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Irishmommy

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Everything posted by Irishmommy

  1. When I taught 9th grade English, we covered the following elements in a variety of formats (short stories, novels, poems, biographies/autobiographies: Characterization - direct and indirect Types of characters - protagonist, antagonist, dynamic, static, flat, round, foil Stages of plot development - exposition (includes setting), inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement or resolution - there might be others I am forgetting Poetic or literary devices - similes, metaphors, hyperbole, imagery, pun, allusion, repetition, consonance, assonance, irony (dramatic, situational, verbal) Asking interpretative type questions, like... (In TKAM, Atticus says Ms. Dubose is very brave. Why does he consider her brave? Is she or isn't she brave? - Cite examples from the text - How does her braveryor lack of bravery compare to Atticus? What makes Mr. Ewell different than the men who visit Atticus at the jail? What is the significance of Mr. Cunningham stooping to speak to scout and how does that reinforce the idea of walking in someone else's shoes or seeing things from a different perspective? Hope that helps some! Oh, and if you are planning on reading Shakespeare, I would recommend the Cliff's complete study edition. It has the original text along with notes and summaries of the acts. I would tell my students to read the summaries first, then the scenes, that way they would at least know what was happening in the scene when they read the original text. I found knowing what was going to happen helped students from getting lost in the language. So, in our discussions, we didn't have to rehash what happened, but could focus on the why behind the events.
  2. I plan on downloading them this weekend, so I don't get caught again. And I emailed the magestra not magenta!
  3. ThanKS ladies, I emailed the magenta and she sent me the lessons I needed. She did say the site had been having trouble. Good to know it is all cleared up. I really appreciate the offer for help Stella!
  4. I have been trying to log on to the Lively Latin site for a few days and have been getting an error message. Is anyone having problems? Does anyone know what is going on or when it might be fixed? My son needs the next few lessons for BBLL2 and we are stuck until the website comes back up. I am very frustrated. Help!! :0)
  5. That isn't like him. I have ordered many times from him and have always been VERY pleased.
  6. Move on. I come from a long line of TX public educators (and was one myself), some people just won't ever get it. You can't please all of the people all of the time. Your decision is your decision. You don't have to justify what you do for your family to anyone. My family was shocked when we decided to being my son home, but the public school had totally and miserably failed him. After one year of homeschooling my mother was my biggest supporter (retired TX teacher). She saw amazing benefits for my son. I do think our public school system is flawed in many ways. I thought that way even when I worked in public education. But, in the end, I am going to do what is right for my family no matter what anyone thinks. I found much relief when I stopped trying to convince everyone I had made the right decision. Every once in a while my mother-in-law still tries to give me schooling advice, I just smile and nod my head...
  7. My son HATED the elementary Saxon levels. He absolutely loathed the spiral approach. We switched to Singapore and he was MUCH happier, therefore, so was I! BUT, we have been working through Saxon Algebra 1, through virtualhomeschoolgroup.com, and he is doing very well. He has an 86 average and is in 7th grade. We are calling it pre-algebra this year, and will finish it next year as Algebra 1. So, even if you HATED the younger levels of Saxon, there is still a chance you might like the older levels!
  8. New hits this year: DS 5yo - LoE Foundations AO 1 DD 8yo - LoE Essentials AO 1 DS 12yo - Saxon Alg. I Classical Writing - Aesop & Homer for older beginners Prentice Hall Science Explorer AO Misses: Shurley Grammar - good program but I needed an aio Tablet class - total mess Old Favorites: Five in a Row <3
  9. With my oldest we started (very lightly) in 5th with Lively Latin. It has gone very well, but this year is the first we have really been serious about it. We will finish LL this year (7th) and do LL2 for 8th. Dd will finish SS Latin (which she loves) this year (3rd) and we will probably go to SSL 2 next year, then LL for her fifth grade year.
  10. I need to write these down and put this list in my hurricane box! And, yeah, instant coffee is def on the top of the list! An emergency moment is NOT the time for me to be without coffee!
  11. Yes, passive voice! That is what I was forgetting! I was trying to explain it the way Matryoshka explained it. Thank you. My mind was a fog! Random side note, Sparkly Unicorn, my kids think your dancing bacon is hilarious!
  12. Was made is a verb phrase, well being the "helping verb", made being the "main verb". Transitive/intransitive just refers to whether or not it has an object, right? I don't remember the rule for verb phrases. Dave threw the ball. The ball was thrown by Dave. Someone help me here?!
  13. You want my honest opinion? Don't waste your time or money like I did. I bought all kinds of "fun" typing programs that did not make one bit of difference in my son's skills. What did work? I offered to teach a technology class (aka typing) for our co-op. I just bought an old fashioned typing book and taught them letter by letter, with practice exercises that used the strokes we had learned. I hope that will be enough for him to type papers and reports. So, it will take your time, but I say go old school and forget the programs!
  14. Haven't read all the replies, but leave a pair of socks at her house near the door?
  15. I don't really have experience with TC, but my son has had tics in the past and still does on occasion. Out pediatric neurologist told us that 80% of children have some sort of tic during childhood and that most go away on its own. I thought that number sounded high, but my son's tics have all gone away without intervention.
  16. I wanted to say also, I tried to do history centered curriculum one year, and my dd remembered NOTHING that we had studied the first semester. My kids really retain the things they learn with FIAR! (We use SOTW, also, but we just listen to it in th car, and do not do activities.)
  17. We LOVE LOVE LOVE FIAR over here! I can't sing its praises enough. I think it is a GREAT introduction to literary analysis on the elementary level. My kids love it. They will be the first to tell you it is the BEST part of their day. My almost 13yo still sits in on the lessons (even though his reading level is 10th grade level) because he just loves the books and the lessons so much. (That is not his curriculum, but wants to be there when his siblings experience the books and lessons!). We usually stretch out each book for two weeks, taking the second (or more) for "rabbit trails". We don't usually read the whole story for five days, but I read the sections that the lesson deals with. My kids usually want to hear the story at least three times.
  18. And no, I wouldn't think it would make sense to do Sonlight if she takes history at the ps, because most cores center around history. I would take the time/money and put it into a really fantastic Biology course.
  19. Personally, if she wants to take the History and you don't feel confident teaching LA, I would make those the two that she takes at ps. There are so many good foreign language programs out there, that can practically teach your child without you even knowing the language. Dance should either count as pe or fine arts, depending on the school. As soon as I can I am going to farm out science. My son wants to go into the science field and I think he would thrive in a class/lab setting. Look up the requirements for the upper level class that she wants to take and make sure to prepare her for that.
  20. We have always been upfront with my son. We just explained that we knew he was having a hard time (or I was), or that he needed some testing so we could see where his strengths and weaknesses were so we could know how better to help him when he is struggling or frustrated. We explained that people go to doctors for all kids of reasons, diagnosis, treatment, therapy, etc. and that was all it was, another doctor appointment, no big deal, no reason to be nervous about it. One time my son asked why he has to do so much speech therapy and his siblings do not. I gave him examples of times that he has struggled (with communication issues) and that he just needed a little help in that area. I told him that a specialist in that area is the best one to help him because she is trained to know how to help with those issues.
  21. Our ring bearer carried his bottle of juice with him (he was 2), and it as the cutest thing ever! We loved that we could include all of our family, but we did tell my dh's aunt if she didn't want him to be in the wedding, that was fine with us, but we are not the type to feel like if the kids make noise it will ruin things. I know some people are very particular about that. I had a cousin that asked that we not bring kids into the ceremony, so we didn't go.
  22. And, donate the gifts they don't use to charity, then at least someone will get enjoyment from them.
  23. We make Amazon gift lists for the kids! I got so tired of having to explain to my MIL what the gift was, where to get it, etc. The gift list has been the best thing for us!
  24. YES!!!! Many things can trigger depression, including all of the things you mentioned. I was depressed for probably a year before things got better for me. I did not have medication at that time, but wish I had. I would have been able to cope so much better. I saw medicine as some sort of failure on my part, and that I should just be able to suck it up and deal. I think that is a common feeling, but it shouldn't be. See another doctor. And, I seriously think men just don't get it. My DH told me to work out more too (and still does, come to think of it), I think they can't even conceive of the mess our bodies are in after giving birth, especially with birth trauma! Hugs!
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