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Kay in Cal

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Posts posted by Kay in Cal

    Poll: How Old is Your House?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Our new place is a 1950's era ranch house. It isn't very interesting, but it has lots of storage and electrical outlets, both of which I like.

     

    I wanted to add that I did live in a house in Germany when I was a teen that was over 400 years old. It was made of stone, and you could see on the outside walls how it had been modified over the years with different types of stone. It had lost its roof in both WWI and WWII, but had survived, and the downstairs had been the village Gasthaus for most of its history (though not when we lived there). I miss those really thick walls with deep window wells--the walls must have been three feet thick...

    I Got Spanked At the Park

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    The fact is that if it were just that easy for my son to get it from just being told not to interrupt many times every single day then he'd know it by now.

     

    Oh, I so feel your pain...

     

    My older ds is ADHD/SID/Aspergers/PG... and probably whatever other letters they can come up with. Mostly to say, he needs more parenting than other kids and he does NOT learn appropriate behavior easily, even though we instruct and give consequences over and over and over again. Now, he does show improvement over the years, but he'll never be like his peers--I'm sure he'll be the weird squirly kid until high school at least.

     

    I know how hard it is to hear from other parents that all that is needed is "firm discipline". We have that. We just don't have a kids that responds to it. I really learned this after our younger ds came along and we said "Wow! This is so much easier!" He still has his issues (mostly whining, right now), but comparatively, it's a breeze.

     

    So like I said before... don't sweat it, and just wait. Oh, and don't hang out with people who have a low tolerance level, it's just too much stress.

    If you use CW, but not their grammar/spelling...

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    OK... looking at the books again, here's what I'm thinking.

     

    Not using the Analysis section (the Spelling/Grammar/Etc lessons), and just focusing on the writing projects. I can tell looking at the methodology of the spelling and grammar that he wouldn't sit still for it, BUT I think ds would really enjoy taking a story, discussing it using their guidelines (we've never really discussed character/plot/protagonist/antagonist/etc as they recommend) which I think he would love, and then doing the outline/draft/rewrite process. I think as long as the stories themselves are different each week, it wouldn't seem repetitive, and would give him the introduction to formal composition.

     

    Does that make sense? I realize it's basically doing only the writing half of the program... but still covering grammar/spelling/handwriting as we already are.

    School year 2008-2009: What are you using?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We'll be doing everything in my sig line (which includes some things we're finishing from last year). In the next couple of months we should make a few transitions in things we're finishing up-- due to suddenly moving/packing we didn't "finish" everything last year and took almost 3 months off!:

     

    Ds6:

    SWO D --> SWO E

    Minimus Secundus --> Latin Prep

    MP Greek Myths --> MP Famous Men of Rome

     

    Ds4:

    If we get him reading this year, we'll probably add a slow Prima Latina (he's begging to do Latin) and maybe FLL.

    If you use CW, but not their grammar/spelling...

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    How would you implement this?

     

    We've been slowly getting back to school after our move, and I'm ready to add in our writing component. We're doing GWG and SWO which are quick, easy and working for ds, and I wasn't crazy about the grammar/spelling part of the CW analysis.

     

    I had planned on using the CW writing sections, while skipping the other.

    I'm pretty sure there were a couple of people on here who have done something similar--implemented CW without following the workbook...

    ideas anyone?

    Limes are ripe... any fantastic lime recipes?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Wow! What prompted the change (if you would like to share)?

     

    Well... I'd been vegetarian for 20 years, since my freshman year in college. I used to be very passionate about it, but I realized that while I still was happy being vegetarian, I had lost some of my zeal over the years. My dh is a meat eater, a very traditional food type person.

     

    Then it hit me: I was making two meals every night. A meal for my dh and my oldest son, a meal for me, and my youngest would pick and choose. It just hit me how much energy it was taking--extra meal planning, additional cooking time, etc. I hadn't ever really thought about it before, but I work a lot of hours, try to be home as much as possible for school and family time, and something had to give. I decided that since my dh was not interested (and never would be) in being vegetarian, and since my priorities had changed, I'd start eating meat again.

     

    My dh would NEVER have wanted me to give up anything important to me, so I actually did it in secret. I spent a couple of weeks thinking about it, praying about it, and eventually went off on my own at lunchtime and tried a beef taco. After a couple of days of trying (and assuring myself that I would switch back if I had any misgivings) I announced to my dh that I was eating meat. It blew him away--I'd been vegetarian long before I met him at age 19.

     

    Anyhow, that's the story. Part of me thinks it's just a mid-life crisis sort of thing (I'll be 38 in November)... but at least it's cheap, easy and legal, right? So far, I've come to like many meat dishes. I don't seem to like steak or shrimp or some fast food type burgers, but it has been fun trying "new" foods that I had totally forgotten or never had before. And I do have to admit--meal planning and cooking is much, MUCH easier now that we all eat the same thing.

    Playdates... am I missing this gene?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Ok... if playdates are just any time your kids play with others, I guess we have playdates. I've just read books that talk about how to approach unknown parents, call them, ask them questions, make plans for your kids... THAT we haven't done. And since my kids are too young to play alone outside, they don't meet that many neighborhood kids either--though we just moved.

     

    Thanks, I think I feel better!

    Playdates... am I missing this gene?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    In one of the socialization threads there is a mention that homeschoolers often have "playdates".

     

    Every time I read that word, I feel a bit guilty. I can honestly say we've never taken our children on a playdate. We have friends with children with whom we get together pretty regularly, and our kids play. We've taken our kids to parties with other kids, other homeschoolers on occasion. I would say my kids meet with other kids (besides church and sports activities) maybe once or twice a week, plus occasional homeschool group park days.

     

    But I have never made a "date" with someone whom I didn't know well already, but our kids had met, specifically to get our kids together to play. Are we doing something wrong? Do you make playdates?

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