Jump to content

Menu

Kay in Cal

Members
  • Posts

    1,366
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Kay in Cal

  1. Santee United Methodist Church to be exact! We're excited, worried, stressed, etc, etc.... we just moved into this house last September. San Deigo is still in southern California, but it seems a world away from L.A. It's gonna be ok, right? Right???!!!???
  2. This is the plan that we have. I think $10 for an audiobook is a good deal... they tend to cost more than paper books because of the production values. And I have really loved all the Audible readers. My dh listens as he commutes, so we have quite the collection after 6 years or so. And now I can listen to them on my Kindle too, so they don't take up my entire Ipod.
  3. I lived in Norway for 4 years, and everyone there spoke English quite well... just recently had a friend come visit that I hadn't seen in 20 years. She works as a house painter--not a "white collar" job, nor does she use English in her everyday life. But she speaks English well enough to make her understood! Her husband works for an airline as a freight manager, and his English is fluent--it's the lingua franca of the air industry. Most of the movies they watch are English language one they stream online... gotta speak English to follow the story. My Dad lived in Germany at the same time, and our younger friends all spoke English--we lived in a village as the only Americans, not on a base. I'd say that most of the friends we made and kept all these years are from the Netherlands or Switzerland. They all speak fluent English. The only place we ever ran into where people didn't speak English was France, but I had the impression they just didnt' want to cooperate. OH... I lived in Kazakhstan... they all speak Russian and Kazakh. A minority speak English, but they all want to. Here? I live in LA. My neighbors are from Mexico, Armenia, Russia, El Salvador, Iran. My church has members from Tonga and Ghana and the Ivory Coast--as well as England, the Phillipines, Indonesia, Panama and Barbados. My boys love sushi, pupusas, and anime. And Star Wars. To me.. that's American culture! Of course, I'm moving soon to a very different area...
  4. Ouch! That's too bad. Hope you get it all taken care of soon... I hate car stress.
  5. St. John's College -- I know my dh seriously considered it when he was choosing a school http://www.sjca.edu/
  6. I can see your point. Perhaps limited resources or experiences might lead to an attempt to use the media as a resource. I just feel for the poor child... look at all the folks who are discussing him in chat rooms! Hopefully he doesn't have much net access.
  7. I'm not a critic of his being bright... just that going "public" using intelligence as a side-show is a bad thing for a child, and for gifted kids in general. I don't think many here will play that game. I'd say my older ds is more than comprable, didn't do the date thing but had his own weird memorization things (periodic table, etc) and I have test scores to prove it. Of course, he and his little brother are right now tying me to my computer chair using tape measures and a paddle ball. Genius at work!
  8. Ok, I talked on the phone to one of the "educational facilitators"--you meet one time a month and bring work examples. She is familiar with WTM--used it to homeschool her own children. I told her everything we are using, and she thinks it sounds great. The only vendor we currently use who is not on their list is EPGY--and I've seen them at other schools as a vendor, so we should be able to work that out. She assured me that the 4 year history cycle is just fine, we can adjust all expectations to thier level, and continue with what we have planned. The minimums are aimed more at people who are under-educating thier children, not to keep other kids from moving beyond them. She then said that "the main job of the educational facilitator will be to help you report what you are already doing in a way that will meet state requirements." Perfect. $700 a year per child to spend, plus books, plus free sports... we're going to try it. If I can truly do my own thing with minimum adjustment I'm happy to go charter. I'm going to ask for her specifically as my faciltator.
  9. On the contrary side, Pam... I hated Kindergarten. It was hellish. I still remember over 30 years later being forced to sit on the carpet and recite the alphabet when all I wanted to do was read a book. The teacher disliked me and my attitude, and it was mutual. I hated slavishly nodding and smiling and singing little jingles to teach me things like the days of the week and the months of the year. I was pulled me out for some classes (reading, math) where I sat in with 3rd graders. It was the only reasonably survivable part of the day. My most vivid memory is when I was banned from the library for climbing shelves--because the books were shelved with K appropriate on the bottom, the next shelf for 1-2 graders, the next for 3-4 graders, etc. I wanted books from the top shelf. No way. Long story short--I was kicked out of kindergarten for insubordination. Really. Conformity has never been my strong suit. But I do play well with others now that I'm a grown up. Today I've been browsing charter schools near our new home (yep, we're moving to the San Diego area). And I see lots of forms that use words like "must" and "we require" and my little screaming kindergartener comes out in full force. As she does when I read threads like this... time to calm the inner child.
  10. I don't know... but my PG son (Ye, he's smarter than Einstein! Wow!!! <--- sarcasm, in case you missed that) loves the Ender series. He's reading Ender's Shadow right now. Giftedness doesn't necessarily mean brilliance or success. It's a measure of a certain kind of potential... but it does measure something. Even I can tell my ds is smart. Strangers often gape and comment. But we all set our own normal. He read well at 2... but so did I. So did my dh. In fact, my younger ds is just now beginning to read fluently (he's 5) and I have to mentally talk myself out of thinking that he's developmentally slow. Because it's all in what you are used to. I think putting pg kids on talk shows to stare at is really counterproductive for those of us who deal with gifted kids. But personally I wouldn't put anyone on a talk show. Ugh.
  11. I'm in a quandry. We're moving to the San Diego area, and there don't seem to be the number of groups and resources we're used to for homeschoolers. Lots of folks seem to use charters there... I'm not philosophically opposed to charters, and people always tout how flexible they are, you can use your own curriculum, etc... BUT... it comes down to that scope and sequence. I can never get anyone to answer what happens if the scope and sequence for a given year is so far behind your child to be laughable... but you are supposed to "teach" those subjects. Is it all just covering paperwork? Has anyone found a charter willing (or not) to deal with a highly asynchronous child?
  12. My older son (7 years old) is ADHD, very very bright, and also can be aggressive/impusive. He may also have sensory integration issues. The fact that he is big for his age (both tall and heavy) and can flatten the average 7 year old with a quick move also leads to nervousness on my part. He is the giant linebacker to my other son, the fleet slender running back. Homeschooling has been the best thing for us--he would end up in the "bad kids" special ed class in a heartbeat. At home we can manage his outbursts better, and still let him soar academically. In fact, our pediatrician said that homeschooling would be a great option for him, allowing us to make far more accomodations for ADHD than he would receive in school. We do have outside activities, but honestly I still somewhat limit his interactions with large groups of others. As he has gotten older, he is maturing and becoming less disruptive. Frankly, I think that seeing proper adult behavior modeled is much better than thinking that other kids will help him learn proper social behavior.
  13. Anyone have info on groups/charters/activities for that region? I know Jenn W, but she's my only homeschool friend down there. I'm pretty nervous about leaving my Los Angeles home... help talk me down!
  14. That's the kind I have... I have a mental spatial map of time and of numbers. I only recently found out that everyone does not! I was amazed that anyone can do history study without having a place to mark the events mentally! I have a mental number map as well, though it isn't as strong, and I can taste the tones on certain musical instruments.
  15. I really enjoyed it as well. I've read a lot about Adams too, and I think Giamati did an amazing job portraying the truculent, abrasive person that he was. I thought parts of it were too violent for my kids, but I liked it!
  16. Kindle will read: Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible (formats 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC as they are without converstion (you can wirelessly download them directly). Actually, you can listen to the Audible books and MP3s, they don't show up visually... you can use headphones or the built in speakers. You can also convert and read (meaning, you have to email it to your Kindle and connect to your computer): PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP My dh had a whole bunch of novels, stories, etc that he had written, and they are now all on my Kindle. Free book sites include : Manybooks.net, mobileread.com, feedbooks.com, and Project Guttenberg. Since the Kindle has a built in web browser (text heavy sites only, no flash) you can download books wirelessly from the net in a matter of seconds. Most of my free books, however, came from Kindle itself (you can search Amazon by price to find them)--mostly public domain books like the others, but publishers also have "free book" promotions that are announced in the Kindle store (the wireless Amazon store) and I've gotten free romance novels (a bunch--pretty bad, but sometimes I'm in the mood) free sci-fi and fantasy, some free business books. If it is offered for free, I take it... Even so, I've only to 175 books on now, a small portion of the 1500 it will hold. I can't say how much I love it. I hate spending money on expensive gadgets, and if dh hadn't taken the initiative I would never have bought it. But I use it constantly. Every day. It has more than been worth it.
  17. I download books wirelessly all the time from free sites. You just use your browser to go to the site. You can't download Mp3 music or audible books wirelessly, though--those you need to connect to the USB. I've got multiple audible books on mine, as well as background music for my reading. Can you tell I love my Kindle 2? I didn't post when I got it because I was at my brother's funeral that week--the Kindle was a "Feel better with technology" gift from my dh.
  18. It's so hard for me to say. I would guess that sensitive kids might find it scary--aliens, explosions, etc. It's all in that gore-free cartoon way where the people get out of the cars before they explode. But they do shoot aliens with ray guns, have giant monsters rampaging through the city, etc. My boys are so not sensitive that I just have no way to judge--they love that stuff. I'd say comprable to "The Incredibles" in those terms. If that was OK, this would probably be OK.
  19. Congrats--- I agree the technology is awesome and totally cost effective. Plus, I love the fact that I'm not bringing more paper into my already overrun house. But I do have a quick correction: I have a new Kindle 2 (love it love it love it)... and I too can get books from anywhere! Don't think it only takes books from Amazon... you can download any of the other formats as well right of the web wirelessly. I'm not sure how the rumor started that you have to use only Kindle books, but it isn't true. I've bought only 6 books thus far (and subscribed to Newsweek), but I have over 200 books on my Kindle now. Many were free from Amazon, but I got a lot of others from various free book places online. I know they work!
  20. I'm another working mom with a SAHD husband. We love it! My work time is very flexible. I choose most of the curriculum, with dh's input, and he implements. I do teach one day a week--Wednesday is his "day off" when he has a part time job. Most things we can both cover, some I always do (bible, music) others he always teaches (Latin). When we were first married we talked about my being in ministry, him writing and being a SAHD. We weren't certain it would work out that way, but that was our goal from the start. A couple of years later we talked about homeschooling. We were married almost ten years without children (we both worked) so it was kind of a surprise when it all came to be according to plan! My next goal was to take a few years off and go get a PhD... but that hasn't happened yet. :tongue_smilie:
  21. Really enjoyed it! We do see most of the kid movies that come out, but this was one I liked a lot. My dh agreed that this was one of the best animated kids movies we've seen in a while. Well written, I enjoyed the voice acting. The story was sort of an "I don't need a man to make me complete" girl power sort of thing... if you don't enjoy those then you won't like it. But we all (dh, ds5, ds7) gave it two thumbs up! We saw the IMAX 3-D version (I think it's 3-D everywhere, right?). The 3-D was really neat--not too motion sickness inducing, which I tend to get in 3-D stuff. I had read an article about all the new technology they developed just for this film. Well worth it, I think.
×
×
  • Create New...