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OH Lori

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Everything posted by OH Lori

  1. I'm a homeschooling mom of 5. One has graduated and is in college. The second should have graduated in May but is slacking off and not working. Who knows when she'll pull it together and finish. That leaves 3 under my tutelage in our homeschool. This will be our 14th year of homeschooling. I am underwhelmed by the prospect of starting up again. We usually do work in July and my 3rd child, who is going into the 9th grade, has been working on her own. But the 4th graders have not done squat. Because I don't want to do anything. How do you keep going, year after year? I want to be the happy, dedicated teacher for my littles that I was for my older students when they were the same age but I simply am not. Too much water under the bridge. Looking for inspiration to be awesome again, lol!
  2. Thank you all for your help! I'm trying to remember that he needs A LOT of activity. Telling them BOTH that they couldn't ask irrelevant questions really helped tremendously today. And remembering that I would have to think outside my little box helped today. The boy was having issues with keeping on task with his reading. Writing it on the driveway and having him bounce through it helped a lot! Thank you all again! Lori
  3. This is the first boy I've home-educated. His four older sisters are much calmer and more attentive than he is. It wouldn't be so bad if one of his older sisters wasn't his twin. When I sit down to do school with them, he interrupts and distracts/disrupts for 5 minutes out of each 10 minute session. At least. I am so very frustrated with him. Please, you moms of boys, please give me some tips here. And be aware that my hubby is of the opinion that they have to actually do schoolwork rather than be unschooled. Not that there are probably very many unschooled classical educators, but just thought I'd make that plain. Thanks, OH Lori
  4. I'm trying to remember how old my daughter was when she went through a horrific growth spurt and went up a shoe size in a week! I think she was younger than your daughter, though. You said she was really skinny, is she going through any signs of puberty (probably breast buds at that age)? That can kinda make you inattentive (ask me how I know!). I'm more concerned that her inattention is also at the same time as some severe migraines (but at this time of year, it might also be pollen or hormones). So, all that to say, I don't know but sometimes kids do just go off and lose their minds. I wonder if there's another way you can approach her math or take a half step back to let her regroup while she's having these periods of inattention. I'll be interested to hear what your doctor says.
  5. One of our piano teachers told us that it wouldn't do any good to give them lessons before they could read (can't figure out the letters of the notes if they don't know alphabet). Another told us as early as possible. Personally, I think it depends on the personality of the child and the family ability to cope with/afford lessons. But then I'm that way. :blink:
  6. We have had the same issues and we're going to Florida in a couple of weeks to spend some time with the grandparents who think we're over-the-top religious freaks. Sigh. Oops, sorry. Anyway, I ordered the patterns from this site: http://www.modestswimwearsolutions.com/ to make our girls (and my) swimwear. My son has his knee-length swimsuit from last year and my husband will probably wear his scrubs. Another nice site I saw was aquamodesta.net as well as some of the aforementioned sites such as wholesomewear.com. Any of these will make suits for you, most to your specifications (longer sleeves, skirts, etc.) but I wanted to get patterns so I can make my own as my girls grow up and out of their suits (or wear them out). HTH, Lori
  7. Happy birthday! I'm the mom of 3 and twins...love your sign-on.

  8. what I do with my SIR list on my blog is to have a whole other page which lists the links and put an icon in my sidebar which links to that page. All I have on the blog proper is the icon proper. Perhaps you could update the separate page everytime you do a Link of the Day? No, that sounds sort of time-consuming. Never mind! :D
  9. That's a good idea (using a rubric for grading). I'll have to try that again. I sort of had one for book reports when the girls were younger but they were resistant and I was lazy so I let it drop. Ok, gotta figure out how to grade daily, I think. Thanks!
  10. I use the Homeschool Tracker (on the computer) for my lesson planning and Donna Young's pages for most everything else. Oh, and I'm working on a chore chart from Managers of Their Chores.
  11. We started out using SWO but I got sick of buying the workbooks. We switched to Spelling Power. With the younger ones, I'd do things like having them trace the words out in pans of rice or flour or something like that as an additional kinesthetic way to get them into their little brains. Also, allowing them to write the words on the bathroom mirrors or refrigerator in dry erase marker or in the tub with tub crayons is fun. :)
  12. When mine were little (the first cycle around), we did a story (within a chapter) every other day unless we had a big project associated with the unit. (One year we built a Viking longhouse out of mud and sticks, for instance.) Then we just stuck with it until I was ready to move on. Now we basically do the same thing, although with a lot more outside reading for the big people.
  13. When do y'all do grading and how? Do your students know their grades? The other day someone asked my 12-year-old how she was doing in school and she looked at me and shrugged. Since I don't make a big deal about the actual grade/score, except on end-of-chapter tests, they just do the work. I do most of my grading on Saturday when my hubby has charge of the twins, but I need to figure out a way to do more during the week so I can correct problems when they happen.
  14. While I agree that it's important for them to take tests in the actual test-taking venue, it's a little difficult with my Aspie daughter so I wanted her to take some practice runs at home. As it is, we're still trying to get our heads around the fact that "we're" in high school. As I said to my friend Gina, I'm a slacker in classical education circles.
  15. Seriously, though, when do I need to worry about having my 9th grader take the PSAT? I remember taking it in 11th grade but it seems like they're taking it earlier these days. And does taking the CLEP a reasonable way to ditch tedious college classes? I took AP tests and it was nice to be able to skip college grammar but I'm hoping she can CLEP out of biology. TGIF! Lori
  16. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm yammering on my 9th grader to read The Diary of Anne Frank. She hasn't yet because she doesn't like "stories that end badly". She's about to start The Iliad, as soon as it comes from the library. She is reading The Well-Educated Mind again. No brown-nosing, Susan, it totally bewilders me because she's already read it once this school year. Having already read Shopaholic and Baby (very cute) I am reading Straight Man by Richard Russo and Key Lime Pie Murder (Joanne Fluke). Lori
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