Create Your Ritual
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Posts posted by Create Your Ritual
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A topic I've struggled with as well. It's interesting what society tells us, and what we tell ourselves, about the value of our time and what is a "good" use of it. My 20 year old self certainly wanted to change the world, but my 48 year old self is more aligned with changing my little corner of it.
Now that our older dd & ds are off to university and we're down to 14yr ds at home. I've noticed a huge improvement in my energy levels. I was operating on stressed out, busy mom mode for years. 😉 And while I loved SO MANY aspects of raising kids on a 5th generation working farm & cattle ranch, it's also been nice switching gears and carving out more time for myself when things are slower.
Although it's been a huge process of letting go of the kids as they grow up (which still generates its own stress), it's forced me to fill that time up with other things, and I am blessed to have the luxury of choosing those things. Some days I'd love to 'do more' or 'be more', but honestly by the time I exercise, walk the dogs, school ds for a few subjects, and write a bit in my novel ... it's already past noon and time to start thinking about dinner prep. Heck, I spent an hour just writing this! 😄
And I'm not even going to talk about all the hormonal changes going on these days! All that said, the holistic nutritionist in me knows now is MY time, so I'm to make good use of it and set all those rituals in place that generate daily health and well being. I can't do that if I give all my time away, and I certainly can't do it if I feel guilty about what I'm not accomplishing.
During the summer we're still in full farming mode, grow a large family garden, raise our own cattle & chickens for food, have a small greenhouse for winter months, and several DIY indoor hydroponic towers that grow organic lettuce for year round use (Can you tell I like food!). In between all the busy we enjoy the warm weather - kayak, swim, hike, etc. So honestly, I'm just really looking forward to living my days to the fullest in the coming years - traveling, gardening, cooking, knitting, going on hikes, and finishing that novel I've been writing for years. And most of all just being OK with all of it! 😉
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5 hours ago, travelgirlut said:
still have them. Message me your email and I'll send them to you!
Thank you for offering. Someone else contacted me yesterday and shared them. So glad we didn’t miss those sections. Thanks again for responding.
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Do you happen to have just the Skills & Practice Worksheets downloaded for Physical Science? They no longer have Unit 4 or Unit 6 Skills & Practice Worksheets available. I've downloaded and printed all the rest.
Update: I have a Google Drive of it now. 😉
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On 7/16/2017 at 8:11 PM, Alte Veste Academy said:
I am about to go on a PDF file saving spree.
Can you tell me if you saved the Skills and Practice Worksheets for Physical Science? The link is missing Unit 4: Electricity, Sound & Light as well as Unit 6: Atoms, Elements & Compounds. I have printed all the other sections but those keep saying not available at that link. They are such a great resource when combined with the text that I hate to miss any sections. I am hoping someone downloaded and saved these and is willing to share?
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We found a lot of value in our kids attending the local community college. They are/were younger Running Start students, so technically they were still in high school while there but it gave my dd18 an amazing platform to learn to advocate for herself out in the real world while still being supported at home every night. She also learned to move at the pace college classes move at, but the class sizes were small enough that she developed great relationships with her professors and had access to the help she needed. She's now full time at a four year university, and she's definitely grown from the experience.
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My DS11 is studying Spanish this year, and he's been using a Fluenz Spanish program I've owned for a few years. He's goes through the lesson on a desktop with headphones while I review each lesson with my laptop and headphones next to him. It's fairly low key, and has been very easy to implement. We close it down at the end of each 30 min lesson, and then it comes right back to where you left off the next time. I've used Fluenz for both Spanish & Italian. What I appreciate about the program is how quickly you are speaking useful, conversational Spanish which is what I was after for his first year of Spanish. It's a fairly expensive initial purchase, but there's a big sale every year for Black Friday and maybe the month of December.
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On 7/9/2018 at 5:05 PM, klmama said:
workbook, and teacher copies
Hi, can I ask where you found these?
** Nevermind ** found them! 😉
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On 7/16/2019 at 8:05 AM, Matryoshka said:
But you definitely want to get the online stuff. Buy a license for each kid (~$18 each) direct from the publisher. It has all the videos, the audio listening files, lots of extra practice worksheets with reminders of the lesson on the first page, the whole student workbook in PDF form, an online copy of the text, and more. And you get included with that your own access to the teacher materials, with an online copy of the Teacher's guide, all the answer keys to everything, extra reading and classroom activities, and online and/or printed quizzes and tests at three different difficulty levels.
Can I ask where you found the link to purchase the $18 access? I see the free resources on classzone.com but can't access the teacher's toolkit without a teacher's access code which I assume would be with a new purchase. I am wanting to buy a used textbook on Amazon and just the license.
Also, does anyone know if there is considerable difference between the 2007 & 2018 editions. If it's notable, I may just purchase the new text from Christianbook and get the access code that way, but if I can piece it together with an old book and class zone activities then that might work. I've opened the free 4 month membership with them and see that having the teacher resources online really isn't all that helpful. lol
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I have a 6th grader (DS11) who is just beginning Math Mammoth 7A & B which is a pre-algebra curriculum. I've used MM 1-6 with all three kids and had great success with it. After this year my plan is to use Foersters Algebra alongside Mathwithoutborders.
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Thanks so much for these links. I've been wondering where to find the Skills Worksheets.
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This is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂
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With the older kids working harvest with their Dad the entire month of August, the house is very quiet! Must be back to school time for DS! I'm actually excited to get started with the full schedule. Summers are very busy on the farm, but I enjoy having a routine and knocking out some school work while things are relatively quiet in the house. Plus we hope to travel over the winter for a bit, so good to start early. Have a great year everyone!
DAILY
Math - Math Mammoth 7
Writing - Writing With Skill - Level 1
Vocab - Lively Latin 2 / Caesar’s English II
Piano - daily practice
PE - 30 - 60 Min daily activity - soccer, biking, running, swimming
M W F
Geography - Daily Practice Gr. 6 (T), Skill Sharpeners Gr. 6 (TH)
Grammar - Grammar for the Well Trained Mind
Spanish - Fluenz
Science - CPO Life Science, month long microscope study, Botony in a Day, End of year science project.
T TH
History Odyssey Level 2 - Middle Ages
Spelling Workout - Level G
Cursive - Pentime 5 & 6
Artistic Pursuits - Sculpture Technique - Construct
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My older two were very competitive with each other when homeschooling together all day, which is where I think a lot of the bickering came from. It drove me crazy as well! As they've gotten older, and their lives have become more independent, I've noticed they visit more now. They also enjoy having time alone together to do things without us. And surprisingly they don't argue with each other at all when we aren't around. If/when I come back into the room though .. game on. It may be age, or just that there's a parent in the room to complain to, but they do seem to enjoy each others company a lot more now. Still competitive though. Hang in there. 🙂
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Here's what I have so far -
Math - Math Mammoth 6A & 6B, also considering Beast Academy online 5.
History/Geography/Writing/Reading - History Odyssey Level 2 - Ancients with all the books for reading that go with it
Spelling Workout - I think it's levels F & G
Writing - continuing our summer work of WWE4 and Sentence Composing, hoping to move into WWS1 next year. May mix it up a bit with CC Fable book I have to get him writing longer pieces that I know he'll enjoy.
Grammar - Currently looking at FLL4 or Analytical Grammar Jr
Vocab & Language Building - Lively Latin 1 and CE1 (Caesar's English 1)
Science - RS4K Middle School Chemistry. Chem C2000 kit. Follow that with McHenry's Organic Chemistry (we finished The Elements this summer).
Cursive (Pentime 5)/Typing for half a semester - Building Thinking Skills for the other half
He plays classical piano, is a member of a LEGO Robotics team, Boy Scouts, and is playing soccer this fall.
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On 2/7/2018 at 9:16 PM, JHLWTM said:
"Grammar: undecided. We've been doing FLL, but I'd like to move her to something more independent"
That sounds great. I've been wondering what this option would be as well.
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I am on my 3rd child using Math Mammoth, and I have to say it's been very easy to implement, teaches directly to the student, and has been an excellent elementary math program for our family. My 3rd is in 5th grade this year and doing MM6, he'll move on to AOPS after.
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Hi, thank you for posting. My kids are in PS now, but both have expressed interest in studying physics at home after school. They are middle schoolers now. We have the Focus on Physical Science free downloaded text and I was wondering if anyone had replaced the classroom kit with a specific list of items they ordered to use alongside this text. It's hard because I like the aspect of having an actual text to read from alongside labs. They don't have a curriculum per say at their middle school. Just 'packets' ... oh my how I dislike packets. ;-( So I would like to get a bit more info than just a lab kit with experiments would give. Would you mind sharing what you changed over to after CPO?
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I would love to know the answer to this as well .. 3 years later! ;-)
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I am trying to ascertain what Home Science Tool kits (or others) would go with CPO Physical Science. Does anyone have a list of things they ordered when they used CPO in the past? Thanks
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My dd13 is interested in doing online summer courses in literature, writing, and science. What options would you recommend that are online, go about 6-8 weeks, and offer a teacher/student webinar live class at least once a week.
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I haven't been on in a while as my kids are back in PS during the school year and homeschooled in the summer. When I heard what happened I had to get on and reach out to you, Rosie. I am so terribly sorry for your loss. My thoughts, prayers, and all my love go out to your family during this time.
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I'm all ears Ruth! Loved reading it!
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Hello Lewelma!
My kids are both back in PS, however we have continued our WWS work among with a few other subjects at home. We typically do WWS 3-4 days a week. I love the idea of having it up on a wall somewhere to review, as I find myself having them turn back to the reference section and review. ds10 has started on WWS2, and we move through the week at about half pace. dd12 is on WWS2 Week 24 I believe. She has LOVED the rewriting sections, as it reminded her of all the Classical Composition work we did with fables years back.
So far it is going well. I have thoroughly enjoyed it, especially when compared to what they are doing in PS. dd12 excels in LA, grammar, and vocab primarily due to WWS and MCT. Both kids received advanced scores in the states MSP testing, so something is sticking. ;-)
Having looked at so many curriculums over the years, I have found WWS to be the most advanced version of writing instruction that I have ever seen. It has been exactly what we needed, and when I can sit and talk with dd12 about how a particular classical essay, scientific article, etc. was put together, she SEES it. She has definitely gone beyond the standard Intro, 3 things, conclusion type writing of her PS peers. She loves having options with how to form her composition. She sees now that there is not one way to write about a particular subject, but multiple ways depending on what you want to get across to the reader.
Would I say she has it ALL figured out at the age of 12 .. no. But I know we will continue down this path, and she can only continue to improve with practice. I loved your ideas Ruth, and it does help to make the lesson all come together when you add those things in. ;-)
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So far so good here .. We are enjoying 'The Highwayman' in Week 17/18. ;-)
Feeling blah and unable to pin down a cause
in The Chat Board
Posted · Edited by Create Your Ritual
So sorry to hear it! Sleep is essential and lack of it definitely dictates your energy levels for the rest of the day. From a health standpoint, high levels of chronic stress (what you might see from chronic lack of sleep) raises cortisol levels which in turn raises blood glucose levels which could be a contributing factor to lack of weight loss.
With regards to sleep there are several herbal options you might research and see if they feel right for you .. sleep tinctures with valerian, hops, california poppy, chamomile, etc. There are many options, choose a reputable company. You might also research low dose melatonin. There are also adaptogens that help strengthen the body while also promoting sleep - ashwagandha for one. There are mushroom powders that might also benefit - Reishi, Lions Mane, etc.
Magnesium levels are often very low as we age, so read up on adding a Magnesium Glycinate supplement to your day (natural muscle relaxer) or taking Natural Calm powder before bed at night.
Working with a certified ND (Naturopathic Physician) would be of huge benefit as they can test hormone levels and assist through this hormonal transition. If you're interested in specific dietary changes you might also consider a nutritional approach that focuses on lowering overall inflammation in the body (Paleo, Whole 30, Younger You) to name just a few.
Love the walking! Keep it up. Might also look into Essentrics or Classical Stretch on PBS or online. This is such a process, so have loads of grace for yourself right now. Good luck! Feel better!