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DianeW88

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Posts posted by DianeW88

  1. Diane, I love reading your pep rally posts and how you did things and how well they turned out because they encourage me.  Then I look at my reality and  :svengo: a little.  No probability of full rides here and no ability to handle that load of academics if she got them.  Discussions are hard for her (low retrieval and processing speeds), so she'd rather hole up in her office.  It isn't always so pretty.  Honestly, high school with some kids kinda SUCKS.  I don't even know if I have a child most days, because she disappears to her cave and works, then reappears to gab on the phone.  And the next one (ds, for whom high school is a long way off), wow he's going to be a pistol!  

     

    So whatever.  I have no clue why I'm saying that.  On the one hand, I can relate and feel inspired and want to capture some of those moments.  On the other hand, I'm *guessing* elisabet1 isn't feeling 'em.  I will say though, that even where it isn't so magical for me as an educator or as an intellectual exercise, what IS neat is seeing her come alive and retain her confidence and have time to pursue interests.  Those are things she wouldn't have in the harsh environment of regular school.  

     

    So I say put your dc where you think they'll most BLOSSOM.  

     

    Yep, not everybody's kids are the same, and there is no "one size fits all".  I was just trying to encourage those who might feel like high school is too intimidating to teach at home, and beyond their abilities.  It's not any harder than teaching a six year old how to read.  In fact, I'm pretty sure it's easier.  Those days were HARD.  lol 

     

  2. The high school years of homeschooling were my most fun and rewarding.  I really enjoyed learning along side my children, and sharing and discussing the material.  Much easier than the elementary years, where so much hand holding, and oversight was required.  And both of my kiddos received full-ride, four year scholarships to the universities of their choice, where they are now both happy and successful (and grateful that they homeschooled K-12).  Homeschooling through high school can be a wonderful thing for kids and parents alike.

     

    But you need to do what you feel is best for your child.  Best wishes in your decision making process.

  3. I'm LDS, so being prepared for anything (natural disaster, job loss, illness, etc.) is what we do.  We have food storage (which is rotated regularly) to last one year, as well as water (most important...and a couple of gallons won't be enough if your water is contaminated and you have no electricity...pretty much a given in an earthquake situation, which is my most likely disaster scenario), cash, medication, etc.

     

    If you want to know what to store to feed your family the basics for a year, based on what we do as Mormons, here's a calculator:  http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm   Be sure to note that food supplies are stored in the proper kinds of containers (example:  flour is not stored in the paper bags it comes in, but in properly sealed cans/containers).  Here's a site that is one of my favorites for food storage and recipes:  http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/

     

    Also note that we are not preparing for a terrorist attack, nuclear fall out, or anything of that sort.  Most often, food storage is used when people face unemployment or other types of financial disaster.  The next frequent use of food storage is for natural disasters.  Help is not going to get to you for at least 72 hours, and you should have 72 hour kits prepared for every member of your family if you live in an area prone to natural disasters.

     

    There are also several companies that sell food storage ready to go with yummy foods that are easy to prepare and store.  Some of my food storage is of this type, some is from my church cannery, and some is from the good old grocery store.  Feel free to ask if you have questions.

  4. Doctors want to see the structure of the lungs, look for a foreign object that may be evading other diagnostic tests, check for tumors, see how the lungs are working, look for lesions, check for airway obstructions or strictures, look for signs of infection (pus, fungus, parasites, etc.), check for fluid, mucous, polyps, you name it.  In short, they want to find out why your dd is coughing.  Is she having the flexible or rigid bronchoscopy?

  5. An easy fix is a prescription diuretic.  They've been around forever, they're very safe, and the only real side effect is that you'll urinate more...but that's what lowers the bp.  If your numbers are not too high, that's probably what your doc will start you on.  You'll have to make sure you're not losing potassium with it, but eating a banana and having some OJ every day usually takes care of that.  If not, there are diuretics that protect against potassium loss.

  6. So, explain this for me, if you would. What does that look like? How do you do 'that'? What is fulfilling and rewarding and energizing about it?

     

    I love learning, I guess.  I love learning with my kids.  I do unit studies, and those have always brought fun into our homeschool.  We figure things out together.  I don't mind making big, giant messes in the name of learning.  We built an entire medieval castle out of appliance boxes one semester.  We have big celebrations with food and fun activities to wrap up each unit.  Those sort of activities energize me, because I love to plan them and see the results.

     

    Researching and buying curriculum are fun for me.  Lesson planning makes me giddy.  I stop just short of spreading out all the new curriculum on my living room floor and rolling around in it (most of the time :D ).  It makes me happy.

     

    My kids have never attended a brick and mortar school, or done any online classes.  When each one of them began homeschooling, we got the discipline issues under control right off the bat, and I've never really had any major issues with any of them.  Occasionally one of them had a bad day, but nothing that became a huge issue, or continued day after day.  I can honestly say that they've been a joy to teach.

     

    My two oldest are now in college (both on scholarships...just putting it in there to encourage moms that it can and does work), and are on their respective dean's lists.  They both have told me how grateful they are that they were homeschooled, and that they plan to do the same with their own children some day.

     

    I also have an incredibly supportive husband, who helps me in any way that he can, and who has no problem helping me around the house.

     

    I think because I love teaching, and because I love what we do in our homeschool, it's always been a source of joy for me.  I look forward to each day.  I'm excited about our subjects, and about the opportunity to work with my kids.  My 21st school year begins on September 2, and I can't wait!  I'm having so much fun with only one child at the moment.  I'm really getting to know him, and we're building a wonderful relationship as he begins his teen years.  When I was educating three at once, it was also fun...but in a different way.  Each season of my homeschooling adventure has been a gift, and I'm so grateful that I've had this opportunity in my life.

  7. In the nicest way possible....I don't give a rat's patootie about "all the other kids" and how their parents choose to educate them.  It's not my job to pick up their slack.  My responsibility is to my own children.  I chose homeschooling 21 years ago because the public school system was failing all the kids I knew.  I wasn't giving it the opportunity to fail mine.  And my children are not going to receive a less than adequate education "for the public good."  This person is off his rocker.

  8. Not really.  He'll be 14 in November, and most of his friends are a year or two older than him.  Plus, he's my youngest, so he's always tagged along with the "big kids".  Now, he and his friends make action movies and film them all the time.  They write out scripts, stage shots, and do special effects with all the cool, different apps out there.  So maybe some would term this "playing", and others wouldn't.  He and his friends also play video games, go outside and shoot baskets, go to the pool, watch movies, read and discuss current books (one of their favorite things to do is hang out at our local Barnes & Noble and participate in some of their book groups and such), and just sit outside on the patio around the fire pit and shoot the breeze.  And that basically sums up my 13 year old's summer.

  9. What is there to throw away?  Are you talking about the caps you throw on the ground?  In the little paper bag things?  Those mostly burn up...we don't ever have anything to throw away.  And if we do, it all goes into the trash.  Even the big fireworks we set off.  Whatever is left over goes in the trash the next morning.

  10. Free shipping from Amazon means you'll get it when they're good and ready to ship it to you.  Sometimes that's a couple of days.  Sometimes they won't get to it for a week or so.  You're not paying anything for the shipping, so in my book, you have forfeited your right to complain about when they ship it.  If you need something by a certain deadline, and you order from them, you'll have to cough up the shipping costs.  You really might want to take a look at Prime again, especially if you order a lot of things from them.  It not only includes shipping, but free streaming videos, free Kindle titles, free music downloads, and some other goodies.  I've found it to be well worth the cost, even at $99 a year.  I can think of only one time they may have taken more than 2 days to get something to me, and that was no biggie.  Make sure that you are not figuring weekends into your two days, as something ordered on a Friday or Saturday will not arrive until the following Tuesday or Wednesday.

  11. The fees here are ridiculous...and everything has a fee.  Just to register for high school is $90, and then the real fun starts.  My kids have never attended any brick and mortar school (or online equivalent), but my dd did participate in drill team at the local high school her senior year.  The fee for that....$3,000.  And that wasn't the worst part of it for me.  When we were in the office one day, a girl transferring here from another country was also there with her father.  She asked about drill team, and the snooty secretary said, "Are you sure you can afford that?  It's going to cost you around $3,000 per year."  The girl looked crushed, and her father was shocked that the "public" school could charge that much for a school sponsored extra curricular activity.  I just wanted to pop the secretary in the mouth for her condescending attitude.

  12. Yesterday was much better.  We were at Epcot for the whole day and can do the monorail from the Polynesian there - no buses - and my mom didn't have to stand, though actually, I didn't ask about her and my boys' return trip.  They came back shortly after Illuminations and said it was crowded coming back.  Hubby and I stayed a little later and didn't have any crowd.

     

    We haven't had to wait in lines except for buses - then it was waiting for buses, not really lines.  This isn't due to their not being lines - there certainly are.  It's due to having figured out how to "do" Disney even when it's crowded and making decent use of our fast passes.   ;)

     

    We haven't been to Disney in 7 years now, so some of the new things have been fun to explore.  I LOVE how Canada redid their film.  (Canada is my 2nd country since I grew up on the border.)  Soarin was fun, but I'll like it better when it does the whole world and not just California.  I don't know when I'll actually SEE the new one after they redo it though.  Our future travel plans and those in the bucket list take us elsewhere for quite some time - into the real world.  However, sooner or later there should be grandkids... and hopefully they'll be able to come off season!

     

    We'll see how MK goes today.  Whispering Canyon Cafe is lunch...  :lol:

     

    Of course you'll ask for ketchup. :D  We just go sneak it off someone else's table now.  There was that one time we got caught.....

  13.  

    We're here now.  Anyone coming in peak season and in the heat needs to plan (and needs their head examined - we're here now due to a college drop off, so had to choose these dates).  If you didn't plan, you'd be waiting in line for an hour + for many rides.  If you come in the off season you can generally walk right on to most rides with little or no wait.

     

     

     

     

    No kidding!!  You couldn't pay me to be there during the summer or busy holidays.  Too darn crowded, and other guests are too rude.  Whatever happened to manners?  If my kids had remained seating while an older woman stood on a bus, they would have been in serious trouble.  I hope you have fun in spite of the difficulties (the biggest for me being humidity and LINES...I don't do lines).

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