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ekarl2

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Posts posted by ekarl2

  1. All,

     

    Thank you so much.  Mom was my business partner, but most importantly my best friend.  She's lived with us for four year.  Her mother, my grandmother Majorie also lived with us and passed away January 30th, so it's been a tough few months.  Mom battled cancer for seven years, but for most of that time did fairly well.  We even wrote Beyond the Book Report and Eternal Argument during that time!  Her legacy is her work as a teacher; she would be so honored by the lovely comments from former students here and on our FB pages. 

    My daily life is going to be quite different, but I'm doing okay.  Thank you so much for your love and prayers.

     

    Erin

    • Like 5
  2. Well, I'm Air Force, so I can speak to that.

     

    Go to your local recruiter and ask for a copy of "The Book" put out yearly (I think in January) by Airman Magazine. It's like an encyclopedia of Air Force ... rank, planes, pay, locations, missions, etc. The other services may have something similar.

     

    Also go to the Web sites. NOT the recruiting ones (like http://www.airforce.com), but the real ones. The Air Force is http://www.af.mil. Look for the .mil ending. There's a TON of info on there. The DoD has http://www.defense.gov, too.

  3.  

    Boy I'd like to flip through these books. I 've looked back and forth at them over the last couple of years, but they aren't cheap enough to buy and not use.

     

    You're welcome to order them and return the if you don't like what you see. You're only out the shipping if you do that. We're happy to refund the purchase of anything not used/written in.

     

    Blessings,

     

    Erin from AG

  4. We are moving out of the country for 3 years. When we come back we are open to living about anywhere. Any ideas on how to search for states/cities/school districts that offer some of these great programs for homeschoolers?

     

    Also, slighly off the topic, but do you think there are homeschool state laws that I would have to follow if not living in the US but still a citizen?

     

    thanks!!

     

    The states I listed in my previous post, CA, WA, ID, and AK especially, have a host of programs like this.

  5. I can give you the vendor perspective.

     

    We receive purchase orders from school districts in California, Alaska, Washington, Idaho, and Minnesota. (There may be more, but those are what I can remember off the top of my head). Most are from homeschool charter schools (described by a PP above). Our material is secular; that's why public charters can use it.

     

    If you know of a secular curriculum you want, it's really not that hard to get it on the approved list.

     

    As long as you don't mind a little gov't oversight (the amount varies), the homeschool charter is win-win-win.

     

    -The district gets the federal, state, and county impact funds (education money) for your kid. They're pleased with that.

     

    -You get SOME of that money toward your curriculum purchases of secular material. It's nice to get at least some of your property taxes back!

     

    -Vendors (me) like it since it results in more sales.

     

    Some districts also allow homeschool kids to participate in extra-curricular activities like sports and music at their local public school.

  6. Appositives can have their own modifiers. You just diagram them beneath the appositive to show that it modifies that word.

     

    That being said, I would also analyze that structure as an adjective with a prepositional phrase modifying the adjective. In the grand scheme it doesn't really matter a whole lot, but I wouldn't use that as an example of an appositive.

  7. Ok, I didn't totally get the logic of it, but reread Erin's reply to you in this thread. I *think* she was suggesting their teaching videos for AG, wasn't she? So was her logic that *you* could watch the teaching video and get more confident? Or was it so your dd could watch and you not have to teach? That's what I wasn't sure about.

     

    Try googling whatever you're unclear on. There are usually youtubes and helpful sites galore on these topics. Not like anyone knows it all. I've dragged out my college books many times trying to get things straight in my mind. It's by teaching that you learn, eh? :)

     

    I'm sure whatever you do will be fine.

     

    I'm sorry I wasn't clear. I was suggesting that she could watch the DVD lessons with her student so she would feel more confident and have her hand held a little. Two bird with one stone and all that! LOL

  8. Ok, another sage bit of advice, and then I stop. At this point, I think you'd do well to consider getting AG for *yourself*. If you're phobic about grammar, it's time to fix that. If you want to use something gentle for a year (Shurley, whatever), that will be fine. Shurley 6 in 5th would be great. Then start into AG the following year. But I think *you* ought to go ahead and start reading AG and studying it for yourself. That way you can see where this is going, get the big picture, and bump things up a notch. The more you know, the more fun you'll have. Honest! :)

     

    If I may, you don't need to buy yourself your own book. As much as I like to sell books ... :tongue_smilie:

     

    If you feel you need some support, you might want to order our new companion DVD to help you teach the information. That's cheaper than another book. The DVD is optional, though; you can teach AG without knowing any grammar. Just learn it along with the student. If you have questions you can always call us, we're happy to help!

  9. If there were a way to really master punctuation and usage without learning all the grammar (unless you want to learn a foreign language, then grammar is a must), I would bother studying it.

     

    But it's not. There are comma rules and usage issues that simply can't be taught unless the grammar is learned already. For instance. You have to put a comma after an introductory adverb clause. That's the rule. If you don't know what one is, you're faking it. Faking it will get you by about 80% of the time. (I pause, therefore I comma.) The other 20% is when people like me read what you've written and say to themselves, "They don't know their punctuation rules ..." It's not fair, but that's the way it is.

     

    That being said, I think it's silly to spend so much time on it. It doesn't take that long to learn grammar; it's a relatively small body of knowledge. Wait until they're ready to really learn all of it and get it over with.

     

    Also, constantly repeating the definitions of the parts of speech is really not useful. I could poll 100 3rd graders. They'd all (probably) be able to tell me what a noun is, but only 15 of them would be able to identify all the nouns in a sentence. It's all about function and logical thinking. That's why it's best to wait.

  10. Well, there are many (and I'm one of 'em!) who would say the only one of those listed who even needs grammar instruction at this point is the 10 year old. It's an important body of knowledge, but not a big one. It's all around easier and more effective if you wait until their logical, multi-step, analytical thinking "brain" appears and teach it then.

  11. We have four generations in my house. My mom and grandmother live in our (very nice) basement. That's also where the company operates from. It's AWESOME. Our running joke is that we're like the Walton's. My grandmother is hard of hearing, though, so it sounds like this:

     

    Me: Good night, mom.

    Mom: Good night, Erin. Good night, Toot and Tank!

    Toot and Tank: Good night, Nanny. Good night, Granny!

    Mom: Mom, the kids said good night. Mom?

    Me: GOOD NIGHT, NANNY!

    (sigh ...)

  12. If you go back and look at all the other prepositional phrases you think it missed, do they all have compound objects like the one you pointed out? Has it covered conjunctions and compounds yet? If not, that may be the reason it's not marked. It seems weird and out-of-order IMHO, but that might explain it.

  13. I have a family member serving and I can't keep it straight. I thought it was nice that they were interested enough to make conversation with you and ask how you are serving our country. :)

     

     

    I had a feeling (after I hit "post") that my comments would be taken this way. It IS nice for them to ask. As I said, I would never be so rude as to make someone feel bad for not knowing. Having someone who worked for the airline think I'm a pilot, though, was a little funny, don't you think?

     

    My comments are not for me, they're for the thousands of us who serve in some capacity. Next time you're at the airport, look at the young members of the military walking around. ESPECIALLY if they're in ABUs (camo). They're on deployment, my friends. They're going to scary places and will probably do scary things. They will probably never admit it, but a little thanks, even just a silent flicker of recognition in your eyes for what they're doing, goes a LONG way. Ask those who served in Vietnam and came back to derision and hate. Regardless of the politicians and the mission, they're doing something for YOU. FOR YOU. Appreciation of what they're doing or what they've done means more than you know.

  14. Hm, maybe we should put together a unit study? We are both in NC.

     

    That's a great idea, but since I've got three winter's of curriculum in the pipeline, you're on your own! Thankfully, business is great. That means I'm SWAMPED!

     

    Great idea, though.

     

    When I taught school (7th grade public here in Wake County) I did a day where I wore my uniforms and brought in a class set of Airman Magazine's THE BOOK. It's a yearly publication that covers everything about the Air Force: Mission, AFSCs (jobs), rank, ordinance, planes, rockets, etc.

    I went over the whole thing with my kids. They loved it!

     

    Oh, and to be technical ... there are SEVEN branches of "uniformed service" in the US:

     

    Air Force - Dept of Defense

    Army - Dept of Defense

    Navy - Dept of Defense

    Marines - Dept of the Navy (sub set)

    Coast Guard - used to be under Dept of Transportation in peacetime, DoD during War. That changed to Dept of Homeland Security in peacetime, DoD in wartime under direction of the President

    U.S. Public Health Service

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps

  15. Less than 1% of the population now serves in the US military. "It ain't like it used to be" when everyone either serves, was married to someone who served, or was good friends or a family member of someone who served.

     

    Please consider teaching your children the bare bones basics of military information. Such as:

     

    - the different services

    - our general term of reference (the difference between the terms soldier, airman, sailor, Marine, etc.)

    - enlisted v officer (what's the difference)

    - the different ranks (in general ... I'll never even get the Navy's enlisted ranks right!)

    - the BASIC mission

    - what a military uniform looks like so you can tell what service someone is in

     

     

     

    I'm a major in the Air Force reserve - a public affairs officer. I just flew back in from a day and a half in the DC area on a quick reserve trip. JUST TODAY at BWI airport I had the following interactions:

     

    - Two different people asked if I was a pilot. One was a ticket agent for the airline! SHE doesn't know what the uniform looks like?:confused:

    - There was a navy guy sitting near me in an airport restaurant. He was just coming home from nuke school (submarines). The bartender asked if I was a submariner, too. My uniform (I was in blues) was completely different than his (he was in khakis). I joked that my ordinance goes in the air, not in the water.

    - "Hey, a soldier ..." Uh, nope. NOT a soldier, a Marine, or a sailor. I'm an airman.

     

    I've had TONS of other experiences like this. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean this in a snotty way at all. I don't blame people for not knowing. I always take it as a good-hearted opportunity to educate people on the US military.

     

    That being said, as a member of the armed forces, it really means the world to us when you can show you know at least a little bit about what we do. We serve and protect you ... proudly, honorably, and with a full heart. We don't need accolades and tons of attention, but when a stranger comes up and says, "Thanks for serving, major," (knowing my rank, etc) that's really neat and it means a lot. I always respond with, "It's my honor," because it really is.

     

    Just wanted to throw that out there in the ether. Thanks for letting me get that off my slightly decorated chest! LOL

  16. Thank you for the suggestions, Erin! I will try just having him do every other sentence, as you and the shortcuts page suggest. We may also try doing some of the exercises verbally, since I do think the writing is slowing him down. Hopefully, this will allow him to get the benefits of the AG program while also having time for literature and composition. I really appreciate your help.

     

     

    It's my pleasure! The last thing I want is frustration on your or his part! Feel free to call or e-mail if you have further questions.

     

    Blessings,

  17. Has anyone else had this problem? Any ideas for how to deal with it? DS does not enjoy grammar. We have been doing Easy Grammar for the past five years but have been somewhat less than extremely consistent in our grammar work. I liked the idea of really knocking out grammar with a good foundational course in 9th grade (this year) and then going on to concentrate on composition and literature in the remainder of his high school years.

     

    However, AG has been taking up about an hour a day, which does not leave us time for anything else in English. We are registered as homeschoolers with a church-related school that does not allow us to list English and Literature separately, so all lit work must come under the credit given for English. Problem is, we're not getting through much literature - and hardly any composition - because so much time is taken up with the AG program! Part of the problem is that DS has dysgraphia, so the handwritten work in AG takes him longer than it would another student. He also just does not like the program so far and groans every time I pull out the books.

     

    We're on week two of the 9th grade, and I need to make some adjustments. I like the thorough approach to grammar in AG, but I don't want it to take up all of the time we have for English this year. I'd appreciate some suggestions for covering the grammar we need while still having time for some lit and comp work.

     

     

    There is a page at the front of the teacher book called suggestions for short cuts. Try using those techniques so that he's only doing the amount of work necessary to learn what he needs to learn. It may be that he "gets" the concept by only doing every other sentence and skipping the skills support. That's FINE. You need to be interested in mastery, not completion for the sake of it.

     

    I'd be happy to talk with you and discuss some other ways of opening up some time for you. As Sue said, my phone number is on the back of your book!

     

    Blessings,

     

    Erin from AG

  18. I just thought you'd like to know that next year these will be the GHC locations and dates.

     

    March 22 – 24 SouthEast Carolina First Center (Greenville, SC)

    April 12 – 14 MidSouth Memphis Cook Convention Center (Memphis, TN)

    April 19 – 21 MidWest Duke Energy Convention Center (Cincinnati, OH)

    May 24 – 26 California Long Beach Convention Center (Long Beach, CA)

    June 14 – 16 NorthEast Hartford Convention Center (Hartford, CT)

     

     

    I'm a vendor and just got my application this morning. I don't know why they're not re-doing Philly.

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