Momof3littles
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Posts posted by Momof3littles
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Has anyone been able to stack coupons on their site?
Wondering this too as I haven't tried yet. I have a FS over 35 code and would love to be able to apply that. Their shipping eats into savings all too quickly for me usually.
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We paired Miquon and Singapore in the early years. Beast 3 came out when DS1 was past that point, but he did play around with it, as does my 7 yo DD. We've also mixed in Zaccaro, math lit like Sir Cumference, Penrose, Mathstart (Murphy) books, etc.
We didn't do the early levels of LoF, but DS1 wanted to try the Fractions, Decimals, Percents, so we did that, and then Physics and pre-algebra with biology (which I am not doing as a "pre algebra" curric, it is just something he does as a supplemental thing). I really don't like LoF as a curriculum, and don't like some of the author's commentary and undercurrents, but DS1 enjoys it and likes working on it mostly independently, so I tolerate Fred ;)
We haven't done Khan as a program, other than the cryptology portion (early 4th grade).
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I agree with several PPs. My DH is a scientist (chemist), and I have a master's in a healthcare field that was very science-heavy. We do some formal science study as part of a small co-op with friends (I don't teach it :) ). My kids read lots and lots of science books, my 10 yo reads Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, etc. I really dislike some of LoF, but DS1 begged for the Physics book and has been very motivated to move through that on his own. We talk science all of the time at home, we have a garden, we have jeweler's loupes, magnifying glasses, a "cabinet of curiosities" (various specimens like snake skins, mineral samples, seashells, insects), etc. The kids have moved from building with snap circuits to building circuits on breadboards. To them, that is a hobby vs. homeschool.
We have used Critical Thinking Through Science, and I have liked that, but yes, you have to gather materials and so forth.
I really would like us to do a lewelma-style larger scale project, but we haven't tackled that yet.
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For us it has been very worthwhile. It is probably my favorite curriculum. DS1 started in Island in 3rd. I would say the grammar was appropriate, poetry was appropriate but writing it was challenging (he has excellent LA skills but has not enjoyed "creative" writing until recently. We are finishing 4th grade). Vocab was maybe a bit easier, but I think it complements the other components so beautifully. I printed samples years ago and just couldn't grasp it, and even looking at the books it was a bit difficult to see how it would work together. But once we started using it, the pieces clicked so beautifully for us, and the various components reinforce one another so well.
DS1 did town this past year as a 4th grader, and that worked well for us. He gets a little worked up writing paragraphs (perfectionism vs. lack of skill), but we are now at the end of fourth and he is finally rocking out a nice paragraph, editing without tears, and telling me they are easy to write. Phew. So I think it was an appropriate challenge for him. Again, my son does incredibly well with grammar, etc but has not enjoyed any of the writing until recently. Writing poems is probably still not his favorite, but he has gotten soooo much out of the poetry portion of Island and Town. CE1 has been fantastic, DS1 has retained vocab in a way that I doubt he would have with most other programs. CE1 includes things like poems MCT has written about Rome, which gives an opportunity to reinforce some of the ideas from the poetry component.
My DD is a first grader and basically begged for MCT. We are finishing Island up now. We worked on the writing portion together for things like poetry, but she has grasped the stems, grammar, and the poetic techniques beautifully. Writing in various meter, etc. is still challenging for her without help, but she gets the general goal and can identify meter. Writing is just harder :)
I did FLL with DS1 and it gave him a good start in first and second, but I much, much prefer the way MCT uses logical, flow-chart -like thinking to walk kids through sentence analysis (ex: Island introduces the idea of identifying a linking verb, then looking for a subject complement. If there's an action verb, is there a direct object? if there is a direct object, is there an indirect object? If we have a pronoun as a direct object, we need an object pronoun vs. a subject pronoun. I love that it is presented simply, but logically. My own grammar education relied heavily on very formulaic exercises that did not serve me well). I certainly did not receive that depth of instruction in elementary school, unfortunately. So I would say it is deceptively simple vs overly simplistic.
We are obviously big fans. For my kids, it has been worth it without hesitation. I would cut other places to free up $ for the materials. I also know I will be reusing it with my DD and probably my youngest eventually, so we'll just be replacing consumables. We are koolaid drinkers I guess ;) , but I just have seen such growth with our MCT materials that I can't imagine using anything else.
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Soap carving
garden patch?
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Historically I have only attended my local HS conference for the used curriculum sale, as the speakers have not been of any interest at all.
Last year was the first time I attended a conference (not my local one) in order to listen to speakers. It was the RFWP conference, and I absolutely loved it. I am also incredibly excited that SWB is going to attend my small, local conference this year, as that is a great improvement over their past selections!
So my list would include:
SWB
Jim Weiss (I've never heard him speak, so I'm not sure how he is as a conference speaker)
MCT
Dr. Francis Spielhagen again. I saw her speak at the RFWP conference and enjoyed her talk on Latin.
Ditto Shelagh Gallagher, I enjoyed her talks at RFWP, and would like to hear her speak about other topics related to gifted education and higher order thinking.
Sir Ken Robinson
Lewelma speaking about science projects would be fabulous!
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Saturday DH scheduled a massage for me, and we went out to dinner at my favorite Greek restaurant. We also went to my favorite ice cream shop, which is a bit of a haul, but they make their own and it is fabulous.
Sunday I opened a card from the kids and one from DH. My 10 yo had written in beautiful cursive a lovely note to me about how grateful he is that I'm his mom. It was very touching. My 7 yo wrote her own lovely note, and my youngest, age 4, wrote a little "I love you" he had copied from a piece of paper :) I wasn't hungry for breakfast but enjoyed a cup of coffee and mimosas with DH :)
We spent the day with my MIL, and it was very nice. I had told DH I didn't mind sharing the day with her, as this was her first Mother's Day since my FIL passed away. I thought it was nice DH carved out some special time for me on Saturday so I could have "my" time too.
MIL handed me a card as I left, and told me to open it in the car. She had enclosed a very generous check of a value totally inappropriate for Mother's Day. I'm not sure what that was about. MIL loves to gift generously, it has always been her thing, but it caught me off guard. Not sure I can make myself cash it, but MIL would be mad if I didn't.
It was kind of an exceptionally good Mother's Day. We don't usually celebrate to that degree, but we've had a rough year in our extended family, and I think DH wanted to do more than usual.
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I'm in a state that requires record keeping. I'll toss what we do out there in case it helps.
Log of instructional days (I just check at least 180 boxes)
Log of books read
A few samples from each subject. For things like writing, I try to include a few more creative writing samples, including some poetry (we do MCT, so we usually have some samples), and then pieces written about various historical figures, etc. I could include far fewer samples than I do (for ex, a well done written essay about a historical figure includes grammar, history, "writing," spelling, etc.). However, many SDs are very much of a "school" mindset, and if one puts in a sample essay of a historical figure, the SD will then ask where evidence is for "writing." They have trouble if it isn't neatly broken out into standard schooly subjects.
My kids study art as part of a co-op, and they paint something on their own related to the movement, artist, technique, etc. studied, and then write a little paragraph on the back about their painting and what technique they used, or other relevant info. Many times they write about the artist, so an "art" sample may also be a "history" sample, but I don't think my particular SD can figure that out, unfortunately, from what I've heard from other HSers in my community. It is rather ludicrous. Many SDs don't have issues with connecting the dots and figuring out how one sample can apply to several subject. I happen to live in a SD that has occasionally given others grief on this topic, so I divide up my port into tabbed sections labeled with required subjects to make it easy for them to check off their little rubric sheet ;) I t doesn't have to be that way, but I do it so I don't have to deal with any additional communication from them asking for samples of X, Y, Z subjects. Sometimes I just photocopy the same writing sample and put the same piece in two different sections (writing and history for ex). Silly, not legally necessary, but easier than dealing with communication from the SD :/ I write a summary of the field trips we've taken, any unusual or particularly exciting projects, extracurricular activities (not required, but these overlap phys ed for us, so it also serves as documentation we've completed phys ed requirements).
We also include the letter from our evaluator, and test results in relevant years. This year we tested through Duke TIP (non testing year for us, but our first year doing the EXPLORE), so I am including those results even though they aren't required.
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Still thinking of you, your DD, and Marek.
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Have you watched SWB's videos of doing WWE w/ her son? My son is pretty talented at LA, and when we were doing WWE 3, he could not remember everything in one swoop for some of the dictation passages. I have a good memory, and at times I know I would have failed had the roles been reversed. Just work with them where they are, and encourage them to hold what they can in their head.
Would your son do any better with reading the paragraph vs. listening? Did he do WWE1? We've never had an issue with the comprehension, but maybe it isn't a good fit for him at the moment. I don't have any suggestions, other than maybe having him try reading it himself vs. listening if he's a strong enough reader?
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DD has memorized a few stanzas of "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and recently the first stanza of Wordsworth's Daffodils.
Not a poem, but she memorized the FLL list of prepositions in Kindy, with the understanding that you have to really analyze to be sure something is a prep, and the list is merely a tool.
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My stomach just sank and my heart is in my throat. I am so sorry.
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If you know the situation with the Philly school system, it's easy to see how such insanity would happen. Impossibly low funding, students in poverty, and the ax looming. We have justifiable homicide in this country. I'd almost consider this justifiable cheating. We are intellectually murdering an entire city.
I understand. I'm a liberal public school supporter, and think the funding issues in Philly schools are criminal. I still think the magnitude of this is pretty disgusting, although I understand why they are under such pressure.
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I'm with Momof3littles on MCT's LA. Love it!
My son would tell you the best thing he's done this year is Youth Digital's Mods for Mincraft course (Java) he does online. This company offers generous, deep content in an excellent format. We will most definitely be signing up for more of their courses.
My DS1 really wants to do this. I think we may have to give it a try. Thanks for your input!!!
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Hated teaching myself how to do them, still have to really think about some of them. DS1 also had many tears over bar models LOL. However, I do see them as a very valuable piece for many kids, and I wish I had learned them. I had algebra 1 in 8th grade, which was the earliest it was available to even top students. I know I had difficulty really grasping why some of my equations were wrong at times, and a bar diagram would have made that much more obvious I think.
So I kind of hate the struggle, but I like the outcome, and think it would have been a valuable piece in my own education, had I been introduced.
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Do you feel like the monitor caught the episodes you are experiencing? There are definitely palpitations that are not cause for any serious concern. Did your monitor have the option to flag symptoms? MIL has worn a holter monitor several times. She had to do it recently, and this one had options to flag any other symptoms that coincided (fatigue, dizziness, nausea, etc.)
if you feel the monitor caught what you are experiencing and the cardiologist is not concerned, I'd be encouraged.
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Oh I completely agree that high stakes testing is always going to result in cheating, or people will veer into very questionable territory that is essentially cheating (I've heard of "helpful" bulletin boards being left up intentionally, for example). I am very much anti-high stakes testing, and it was one of many drivers in our desire to HS. I just thought this one was a bit shocking in how blatant. Not "just" teaching to the test, etc. but broadcasting over the PA system, and reprimanding teachers and students who were not part of the cheating. So disturbing.
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We eat a lot of frozen veggies. We sub things like cauli rice for traditional rice. We have a garden, although I'm not sure it is all that inexpensive since we do raised beds.
Minimize throwing stuff out...cook the right quantities or use/freeze leftovers. Be sure you have a good system so for example fresh greens aren't getting wilty and gross in the fridge while the sturdier items are being used up first.
I sometimes find we have less waste when we cook in bulk and freeze.
eta: we also like buying the huge bags of organic frozen berries from Costco for smoothies.
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Broadcasting answers over the PA system is what made me drop my jaw. The cheating does not surprise me, but the combination of all of these methods being used so boldly and blatantly was a bit shocking to me.
I live in a state that requires homeschoolers to test, and is very restrictive overall, so when I see stories like this, I shake my head at all of the hoops we have to jump through while this goes on, kwim?
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Dh succeeded by going to a small public university, not really anywhere close to a heavy hitter in his field. But, he took on additional research as an undergrad, he built up great relationships with his professors, he was at the top of his class, and most importantly, he networked. He had a professor married to someone in a large, excellent local employer, and that's how he got his first job. She asked for his resume and passed his resume onto her husband, and that got his foot in the door. He later went onto a more prestigious university (a public ivy) for his doctoral degree.
We always say no matter what college our kids attend, we will strongly encourage them to get involved with their professional organization, intern, volunteer for student/faculty research projects, network, etc. Most of DH's career has revolved around his professional connections, as I'm sure is true for many folks. His network from his first job out of undergrad helped him to eventually get into graduate school once he decided to go back. That network connected him to a particular advisor in graduate school. His non math GRE scores weren't phenomenal, but no one cared because he had a powerful network of people writing him graduate school references. He did some contract work in graduate school that resulted in a referral and recommendation to a job for another company, which was his first job out of graduate school. His current position allows for a lot of networking, which is priceless.
I do think it sometimes matters. DH didn't want to go into academia, but his undergrad pedigree would have been a ding if he had attempted to become a professor at a top PhD granting institution. But otherwise, he's had no issue building a career off of his start at a small public undergrad that isn't particularly prestigious. He also had no issues getting offers for highly coveted post doc positions. He declined and took a job in industry out of school, but the offers were there.
He's been asked about his undergrad background on interviews, and he has always pointed out that it gave him an opportunity to get a lot of individual attention from his professors there.
No matter where our kids go, I will encourage them strongly to network, go above and beyond with student research, and to get involved with the relevant professional organizations, etc. in their field.
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We tried a bit of AoPS prealgebra, but didn't love it. We were using it with a 9yo though. We have instead spent this year messing around in LoF physics and pre-algebra (I hate Fred, but DS1 likes the change of pace), finishing up Singapore 5 IP, and dabbling in a few other things like Jacob's algebra. Ch 2 of AoPS was annoying to me when I looked through it, but I think it is time to revisit it. It has been a few months and I think DS1 and I may be ready to try it again this summer. I've heard a few people say they didn't care for the pre-algebra as much as intro to algebra.
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http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=9531036
I have followed some of the standardized test cheating scandals in Philly and other parts of the country, but some of the details in this made me drop my jaw.
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Do you use straight stevia? Maltodextrin is often used as a bulking agent, but some people find it irritating to their GI system, and maltodextrin is very high on the GI index. The maltodextrin makes stevia easier to measure and pour, since it is so concentrated in sweetness by itself.
I use the straight stuff, as I don't want or need the maltodextrin. I doubt that's the issue in your case, but mentioning it just in case. I have PCOS, so my cycles are more regular when I eat little to no grains, sugars, etc. Since that's why I use stevia, I don't want the maltodextrin.
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I have PCOS and am therefore on the more insulin resistant end of the continuum, even though I've always been a normal weight, normal BMI (BMI in my adult life has ranged from about 19-22). I feel much better on minimal grains, grassfed meats, eggs, proteins, fats, lots of veggies, as does DH. DH's family has some type 2 diabetes and in his late 20s his hemoglobin A1c was creeping up, although still not prediabetic. Our whole family just feels best eating this way, and we've been doing it for over a decade since I got my diagnosis of PCOS and started piecing together how that fits with insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, etc. We are not purely paleo, but have used a lot of paleo ideas for the last decade (the idea of things like pastured meats, fermented foods, etc. has been around in nutrition circles before "paleo" was marketed as such).
My parents have also really benefited. While I hate having PCOS, it really clued me into a lot of things.
I don't think naturally occurring saturated fats are inherently bad. I think it is wise for everyone to look at reducing sugar, and think most people's idea of "moderation" for sugar is not really very moderate at all since there is so much hidden sugar, let alone obvious sources. I think most nutritional research is so intertwined with lifestyle issues (like meat eaters also tending to have more unhealthy habits in general. Many studies on the amount of meat people eat aren't going to have the majority of people consuming pastured me
at and eating a lot of veggies vs. hamburger rolls). Self reporting in nutritional studies is a problem and too many conclusions are drawn from self reporting (People lie about what they eat. Even nice, well-meaning people :) )
Omega 3 and omega 6 ratios and oxidization of fats is turning out to be a pretty big deal, and I think most people would be well served to look into reducing many common PUFA rich veggie oils when possible.
Lots of veggies, lots of greens. We do fruit, but smaller portions of higher sugar fruits and a greater focus on things like berries that are naturally lower in sugar. We do beans here and there and I don't stress about it, but I don't overdo as they are too carby for me overall in large portions (I'm a former vegetarian, so I do like them).
Need help with bunnies found in my yard
in The Chat Board
Posted
If you don't get a return call from the rescue, let me know. I attended a talk on raptors with my kids a few weeks ago, and the woman hosting it does wildlife rescue. She gave us some tips, and we took her card in case we have any questions or find any abandoned animals. She trains other rescuers and has been doing this for many years. I could give you her # and she might have info for you if mama doesn't return.