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Slone07

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Everything posted by Slone07

  1. We're using Duolingo together as a family to jump into Spanish. Each one of us has an account and we compete against each other for points and such. It has brought a very light-hearted, silly atmosphere to a rather intense, challenging school year. We're loving it and plan to do no formal Spanish until we're either finished with the Duolingo lessons or run into an issue that requires it before moving on. Having studied (and loved studying) French for many years, I'm familiar with formal study methods, but am finding this a perfect intro for us at the moment. It's catchy, it's fun, and it's something we're all doing together. It will hopefully continue cultivating a love for Spanish so that my boys will naturally want to continue when we do come to formal lessons. As far as making it stick, I suggested to the boys to read EVERYthing aloud, whether it requires it or not, as it will help their pronunciation. I also suggested that they visualize objects for the words as they're reading aloud. They've improved greatly in the few days since the suggestions, so that's working for them. Also, I let them know that it's great to "redo" (review) the easy stuff as much as they want. When I can remember, I ask them for something we've learned, like "How would you say that you're eating an apple?" Or I'll wake them up with "Buenos dias," or tuck them in with "Buenas noches." For me, applying it to daily life is what works, but in small doses as we've only just begun, really.
  2. What a beautiful picture (takes a beautiful subject to get that!). I'm no gymnast, but can certainly tell she puts some effort into her form!
  3. I, too, went back to Tide after the homemade just wasn't getting the smells out or keeping our brights bright (even with oxyclean). I tried several different ratios of borax to fels naptha, but it wasn't worth the shorter life span of our clothing (smelly and dingy). Was pretty bummed...I like making my own products and feeling self-sufficient--but I rank smelling clean (not like my husband's sweaty armpits) higher on my list of priorities.
  4. I'm so excited to see someone recommend these books!!! I recently purchased them for my boys because I loved them so much when I was younger. I can't wait to start reading them again.
  5. GSWL is a great intro. We've switched to Visual Latin and are loving it (videos and worksheets). I can learn as they're learning now and not have to freak out over pronunciation. The boys find the teacher funny, too. ETA: It might be a little above a first grade level.
  6. My boys are in MUS Gamma right now and bored to tears. While I'd love to accelerate through it, these math facts are so important to really get down pat. Thanks to this thread, I finally took a peek at LoF, and have to say I think this just might fix the dreary atmosphere that presents when math time rolls around each day. Thank you!!!
  7. This is what we do, too. My boys are 8 now, but we still require this and it has been very helpful along the way. :iagree: I was going to ask this, too.
  8. Number one thing...I would have started earlier and not bothered with the couple of years of public and private school first.
  9. Y'all are a whole lot smarter than I am. Today would have been a perfect day to cancel. Bring on the wine.
  10. We don't make notebooks, either. We did start out trying, but it just didn't work out. My boys have a great memory for science, so I'm not incredibly worried about it. The next BFSU book, I've read, has a lot of built-in review, too.
  11. Oh, this is so sad...and I can totally relate. The best marinara sauce any of my family has ever had is now (lovingly) called Mom's Angry Sauce. That was back before we had the kids cleaning the kitchen...LOL
  12. I like my dishes in one piece, too. :) If one of the boys is careless and breaks something because he doesn't feel like doing the dishes, he earns dish duty until he learns to do it right (if it continues, he will have to pay for the broken dishes with his own money). Same with dishes that are left dirty. True accidents are different, but I know that game all too well. They learned to do the dishes well, pretty quickly! No one wants to be called back, time and time again, to rewash a dish...or earn another day of dish duty. As for the problem with height...we use a stool. ;) Anything on top shelves, I most eagerly put away for them. It's the least I could do if they did the dishes and put most of them away. Heck, if they still couldn't reach the cabinets with a stool, I'd still be happy to put them all away - as long as I don't have to wash them! LOL
  13. Is this kind of behavior (the oops, sorry stuff) just directed toward DD2 or others, as well?
  14. With kiddos those ages (in signature), you shouldn't be doing any of the cleanup, right? My boys are 8 and do almost all of the kitchen clean up. Cooking is far more doable if you don't have to clean up afterwards yourself...
  15. I'm all about accountability and consequences, but the letter and involvement of friends/gift givers doesn't fit the situation. She's five, was left unattended with scissors, doesn't seem to have done this with any sort of malicious intent... I would definitely sit her down with both you and DH (always makes more impact when both parents are there and on the same page), give her a very serious talk about scissors, put the scissors up and away (possibly removal of scissor privileges for a few days, too), and tell her that she simply can't use the trampoline until the net is replaced because it's not safe. And, like someone else mentioned, let it take a few weeks. Natural consequences. She needs to know that this was a serious thing with several safety issues, but she really needn't be treated like a juvenile delinquent (so to speak). Writing a letter and interaction with the gift giver is something I might do for repeated offenses or malicious intent (with a heads up to the gift giver - no surprises that may stress the friendship).
  16. This is just so heartbreaking. :( Will keep praying.
  17. Definitely clean and have a great time with your friend. Just think about how good you'll feel once the house is all cleaned up (or more manageable!) and you can just relax and not worry anymore.
  18. This is plain stupid (and I hate that word). Even as difficult as home schooling has been lately with us, it's things like that that reinforce why we are doing this (oh, the reasons are limitless!).
  19. Oh dear. It must be in the water. I came here to ask advice on the same thing, but with history.
  20. Procrastinating and looking for school inspiration on Pinterest before starting school. I'm feeling the after the beginning of the school year rush burnout. :glare:
  21. My favorite towels came from Costco. Their Turkish line, I believe. I looked just now and cannot find the color that we purchased, so hopefully they're the same, but with different colors. Best towels I've ever purchased. Were so thick and fluffy that I couldn't wrap my hair up in them (which is fine, I use an Aquis microfiber turban instead). Super absorbent, too. After a few years, they were getting stiffer than they were soft and losing their absorbency. I discovered that I was using way too much Tide and Downy on them. Halved the detergent and used vinegar for a rinse aide and softener every other wash and they are just like new again.
  22. Polite but very firm no thank you. I might go as far as to explain that I was only doing the party in exchange for the free product and please do not contact me in the future, but beyond that, I wouldn't engage her.
  23. Like Parrothead said, there's a difference between yellling and screaming (though, my mother would say that I'm "screaming at her" when I'm actually just passionately explaining something - and that makes me want to scream LOL). In public, never, ever, ever, ever. No yelling or screaming. In private...we've had some loud arguments, but I can count the number of times we or one of us really lost it on one hand (maybe twice?). Even then, screaming...no.
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