have great, quality curriculum that is quick and easy to implement while still engaging. They also value independent learning as much as possible, which might be important to you when your time is stretched so thin.
-
I have always used the CAT test through Family Learning Organization. You have 2 weeks to complete the tests and mail it back. Then they mail you the results, and can email a soft copy as well.
-
My ds does Shaolin Kempo Karate, and he pays $160 for 3 months, so about $53 a month. This is the teen/adult rate, little kids are a bit cheaper. This covers an unlimited number of 90 min. classes (up to 5 per week). Belt tests are extra ($50) but only happen every 18 months or so.
His teacher is excellent and regularly goes beyond the scheduled time. We are on the edge of a metropolitan area, so I am very pleased with the value.
-
I have been putting a drop of blue Dawn in every load for years (only put a little, because it can over-suds and damage the machine) . It releases the body oils that can trap stink.
For very stinky exercise clothes, I add about 1/2 cup of an environmentally safe PineSol alternative (just couldn't bring myself to put PineSol on our clothes, so using the "natural" stuff makes me feel better) .
I heard a radio show about laundry once that said bleach does not remove biological stains, so I don't know if I'd count on it to remove BO .
-
I can't remember if we had a K graduation or not, but K was not part of school back then, it was private and optional. Our system had 1-4 in the elementary school, 5-8th in middle school, 9-12 high school. We did not have an elementary graduation, but did have one for 8th grade. No caps and gowns, though, just a formal awards ceremony with family and photos. Our middle school worked hard to build a culture and emphasize that they were systematically preparing us for the academic rigor of high school, so it was an acknowledgement of our accomplishments and maturation in preparation for the next stage of our academic career. We all moved up to HS together, so we weren't saying goodbye to our classmates, but to our teachers, our school, and that stage of our lives.
It was meaningful and appreciated, but I agreed with not using caps and gowns. There were no diplomas awarded, so a "graduation ceremony" would not have been appropriate. So, that's my stance. Whenever a child in a particular school system is changing buildings or academic programs, it is appropriate to have a fairwell/moving-up ceremony of some type. I see no need to call these "graduations" or to wear caps and gowns. I think that minimizes the uniqueness of each event and takes away from the true "graduations".
I also don't agree with doing over-the-top grade 8 graduations in case some students drop out of high school. Unlike 100 years ago, 8th grade is not the formal completion of an academic level. There is no 8th grade diploma or certificate. This attitude is telling kids we don't expect much of them, and it's OK for them not to expect to succeed.
-
1
-
-
Thank you so much for informing us of this tribute to my dear IRL friend. She is too humble to have alerted me to it herself, and I am grateful to have been able to read it and pass it along to others who know and care about her. She is truly an inspiring example of faith, compassion, strength and perseverence, not to mention being the one who introduced me to WTM back in 2004 :)
-
13
-
-
I have recently added Denise's workouts to my routine (I used to have some of her tapes in the 80s/90s). I have found a ton of her workouts for free on YouTube.
There are two series, apparently from TV:
Daily Workout
Fit & Lite
I have found playlists for both series on YouTube, about 35 episodes of each. They have a nice mix of warm up, cardio, weights, cool down/yoga.
She also has more recent workouts on the BeFit YouTube channel.
Just thought I'd mention this if you'd rather try the free route first :)
-
Timberdoodle comes with a schedule now? Interesting. I hadn't heard that. Is that only with their regular boxes or do they send one with their secular (Mystery of History in their secular boxes? [emoji38] ) ones, too? I can't imagine they put together one with their customizable boxes, do they? If it came with a schedule, Timberdoodle would be my second choice.
I was just on their website yesterday, and it says that their standard curriculum packages have a printed schedule, while the secular ones only have the schedule in e-book format. So, both versions do have a schedule.
-
1
-
-
I agree that Oak Meadow is wonderful, but it's definitely not "get er done". I guess you could skip all the creative projects and assignments if you had to.
If you're looking for efficient but quality, I would go with Timberdoodle. Their packages have some Christian content, but they have a secular option as well.
-
Yes!! I had to work through this with a couple of my tutoring students. How many depressing stories with a sad ending do they have to make these kids slog through?!The Pearl. I threw the book across the room when I was done.
-
1
-
-
I would assume the 2 kids way over on the right are grown and no longer living at home, but are still their kids and still part of the family. That would be my first thought anyway.:( What does that mean?
My husband told me he saw a car with the standard two adults, two kids, and a dog in the left-hand corner of the rear window of the car, and two more kids way over in the right hand corner by themselves. WHAT does that mean???
-
2
-
-
Thanks for your insights, PagesandFields and TheseIrishHills. We are currently using both RS A and Miquon at the moment, along with finishing up Mathematical Reasoning by Critical Thinking Press and Singapore Essentials B.
I plan to finish RS A & B by the end of K. I am also seriously considering moving to Math Mammoth for Grade 1, but we'll see when we get there. My dd loves the c-rods and had no trouble remembering the number values for each color (I still have to think about it for a moment myself!), and loved all the introductory activities. We just started Miquon Red last week, and if all continues to go well, we will stick with Miquon through to the end.
I definitely agree with the concept of a less-ideal curriculum that gets done is better than an excellent curriculum that sits on the shelf. Been there and done that sooooo many times over the years, but it never hurts to be reminded.
Thanks!
-
My dear SIL, age 43, has a 2cm growth on her thyroid. Her doctor has strongly advised her to simply have her thyroid surgically removed.
This seemed extreme, so I did a little googling, and read that it is rarely necessary to remove the thyroid completely, unless of course if it is cancerous. There are several causes, often iodine deficiency and a few conditions like Hashimoto's. It doesn't appear the doctor is looking into the cause, he just wants to remove it.
She lives in a developing country where it seems very common to remove the thyroid due to goiter. She named at least 6 women she knows off the top of her head who have had the surgery. When I asked why they don't just biopsy the growth, and if it is benign, try to find the cause and alternative treatment, she said oh, they never do biopsies here, they just remove it. The radiologist even said, based on the size and shape of the growth, there is a 60% chance it is malignant. Again, so biopsy the thing!! Grr.
I feel terribly that SIL is being coerced into this surgery, because she is very interested in holistic medicine and treating health conditions with diet. When she suggested this alternative to the dr., he just said, "Oh, just remove it and relax/don't bother yourself" (I'm translating). I can see his perspective when working with an uneducated population who would rather take a pill once a day for the rest of their lives than follow a strict diet and supplement protocol, but that's not her. He even said he had a patient try that once, and they died. Well, yes, if you don't bother to biopsy it first and look for the cause!!
Her husband is also in favor of the surgery, because the doctor has recommended it and he is afraid of doing otherwise and jeopardizing her health. So, she has resigned herself to the surgery and the lifelong daily meds.
I guess this is primarily a vent, but I am also looking for thoughts and perspectives from those with experience in this area, as I have none. Is surgery really the best option and not a big deal, as she has been told? Are the daily meds really an excellent replacement for having your own thyroid intact, or are there side-effects? Anything else we or she should know going into this surgery?
Thanks for listening.
-
How fantastic that she has made such amazing progress in her reading! Kudos to both of you :)
Dyslexics usually have as much (if not more) difficulty with spelling as with reading, so that's perfectly normal. It sounds like a good time to start doing some work in that area. I wouldn't necessarily recommend Spelling Workout, however. For a dyslexic, you really need an explicit, step-by-step approach designed for struggling readers/spellers.
I would look into All About Spelling, Apples and Pears and Sequential Spelling. I believe AAS has placement tests, I'm not sure about the others. Be prepared that her spelling level may still be several grade levels below her current reading level. If she is at a point to work with multi-syllable words (grade 4 and up), you could try Megawords.
HTH!
-
She sounds extremely selfish. I can guarantee her kids will learn a lot of lessons from her actions, some possibly requiring therapy at some point, none of which are related to behavior and natural consequences.
-
14
-
-
I agree with all the recommendations to have him tested. I don't have any experience with auditory processing, but my ds has poor working memory and processing speed, as well as ADD-inattentive type. He is perfectly "normal", capable, smart, etc., and it can seem like he is just goofing off, wasting time, procrastinating, or not paying attention. It is not unusual for him to claim I didn't tell him something, or he didn't hear it, because his mind wasn't engaged with what I was saying at that exact moment, or he heard the first part but couldn't hold all the instructions in his memory at once, etc.
This is why evaluation can be so important. So many symptoms of different issues overlap, and it is extremely helpful to get to the bottom of what exactly is causing the symptoms. I also agree that in the meantime, he needs to be given tools to work around his issue, such as asking the teacher if there is an assignment before he leaves class, etc.
You also might want to look into the book "Smart But Scattered" to see if anything rings a bell and for some helpful strategies until testing is done.
Even when you know there is a diagnosed issue, it is frustrating and we can lose our cool. You're doing your best, mom.
-
1
-
-
I saw the ads for the interview, but I assumed it would just be telling his side of the marriage breakup, and I wasn't interested.
I have never watched the Kardashian show (no interest), but I did watch an hour-long Oprah interview with the entire family over a year ago. Until then, I had no idea who this family was, nor that Bruce Jenner was the defacto head of it. I was fairly young, but I do remember Jenner being an olympian and the Wheaties box :), and I was somewhat shocked at his being part of this flamboyant family.
It wasn't until Oprah started discussing Mr. Kardashian, the father of Kim, Khloe et al., and showed footage of him as a lawyer in the OJ Simpson trial that I had a lightbulb moment of who these people are. Apparently the parents divorced and the mom married Jenner before Kardashian's death, and he was very supportive and like an uncle to the Jenner daughters.
It seems to me these women have no claim to fame in their own rights (aside from beauty), but are riding the coat tails of 2 gracious and self-sacrificing patriarchs. I wish them all the best.
-
I did OM Lit. II with ds a couple of years ago. We both really enjoyed all of the books, including Anthem. It is actually quite short, and is a dystopian fiction highlighting the evils of communism/socialism run amok and praise for the inherent value of the individual. Great stuff!
-
Have you looked at Build Your Library? Their K program is based on world geography http://buildyourlibrary.com/purchase-kindergarten-curriculum/
-
I thankfully haven't heard it, but now that I know this is a thing, if a child asked me what "vs." means, I would tell them, "Versus, it means against."
Maybe if these kids understood that versus means against., they would realize that, "We're againsting the other team," or "We againsted them last night" don't make any sense. Either that, or they would start using both words incorrectly!
-
Have you looked at Build Your Library? Very similar format to Sonlight, but completely secular.
-
1
-
-
I'm pretty sure she was adopted and is of hispanic ancestry. Not sure it really matters, though, at least she's still technically a minority, albeit a very privileged light-skinned one.Going to put in a small correction. Nicole Ritchie is one of the trends, and as Lionel Ritchie's daughter...she's at least one minority woman. Not that I read Cosmo, nor can I pull off any of the things pictured. Leaving now...because, I don't think the minor correction answers the thrust of the argument.
-
2
-
-
I tutor ESL students in my home. I almost exclusively service members of our faith and cultural community, so advertising is by word of mouth. My students range from grade 2 to high school, mainly one on one. Most of the high school students come for homework help, conversation and a bit of grammar review. At the elementary level, I assign homework and create my own lessons. I charge $20/hr, which is a little low, but these families can't afford much more, and I'd rather get paid a
little less than to have no clients.
I mainly tutor between 5-7pm weekdays (not every day) and about 3 hours a day on both Sat. and Sun. Between homeschooling and tutoring, I never get a full day off, but with no commute, no boss, no co-workers, etc., its a pretty sweet deal.
-
I just started, this is my 2nd day, 1st week. So far, it's going really well. I am just amazed at how little food I actually need in order not to feel hungry. I'm doing 700 cals on fast days, so a bit more than some people, but I'm really only hungry before lunch. I have a protein shake in the AM, steamed vegetables and an egg for lunch, a green smoothie in the afternoon, and vegetable soup with a hot dog for dinner (all very small portions) . I actually feel so great and light, that I listen closely to my hunger and stop long before I'm full on the following day. Then, I allow myself a bit more leeway the day before the next fast (I had a good-sized lunch and popcorn yesterday! ) . I didn't want to go into another fast day hungry, and it's working! Feeling great again today. I really hope I can keep this up, because I had stalled on simply eating healthy food in reasonable portions, grrr.
In the past, I spent months weighing food and counting calories meticulously, and it just became too obsessive and not reasonable to maintain long-term, which backfired into eating all the foods when I allowed myself some treats. So, I'm trying something more reasonable this time.
-
8
-
OPGTR vs LOE with dyslexia?
in The Learning Challenges Board
Posted
I tried OPGTR with my dyslexic dd, and it was definitely not enough, moved too fast, not enough repetition and practice. The explicit and multisensory approach of LOE is absolutely better.
If LOE is working, I would stick with it. If it moves too quickly, look into AAR or Dancing Bears.