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Heathermomster

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Posts posted by Heathermomster

  1. I tried to keep the lessons short, so maybe 20 minutes.  We slowly worked over a longer period of time during high school.   I also tried not to introduce stressors.  When DS answered incorrectly, which was often, I just reviewed with him.  Eventually he would solve the problems, but it took awhile.  

    By the time DS was in 6th grade, I handed him a laminated multiplication chart.  He knew his times tables; however, he has a compromised processing speed and is dysgraphic so he would start making careless errors.  

    I found the back half of RB’s Overcoming Difficulties book to be the most helpful.  By then DS knew his math facts to 20 backwards and forwards.  The front of the RB book addresses all of the pre-skills necessary to learn multiplication tables.   RB teaches mental bridging, which we did on paper, lattice math, partial quotients, area model, and partial products but no fractions.  I’ve had moms on the general boards call lattice multiplication a party trick.  Don’t listen to that.  At the end of the day, the question should be, “Did my student get the correct answer?”  

    Once the answer is yes and the method is reliable, move on.  Through a np evaluation, I knew that my DS tests gifted with perceptual reasoning and verb comprehension.  I used that knowledge to choose modalities that suited him.  Understanding how the compromised working memory and processing speed affected him, enabled me to better teach.  RB hit all those points for us.

    I’m fortunate that we were able to push forward with math.  If we had come to a perfect standstill by 8th grade, the focus would have shifted to Touch Math and being functional.  By wearing an analog/digital watch combo, he learned to tell time.  By about 8th grade, he began understanding money.  As a man-child attending uni, we picked a degree and college with minimal math requirements.  Son tested high enough on the ACT to bypass algebra and tested into Finite Math, which is set theory, logic, Venn diagrams, matrices, and statistics.  He earned an A and selected college level Biology w/lab and Earth Science w/lab.

    • Like 2
  2. 37 minutes ago, mmasc said:

    Just to clarify...do you mean skip the first couple of lessons in the fractions book? (I think it’s Epsilon). 

    My son actually thinks everything Demme does is confusing, so I’ve been teaching the lessons. We’ve also not used many of the methods (multiplication and division has been confusing to him the MUS way). The only reason it *does* work is the white space, short-ish lessons, and time on one thing to practice/learn. I have to add review or he forgets. 

    Just out of curiosity...did you use just MUS fractions, or all of the levels? Did you have another curriculum that worked for you?

    Yes...skip the early lessons in the epsilon aka fractions. My MUS materials are boxed up in storage so I can’t be more specific.  I own fractions through Alg 2 MUS.  DS completed the fractions, geometry, and Alg 2.  I used the MUS worksheets as practice math problems.

    I’m a BSEE, and I love math.  I read Sousa’s How the Brain Learns Mathematics, Ronit Bird, some Cuisenaire materials, and James Tanton to help me understand DS and apply the methodology across math lessons. Using manipulatives, math mnemonics, Khan Academy, pictures, and standard classroom textbooks for scope and sequence, I sat by my son’s side and taught him everyday until he graduated high school.  I never found anything that worked so I improvised.  

    We problem solved together using two white boards.  One was for him and the other was for me.  We compared answers and I corrected as we went along.  I rewrote many problems for DS on clean sheets of paper to reduce clutter and create white space. We set a timer and worked until it went off.  I made every attempt to only review one concept at time.

    • Thanks 1
  3. My son is diagnosed with dyscalculia and  used the MUS fractions (Gamma?).  Skip the first couple of units in MUS.  Demme starts off by teaching shortcuts which are confusing and unnecessary.  BTW, my son mastered fractions while taking chemistry in 10th grade.  

    Consider purchasing a TI-15 calculator.

    • Like 3
  4. 2 hours ago, RootAnn said:

    I don't think I've ever had a school year (starting my 14th yr soon) that didn't have at least one - if not more - distractions that took time away from schooling. Pregnancy, babies, major illness (one of ours or extended family member), necessary travel for wedding, death, college visits, etc. The only things that we haven't had are job changes & moving.

    I just plan some extra padding into every year so my weeks of school are greater than the weeks I need to cover non-math subjects. (Math is never-ending in our house.) I'm relieved to have the flexibility of honeschooling.

    Glad everyone is ok on your end & I hope getting your vehicle fixed isn't a big deal. (I was on the receiving end of one of those incidents right out of college. A huge industrial truck backed up over the hood of my car at a stop light and then drove away. I'm not sure I've ever quite gotten over the feeling of panic. It certainly still impacts my actions at red lights.) Don't discount the emotional impact of being on the receiving end of a hit & run.

    I think you are right.  We tried not to get upset yesterday because it was an accident and no one was physically injured.  This morning, I'm irritated that someone would just drive off.  It takes 48 hours for the police to file the report.  My rear bumper and all the body panels up to and including the rear passenger door where my DD sits, will need to be replaced and/or repainted.   

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  5. It seems like since we started homeschooling, something highly distracting always happens that must be dealt with.  Usually the distraction is end of summer sickness or house repair.

    Yesterday afternoon, the family and I were sitting still at a red light when the driver of a huge Lincoln town car drifted into our lane while taking a left turn.  The driver swiped the left side of our car and never stopped.  We were on the receiving end of a hit and run.  We called the police, filed the report, and now have to get the left side of my SUV repainted.  Ordinarily, it’s green but now it’s green with scratches and a nice dob of white paint running down the side.  We start school tomorrow.

    We were stunned and relieved. The crunchy noises were interesting.  I’m just glad my family wasn’t injured.  My DD was able to open her door to get out and her side curtain air bag didn’t deploy.  The police officer who took the report reckons an elderly woman struck us.

  6. I spoke with my son and asked him what type of planner he’d like to use entering his 2nd year at uni.  I'm sick of wasting money on planners that don't meet his needs.  We sat down and DS told me what looked good and what he'd be willing to try.  I spent some time scouring the Internet and came up with free links.  I printed that bad boy and here are the links I used.

    Daily To-Do List

    2-page monthly calendar template

    1-page monthly calendar template - I didn't actually use this template

    Weekly Student Planner Basic -  This planner is editable using excel....I love it

     Basic year at a glance calendar

    I created a title page, used a 3-hole punch, and printed combinations of these calendars to personalize son's organizer the way he liked it.  I included 3-hole punched and pocketed binder dividers to store incoming and outgoing work, 3-holed page protectors to store class syllabi, and printed up the uni's Fall 2019 Academic Session Dates.  Everything is stored in a plastic, 2 pocket folder with prongs from Walmart.   

     I've never been satisfied with planners.  For some reason, finding the free links took awhile, and so I wanted to share.  

    

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    • Thanks 3
  7. Just now, Faith-manor said:

    Hugs. I may have reacted too strongly. I've had people accuse me of simply never reading the bible before so.... 

    You and I, we are all okay.

    My main concern too was that there are some folks on this thread who have suffered some absolutely horrific things, and I didn't want that pain to be minimized.

    I’m totally with you.  Thank-you...

    • Like 1
  8. 20 minutes ago, AnotherE said:

    I really appreciate the discussion. As someone who lost faith a while ago, I still keep asking questions hoping that someday something will click for me. I am genuinely looking for answers that make sense to me. Someone once said that I didn't believe and couldn't understand because God hadn't chosen me to. As horrible as it sounded at the time, I now think maybe that does make sense as to why I can't believe. I've prayed so many times for so many years and nothing. It just doesn't work for me. I really envy those who believe with such certainty.

    Well, I emailed two people that I trust today with your questions about satan and the creation of evil, and they both told me that the answer to your questions required a sit down talk.  I’ll be scheduling that talk this weekend.  BTW, your questions are excellent..

    • Like 3
  9. 2 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

    None of this actually addresses the issue.

    First of all. The premise of christianity is god is the only god and god is eternal. God created ALL things, the bible is his word.

    In Isaiah 45:7, the prophet states that god says he creates evil. If the bible is the word of god and not man, than god admits he creates evil.

    The only other option is that god isn't the only god, and that some other god in the pantheon created evil.

    It is pure semantics to say "god doesn't create evil but he wills it". Seriously. He wills it? This is not substantively different.

    God uses suffering to magnify his name? Okay then. So he is willing to allow suffering because it apparently makes him greater or something. God needs children to have cancer so he can be more what? And it begs the question, why does one want to worship such a god who needs to be magnified through rape, murder, genocide, pain, and horror? This is not an effective argument with non believers. It is however an argument that may cause people like Joshua Harris and Shannon Bonne to re-think their faith. It begs the question "what kind of entity is this god, and how could he or she or it be characterized as good if his need is to be magnified through suffering?"

    As for Jesus suffered all of the miseries that humans face so its all good, uhm no. I have to admit that made my brain twitch. He didn't suffer genocide, he didn't suffer child birth only to have his baby die, he didn't care for his sick and dying child, there are a host of miseries he did not suffer. On the converse, I have not personally been tortured and crucified. Thus the human experience. We all have different experiences. And I'm not certain where your assertion comes from because the bible doesn't say he suffered every misery of human experience, just that he suffered the temptations. That's rather different.

    Directing me to go back and read the bible is rather condescending. I've read it from cover to cover numerous times, and in multiple translations, and with parallel studies of the gospels using multiple commentaries. I know what it says. Just because I do not come to the same conclusions as you does not mean I have failed to read it. The problem is neither of us begin with the same presumptions about it.

     

    I’m sorry Faith.  I typed my response while not reading other messages as they flew across.  I quoted the person that I was responding too.  We clearly do not share the same world view but there is absolutely no reason to be offended. I referred back to Gen 15 because I didn’t feel like quoting the entire chapter.

    Jesus hung from the cross and for 3 hours a darkness fell. The NT teaches that Jesus bore the punishments for all the sins of humanity.  eta:  He bore the cup of wrath.  He is omniscience and good; therefore, he knows the hearts of men. You don’t share that view, so we are going to have to respectfully disagree. People asked specific questions about basic Christian beliefs, and I sincerely answered based upon my background.

    ETA:  I certainly was not intending to minimize the suffering of others.  Please, if I have done that and I offended, please accept my sincere apologies because that was absolutely not my intention.

    • Like 3
  10. 1 hour ago, AnotherE said:

    I guess I don't understand this. If God didn't create evil, then who did? It was my understanding that God created everything and nothing could exist without him.

    My understanding of God rests on several legs of equal importance.  I'm working off the top of my head here so bear with me.  I'm sorry if this seems like an oversimplification.

    1.  God's Attributes - He is 100% of the the following attributes:  immutability, omniscience, omnipresence, mercy, judgement, goodness, holiness, sovereignty, and likely more. You are going to have to look this up. 

    2.  Definition of sin- any word or deed done in opposition to God

    3.  Sovereignty - He is absolutely in control of His creation.  He does not create sin and cannot because of his holiness; however, He wills it otherwise He would not be sovereign.

    4.  Why is there sin in the world?  Because Adam and Eve violated the covenant of works and disobeyed God by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:15-17).  Prior to the Fall, there was no death or dying.  Adam and Eve stained all of humanity by their disobedience.  After the Fall and in His mercy, God spoke to the serpent and promised a savior, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring[e] and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  (Gen 3:15)

    5.  Wages of sin - Death and dying are the wages of sin.  Creation fell with Adam.  As a result, a) Creation is a corrupted and dangerous place thanks to lightning, earth quakes, disease, shark bite, childbirth... (insert something horrible here). b) Man is conceived into sin because we are descendants of Adam.  That doesn't mean that man acts as badly as he is able, but we shouldn't be surprised when man does horrible things.  The restraining hand of the LORD prevents us from absolute chaos.  c) Satan and elemental forces are always at work.

    6. Why did Christ die on the cross? Christ's death on the cross fulfils the Suzerain Covenant that God made with Abraham back in Gen 15.  Read the chapter in its entirety. 

    Quote

    "The Suzerain would keep one copy of the treaty and the vassal would keep one copy of the treaty. A number of ratifying ceremonies were used depending upon the era and culture. But the most widely used rite was that of cutting the bodies of animals in halves and placing them in two rows with enough space between for the two parties of the treaty to walk side by side. As they walked between the pieces, they were vowing to each other, "May what has happened to these animals, happen to me if I break this covenant with you."

    God initiated the covenant with Abraham, placed Abraham into a deep sleep, and passed through the cut animals.  By doing so, God ensured that when Abraham's offspring violated the covenant, which they did plenty and often, that God himself would pay the penalty which was Christ's death on the cross (see Gen 3:15).  The OT is the story of Abraham's descendants repeatedly violating the covenant that God initiated and traces Christ's earthly bloodline (see Matt 1:1-17)  while the NT testifies to the covenants fulfilment.  The Temple curtain is torn, and now humanity can deal directly with God through Christ and the New Covenant.  God's attributes of judgement and immutability make the crucifixion an absolute certainty.   As Adam represented all of mankind in the Fall, so Jesus represented mankind in its restoration.

    7. Why is there suffering?  God uses suffering to magnify His name.  Suffering is for His glory and our good might seem awful were it not for the fact that Jesus felt all of the miseries that humanity feels such as hunger, abuse, loneliness, the sudden death of loved ones...(insert something horrible here) without sinning himself.  If you believe in heaven and hell, you can be assured that God's goodness and judgement will ultimately punish the wicked and glorify the rest.

     

  11. 1 hour ago, Katy said:

     

    You can believe in assurance without Calvinism.  I believe you made a choice of your own free will to accept the gospel. I believe God wants everyone to make that choice.  I believe you have assurance as long as you accept that gospel.  I also believe you can make a choice to reject God and walk away and He will let you.  And I believe this is supposed to be a difficult thing for all Christians to wrestle with (Phil 2:12).  I also believe God has a lot more respect for those who have the courage to wrestle with their faith and these difficult questions than for those who blindly follow out of fear.

    Of course many denominations have followers that believe in assurance.  I made the statement because of the Christ plus works and legalism crowd that are more than happy to tell other professing believers that they are condemned to hell or bind their conscience with rules written nowhere in scripture.

    We are going to have to respectfully disagree about free will.  I meant what I stated above about using the Apostles’ Creed as my baseline.  

    BTW, reformed Christians study multiple theologians including Luther, Sproul, Packer, Bridges, Lewis, Carson, Augustine, Ligon, Wright, Guinness, to name a few off the top of my head.  Being reduced to studying one thinker such as Calvin feels overly simplified to me. 

    Who asked about the 5 solas? Sproul explains the Dutch Controversy and the 5 solas well.  Wiki looks good too.

     

  12. I’m a Christian, and I don’t understand why other believers are so quick to take my assurance away from me.  Because I deal with so many members of works based denominations through homeschooling, I mentally break the matter down to the Apostle’s Creed.  If we can agree to the Apostle’s Creed, I’m not going to deliberately argue over matters such a sprinkling over dunking, infant baptism, LORD’s Supper, dancing, age of Earth, and/or drinking alcohol.  I do find the outreach practices of certain churches highly offensive.

    So someone asked whether believers recognize their legalism...Yes and no.  My pastor is teaching through Colossians right now.  It’s the responsibility of every believer to mind their hearts because legalism is a very easy sin to fall into. Jerry Bridges wrote a book titled Respectable Sins that is worth a read.  I think any Christian that is serious about outreach should be examining legalism and be sensitive to people who have been injured by the church.  A mature pastor should be able to field any difficult question.

    As to Harris, I hate that some people will think that a majority of Christians share his views.  DH and I absolutely don’t.  He didn’t attend seminary until 4ish years ago following the sex scandal at his church.  I’m also bothered that one more prominent Christian homeschool advocate has been added to the sex scandal pile for his role in his church’s sex abuse cover-up.  Like how many more yahoos can the Christian homeschool movement muster?  

    I’m sorry that so many people have been injured by the church.  I was injured too and walked away completely for about 16 years.  Once DS was born, DH and I started asking hard questions and seeking.  We were led to our church 16 years ago.  I would love to say that my church is perfect and problem free; however, that would be a lie.  DH and I have both served on committees and dealt with a lot of people.  On occasion I’ve had to seriously step back and examine my motives and heart.  Learning  to deal with different people has been difficult and rewarding, and I’m a work in progress.  I’ve been very upset with elders and struggled through a couple of pastors.  The best resource that I have found for dealing with conflict is the book The Peacemaker by Ken Sande.

     

    • Like 7
  13. For the writing, maybe get an OT evaluation to examine handedness, vestibular, motor planning, visual perception, pincer/core strength, and developmental motor.

    My son’s dysgraphia is rooted in language and motor issues.  He learned to type and use a spell checker the 2nd half of 5th grade.  Maybe consider teaching your DD mind mapping.  We love the Inspiration app on the iPad.  

    Hidden behind the Dyslexic Advantage blog’s paywall is an excellent seminar by Dr. Charles Haynes that addresses dysgraphia.  I encourage you to watch that seminar.

    Your daughter’s numbers look really good.  I have one question?  Have you ever administered the Barton pre-test?

    • Like 1
  14. ☝️  example of legalism would be clothing.

    Some churches have an atmosphere that promotes a really strict dress code.  Maybe the men wear suits and all the women wear skirts as a sign of female submission/modesty or seriousness.  DH and I were traveling and randomly visited such a church.  I was dressed very well and wore pants.  I was the only woman wearing pants in a sea of plain long skirts.

    We recieved a lot of curious looks including some from a teenaged girl rocking a miniskirt with a pair of gorgeous stiletto heels.  Mind you, the skirt and heels were awesome; however, it was curious that I was dressed modestly in dress pants and that seemed to be a problem.  I believe a family on travel seeking to fellowship and worship with fellow believers trumps dress code, but whatever.  BTW, the wearing of a skirt is in no way indicative of a broken and contrite spirit.  

    • Like 3
  15. An essential element of mindfulness breathing is self-compassion.  For example, while practicing mindfulness breathing, it can be difficult and one can lose focus and shift attention to the weather or whatever.  While breathing, it’s important to not internally self-deprecate but rather acknowledge the mental shift occurred with neutral judgement and then return to focusing on the mindfulness breathing.

    The article did not mention mindfulness breathing; however, the mindfulness breathing can absolutely help with self-compassion over time.

     

    https://www.mindful.org/meditation/mindfulness-getting-started/

    • Like 3
  16. Cal Newport is the bomb.  I have a major mom crush on him.

    As a maker, I don’t like the school day being interrupted. As the manager, I restrict appointments and events to particular days of the week and times, prioritize what subjects must be covered, and write the schedule .  My manager self uses the summers to establish goals while my maker self selects the curriculum to meet those goals.

    Over the years, my family has experienced death of significant relatives, illness, tons of therapies, unexpected home repair, car repair, and financial issues (thank-you, 6 months of sequestration).  My maker self has had to assist my manager self get work done in unusual ways while keeping the house clean and its occupants fed.

    Back to the original point, no I don’t like our day interrupted so I block schedule appointments and plan around them.  I try tell to the kids early so that there are no unpleasant surprises and we get on with.  Getting stuff done is just hard sometimes.

    • Like 1
  17. If money is an issue, save and get the full and appropriate testing in January.

    BTW, the worst NP we ever used was paid for by insurance.  I would describe that experience as fast food drive up service.  Insurance does not fully pay them like a private psych so they are compelled to see multiple patients.  

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