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Kay in Cal

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Posts posted by Kay in Cal

  1. Fantasy Flight Games, a wonderful boardgame company, has a bunch of games on holiday sale. http://store.fantasyflightgames.com These are not really toy-store type games, but games that you would find at a "hobby games" store--many of which are history based. If you haven't

    ever played a serious board game, you might want to follow the links below to see what I mean.

     

    Some game gift suggestions from the sale:

     

    Beowulf, The Legend --- Fun game, follows the story of Beowulf exactly, usually $40, now $5 This is one of our favorite board games to play with our sons. They REALLY know the story of Beowulf. We have stocked up at this sale to give as gifts to our gamer friends. Not a review, but lots of info about the game and how it works. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17449/beowulf-the-legend

     

    Tribune -- Another wonderful game about political machinations to be elected Tribune in Rome. We play this with our kids as well, but it is probably best for ages 12 and up if you aren't hard core gamers. Lots of great details about the various faction in ancient rome. Retails for $60, now $15 A very thorough review is here:

    http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/248383/popularity-contest-in-ancient-rome

  2. I know that we have folks from all over the nation (and world) on the board, so I'm hoping for some wisdom as we begin planning to move in about 18 months. After many years of back-and-forth will-we-won't-we, we have lots of time to plan, and I want to find the "perfect" place for us to settle.

     

    Required:

    Within 2 1/2 hours of my parents in southern Delaware (Ocean City area)

    Within 2 1/2 hours of my inlaws in Williamsburg, VA

    No more than 20 minutes from a Best Buy (this is my dh's main request)

    Within 30 minutes of a good hospital (dh has health problems)

    Near United Methodist Church(es)

    Homeschool-friendly

     

    Positives:

    College town

    Artsy kind of area

    Someplace we Southern-California transplants will feel comfortable, or at least not be the local pariahs

    Not too rural (for dh)

    Not too suburban (for me)

    Someplace we can afford to buy a decent home

     

    Anything else I'm not thinking of? At this point we want to find the location before I begin my job search some time next year.

     

    Looking at the map we seem to be able to draw a circle around DC

    area for a couple hundred miles in either direction and still be in our target zone. DH and I went to school in Baltimore, so we know that area well, but it's been 20 years since we lived on the east coast.

  3. After reading this explanation, maybe EPGY would be a good option for you. It is totally self-paced, so you don't have to worry about "missing" something or "holding back". Also, all the assessment is done by the program, so you don't need to worry about whether or not they are mastering the material. I know you responded above, but you might want to give it a try.

     

    For grammar, we enjoy Growing With Grammar--also largely because it is workbooky and easily done independantly. We're on GWG5 now and it's short and sweet with no complaints.

  4. You probably want to pm Mellissa for details, but I can answer some of your questions.

     

    The open enrollment program costs $135 a year. That includes the K-7 math program and the K-7 Language Arts and Writing program. I can't speak to the Language Arts, because we only use the math.

     

    The math program is entirely online. The format is fairly "bell and whistle" free--no dancing penguins, exploding stars or whatever. It is attractive, but not flashy. The lecturer sounds like a math teacher. I think that EPGY is one of the most thorough math programs I've ever found. It expects fairly sophisticated applications and thinking in many cases. We used Singapore before EPGY and switched. My boys like working on the computer, and they enjoy that it moves at thier own pace. If Singapore is too slow for you, EPGY may fit the bill. There is built in review and increasing complexity... but if you get over a certain number correct, you are automatically moved on to the next subject.

     

    Though students are supposed to do the program independantly, it is easy to check their progress with a variety of tools, including simple time spent records to entire replays of every keystroke they made in a session. You can also check topics and review those that they need additional work on. If my sons score less than 80% on a section, we go back and review it together.

     

    It seems comprable to some other homeschool math programs, but more than what my son's peers of the same ages are doing.

     

    My first grader has moved through first grade and halfway through second grade coursework this year. He is currently doing problems like:

    m + n = 19

    m - n = 5

    m = ?

    n = ?

     

    My fourth grader is doing fifth grade level this year. He likes the geometry especially. We've been supplementing with Life of Fred Fractions at the same time, and they seem very compatable.

     

    After the open enrollment program, EPGY offers high school level classes, as well as college level math classes. I'm not sure they have the open enrollment for that, but we easily registered our older son in the program with test scores before they had the open enrollment.

     

    Hope that helps!

  5. 1. My Wizard of Oz lunchbox, book not movie, art by Eric Shanower. Holds my bedside stuff.Wizard-of-Oz-Dome-Lunch-Box-lunch-boxes-2371743-118-120.gif

     

    2. My Levenger triangular reading pillow. Mine is purple.

    http://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/PRODUCT/Product.asp?Params=Category=5-344|Level=2-3|pageid=7614

     

    3. My wonderful "Good Morning Madam" alarm clock. It has a different funny wake up each morning by Stephen Fry as Jeeves. http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/aef3/

     

    4. A copy of the Pathfinder role-playing game core rulebook, sitting on the bed between my husband and I. I think he is prepping a game for next week.

     

    5. My iPhone.

     

    Wow. My bedroom is truly geeky.

  6. Yep. I've found our last two homes (rental) on Craigslist. One time our landlord was an individual with several investment properties, but currently we rent from a property management company (our landlord lives out of state). We google mapped the homes and drove by before we called (often you can tell from the outside if you want to live there or not). We always had a tour of the home and met with the owner/manager before we turned in any paperwork, and I wouldn't ever hand over information in advance.

     

    At least here in So Cal, Craigslist is the go-to place to find homes as well as jobs.

  7. I'm one of those who mentally opted out of any engagement in school beginning in kindergarten because elementary school was sooooo boring. There was always the fun supplemental stuff that teachers gave me, but it was just that--supplemental. I could build pyramids, models of the solar system, and 3-D relief maps of my favorite country with the best of them, but it was mostly just fluffy bunny time wasting. I went broad but never deep enough to work hard. Luckily for me, we moved to Norway for a few years and I had the challenge of learning the local language in the 8th and 9th grade.

     

    Still, my tolerance for hard work was extremely challenged when I got to college. After a lifetime of never having to really think, suddenly being in the deep end of a competitive university almost swamped me. I had become used to laziness--not because I didn't do well in school, I did, but because I didn't ever have to work hard to do so. When I ended up surrounded by peers who were just as smart as I was, it was overwhelming.

     

    My dh has a similar history. He was a slacker in high school who got into college on really high test scores. And struggled because it takes work to think. Self discipline came hard to him because it was all so easy until that point.

     

    Maybe some of us need some pushing. I sure wish someone had taken me by the hand and pushed me in math, in language, in science. Moving at your own pace sometimes requires someone to walk next to you. Otherwise those of us with (*ahem*) naturally lazy constitutions just slow down and end up falling far short of our goals. One of the things I love about homeschooling my kids is knowing them well enough to know when they are truly engaged with learning. I'm NOT a "drill and kill" type, but I know that the love of learning can be just as easily squelched by moving at a snail's pace as by running to keep up.

  8. I had asked on the Accelerated board, but this seems to be the Life of Fred place--

     

    My son is doing EPGY math, currently at their 5th grade level--which they claim is accelerated. We also started LoF fractions, and are really enjoying it. He's happy now to do both, but we are moving really fast.

     

    I know that folks say LoF stands alone, but having worked with it now I still think--this is going to prepare my kid for SATs, APs, etc? Anyone have experience with LoF with a mathy kid who did really well in college math?

  9. Oops, once again I was unclear. What I meant to ask was, would you personally never send your children to a public university, even a prestigious one?

     

    In all the talk about people pulling thier children from public schools, I never understood that those same people would also not use public universitites, but I guess that makes sense. If you want a truly religious education, then a religious university would be the way to go.

     

    I'm not dissing religious education--I have a seminary M. Div. I just am curious about the opposition to public universities.

  10. I'm happy for everyone to have choices... it's just worked out well for us that the public homeschool option exists.

     

    Can I ask a question I've never even thought about before... would you thus not use any public university? I went to a private school myself, but here in California it seems like places like UCLA, Berkely, etc are some of the best schools in the state.

  11. That seems right on, then. He's moving fairly quickly and easily through EPGY 5th grade, and we are flying through LoF thus far at a couple of chapters each school day. Mostly I want him to move at his own pace and enjoy math. EPGY has been working well, but he thinks LoF is fun, and I like that. I'm a level ignorer myself, I just don't want to drag him down with one program that is far behind the other.

  12. We're one of those families in CA that uses a public charter (and I even know several other old-timers on this board). We started registering independantly, but when we moved to San Diego from Los Angeles last year decided to try a charter.

     

    It has worked out great for us. I haven't changed a thing in what we are doing. Admittedly, we use secular curricula. We are a family of faith, but we do separate bible study and devotion time. I pay for those books, and they aren't covered by any subject area that the state cares about.

     

    The best part has been the organized field trips and supplemental classes (art, PE, and Spanish). I don't feel any less like a homeschooler, even though my current set of books was paid for by the school district. Our once a month "check in" when we turn in a calendar with listed activities just is not that invasive, and probably is enough to prevent educational neglect if that were an issue in some families.

     

    However, I don't have any ethical or philosophical issues with public education as such, just with the way it is implemented. If "teach your kids yourself and we'll support that with funding" becomes the norm for public school, that's OK by me. I'm happy to have my government provide services. I can tell you from time I spent as a missionary in Kazakhstan that living in a country with no government regulations (or services) isn't really all that great. I like having the freedom to homeschool as I like, and the public charter hasn't impinged on our experience at all.

     

    That said, when my boys get into high school and the requirements start to get more specific, we'll probably go back to doing it on our own. Acceleration issues are challenging in any setting. I think we'll most likely go the community college route. Which is also public school.

  13. I think that one of the great things about homeschooling is that we can tailor the programs to our individual children. They don't need to be cogs in the machine.

     

    It is inevitable that some people are more skilled in some areas than others. At some point in their lives, your daughters will develop gifts in different areas. It is unavoidable. I don't think you can hide that reality in life. And sometimes siblings may tease each other, or one might feel bad. But hopefully they will develop the capability to feel proud for each other, not just proud on their own behalf.

     

    I'm not quite there with my boys :glare:

     

    My younger son is much better with hand/eye coordination, and they are both currently in the same cursive curriculum, even though they are two years apart. I'm sure he'll always have better handwriting. But it doesn't seen to bother them to work on the same material unless I make a big deal of it. Which I don't. Heck, we always do SOTW together, right?

     

    Now, that said, I would try to celebrate the gifts of each child. Find what your older daughter's strengths are and let her fly. It may be helpful to have your younger daughter in a different curriculum so that comparison is more difficult.

  14. My ds8 is currently doing the 5th grade level work in EPGY. He moves fairly quickly (does 2+ sessions a day) and I expect him to be moving up to 6th before the end of the year. He loves doing EPGY and usually gets close to 100%. His favorite part is the geometry. When he does make mistakes, usually it is because he is ADHD and careless (like mom, natch). He then does that exercise again. I know the site says that you should aim for 80%, but that just doesn't seem like true mastery to me.

     

    We've also started doing Life of Fred Fraction. He loves this! We got the book a week ago and are on chapter 11. He's been doing all the exercises, and the first bridge thus far. He brings out the book and begs to do more all the time.

     

    Question: How coordinated are these in level? LoF is supposedly "pre-algebra". Is 5th grade EPGY "pre-algebra"? If we move through both at this pace, when will we start algebra, and what program should I use? I love LoF, but I want a "full" program in addition as well--anyone have experience with EPGY all the way through? Does is matter if we move through two programs at different places/paces, or is that just a waste of time?

     

    Anyone?

  15. I'm really not the mean food police mom or anything. I think we eat average to healthy meals--I want more veggies and salad, my dh wants more fried foods. My kids also have an occasional fast food run and eat donuts at church and whatever they are served as a guest. They eat thier halloween candy--at least until I get the leftovers to church.

     

    But in our home "snack" means intentional sustenance to give you adequate nutrition until your next meal. Yogurt. Fruit. Cheese and crackers. Maybe even corn chips and guacamole. We do sometimes eat candy, as it "Hey, I want a piece of candy!" -- but that's entertainment, not snacking.

     

    This year I've been getting more involved in cub scouts (I got sucked into being a den mother) and have been helping once a week with our church afternoon program for elementary kids. When asked to bring snacks kids invariably bring: candy. Red vines. Sour patch kids. Those dippy frosting cup things. At a recent even when kids brought their favorite snacks, my boys brought cheese quesadillas and pretzles, respectively. Everyone else (of 18 kids) brought candy--except one little girl who brought popcorn.

     

    Do 15 of every 18 kids really eat candy as a snack? My boys invariably come home hopped up on goofballs. I'm not usually a super grumpy health mom, but maybe I'm more out there than I thought.

  16. Thank you for all your responses! Today I was back at work, in the full swing of things at home... it really is amazing how I am "back to normal" so fast. Now to get ready for next month...

     

    Carol: I'm definitely going to check out the Borage oil. I still need to get in to see my doctor now that I've realized what is going on (duh!), but that sounds like something I could do right away. Also cutting out caffeine would be pretty easy--I don't drink that much soda or coffee, so I can just avoid it altogether for a while and see if that helps.

     

    Karyn: I'll pm you. I haven't found that much online other than general info, so I'd be interested to hear from someone who has had some experience with this.

     

    Carole: I don't think I've had my hormone levels checked at all, so I'll be sure to mention that when I go see my doc. She will want to do bloodwork, I know... and thyroid is probably a good thing to check.

     

    Kristen: I'm pretty willing to take whatever will work! At this point I just want to reclaim those days of the month. I'll ask my doctor about meds as well.

     

    Thank you thank you! It really was helpful to write this down and share it here. The only person who really knows what has been happening is my dh, and he has been great. He doesn't have that feminine insight and advice, though. I know that he'll have less to worry about if I can get this under control.

     

    Any other advice would be greatly appreciated!

     

    --Kay

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