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Annie Laurie

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Posts posted by Annie Laurie

    Finding a math tutor

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    How do I go about finding a math tutor for my 8th grader? He wants to try public school for high school next year, and I need to get him caught up on math. We had issues with math anxiety and a lot of arguing and drama with math, so I took it pretty slow for several years. He's willing to put in the work to get caught up and has gotten better about dealing with frustration. We've been using Lial's Basic College Math, which some of my other kids have used in the past, and I really like it. However, I feel like I'm not keeping us on a fast enough pace, and that following the textbook will be too slow to have him caught up by the end of the school year. He loves science and needs to catch up in math so he can advance in science, as well as being ready for high school in the fall.

     

    Are Sylvan and Kumon type places worth the money and time, or would we be better off trying to find a college kid or other private tutor with good references?

    Dr. Hive: Anyone have pain from stomach acid or stomach ulcers?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I have a long history of GERD and it always feels like a burning pain to me. I spent years chewing Tums all the time, which I later read, can actually make stomach acid issues worse over time. It got so bad several years ago, when I was at my highest weight ever, that I was having these painful "attacks" at night and would wake up in pain so bad I would spend a few hours laying on the living room floor on my left side praying for it to pass, and I would usually end up vomiting a lot and then eventually feel better. It started happening more and more frequently so I drastically changed my diet, out of fear of being in that much pain. I started eating only a few, very bland things each day, like plain oatmeal with some sliced banana, apples, lean meats, and veggies. I avoided wheat and dairy to see if that was an issue for me, and anything fatty or acidic. I ate small portions and chewed my food very well and didn't eat for 3 hours before bedtime. I drank a lot of ginger tea. I avoided tomatoes, strawberries, chocolate, coffee, alcohol, fatty foods, citrus fruits, and peppermint. That got it under control, and I lost about 20 pounds.

     

    After that I slowly added food back in. I was on a PPI for a couple of years and was finally able to take myself off it. The best I was ever at, as far as my GERD, was last year when I ate extremely "clean" for body building reasons, and I ate tons of veggies and lean protein and very little sugar. I've been off PPIs for a year or two now and I've noticed if I don't eat enough veggies I start having GERD issues again. I think the vegetable enzymes help a lot with digestion. Triggers may be different for everyone, but alcohol, chocolate, and strawberries are big ones for me. Also, not drinking enough water. I've learned now that if I start having symptoms, drinking a lot of water helps.

     

    I've been to a gastroenterologist and had an endoscopy. I didn't have H Pylori.

    • Like 2

    S/O meal planning: What are some easy, healthy meals/recipes that are in your repertoire?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted · Edited by Annie Laurie

    Lots of soup recipes for the crockpot are easy and good, I often wing it and dump in chicken or ground turkey and/or beans and whatever veggies and herbs I have on hand, along with broth and maybe some small pasta or rice toward the end.

     

    We make this crockpot lentil recipe a lot. http://pinchofyum.com/crockpot-red-lentil-curry

     

    Buffalo chicken in the crockpot for salads or sandwiches- put in 6-8 raw chicken breasts, or I often use thighs because they don't get dry, and add /2 c Frank’s Wing Sauce, 1/4 c yellow mustard, and 1/4 c apple cider vinegar. Cook on high for 5 hours (my crockpot runs high and it's more like 4 hours for mine).

     

    Salmon with roasted veggies- easy to throw salmon in a foil lined baking pan and drizzle evoo or butter on it, season it and toss it in the oven. This recipe always comes out moist and flavorful. http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/baked-salmon

    Then toss veggies with evoo and sea salt and pepper on a baking sheet and roast at 400 toward the end. We love roasted broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and asparagus especially, but carrots, green beans, and potatoes are great roasted too.

     

    This is one of my family's favorite meals. http://foodlove.com/crispy-black-bean-tacos-with-avocado-lime-dipping-sauce/  It might seem like a lot of work because there are several steps, but I find having no meat to deal with makes it faster, I often make a big batch of the black beans ahead of time when I have some spare time, and then I assembly line the taco making by cooking big batches on my large griddle. Also, I put my kids to work, usually one will volunteer to make the dipping sauce.

     

    Also, if your family likes eggs, I find that to be a fast and easy standy. I scramble or poach a bunch of eggs and then have lots of fresh toppings to choose from- chives, diced tomatoes, roasted red peppers (from a jar to save time), crumbled goat cheese, etc.

     

    Frittata is another favorite here, and it's so quick. This is our favorite, though I don't like the sweet taste of coconut milk, so I can't vouch for the taste of it with the coconut milk, I just use unsweetened almond milk or whole cow's milk instead. http://callbellsbarbells.com/eat/prosciutto-herb-frittata/

     

    The new Skinnytaste Fast and Slow cookbook is excellent, I've already made several hits from it.

     

    X - post Landry Academy Financial Problems?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    If you have children in classes, or just need copies of your ledgers and transcripts I suggest you print them as a precaution.  The site is supposed to be going down for maintenance at 2pm EST.  Teachers are suggesting that you print everything you need, or at least download it to pdf for your future reference.

     

    My husband had surgery recently and I'm exhausted and haven't been able to keep up, and now I can't print my kids' transcripts,  on top of my daughter not getting to complete her Novel in a Year course and being out $312 for a recent group buy.

     

    My kids' teachers were excellent and I'm disappointed for them that they're not being paid what they are owed.

     

    Landry had no business taking customer's money or hiring teachers they couldn't pay.

    • Like 4

    Landry Academy Group Buy

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Landry Academy is closing. We got an email from my daughter's novel in a year teacher today stating that Landry is now closed. This is in the middle of my daughter's year long class, she is in the middle of writing her novel. What a waste of a semester and we paid for a year and are not getting that. A teacher of one of her semester classes sent an email stating that Landry has not been truthful and I believe that. They had no business taking homeschooling parent's money or hiring teachers they couldn't afford to pay. I assume we will never get the money back from this group buy, I'm out $312 for 6 credits.

    Computer programming classes?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Thank you so much! I got busy and haven't been back to this forum for awhile. I have to be to the hospital soon with a family member today, but will come back to this thread as soon as I have time and can think clearly. I appreciate all the help! I don't know a thing about programming, that's why my question is broad, but will give some thought to what we need more specifically and will look at your questions, Lanny, thanks!

    • Like 1

    Computer programming classes?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted · Edited by Annie Laurie

    Where could my son take online computer programming classes? He is 15 and would need advanced programming classes. He has been mostly self-taught up to this point. This would be for spring semester.

     

    ETA: I looked at Landry Academy but the time for advanced Python classes conflicts with his online math class.

    • Like 1

    I can't help asking how you feel about tacos

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Few veggies in Mexican food? That can be worked around 😊. We top our tacos with tomatoes, lettuce, green onions, cilantro, avocados. Tacos don't need to be only meat, can also do chicken. We also have other Mexican dishes, veggies as a side

     

    We put tons of veggies in our tacos too. I love the added  texture of shredded cabbage in a taco, especially a fish taco. We love everything else you mentioned on a taco too.  Plus pico or salsa or jalapenos.

    • Like 2

    Landry Academy Group Buy

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Ok. Would everyone be more comfortable if I ran the buy? I'm on mobile so I didn't even notice she had only 1 post.

     

    I am happy to do it or happy to take part if someone else is running. Let's get this set up.

     

    The total cost per credit is $52.00 I will post my pp address if I'm running it. If we don't hit 100 I will of course refund everyone.

     

    I have feedback on the baby wearer forums from bst and on eBay, all positive which I can share via pm on request if that helps.

     

    This sounds good! I'm in for at least 4, maybe more, need to decide how much I want to spend right now. Will buy more if we need to, to reach 100. Thank you so much for offering to run this!  The discount isn't as deep after September 3 (tomorrow), so we need to buy today for the $52 price.

    High School History Textbook?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I have a son who has ASD and does very well with concrete materials that are laid out in a way he can easily follow. I don't care about him having a rigorous history program, we would like him just to have a solid history overview. We're doing something I found that will work well for him for literature that isn't tied into history, so we don't need a history program with literature included.

     

    I think he'd do well with a textbook, but it needs to not have too many details or rabbit trails, or too much clutter on the page. Any ideas? I looked at Notgrass history, I would prefer something secular but thought it might be simpler, but even that just looked like too much for him. He needs to spend his time and efforts on his online math and computer programming classes, because that's what will benefit his future goals the most, and we also need to spend a lot of time on writing this year.

     

    So any ideas for a solid but simple history text for highschool?

    Do your husbands have a best friend outside your marriage?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    My husband tells me frequently that I'm his best friend.

     

    That said, he's a big extrovert and has a lot of casual friends and acquaintances and the guys he works with he considers close friends. He works with a close knit group in what is kind of like a small start up, so they see each other a lot at work anyway and they get to spend a lot of time at work talking about ideas, and solving problems, which is fun for them and what they would do outside of work if they go together anyway. Dh and I get together with that group of guys from work and their wives from time to time, but we don't do a whole lot without each other. He meets a small group of close friends once a month for dinner and I go out to a movie or dinner with one of my friends at about the same frequency.

     

     

    Are four online classes too many for 9th grade?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I'm interested in this Adobe Illustrator class - which online provider has this?!?!!!!

     

    This is at Landry Academy.

     

    My Dd jumped into two online classes a couple of years ago - one twice per week and one once per week. She did fine with those two academically.

     

    I think it depends on the kid, the classes, and the requirements of the class.

     

    She is used to the math, so you're adding three new things. Are Illustrator and Forensics both one semester? If so, can one be moved second semester? Look at the expectations and time commitments carefully.

     

    My dd is going to take 4 online classes in the fall - all year-long, but one class is only once per month. Another is once per week. So, only two are twice per week. It'll be a stretch for her. We'll see how it goes.

     

    Good luck to you.

     

    No, those two are both only semester courses. We decided to do forensics in the spring. So she will have three online classes now.

     

    I will be the outlier. I will say it depends. Ds, in tenth grade, dived into 4 after just a 6 week writing class online ( but he had had co-op classes). For us, two have flexible deadlines ( and one I can cancel and reschedule if necessary). But I would say two heavy work and set deadlines classes would be the limit for him.

     

    So, if writing is s passion and she enjoys spending time on art--it might be doable if the rest of her classes at home can be flexible if the work piles on. ( for us, I slowed math a bit and will go into the summer)

     

    This is something she and I discussed and she was asking me if she could do a history course over the summer to get that out of the way. I desperately need my summer vacation this year so we won't be doing that, but I did tell her we could be flexible with her workload for that at home and figure out ways to make it up later if she ends up with not much time for history this year.

     

    Has he taken online classes before?

     

    Yes, she has taken math online for the past two years.

     

    Can you tind out what the homework expectation is for each class? My 9th grader will be taking 4 online classes next year, but she's already been doing online classes for a couple of years. Two of the classes she will take will have 5 hours or less of homework per week. The other two claim to take 10 hours a week. I know my dd can do this based on what she did this year, but because of the classes with a higher time commitment, we will do other classes at home that I'd rather do online. I want the flexibility of being able to adjust her workload from week to week so that she's not overloaded. Also, we are beginning chemistry this summer and she will do some math over the summer for added flexibility. Mh dd doesn't mind working hard during the week, but she doesn't want to have to do much, if any, homework on the weekends so that's what we aim for.

     

    Landy Academy says 4-8 hours for each class per week at the high school level. I think she could do it, but due to her ADHD, she and I agreed that we would try three classes in the fall and see how that goes, and then she can add another in the spring if she wants.

     

    Adobe Illustrator course would complement the novel writing course. It is hard to tell how time consuming the forensic anatomy course would be. I would say four is possible if you help her in time management.

     

    My oldest is doing four online course right now but the schedule is light as all four courses are once a week. He is doing physics, precalc, python and writing. He has two class on Monday, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday. His B&M classes are on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

     

    We decided to see how three classes works out for the fall and reevaluate in the spring. I have a feeling we'll find she could have done the four, but I'd rather not waste the money on a class if it turns out she can't keep up. She is a kid who does better when busy though, and will rise to a challenge. When she doesn't have enough to do, and enough challenge, she gets bored and hard to live with.

     

    I depends on the kid whether that's too much or not. Maybe you could get a copy of the syllabi for the courses and get a better idea of what will be required.

     

    I'm wondering why she would need literature if she's taking an novel writing course.  You can divide up English in high school such that this year would be composition with the novel writing and the pick up literature another year. Also, you could hold off on the in-person art course until Spring if she takes Adobe Illustrator in the Fall.  It isn't clear to me if the Forensic Anatomy course is just for the Fall or if it is a full year course. Either way, since history will be taken at home, you could cover a less(or none) in the Fall and more in the Spring. So, her year could look like this:

     

    Fall - Geometry, Adobe Illustrator, Novel Writing(composition), Forensic Anatomy, History

    Spring - Geometry, Art,Novel Writing, Forensic Anatomy, History

     

    Obviously, only you can determine if this is doable. If you feel that you need more credits, you could add something easy like PE and Health.

     

    We did take a look at the syllabus for each class. I hesitated about a science course from a Christian school, we didn't see anything that made me pause, but we're not interested in Creationist science courses, so we decided to wait on that one anyway, until I can get more feedback on exactly what that particular science course covers.

     

    I guess I am just calling her reading list literature. You're right that we wouldn't need deep discussion about literary devices and themes in the books she reads and such since they'll cover that in her novel writing course.

     

    Thanks for the ideas on how to phase things!

    • Like 1
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