AndyJoy
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Posts posted by AndyJoy
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We lived in Las Vegas when I was a small child, so I got used to hearing the ice cream truck and asking for ice cream. When I was 4, we moved to Okinawa. One morning, I woke up at 6:00 am to the sound of the ice cream truck! I ran into my mom's room excitedly. It turns out that the garbage trucks played music there!
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This is actually my mom's story, but it's really great!
My mom's best friend was at a Melaleuca convention and saw a woman across the room who she said looked so much like my mom that they could be sisters. My mom thought that was amusing, but said, "Well, I do have two older half sisters whom I've never met. Maybe it's one of them?" A few months later, my mom's dad died, and she was introduced to her half sister at the hospital. Out of curiosity, my mom asked her if she sold Melaleuca and had attended that convention. Sure enough, she had! Also, both my mom and her half sister named their firstborns Andrea!
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I'm sure it's just because of freezer burn. My family always ate ground beef that had been frozen longer than that and never gave it a second thought. It's so expensive here than whenever it is $2 or less a pound I stock up!
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I am not homeschooling my own kids yet, but I can tell you that I was mathematically gifted, used Saxon 87, Alg. 1, and Alg. 2, and LOVED it! Not all gifted kids dislike it. I loved its crisp black and white presentation without all the clutter in most math books. I loved how the instructions were directed at me, so I could teach myself and advance ahead without having to listen to a lecture to get it. I didn't get bogged down w/the number of problems because I only had to do the odds if I could prove that I got it. I took Pre-calc. and Calc. at a public school after Alg. 2, and had the highest grade in both classes, so I would say it gave me a good foundation. I've been working through Alg. 2 again lately just for fun.
With my own (future) kids, I'm going to look into Singapore as well, as I've been interested in the samples I've seen of it. I just wanted to get in a good word for Saxon from a gifted kid's perspective as well.
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This is the only picture I have handy now, and it doesn't show off much of the dress, but you get the idea. The bodice is covered with little beads, and the skirt/train is satin with beaded lace accents.
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My wedding in 2003 was a fairly simple affair by most people's standards, but it was a blast. My dress was $350 including alterations. I had intended to have my mom make mine, because she made hers in 1975 and it was beautiful. We went to David's Bridal to look for ideas, and I ended up buying my dress on a mega sale ($800 originally).
We had both the ceremony and reception at my church, which only charged $75. We served cake, punch, nuts, mints, and fruits and veggies at our reception. My mother-in-law made a beautiful cake that I had chosen out of a cake decorating book. The reception was a 50's theme, so we had lots of fun decorating with roller skates, balloons, records, diner aprons, Coke, red tableclothes, black & white checkered runners, etc. We made a jukebox w/a laptop inside that played 50s songs. My extremely artistically talented best friend painted the front of a '57 Chevy for the bridal party table, so it looked like my husband and I were sitting in it.:auto: My mom made me a red satin poodle skirt for my going-away outfit.
We made the boquets and boutonnieres ourselves with fresh flowers, and a friend arranged the rest of the flowers (silk) as a gift. We donated the red and white silk arrangements to the church after the wedding, and they have been used frequently (4th of July, Memorial Day, Christmas, etc.) I paid for the fabric and patterns for my bridesmaids' and flower s' dresses, and their mothers sewed them. The groom's and groomsmen's tuxes and shoes were only $60 at a discount rental place.
The rehersal dinner given by my inlaws was a salmon BBQ (they are from Alaska and brought the salmon with them). It was simple but delicious and fun.
We spent just over $2,500 and had about 200 guests. We have never regretted having a simple wedding. Almost 5 years later, people from my church still tell me that it was the most fun they ever had at a wedding. For me, the point of a wedding is not to show off or spend absurdly large amounts of money to buy "happiness", but to celebrate your commitment to one another with a fun party with family and friends. For me, the value of the wedding is the people, not the finery.
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My best friend is the oldest in a family of four, and her mom got comments and strange looks all the time when they lived in CA. I looked enough like them to be the oldest sister and was with them quite often, so people usually thought there were 5 in the family. The best time was when I was out with them, and the mom called us over, "Andrea, Amy, Andrea, Kara, David, come here!" The poor clerk asked incredulously, "You have TWO daughters named Andrea?" The mom responded in a serious voice, "Yes--we like the first one so much we named the third one after her!"
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When I was 18 mo. I climbed out of my playpen where I had been napping and broke my arm! A mattress on the floor quickly became my new bed until I was old enough for a twin.
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I don't know if they'll get this one, but...
What did Snow White say when she dropped off her film to be developed at Wal-Mart?
Someday my prints will come.
Also, this is a pointless joke that usually gets laughs--
What did Farmer Brown say when he lost his cow?
I lost my cow!
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I'm 26 and am often mistaken for a 17-18 year old. Since I teach jr. high on a K-12 campus, students and parents sometimes think I'm in high school when I am dressed casually for teaching PE.
What's funny is that when I was 14, people at church thought I was college-aged (though I didn't look it) because I was so poised and authoritative as an AWANA Sparkies leader. I had to clarify quite often that I was a freshman in high school!
My sister is 24, but looks 30. She manages a tanning salon (and obviously tans!) and has caked on the makeup since jr. high. She likes that people think she's older than me now, but I tell her she won't be amused when she's 35 and looks 40 and I'm 37 and look 30!
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Summer of the Monkeys & Where the Red Fern Grows, both by Wilson Rawls.
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When I was a young teen, my best friend Amy and I bonded by elaborately “pranking†our friends at youth camp each summer. We would spend an entire Saturday the week before plotting and gathering materials. We would actually schedule what pranks to play on each day! We had a written code of pranking ethics, which banned the use of shaving cream or humiliation tactics and required restitution for any property destruction. Scaring, annoying, and inconveniencing were fair game.
Originally, we pranked a variety of people, but we soon settled on one target, a popular named Crystal. It’s not as mean as it sounds, because she relished the attention that it got her. The fact that she would “accidentally†leave her door unlocked every day was one indication that she enjoyed it.
My personal favorite prank was jalapeño toothpaste. A few days before camp, Amy and I squeezed a tube of toothpaste onto a plate. We mixed enough jalapeño juice into it to give a nice burning sensation when you brushed with it! The great part was that the mint masked the smell and it actually tasted like mint for about 2 seconds before the burn began. We sucked the toothpaste into straws, put them in Ziploc bags, and took them to camp with us. Then, we sneaked into Crystal’s room and squeezed the spicy toothpaste into her tube. That night, we locked our door, and were treated to Crystal’s screams at about 10:30 pm. She banged on our door while we laughed hysterically. When we finally let her in and we explained what it was, she laughed with us. However, she was less pleased with us a few minutes later, when the toothpaste she borrowed from her traitorous roommate was salt and vinegar flavored!
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In the late 1800s and early 1900s, no one thought it was weird to live miles away from the nearest town and "socialize" with only your family and church family! My ancestors were westward pioneers who managed to marry, raise large families, acquire land, serve in political office, etc. without the "socialization" of public school! They were isolated from the "real world" by today's standards, and yet they lead long, happy, successful lives. They learned to be respectful, to contribute to their families, and avoid the temptations of the "big city" life. They had no trouble assimilating into the larger world when they chose to leave their agrarian lifestyle behind. No one worried about socialization, because life was happening all the time at home!
Then came the advent of free, available public schooling. People began to think those who didn't jump aboard this "amazing" opportunity were strange. Nevermind the fact that their kids were being taught values that their parents didn't support. Nevermind that kids no longer worked alongside their parents and thus started taking them for granted. Nevermind that kids started identifying more with their peers and less with their families. Nevermind that siblings started forsaking one another's company for that of their friends (when did siblings stop being friends?). Just because something is free doesn't mean it's useful or beneficial! I don't worry about socialization because the home-centered life worked for thousands of years before taxes and technology made "free" public school and quick transportation possible.
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I cut myself with a knife last year and debated getting it stitched. When I went in the next day, the doctor said he wished I had come in that day, because he now couldn't/wouldn't stitch it because it was more than 8 hours old. You might want to consider this.
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Brain Age and Brain Age 2 are educational (math facts, memory games, etc.) They were intended to get adults to buy DS games for themselves, but could be fun/educational for a kid as well.
I've recently been playing Professor Layton and the Curious Village, which is a blast! It's a mystery/puzzle solving game. It can be quite challenging at times, so I think it might be best for a kid 12 or older or a logic-minded 10 year old. The story line does involve solving mysterious disappearances/murder, but it is cartoony, nothing is shown or described, etc. in the parts I have played thus far. I can't vouch for all the content yet, as I haven't finished it. You could probably find more reviews online if you are interested.
I don't know anything about Mario Olympics for DS, but Mario Party is a "mini-game" game. There are puzzles and small challenge games that you play against the system or wirelessly against friends who also have a DS.
As you've already discovered, the SIMS was an intriguing concept with a bad implementation. It includes "adult" themes, language, concepts, etc. I won't even get it for myself because it is not the "good clean fun" that I'm looking for.
Dogz, Catz, Horsez, etc. are popular games with young girls. They are basically like sophisticated, much more lifelike and cute Tamagotchi Pets that you adopt, feed, play with, etc. on your DS. Warning, these can be addicting!
Do you know that all the old Gameboy and Gameboy Advance games are playable on a DS, right? The old games don't use the stylus--only the buttons. You can often pick up old Gameboy games for $5-$15 at game stores like Game Crazy or at pawn shops. This opens HUNDREDS of possibilities for games, including old favorites like Tetris, Dr. Mario, the Super Mario series, etc.
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Have you checked with private schools for Woodcock Johnson testing? My small Christian school in CA uses it to evaluate all our incoming students.
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My sister and I were very imaginative in our play, constructing ongoing alternate identities for ourselves that spanned years of our lives. Even when we were 12 and 10, we would come home after school and enter one of our imaginary worlds while eating our snack and doing our chores together. When friends came over to play, we invited them into our world and astonished them with how much fun we could have without TV!
As a teen, I would help my babysitting charges enter the world of imagination. I thought it was "lame" to get paid for plopping the kids in front of the TV, even they were used to watching a couple of hours of TV each night. Thus, I ignored the TV when I babysat, and they never missed it once I got their imaginations going! Both boys and girls would beg to have me sit for them because they liked my "dress up games."
I have seen a severe lack of both self-regulation and imagination in the jr. high students I teach. It is interesting to find that the two are related, but it makes sense. If you are always looking for an external stimulus for entertainment or to tell you what to do to not be bored (parents, TV, video games, organized sports, etc.) it makes sense that you will look to external sources for feedback about behavior rather than solving problems yourself.
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is "Not dead yet." :p This usually gets a laugh, or a "Well, that's good." except for the few concerned souls who think this means he has a death wish. He just likes to throw people off balance. He also never asks anyone "How are you doing?" Instead, he asks, "Are we having fun yet?" When we were in college, he singled me out to date partially because I was the only girl in his computer class who responded correctly* to this question!
*correctly meaning actually answering the question rather than looking at him like he was a freak :)
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s*xual inuenndos at a party near the beginning. When my sister saw it at 12 she didn't understand/get them, but I did at 14. Though my sister had already seen the movie with family, my mom wouldn't let her see it at again at school becuase she didn't want my sister's classmates to "enlighten" her.
I would personally find it a bit intense for kids that age. There is a young boy who fears for his dad, and I think that might make a young child have fears for his own parents.
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I bet he'll remember that forever.:D
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I sometimes see theatre used when referring to attending a play, and theater when attending a movie. As I was typing this, my spell checker is automatically underling theatre in red and telling me to spell it theater!
Other British/American differences I can think of relate to -or and -our such as:colour/color and favourite/favorite. I found a website that lists other common differences http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/jones/differences.htm
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This was a very interesting read. I think this will help me in dealing with my 6th-8th grade students. I have several students who lie about everything! Others are "arguers" who would rather fight than lie about their feelings. I also have a few who are so afraid of being labelled tattlers that they won't tell a teacher about anything--including the important stuff.
I was one of those teens who saw arguing about things with my parents as a bonding experience. This was how I got to know them, see where they were coming from, and test my views for their approval (or disapproval). I even liked it when they could show me the flaws in my thinking so that I could ruminate over my views some more. I know this sometimes exasperated them (especially my mom), but they usually let me debate with them as long as I was respectful and was willing to obey even if they couldn't persuade me of the logic of their views.
I remember my mom yelling at my sister and me for "fighting" when we were 12 and 14 when to us we were having a perfectly civil argument about something inconsequential. We were just enjoying using our debating skills with each other. We looked at her like she was an alien!
In my classroom, I have tried to make the kids feel welcome to disagree with me, as long as they are respectful and obedient. I would rather have a student tell me why he did/didn't do something so I can address his reasons rather than have him clam up and let his feelings fester. I work with my sixth graders especially about the difference between tattling and informing me about important things.
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My younger sister lost her baby teeth VERY slowly. She lost one shortly after her 14th birthday, then the dentist finally chose to pull the last two! She is 24 now and has never gotten her wisdom teeth.
Toys, Clutter, and Rules
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Sounds like a great idea to me! I remember being overwhelmed with my toys as a kid because I had so many different categories that not everything HAD a place of its own. I'm planning to limit my kids to specific categories and not hang on to the random junk that seems to accumulate so easily!