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beachrose

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Posts posted by beachrose

  1. I just found they closed and it is a real shame. It does seem to be an issue with the management. Beth seems like a perfectionist that doesn't handle constructive criticism well. She is defensive sadly and can't let go. She has already done all the work it's crazy to not sell the work digitally. It could be set up so all the work would be done for her ,cha ching.  She could do it through a system like Amazon where it would be tethered to an individual. So her thoughts on reselling would be enforced without alienating her customer base. 

  2. I've been coming here for years and today it wouldn't let me post (ISO post for Kid's Guide to Drawing the Presidents of the United States of America  books) unless I posted one post in the forums. Anyone else have that issue?  

  3. http://www.enkieducation.org/html/cm_d2_kindergarten_pkgs.htm This is a k program but there is enough materials in it to do a couple years of preschool and K.

    some favs

     

    Waldorf method introduces science through stories my favorite early book is Nature stories by Margaret Peckham

    another http://www.tiptoes-lightly.net/

     

    http://littleacornlearning.com/sampleweek.html little acorn curriculum

     

    http://junipertreepuppets.com/books/

     

    another vote for the book Earthways

    HTH

  4. We've felt excluded and included. I'm a Christian and to this day I will never know what I or the other mother/teacher said that so upset a mother that she had her older children "spy" on us during Christian homeschool co-op. That group ended up splitting because that same mom forcibly took over our very large group and then decided most of us weren't "Christian" enough. Which was kind of ironic since she stole years and years of donated curriculum/supplies when she was trying to make the group more "Christian". The side of the group that wasn't "Christian" (Which was a very lopsided very much the majority group.) decided that the kindest thing was to just her and our supplies go. That was one of the weirdest experiences I've ever been a part of. Sadly the group never really recovered.

    The second time we felt excluded ,was in our teeny tiny church. All of the homeschool families in the church but ours was invited to take part in weekly homeschool co-op. I still do not know to this day why we were excluded that was rather ouchy. The only thing I could come up with we have a LOT of kids. It really hurt my kids feelings and mine.

    We felt very included in the original homeschool group we were a part of. Well except for the one incident which I still to this day have no idea what was offensive.Sadly though after the split it never recovered.

    We started one of our own recently with people outside our church and it's been great. The thing I love is we all approach homeschooling differently and it's nice to learn from each other. Next fall the current families and some more new families are hoping to do something bigger with more people teaching. Our group now is a handwork group where I prepare and teach all the classes. It will be super nice to take turns :)

    There is another group locally that seems really great but sadly most of their activities are costly ,beyond our budget. It seems like most of them are only schooling one or two children so cost isn't as big an issue. So I guess you could say we are excluded from that group as well just by virtue of the group's choices.

  5. A great waldorf curriculum for the older grades is Live Education. I've found where the beliefs differ from mine it's a great platform to discuss and investigate why we believe differently. We have had the most bonding discussions over things that wouldn't even come up in most curriculum. I would much rather have these discussions with my teens then they with all biased college professors out there.

  6. I've been asked if I would consider homeschooling my grandchildren. We are expecting our first this summer. I would consider it,but I would only consider up to 3rd grade. We hope to help with the foster care system when our children are all grown and then travel a bit. Mémère has some plans :) I've seen mentors become closer then parents to some children. It is a tremendous opportunity and blessing if you feel lead to do it. I know my mentors have had generational effects on my family. I so appreciate and love them.

  7. I edited my post a bit as I was rushing and talking to a bunch of people at the same time LOL I would say in a sense I use it every day because I use the verses,games etc.. Some of the blocks you clearly would have to be using it every day. I'm surprised she would say she doesn't. I think it's a great add on to a traditional math program but could definitely be used alone. I like to use Enki as the base for us because many of the games/plays/verses they offer and I would like to use have a story that sets the scene. So it makes more sense for us to use Enki's stories and then add MBH vs the other way around. The programs are similar, both use Waldorf math methods. HTH

  8. I love math by hand. I think the only downsides is it doesn't contain all the stories you need and she used a crazy font in the stories she did include (hard to read). I also wish she offered video of some of the hand verses ,games,handcrafts etc... Some of her story choices I wasn't crazy about but it's easy to switch them out.

    I remember as a child how math made so much more sense when I started sewing and cooking. I actually had to use the skills in real life context. So yes it is a bit more time consuming then doing a traditional textbook type of math. It's very bonding do a non stressful "not school like" activity with kids I consider it a win win. The other upside is it makes math accessible ,not scary as it's hands on piece by piece. I use Enki as the core and fill in with Math by hand love them both.

  9. With our ponies we've ended up telling people what they can feed them and it has worked out well. At first people would come by with cut apples and/or pick grass/weeds and start feeding them. Naturally, those who were on top of my herd would get a lion's share... and too many apples can easily give them colic. Fortunately, if they get weeds they'll usually spit the out.

     

    So, I told them that carrots were ok (they tend to not cause colic even if they eat several) and to be sure to stay outside the fence so their kids don't get trampled. (I showed them how the more dominant ponies are in control and can make the others move quickly without looking where they're going - too dangerous for small kids.) I've also pointed out where there's electric, but a good bit of our fence is just recycled plastic board fencing.

     

    The compromise works for us. They stay out and feed a more healthy treat when they stop by.

     

    We want our ponies to like people and come up to them, so it's actually good training when I think about it that way. It also only happens once a month or so. If it were a daily occurrence, it would be more of a problem.

     

    But yeah, going IN with the ponies and feeding whatever they happen to have (apples, corn, lawn clippings, etc) is quite dangerous. If in doubt about the owner's wishes, don't feed anything (some can bite) and no matter what, STAY OUT.

     

    To the OP - take pics next time... esp if colic might be in the future. Otherwise, it's just your word against theirs when it comes to a pricey vet bill (or worse).

    Creekland love how you handled it. These people probably didn't realize,meant no harm. A sign would have prevented it most likely.

  10. I didn't read all the responses so my thoughts might be repeat. We went to a tiny church where were more often then not we were left out. For years I kept thinking well we just haven't connected yet is all and put us out there over and over again. I had never really been rejected before so I didn't see it straight away and then I wasn't sure how to handle it. I kept thinking once people get to know us but no one ever really gave us a chance. It was a very small group that hung together and it was hard to break into. They would do things like homeschool classes together,b parties,walks,beach etc... that my children were almost never invited to despite the fact it is TINY church. These women would deny it but quite a few people I've talked to since said they felt the same way there. I know one thing I would NEVER put my kids or myself through that again.

    How I helped my kids cope was this.

    I would ask them "Would you do this?" No all of my kids are a lot more kind then even the adults in this situation. So it's their issue, their loss. They lost out a cool awesome loving friend too bad for them. Let's move on and find friends that appreciate you. And we have, thankfully we are switching churches to one that my kids already have had friends in for a long time. No the church isn't exactly our cup of tea but at least it's filled with people who are our cup of tea.

    I would leave the gift card up to your daughter. Sometimes being kind to people who are unkind is healing to me... it helps me forgive and let go. On the other hand,it also can be healing to just move on.

  11. yes for a bit I was a train wreck... I didn't start out that way when we only had two kids I managed quite nicely but then we had three more fast,I had health issues, didn't have any support system like zero (not even in my marriage, my husband was more of a drain then a help) and became depressed and discouraged. It started looking up for me when they figured out some of my physical issues which gave me more energy and helped clear out the brain fog.

    But even though I was feeling more energized I didn't have the skills to run a household of our size well. I grew up with only my dad with nannys and housekeepers,I was clueless. I had to start from scratch.

    I would choose one area to improve on. I would read everything I could research,choose then implement. Some things worked, some things didn't but things always improved even if just a bit. Then I would move on to the next and so on. If things still needed tweeking I would go back to it, I would keep researching till I found something that worked for us and now most of the time I feel pretty good about what we are.

    Number one thing that helps is don't beat yourself you will only make it worse even if you move in the right direction only 10% it's still a move in the right direction.

    books I liked best

    Managers of the home (how to make a schedule)

    slob sisters

    organized simplicity (she wrote this longer after I needed it but I thought when I read it "Oh if only she had wrote this years ago it's everything I needed"

    Dave Ramsey books

    If I think of anything else I'll come back and add it. Hubby wants me to come upstairs HTH

  12. Your house ,your rules ,just set expectations and follow through kids will usually come along.

    I have a friend that has a toy store in her playroom. Everything in its' place with lots of fragile expensive toys. My kids have toyboxes. They don't have tons of fragile expensive toys because we don't buy them. We buy sturdy old fashioned toys and only a few. So naturally their play and their clean up are a bit different then ours. My kids quickly learnt if they took it out,they had to be gentle and put it back if they wanted to play with the toys. They learned because limits were set. In our case both parents set limits but if you had to, do it on your own.

    I would expect a parent to replace anything broken but I also wouldn't put out something really precious like that poor boy who lost his memento.

    When large groups of kids would come over my toy store friends house (like a bible study) she would cover(blanket) the toys she didn't want played with.

    No reason to stop having friends over :) and best of all both sets of kids learn relationship skills. Who knows maybe some day they will be dorm mates and need those skills.

  13. Most subjects they are independent.

    What we do together is

    some hands on projects

    discussions on what we are reading/writing

    games for review

    field trips

    Just realized I get to do only the stuff I considered "fun" in school.

    As my kids hit high school age (two in college) they pretty much did all their work on their own. Occasionally they would need help and we would do a few min of tutoring.

  14. I like this approach very much, and it's what I've mostly been doing. This year I was thinking of actually scheduling about 4 days out of the year for family cleaning so we can tackle more of the bigger jobs. We actually enjoy working on cleaning as a family.

     

     

    My therapist suggested it LOL for help with the overwhelmed feeling and that doing it together also helps build a "It's our house" feeling. They also seem to appreciate what I do more since we started doing that. We usually only clean about 1.5 hours and it does really help me feel not so overwhelmed. We do have some days every year where we work all day. In the spring/fall usually when we get everything set up outside for summer (pool,wash outdoor furniture etc..) or batten down the hatches for winter.

  15. My home is more cluttered then I would like but my kids always tell me their friends feel at home in our home because it's not a showcase. I'm working every year towards better organizing and it shows. Still our home probably looks more like your friends and I'm ok with it. I don't like who I turn into when I try to keep it perfect and frankly I would rather spend the time with my family. In fact even the major cleaning we do together as a family,once a week. We all chip in and it's done quick and it feels good to do it together. The rest the week we also all chip in doing different parts of the maintenance. But over time there are things that get neglected like inside my cabinets scary!!! I need to get that done the next family clean!

  16. The only group I know who believes in this is the Waldorf crowd.

    I didn't read through the whole thread so I don't know if someone spoke to this already but that is not a true statement. Math is taught through all the grades

    This quote was taken from this waldorf site http://millennialchild.wordpress.com/article/the-waldorf-curriculum-grade-one-110mw7eus832b-17/. Mr Schwartz is a long time Waldorf teacher that trains teachers in the Waldorf method. I would assume this is the usual curriculum for Waldorf first grade,6 and 7 year olds.

    "We will approach the crucial first year of arithmetic from a number of perspectives:

    • The Qualities of Numbers: The consciousness of the young child still experiences numbers as “qualities†at least as much as he or she understands them as “quantities.†For five to seven days, we will hear stories in which the numbers up to seven figure importantly (The Three Little Pigs, The Six Swans, The Seven Ravens, etc.) to set the stage for the increasingly quantifiable experience of numbers that constitutes arithmetic.

    • Counting: Six- and seven-year-olds love to count; the combination of rhythmical regularity and ceaseless change is very harmonizing! We will become familiar with the succession of numbers from one to one hundred – forwards and backwards!

    • Times-Tables: Once the children are comfortable with counting, it is a small but important step to count with strong rhythms, speaking some numbers quietly and others loudly – and suddenly the times-tables appear! Learning the rhythms of multiplication grows more difficult for children with each passing year, but it is crucial that children are comfortable with their tables up to 12 x 12 by the end of third grade. This year we will work with the twos, threes, fives, and tens tables. We will use recitation, song, movement exercises, form drawings, string games, and mental arithmetic to help us out, and you’ll experience it all at our parent evenings.

    • Numbers as Signifiers: This is, of course, the basis of arithmetic as we know it today; indeed, this is the basis of modern life. Working with numbers as units, using a number to tell us “how many†there are is a powerfully awakening experience – and not all first graders are ready for the rude awakening of number-as-quantity. The bags of counting shells that you helped to make this summer will serve as our archetypal tools to enter into this powerful new way of perceiving the world.

    • Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers: There is a profound difference between numbers that merely signify, e.g. I have three of those, five of these, etc. and those numbers that show places, e.g. I’m first in line! He’s the third child to get a book, etc. We will learn how a cardinal numbers become ordinal numbers.

    • The Four Operations: The more I teach, the more I marvel at the mysterious ways in which children come to understand the difficult concepts of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and diving. We help things along by teaching the operations through a story (of course!) in which they are treated anthropomorphically (that’s not the same as “anthroposophicallyâ€). We’ll be examining this in detail in parent evenings this winter."

    HTH There are a lot of myths about Waldorf out there.

  17. It's my understanding that ,yes it is considered secular. They teach about religion but do not teach religion. Kind of like learning about ancient Egyptian gods in PS,you are taught about them but that would not be considered teaching religion.

  18. , I don't believe Waldorf is all or nothing.

    Totally agree I have a dd that loves workbooks so she has some. My kids love math so have them do teaching textbooks on the computer for their practice ,very much a Waldorf no no. But having raised two to adulthood.... I totally see the value of protecting their childhood and how important it is to not kill their natural love of learning. Which is why I am very attracted to Waldorf methods but like someone said Waldorf methods are based on one man's ideas. I seriously doubt one man holds the key of how best to teach every child. ;)

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