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linguistmama

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Posts posted by linguistmama

  1. I would like an iPhone or iPad app to schedule my three daughters' homeschool schedule. I would like it to look like a MOTH schedule and allow me to drag and drop things in 15-60 minute increments. What I really need is the drag and drop feature because sometimes they finish something in more or less time and I want to adjust things to keep me on track. We also sometimes tweak and fine tune things. Google has not been helpful, sorry! 

  2. Treatment options? Google tells me apple cider vinegar at home or have them frozen off at the dermatologist's. I'm not sure if it will be worth it to go to the dermatologist if they aren't bothersome enough to have frozen off and the dermatologist doesn't have any other options.

  3. Yeah this is nice in theory, but in practice I am starting to wonder if it actually exists.  I had a local agent thinking how great it would be, but anytime I called, if it wasn't between the hours of 10 and 2, basically I was SOL.  Then when I'd call the national office they'd tell me I had to speak to the local agent.  But again, it had to be M-F between 10 to 2.  And often I'd get an answering machine.  They might call me back the same day.  MIGHT.  They also screwed stuff up several times.  Really it was such a lousy experience I don't think I'd do it again.  I went with Geico.  I have experience dealing with them with a claim and they were very fast. You can contact them any time of day or night.  Their website lets you do tons of stuff without having to call. It can't be beat really.

     

    We have Geico right now and I like that they are always available.  We have only ever used the road side assistance though so I don't know if we would like how they handle other claims.  The roadside assistance was fine and I liked that we could just use the app to request it.  But we are looking to cut some expenses if possible so I will contact a broker or two to see what they can offer us.

    • Like 1
  4. This website has a list of doctors that offer OIT.

     

    http://www.oit101.org/find-an-oit-allergist/

     

    My daughter finished OIT for her peanut allergy in May and it has been amazing!  It is a miracle to see her eat peanuts everyday instead of constant anxiety about them.  We are fortunate that our daughter does not dislike peanuts.  Many parents have to get creative with giving the maintenance doses. Our daughter is free eating as much as she wants, but some children choose to stop at a smaller dose.  That way they are bite proof from an accidental exposure, but do not have to eat as much of a maintenance dose. This facebook group is very supportive of OIT if anyone has questions for a larger audience:

     

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/OIT101/

     

    We decided to do OIT because we knew that we could not avoid exposure no matter how careful we were.  With OIT it was in a controlled way and our doctor's success rate is over 90% so it was highly likely to be successful.  I believe they are doing studies about the long term effectiveness where participants stop taking the maintenance dose.  We're happy to just give her peanuts everyday, but we are interested in the long term studies for when she is an adult and may or may not remember to take them without us.

  5. We use Santillana's Yabisí program that is used in Purto Rico. It was always a hassle to buy it from Santillana so now I purchase online from a company in Puerto Rico since the shipping is reasonable. Libreriaeducativa is the site I have purchased from for several years in a row.

  6. I am extremely, extremely, extremely picky about foot comfort. I only wear running shoes (no longer a runner, but won't go back to regular "street" shoes after being a runner for many years)... That is, until I found Keens. I love my keens!

     

    They do stink though, but not unless you put your nose up to them... :-D

    I was wondering about the smell. I have crocs right now because I can throw them in the washing machine, but I think I would find Keens much more comfortable.

  7. I remember a talk in General Conference once about children being mentioned in a patriarchal blessing. The blessing specifically stated sons and daughters and the couple only ever had children of one sex. They realized that the blessing was fulfilled in their case when those children married and the spouses became like children to the couple. 

     

    After we had our second child I knew there was still one more to come.  I really longed for that child as I didn't want to leave anyone behind and I knew our family would not be complete without said child. It was in the back of my mind for years.  With our first two we were actively trying to get pregnant and after two dh started to think we should be done.  I knew that wasn't right, but I understand that he was concerned because of our financial situation at the time.  Well, she came without us planning it at our lowest financial point, even though we welcomed her.  I tried very hard not to tell dh, I told you it would happen if it was supposed to! It can be very hard to take the long view in the thick of things and remember that doing what we know Heavenly Father wants us to do is really best for us.

     

    I wish you could have more support irl and especially from your dh.  A spouse with mental health issues is very difficult.

    • Like 2
  8. I looked at grade 6 math and it was about a year behind compared to something like Math Mammoth.  I am waiting for the May sale to buy History/English 6.  I would be fine just buying the English, but it looks like English and History are very intertwined.  I'm hoping it will be a more gentle and creative way to get dd to do assigned reading and writing.  She says she likes the idea of having a choice of options for the writing assignments so I am crossing my fingers!  She is a Waldorfy/unschooly child, but I am a planner and box checker.  I'm hoping this will be a good compromise for both of us.

  9. I really loved it!  It was dd2's first time going with us to the stake center and she was very excited.  We were especially happy to see 8 people in the choir from the Spanish ward we attended several years ago.  My oldest was disappointed we don't still live there because she could have sung too.  :coolgleamA:

    • Like 2
  10. I signed up for this because my kids tried the free version and were frustrated that they couldn't do all the things that members can, and $12 for the year is a good price.  When I create an assignment how do I assign it to a specific student?  I don't see that option and would like to make specific assignments for my 5th grader to complete and leave things pretty open for the second grader.  I already set them to the grade levels I wanted them at.

  11. Has anyone used this series? What did you think?  They look like they might be the same level as the Prentice Hall Science Explorer series.

     

    http://www.nsta.org/publications/press/ebooks.aspx

     

    Or have you liked any other middle school level textbooks like this for any subject?  My dd loves to watch videos, but I would like to up the amount of nonfiction reading she does.  Something like this with reading and videos sounds like it might work well.

  12. Are there any brick and mortar chains that sell shoes with wide toe boxes?  Or will a smaller, more expensive store be more likely to have them in stock?  The department stores and large shoe stores around here that sell brands that make wides don't have size wides in stock, they can only order them for me.  I have bunions that I need a wide toe box for (EE, double wide) without a wide heel.  I've been buying at Amazon with a certain amount of success.  I would love to be able to go to an actual store though.  Right now I have to order 5-6 pairs of the same shoe in varying sizes and widths to hopefully keep one of them and return the others.  Wides tend to cost more so it is a lot of money to order that many pairs even though I choose the free return options at Amazon.  I feel like I need an expert, in person, shoe fitter.

  13. After looking at the samples by myself and with dd I think we may try parts of grade 6 next year.  I like that our charter will pay for it and it has a good return policy if it doesn't work out.  The writing assignments in the sample have students writing reports on topics of their choice or choosing a writing assignment from various options depending on the week.  I'm hoping the choice will be helpful here.  I think dd will like the optional activity and game ideas.  We will probably do something else for science as that is not a problem right now and the science isn't tied in to the English like the History is.  Thanks for posting this thread as it got me to research something that may be valuable for us!

    • Like 1
  14. I do the giving choices thing a lot, too - my strategy for the last year has been to have multiple options for math, writing, etc., all of which I'm basically fine with - they'll meet my standards - and then let her choose.  The act of choosing makes a thing acceptable which would be unacceptable if I chose it for her.  So she has two math options - she gets to choose which.  She has several writing options - she gets to choose which any given day.  That works well.  OTOH, she has also responded ok to a very no-nonsense (short) workbooky approach to spelling and grammar. I know it's not fun, but it 's short and relatively painless, but just git 'er done.  

     

    Honestly? I feel like part of the problem is that we can get through my must-dos: 2-3 pages of math, writing, spelling & grammar in a really short period of time.  Then we read aloud/discuss/maybe do an activity for history and science, and then really? we're done.  And it's been 2-3 hours.  Which felt fine for 2nd and 3rd grade, but is feeling a little weird this year, and definitely feels not ok for 5th grade.  So maybe that is part of my issue - the looking for outside accountability and something to compare to.  Does anyone else feel like you get through must-dos in a ridiculously short period of time?  Don't get me wrong, we might spend 2-3 hours on reading and talking about things, and she has her art teacher come in once a week, and she has theater 3 times a week, and horseback riding and girl scouts - her world seems very full, but it doesn't seem full of us sitting down at the table "doing work" - and I don't know whether that is ok.  She's bright, articulate, literate, and happy  But am I missing something????  

     

    Ouch, who knew this was going to turn into a group therapy thread? I guess these things happen.  :)

     

    This.so.much!  I have had to adjust my expectations since her birth.  As I constantly rethink my ideas of school vs what will really serve her I try to remember how much different things are now than in the early years.  So many things that I was worried about have been completely resolved.  She doesn't have any LD's but she has her own time table for some things.  I used to worry about her reading because she didn't read constantly like I did at that age.  Well, she reads solidly on grade level and isn't that into it.  It is ok that she doesn't read multiple grade levels ahead like I did.  If I push it too much she will hate reading.  We can take advantage of audiobooks to get more lit in.  I read several Waldorf books last summer and while some of it was really strange I did notice how much the timing of different transitions like the 9 year one fit dd spot on.  I think she would have loved that type of schooling in the younger years, but I hate having to direct the crafts and projects.  The older OM levels that she could do a lot of herself seem doable and they don't have the anthroposophy.

    • Like 1
  15. I have an artsy 10yo that might like this.  She would love the art and projects part.  My question though is that she also does better when I present various resources that meet my standards and then she chooses.  A list of assignments like read x story, perform x step in the writing process etc does not go over well.  Instead math, reading and writing must be done every day along with our group history, science and Spanish.  For writing she chooses a writing prompt from a basket of different ideas I found.  If I assign one to her she hates it.  She chooses what she reads from an approved list.  We have a basic overview for history and science and then she chooses what to delve further into.  For math I did make her choose as I am not up for reinventing that wheel and I feel the progression is more important than in other areas.  Our charter school would pay for this next year so I may print out the samples for her.  I feel adrift without a plan.

    • Like 2
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