magnificent_baby
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Posts posted by magnificent_baby
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I have a K'er in ps. He brings home a ton of papers everyday, most of them filled with practicing writing numbers, simple addition, letters and words.
One thing they do frequently is "write the room", walking around and writing down everything they see that begins with a particular letter. Another worksheet he frequently brings home is a simple "book report". He writes the title of the story at the top, draws a picture about the main idea in a blank area, and one sentence under the picture (on lines). They also do a lot of journaling books (blank at the top for pictures, lines at the bottom for a few sentences) and all stapled at the sides to resemble a book.
I know that the above seems like busy work, but I can see SO much improvement in handwriting and spelling since he started school.
Maybe you can set up a small table near the couch for him to work on activities such as these. It would probably not be difficult to find templates online for practicing writing.
HTH! :grouphug:
ETA: I would truly not worry so much at his age! It's okay if he does not get much done! I also second the play-do idea. That keeps my kids busy for a very long time!
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I have one over my dining room table. My dining room was actually considered a "bonus" or activity room in the house plans, so that is why it is there. From a lighting perspective, I really hate it. Way too dim. I hope to replace it soon with a regular fixture. I rarely use the fan, but we do not eat in there very often. As you are deciding, you may want to keep lighting in mind.
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It sounds like vasovagal syncope (a common cause for fainting). Basically, something triggers the vagus nerve and your heart rate and blood pressure drop, thus the dizzy feeling. This can be caused by a number of different things, including stress.
I am a nurse, but am also responding because I had a similar episode once, and did faint. I had a terrible stomach cramp/knot before fainting. I did go to the doctor, and he chalked it up to dehydration in my case.
I would definitely make an appointment with your primary care physician.
IMO, I would *not* drive until you have been examined by your doctor and you have been cleared to drive. Fainting while driving would obviously not be good.
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I could have nearly written your post. Sometimes I really feel like I have ADD when it comes to my house: I cannot stay on task long enough to accomplish much of anything.
One thing that I have been doing, and has REALLY helped me stay focused, is to use a timer. I choose one task (cleaning the sink out and wiping down counters for example), set the timer for 10 minutes, and force myself to work only on that one task. I am amazed at how much I can get done in that 10 minutes when I focus.
Another idea is breaking down a mess into smaller tasks, writing them down, using a timer and crossing off as I go. Instead of listing "clean dining room", I write down "clean craft cabinet" or "clear off table". Breaking it down into specific tasks seems to help versus walking into a room and feeling so overwhelmed.
Hang in there, I know exactly how it feels. :grouphug:
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My 9 year old and all the younger boys still play with bath toys.
This is the current big hit in our tub: http://www.amazon.com/Wheels-Speed-Splash-Duel-Playset/dp/B0042ETJY8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326955894&sr=8-1
It has two water-proof hot wheels cars which race down the dual tracks once the cup of water behind them empties. The second car to hit a certain point in the track drops through a trap door, much to the delight of all.
This looks great! If my boys had this, they would never want to get out of the tub!
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We like the foam toys that stick to the sides. One really cute set they really enjoyed was from Target, and had roads and traffic signs.
Other than that, I am most likely done buying bath toys. Only because they get really gross after awhile and I toss them. I like to use garage sale toys and happy meal toys now, so I do not feel bad about throwing them out.
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:iagree: Except that I think Mommy wars are actually amusing. Sometimes, when I really want a good snicker, I head over to the K-8 curriculum board to see who is asking for reading programs for their 10 month old who is "really advanced and practically begging to learn to read!!"
Those crack. me. up.
FWIW, I'm pretty sure I've never said "homeschooled since birth," but I have said that "we've always homeschooled," which I think covers everything one might count since birth, or whenever it is that one would count homeschooling as having officially started.
In other words... yada yada...
I am sure there are posts that warrant an eye-roll. I haven't been around here long enough to notice that yet.
However, just to play devil's advocate, there truly are kids that need and crave intellectual stimulation. When my eldest was 2, she was extremely close to being enrolled in behavioral therapy, for reasons beyond "normal" 2 year old behavior. I had a light-bulb moment one day, and realized her behavior issues were due to her absolute need of intellectual stimulation. Roll your eyes if you must, but if she is not receiving that stimulation, it is evident in her behavior even from infancy. Exactly why ps was not working for her and we are hs'ing. Again, would never claim to homeschool since birth, but the more books I read to her and the more books she could (literally) surround herself with, the happier she was.
Now what annoys me WAY more than those that are eager and enthusiastic about their children's education, are the parents who do not care or make time for investigating what their children are learning. Where I live, I feel like am in the minority and I am sure I was "one of those" parents that annoy teachers when she was in ps because I kept very close tabs on her needs. I hope I would never laugh or roll my eyes at someone who is sincere and proactive about their children's education.
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:iagree: I've gotten the impression that now that hsing is catching on with more and more people, the greater masses are seen as trendy interlopers, bothering those who are REAL homeschoolers. Sort of like, "When I started homeschooling my kids, I had to walk ten miles through the snow with no shoes to buy curriculum..."
People are more aware of the option of homeschooling now, so it stands to reason that more and more people are planning it from the beginning, which means that more of the intrusive hordes have young children. That, I think, is what really annoys some people.
Just my opinion, though.
Those are great points. Maybe that is why I have heard (more than once) "it's not for everyone" in conversation with local homeschoolers when I was contemplating hs'ing.
I guess my perspective is a little different. We abruptly pulled our oldest from ps in November to homeschool. It was certainly something I was not planning on doing at.all. But it was totally necessary, and as it turns out, it has been wonderful for us (for the most part!). I guess I'm still in the honeymoon period. :001_smile:
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This reminds me of neighborhood homeschool picnic I helped with once. Fully half of the attendees had kids who weren't in kindergarten yet. LOL.
I guess I do not see what is wrong with the above?
This thread reminds me of what happens in the field of nursing, the more experienced nurses have been known to "eat their young" (can't remember the exact phrase).
While I have never claimed to homeschool since birth, (and wouldn't even fit the criteria) it is a little disheartening to me, as a "rookie" homeschooler, that people can be so easily annoyed by those with less experience or haven't even begun yet.
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As far as I know, there is only an answer key. I had to refer to it for the first time today, and we are almost done with the book.
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This is absolutely not true. (Tangent to follow)
When I was 19 MIL showed up with BIL and stayed at our house for a visit about a month. One day she said she was going to the store, and didn't come back for months. Her 13 y/o was left behind with one change of clothes, not enrolled in school, and no idea what was going on. At 19, I was unsure what to do, and called CPS for help. They offered none, other than putting BIL in a group home if we dropped him off outside a set location (group home, police station, firehouse). They wouldn't even come out and and see if he was actually being cared for, Or to offer us some options, and maybe parenting classes.
In hind sight, I see it was probably great that I didn't have to deal with CPS, but getting this kid into school without the correct papers from a court proved to be very difficult. It happened to be tax season, so we were able to buy him a new wardrobe, school supplies, and pay cash for the necessary Dr. visits he had to have to get in to school. Everything took an extreme amount of effort on our part because we had no paper work from CPS of the court.
When this happened again, I didn't even both trying to get help, we moved to Mexico and started homeschooling the next BIL.
As for the OP, if you are truly concerned, you should call. Maybe if there are enough calls, they will investigate.
Danielle
I agree with you that not all situations are investigated. Hopefully those are very few and far between, though.
In a recent local case, the mother herself called and pleaded for help, I believe more than once. The outcome was absolutely horrible.
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Sorry, I did not know that you called before I posted above.
Good for you, I think you did the right thing!! :grouphug:
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Can you call for the police and call for a welfare check? I had a 5 yo and toddler that were regularly roaming the neighborhood when an 8 yo cousin was supposed to be watching them. After several incidents I called CPS and was instructed to call the police and request a check. That will get an immediate response and they can then pass it forward to CPS if they deem it necessary.
I was just going to suggest this as well. I listen to the local police scanner on occasion, and there are numerous calls for checking the welfare of children. Perhaps you could call next time you see the 16 year old on his bike in the street, and explain to dispatch that your concerns about his safety (mental capacity, appearance of no parental supervision, etc.)
Where I live, callers can request to "not be seen" so that the police do not show up at your door, asking for more info or taking a report. Not sure what kind of records are kept as far as who calls in, or how accessible this info is to the public though. At least you would be doing something.
What a difficult situation. :grouphug:
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We are using The Usborne First Encyclopedia of Science with my 2nd grader. We read 2 pages at a time and then do the internet linked activities, as well as the experiments. It was included in our MFW package.
I would guess it is on the "light" side, but is working well for us as new homeschoolers. I also find library books for our book basket that go along with the science topic we are studying.
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We just started and are only on lesson 6. We are really enjoying it! The teacher guide adds additional fun and interesting activities/ideas that I would not have come up with on my own. So far, I am glad I ordered the teacher guide.
Edited to add: We are using PLL by Emma Serl, with the yellow cover. (IIRC, there are a few different "versions" so thought I would clarify)
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We would love to participate! Dd 8.
Especially since we are newbies and dd is missing her friends in ps, this would be wonderful.
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There are some amazing photos in this slideshow!
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Singapore develops both strong procedural competence using the standard algorithms and strong mental math and word-problem solving skills. No question about that. It is not "fuzzy math."
If you want to build an strong mathematical foundation is an outstanding choice. Too often the choice between math programs is presented as a false dichotomy of "fuzzy math" and "procedural math" on the other. There are Third Way programs we are fortunate to be able to use. Singapore is one, but not the only one.
Bill
Thank you for the insight on SM. I will be keeping that in mind, and have pondered in the past, trying CWP on the side. I knew that SM was not fuzzy math, by any means, but did not realize it was a little of both. I am going to supplement with MM though (already ordered), and see how that goes.
For now, we are very happy with CLE as our main curricula, though I will always be keeping an open mind.
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Stay with Singapore. Isn't wanting to do better for our children than giving them the same sort of education we had a big part of why we teach them ourselves?
Singapore math is not hard to teach or learn. And it gets better after Earlybird (which is not stellar).
I'd say stay the course. Maybe replace the HOD versions with the Standards Edition and HIGs from Singaporemath[dot]com.
If you need inspiration read Liping Ma's book. It may dissuade you from choosing a bad path. Math is too important in the 21st Century to use an approach geared towards the agrarian past.
Bill
I definitely agree with you there (your point that I bolded)! However, in our own situation we are homeschooling to give our kids at minimum the education we received. It wasn't happening in our district. Their math was completely discovery based, with zero traditional teaching (algorithms, computational operations, etc.). Our very bright dd wasn't catching on because there was no guidance. She was extremely lost.
I'm not a math expert by any means. However, I have a bachelor's in science, DH has a master's in science. Math is a big part of our careers. We did fine with the traditional math approach we were taught (learning how to solve through explicit direct instruction). I'm not opposed to conceptual understanding type approach, I think it is important and plan to incorporate.
I want her to be confident with traditional methods as well. Should she happen to follow our career paths, I want her to have her facts down and be able to recall quickly. In our field, quick and accurate recall can be a matter of life and death.
Perhaps Singapore will accomplish this too; I have only looked at it briefly. Being new to homeschooling, I wanted to be comfortable teaching whatever curriculum we chose and be able to provide a strong mathematical foundation.
As far as history and other subjects, we will be learning right along with her. :D
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We use CLE for dd8. Love it!! We pulled her from ps due to math issues and very happy with our CLE. Very easy to teach. I see huge improvements in math facts just since we began in November. Seems to be more traditional, the way I was taught, and was exactly what I was looking for in a curriculum.
I did order MM to use as a supplement for more conceptual understanding (dd tends to breeze through things without much thought and I want to be sure she is understanding the 'whys'). We will start MM, along with CLE after break.
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Just picked up this book at Goodwill today. Looks like a great refresher. Does not go real in depth, but the visual explanations are terrific! It covers basic elementary math, as well as geometry, trig, algebra, statistics and probability (no calculus).
(sorry I do not know how to create a simpler link yet!)
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:iagree:
Don't go with the box. It might not be the solution. ;)
It might be time to consider switiching in January if things haven't gotten better. You might prefer and all-in-one LA such as CLE.
Thank you so much for mentioning LA from CLE. I had not thought of that at all! I almost ordered it after browsing through the samples yesterday, but the spelling looks a little easy for her. I love the set up and ease of use with CLE.
I am going to continue Shurley/PZ for now, but really keep this in mind, just in case. Thanks!!
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Have you looked at Memoria Press's grade level curriculum packs? I also love CLE Math!!!! So we skip the R&S. We will likely skip the Latin. It makes my eyes cross!
We are currently almost done with Kinder and it has been the best time homeschooling ever. I wish my older 2 could have had this way back when we started.
I have not looked into MP, but I am going to keep this one in mind! Thanks!
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Thank you all so much for your wonderful advice. I think I will stick with focusing on the basics for now, and add in other subjects as we get more comfortable. The book suggestion on household management looks great, I am going to look into that.
I really appreciate all the encouragement and sharing your own personal experiences, this board is such a blessing to me!
Questions about picking a [possibly Lutheran] Bible curriculum
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
I picked this up at Goodwill last week. It's published by CPH. It looks like a great study for older primary/jr. high. I thought it was a Bible at first glance, but it is Bible stories with several questions after each passage. Looks like you can order teacher guide and workbooks as well. I have only briefly flipped through it, but it looks very well written.
http://www.cph.org/p-431-a-bible-history-student-book.aspx?SearchTerm=history%20bible
Another idea is the One Year Bible. It is broken down to one OT reading, one NT, one Proverb and one Psalm each day, though (I think) they are in sequence. It is so refreshingly simple to sit down, read the Bible without any other guides to fumble around. My 2nd grader and I take turns reading aloud. We do not get to it everyday, but that is okay, hopefully we will have the entire Bible read in just under 2 years. Though I have read many passages throughout my life, I have never read the Bible in sequence. I am learning so much.
http://www.amazon.com/One-Year-Bible-NIV/dp/0842324518
HTH!