A couple of main things I want to change: I want to impart more of my own knowledge during lessons. So far I've been using more scripted materials, and I plan to continue but I'll be going off-script a lot. I'd still like a bit of a script to help me make sure I cover everything, but I'm going to be adding in a lot more. Collins talks a lot about making connections and I realized I can do this but I don't do it nearly as much as I could. I have some regrets about not "going off script" sooner, but I also know I didn't have to confidence to create it out of my mind; I was a techie with no experience around children and I wanted the scaffolding. I want to keep the kids together more during our work. It's been interesting to learn how Collins deals with a very blended classroom of 30 children ages 4-12, many with much bigger problems than my children face. I tend to separate out the kids for most subjects, especially math and writing, but I'm going to see if I can teach joint lesson and then have them separate out for their own work. She also has some of the older children teach the younger ones, which gives the older ones confidence and grace in addition to content review, and a sense of support and camaraderie for the younger child. Collins' school room eventually ended up being above her own flat and school technically started at 9:00a, but kids would start arriving as early as 7:30 and she would go over things with them while she cleaned the kitchen, brushed her hair, mopped, etc. and I was thinking I could use my time better as well, doing more of a "learning all the time through living" model. Of course I don't want to overdo it either.I do think I could do more "life learning" and demonstrate my own ongoing self-education better. Collins' kids were from the ghetto and she was pretty much their only shot to learn about many of the things kids outside the ghetto are exposed to in daily life. Partly as a result of that I think she had a very concentrated technique whereas I'm more likely to use a more "fluffy" technique. For example, while discussing Crime and Punishment, she talks about how it's a psychological novel, gives a definition of psychology, give the Greek root psyche and its definition, and talks about the psychology of the character and whether his circumstances excuse his behavior. [Leaving out C&P spoilers here.] This all happens within a few class minutes, so it's very dense. The "extra" teaching happens right in the moment, with definitions, phonics (with diacritical marks), and spelling all happening within the lesson. And I realized I have all that same knowledge in my head, but I haven't been pulling it together like that. I might discuss a novel and ask a question, while separately using a book about word roots, and having yet another time for spelling. I have a knowledge base or can acquire what I need by pre-reading what my children will do, but it's been stuck in my head while I was busy using scripts. My teaching has been in individual subject columns and now I want to start connecting the columns. So we'll see. Between Collins' book and 8's new PDF on creating your own curriculum, I feel everything has come together in a serendipitous way to push me forward to the next level of my ability. :)

I mentioned this deal to DH before I went ahead, telling him we have 3 reams of paper left and somehow all of them have been opened and used so they're also all partial. He reminded me about the other cases we have that I had forgotten about from a deal a couple of years ago. :)

Laura Lund (boardie) has some here. SWB has a list here.

Wow!!!

Thank you!

I was able to pull my old jeans on today without unbuttoning them! I don't have too much large clothing to get rid of. When I realized I was getting too heavy I bought a couple of items that fit to tide me over and started losing weight, so there's only a couple of pairs of pants and a couple of shirts I need to get rid of. I won't miss them.

Thanks for the new thread. I tried to sleep in a bit too, but alas, it was not to be. I have spent most of my reading time this week working on read aloud: Kim (kipling) and A Glory of Unicorns (Coville). For myself I am reading two books by Marva Collins, teacher extraordinaire: Marva Collins' Way and Values: Lighting the Candle of Excellence. She is truly inspiring and has made me step up my game. I haven't changed much yet because we are preparing to go on vacation, but I have big plans starting when we return. We're going to be studying Shakespeare this year. We took the kids to see The Tempest last year. I wasn't sure it had stuck with them but when I mentioned that I got tickets for King Lear (at a different venue, with adult actors) they were so excited and started talking about The Tempest. :001_wub:

After a longish stall, I'm down 3 lbs in the last few days as well. I wore some clothes I hadn't worn in a few years yesterday.

:party: :party: :party:

When I was actually there in person: I was in a heavily damaged area during the Loma Prieta earthquake. I was supposed to be in a building in which people died but I had changed my mind to go. The entire event and aftermath were traumatic and still are. I think it did change some things like the fortification of soft-story buildings and those of us in the Bay area who were there still talk about it when we get together. I also think a lot of people have moved to the area since then and don't show enough concern. I was nearby for the Oakland Hills fire. I didn't live there and the area was evacuated so I wasn't right in the middle but everyone in the area could see it. 2,843 houses and 437 apartment/condo units destroyed. It was crazy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDMVQ_5Abac I was in LA for the Rodney King verdict. I avoided ground zero though. I was in a very dangerous city when there were lots of political riots and the birth of a new political party which is now dominant. There were curfews and tanks and people would be shot on sight. I sort of knew it was historic because people were so excited about the new party, not because of the riots, which were common and still are today.

In the 1980s my brother was big into comic books. We used to drive to San Diego and drop him off and go do other things and come back and pick him up. That was back when you could drop off a 10 year old at a 5000 person convention and not have someone call the police. :D And you just reminded me I went to the library, got distracted, and forgot to pick up my holds.

We're going to have hamburgers on the grill and I have to go through our CSA boxes to decide on a veg. I know there's corn in there for DH and the kids, I'll have to see what I can eat.

Wow, that's too much. I hope you feel better after a rest day!

You shouldn't be going days, but you should expect to poop less. Most people are taking in a smaller quantity of food because the food is rich in protein and fat. Are you getting enough veggies?

Wonderful! :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: :party: ETA: I love your blog.

I haven't noticed that yet. They basically don't test a student until they know they can pass. I'll ask DH, he's the one who handles most of that activity. Thanks. I looked over the slides and some of them seem to apply, but not many. She's not really scattered, she can focus for long periods of time.

The Golden Key (kind of short per your request) The Princess and Curdie

Thanks. Yes, my expectations of her being able to understand even consistent consequences seems to be too high. I guess I'm spoiled by my super-complaint DS. She doesn't clean the room on her own anymore unless it's just a few obvious items. Because the kids play in each other's rooms a lot, DS, DD, and I clean both his and her bedrooms each morning. Ds doesn't really need the help at all and can change sheets, vacuum, etc but he's interested in fairness more than ability.

She sleeps a lot, maybe 10-11 hours/night usually 8:30p-7:00a or 7:30a. She's not over-overscheduled; the sum total of her extra-curricular obligations is 4 hours/week on 3 different days. She has lots of time to pursue her crafting and have free playtime. On school days she does around 3 hours of work and she doesn't do schoolwork at all on Fridays at all so she can spend the day playing and swimming. The blood sugar is an interesting thought. She seems to be hungry a lot and prefers snacking to meals. We do restrict her sugar quite a bit, but she eats a fair amount of non-sweet carbs. Thanks for the additional info. I put the book on hold at the library and will pick it up in the next couple of days.

I'm sorry. Just do what you need to in order to feel better.

I think she's been ordered to get a care provider but wants to find one on her side, from her fan base.

I read the book preview and online reviews and I don't think this is her. She rarely becomes angry and I think I've heard her shout only once or twice, both times when DS broke something of hers. It's not that she explodes, it's that she dissolves. Thanks. I will try all these things. I agree DH and I could do a better job of acknowledging her feelings and helping her articulate what's going on. I've had the conversation you mentioned many times with my son, but not DD. I don't know why that is. Yes, DD has had her share of "stomach aches" when she doesn't want to do something. They magically disappear if circumstances happen to change. I can't take the class with the kids because they're kids-only at that hour, but the room has a parents' area that is just separated by a 4-ft wall so I see and hear everything. The instructors are wonderful and she cares for them and enjoys them. The classes are pre-paid through December. I'd have to get the contract out to find the exact date. She says the classes are getting hard for her but it's hard to tell. For example, yesterday before she headed out she said they were too hard and she hadn't learned anything she needed for the next belt. When she got home, she was excited because she's ready for that next belt. :confused1: I asked her when the last time was that it was easy and she said answered with a belt that was several belts ago, but she's gotten the subsequent belts in normal time frames. There's a girl who's a black belt we see sometimes and DD really admires her and wants to be like her. I'm confused. Last night I asked her if she replaced martial arts with another sport, what would it be? She said soccer, because it's much easier. I told her it was more physically rigorous and in addition to practices, she would have weekend games, which is more time than she spends on martial arts, so she said she didn't want soccer anymore. :grouphug: This sounds a lot like DS. I'm going to try the listening and the magnesium. Maybe more time at the park too. I don't perceive her as having a lot of anxiety, but maybe she does. DS is quite anxious and maybe it's relative so she doesn't seem as anxious as she is. Yeah, I could see the rabbit cage being a big meltdown for DD. And she is very stubborn. I try to reframe that in a positive way: it may drive me crazy, but she shows a level of perseverance that will probably help her in life.

The duck wasn't very good. The steaming cooked it enough that it reached temperature on the grill before browning much. Next time I'll just do it in the oven, steam it less, or deal with all the smoke. These can go hand in hand. Sometimes people hang on to extra water weight due to dehydration and then when they drink a ton of water they lose the retained water and the weight. Congrats! How are you feeling? :grouphug:

I do give her transition warnings, but the warning is usually what starts the trouble. She doesn't even wait until the actual time is up! It's as if the warning is the end! She's very extroverted and affectionate. She likes to talk to just about everyone. Thanks, I'll look at the child types. The room cleaning is built into her schedule. Because she and DS play in each other's rooms so much all 3 of us work on both of their bedrooms together. I've taken pictures when we had it clean to show her where everything goes. It becomes messy because she is a real creative whirlwind and is constantly building things using her own items plus various household objects. She makes sculptures, mobiles, fabric items, jewelry, etc. I try not to discourage that because it's a real part of who she is. But I do want her to help clean up the aftermath. Thanks. I wish we could meet for coffee too! DD didn't eat gluten for about 4 years and I didn't notice a change when it was added back in. Mabe I'll try again. You are correct--people tell me to find her currency but she doesn't have any. She's not rude about it, but she kind of shrugs it off if I punish her. If I say no screen time for a week, she's fine because she's quite self-entertaining (see messes). Tonight she asked for screen time and DH said no. Never once in the history of her screen time have we acquiesced due to repeated (and repeated) requests, but as soon as he said no she kept asking, over and over, even after he reminded her that it never works. People tell me she'll learn to stop if we don't give in, but she doesn't stop. Hmm. She's been asking to play the violin and I've been reluctant because if we have this much strife over 1000 things, why would I add #1001, you know? Maybe I should, though. We clean together as mentioned above, each morning as part of our chores, but sometimes she has to clean outside of that time if she's made a mess and we're having company or something. I took photos of the clean room she can refer to. I've decluttered a lot of her stuff so it would be easier for her. I do agree though that she doesn't think it's messy, and it isn't all the time. Sometimes it only takes a couple of minutes, other times longer. Thanks, I'll check it out.

She just got back from martial arts and is very excited that she's getting a new belt. Before she left she was talking about how it's too hard and she hasn't even figured out what she needs for the next belt. Sigh.