bluemongoose
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Posts posted by bluemongoose
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My parents are divorced...I didnt invite my bio-dad. As for the mom in control thing...my mom can sometimes be very opinionated (I am too though) and it can feel controlling at times. I handled it by expecting nothing as far as money goes and that way I felt free to tell her it was my wedding and this was how it was going to be. With controlling people it is much easier if they dont have any strings to pull with you, then you can just stand up and say no.
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I am musical and artsy and sensitive like Marianne. I am very practical and reliable and logical like Elinor. I do not get completely wrapped up in emotions and the feeling of romantic stuff like Marianne. I don't completely stuff my emotions and I am not as quiet (I talk a lot) as Elinor.
I am both!
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I voted peninsula! I have worked as a nanny in several houses and then I built my own. I went with the peninsula because I couldn't stand the ring around the island effect on small children while I was cooking. Plus it gave me more storage, and you can still have the backside be a raised type bar and get that same island effect.
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IMO American Heritage Girls! LOL!!
I weighed the pros and cons of each, and I feel very comfy with my decision. I realize that GS is usually fine due to the fact that the troop leaders are the ones who decide how they go about the meeting and such. Also the younger the girls are the less controversial type stuff (controversial meaning with your own moral standards etc) you will have to deal with.
The kicker for me was
1. I wouldn't want to have to yank her out if I felt the group was not working with our beliefs after she had been in it for a while. From what I could tell, there was a good chance that I wouldn't agree with certain things presented to older girls. I wouldn't have wanted her to get so into GS and then pull her because of it.
2. I wouldn't want any part of my $$ to go to some of the things that GS supports. There are some moral conflicts there for me. I realize this doesnt present a problem for a lot of people, but it did for me.
As for AHG- They start out more aligned to my beliefs and morals, so there is less of a chance that we will collide and I will have to withdraw from the group. They do not support things I am in moral conflict with. They do many of the same things as GS, so DD wouldn't feel like she was missing out on it all. The yearly dues are more expensive though...but not really outrageous!
DD has been an AHG for a bit now, and will be moving up this June. She loves it!
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I second the miracle blanket!!!
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HITS:
Math Mammoth Light Blue Series
MEP Reception for the little one...I think I might try MEP Year 1 with the older kiddo now.
Miquon
Singapore 1A for older, Earlybird for younger--(we love this, but due to $$ we are switching over to MM after we use up what I have already purchased)
Portraits of American Girlhood
Galloping the Globe
Apologia Astronomy
Lollipop Logic
BJU Passaporte al Espanol
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A Reason for Handwriting (DD likes the coloring part)
Little Annie's art book of Manners and Etiquette-DD likes this (she picked it out) I think it is kinda silly.
Sing, Spell, Read and Write 1st-DD did very well with the program, but is was not fun.
B4FIAR/FIAR- This worked great with DD, but DS needs it modified a bit. He likes to do lapbooks with it and he will not sit through the whole story in one setting. We read the picture books like chapter books; stopping at a good place and continuing the next day. We read on picture book over 4 days or so instead of reading it 5 times in a row. It works and he likes it this way, so it gets the job done!
Happy Phonics
MISSES-
Considering Gods Creation
Speedy Spanish Primer
LLATL
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DD started doing preK at just under 3yo by her choosing. I didn't consider it mandatory until she had her 5th birthday. She has a December birthday, so I figured I would start warming her up to the idea of being school age the fall before she turned 5. That January we made it more "official" She started calling herself a kindergartner and we told her she must do school a little bit every day. It really has not been a battle though, she loves school stuff. DS is 3 right now. He comes to school when he pleases! Some days he just wants to sit by us and play with math cubes, other days he wants to work in a preschool workbook. Sometimes he wants to practice reading words and doing math out of the Singapore Earlybird books. I encourage him to do school with us, but it is anything but mandatory at that age!
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"Please DONT take that apart!" DS is going to be a mechanical engineer or something!
"Please GET OFF that..."
"Sit down"
"Shut the gate" (baby gate so the baby doesnt get up the stairs and then fall down them)
"Bummer!"
"Get --- out of your mouth" (toe, pencil, hair, clothes, toy etc) DD is very oral!
"Please don't lick ----" Today it was all the way down my banister. DD strikes again!
"Please be kind."
"Please watch out for the baby."
"Please dont sit on the baby!" My boys like to wrestle already. Problem is the 1yo is 20lbs and the 3yo is 40lbs.
"Sorry, breakfast/lunch/dinner is over, you are down from the table."
"Please dont play in the bathroom sink!"
"Please do your math!"
"Please take the argument/fit upstairs, I don't want to listen to it"
More Positive thing I say several times everyday!
"I love you too."
"Yes, you may sit on my lap!"
"Yes, we can read that story!"
"Yes, we can go and see the chickens again!"
"That was so kind, thanks!"
"You're such a big help!"
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LLATL....you can see in my siggy that we are "using" it. Really I think we have about given up on it all together. I am looking forward to starting PR in the fall with DD. DS is enjoying workbooks, so I might pull out my Sing, Spell, Read, and Write workbooks for him.
So far that is all, but we have only just begun!
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We still have lots of littles, so staying home is just easier! When by myself, I love to go go go.
Our Schedule:
Monday-School-Play/Nap-Dinner-Scouts for the oldest
Tuesday-Swim lessons for all-Play/Nap-Dinner
Wednesday-School-Play/Nap Dinner
Thursday-School-Play/Nap Dinner
Friday-School-Play/Nap Dinner
Sat-Oldest has Ballet-Every other week is grocery shopping-Home to relax
Sunday-Morning "Church at home"-Relax-Nap/Plan for the next school week
Things that change:
In June Scouts, Ballet, and Swim take a break for the summer
Homeschool group park days start up for the whole summer on Thursday Mornings
Oldest might start a Thursday Evening 14 week Beg Violin class that starts in May.
It is going to be a stretch for me to add the Violin class with the Scouts, Swimming, and Ballet, but it is a really great opportunity for her and it is a limited time, so I might just do it anyway.
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Mine are very young still. With one side of the family, we just tell them that they live very far away, so it is hard to get together. This is true...but actually we are not on speaking terms either. In the future (if things remain the same) they will have to know about it. For the time being I try to say positive things about them when I can and omit the negative.
There is another close relative that they do not know even exists. This is for a very very good reason, and I have no intention of telling them until they are older about this person.
I am not big on keeping secrets from my kids, but they also don't need to shoulder adult issues. I had to growing up...in a lot of ways I never felt like I had a childhood. I always worried about why someone was not getting along with another person, and they always told me their problems. It was overwhelming!
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I missed the open classrooms...but I still got:
Whole Language
Creative Spelling and also Creative Grammar. I was taught that it was so important to be a great "creative" writer and that correction would kill my creativity. Great! Now I can write, I love to write, trouble is nobody can read it!
No Competition allowed. Everybody is a winner.
Group Projects
Puzzle Projects
File Cabinet Math- This was a file cabinet of Math packets (run off worksheets stapled together) that got progressively more difficult. The idea was that everyone could work at their own pace through the cabinet. Great in theory, but there was never any instruction. I have to hear something and then try it to get it to stick. So, I would get most of it wrong and then the teacher would circle my incorrect answers and give the packet back. I was not expected to redo it, nor was it ever explained to me. I could have answered each problem with a smile face and it would have been the same.
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All 3 of mine had cords wrapped, but only one was scary. 2 came very easily with cord wrapped only 1 or 2 times.
My oldest came with the cord wrapped several times. She was having heart decels and when her head came out her lips were turning blue. I didnt end up having time to push her body out at the Dr couldn't get enough slack to get the cord off. She just had to pull her out right then and there without waiting for the next contraction. Baby ended up being fine...I had to have 26 stitches, but it was worth having a healthy baby!
I would say most cord wrap births are fine, but when it goes wrong it is usually do to a lack of slack to correct the problem, or it is because it is wrapped around limbs as well.
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DD with be doing:
LA: Phonics Road Level 1
Math: Singapore/Math Mammoth (we are fazing out of S and into MM) with Miquon and RS Math Games
Science: Apologia Botany and Zoology 1
Spanish: Passaporte Al Espanol A
Humanities: Finishing up Portraits of American Girlhood and then we will begin Tapestry of Grace year 1
Art: Artistic Pursuits
Music: Violin and Guitar study. Hoping to start Piano.
Other: Swim Lessons, Ballet, and Scouts
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The one I remember hating the most from school days was The Giver. Is that even considered a classic??? Anyway, it gave me nightmares. LOATHED it.
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For the looking back...lapbooks are great for that age! Notebooking is also good. Just google either of them if you are not familiar with the idea and you will see a ton of info on them.
For the organizing I would do the parent/child meeting each week like TOG talks about. In that meeting you are supposed to set up the next weeks schedule of what you agree to accomplish. You put down things you want done, she can add in crafts and stuff that she is interested in etc.
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We do. My DD is a Ker this year by age, but she is mostly doing grade level work above that. She is reading at about a 4-5th grade level. I chose to continue a phonics/reading curriculum with her as I felt it was important for her to know the "rules" behind reading. These rules help with spelling/writing. I was also an advanced reader, but I was never given reading instruction (or grammar instruction). This really hurt my writing ability.
As far as curriculum...we originally used Sing, Spell, Read and Write. It did the job and she enjoyed it, but I wouldn't say that it was enough phonics instruction. Right now we are using LLATL because it was what we had available to finish out this school year. It is a bit too easy, but she likes the cutting projects, so we are making it work. Next year we will be doing PR. It just came in the mail and I have begun looking through it. It is really great! I think it will do the job in teaching her the phonics rules and grammar that she needs for writing.
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If you are looking for a unit study- Portraits of American Girlhood. We are going through it right now. DD loves it!
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Ditto on HST+! It is great!
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Oops I said Exploring Creation Science in my first post....I meant Considering Gods Creation. I had Apologia on the brain!:blink:
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We are in K/1st here and we started with Astronomy. We are doing botany next and then we will start the Zoology series. There are two newer books coming out soon, we plan to do those after Zoology.
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You could easily do this secularly...just don't get Considering Gods Creation or really the missionary books either. I would get the cookbook, an atlas, and the Galloping the Globe guidebook. Then I would just use the book list to get books at the library. Most of the books on the list are secular. The mammal book listed in the bundle package is not secular.
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1. Is this appropriate for a young K'er - will be 5 in October? Yes. I used it with my DD at 4.5-5yo. Some of the info was over her head, but she picked up a lot!
2. How much time do you spend on this per week? Did you do the whole book in a year? The book took me about a year...just a bit over. I think we spent about 13 months on it. We spent about 20min a day on it or so. We read about the country and did a craft or worked on our notebook pages.
3. Is the bundle worth it? Honestly for just a 5yo, no not really. I had the bundle. The books I used were the Children Just like Me, a bit of the mammals book, a very small amount of Exploring Creation Science, and the cookbook. The other books she was often not interested in. They were a tad too mature. We got our own atlas that she liked better (more pictures, closer up versions, mountains drawn in etc). The cookbook is a must!!! Most everything turns out well, and it was actually good!
4. Any likes or dislikes you could share would be appreciated. Honestly, I liked the booklist, but I wanted more to work with as far as a notebook. We ended up using a lot of free stuff from homeschoolshare. com and other free notebooking sites. It was easier for her to list things on small books. We also enjoyed getting Rick Steve's travel Europe DVDs while we studied Europe. Egypt was by far her favorite country to study, the Amazon was her favorite region. I tried to spend more time on 1 important feature of that country and really learn about that. For example, in the Amazon countries of South America we did most of our study of the animals and habitat of the Amazon. In Argentina we studied the Pampas. In Africa we studied the African animals. In Australia, we mostly studied marsupials. In Italy, we studied painters, sculptors, and Astronomers etc...
Hope that helps!
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Mine just thinks as well on the TOG website, and bookshelf central is not even coming up. It seems to be completely down....
Wrong Cell Phone Numbers
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted · Edited by bluemongoose
I answered my cell once and there was "bum chicka wa waaa" music really loud in the background. Some guy gets on in a whispery voice like they do in films when they want to be all s*xy sounding. When I said hello? He says "Hey angela baby"...and I said, "ummm, I am not angela, I think you have the wrong number." All of a sudden the music clicks off and in a normal voice he says "oops sorry about that!" and hangs up. I LOL for quite a while after that!
But most of my wrong numbers are people yelling really loud in Spanish. At first I tried to tell them in Spanish that they had the wrong number, but they seemed to get louder and more insistent about needing to talk to that person, so I think they thought I was lying. Now I just tell them in English and they hang up without another word.