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Rosyl

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  1. ​I have struggled with this topic for the last couple of years regarding math. I can get to the beauty and truth of the subject, I can get it down to the basics...awe and wonder, too? No. :closedeyes: Not in math. ​This was my last year homeschooling my oldest. For the past 2 years we fought to find the beauty and truth and wonder in math. There has to be something more than the drudgery of just doing it. I have no awe and wonder for math either, that didn't help. I searched the web for better ways to explain and stumbled on several videos that reinforced the truth of formulas, clarified beauty by allowing deeper understanding, and allowed for repetition to marinate in the truth. I was still lost on the awe and wonder. ​My oldest isn't going to benefit, but the rest of my kids are going to listen to some TED talks such as Fibornacci's numbers and do a few art projects that show how the math is used. A quick search of math art on pinterest brings up quite a few options. I had to find the awe and wonder first. It wasn't until I got excited that I was able to relay to him the awe and wonder of the equations. Two of our local high schools showed examples of problems that made a pic. they had to creat problems that formed a picture. One was from Alg 2 class and one was from a Calculus class. That showed me some awe and wonder.
  2. Hi everyone, This weeks topic is awe and wonder. How do we put awe and wonder into our high school? Awe - a feeling of respect and amazement brought on by something beautiful or sacred. Wonder - a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable. Are awe and wonder important in the high school years? ​How do you add awe and wonder to your subjects? What subject are you in awe of? Does wonder lead you? Where does it lead you?
  3. I read an article that symptoms of adrenal fatigue increase when dehydrated, so drink water. It has been my experience that I "relapse" if my stress is high and I'm dehydrated.
  4. In my opinion, learning to accept that sometimes one's best isn't going to be good enough is a fact of life. It again sounds trite. I have had to learn that as an adult. When you are able to say "I have done everything I can do in the time allotted. I did my best. But it wasn't good enough," It's maturity. That isn't failure. Striving for excellence is a stress that provides motivation. I don't think that lowering the standard is the answer, but accepting that the work they do is their best work even if an "A" wasn't given. One can have high standards and miss the mark. they can choose not to care, they can choose to overanalyze and over compensate or they can choose to admit their best wasn't good enough and figure out how to make their best better.
  5. That is true. I realize it seems simplistic. However, sometimes the only way to find out if it is truly stress that can't be altered is to use time management and stress management skills. And isn't that what we are trying to teach our kids?
  6. Ironic that the stress topic follows the rest topic. Time management really helps with both rest and stress. My son has worked for the last 3 years and sometimes his start time interfered with accomplishing his schoolwork BEFORE he went to work. He has a really good sense of what he can handle therefore I do defer to him, while not allowing him to wimp out. I also believe that stress can be eliminated with fun and exercise. When my husband was in the army they had mandatory fun days. I used to think that was the stupidest thing. What an oxymoron. Now having been through extreme stress, I am a firm believer in mandatory fun. When things are stressful you have to take a break and have fun. when you work from rest and rest from work the priorities and goals you are working towards become effortless. When we try to push through a situation (for the kids testing and papers due and for us providing the time for them complete their work, scheduling, grading, cleaning etc.), it creates that feeling of stress inside and the path to our goals and priorities become difficult giving the feeling of walking through mud. That is where the time management comes in to play. If one plans their work and works their plan, plans their rest and works from that place rest that intense level of stress can be minimized..
  7. To elaborate on the work from a place of rest... The idea is to be well rested enough that the work you have to do comes more easily and takes less effort because you are well rested.
  8. ​To rest from work and work from rest is my goal. My definition of rest is absence of fatigue and to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength. I actually hadn't labeled the emotional rest as free from anxiety of choosing the right curriculum and stressing about the requirements and being worried about doing everything right and making sure there are no gaps. It is, but I hadn't labeled it that way. I want to enjoy my difficult teens and they wear me out mentally and they wear me out physically when I have to drive them places and they wear me down. Mentally: I take about an hour a day when I check out and don't answer any questions or talk to anyone. I also try to fill up with topics that interest me. Physically: I make sure I have enough rest via sleep. Now, these teens test my patience and challenge me which cause me to feel anger so I also make sure I exercise intensively to release that tension. Spiritually/emotionally: I (recognize and attempt to) throw off every sin that so easily entangles and run with perseverance the race set out before me. This would be those feeling of inadequacy and fear. This is the first year I will not end up exhausted at the end of the school year. I made every effort to get rest for the last 2 years. I stopped when I needed to stop, I slept when I needed to sleep, I rested my mind from over analysis, and I exercised to keep the peace. :) I also added in fun and artsy/craftsy stuff for me along with time to just BE. I think this made a huge difference in this school year.
  9. I did have a fleeting thought if it was an April Fools joke. I have end of year fever...maybe closer to summer :)
  10. OK, I've been following the post all week and finally have time to respond. This post has been timely for me. My oldest turned 18 and we are reestablishing boundaries. Navigating how to do that is uncharted waters for me. So, regarding parenting with tact and lacking skills: When kids are babies the rules and training are for safety, when they become school age they are for etiquette with safety, when they become teenagers the training and rules are moral and ethical both to be done with respect. As they transition out of their house and parental government, they have to make their own choices of how to follow rules and continue with good habits or create their own good habit based on a life where no one is dictating how to do that. A great deal of parenting teenagers is guiding them to make good choices. The teen HAS to buy in! They have to be able to stumble. Get messy, make mistakes and figure life out. Now the flip the side of that is parents also are going to stumble. A motto in our house regarding parenting is teach and train, don't gripe and complain. I personally don't always teach and train, I gripe and complain sometimes. Trying to guide my kids to to make solid habit selection when they are striving for freedom is difficult, and it wears me out. Here's some reality, I am not going to like every choice they make regarding how to spend their free time. They don't like my idea of fun either. Part of teaching and training is respecting choices they are making and then helping them to set limits. I personally need the habit of silence. Are you aware that there are even gas pumps with screens that play commercials? How do you cultivate silence and teach your kids to love silence in the midst of all this noise? Or to appreciate visual peace with out clicking on computer, but getting off the duff and shifting their eyes? I don't think 100 years ago parents had that challenge, so why would I consult that generations parenting habits regarding these unique challenges? That isn't much habit building or training as much as lifestyle expectation. Truth, beauty and virtue. The fact of good habits with combination of qualities( like diligence, perseverance) that please the senses and lead to showing high standards. These take years to build, and sometimes longer to see the fruit. in order for a habit to "take", one must make a mental choice and apply it to a lifestyle adjustment. Am I willing to make a lifestyle choice to limit my screen time and help kids limit theirs is a valid question. so, I need to ask myself if I am willing to take the necessary steps to make a lifestyle expectation, an ideal at this point, a reality and then to teach and train myself and in turn teach and train my kids. Disclaimer: my gentle tact has always been lacking, having to speak to teenagers to get the most amount of bang for my buck with the least amount of words has probably caused me to have a deeper deficit of tact. Forgive me if my words "sound" forceful, they are not meant to.
  11. We haven't finished high school, yet. I have 2 who have done Algebra 1 and Geometry and 1 finishing up Algebra 2. My definition of success is student is able to understand, comprehend and complete lessons timely, and be able to tell me what they did, how they did it and why. MUS's customer service has been fantastic for me. I have called several times over the years and they are always ready and willing to help me work through any problems I have helping my kids. My kids have been able to understand the math and be able to teach it back. They know how and why to do math, not just formulas but application. I have had to add a bit of extra teaching for my kids to understand better. Here's the thing, they read the chapter, they watch the video, they work the problems use manipulatives as needed. Sometimes my kids need more teaching/more ownership of the math learning so I added interactive notebooking. Kids take notes and have an activity to refer back to which gives them an even better visual reference. I have no complaints about MUS and my kids like it, too (as much as one who doesn't like math can like it, lol).
  12. My boy have struggled with algebra. I found that my kids were struggling for two reasons. 1) terminology they need to know definitions of the words 2) remembering what to do there are several different functions, not just one and they have a challenging time picking the right function. i recently discovered interactive notebooks. Interactive notebooks are kind of of like lap books for kids, but it encourages note taking. i teach them, they fill in their sheet/foldable/anchor chart and if that doesn't work, we go to you tube for a song or different instruction. pinterest has a lot of suggestions, mrseteachesmath is has a nice blog for alg 1, 2 and geometry. ​
  13. Do the bare minimum anyone could expect from you..make sure everyone is fed and has clean clothes. get rested I have found that everyone in my house does better with 10-20 minutes outside everyday in the winter. The best winters I have had are the ones where everyone got outside to breathe the fresh air. They slept better and my oldest was a non sleeper, too. ETA: a lot can be learned from games for the younger ones.
  14. I am still in the midst of parenting teens. one almost 18 the other 16 and another one getting ready to be 13. The best thing I did is state a goal: We need to get through this and still like each other. The teenage years are hard. It is natural to feel rebellion. Pick your battles and be respectful because we have to get through this and still like each other. I repeated this to oldest often. I repeat in to my second, often. I had to tell dd starting this year. That was just my goal because I want my kids to enjoy me now and later, too. I didn't really know what the benefits would be until this year, 4 years after I started to state the goal. They are ok with feeling rebellious because they know it is normal. They know when wanting to buck the system(house rules) it needs to be worth it and they need to be respectful. They know they are loved. Having the goal gave a sense of purpose and something to work toward. I really didn't have a vision of the final point, sometimes I wasn't sure we would/will make it to the other side. just in case I made this sound really pretty, it hasn't been. my boys are difficult and i love them. there have been tears and shouts and consequences. mine and theirs. but we remember the goal. Parenting teens is so hard.
  15. I know, it sure doesn't like to STICK around.
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