Jackie in NE
-
Posts
905 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by Jackie in NE
-
-
They were her dh's dogs and he died about six weeks ago. She doesn't want them. One of them was dumped. I did not aim to hit but to scare. I will not tolerate my ponies being attacked.
Well, with her husband having died six weeks ago, I can understand her not wanting to deal with the dumb dogs. Why not help her to get rid of them? There are lots of do-gooders out there that might want to take them on. Some sort of rescue organization or something? That way they would be gone for good, and it sounds like good riddance. And, the dogs might end up in a better place....
I feel sorry for both of you.
-
I just read an article yesterday about grade inflation and the effect it has.
Excellent article. And I thoroughly agree with the long-term effects of our indulgent public education system. I feel sorry for the victims-the students.
-
An acquaintance of mine told me how shocked she and her daughter were when her daughter went to college. The daughter had straight A's in high school, was on the honor roll, etc. When she got to college, she had to take a whole bunch of remedial classes due to low test scores.
I think grade inflation is a nasty trick to play on kids that are planning to go to college. Or even for kids who are planning to get a job directly out of high school. It gives them a false sense of security about their abilities.
I really agree with you. It is a real disservice to our youth. Perhaps the better statistic for colleges to measure is the % of remedial classes required by a certain high school's graduates. If the % is high, they should not even look at GPA. With respect to the high school though, the kids are gone, and no longer their problem when they realize how unprepared they are for college. And who pays? The parents. All those remedial classes still cost $$, but don't count toward graduation requirements. It's a mess!
-
Just reading this morning's paper, and here are the stats on our local high school... (FWIW, this H.S. was recently given the honor of being named the "best high school in the state" by U.S. News & World Report). Of the 238 senior students at the high school, 107 of them (45%) are on the honor roll. 70 of them (30%) have a 4.0 GPA, and 61 students (26%) are members of the National Honor Society. :confused: :confused:
My oldest dd has taken classes at the high school, competes on the swim team there, and has several friends there. The classes are a joke. Content is totally dumbed down. In a Physics class, which dd dropped after 1 week in favor of an online class, if the students did poorly on an exam, the instructor handed them the answer sheet, told them to study, and allowed them to re-take the exam. Now, this is probably not news to most of you. Grade inflation has been a problem for years. But how do we, as homeschoolers, respond? How can we adequately convey to colleges and universities that our dc are actually learning? How do you compare apples to oranges?
Of course I realize that there is also the measure of ACT or SAT scores. (The article did not mention these.) But on the basis of grades, I feel that my dc will be cheated because of the inflation going on. It makes me angry! My children work hard. Oldest dd has been studying like crazy for her online finals this week. She is about to begin one of her Omnibus V exams which has a time limit of 5 hours. She expects she will need all of that time.
I guess I just needed to vent. I don't expect there are any real answers out there. I just want all of this hard work (Not to mention our significant financial sacrifice)to pay off.
On a brighter side, I am so thankful we have the freedom to make our own educational choices. I am so thankful that dh is able and willing to finance this whole thing, including the loss of the income that I could be providing.....
Aarrgghhhh! Life! :glare:
-
I second Deacongirl's vote for Chile. My dh has had extensive travel and business dealings there, and he loves it. He especially commented on the nice European influence in the country. The Spanish is Castillian, and there are many private schools that are well-regarded. We also really liked that the government was stable and heavily influenced by American economics and property right laws. We wanted to be able to hang on to any investments we made there. Dh wanted to move there, and we were ready to go, but things changed and we ended up staying. It is so interesting to me that you're ready to pack up and move for an immersion experience. Best wishes!
-
Dd is finishing up pre-calc right now, and is scheduled to take Calculus next year. But again, and again, her weaknesses in basic algebra keep cropping up. Unfortunately, these weaknesses have become evident in her ACT and SAT math scores. This summer will be dedicated to shoring up her math skills. I've already purchased Life of Fred Geometry for her to review. But what she needs most of all is a good algebra review. Her weakness stems from me having trusted the public school system to teach her math in Junior High and High School. I've discussed this here before. She was getting straight A's in school, so I incorrectly assumed all was well. She is also a math phobic. She really hates math, but realizes it is a necessary evil. Now clearly, I cannot blame everything on the public school system. There are plenty of kids that go through their program and score well on the ACT and SAT. But it has been a combination of my lack of vigilance, her math phobia, and inflated grading that has brought us to where we are today.
If you have any other ideas for my dd, please share. She is a hard worker. She is dedicated. I am not a math teacher. She needs to self-teach this review. Thanks for your help!
I am :bigear:
-
Well, I cheat. Dd will be doing everything online with Veritas. Here's her schedule:
Omnibus VI primary
Omnibus VI secondary
Organic Chemistry
Calculus
Senior Thesis
Latin III (Latin Readings) (Might do French III through Potter's school instead..... undecided)
She'll also continue with classical and jazz piano, and competitive swimming.
-
Fwiw, we are Catholic, and my oldest dd has done Omnibus I-V. She has done the courses with Veritas, in a class full, almost exclusively, of Calvinists. She will finish up with Omnibus VI next year. Her study of this material has prompted the most interesting discussions about our faith, the roots of our faith, and the similarities and differences between MANY faiths. I asked her the other day if she was tired of being the only Catholic in her class, and she said "absolutely not!" She feels that the discussions prompted by the courses have made her understand and appreciate our faith to a greater degree than would have been the case if she had been in a Catholic setting. She has contacted a few of our priests over the years with deep, theological questions. In fact, the last time she emailed a series of questions to our priest, he said, "These would keep a seminarian busy for a week!"
I think it is also important to keep in mind that Theology is only one part of the Omnibus curriculum. For us, the richness of the Literature and History portions alone, make this course worth doing. The unexpected benefits of the theological discussions we've had, have made the Theology portion add a richness we did not anticipate.
Best wishes to you and yours on your journey.
-
Yes, that's it!
Thanks!
-
... that ranks on the basis of conservative vs liberal, etc.? I believe it used a system with green, yellow, and red, where green was conservative, red was liberal, and yellow was in the middle???? I'm not remembering these details very well, but perhaps someone will know what I'm talking about?
Thanks!
-
We've got house plans in the works right now, and we did NOT include a schoolroom. I always thought I would love to have a schoolroom (We have one in the house we're currently in) . I thought it would be so nice to NOT have to pick up right away after each activity. I thought I would like being able to leave craft type things out, especially if they needed more than one session for completion. But it never fails; we never use the schoolroom. We start out on the couch in the living room. (We also have a couch in the schoolroom, but it's not as sunny there as it is in the living room.) Then we move to the kitchen table, and do things together. My oldest does all her work in my office. But she could just as easily use her bedroom. I have tried several times to start things in the schoolroom, but we just never stay there. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and my dc want to be near me. It just works better that way. We can study for tests while I'm preparing a meal or cleaning up. We have all our school CD's right there so we can listen while we eat. If I want a cup of coffee, or if the kids need a snack, it's right there. It's just where we live, I guess. I do have a white board in the school room, and I do occasionally go down with one of my dc to "explain" things on the board. In the new house, we'll have room for the white board by the kitchen table. It's going to be great! Best wishes in your planning. It's an exciting time!
-
And siblings.
I am not sure what to do with this information.
I am not good with canned worms, strangers, or weird surprises....
But......I have 2 1/2 sisters and a 1/2 brother.....
Stunned and feel like a deer in the headlights. I wasn't sure what to do, so I come here to humbly ask your advice.....
Btw, my birth mom abandoned me when I was 3 months old....then got married, had a son, abandoned them....then remarried and had 2 dds. I am not sure if she is still married......
What do I do???
:grouphug::grouphug:
This is a hard one. What do you want to do? Have you always had a desire to find your birthmother and other biological family members? Are you curious? As an adoptive Mom of 3 beautiful children, I guess my advice would be to move slowly..... if you feel the need to pursue this. You don't HAVE to do anything. You can just have this new information and pray about it. You can let God lead. If my dc want to meet their bio families, I will of course help them. But I would want them to do it in such a way as to minimize any possible hurt. I would try to prepare them to be ready for anything. I would remind them that once they go down that road, their life will never be the same. There could be surprise and hurt feelings on both sides. It could be great. It could be painful. It could be neutral (which would carry its own kind of pain).
I am not one for pain avoidance at all cost. I guess I would want my dc to think about the possible effects on their life and their family.
My prayers go up for you. I hope it all works out beautifully.
-
I can't imagine in good conscience offering Jane Fonda a job to do anything at all. She doesn't just have a big head; she's a traitor.
:iagree: :iagree:
This. And I cannot watch any of her movies. Her politics get in the way of everything. I don't have this problem so much with any other "liberals", just traitors, I guess. And also, poor Ronnie is probably spinning in his grave.
-
I take my oldest dd somewhat regularly. We started when she had a couple of injuries in competitive gymnastics. Now she's a swimmer, and even though the impact aspect of gymnastics is gone from her life, she still asks to go to the chiro once in a while. It helps her combat the stress of her heavy academic load, it gives her more energy, and I think it really helps her digestion, posture, and overall outlook on life.
-
Disgusting. Absolutely makes me sick to my stomach. And those attendees will be filled with hate their entire lives. I pray that somehow, someday, they will understand how wrong their parents were to foster this kind of thinking.
-
:crying: I don't know WHY we didn't thin it out before we moved to this location. But, there it was as I sifted through homeschool curriculum that I really need to sell or give away. There was a whole stack of writing assignments, grammar, and math. It was precious reading his little stories and remembering those days...dd was 12 and doing 7th/8th grade work while her little brothers were 2nd, 1st, and K.
I used to think I wouldn't survive those hectic times. Then I :blink: blinked and now they are 21 - chemistry/pre-med and paramedic, 15 and set on a career in anthropology/archaeology, 13 and already has his PH.D. figured out :lol:, and 11 wanting to attend MIT and design rockets and knowing him, he'll do exactly that!
Hello cosmos, could I go back in time for just a moment and cuddle up with someone on the couch while they sound out words and learn their math facts????? I miss it.:(
For that matter, could I go back in time and retrieve the hips and behind I had PRIOR to pregnancy???????:D
Faith
:grouphug:
Yup, those were the good ole days. My husband wonders why I keep some of their old school stuff around..... i just can't. throw. it. away. This is a tough job, but when I think of how far we've come.... it really is worth it.
-
Wow. This thread is pretty revealing to me. As a black parent of biological children I have never once thought to tell my sons not to walk with their hands in their pockets, nor run in public for fear someone will think they were doing something criminal. And if you, as people who have made the conscience decision to parent and love on these children, feel the need to train your children in such a fashion . . . it just says to me that we are much further behind than I realized. It's sad to think that black, male teens are still thought of as scary. Your children are not scary. Please, you must not send that message to them. I fear that if you warn them that if they behave in a certain manor they may get mistaken for a criminal, then they will BELIEVE that simply by being, they are in some way contributing to the racism they may experience. My family does not live this way.
And if white people can eat fried chicken and watermelon in public then why can't black children? Ugh
:iagree::iagree:
My dh and I are white. We have one black ds, and a mixed race dd. Our dd often passes for Hispanic, though she is half AA, and half white. This whole thread just makes my heart hurt. I have NEVER had an unkind remark.... well now that I think of it, I had one unkind remark.... a long time ago.
When my dc were younger, I didn't worry about racism. I knew I could love anything away! But now, as they become involved in outside activities where I'm not always "right there", I worry about how to prepare them for unkind words or actions. If someone ever called my ds the "n" word, I don't think I would be able to control myself. Truly, I worry that I would end up with an assault charge on my record. Not only that.... but ds would have no idea what that word means. :001_huh: I have not prepared them AT ALL for the racism of others. It just breaks my heart to think about it. It would be such a shock to them to think that someone would think less of them simply because of how they look..... how God made them.
But I also believe that what happened to Trayvon Martin is the anomaly. Am I being naive? I do not want my dc to live in fear. If I treat them like there is something that others see as "wrong" with them, and teach them to try to be "more white" so that they don't have something "bad" happen, I believe I am sending the wrong message.
I guess I would rather tell them something like, "If people are ignorant, then treat them as ignorant; it has nothing to do with you. It is THEIR problem."
:confused::confused:
God help us all.
-
Thanks for all the tips and product names. I HAVE to try this myself. It's just hair, right? It'll grow out......
-
I'll be 50 this year. :glare: I guess it's not so much that I mind being 50.... I just don't like looking so OLD! I have very dark brown hair with LOTS of gray. I always thought I would just grow old gracefully..... but I'm resisting with every fiber of my being! :D My gray isn't pretty. I have these lovely (NOT) Cruella Deville streaks that just look freaky. So last year I bit the bullet and started coloring. $55 every 4 weeks or so. Yikes! That's not really where I want to spend my $$. But dh and dc like my non-gray hair, and so do I.
So here's the question..... Do you go to a salon for your hair color? Or do you DIY? If you DIY, which products have you found to work well, and which do you stay away from?
I would love to get this job done more inexpensively. I don't want to stop coloring... I just feel guilty, with all our other, more important financial needs, spending that much $$
:bigear:
-
Good job Julie. Already you're using the tools she's providing! Isn't it freeing to feel valued?! I hope today is good for you. I hope you continue good self-talk. I have so been were you are. Keep moving forward. Your life can be beautiful.
:grouphug: :grouphug:
-
I'm so sorry. :grouphug: :grouphug: It is so very painful to not be able to stop the spiral. I pray that you will find the "thing" that works. I pray your dd's eyes will be opened to see the value and the beauty in her life.
Blessings to both of you.
-
$2.87/gal. in Southeast Wyoming. Looking at the other results, I see that we are very fortunate!
-
Just want to let you know your experience is super common. I deal with it daily at our ps and can't do anything about it due to our "system." It's frustrating.
The only students who do well on the math portion of the SAT (or SAT II tests) have to learn the math outside of school. Their choices of books varies based upon personality, but I definitely recommend going with one that teaches the MATH and not just STRATEGY. Of course, looking at strategy toward the end of prep is also helpful, but learning the math is critical for success.
Thank you Creekland. I am so sorry I did this to my poor dd. She is really bearing the brunt of being the oldest child, and the one on which we experiment and learn. I feel terrible for her. It feels we are constantly playing "catch-up" in math. We are both sick of it. So, with all that said.... would you recommend the Chalkdust SAT math program mentioned by other posters? Do you have a different suggestion? Dd is very gifted in the areas of reading comprehension (literature), philosophy, and writing. She is also gifted in art and music. But math??? Forget it. Is there a math book out there that would suit her? I'm open to anything. Anything that works. And time is short. She'll be a senior next year. :001_huh:
-
I second this suggestion. My daughter found the Chalkdust SAT math review dvds to be quite helpful. I'd also suggest reading/working through a SAT math prep book such as Princeton Review's Math Workout for the SAT to learn some test taking strategies.
Regards,
Kareni
Thank you Kareni! This is so helpful!
Another "pass the bean dip"/I'm harming other children by homeschooling my own
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
I've heard of this point of view.... I guess if I encountered it, I'd hope to have a Logic I book nearby to hand to the person!