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MunRoLy

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Posts posted by MunRoLy

    Disguising backs of bookshelves?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    We just rearranged our furniture and now have 2 bookshelves used as a mini-wall. They are cheap bookshelves from Office Depot and have ugly, pressed board backs. What can I do to make them look nicer? They are in our school room, but I don't really want to just cover them with posters because some of the back would still show. It's not horrible, but I would like to do something.

     

    Any suggestions?

    I got a Speed Queen!

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    So Monday the repairman tells me I need to replace my 8 year old GE washer. (It had stopped spinning).

     

    Probably Wednesday I came here and found someone had already started a thread on which washer to buy.

     

    Friday we went to the local appliance store and bought a Speed Queen! (Which I had never even heard about until this board on Wednesday).

     

    I read reviews online and it seemed to match our needs perfectly. I just washed my first load and I love that big stainless steel tub!

     

    Now if only my dryer would start having problems so I could get a matching set...

    s/o of "what's the big deal" thread

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We absolutely love Everyday Math!!! I don't mention it much here because I know how much some people hate it and have even pulled their kids out of school because of it.

     

    My dh and I are both math majors (as is my brother who originally chose this program for his 4 kids).

     

    And now that I have one dd finished with Everyday Math we are loving what comes next: College Preparatory Mathematics for Algebra. Such a wonderful program!

     

    One thing I have never waivered on is our math curriculum...history is something else.:tongue_smilie:

    New TOG question (kid approved?)

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Depends on the kid. It prepared my oldest, a history major, really well for college. If you don't mind a little mama brag he received the history major scholarship at his college - he had to write a paper on an event from history or something like that. Every college he applied to loved his reading list, but in fairness part of the admiration belongs to Memoria Press's 12th grade online English course he did in 11th grade.

     

    Love the mama brag! Love also hearing that it prepares well for college. I hope this is true for mom's who are not that great at leading discussions. Hopefully TOG will help me improve.

    New TOG question (kid approved?)

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    1. Sit down with the calendar and figure out which days we need off, which we have co-op, and when the unit celebration will be.

    2. Discuss with other co-op moms which literature selections will be covered.

    3. Order books, make online lists at the library

    4. Write out a chart of reading assignments for the whole quarter onto one page, including read-alouds. I need to see it all on one page--this is just me.

    5. This quarter I am trying something new. I bound a notebook with all the reading assignments, accountability questions, maps and activity pages week-by-week for my dialectic student. That way he knows exactly what he is responsible for each week.

     

    Once you do the process once or twice you get the hang of it. I'm becoming quite efficient at handling TOG and planning is taking less time.

     

    Thank you!

    New TOG question (kid approved?)

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Do you want to do the discussions with her? For myself, I made the decision to switch to TOG for my younger 3 students and then decided just to add my oldest into the equation. I'm glad I did.

     

    I purchased most of the rhetoric books to make it easier on myself. On Thursday I print up the necessary sheets for my son, then on Friday I hand him the reading list, writing assignment, student pages, and maps. He spends the week working and hands in his written assignments on Friday. We all sit down Friday morning to go through the dialectic discussion. The younger 3 children disappear while my oldest and I continue on the the rhetoric history discussion and literature discussion. He completes the TOG weekly quiz Friday afternoon. TOG's been a boon. It's easier on me than what we were doing, but we're also able to have quality discussions now. :001_smile:

     

    Yes, I want to have these discussions with her. Definitely! But here's the thing, neither of us are good at discussing. :glare: ds12 and dd9 are great at discussions. But dd14 and I really struggle. Not that we don't love talking to each other...we just both struggle with discussing things...if that makes any sense.

     

    You make it sound so doable. Thanks so much for sharing a bit of your weekly schedule and how the discussion time goes. That is so helpful!

    New TOG question (kid approved?)

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I'll chime in. . . . . .

     

    I've got a pile of TOG posts in my blog (link in siggie).

     

    I love your TOG posts! I was reading the one about doing TOG with the olders and it sounds so like my family. My dd14 (8th grade now) totally gets lost in the shuffle. I want to have those discussion times but #1: can't find the time, #2 I'm not good at it.

     

    Here's my dilemma: I'm now seriously considering TOG for my 3 youngers. I have NEVER done a good job teaching my kids history. I am great with math, love our program and am very consistent. (I was a math major).

     

    Total opposite with history. I was never taught it well, have never stuck with a program, and am not consistent. :tongue_smilie:

     

    I would love to just decide on TOG and actually stick with it. I just don't know if it would be too much to try to do it with the younger 3 as well as trying to figure out the rhetoric part with my poor history-deprived soon-to-be 9th grader. Seriously, she knows almost nothing about history because I haven't done a good job teaching it.

     

    My other option with her (something we started a couple months ago) is to do history using the High School Great Courses from The Teaching Company. We are working through Early American History now and would do World History next year. Basically she watches the DVD, reads from a textbook, answers comprehension questions, writes an essay and that's about it.

     

    Advice? Just do TOG with the younger 3 and let older dd work through the Great Courses? Or just jump in and do it with all?

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