Denise in Florida
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Posts posted by Denise in Florida
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Not a penguin but a duck, if that helps.
There is a mystery series by Robert Quackenbush, the lead character is a duck, Miss Mallard. My girls like these books when they were early elementary aged.
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We like the classics the best ;). Dominoes, regular playing cards, checkers, chess, scrabble, yahtzee, jig saw puzzles, charades, cribbage, mancala (huge hit). We do have some of the newer 'educational games' which we enjoy but the the classics are always the first off the shelf.
I don't know if this fits in "extras" but lots and lots of craft and art items. We keep a big basket full of empty boxes, scraps of fabric, etc.
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Maybe "The Three R's" series by Ruth Beechick.
:iagree::iagree:
This is everything you need to know and is very inexpensive.
The only other thing I would say is 'readiness really matters', one of my girls read at 4 years old the other would not read until 8. :001_smile: They both have the same love of reading now.
The age difference was for the best because I would have been unbearable (with pride) over how easy it is to teach my children.:blush:
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I can't say how your sister would take it, but if someone (who knew what they were talking about :001_smile:) felt I needed information for my children I would want to know. Of course, I would also want them to also back off and let me decide.
Maybe you could express it as 'here is an idea' and 'you won't hurt my feelings if you find another answer'.
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I was going to mention scorpions too. My husband and I grew up in Arizona and cats were great for scorpions and centipedes. My sister-in-law recently moved to our old home town and was terrified of the scorpions (she has three children under 6), I told her to get a cat.
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BlsdMama - I'm so glad you asked. :001_smile:
Quick background - We are very relaxed homeschoolers. I vary the amount of structure from year to year and subject to subject, but we fall fairly close to the unschooler line.
There are many some things in WTM and classical schooling that I choose to incorporate when appropriate, so I usually lurk here and get great ideas.
The spectrum of learning is so wide that I am not sure any two homeschoolers have the same approach. I'm not sure how many of the board people self-identify as unschoolers (we do). I definitely have learned a little from a lot of different points of view and love the information I find here.
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We have graduated one and have one in high school.
We have homeschooled from the beginning, when we first started I was certain I would not homeschool for high school. :glare: Of course not, I said, they need high school don't they?
We just played in year by year and now one girl is finished and one is a sophomore. Of course, this is something each family has to decide but I can't imagine us doing it any other way. The last four years with my oldest daughter have been an amazing blessing.
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It is a sort of rust red with yellow lettering on the spine.
Hope this helps, I totally understand about not finding a book you know you have.
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I agree with all the suggestions for books, crafts, etc. You can also make up your own travel bingo cards of things to look for on the road. (Yellow VW, Firetruck/Ambulance, construction zone, etc.)
When I traveled with small children I kept a goodie bag. Simple stuff from the dollar store, such as candy, game pads, toy animals, postcards to send yourself from the road. We put marks on the sidewalls of one the car tires with colored sidewalk chalk and whichever color was lowest at each meal stop was the treat for that stop. Red = run around the car 3 times, blue = treat from goodie bag. Your friends could do whatever variant they like.
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I would just leave them alone. They are harmless and provide pest control.
I grew up in Arizona and my mother always encouraged lizards to live in the garage and porch area. One year we had one live in the dining room. It was an older house with lots of carpentry nooks and crevices (I don't know the official terms but they were a pain to clean and always attracted bugs and spiders). The lizard was quiet and kept the insects down. I live in Florida now and wish pest control were still that easy. :001_smile:
Good luck
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There is an organization called 10,000 Villages that helps third world craftsmen sell items for a living wage (very little middle man cost). They probably operate year round, but the shops I have seen are usually open for a month or so around Christmas. Churches donate the space and the sales staff are volunteers so the artists get most of the profit.
You can probably google them.
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I don't believe a college background is necessary in order to successfully homeschool children.
There are far more valuable assets such as patience, love of learning, adaptability, and a good sense of humor. At least those applied for me, someone else would probably have a different list.
I did complete college and I loved it. I don't know if it came in useful or not since my whole life has been about reading and learning, it is hard to separate out those years and say which life experience mattered the most.
There has only been one facet of homeschooling where I fell back on my college experience and that was in helping my DD apply to colleges for this fall. I understood the process and the 'education and financial aid' vocabulary. I felt confident acting as her high school counselor. But I am certain we could have found another way to work it out. There is lots of information out there to help.
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My denomination doesn't spend much time studying the end times. I do believe Christ will come again to judge the quick and the dead (Apostle's Creed).
When I realized how much study and fear was out there about this I asked my Minister at that time. He responded that we would not know when and that is was more important to concentrate on living each day according to God's will.
It doesn't bother when others talk about it or try to predict when it is coming. It does bother me when people promote faith through fear. I am thinking about the signs one of my local churches keeps putting out front:glare:, not anything that anyone here has said.
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Yes, Florida is very hot in August.:tongue_smilie: Just do your best to stay cool, drink lots of water, wear comfortable clothes. If possible take a break at your hotel at mid-day and cool off in the pool, return to the parks in the evening.
The parks are buzy and it depends on which attractions your kids want to see but Epcot is generally less crowded than Magic Kingdom during the day. The back area where the countries around the world are showcased is less crowded and there are lots of spaces indoors, but I don't think it has any thrill rides (I could be wrong, it has been awhile).
I agree with the water park suggestions. There is also an awesome science museum (indoors = cool). Have fun.
My husband also travels on business and they only time I could swing going along was when my girls were little (5 and 7). We used to go to museums and dollar-movie theatres and hang out around the hotel pool. (We weren't in Orlando) The girls used to really enjoy it.
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My daughter sews for 4H and does the fashion shows. Ours are early in the year, State in January, County in March (yeah, that makes no sense).
Congratulations to your daughter. Is this her first year?
My county does not allow the kids to be barefoot (safety issues) I would have her wear bedroom slippers or ballet slippers.
Tell her to smile, the judges can tell if you are having fun.
:001_smile:
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I had a horse as a child and loved riding (mostly 4H stuff and trail riding).
I bought a sweet QH filly for my daughter a year and half ago. Mocha is now 3 years old and we are moving her to an English stable to continue her training. My daughter loves to ride English and has competed in 4H shows. She has done all the early ground work training with Mocha and will do most the new training with the coach.
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I read "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn when my girls were little and it really changed my parenting and my homeschool plans. I guess for the most part I am 'morally opposed' to rewards. :001_smile:
There have been, however, specific and limited exceptions. Some early learning (particularly rote memorization of math facts) we made into a game. There was a winner but no 'prize'. Sometimes if they set a goal and meet it we celebrate by renting a movie or going to Starbucks.
We do not do a sticker or point system for school work or chores.
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This is a interesting discussion. I agree that literal and figurative can have many meanings. I am still exploring and refining my faith, I expect to do so for the rest of my life. The answers I have today will modify over time through study and experience.
Here goes. The Bible was inspired by God and contains all that is necessary for salvation. The information is as valid today as when it was recorded. People's hearts have not changed significantly since the OT times.
Much of the OT is a historical account of the tribes of Israel. Prophecies are the word of God. The Gospels tell about the life and teachings of Jesus, I believe the Gospel writers faithfully transcribed the words of Jesus. The remainder of the NT is a history of, and instructions and exhortations to, the early church.
Parables and non-historical accounts are metaphorical but vital for instruction.
Note regarding Creation/Evolution in particular: The Bible truthfully accounts for who created (God) and why (for His purposes) but is not literal a description of how. I do not believe in abiogenesis, I believe God breathed life into existence. Whether or not life was created as it currently stands or if it was shaped by natural and God directed forces is I do not know.
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The dual enrollment office at the CC my dd attended had a list of which courses were 1 high school credit and which were 1/2.
Basically if the course covered the entire topic, i.e., Calculus, Biology, Creative Writing, it was considered 1 credit. If the topic was divided, i.e., American History until 1877 and American History after 1877, you needed both courses to equal a credit (each course worth 1/2).
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My daughter took General Biology for Non-Science Majors at the Community College. She also took Intro to Chemistry, they recommended this class rather than Chem 1 for students who had not completed 2 years of High School Chemistry. My daughter had no problem with either course, she did not feel that she needed prior Bio or Chem experience.
Both teachers assured her she would have been fine in Bio 1 or Chem 1.
All of the colleges to which we applied had admission requirements of 3 years science with at least 2 labs. Both of these courses were acceptable. In fact, she is hoping they will fulfill her college core course requirements also. :001_huh: She is very interested in Math and Music but cannot stand Science.
My younger DD is more science oriented. I hope to have her take Biology 1 and 2 at CC.
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I would count it as a credit. My oldest daughter took piano, participated in choirs, camps, etc. and I gave her a music elective credit two different years. None of the colleges to which she applied asked any questions.
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It is fairly easy to develop your own curriculum for many subjects.
The best books on this are Ruth Beechick's "3 R's Series" and "You Can Teach Your Child Successfully" the first is for grades K-3 (math, reading, language arts) and the second is 4-8 (all subjects).
With these books you can create your own curriculum with the support of some good reference books.
The other book I would recommend is "How to Write Your Own Low-Cost/No-Cost Curriculum" by Borg Hendrickson. This is an older book you can probably find it used. This is a fantastic resource for planning your K thru 6th grade years. It covers not only what to teach but helps you design approachs that fit your goals, values and learning styles.
Any of these books will be far more valuable than an individual textbook or program.
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We have wood floors in our bedrooms. At first I considered a large area rug for the master bedroom but a lot of the floor space is taken up by the bed and we didn't really need that area to be covered. We ended up putting two small 2x4 rugs on each side of the bed and a wide runner 4X10 at the foot of the bed. This works well for us and is easy to keep clean. The area rugs can be lifted out of the way to clean the floor.
ETA: One of the small rugs came from Home Depot and one was a hand-me-down from my mother. We purchased the larger rug at an auction house that specializes in furniture and collectibles for $150, (it is a very nice rug, we could not have bought it new).:001_smile:
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We are fairly relaxed schoolers so I definitely let the girls follow their own interests for electives. Some things like math, English, science etc are givens but the girls choose how they want to study them.
Here is an example of one of the electives this year.
This year dd2 (freshman) did an elective in Costume/Fashion Design. She studied historic fashions including appropriate colors and fabrics. She sewed costumes for herself and friends for Halloween (Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd) She also experimented with alternative fabrics and made an entirely recycled outfit from magazine covers (bodice), fused target bags (purse, shoes, accessories) and scrap material from sheets and old jeans (skirt). The recylced outfit took 2nd place in the 4H competition at the state fair. She also sewed a professional outfit (dress and trench coat) to wear during volunteer work. We created the credit by tracking and listing the various books, articles, patterns etc that she consulted. We also documented the completed projects and she wrote a short summary of the skills she developed over the year.
Self-Education Goals for Next Year
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted · Edited by Denise in Florida
I am determined to become less of a luddite and learn to operate the electronics in my household. :lol:
Seriously though, I plan to start a blog, learn some html and some simple programming. Normally I lean toward the abstract random ways of thinking and I will be trying to strengthen my left brain skills.
With one child off to college and one a sophmore in high school I am ready to brush up my job-related skills and becoming more computer literate is one step.
I have lurked here off and on for a while and look at me, I am actually posting!
ETA: I also want to create and post a LOLcat someday.