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KathleenL

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Everything posted by KathleenL

  1. Our rule is that we start school at 8:30. By that time, everyone has to have eaten breakfast, gotten dressed and brushed their teeth. If they do all that early, they're allowed to have computer time before school (they each get 45 min of computer time a day to play games.) They usually get up around 7:00 so they have plenty of time to play before school. Around 8:00 I make a list for each of them on the whiteboard of the assignments/lessons they are to do that morning. Then I make a separate list of the things we hope to do in the afternoon while the toddler is napping (things like messy art projects, history read-alouds and science projects.) At 8:30 they come to the table and start working through their list. They can do their work in any order, as long as it's all done by lunchtime. They tend to start the day with memory work, though I'm not sure why or when this became their routine! I think the performance aspect of it does make for a nice segue from playtime to school time.
  2. :ohmy: I remember this! I was on that board back then too! I have thought about that little boy over the years and wondered how he was doing. It was such a bizarre situation. I'm glad to hear that he was looking so much better after a few months. Aside from that incident, I can think of two others on other message boards that were similar - people claiming medical problems and/or dire financial straits that turned out to be completely fictional. In all of these cases, I have to say I had some suspicions. I think I'm kind of cynical about drama by nature :tongue_smilie:- and definitely so when it comes to online drama!
  3. It's so cool to read through this thread and see how many others out there can actually relate to my life. I love our local hs community but I often feel discouraged when I see all the things the other families accomplish in their homeschools - and plus, their houses are clean! Their gardens are weeded! They actually cook real dinners and not just grilled cheese sandwiches half the time! I don't regret my choice to work (and my income is what makes it possible for us to homeschool the way we want to), but it is a lonely choice sometimes. I work from home as a local coordinator for a large au pair agency. I am the support person for all the au pairs and host families in my region. I help families find their au pairs; I interview and do the reference checks on new host families; I do orientation with new au pairs, check in with them regularly, and take all my au pairs on a field trip once a month. I am the shoulder on which au pairs cry when they're homesick, and am the person whom families consult when they are having difficulties with their au pair. It's a really wonderful job and I enjoy all the personal interaction and the coaching and problem solving I get to do on a daily basis. The hardest thing about this job is the unpredictability of it. The number of hours I work depends entirely upon how many new au pairs I have arriving in a given month and how many families/au pairs are having issues that need resolving. My base hours are 25/week, but some weeks I work 40 (or more), others I really only work about 15. I'm essentially on call 24/7 so I never know when I might need to step away from whatever else I'm doing to deal with an au pair crisis of some sort. My rough schedule is to get up around 7:00 and spend an hour or so doing paperwork and emails before starting school with the kids. I may have to answer the phone throughout the morning, so we plan lessons with that in mind and work school around it. I do another hour or so of emailing/phone calls while the kids eat lunch. I have a meeting nearly every weeknight after dinner with either a host family or au pair, then I come home and do paperwork/emailing until about midnight. I take Saturdays off (barring any emergencies) and then usually spend Sundays meeting with families and au pairs. The hardest thing is really finding time to plan school activities. I definitely never get any "me" time but I do carve out an hour or so every week to plan the following week's lessons. Unfortunately, often when we do have something special planned, an emergency will come up and I'll end up being on the phone for 2 hours instead. The kids are fairly tolerant but they do sometimes get upset and tell me they hate my job. I always remind them that my job is a team effort, and without it they wouldn't get to participate in baseball, soccer, choir, swimming, dance, and all the other extras that they really love. That reminder usually gets them back on my side! Plus I know they understand that I like my job and it makes me a happier mom to be around. They also love hanging out with my au pairs and learning about other cultures.
  4. My oldest DD will be in 4th next year. We do the bulk of our school M-Th and then attend co-op classes on Friday mornings and finish up a few things on Friday afternoons. Here's what we have planned beginning in Sept: Saxon 5/4 - M-Th WWE4 - M-Th FLL4 - M-Th Spelling Workout E - M-Th Assigned Reading 1/2 hour - M-F HO 3 + additional history reading - M/W/F Evan Moor Continents Series Geography - Tu/Th Logic Liftoff - Tu/Th Zaner Bloser Cursive - M/W Elemental Science Chemistry - W/F Artistic Pursuits (with Dad) - Sun Memory Work - daily (all 7 days) Choir - 2 hrs/wk + daily practice Irish dance - 1.5 hr/wk + daily practice Soccer - 2 hr/wk practice, 1 hr/wk game This is almost exactly the same as our schedule this year, she's just moving up one level in everything. I think we would get it all done in about 5 hours if we didn't have a toddler wreaking havoc on the side. Her antics tend to slow us down quite a bit, and we usually end up taking 6-7 hours with several short breaks.
  5. I would LOVE this!!!! If you do the PNW, you can definitely use my house. It's not huge, but I've learned over the years that you can fit a lot of people in a small house if you're determined enough! :D
  6. :) Me too! This thread is a great source of comfort to me. It has given me renewed appreciation for the choice we made to follow the classical path.
  7. I majored in philosophy in college and one of the high points of my schooling was a summer spent at Montclair State University studying Philosophy for Children. The school has an entire department devoted to this: the Institute for Advancement of Philosophy for Children (IAPC). The IAPC has developed wonderful curricula for introducing children to philosophical inquiry. It is designed for classroom use but I have been using it in our homeschool and it's worked very well. The IAPC website has lots of great info, and you can order the textbooks and teacher's manuals from the site as well (you have to print the order form and mail it in.) I've also found some of the books secondhand on Amazon. I recommend their teacher's guide titled "Philosophy for Children Practitioners Handbook." This was a textbook in one of my college courses and I have found it to be super helpful when it comes to teaching my kids. The website is http://cehs.montclair.edu/academic/iapc/ Cheers, Kathleen
  8. This year I have one who is sort of between 3rd and 4th grades and one who is a mix of 1st and 2nd - it all depends upon the subject. Here are the things we're doing other than the 3 Rs: Geography: We are working our way through Evan-Moor's 7 Continents series and also slowly reading together A Child's Introduction to the World (by Heather Alexander.) History: We're just finishing up History Odyssey: The Ancients, and will be moving on to History Odyssey: Medieval Life next month. Science: We're working our way through TOPS Intermediate Lentil Science, and the kids take a weekly class in Marine Biology. We are also studying the human body in a hit-or-miss kind of way (whenever we have extra time), and we study nutrition and chemistry by cooking together nearly every day and discussing as we go. And we do random fun things that strike our fancy, such as looking at stuff we find under the microscope or building things with Snap Circuits. Memory Work: Both kids are memorizing poems, about 2 per month. My 3rd grader is also memorizing various lists such as state capitols and US presidents. Logic - my 3rd grader is currently using Logic Countdown and will soon be in Logic Liftoff. Music - my 3rd grader sings in a choir and studies music theory. We listen to a wide variety of musical genres at home, and research and discuss music and musicians/composers whom we like. Art - we're not doing anything specific this year other than art projects that accompany our history studies. My 1st grader is currently taking an art class in which they're experimenting with a variety of media. Next year I hope to start both kids in Artistic Pursuits Latin - they are both going to begin studying this next year. For "P.E.", my 3rd grader takes Irish step dance and also plays soccer and swims year-round. My 1st grader plays soccer (fall), basketball (winter) and baseball (spring.)
  9. My best friend had similar symptoms. Her legs and sometimes her arms felt like they were on fire and she suffered terribly. She spent months seeing doctors and having tests done and they never could figure out what was wrong. She could get some relief from acupuncture, but it was always temporary. She tried tinkering with her diet, and found that her symptoms diminished when she stopped eating gluten, but didn't go away completely. Finally the docs decided it must be some type of autoimmune response and they put her on steroids ... and it all went away. Though she doesn't like being on steroids for life, she has taken them for 2 years now and feels great. And no one has ever figured out exactly what's wrong with her. She once tried to wean herself off the drugs and all the symptoms came right back. I'm so sorry for you and for your mom. It is so horrible to see someone you love in pain. :(
  10. I had my 2nd baby at age 35 and my 3rd at age 40. Overall, I had very easy pregnancies and normal labors with my first two kids, and both were conceived within the first month of trying. But things did get harder after that. I had 3 miscarriages (at ages 37, 38 and 39) before having my 3rd. That pregnancy was HARD. I was much more tired and more hormonal that time around. I got some truly terrible varicose veins, which my doc attributed to my age. These are the super painful kind - I spent almost my entire pregnancy wearing heavy duty support hose, even when we were camping in 90 degree weather - and they never went away after my pregnancy, they are now a chronic problem for me. At 30 weeks I was measuring small so they did an extra ultrasound and determined that my amniotic fluid level was alarmingly low. My midwife said this is often a complication in older moms, and she predicted my DD would be born early. From that point on, I was on limited bedrest and had to go in for an NST every 3rd day and an ultrasound every week. It was a very stressful and uncomfortable few weeks ... which stretched into months. My due date came and went, and when I was 17 days overdue they finally decided to induce me. It was the hardest labor I'd had by far - so much more painful and exhausting. I actually almost asked for an epidural (which I didn't even consider with the first two.) But once I got to the pushing stage, it only took 2 pushes! I literally pushed for less than 4 minutes. The most important thing is that in the end, I had an absolutely perfect, beautiful, precious daughter who was worth every bit of the pain and stress. I know that the whole experience was harder because of my age, but I definitely have no regrets. But I have to say, I really did get the message loud and clear from my body that it was DONE having kids. We had hoped to have one more, but that pregnancy was hard enough on me that I really don't think I could do it again. My advice is: #1, GO FOR IT!! :D Find a great midwife or doc who has experience with "older" moms because she will be a wonderful person to turn to for support and advice about some of the complications that can arise. (And she can put most of your fears into context, since all those statistics about older moms can sometimes seem so scary.) And #2: If you are at all prone to varicose veins and/or hemorrhoids when pregnant, know that they can be much worse in the "advanced maternal age" stage. Wear support hose from the very beginning! That's the one thing I would do differently if I could have a do-over.
  11. Come to Seattle! :001_smile: It's so beautiful here and we have an amazing, supportive, large (a few hundred families, I would guess), FUN group of liberal-minded homeschoolers. This really is just a wonderful place to live, and to homeschool. ETA: Parts of Seattle are pretty expensive, but if you look at neighborhoods like West Seattle, White Center, Columbia City and Burien you can still find affordable houses.
  12. 60 overnight, 66 during the day. DH would probably keep it at 69 or 70 if I let him, but I get overheated too easily. At 70 degrees I start wearing tank tops and opening windows!
  13. Last week I read The Breach by Patrick Lee. I expected it to be fluffy brain candy, but it ended up being much more interesting and memorable than I expected. He has a great interesting premise for what is going to be a series of several books, and I am looking forward to reading the next one (which was just released.) This week I'm going to re-read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It's one of my favorite books, and this is the perfect time of year for it - I need to get inspired as I plan our garden for this year!
  14. :) Thank you for posting this!!! I've never seen this before and I've always wished for something just like it. I just ordered it and am looking forward to trying it out. I also like the idea of highlighting chores for each kid. My kids and I are all big "list people" so I think this is going to work well for us.
  15. OK, I am diving in and joining this! My first book is The Breach by Patrick Lee. Not exactly literary, but I figure I'm entitled to a little brain candy every now and then! :D Looking forward to hearing about everyone's books and getting some great ideas. Cheers, Kathleen
  16. I feel better after reading this thread! I often feel guilty that we don't get out more often. We are kitchen table homeschoolers too. In the fall we have soccer practice in the evenings; in the spring, baseball; and DD has choir once a week year-round, but otherwise we don't do a lot. This was not my intention when we first started homeschooling. Then the baby came along! She has turned out to be one of those toddlers who is VERY challenging to take out. She doesn't like to sit in the stroller, refuses to hold hands and LOVES getting into everything. I just don't have the energy to be out in the world with her during this phase! It's far easier right now to stay home. And you know, I really like it and I think the kids do too. We have a lot of fun at our kitchen table!
  17. I have a 9 yo dd and 7 yo ds. They work independently for math, spelling, grammar, music and writing. They do memory work, art, geography and history together. They have different science curricula (chemistry for dd; natural world/biology for ds) but they participate in each others' projects - so they are really each doing both kinds of science. Cheers, Kathleen
  18. Dumbing us Down by John Taylor Gatto - I love this because he talks so much about how capable kids are and how often adults underestimate students' ability to direct their own learning. A Patchwork of Days: Share a day with 30 Homeschooling Families by Nancy Lande - It's so cool to see the different approaches taken by the families in this book. Very inspiring! Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of Homeschooling by John Holt The Complete Home Learning Sourcebook by Rebecca Rupp - this book is over 10 years old, and many of the suggestions and links are out of date, but there is still a TON of useful info here. Also, sprinkled throughout the book are fascinating excerpts from Rupp's homeschooling journal. Family Learning by William F. Russell - lots of great and fun ideas for learning together. I also recommend going to the library and reading all the back issues of Home Education Magazine while taking notes. I did this, and over a few months I filled an entire binder with ideas and resources!
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