No, it is not normal. You're very close to being labeled the "Crazy Dishtowel Lady!" Ironing a towel? [cueTwilight Zone music] I think an intervention is needed. :) We use 1-2 towels per day in the kitchen--one for drying hands and then I usually get a fresh one if I need to dry dishes in the evening. The kids wash their hands in the bathroom and dry them on the one towel that hangs on the rack for a couple of days.

Alice in Quantumland brings back some memories! I read that book in college. :) I'm reading Gulliver's Travels and Feminine Threads: Women in the Tapestry of Christian History.

My husband is going to cancel our landline this week. We never call out on it, and the ONLY time it rings is if it is a charity/foundation calling for money or "Rachel" from credit card services calling to reduce my credit card rate.

I just read an article yesterday about grade inflation and the effect it has.

Thanks for the videos! I had my DS build a tower with 6, 7, & 8s today. :)

We're all done! Following Foundations

We have breakfast for dinner at least once a week. In fact, we had sausage, egg, & cheese burritos for dinner tonight. I rarely fix a hot breakfast (eggs, meat, etc.) in the mornings except for pancakes. Just the other day my 7 yr old said quite longingly, "Do you remember that time we had breakfast for breakfast?" Maybe I should do better about that. :)

In 4th or 5th grade we had different teachers for reading and math. We started changing classes in 6th grade.

I think the issue lies in Florida having more rigorous grading standards this year. This article says that this year they took off more points for spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. Last year over 80% of 4th graders "passed", compared to 27% this year. The problem wasn't just with 4th graders. The article also reports huge drops for 8th and 10th graders. While I'm sure many students are stressed during these tests, they were stressed last year, too. And the tests probably had stupid writing prompts last year if I had to guess. I think Florida raised their standards and students couldn't meet them. The sad thing is that instead of reevaluating their methods of teaching writing, they change the grading scale and complain about camels.

It seems that the grading was more rigorous this year as compared to last year: "Several changes have been made to the FCAT’s writing portion. In 2011, only one person graded a student’s writing submission. Now, there are two scorers. Grading has become more stringent as well. The rubric for the 2012 writing exam stayed the same, but graders paid more attention and marked off more for punctuation, spelling, grammatical, and support for their argument if applicable." http://www2.jcfloridan.com/news/2012/may/15/preliminary-statewide-fcat-writing-scores-dismal-ar-3798583/

"Some teachers say the question was unfair, arguing it may be unrealistic to expect fourth-graders to know what a camel is." http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/16/florida-lowers-passing-grade-for-state-writing-exam-after-over-70-percent/?test=latestnews

Ours is up! We're almost done! Following Foundations

Oh my word! I'd be right there with ya! :svengo:

I totally understand the importance of knowing note names, but flashcards are just a means to that end. It seems to me that there could be other ways of accessing whether or not he knows his notes. Stressing him out with an artificial goal of "flashcards in 30 seconds" is just not necessary. Besides, effective sight-reading also relies on reading intervals, not just knowing the names of notes.

I'm so sorry.....that just stinks on so many levels...

Easy.....I loved it so much that I went on to a get a BS in biochemistry and doctorate in physical chemistry....

:hurray:

I never use my Loom CD for my lower grammar student. The few times I've wanted a copy of a SAP, I've just used a copier. If I wanted copies of those every week and at different levels, I would probably print them from the Loom. There may be more info on there that's needed for older students. In short, get the Loom CD to be safe. Now as to vocab and people definitions....Is the Loom CD that comes with the print version different than what comes with DE? My Loom CD (print version) does NOT have vocab/people on it. The only place I've seen those has been on the evaluation CDs.

We're up! We did three days of school this week, but I mainly wrote about the fun things we did. Following Foundations

We're up! Following Foundations I also added a little slide show of pics from our trip to the NC Botanical Gardens today.

When I was in the third grade, the principal would come into the lunchroom and bang his paddle on the table to get kids to be quiet. One day the girl sitting next to me wouldn't shut up. I guess the principal thought we were both talking. He walked up behind us, snatched both of us up, and whacked us on the rear with his paddle. I was extremely upset. My teacher took pity on me because she knew it was the other girl who was talking. She let me move to another seat in the classroom. (We had to sit in the same order during lunch that we did in class.) Anyway, the story ended with my dad doing a little "socializing" with the principal at his house that evening.

We do OPGTR 5 days per week.

We like the National Geographic World Atlas for Young Explorers and the National Geographic United States Atlas for Young Explorers.

We had a light week: Following Foundations

History/Literature/Geography: TOG Yr 3 (supplement literature w/ selections from Veritas and Ambleside) Math: Rod&Staff 4, Singapore Primary 3, CWP 3 Language Arts, Reading, Etc.: WWE 3, FLL 3, AAS 5-6, A Reason for Handwriting cursive, CLE Reading 3 Latin: Latina Christiana I Science: Apologia Zoology 1, nature study Bible: Explorers Bible Study, Apologia Worldview Art/Music: Harmony Fine Arts