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Kelli in TN

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  1. Kelli in TN
    I don't talk to my closest peeps on the phone much at all. With one, we leave each other Facebook messages back and forth. The other we can't seem to convince of the importance of Facebook, so we text on our phones instead. I Facebook and or text with the two of them probably an average of twice per day, more if there is something important going on.
  2. Kelli in TN
    I'd like them to be pushed to the front and maybe lifted a bit more than they are now, but I can't find the right shelving system for that. Oh, wait. You meant literal books, didn't you?
  3. Kelli in TN
    Justice has become very sensitive about what grade level his books are. He is 9, he should be in 3rd grade and he has figured that out. He just finished Horizons grade 1 math and is in Rod and Staff 2nd grade. Those are the only two texts he has that have an actual grade on them. I think he could work in the 3rd grade grammar book by this summer without too much stress. But math is a whole 'nuther story. So, I am thinking about NOT buying him the second grade workbooks for Horizons and using the yrros ssa teacher's manual to just tell me what concepts he needs and then pulling it together myself using my RightStart transitions, the Horizons worksheets and internet stuff. What do you think of that? And I wonder if I could move him along a little faster so he can get to the 3rd grade text by summer or early fall? Or do I risk leaving gaps? He just wants to feel better about himself and I want to help him do that, but not by sacrificing foundational math skills. *I* know it does not matter what grade the books have on their covers and I deemphasize it all I can, but lately it has become a very big deal to him. And ripping the cover off won't work, he wants to be AT grade level.
  4. Kelli in TN
    Let's see. I will give you the rundown on each of my children as they were at that age. Robby would have walked fast and stayed way ahead of us. Bekah would have stopped to lie down about every ten paces. But that would have been okay because her little sister, Sarah, would have put her arm around her waist and encouraged her to keep going. Gabriel would have crossed his arms and pouted every step of the way, refusing to look at anything interesting. Shalom would have started out with excitement and enthusiasm but would have faded by the the first tenth of a mile. Justice would keep up a running commentary of helpful comments like "Come ON, you expect me to walk this far? When we get home can I have a computer turn?" Good thing all of my kids were not that age at the same time! We could have never gone anywhere. I will never forget the time we climbed to a peak in the Smokey's. It's a paved walk up and there are a bunch of benches. Bekah had to stop and try to take a nap on every single bench. She was about 7 at the time. Sarah, who is two years younger, would stop and gently put her arms around her big sister and say "Come on Bekah, you can do it, lean on me, I'll help you." It was so cute.
  5. Kelli in TN
    We approached it this way too. Sarah had to let go of her #1 school choice because although her scores were plenty high to get in and to receive some modest scholarship money, it would have left her way too short. Instead she chose a school where she had a good chance of getting a decent scholarship and we knew had a good record of kids getting into grad/law/med school. And then that decent scholarship turned into being one of 15 kids in a special scholars program......oh I have no regrets about not looking at top tier schools, none at all.
  6. Kelli in TN
    You can see mine onmy blog. There was an official transcript sent by my umbrella school, but it just lists the courses and grade. I wanted to provide something more and this is what was attached to a letter I sent to the director of honors.
  7. Kelli in TN
    Can I suggest a different way of looking at this issue? My older kids liked to bite the heads off their chocolate bunnies and then fill the body with peanut butter. And my oldest daughter liked to bite the head off her bunny and then pour milk into the body and drink it down while nibbling her way down the bunny's body. Hollow bunnies do have some advantages if you are willing to look at it in a different way.
  8. Kelli in TN
    Piggybacking here..... Our very small co-op at our church would like to do worldview as one of our courses for our older students. We have two groups that we would like to do this with, 5th-7th graders and then 8th-12th graders. The divisions are being made this way to keep the number students per class fairly equal. Do you think we could use Lightbearers with our 5th-7th graders? We would have teachers gearing the conversation, can it be done? Also, do you think that Lightbearers will introduce topics that will be too much for the young minds? We surely do not want to harm their innocence.
  9. Kelli in TN
    Ah. That makes sense then. As you probably know, foreign language instruction is not a priority in the average U.S. public school system. It's a pity, really.
  10. Kelli in TN
    But wouldn't that depend on the teacher? The girl I mentioned above had no frame of reference and the prof assumed that these college students would all have a basic body of knowledge that included basic grammar. He was not going to stop and explain parts of speech to the one student who did not know the parts of speech. If she had not had patient classmates who liked her enough to remediate her, she would have failed miserably. I can see where you could learn the grammar as you go, but I think going into a foreign language class without even a rudimentary knowledge of grammar terms would be a handicap.
  11. Kelli in TN
    Dang Pam. That's almost my exact recipe. Except I use 1 cup of sugar. I tried cutting us back to 3/4 of a cup for awhile based on some diet recommendation (probably from a yankee) but my kids were not impressed. Then I tried using half sugar and half Splenda (probably another yankee invention) but I thought the whole family was going to up and leave home.
  12. Kelli in TN
    I knew some homeschoolers who apparently did not believe in teaching grammar. One of their daughters ended up at the same college as my daughter. They were in Spanish together. Several of the girls in the Spanish class would get together with this girl and tutor her in basic grammar because she was so very lost in college Spanish. It was not the Spanish that was tripping her up, it was basic grammar terms. The girl told her tutors that her parents had told her that grammar was common sense and she did not need to know all of the rules and the terms. She was embarrassed to have to be helped so much when all the other students were getting together to study vocabulary and such. I was really glad we put an emphasis on grammar.
  13. Kelli in TN
    *I* have not even watched it yet. Someday, but not yet. I think this was over the top.
  14. Kelli in TN
    I don't disagree with you. When someone has actually used something and can say, specifically, what it was about it that did not work for their family, I sit up and take notice. I might still use the course, I might not. If I do you can bet I am going to be watching for the pitfalls pointed out by the person with the complaint. I am all for experienced homeschool parents saying "Oh watch out for that. We did that and it affected us this way or that" I don't consider that curriculum bashing. I just consider that sharing experiences and knowledge.
  15. Kelli in TN
    Sarah was in the Rally Day band for two years. She loved it.
  16. Kelli in TN
    My daughter is a flutist too! She stopped taking lessons at the last semester break. But she took lessons from 6th grade through half of 12th!
  17. Kelli in TN
    :iagree: We live nearly in a subdivision. Our projects have been electricity, food science, citizenship.. and a few others just done on the side. There is plenty to choose from whether you are rural or not.
  18. Kelli in TN
    Susie, I personally know a girl who joined 4H in 10th grade and before she graduated she had worked so hard that she made Honor Club, then All Stars, and then the highest designation we have; Vol State. She did this in 2 years, so yes, there is much to be gained even by joining in high school.
  19. Kelli in TN
    I have seen nothing to be concerned about. My 9 year old saved up his allowance for 6 weeks to be able to buy a membership card since you apparently get more stuff than with a free membership.
  20. Kelli in TN
    I think it would be really great if we could have a logic stage sub-board here! I can't find the suggestion box, or I would certainly submit this idea to the box!!
  21. Kelli in TN
    :iagree: At our house the needs of the oldest student set the pace for the rest of the family. In fact, this year we are taking a year off from the cycle just so we will be on ancients for my next high schooler's freshman year.
  22. Kelli in TN
    Brenda, this is our first year to NOT be in 4H since my oldest was in 1st grade. 4H for high schoolers in Tennessee is just incredible. At the state level you will find quite a few homeschool kids and your kids will have friends from all over the state. My oldest son was the most active in 4H, in fact he was the State Council President during his senior year. He is still friends with 4H'ers from across Tennessee. Yes, jump in. We plan to jump back in this fall, we just had to take a little breather and concentrate on some other stuff.
  23. Kelli in TN
    I never thought of it that way, but you know? I think I agree with you. My daughter DID read those books. And her history was a chronological, interdisciplinary course weaving together great literature, 1 high school history text, 2 college history texts and various appropriate non-fiction books. It was hard work. But I don't look down my nose at anyone who says "The one required world history is enough for me. We'll just use this Notgrass book and call it good." I don't know the goals for that family.
  24. Kelli in TN
    I think there could be. Not that you should not do it, but be prepared for some challenges, I think.
  25. Kelli in TN
    Jane, dear Jane, You know what my daughter's latest accomplish has been, her admission to the top of the heap of a the honor's program, the inner circle of smart kids, right? And yet. I was speaking to my brother today and mentioned something that she will be doing soon and added the phrase "if we let her live that long" and went into a detailed description of how senioritis is playing out with this one. And then I felt like such a jerk. I think all of this is normal. It is a hard passage. I say this in the evening of a day when I have been so mad at my daughter that I have barely looked at her without glaring because of a bad choice that she made this morning that, if repeated enough times, could cost her the very opportunity that is in her hands. This transition to adulthood is so hard. But you have done well and you need not have any regrets. He will turn 18, he will graduate and he will make choices both good and bad but you will not be responsible for them. :grouphug:
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