Verena
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Everything posted by Verena
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"Vitus" is a wonderful movie- in German with English subtitles. We watched it a couple of months ago- very well suited for the whole family. Review from amazon: In Vitus, a boy's extraordinary talent makes his life unbearable--until he applies his brilliance to the problem of normalcy. Vitus (played at 12 by actual piano prodigy Teo Gheorghiu), a boy obsessed with bats and the piano, reveals high intelligence and musical intuition in his childhood; his mother Helen sets out to both push and protect him, resulting in a life hemmed in and out of the boy's control. His only solace is his rascally grandfather (Bruno Ganz, Wings of Desire, as wily and charismatic as ever), who lets Vitus explore without restrictions. But when he can stand his mother's well-intentioned but domineering ways no longer, Vitus takes a drastic step to reclaim his autonomy. A charming fable, Vitus rises above the usual cliches about gifted youth through subtle performances, emotional restraint, and lovely images. Director Fredi M. Murer draws remarkably natural performances from both Gheorghiu and the adorable Fabrizio Borsani, who plays Vitus at age 6, as well as from the young actresses who play the girl Vitus yearns for. There's no denying that Vitus aims to be heartwarming, and for some viewers that goal is cloying in and of itself. But when the 6 year old Vitus running around wearing the gigantic batwings his grandfather made, it would take a rigid cynic not to be delighted. --Bret Fetzer
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I just emailed with Klett and they suggest the following sites for ordering their books in the U.S.: http://www.abebooks.com/ http://www.ibiservice.com/ http://www.afb-adlers.com/ Maybe you find what you're looking for cheaper at those sites. HTH!
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Any sites/advice for writing prompts for lower el. child?
Verena replied to j_thurm's topic in K-8 Curriculum Board
It is for any age. If you browse the Bravewriter site a bit, you'll get a good feel for it. http://www.bravewriter.com The Writer's Jungle is written to the mom- it is not a self-directed writing curriculum that you can just hand to your kid. The book teaches and equips mom how to teach the child. -
Any sites/advice for writing prompts for lower el. child?
Verena replied to j_thurm's topic in K-8 Curriculum Board
There are a ton of prompts at the Writer's Jungle site: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/friday-freewrite/ HTH! -
Eurocup fans, didja see today's games (spoilers!)
Verena replied to Colleen's topic in General Education Discussion Board
I saw bits and pieces- but at least all the goals :-). I think it's been some 30 years since the Netherlands last beat the Italians. Yeah, I feel bad for England... we had 3 English kids (friends of ours) stay here overnight and we all pondered the question why England wasn't in the Cup. But it was great fun crowding around the tiny computer screen, shouting our hearts out :-). -
That's odd... maybe it's because you can only view it on Windows with IE 6 or 7 or Firefox (that's at least what the website says). We don't have a satellite dish... so we're out of luck there. It would be nice to choose just a few channels every now and then...(especially big sporting events like the Olympics etc.)
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Death Anniversaries - how do you cope?
Verena replied to Plaid Dad's topic in General Education Discussion Board
...as much as just allowing yourself to grieve and not feeling guilty about it. One thing that I've come to realize is that for some, it takes only a few years to "get over" a death, for others it takes decades. Imho, there is no formula. -
When was the last time you went out to eat?
Verena replied to Mrs. Readsalot's topic in General Education Discussion Board
We simply don't have the $$ for it. But--- I'm going out tonight with a good friend in honor of her doctorate. I'm really looking forward to it :001_smile: -
Who else wears "regular" swimsuits?
Verena replied to PinkInTheBlue's topic in General Education Discussion Board
Me :-). I have a regular one-piece and a tankini with swim skirt. I don't like the swim skirt, though-- it balloons up when I hit the water. I'm about to buy myself swim shorts, but I can't quite stomach the price tag, so I haven't made the purchase yet. But eventually, I will succumb, bite the bullet and fork over the money. Summer is around the corner. -
Weird family coincidences...
Verena replied to CookieMonster's topic in General Education Discussion Board
What we found out many years after our oldest was born was that my ds has the same birthday as my great-grandfather; he was born exactly 130 years later after my ggf. The weird coincidence being that my oldests name is the same as my great-grandfather's. We did NOT name him after my great-grandfather, but rather after my dh's grandfather (I didn't even know what my ggf's name was until we found all that out). On my dh's side, there are many b'days that match: dh's cousin and dh's sister, dh's grandmother and dh's nephew, etc. I've heard that it's not uncommon for family members (extended or close) to share birthdays, but I've never seen "hard evidence". -
Favorite Read Aloud(s) from this school year -- please share!
Verena replied to 5wolfcubs's topic in K-8 Curriculum Board
For my older 2: The Hobbit, Along came a Dog, My Father's Dragon, Jack Prelutsky poems, Sign of the Beaver, Island of the Blue Dolphins and many more that I can't even remember For my younger ds: Poppleton series, Henry and Mudge series, Richard Scarry books are at the top of the list. -
What are your favorite resources? I seem to recall posts about certain geography cds, but I don't remember any titles.
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A gentle proposal to moms of youngers.
Verena replied to FloridaLisa's topic in K-8 Curriculum Board
...when my kids were, oh, 5 and under, I had the very clear impression that time was standing still. Everything seemed to go sooooooo very slowly. Now that my youngest is about to be 5, the months seem to race by.:confused: Thanks for your lovely post, Lisa. -
Guess Who? Would your dc like to compare baby birds?
Verena replied to Jean in Wisc's topic in K-8 Curriculum Board
This is delightful, Jean. How cute those little chicks are. A friend of mine just got 1-day old ones, too- but we haven't had a chance to go visit to see them in person. (need to do that soon before they get too big). And what are those foxes doing in the cage, I wonder :-)? Did they just eat your rabbit? Love your farm! It looks so very peaceful! -
SWB! If you're around could you answer a qu. about FLL 4?
Verena replied to Verena's topic in K-8 Curriculum Board
Thank you! I just now saw your post, lol. I should start subscribing to at least my own threads :-). -
We've used Vol. 1 for my then 2nd-grader. If I recall correctly, the WTM recommends this book for 2nd gr. (at least in the first version). We did most of it orally, but I had ds write a few sentences each day into a seperate booklet. Content-wise it was a gentle intro to grammar, but we didn't care for the antiquated look. HTH.
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