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Peela

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Everything posted by Peela

  1. Agreeing with Laura. I do think it is quite possible to write well without having an in depth knowledge of grammar. Growing up in an environment where people speak fairly well, (as in, they speak good English rather than poor) and being exposed to good literature, a child can naturally absorb good language skills. I remember writing just like Jane Austen for a while in my teens, after reading P&P in highschool. It can be intuitive for many children. In fact, I have yet to see my ds12, who knows how to diagram sentences and has been learning grammar for years, write well...one does not lead to the other! The only times I feel he writes well are when he is really inspired..and then the mechanics will usually be terrible. Good mechanics don't make good writing, and vice versa. Somewhere along the line though, I do think it is important for some people somewhere to learn their grammar thoroughly, otherwise it will become a completely lost art/science (whichever it is, I am not sure!). I think that might lead to the overall deterioration of the English language, if there was no one to set a standard. But I am not sure that large amounts of grammar past correct spelling, punctuation rules and rules of agreement leads to good writing at all, and I am very sure that there can be good writing without understanding consciously the mechanics of grammar- although it will be understood intuitively. I am not a university lecturer though, marking hundred's of student's work- only speaking from my own limited experience. My English father used to mark down his physics students' work for poor grammar, or illegible handwriting, because it made his work reading it harder- my mother used to be horrified at that. I think its putting the cart before the horse, actually. I don't see any harm in learning basic grammar early on, while its easy to memorise. But to me, learning to write well is just a completely different paradigm. Now later on, you can look back on your writing and analyse it using knowledge of grammar....but first you gotta find your voice, and I think mechanical writing according to too many guidelines can be rather stifling at some stages of kids development of writing skills. Although it might sound like I disagree, I love SWB's thoughts on development of writing skills. But her ideas on writing stand alone, with or without an in depth understanding of sentence diagramming etc. I have enjoyed learning to diagram sentences, since it is virtually unknown here in Australia, but it hasn't helped my writing, that I know of, and it doesn't seem to help my kids' either. One writes well and one doesn't. Both have a fair bit of grammar background now. Learning to diagram sentences seems to help them....learn to diagram sentences. Maybe it will all come together later, or maybe its all been an interesting exercise in exposure to a part of U.S. culture.
  2. I am glad it is not just my dd, anyway! We call her Piglet for the mess she leaves around. I think its probably one of those ongoing training things. We think they are going to "get it" and we wont have to keep saying it, but if we want them to have a tidy room, there has to be consequences, routine, checking, etc. Not always worth all the effort! I am like you, a middling housekeeper, and my dh is a clean freak. I was messy as a child and every few months my mother would keep me in all Saturday till my room was clean. I think it takes routines, habits formed over a lifetime, to keep up with tidying. Probably not high on many a teen's personal agenda! My dd's room is also on a different floor, but dh peeks in regularly and tells her to get it tidied. She has decided she wants money for a scout camp, so yesterday she cleaned out her clothes to sell at swap meet..so it should be easier for her to fit them in drawers now, at least. She buys 2nd hand clothes every week because we go to swap met every weekend. Its a teenager's dream, but still, she does have to let go of some. Not much advice....dd's room is mostly messy, but we make her tidy it whenever we notice...once a week or so. I wont tidy it, but I do tidy and declutter her brother's room regularly, because he doesnt care, and the more I get rid of, the easier it is for him to clean. I am a Flybaby. At times I have broken down tidying into babysteps. Go tidy your clothes. Go put on a wash. Go tidy your desk. Pick up your art gear. Make your bed nice. Rather than the overwhelming "clean your room". I dont think they can see half the mess, they are immune to it.
  3. Here in Australia, tradespeople- plumbers, electricians etc- earn more than most university graduates. I live (rent) in a wealthy, riverside suburb, and the few neighbours I know do not have degrees...the one over the back, with a riverfront property, is a builder. Builders and anyone contracted to the building industry here in my city, have more work than they can handle and long waiting lists. Calling a plumber out can be a joke..they can virtually charge what they like, they have so much work. There is a mining boom happening in my state. Its hard for local businesses to get enough checkout chicks, shop assistants, because all the young people have gone up north to make thousands a week, working really hard, in the mining industry. They can buy a house in a couple of years. Another neighbour built his own IT company, and another just has both parents working- one as a waitress is a flash hotel, the other a surf lifesaver! These wealthy suburbs are not full of university graduates, in my experience. My dad earned an average income as an astronomer with a job as a university lecturer, getting paid to do research as well. My mum, however, much to my dad's unhappiness, earned more money than him, running a business from home which employed other housewives in the area, working from their homes. We were well off not because of my dad's income, but because of my mum's. I have read several articles in the newspaper saying getting a degree is now just about necessary for anything...however, it doesn't guarantee any sort of a decent job. My marine biologist cousin works as an orderly in a hospital. A 17yo homeschooler I know has to get a highschool diploma to do his auto electrician's apprenticeship, which up till a couple of years ago was never necessary..and it leaves non academic kids in a difficult position. Because apprenticeships are so sought after, its hard to get one....if you do, you are lucky, because the work may be mundane to many, but gee you can make a good buck. It's all silly. I still think entrepreneurial skills are the most valuable...the ability to see an opportunity and grab it, to think outside the box...and Bill Gates has that kind of mind, as do many other mega wealthy people. They see opportunities others simply don't conceive. That's why they can appear to poo poo university degrees. People identify so much with their career, and it can be a limiting way to think...I am this or that, therefore this or that is what I do, and how I will earn money. Train track thinking. Great if it's your passion, and you are not too fussed about the income, but not so good if you were led to believe it was going to mean a fulfilling and successful life. Many people I know, including my mother, went to university as mature age students simply because they wanted an education....not a career.My mother never used her degree, which she got when she was my age, 40. Mature aged entry is a big thing around here. Of course, much of what I am saying might be location specific. I suspect college in the U.S. isn't quite what university is here...more like a step between highschool and university. It may be even more necessary there than here. I think my point is, the degree doesn't guarantee anything...thinking for yourself and following your passion, not getting stuck in train track thinking, are more guarantees of having a fulfilling life than a college degree alone. Then again if you equate being successful in the eyes of society as personal success, best you go get a degree because it will give you more status.
  4. Dd13 isn't sure but she wants to be really, really wealthy. Although she is an artistic type, spends 2 hours every day drawing and painting, and loves to write- that kind of kid- she for some reason has got science based careers in mind- doctor, forensic scientist, medical scientist, something like that. No pressure on me or anything :001_huh::rolleyes: Ds12, my dyslexic non academic child who fights me every day to get out of doing the bare miniimum of work, wants to be a Vet. (I know, dyslexic kids can go far...it's just not looking good from here!):001_rolleyes:
  5. The thing is, you CAN go to college- or university as it is called here in Australia- at any time. I won't be encouraging my kids to go to college just for the sake of it. I would rather they work and travel and experience the world and if they then decide they want to go to uni, with a clear idea of what they want to do- why, they only have to be 20 and they can go as a mature age student with no previous qualifications like a high school diploma. And mature age students have a far lower drop out rate. Maybe it would be more practical to have them go straight to higher educaiton while they are living at home. I like to try and keep my mind open, and theirs, to all sorts of possibilities. And for me, I would prefer my kids realise they don't have to join the Rat Race, where everybody thinks they are going somewhere important while they just spin their wheels while getting older.:auto: There are other possibilities in life to getting a degree/job, marrying, having children, retiring, dying etc. (I am reading Walden at the moment and am most inspired!)
  6. I am fine with time manageament and homeschooling routines, I dont mind mind changing curriculum when needed, I don't have little kids any more, but.... my biggest challenge woudl have to be homeschooling my 2nd child, my son, who the more I homeschool, the more I realise has learning difficulties and is what would be called a slow learner. He was recently diagnosed dyslexic, even though he can read just fine now, and he has a very obsessive compulsive personality. I find it a challenge to know when I really am pushing too hard, and when he is pulling my strings, and I get sucked into negotiating with him far too often. It is the one factor in our days that can wear me down and fray my temper. The other things are I don't like marking work much, and I am not really enthusiastic about cooking meals for 3 people who all have very different tastes. Lucky they are old enough to fix themselves something when I give up trying.
  7. I used it last year (2007) with my then 11 and 12yos, and we got a lot out of it. Probably we would have got even more out of it if they were older, but I was very happy with our year with the program. I picked and chose what we did from the program...all the worksheets and tests were too much, but we are not very good at worksheets and tests around here. I kept it fun, by reading aloud, and after the first couple of months of trying it all, we just did the "core" of the program, and some vocabulary, and I made up some writing assignments, art assignments etc . It was very doable and we learned a lot of literary analysis quite painlessly.
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