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Lucy the Valiant

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Posts posted by Lucy the Valiant

  1. 22 minutes ago, Jaybee said:

    This may not work very well for you, because my sons were much younger at the time. But I was homeschooling the two youngest--maybe around 6th and 3rd grades? And they got in the habit of whining and complaining. So one day I brought out a jar with a lid and put it on the table. I told them that when they whined and complained, they had to give me a quarter to put in the jar. (Inflation would make that more, now.) If I had to listen to all the whining and complaining, then I should get to take myself out to a coffee shop by myself, and I might even get a dessert too. In fact, I could hardly wait! I think from that point on, I only got two quarters. They just needed something to make them aware of what they were doing and to break the habit. It was understood that if they were having trouble with something or really needed something to change, that I would work with them on that. With a teenager, I'd see if I could come up with something similar but age appropriate. Sometimes they just don't realize how much they are doing it, and what it sounds like to others.

    At a similar age here, I filled (clean) small glass jars with colorful m & m's and labeled them with each kid's name. Every time I heard a complaint, I'd EAT one from that jar, and then stand there grinning with this goofy face "inviting" the kid to complain again. Any m & m's left at the end of the time period (I think it was 3 days??), the kids got to eat. 

    It worked shockingly well (m & m's are not standard fare here, heh), and every now and again, we'd set the whole thing up again just to do a re-set. Sometimes I made my own jar, too. 😉  

     

    • Like 3
  2. Also, the police (non-emergency line) often have a list of beekeepers willing to come relocate a honeybee hive (not wasps or yellow jackets). One way to identify them is to trap one in a jar, freeze it until dead, and then identify up close & without danger.

    • Like 2
  3. The WisePhone II has maps without internet (it's just not yet released). I'm not tech savvy (obviously) but guessing it is locked to a database somehow? 

    iPhone parental controls are an option, but looking for something more independent.  (Person asking is not a child, but an independent adult.)

    I so appreciate the help of the hive mind!

  4. Hi, I'm doing some research to find a phone that DOES HAVE calling, texting, maps, camera, calculator, (music or podcasts nice but optional), calendar, timer / alarms and reasonable monthly support charges, and also DOES NOT HAVE internet browsing (even on wifi). Does such a thing even exist? What I'm finding so far is . . . 

    1. Light Phone 2 (doesn't have gps / maps)

    2. Wisephone II (not out yet, still in development; seems expensive)

    3. Gabb Phone (hmm, maybe this is it? i like that the icons look like an android / normal)

     

    Anyone BTDT? 

  5. Grammar is pretty important in this house, but it's a "mastery" goal, not a "spend all the time we can" goal. We start around 3rd / 4th grade, explain the end goal to the kids, let them take the WHOLE 6th grade year off, and then use 7th grade as an experiment to see how much they've retained. The end goal is 2-fold (from the kid's perspective): successfully complete the 8th grade level of our grammar series, and then be personally responsible for correct grammar / punctuation / usage / MLA formatting going forward.

    We're on Kid #4. 😉

    Editing to add: Our reasons for teaching English grammar are 3-fold:

    1 - Parsing a complex idea / sentence into its discrete parts is a skill that often transfers to other fields (even when the kid doesn't realize it's happening).  (This is helpful in 2nd or 3rd languages, too, usually.)

    2 - Yes, so kids can speak and write correctly, and to a level that their grammar and usage doesn't interfere with their content. 

    3 - So that when (if?) someone else tells them their grammar is incorrect, they have the tools and foundation to be able to assess if that's actually true or not. (This is an educational pet peeve of mine in math as well, that I fear I've passed down to my kids - oh, well. 😉 )

  6. We did use Xtramath, with the added reward (bribe?) that AT THE VERY MINUTE a child completed an operation (example: "finished" the addition level), we piled into the car, drove across town, and that child got to choose a $3 carton of ice cream for the entire family to share that night. (Ice cream on a week night was a rare privilege, so that was high motivation for my crew.) And each child (eventually) got to choose 4 total ice cream options, and each child was comfortably competent in the basic arithmetic facts. 🙂

     

     

  7. We have chickens and ducks, and eat the eggs of both types. I personally do not care for duck eggs scrambled or made into omelet, but our whole family prefers them for baking (richer). Many of my international friends dearly love the duck eggs, so that's where most of ours go. 

    I understand the mental hesitation, but a fertilized egg (whether chicken OR duck) can only grow a chick / duckling if it has been incubated at *just right* conditions for 21 days (chicken) / 28-35 or so (duck). So if the eggs are being collected on the daily, they CANNOT grow a chick. If that helps. 🙂

     

    • Thanks 1
  8. Meals you can make in advance and freeze? 

    Someone (a home schooled teen girl?) who could come do light cleaning / re-set / meal prep every 3-4 days? 

    Can you do a Plan A (everything goes perfectly / lean more on phone calls) and a Plan B (things don't go perfectly, so you call in a church friend on standby who could come stay at night, etc)? 

    (Hugs! I'd be loading up with some good-for-ya treats, too - new movie, etc.)

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1
  9. 😞

     https://www.help.senate.gov/ranking/newsroom/press/ranking-member-cassidy-sounds-alarm-over-biden-admin-delaying-fafsa-information-harming-students-access-to-financial-aid

    “The Department of Education had three years to prepare the rollout of the updated FAFSA. Their inability to do their job has real consequences for students and families. These unacceptable delays from the Biden administration creates the real likelihood that many students will forgo college because they cannot choose a school without knowing their eligibility for student aid.” (Cassidy)

    • Sad 3
  10. Land of Hope does have a teacher's guide that provides excellent summaries and answers to all of the questions from the Student Workbook. It's independent of the 1776 plans, but did work out quite well for our Land of Hope history year. 🙂 (We used video lectures + textbook + student book + teacher book + 2 CLEP exams.) Just in case that's helpful to anyone else interested in Land of Hope. 🙂

  11. Hi, I have a kid finishing Derek Owens' AP Calc AB course, and the student would like to dual enroll in Calc 2 and then Calc 3 next year. We don't live near our state university, and we don't have anyone in the house who can help him through / problem solve / work together. I'm at the beginning end of researching this for him, but wondered if anyone here has some course-specific advice? Can this even be done online? Our older kids who went past this point in math just continued to university, but this particular student has 1 more year at home before uni. We do have community colleges sort-of within driving distance, but we haven't been impressed with their caliber in other areas, and I'm looking for excellence for this kid, if I can possibly find it. *grin

     

     

  12. 1 hour ago, athena1277 said:

    My oldest took 1 AP in 11th grade and 1 in 12th through an online school.  The one in 11th she was going to take at a public high school.  The AP coordinator there told me that schools are required to accommodate outside students if they were giving that AP exam.  We did have to pay for it, which was completely fair and reasonable.  The only reason she didn’t end up taking it there was because it was 2020 when they made everyone do it on a computer at home.  In 12th grade she took the exam at a local private school in person.  One thing to note when calling schools - ask for the AP coordinator.  Other staff may wrongly tell you that you can’t take the exam.

    How I wish that were universal!

    • Like 1
  13. 2 hours ago, catz said:

    There can be lots of legitimate reasons why the SAI may not reflect what is really financially possible for a family to contribute for college.  One straight forward reason is inconsistent or bonus driven incomes.  But there are plenty of others too.  Last time I checked, ours was over half our take home pay.  

    We're riding the merit money wagon so happily, we did not have to do the FAFSA this year.  Because what an absolute train wreck.   We did have to do it for both our kids to be considered for merit.  Lots of schools like to verify you aren't eligible for pell or need based aid before awarding you other funds from the school's coffers.  

    I was confusing SAI with Pell when I asked that - WHOOPS! I fully know they're not the same thing, but mis-spoke / mis-typed. 

    • Like 3
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