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Trez

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Everything posted by Trez

  1. There does seem to be a different mindset amongst some who believe that people should plan or only pay for what they use. Taken to the extreme with other services should our tax payments be reduced if we don`t make as much use of police/fire/educational/public infrastructure as others? I guess I see healthcare in the same way as police/fire services. They are essential services. We may not all need them to the same extent but if I need them, I know I can count on being able to receive care. The inital post asked if those of us with UHC where happy/proud of our healthcare and reading through this thread so far, I don't believe anyone from a country with UHC has replied negatively.
  2. Another Canadian here and very happy with our health system. When my children were younger and very sick, I had access to one of the best children's hospitals (CHEO) and doctors without worrying about the cost. I also feel really bad when I read about some of the families who are struggling with the stress of illness at the same time as worrying about the money. Although it is not always easy to find a new doctor. Many doctors will not take patients who already have a doctor and some are full. There is however a website set up which will take your information and help you find one here in Ontario. We have a great clinic down the road with multiple doctors for off-hours and our regular physician will get us in within a few days if required. The emergency rooms are also always available if we are in need. I don't mind using my taxes to help pay for access to healthcare for everyone in the same way as I don't mind paying taxes for police, ambulance, schools etc. I see it as another essential service that everyone should be able to access rich or poor.
  3. We (family of 5) went last summer. We had a really hard time finding reasonably priced accomodation for 5. We ended up staying at a small place near Gatwick and took the tube in to London. It was excellent and we would stay there again. It was called the Gatwick Corner House.
  4. I'm in that club too. You are right though, there aren't many of us around. While my kids were young there were some but as soon as the kids hit about grade 5, they all went back to work at least part-time. When I initially decided to SAH with my kids, I received some resistance from my mother and my mil. MIL insisted that I say that once my kids were in school I would go back :001_unsure: Luckily, my husband has a well paying job and this is something that I am able to do. Even though some days are hard and we don't have as many things/money as we would if I worked, I feel blessed to be able to do this.
  5. This is terrible. I have lived through this as a teenager. It just makes you feel sick that someone could do that. I hope that your kids are okay and able to feel safe again in their own home. :grouphug:
  6. I find myself looking at these guides as well. I would like one for Narnia that includes not just comprehension questions but also includes information regarding literary devices, characters, plot, setting etc. From the research that I have done, the Novel-Ties seem to be good for this as well as the Literature in Teaching (L-I-T) guides. Are there any other opinions out there from people who have used them?
  7. Thank you for your reply! And another question....are any of the guides more toward the secular side. We are a christian family but I don't usually incorporate bible versus etc into our curriculum. I don't mind if it points out the symbolism etc in the books I just don't want a constant mention of versus etc....(I guess I'm being as clear as mud on this one.):glare: Rethinking this......I don't know how to state exactly what I'm looking/not looking for. I know that the works are based upon Christian beliefs so there will be no guide that doesn't mention that with respect to the writers intent. I think I just need to get some previews of various guides and decide which is best for us. Thanks for giving me a head start by finding all of these supplemental books.
  8. I really like the looks of many of your supplementary books. I'm considering using this type of study for my grade 6 son. I do however have a couple of concerns. Is the Narnia series considered appropriate/challenging enough for grade 6? I have found before that breaking up the reading of a book too much, can cause a disruption to the excitement/flow of the primary novel. I love many of the supplemental books you have chosen but I am concerned about how to incorporate them into the Narnia readings without too much disruption. Anyone have ideas/thoughts on these concerns?
  9. Oiy...this all sounds so familiar! I have two boys (11 and 14). They have times when they really get along well and then...well...there are those *other* times. I know that they would be extremely lonely without each other. My youngest wants to be just like his brother. During the bad times, it is crazy! I really don't know who is at fault. An argument will start over something minor and sometimes one will bow out but then there will either be the race to get the last word or a huff or breath or an eye-roll and they will be back to arguing. They have had consequences or different sorts but of course that makes them even angrier at the other person. My oldest says he knows that the arguing is wrong but he can't help it. I feel bad if I take sides between the two as I think that there may be some jealousy involved as well. I am just pleased that in interactions with other kids they have often proven that they will watch out for each other. The love is definitely there, they just need their own space sometimes.
  10. Another vote for the Polynesian here. We love the theme, the relaxed atmosphere, the pool and the access to the monorail...as well as the restaurants and Tonga toast Now if only I could find the money to go.....
  11. We have been to Disney (family of 5) many times. We like to refer to the Polynesian Resort as our home away from home :001_smile:. We have stayed off site a little but we love to be onsite. When the kids were younger, we were right on the monorail so it was extremely convenient to just hop on and off for naps. We love the counter service dining plan (when we pick it up for free) as we can use snack credits for breakfast at the bakery. We always end up with a ton of snack credits left to get chocolate bars, etc to bring home. My husband loves the fact that he can just park the car for a week and relax. It is definitely not the cheapest way to go and yes....we are all cramped in the room (but we don't spend much time there anyway). Oiy......can you tell I wish I was going....
  12. As all the others mentioned...try the more mundane reasons first. Once those a checked out, I would consider a Drs visit. I know that I have anemia and bad breath seems to definitely be one of the symptoms.
  13. I used K12 HO1 along with Ancients HO last year with my son in Gr5. My son (and I) enjoyed the K12 text but found the Ancients jumped around a bit (using Kingfisher) making things a little confusing. So now I am searching for an alternative way to use K12HO for next year. We have completed up to the Greeks and would be continuing from there. I think I have things narrowed down to SOTW and/or Critical Thinking Company History Detective. Have any of you used both of these resources yet?
  14. Oh boy.....now I have a dilemma. My grade 5 this past year used K12HO vol1 with Ancients HO from Pandia. Although parts were interesting, I found that there was a lot of jumping around from one civilization to another and back again with Ancients. We did not complete the Ancients book (got as far as the Greeks). My son really enjoyed the K12 readings though. In September (grade 6), I was looking at using SOTW with K12 and continuing from where we left off. Now I have seen the History Detective and am starting to think that it may be a fun alternative to combine with K12. Ugh...... Any thoughts?
  15. Ugh...reading these replies brings back some very awful feelings for me. Let me say that I was always brought up to believe that terminating a pregnancy was wrong. Unfortunately, I ran into a situation with my 4th where due to the development of the heart, the baby would not survive and *if* anything temporary could be done, would be cronically ill. The manner of death for the child would not be easy/painless. I had another toddler at home about 1.5 years, a 3.5 year old and a 7.5 year old. They knew about the pregnancy. We essentially were given one hellish weekend to decide what to do. We made the decision to end the pregnancy due to the stress/depression/etc that it would cause to our family and in order to avoid suffering for the yet to be born baby. (I know everyone doesn't agree with this but please don't comment on whether this is true or not...it was our feeling). Our kids know that the baby died of a broken heart....I'm not sure how much they remember about this. Needless to say...I agree with those who say that it is a personal decision made at the time based upon family circumstances. It still makes me cry to even think about this time in my life and we revisit the decision we made quite often. It is by no means an easy one and sometimes we can never know if it was the *right* one. Either way...we live with the decision we made. I will never be judgemental of anyone who has to go through this agonizing decision.:crying:
  16. MI-5 is a great show! Just don't get too attached to the characters as they have no problem with killing off those that most people would characterize as main characters. It makes for some very exciting episodes as you never know...
  17. I pulled my ds at the end of grade 6. The school was overcrowded and unable to offer him any challenging work to keep him engaged. The one conversation that stands out in my mind from a parent/teacher interview was that when he raises his hand, we just don't ask him anymore because what he wants to talk about is beyond what we are doing. I also found, after having a daughter go through grade 8, that the upper level teachers were not great role models for the kids. My second ds came home last year after grade 4. He wanted to be home (with his brother). Next year, my older son will be going off to a high school which offers a challenging program. My youngest may have some adjustment to a much quieter house but he says he doesn't want to go back to ps.
  18. M son (gr 5) enjoys Science Fusion. We have only done a few lessons but they can be done very independently. They have interesting interactive labs where the student is instructed to type in the procedure, etc for the experiment and then perform the experiment online. (i.e. drag the thermometer over the flask and record the temperature in a table.) Based upon our trial of this online curriculum, we will be using it for grade 6 next year.
  19. I was able to find a fairly complete sample online and my son (Gr 5) has done a few of the lessons. He does seem to enjoy it. I do not have the books that go with the program yet but I have found there are test questions for each unit and he does seem interested in the pages of the workétext book that he has seen online. There are also suggestions in the Teachers Edition providing alternate ways to explain concepts and some hands on work which could be done. I have ordered it for us to use next year.
  20. Science Fusion and homeschooling with the realization that I don't have to follow along with the school curriculum and expectations. I had been doing this previously in case the kids wanted to go back but have realized that a lot more learning goes on if we do things our own way.
  21. If anyone has purchased Science Fusion from the HSBC deal, when does the book get shipped? I know there are different start dates for the online version but does the booklet ship before the online start date?
  22. :iagree: completely with the last post. All 3 of my kids went to a highly ranked school (if you use the Fraser rankings). They all had the same grade 3 teacher who taught that class every year. Once when my husband asked about the curriculum he was told they have to squeeze everything in prior to the test date...he the asked what they do for the rest of the year....there was no answer. All of my kids report that no only were the taught to the test but any mistakes made while working on the test were pointed out by the teacher as she walked around supervising it.
  23. Goodmorning. You will have to excuse this post if it is a bit jumbled...the kids where up half the night and then early again this morning searching for chocolate eggs! I'm in Ontario and am homeschooling two boys (gr 5 and gr 8). My sons attended public school up to the end of grades 4 and 6 respectively. I can tell you in relation to Canadian History, they don't really do much prior to grade 5 at which point they do a unit on the government. I will be using one of Ward's books for this. As a new homeschooler I used the Ontario trillium book list and the Ontario curriculum guidelines with respect to what the kids should be taught in each grade. I also used the Trillium list to order History, Geography and Science books for grade 7 and 8. Now, let me say, I don't think I would do things the same way if I started out again tomorrow. I believe that I would still use the same History and Geography books. But....I have a daughter who is in public high school and I noticed that they review everything. This made me realize that I shouldn't worry so much about whether I am following right inline with the Ontario curriculum. I also noticed that the ps Science books are really heavy on "stewardship" of the earth and not so much on what I consider science. I also tried the Trillium french books but since my boys had previously been in french immersion, they were beyond the english ps french books. So....here's what I am/have used and plan on using: Math - Singapore - I really like the constant review in the early books. Grammar - I have used MCT (eh) and am currently using GWG Spelling - I use SWS Cursive - I used HWT Latin roots - MCT CE Science - Nelson Science & Tech 7,8; Singapore; We have discovered Science Fusion and my son seems to really have taken to it so I believe I will be using this next year. History - HO; Pearson History 7,8 - Canada My Country Geography - Pearson Geography 7,8; McHenry Mapping Literature - LL7;LL8 French - did use Nallenart somewhat but now moved to BTB; my oldest also worked through SYRWTLF Logic - Fallacy Detective; Art of Argument Okay enough rambling......happy to be homeschooling in Ottawa! :seeya:
  24. Thanks for the information! Ièll hold off on purchasing for next year until I can take advantage of this buy. :party:
  25. Oh I really hope HSBC does offer it soon. Do you have a link to the webpage which gave hints that it may be coming? I was on their site but couldn't see it in the coming soon list.
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