lovemyboys
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Posts posted by lovemyboys
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No way. That is cheating.
Totally agree.
We review some basics the week before -- times tables, math algorithms, general rules for caps, etc. -- briefly.
But when testing starts -- No Way!
It's cheating, doesn't really help the child, doesn't matter in the overall scheme of things and sets a bad precedent.....
I think we all cringe when/if we're nearby the child and see errors, but that's the way it goes. And sometimes the results come back with a portion that's less than stellar, but hey, that just gives us something to work on and be humble about, right? :lol:
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dry erase markers, pencils, sharpies, mechanical pencils, glue sticks, definitely the art supplies -- colored pencils, watercolors, paper
The good brands last longer, are more rewarding to use (for art/projects) and work better. If you need to save, do so on paperclips, lighter-weight xerox paper, and things like that.
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Thank you so much. I will try these to see what I can do.
It will make ds feel so much better if we can.
:001_smile:
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:banghead:
Ds was trying to delete a photo and accidentally deleted all the photos. Is there any way to un-do it, reverse it, find them hidden somewhere?
Thanks for any ideas that might help.
sigh
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So, I am to know the order of the cases but not recite that when reciting the declension? Just the bolded? Do I even recite the "singular" and the "plural" part or do I just know that and only recite the words?
One of the things we do is just the endings, as in "a,ae,ae, am, a -- ae, arum, is, as, is". They're in order and quick for us to run through. Then we work w/ our own exercises to plug in words. We do similar w/ verbs.
If you get in the habit of doing chants like this, before you know it, many of them are second-nature.
:001_smile:
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Personally, I can't imagine becoming so materialistic that I could ever be jealous of a poor kid's birthday cake. But that's just me.
I don't think it's materialism. I think the "forest" that we're missing is a gov't program that's gotten so huge w/ so many regulations and restrictions that bureaucrats in DC are trying to micromanage someone's shopping choices hundreds of miles away. And that person's situation is different than the woman two aisles over shopping w/ food stamps too.
Underlying that is also the assumption that people can't possibly be left to the responsibility of making nutritious responsible choices on their own.
And then there's the inevitable fraud that comes w/ big non-local programs like this.....which calls for more regulations. How is the clerk at taco bell supposed to know if the customer meets a requirement to use food stamps?
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Neither is working for a living, being just above the poverty line, and not being able to afford to buy your kid a cake mix, much less a $38 prepared cake.
ETA: I know a lot of people are on food stamps, because they are out of work through no fault of their own. I don't begrudge people FS. I just see a lot of abuse of the system, and there have been plenty of times where we couldn't afford the basics, much less the luxuries. It just really bothers me that some people feel entitled to the expensive stuff when we work so hard and just scrape by.
I remember days of choices like this. Like you, I don't begrudge people the food stamps, the program is there to help. But it wasn't intended to cover everything, just like health insurance doesn't need to cover cosmetic plastic surgery. If you want a treat now and then, go for it, budget for it, just like people who aren't using food stamps.
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I'm really sick and tired of being told to send my kids to school so they can experience the real world. Can someone please, please tell me what kind of fake world I'm living in? It feels very real to me!!!
Seriously in the last year I have been told time and again my older two are ready for some real world experience and I should send them to school. If I try to counter with saying, my kids are getting more real world experience than kids locked in a classroom all day, I'm told that it's not enough. My kids need to experience life with other kids. ?????? Last week we ended up having three outings with other kids on top of church, tball, and karate.
I'm just really fed up. I'm trying to let comments roll off my back but it's like lately the comments are coming fast and furious.
I just needed somewhere to vent. Thanks!
You need to google that animated YouTube video on socialization, where the one character keeps asking about socialization. It'll make you laugh so you can stop banging your head against the wall.
Sometimes I think it's ignorance, sometimes perhaps a bit of rationalization (so they don't feel "less" about their choice for their kids), sometimes just busy-bodiness. Homeschool kids typically get a much broader perspective of the real world than their peers who are in the insulated yet surreal world of school. Even better, as your kids get older and you help them w/time mgmt to finish what they need to get done, they have time to really explore what they're interested in.
For those who are just giving unsolicited advice, I might think up a short retort of some sort about the unreal world of high school or something benign about being so much "in the real world" that you're hardly home .... :001_smile:
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Just adding the Nick of Time books by Ted Bell. Time traveling boy and his younger sister starts during WwII but moves forward and back.
The Warriors cat series have satisfied my voracious reader too. Like Watership Down, if you're not familiar.
I've started slipping in classics here and there too....but it does get tricky for one this young.
:001_smile:
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If you'd like to see some pictures (a whole history magazine) of what it was like just 90 miles from Havana, check out this pdf of the Key West History Magazine.
Thanks for this, I'm going to forward the link to my folks who lived there during this! They'll probably recognize a good bit of it.
Thanks, pqr, for the reminder. It's hard for us to realize or remember what a looming threat that posed with the power of the Soviet Union and their success in the "space race" (rockets/missiles) sitting virtually off our southern border.
I've heard people talk about what a tense time it was.
What a shame that our history classes are doing such a poor job of highlighting the truly significant events in our history regardless of the decade. Sadly, I think that if you hit any of the under-40 press secretaries of the last couple decades with the same question, you'd get a very similar reaction.
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My ds could not have read that book (preview at amazon) at 7, 8 or maybe 9, he is a delayed reader. If we were part of the book club we would have read it together, but if ds had been reading books on his own and then jumped to an unreadable level he might have been bent out of shape.
I've had to tread carefully, slowly, and sometimes painfully through his reading issues. There is a very fine line I've had to walk to preserve/instill a love of reading. My ds is finally getting to the point he's enjoying reading on his own, finally! It's taken almost five years of concentrated effort on his and my part. These are issues that we don't share with everyone, so even if we were a part of your book club, you might not know the extent of my son's reading issue. I love to read, I don't remember not knowing how to read, it has been extremely painful to watch my child struggle with reading.
Another issue might be the length of the book. I can't tell exactly but it looks to be close to 200 pages. Reading aloud we could have easily finished with a month, I didn't see how often your group meets. However, if he had read on his own it's feasible it would have taken over a month.
ETA: I hope you find out what was the difficulty with this book.
I could've written this with one of mine. And one of mine sounds like OP's son.
One way that our group handled the boys' book club was to have each child read his own book selection and then do a report of sorts about it. Sometimes the child would do a project or artwork about the book. It was different than a discussion group but the questions after each book often led to a bit of discussion.
It was how we handled the spread of reading abilities that were (and often are) evident in elementary-age kids. The girls' group held at the same time followed the more traditional style.
Anyway, hope your (OP) son found a few kids who had knowledge of his book to discuss with him.
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At some point in the conversation, money is going to enter.
I don't know at what level political pressure theories around it can be discussed.
But in passing, it is a heavy element in the testing industry - and the educational systems.
I don't think AP and it's relatives are based in altruistic idealism such as mastery and applied knowledge.
Not a single bit.
Yes.
"In my day," AP classes were used to test out of entry-level college classes and to get credits toward graduation so kids were able to dual-major in 4 years or graduate in less than 4. But things have certainly changed.
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I didn't read that thread past the first few dozen posts (it got pretty big), and I know these things can get really snarky sometimes, which isn't so nice. But I also think there's a way in which the ignorant (in the literal, non-judgmental sense of the word) things people say, while totally innocent and not rude, begin to wear on one after awhile and it's just nice to vent a little. I have twins and when they were babies, somewhere around the 500th time someone said sweetly to me, "Oh, are they twins?" I think I nearly snapped. Not because it was a rude question or because I thought they were an idiot (I mean, it was pretty obvious they were twins, but there's nothing wrong with not wanting to make assumptions) but because after awhile, you just get sick of it. And it's the same thing with the things people say to me about homeschooling. After awhile, I don't think the people themselves are annoying or bad, but I myself am annoyed, so it's nice to blow off a little steam and laugh about it with other people who get it. One of the conversations I'm genuinely tired of having is the "I could never do it!" conversation. I don't think people who say that are wrong, just that I'm tired of responding.
That was my thought also.
Some days it has nothing to do with how genuine or interested the person is about homeschooling, it's merely the fact that I've been asked that question so. many. times. before. Family friends, older folks, various and sundry. It's only occasionally from someone who is really exploring the whole homeschooling idea. The superficial chat involves the same 1/2 doz. questions and sometimes that does get old.
I admire you, I could never do that.
A. Oh you'd be surprised, especially when you start in kindergarten.
Depending on the day, it might sound (to me) like: Ick, why would you spend your time like that when you don't have to?
Do you get out much? Do you see other people?
A. Yes, you'd be surprised. There are so many options, we actually have to be careful we're not out too much.
Might sound like: Don't you get bored with it?
Well what about tests? Do you have to tell the state what you're doing?
A. Yes.
Might sound like: How can you tell you're not screwing them up?
But I usually go with the superficial polite chat, because that's all they're really asking.
Have to say that more and more, when I reply that we're homeschooling, the person asking responds with comments about people and things they know about homeschooling. : )
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I don't really understand this. I might be in the minority on this thought, but I don't think college is for everyone. I really think this is where we make the mistake of forcing a square peg into a round hole. Some kids are just not cut out for the rigors of college life. We should be offering more life prep for some of these kids, I think.
Bravo, I sooo agree with this. It's such a mistake to assume that every person wants or needs a liberal arts or similar college degree, especially at the current costs! There are people who want an apprenticeship, a trade, the military, to start a small business, to go to a technical school or just go straight to work out of high school. General classes should be reasonably available for them, including civics and personal finance.
For those who want college degrees, more power to them. Many careers need at least one degree. But it's time to stop dumbing down high school and then throwing most of the grads at college where the colleges have to back-pedal to catch the kids up to entry-level academics. It's a colossal waste of time and money.
But even worse, since I'm on a roll ( ;) ), I think it's very demoralizing for some kids to be told they have to go to college and then not be able to keep up with the "rigors of college life" as you put it. Starting out your adult life dropping out and having bills to deal with on top of that, well, just a bum deal.
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So is this remedial work to prepare them for college or is it just going back to normal college prep high school?
There is a reason why most students used to take Algebra in 9th grade. I certainly wasn't ready for it until then, or even after 9th grade. I was no genius but I went to college and didn't drop out.
I think you have a point here. These programs (AP & IB) that have such a strong push in high school may not be allowing kids who are just 13, 14, 15 to mature into the understanding that some subjects like advanced maths, literature and competent writing require.
Sure, it looks good on the transcripts and they "up" the GPAs, but is the student really mastering the material or simply moving through the course? Some kids will always be very strong academically, but with all the kids needing remediation in college, it looks like mastery isn't occurring in high school.
(Btw, if you're looking for a conversational counterpoint for your sil, that's what I would mention -- the mastery aspect.)
:001_smile:
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:iagree: If I want to watch the fabulously wealthy pretending to be real people, I'll go find some celebrity news website or something.
But that's just it. She did "keep it real." She was one of us in the "olden days" of the old boards, just another homeschooling mom with some interesting history and the hard work of ranch life.
She and her family all work really hard. She's got a ton of energy. She's found a niche with the big hearty country cooking that she does and her quirky sense of humor and her frank style of blogging about life on the ranch. She probably doesn't do it anymore but she used to post herself singing Ethel Merman and say dopey things about herself and her brother and doing laundry with lots of manure.
I don't bow at her feet and rarely go to her blog anymore, but I've enjoyed seeing her photo essays over the years, reading about the pets/kids/animals and listening to the little audio posts of her kids talking, etc.
Maybe she does edit more these days now that things are taking off, but gee, that's natural as more people are paying attention. I'd say they've earned their success. And with that, unfortunately, comes the naysayers and the hangers on and the disgruntled former friends.
After all, isn't Ree the one who started Book Samaritan to gather up and distribute curriculum for homeschoolers down on their luck?
A decade ago she was just a regular ol' gal like the rest of us, trying to raise her kids and homeschool, etc., just funnier. Good for them.
:001_smile:
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And why can't teenage boys - both straight sleep in the same bed? Women can sleep in the same bed, usually with girlfriends or relatives.
They would if they were on spring break together. They'd be fighting for the beds vs. the floors or chairs! (You know, the 10 kids per room kind of spring break.)
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Fantastic!
I've made similar but much smaller and less complicated.
These that you made are just gorgeous and perfect with your house! What fun. : )
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Happy Independence Day!!:patriot:
We're reading the Declaration again and thanking God for the strong, brave men who penned and signed it.:patriot:
John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail:"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."
Great quote.
:patriot: Happy Independence Day! :patriot:
Now let the fireworks begin...... :lol:
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Bless your heart. Go out with your family and make your own fun. Their loss.
That's what I was thinking. We're having a quieter weekend here too but we could've done more. I know you've got a lot on your plate right now, but little things can make a nice difference. On Saturday, I called an old friend and asked their family over, she was so thrilled that we'd thought to call. Maybe reach out to someone you'd like to see?
We're watching our way through LOTR these evenings and we'll watch some fireworks later, before that have a small bbq and read through a few things that make this "Independence Day." Yesterday after church, we invited a couple over that we haven't seen for a long time -- just coffee/tea, but the kids got excited and made cookies. Then we went for a swim. We're cleaning out things to donate for a couple camps etc.
Do you have fireworks celebrations or movies in the park? Take a walk in the park or arboretum? Play some catch together?
I have to remind myself sometimes that I can pick up the phone too, when I'm feeling left out. You may just be very pleasantly surprised by the reaction at the other end.... hope so.
:grouphug:
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Exactly! It came across the news and I got sympathetic heartburn. :tongue_smilie:Just the idea...we need a queasy smiley. They should have taken those hotdogs to the local homeless shelter instead. Wouldn't that be more patriotic then stuffing people silly. I hate that this bizarre competition is associated with our country.
Not just here ...
But I agree, they disgust me.
A good old-fashioned pie-eating contest where everyone tried to be the first to finish a blueberry pie. That's just silly fun for some folks.
But the idea and actual act of cramming that much food into your digestive system is simply revolting. Can't imagine what the next couple days are like. And some of the people are really petite. Uggghh. :tongue_smilie:
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Yes, it's articles I'm seeing, so it's more than just the homeschooling community. In fact, most of the articles are written by those who have nothing to do with homeschoolers.
I agree with that. I don't think those who choose non-degree careers should be chastised for not getting a degree. It just seems that there's a complete backlash now, as if no one should even want to get a degree or higher education.
I wonder if the last part you mentioned is more due to economics. Like the schools have priced themselves completely out of the sphere of reason now....
A few months ago, I was driving and flipping through the radio stations when I hit on a Dave Ramsey talk show (not sure if he was a guest on something or does a show, I know who he is but haven't read his stuff) -- anyway -- a young woman was talking about her debt. The part I remember is when she said that her husband's college loans totalled about $80K. He asked what the degree was in and if the husband was using his degree. She said he went to a nice private college and got a degree in Spanish. The response was that it's crazy to pay that much for a degree that will not give you a return on investment. He pointed out that her husband could've volunteered helping Spanish-language kids learn English, etc., and gotten similar skills.
I'm wondering if that's part of the backlash. It's one thing to "waste" a term or semester on "film studies of '60s comedy" or something in high school, it's a lot more expensive and pointless to do that in college. :001_huh:
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Ours is a small farm about 5 min from my house. It's organic and even has a green house, so it goes all 12 mos. I think it's $160/quarter, so $640/year. It works out to about $13/week and we get lots of food. This week was a pint of blueberries, 3 ears of corn, 2 cucumbers, about 8 red potatoes, 2 heads of broccoli, a big bag of baby spinach, a medium bag of green beans and a small bag of parsley. I think I'm forgetting something. It probably would have cost $25 if I had purchased everything separately.
If I were paying $600 for only 6 months worth, I would expect to be getting double the amount I listed .....
Ours was about $600 from early-April to late-Nov.
From mid-summer through Sept., we would typically get 3 large grocery bags of a variety of produce, including share bins where we could take extras, herbs, a wild-flower field to take cuttings, tomatilloes and cherry tomatoes to pick, a corn "share" and berry-fruit/egg/chicken options available for just a bit more.
When we started, I was concerned that we'd get stuck with bags full of zucchini by July but they were able to manage the volume and variety very well -- from May through Sept., there were no fewer than a dozen, often two or three dozen different things available.
The main reasons we joined were to expand the variety of food we ate, support local organic farmers (ours was associated with a college so they were training others as well), and eat more seasonally.
Looking for one in this area for next year, meanwhile we support the local farmers' markets.
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My personal belief is this: If the field you want to go into requires a degree, go to college. If you want a liberal arts education and can afford it, go to college. If you want the college experience and can afford it, go to college. If you want to self-educate, don't go to college. If you want to be an entrepreneur and feel you don't need college, don't go. In other words, do what works best for you.
Yes, I'm seeing these articles as well.
It seems to be a response to the trend over the last decade or so saying that everyone could and should go to college. Politicians, academics, etc., have been saying that everyone has a "right" to go to college, for instance. Please don't take this into politics, that's not why I bring that up. My point is that it's been drummed into people for the past 10 or 15 years, without the balance of trade schools, vo-ag, etc.
When I went to high school, kids (with their counselors) would get on track by 10th grade or so to pursue classes that were targetted for technical schools, business ed or business-related study, agriculture study, as well as more heavily academic tracks for college (higher level maths, essay-writing English classes). Not that kids couldn't change tracks or go to college after they'd done something else, but it acknowledged that not everyone wanted or needed to go to college straight out of high school.
The more recent "everyone goes to college" attitude does a real disservice to students who want technical careers or want to work in a field that involves apprenticeships, for instance.
That and the huge financial burden as college costs have sky-rocketed, well past any reasonable increases relative to the rest of the economy. I think a lot of families are really weighing the costs/benefits more these days when even state universities and regular ol' colleges are $20K a year not including all the additional costs.
The anti attitude you mention may have a good bit to do with the ridiculous classes and lack of a strong core that some colleges now offer. Graduating with a history degree but you don't have to take even one class on ancient or western civilization history? Things like that make the news more and more frequently these days. For some folks I'm sure that looks like a big waste of money.
:001_huh:
IRL most of the academically minded families we know are doing what they can to enable their kids to go to college.
Why the negativity about tattoos?
in The Chat Board
Posted
This is so true.
I've heard more than one junior high/high school age kid say that tattoos are for their parents, or "only 30-year-olds get those." !
I think that's why we're seeing so many more "sleeves" and whole body art. Simple tattoos are so ubiquitous that people who want to be edgy or make a statement really have to take it much further these days. But there are also a lot of people having things removed or dealing with how tattoos age. Looks like it's arcing past prime.