Jump to content

Menu

pmegan

Members
  • Posts

    214
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by pmegan

  1. I just feel like a child isn't going to go back and reread the original say, Anne of Green Gables, when he already knows the gist of the story from an abridged version. Also there is so much good literature out there for all ages that there is enough to read until one is ready for the real thing.

     

    That being said, I don't consider retellings of legends to be in the same category as abridged books. I'm currently reading a retelling of the legends of Odysseus to my boys and plan on going through a retelling of the Beowulf saga.

     

    I'm curious if I'm alone in this or not.

     

    I missed this part, and it's pretty much exactly how I feel.

  2. I agree! I was a little surprised when reading the Well Trained Mind that she says how great they are. There's plenty of great age-appropriate literature without ruining the books they'll get to eventually! And, really, what's the point? Is there any value at all in knowing the whole story of Treasure Island before you can actually read the real deal? In most books, the author's language is just as important as the main plot... and that's another thing, abridged versions take out the subplots and even entire characters. If the author didn't think they were important, he wouldn't have written them in there in the first place!

     

    I also agree that child-friendly retellings of folk tales don't count as "bad" and I fully support them.

  3. :iagree: This is very true and can be said about all sorts of situations and people. I would guess a small family might get some heat if they lived in an area that valued large families. We just had a very nasty situation at a homeschool music group the girls were attending. We were siting with friends when some of the kids noticed our friends supported Obama for president. A couple of the kids started saying some unfounded rumors about Obama and some not so nice things about Muslims and Africans. It just so happens our friends are Muslim as well as black. Their young son was so upset. Now, the classes are run by a Christian group, so our friends are in the minority there so far as their faith goes. The comments really shocked me. I was so angry and ashamed of these so called "well behaved" teenagers and their visceral comments about this young boy faith and heritage. And the very act of them saying this things to his face.

    There is always enough hate and misunderstanding to go around.

     

    That is an awful story :( I have heard that it is becoming very common for Muslim parents to HS because their children are relentlessly bullied by students and even teachers at school. How terrible that such bullying exists even in more carefully controlled environments. Sadly, though, it's not a surprise.

  4. Then there was the time in McDonalds with my sister and we were getting the "looks". So I said to my sis realy loud how I wish McD's took food stamps! And how I am so thankful ALL the kid's dads paid their child support that month. My sister vowed to never go in public with me again LOL. ( no offense meant to those who use gov aid or get child support)

     

     

    That is SO funny! It's awesome that you have such a good sense of humor about other people being judgmental idiots. :lol:

     

    I guess I was hoping someone could take a stab at answering my questions.

     

    I notice that my facts and figures were ignored by the person they were in response to, and that my comment about racism was ignored by everyone. I think it's a difficult subject, which is why it's really nice to see that Quiver has a good sense of humor about it!

  5. Reading all of these replies, such a weird thought came to me. Breast is best, but formula is a close second... but it wasn't until pretty recently that formula was a close second! I had vaguely known that formula was just milk and corn syrup for a long time, but hadn't really thought about it (trivia: formula was milk and corn starch for a few years in the early 19th century... pretty high death count there until they figured out the corn syrup thing).

     

    You'd think with how many malnourished (note: using the term rather tongue in cheek) babies were born in the 40's, 50's, and 60's, the entire baby boom generation would be one giant ball of dietary and mental dysfunction. But it seems like the current generation of kids (born in the 80's and 90's and now) are the ones with real problems (so many severe allergies, up tick in ADD, etc).

     

    I wonder if anyone's ever looked into the method which the GRANDMOTHER was fed and how that affects the GRANDCHILD. Sort of crazy, but maybe not as crazy as it sounds: for example, thalidomide's effects carry on into the second generation (not: I am NOT equating formula with thalidomide, I'm merely using it as an example that apparently some things happening in the womb can affect future generations).

     

    Anyone know if any research has ever been done into this? Got a kid who needs a science fair project? :tongue_smilie:

  6. Honestly, I have come to the place where I don't care what you did or didn't do, as long as you did so informed.

     

    The reason I was so zealous about breastfeeding was because NO ONE had told me anything about it. The doctors I saw during pregnancy said NADA. The hospital-run breastfeeding class I attended was an honest attempt, but poor indeed. The doctors and nurses in the hospital were unhelpful and unavailable. I feel like, had I not accidentally decided to check into breastfeeding on my own, that I would never have known anything about it. And it discourages me to no end that after I decided I wanted to breastfeed, that I had to figure it all out on my own. I don't think that's right.

     

    So, for a while I was vocal about breastfeeding. But, I've come to decide there are bigger fish to fry. Education is, I think, the only way perceptions will be changed, and even then I don't want a bottle-feeding mommy to feel persecuted. Education cannot happen well in a hostile environment. Also, the squabbles among breastfeeders is enough to turn my stomach.

     

    Edited to add: Do I feel I missed out on anything? That's a toughie. I have serious digestive problems, but you know, the data is so poor. I could blame it on bottle feeding, but I really couldn't do it with a lot of conviction.

    -----------------------

    (PS I wrote about my breastfeeding, for those who need an alternative to the AP version.)

     

    I was lucky in that the hospital where I gave birth to DD was extremely pro-BFing. I have heard a lot of complaints about them from people who chose formula, but I personally loved it! Every nurse in the maternity ward is a certified lactation consultant, and there are a few women who are nothing but LCs. They were bursting into my room every ten minutes it seemed to see how it was going and help! They also have a free hotline and a free drop-in class daily for nursing mothers. I think it's great that attitudes are changing.

  7. I was bottle fed.

     

    My mother did nurse my little brother for six weeks. As a result of that experience, she was pro-breastfeeding when I started having babies. The problem was, she was only pro-breastfeeding for about six weeks!!! But with each grandchild she got wiser until finally, when her last grandchild was born to my brother and his wife, she called me and said "You have got to call your sister-in-law. She is about to wean that baby.". That baby was like 8 months old!!! And while I do believe in longterm nursing, I also believe in minding my own business!!!

     

    My mother is the same way. She is VERY pro-BFing and one of those people who will say to your face that people who use formula obviously don't love their children or are totally uneducated (she's VERY blunt).

     

    Then she came to visit when DD was 9 months old and you should have seen the utter horror on her face when she found out I was still BFing! She thinks there's no point after 6 months, and that it shows an unhealthy attachment on the mother's part! Eek. I had convinced her by the time she left....

  8. I was born in 1972 and my mom has relayed the same experience. She felt she was going against the grain when she chose to breastfeed. I nursed both of my dc for a little over 2 yrs. and I wouldn't trade the experience for the world. It was simply amazing. In fact, I cried when my youngest one weaned (I can't have any more dc).

     

    Even my mom has said the same thing, and I was born in southern California in 1979 (where you'd think they'd be all crunchy and into natural stuff). She said BFing was just coming back into vogue, but the nurses at the hospital still told her that she would need to supplement because otherwise I wouldn't get enough to eat.

  9. I'm not a big fan of it, for the reasons you state. As far as I'm concerned, it's main purpose is as a prime example of the Gothic novel. Since the Gothic Novel was pretty much the most popular type of novel for about a half-century, and influenced so much literature since, I think it's worth reading.

     

    Maybe try to posit it as a comedic novel? I know it's not, but it's just so... campy. Every turn gets a bit more ridiculous :tongue_smilie:

  10. Who knew that there were so many of these! I just wanted to throw in another one: it's called Nazi Women, and it's by Cate Haste. It's based on a documentary she did, too. I haven't read it, but I met her at an event once and she was very nice and interesting.

     

    It's kind of an awkward story: we were eating at the same table, talking about "normal" people who were Nazi party members, what they were thinking, etc: all in the sort of condescending tone of anthropologists who are totally divorced from the time and place (not that we're anthropologists, but I hope you know what I mean)... when the old man on the other side of her said "I know when I was on the last Kindertransport out of Austria..."

     

    Awkward. But he was REALLY interesting, as you might imagine.

  11. I bought the title from my father and I know he gave me the Title. I am running out of places to look. Someone pray that I find it soon. I really need to get this taken care of on my day off. :sad: :crying:

     

    I am in the EXACT same situation. Ugh. I've looked everywhere! And I would need his signature to get a new one but I don't want to tell him that I've lost it... some little perpetual-adolescent part of be won't admit it to him.

  12. I've enjoyed reading it. I know where I stand, and don't feel like posting, but it's interesting to read what others are saying.

     

    Several ladies also expressed themselves very clearly and that was refreshing to read. The last thing I ever am in those posts is clear.

     

    I feel that everyone is being very honest about their beliefs, but in a polite and respectful way... and that, in turn, everyone is taking it in a polite and respectful manner. I've been all over the internet, and it's rare that you find such civility in the face of total ideological differences! It's nice that we're a board of adults, and can act as such.

  13. Not that I would ever in a million years dream of leaving you ladies and gentlemen, but I was just wondering what else is out there.

     

    I only found this place by googling for more info about the Well-Trained Mind after I read it. I've been having so much fun clicking on people's homeschool blogs and seeing what they get up to, but I'm wondering what other more formal resources there are?

×
×
  • Create New...