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min

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Posts posted by min

  1. I like the iPod Touches. You can disable internet access and they won't be able to turn it on without the code (or whatever it is called...) I'm pretty sure there isn't a radio on it, at least my kids haven't been able to find one so far.

     

    The Touch gives the option of useful apps like a metronome, times table prac, flashcards that you and they can create etc, Kindle (and other) apps, ear training (music), notation prac, calendar etc etc... They can also play a multi-user game of Monopoly with a sibling (who also has a iPod Touch) using bluetooth in the car.

     

    We also had really cheap MP3 players early on that did their job (ie, just playing audio) really well. They had teeny tiny memories, so we just cycled stuff on and off.

     

    Min

  2. I'm curious about the reading with audio... Are these "special" books - as in, can you buy a set of them? I'm thinking it would be useful, and am getting DD to read while I'm reading to her, so that's the same idea, I guess. She picked up when I made a mistake the other day, so I think that's useful.

     

    We also did "smooth reading" and I thought that was helpful.

     

    Min

  3. I'm using AAS as an afterschooler. I showed it to the teachers at the kids' school and they thought it was fantastic.

     

    We tended to do one 15-20 minute session (or maybe two, depending on the week), and just do as much as we reasonably could in that time. Both kids zipped through level 1 in a month, and then slowed down at different rates after that.

     

    I've recently downloaded an app for the iPod Touch called something like "Homework". You can input the words, and a short audio, and they have to type in the word. I'm planning to use it as a backup/review for lessons, and have them use it a few times for a few minutes over the rest of the week.

     

    Min

  4. What's a mudroom?

     

    We're planning to build a bit later in the year. We're in Australia, though, and housing seems somewhat different here. We're planning a home that will work with our climate, and the designer is a very practical person whose ideas seem very liveable.

     

    I like the idea of dark grout! We've got light grout in our current house and it looks awful. (Well, it *was* light...)

     

    Min

  5. My "sewing room" also contains the piano, computer and printer, bookshelf and the deep freeze, as well as a large-ish Ikea desk for my sewing. It also has a cupboard (an Ikea wardrobe) for all of the "stuff" other than machines. (Oh, the desk has two shallow drawers for the machine feet, tape measures, scissors etc.) If it doesn't fit, I can't keep it! I cut out on our large dining table.

     

    I know people with lovely airy sewing rooms and am envious! But, still, it works for the moment.

     

    Min

  6. Apparently "natural" spellers visualize. One of my kids does it naturally, one certainly doesn't. We're trying to teaching visualizing, and it is helping.

     

    Personally, if I have to remember a pattern - say a bunch of mixed up squares, triangles and stars, I firstly convert it into sound (square, triangle, star, square, triangle, star) - DH can just remember the shapes.

     

    Min

  7. We did an elimination diet a while back, and it was interesting. We did the failsafe diet (virtually no additives, low in salicylates, amines and glutamates): http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/ and it was interesting. We're no longer eating the full failsafe diet (the idea is to do the elimination diet and then to challenge individual issues), but we're still very low additive and try to avoid large amounts of amine-containing foods as that seemed to be our sensitivity.

     

    I have to say though, that it was the additives that seemed to be the big culprit. Somewhere on that page is an "additives to avoid" list which I still try to use.

     

    Miranda

  8. Well, I'm a good speller, but I was at a loss how to help my kids - two of whom are not good spellers - because I'm a natural speller. I don't know the rules, or I didn't, I'm learning them now!

     

    AAS has been wonderful. If you can read, you can teach spelling with this method. (One caveat - I've had to adapt it for our more British spelling, but I've posted all that over at the Chatterbee and others have chipped in.) If your kid asks a curly question, you can always post it over at the Chatterbee and get a response there.

     

    Min

  9. I grew up with Dr Who, but I agree with those who say start with the "new" ones - the Eccleston ones.

     

    They're very circular, though, in that something will be mentioned early in one season, then come up again a bit later, and then finally come up and be concluded in the next season. Or so. So, I'd start at the start with Eccleston, and watch in order.

     

    Min

  10. I voted messy, but it isn't very messy. I'm spring cleaning and somehow that involves making a complete mess before it gets better. Not sure how that works.

     

    The laundry is up to date and put away, the bathrooms are clean and most of the house is presentable, but I've got a pile of stuff on my desk that needs further processing before it can be tossed (like cutting buttons off etc), and a pile of paperwork on the sofa that I'm currently sorting.

     

    Min

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