Embassy
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Posts posted by Embassy
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Is there such a thing as an auditory spatial learner? What about a visual-sequential learner? If so, I think I may have one of each.
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Whatever you choose to do, do so very carefully. Audrey had the benefit of a Canadian husband. US citizens who "just want to change nationalities" have a very different process they must go through. Unless it has changed in the last couple of years, it involves proving that one will be an asset to the state, proving employment, financial stability, all sorts of things.
asta
Thanks Asta.
I'm a permanent resident of Canada already due to my Canadian husband so becoming a citizen isn't difficult. I probably won't give up my US citizenship though because I'm not 100% sure we won't move back at some point. I do want to become a Canadian citizen. I just didn't want border problems. It sounds like if I use the right passport I won't have issues. Isn't it easier to use a passport like the others in your group though? I've been interrogated by US officials at border crossings in the past and don't want that to repeat. My husband and kids will all have Canadian passports.
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I did that. You don't have to give up your citizenship, but the border can cause problems. You can only carry one passport. If they ask your citizenship, you should give the country of citizenship in which you are currently residing. Know, though, that while you are in the US, the US will still consider you their citizen. Vice versa for Canada.
I solved the dilemma by formally renouncing my US citizenship when I took Canadian citizenship. It was a bit of a pain in behind, but worth it IMO. I will never live in the US again. Ever.
I've thought about that too. What did you have to do to give up your US citizenship?
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Have you done it? Did the US give you problems?
I am thinking about becoming a citizen of Canada in a couple years. I don't know if I will ever move back to the USA, but don't want to give up my citizenship. I've heard that border crossings may be quite unpleasant.
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The average taxpaying American family pays $630 a month into the welfare system. That's a huge chunk of any family's income.
That statistic has to be wrong. I looked at the article you referred to and still don't see how you came up with that number.
If a family is paying $630 a month into the welfare system then they must be making a lot of money. I wouldn't call them average though.
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Wow, I remember when I could get a loaf of bread for a $1. Now it is hard to find a loaf under $2. 4 loaves of bread would last us a week. I do find that having more bread on hand helps stretch the groceries.
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Apply if you need to. That is what it is there for. Just think of how much money you are saving the government by homeschooling ;) There has been times where we needed it but couldn't apply because my husband wasn't a US citizen and it would become a debt I would have to repay.
I would consider making some sort of change so the future would be more stable for you though. Perhaps your husband can take some online classes to qualify for a better job? Starting a business doesn't have to be costly. I started one when my son was an infant for less than $100. If you do start one you would have to find a niche and do what you know.
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Does anybody teach geography as part of their curriculm? I am considering this:
anyone use this??
I was planning on using this, but ended up making up my own unit studies on various countries. So far we have gone through North America and Europe.
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I'm using Very Very Vocabulary. It teaches dictionary skills as well as vocabulary. Next year I plan to use MCT language arts.
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I am an avid unschooler for the preschool years. For the elementary years I have been eclectic. I incorporate unschooling into our educational philosophy. I realize some unschoolers would cringe at that because we are mostly teacher-directed. But there are moments in our schooling where my boys take off on their own interests. During those times I try to sit back, let them explore, and put away our plan for schooling that day. Even though we do structured work, unschooling is still there throughout the rest of our day because education is so much more than the few hours set aside for structured work. I would have loved unschooling as a child. I would have thrived on it, but I had a high level of internal motivation towards learning.
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Anyone have any recommendations for math that is approached in meaningful contexts? My son struggles with math in isolation, but thrives on word problems and practical application. I'm looking for grade 3 and up.
Thanks!
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10-20% are unschoolers? I have a hard time believing that. The report makes it seem as though 10-20% are radical unschoolers which is quite misleading. I utilize unschooling. I unschool my toddler and I allow unschooling moments into our school day, but I am FAR from a radical unschooler.
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He is in the room with his brother and still wakes up screaming. Even if he gets in bed with a parent ( I am usually sleeping with the baby on the couch) he will wake up. I am not a stranger to co-sleeping (hence, me sleeping with the baby and not very able to get up and tend to the 2 yo without waking up the baby!). I don't really think it is night terrors. He seems to be awake. It is more of a tantrum, mad, angry scream. And, putting the gate up at the door didn't work. He just screams while at it. Again, simply putting him in bed with someone else doesn't seem to be the solution. This morning around 4 he was up screaming in bed with dh and I think he stopped after being given a bottle, but that is an early breakfast for a 2yo. Sometimes it is earlier than that.
Is he missing you? Were you the one who tended to him at night before the baby came?
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Why choose? Let her take both French and Spanish. Kids are able to learn multiple languages.
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I haven't studied ancient history since I was 11 years old and in the 6th grade. Pathetic, I know. But after discovering classical education I have felt compelled to give myself the education I wish I had received all those years ago. So I've started out by reading through SWB's History of the Ancient World (which is very readable for a novice like me, by the way), and I'm taking notes as I go. After I'm done, I want to start a very in-depth study of the time period.
So, I've been perusing these boards, reading lists, etc. and am trying to formulate a plan. Below is the list I have come up with. Has anyone gone through a course of study like this on their own? If so, how long did it take you? I would love to get through this over the next 2-3 years, but the list is very long and I'm not sure how realistic that would be. What do you think?
I have researched some of the translations for the ancient texts and if I have one in mind it's in parenthesis next to the title. If you think I've made a bad choice (or if I haven't made one yet) I would love to hear your opinions.
There are a few areas where I don't have much listed - I just don't know what else to read for those areas. And I know that some of the titles are really children's books, but thought I would include them since they are highly rated (and it would be nice to have something easy to read every once in a while ;)). I added historical fiction as well because I love the genre and I think it will help me tie everything together.
Suggestions? Advice? Have I left out anything very important? Is there something on the list you wouldn't bother with? General information to help with my ignorance? :bigear:
Here's my work-in-progress:
General Resources (covering multiple time periods):
Chronological Study Bible
Western Civilization – Spielvogel
Ancient Mesopotamia:
History/Biography/Political:
Herodotus – The Histories – Strassler’s The Landmark Herodotus
The Feasts of Adonai – Moody
Literature/Poetry/Drama:
Lugalbanda
The Epic of Gilgamesh (Foster)
From Distant Days….(Foster)
Historical Fiction:
Gods and Kings series
Ancient Egypt:
Literature/Poetry/Drama:
Anthology of Ancient Egyptian Literature (Foster)
Historical Fiction:
Mara, Daughter of the Nile
Cat of Bubastes
Ancient China:
History/Biography/Political:
The Art of War
Confucius – Analects (Yu)
Ancient Indus River Valley:
Literature/Poetry/Drama:
Bhagavad-Gita (Mascaro)
Mahabharata
Ramayana
Ancient Americas:
Literature/Poetry/Drama:
Need a good anthology of Ancient American Mythology
Ancient Scandinavia/Britain:
Literature/Poetry/Drama:
D’Aulaires Book of Norse Myths
Historical Fiction:
Hadrian’s Memoirs – Yourcenar
Warrior Scarlet - Sutcliff
Ancient Greece:
History/Biography/Political:
Thucydides – The Peloponnesian War – Strassler’s The Landmark Thucydides
Plato – Trial & Death of Socrates, The Republic, The Apology, Crito, Meno, Protagoras, Symposium (Cooper – The Complete Works)
Plutarch – Greek Lives (Waterfield)
Euclid – The Elements (Heath)
Literature/Poetry/Drama:
The Illiad and The Odyssey (Lattimore)
Greek Lyrics (Lattimore)
Aeschylus: The Oresteia, Agamemnon, Seven Against Thebes, The Libation Bearers, Eumenides, Prometheus Bound (Fagles or Lattimore)
Sophocles: Oedipus Rex, Colonus, Antigone (Fitzgerald)
Euripides: Alcestis, The Medea, Electra, Bacchae, Iphigenia in Tauris (Lattimore)
Aristophanes: The Birds, The Clouds, The Frogs, Lysistrata, Peace (Arrowsmith, Lattimore)
Aristotle: Ethics, Poetics, Politics (Sachs)
Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days (West)
D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths
Mythology by Edith Hamilton
Black Ships Before Troy by Sutcliff
Wanderings of Odysseus – Sutcliff
Historical Fiction:
Till We Have Faces - Lewis
Archimedes and the Door of Science - Bendick
Ancient Rome:
History/Biography/Political:
Plutarch – Roman Lives (Waterfield)
Augustine – Confessions (Chadwick), City of God (Dods)
Athanasius – On the Incarnation (Intro by C.S. Lewis)
The Didache (Ancient Christian Writers Vol. 6)
Suetonius – The 12 Caesars (Graves)
I, Claudius – (Graves)
City – MacAulay
Cicero – The Republic (Powell)
The Jewish War (Smallwood)
Meditations (Hays)
The Apostolic Fathers (Holmes)
Augustus Caesar’s World (Foster)
Literature/Poetry/Drama:
Catullus – various poems (Green)
Horace – Odes (Michie)
The Aeneid – Virgil (Fitzgerald)
Ovid – The Poems of Exile (Green), Metamorphoses (Martin)
In Search of a Homeland – Lively
Antony and Cleopatra - Shakespeare
Historical Fiction:
Flames of Rome – Maier
Mark of the Lion Series
Eagle of the Ninth Series – Sutcliff
The Silver Chalice
The Robe – Douglas
Quo Vadis
Ben Hur
Great list! Thanks for sharing! I never studied ancient history in all my years in school, sad but true. I started my little guys on a ancient history journey. We alternate with geography so we don't cover as much ground as we would if we did history the whole time. This year we covered or are covering:
Fall of man
Prehistory - cave man time
Myths and legends before the flood
Noah's flood
Ice age
Ancient Mestopotamia
That took up an entire school year - about 80 minutes a week for about 20 weeks of our 40 week school year. We do some reading and a lot of hands on activities. I usually read aloud one to two books per time period.
Next year I hope to cover ancient civilizations up to ancient Rome. I don't think we will make it to ancient Rome. I hope to cover ancient Egypt, Greece, Africa, Israel, India, China, Mongolia, Americas, and Britain.
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I was in my 30's - long story. I voted under age 8 for my daughter. She is only 2 and I will let her get her ears pierced as soon as she decides she wants to go through lots of pain to get them.
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He is not getting frustrated at this point. Most of my older kids were late to talk due to many languages around them. He pronounces some words (Bob the Builder, tummy and others) just fine, but most are not pronounces clearly which is why I used the term lazy. It does not sound as if he has a hearing issue, but that if he has gotten into a pattern of mis-pronouncing a word then he doesn't want to change. He was fx. mispronouncing one sister's name for a long time (eema instead of Deema) until we kept on insisting he pronounce it with a D which he now does. Isn't this defined laziness in pronounciation?
Actually, it wouldn't be laziness because his developmental abilities may not have allowed him to be able to pronounce the word correctly. Laziness would imply that he was fully able to do it and just didn't want to put in the effort. Names also seem to take longer before you get the correct pronunciation because it is a very familiar word that the child has said as "eema" for a long time.
My daughter turns 2 very soon and she says "candy" like "tan-nee." This is a normal process. As she grows she will be able to produce more and more complex sound sequences. It is normal for two year olds to be understood by strangers or an unfamiliar listener about 50% of the time. By the time the child is 3 that number should be more in the 80% range.
I would just repeat back or expand on what he says emphasizing the incorrect sound without requiring him to say it correctly. Especially when you are dealing with slower language development you want to make sure all language and speech attempts are valued. Correcting the speech directly at that age may make the child feel like an ineffective communicator and impact on his desire to communicate more. For instance if he says "eema" you can say "where is DDDDeema?" or "DDDDeema is silly" and deal with the mispronunciation without directly correcting his speech.
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Ds 2 yr 4 mths really seems to not only be slow in catching onto speech, but also to have real issues with repeating words. He is surrounded by three languages, but everyone talks to him and are actively engaging him. He is defnitely trying to use language, but for the most of the time then his pronounciation is extremely off. At times I would say he is lazy to pronounce words. Fx. he might be able to better enounciate some words, but chooses to go the easy way and pronounces them very lazily (and thus incomprehensibly). Fx. instead of calling his sister by her name "Hu-da", then he says "Hu-a". He finally began calling his other sister her name "Dee-ma" after refuding to give that "dee"-sound. He won't say cookie, but calls it something with t instead. He is beginning to really want to express himself and I just cannot understand what he is saying (one word uses only, rarely two word uses).
Is there anything I can do at home for him?
As a former speech therapist to young children I have seen this many times. If you are concerned or if he is frustrated at not being understood I would take him for a speech evaluation.
It is normal for children to simplify words though. They will often simplify a word that is difficult to say by leaving off sounds or changing sounds so they are at an easier spot in the mouth to say. These patterns to simplify words usually stop as your child grows and is able to produce more complex sequences in the mouth.
Also, children who are learning more than one language are slower to acquire language. For some helpful strategies you can apply at home go to http://www.HelpMyChildTalk.com
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I've been on the search for science curriculum lately and I've noticed that there seem to be two camps. There is a lot of curriculum written for Christian schools and homeschoolers that give the young earth creation perspective. Then I find the mainstream type of curriculum that teaches proof for evolution and origin of life.
I am a Christian, but don't want a curriculum that tries to prove the evolutionists wrong. It seems that most Christian curriculum approaches things through a defensive position and sometimes I see them make conclusions and connections that make no sense. Often they will talk down to the people who believe in evolution too.
I also don't want a curriculum that teaches that evolution is the origin of life.
So that leaves me pretty stuck. Or is there something out there that I have missed?
I have no problem with the old earth idea, but I'm not set in either an old earth or new earth position. I do believe in the authority of the Word of God and it is disconcerting to read Christian curriculum condemn those who believe differently. People interpret the Word of God differently.
My son and I did a huge study on dinosaurs a couple years ago. We used books from Christian and secular sources. I was surprised to find out that there were so many assumptions taken as facts from both sides of the issue. It sure gave my son good practice distinguishing between facts and theories.
I suppose a Christian old earth science curriculum wouldn't have the same issues, but I don't think it exists, right?
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These look great. About how long is each lecture?
About an hour.
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My son is enjoying an astronomy video course from a university in Michigan. It is an intro to Astronomy course so it assumes the student has no prior knowledge of astronomy. It is available free online here. You will get a security warning because the lectures are housed under an https. There are 25 video lectures available to view if you click to continue. They used to be listed at learn out loud.
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I have one child who is a science nut. He devours technical books on science topics, but his math skills are on grade level. I can't use science curriculum for his age or grade because it doesn't give enough information. I can't use science curriculum that would give his desired level of information because it requires math skills at a higher level. So, anyone else have a kid like this? If so, can you share how you approached science throughout the years.
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As an aside, I am often amazed at how many people don't have even a simple understanding of genetics, as in, "But both parents have brown eyes, how could the child have blue??" I thought most high schools required at least one year of biology for a science? I suppose I am grossly overestimating people's ability to remember even simple things, assuming they took the class. But then again I have had people tell me that I give people too much credit.
Maybe they had a high school teacher like mine that told a student that she was not a product of her mother and father because of her eye color.
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Thanks for the responses. I will do a search. How much time does it typically take in a school day? Do you read classics along with it as part of your language arts?
US Citizens becoming a citizen of another country
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
My kids were all born in the USA and we always get questioned more because of the mixed citizenship in the vehicle. We have never had a problem entering Canada. It is always the US officials that question us more. Back when my husband and I were first married we were unaware of a immigration law that did not allow a person to leave the US before they received their green card. We had just come across the border to celebrate our wedding with family in Canada and when we tried to go back they wouldn't let my husband in. They flagged my license plate so when I went across the border to do some banking they questioned me and when I went across to go home they interrogated me. The US government's idea of a solution was for us to get divorced and enter the US as individuals. My husband had been living in the US as a student. It was either that or live apart for 2 years. We went to see a lawyer who said he would take dh across the border in the trunk of his car. Needless to say, we didn't go that route.