74Heaven
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Posts posted by 74Heaven
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I have a large school room (about 12x17') with 3 med. desks, 6 or 7 bookcases (I'm sure about 1500 books???) and 2 computer stations w/bar stools (think 4'high, 2.5'wide, 2.5'deep square). The room includes about 65 sq feet of corner hearth, and a 12' floor-to-ceiling glass slider/window "wall". (So one wall is bookcases, one wall is wood stove, windows.)
Does anyone have posted lists of what to clean up every day already made in Word or something?
Does anyone have a good, working plan to keep the room clean?
I am thinking maybe I could post lists and say "start at #1 and work your way down?). It is usually a disaster by the weekend, meaning library books pulled off the shelves, read and not reshelved, 3-4-5 encylopedias on the floor, we need better daily cleaning plans...
My kids are 8yos, 11yos, 13yod, so to me, we are finally an "an age" where we ought to be able to keep it clean?
What are everyone else's plans? How do you all cope?
OK, I can't edit the title: I know "why" it gets messy, but how to tame the beast?
Thanks - Lisaj
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My difficult 19yo daughter is coming home in a month from a unsuccessful (but very fun lol) year at college. She has grown up a lot this past year.
She found her way of doing things (being on facebook all night, getting engaged online to a high school acquaintance for 3 months (hadn't seen him since 2009 in person - never a close friend), spending all her money frivolously, procrastinating, skipping assignments, etc.) didn't work out to a successful freshman year. Her grades were unacceptable and she lost all her school scholarship money and broke her agreements with us grade-wise. Now, she is planning to move home, work all summer and go to CC (she will pay for it if she does go) in the fall.
So, personally (LOL), her overall maturity (seeing her ways fail) is an improvement since last summer when we were blamed for her problems. She is not so mad at us anymore, sees the wisdom in a lot of our good advice and we have been able to step out of the line-of-fire so to speak.
My daughter is dishonest to us in most of the agreements we made with her - so we really don't trust her. She knows this. She understands (when she is thinking straight) why we don't trust her. She owes money to her bank for overdrafts (we paid because we were on the acct. she owes us that money as well.) She owes money to her school because she didn't use her w/study money to pay a small amt. of tuition still owing after our pmts.
She says she wants to live here. And we *want* her here, but - assuming she can follow the rules - how can we "un" parent her. We are not going to say, "pretend we are a hotel; come and go as you please". That's just not fair to the other 6 of us who live here. Running a big family means lots of chores, lots of helping out and lots of stress because the activity/money/time ratio is stretched 7 ways!
Thoughts on how to be more hands-off, but still protect our rights and our space and our family? Anyone BTDT? (It is like parenting a rebellious 16yo who just happens to be 19yo?)
Let me reiterate - things are better! She is maturing! There is progress. It is just the two-steps-forward; one-step-back type?
Thoughts?
Lisaj, mom to 5
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Very kind of you to do this though. It sounds like you will be spending gobs of hours to self-design something to use. I don't have many suggestions because I can't imagine the amt. of work you will be doing in re-creating the wheel to offer what they want. Now, I think it is great if you have a passion and desire to offer this subject to these students.
Personally, I can only guess that budget is sugg. the families not purchase the books. What will the families be purchasing for this class? IOW, is there a dollar amt. that you have to spend.
Used copies of Apologia Gen. Science couldn't be too expensive - depending on how many you need, between now and Sept 2011, maybe you could get texts that the students could share? Esp if you are all meeting for only 2 hours a week - I mean science is a 3hr a week gig in jr high and 5++ hours a week i high school?
Good luck!
Lisa j
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For me,
cash is one of the best high school graduation presents there is. My daughter put 90% of her grad money gifts on her tuition bill at the college.
However, if for any reason someone doesn't want to give cash - how about a gift card at the local college bookstore. One of the first things my high school grad did when they got to college was go buy college-labeled attire at the college bookstore.
Lisa j
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Much congratulations. I enjoyed reading your post about testing/teaching too. 4 of my 5 children are naturally good test takers and so it kind of is tempting to teach to the test and watch them score so high.
And of course, "critical thinking" is harder to teach so it makes it tempting to slide thru it!
Lisa J
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Hi everyone... I am removing my son from the public high school here in FL and was searching for an online education for him, but my head is spinning after all weekend of digging through the internet. He is 8 1/2 credits behind from failed courses and my son and I both feel that at home he will have a better chance of graduating and hopefully moving on to a higher education. .........For those of you that might be using a online environment how do you really decide if the program is an honestly good program? Any advice would be appreciated!
Annette - welcome! This is a very diverse group of homeschoolers, but many of us have chosen homeschooling as a career choice and the degree of outsourcing really varies!
Especially if your son is 8.5 credits behind (that is more than a year in WA state where I am?), I would predict that the likeliness that he is highly self-motivated towards academics is unlikely. That kind of leads me to point that there really isn't any place, online service or DVD service that you can "trust" your son's education to. It will likely require many hours of supervision and oversight to make sure he is applying himself, keeping up on assignments and working hard.
There *are* self-motivated students out there, they just aren't as common as we like to hope. So homeschooling, in essence, is often a tutorial approach in the younger years and slowly grows toward a supervisor approach as students mature and become more self-motivated.
We did Bob Jones University (BJU) DVDs in 4 subjects a few years ago for my daughter's junior year. We had 3 NonDVD classes also that year. I found that the instruction was excellent on the DVDs, but I still had to give and correct quizzes and tests, monitor and correct or go over homework and make sure my daughter was paying attention to the DVD. I kid you not, that was the year my daughter learned to "doodle" because she was unsupervised and uninterested in some of the DVDs and was too often tuning-out from the video instruction.
For our family, I have found that DVD instruction can only be 1-2 hours a day TOTAL and not back-to-back hours.
Best wishes on your homeschooling journey - it is worthwhile! Read, pray and study on how *not* to be your child's adversary when discussing, doing schoolwork with teenagers - that is probably my biggest battle!!!
IN Christ!
Lisaj
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My daughter's book costs vary a lot. The first sem it was nearly $400; all new, all last minute. One book is being use this semester too. This spring semester book were closer to $150, much more doable.
My daughter is going to a very small, Christian LAC.
Lisaj
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A friend gave me a great sugg. that I should have my daughter make a list of all her laundry and school supplies, some snacks (i.e. popcorn, mocha mix, cup o soup, dried fruit) and toiletries for the semester, help her figure out what she needs and then either give her the money for that, OR send a preset amt. to her monthly or buy it all before she goes to college. My daughter surprised me and chose the latter so we spent about $60 for everything from laundry detergent to deodorant and told her anything else she would need to buy herself from her allowance.
The allowance is $40 a month which is for *everything* that is extra, i.e. if she needs to buy a CD for class powerpoint presentation or a portfolio cover or maybe her prof says they can attend a play, etc. for extra credit or required. The allowance has to cover Taco Bell, running out of laundry detergent and dorm t-shirts, etc. The only thing it doesn't cover is any prescription refills and when she got mono, we sent $40 or so for over-the-counter meds, etc.
I initially felt "bad" that it was so little. I didn't feel right dropping her off with zero money even tho she has room & board incl "coffee shop bucks and gift cards" - but it has been fine, coupled with an August & a Christmas break trip of about $50-60 just for snacks and *all* toiletries. But it has worked out fine. She surprises me by seeming to always have a dollar or two on her. (And she is the type to spend every dime within the first oppty.)
Lisaj
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Is this your son, Micah from Boise that received a full scholarship, Luanne? Great info btw!
Lisa J (in Ea WA)
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My son is a great reader and has excellent comprehension skills.
However, he stops just about anywhere (but usually at the end of 1-2 sentences (while talking OR reading) and takes a big breath. It appears he is kind of holding his breath while he reads and then catching up with a big breath when he needs to. He is reading at a 5th or 6th grade level. He reading is fine. I *do* still need to remind him to stop at periods when reading aloud - a long time habit that I have been remiss in helping him correct....
This same son was taken to a speech therapist about 5yo because he was stuttering; sometimes at the beginning of a sentence but more often, by repeating the last-syllable of a word. Like "lake" would be come "lake-ake" or even a one syllable word like stove, might be "stove-ove". Anyway, the speech therapist said it would be up to me, but she sugg. just waiting it out and see if it would go away. It has for the most part, altho he still does stutter sometimes, usually when tired or excited, and usually, just 5-10 times per week total. Definitely not a problem.
Does anyone know what his "breath=taking" habit is called? Has anyone else experienced it? I am pretty sure it is a habit that he has done for a few years and it just seemed really noticeable in the last year or so?
I am trying to decide what to do. Something I can do at home or if I should take him in for an evaluation?
Thanks!
Lisaj, mom to 5
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This may seem like a silly question, but how did he get so knowledgeable about MacArthur? I am just wondering where he got all his facts and what the actual assignment was?
Could he open with better "attention getter"? Even a rearranging of his intro para: A leader is not judged on just his accomplishments. He is also judged on his character............. then go into his paper? Also, the more he can strengthen his thesis, the better!
I am very impressed with his logic and thinking skills. He has specifis that support his thesis. His second paragraph is very good! I would like to see him state his conclusion much better. He mentions "character" in the first paragraph, I think he could state more succinctly the flaws in MacA's character. (i.e. pride, insubordination, conceit, grandstanding, etc.)
LIsaj, hope that helps
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Thanks! As usual, you all are a wealth of knowledge. She is taking classes at a high school that has an agreement with a local university to give college credit for the Spanish courses. The other "possible credits" will be if she passes the AP exams?
I suppose that some universities might not even count the Bible credit; making her year look pretty light. I'll think about it some more. Dual enrollment or community college isn't a very good option for us because of commute time.
My poor daughter is quite concerned because she can't make up her mind what she wants to study in college. It was biology for years. Earlier this school year, she thought biology, then she wanted to do pre-med and then changed to a becoming pilot and then biology again. She is sometimes quite frustrated that she hasn't decided yet. I try to tell her there's no hurry but she gets worried because she feels like she has to know to pick a college.
Thanks again! Great thread.
Lisa J
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I want her to "take it easy a bit" and she may be working 10 or so hours a week. This daughter is *not* the best time manager/organizer. (She wants to take another science, poss. AP, & do some volunteering. in addition to the 4 classes I am "okay" with.)
I am the one who wants to limit - and I can see very clearly that she will overload herself and regret it. She has only one AP class this year and struggles with the homework of 7 classes, incl Bible.) With the "lighter" 4 class senior load, she will take 2 AP classes (English and Calc), 4th year Spanish and Bible. She will have 5 or 10 college credits after this year. AND probably will earn 10-15more (quarter) college credits her senior year.)
Do you think this "light" senior year class schedule will be a detriment on her college applications or will it have *no* effect? With the above 4 senior classes, she will have 4years of math (+Alg in 8th grade), 4 years of English, 4 years of Spanish (+ one year in 8th gr), 4 years of science (plus she took Biol. in 8th grade) but only 3 years of history. As you can see, she basically started high school in 8th grade; she took Algebra 1, Span 1, 1st Year High School Latin & Biology in 9th grade.
She will be a very young high school senior as she will *not* be 18 until the first month of college.
Thoughts?
Lisaj
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I hesitate to reply. But a missionary from (Far, Far North - like tundra areas) Canada said recently that "Canada is a lot like the 51st state in terms of their intertwined economic relationship with the United States." This missionary said that there are more cows (steer, livestock, beef cattle???) in Texas than in all of Canada. The main point he was trying to make was that Canada is very dependent on the U.S. economy and kind of "as goes the U.S. dollar (down), so goes Canada's economy).
I know that is not a lot of info. But it really made me think about Canada in a whole new way.
Lisaj
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Much of it was along the lines of, "Damien's parents didn't use our methods, and spent his childhood torturing kittens and doing drugs. Angelica's parents did use these techniques, and she went on to attend Harvard and rule the world."
I wouldn't discount a book for that. I think they *all* read that way!!!
Btw, I have Love & Logic on my nightstand and everytime I pick it up, I get better about the consequences/empathy drill. I really think it is quite good :).
Lisaj, who thinks she may have parented "Damien" when she meant to be parenting "Angelica"
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The young man was very angry when his mom and dad originally made the decision at the end of 11th grade. But now he realizes what a good idea it was. Sure, some kids are ready, but many need some time. What's the rush anyway?
Yolanda
I am considering this very thing with my current 8th grader. Academically, she is fine. Maturity wise, I am worried. I see now that a quick review basically shows my older daughter maturing at roughly 2 years *behind* her peer group. I am very much seeing the same thing with my almost 14yo daughter. Both had *very* late puberty. (as I also did)
My thought is to basically consider delaying my 8th graders education by about 6 months for starters. I would change:
9th grade becomes 8th/9th
10th grade becomes 9th/10th
11th becomes 10th/11th
12th becomes 11th/12th &
12th grade becomes a 6-month "year" (semester) and a January graduation instead of June (so 6 month delay).
My thought is that a 6mo "slide" will be easier emotionally for the child? Thoughts? My husband and daughter and I are having very beginning conversations about this. This is hard to imagine. My daughter is pretty crushed at the thought.
Our problem is *not* academics though. It is maturity, time management, organization, truthfulness and understanding logical consequences.
??? Lisa J
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TO be honest with you, I was the one who "pushed" Latin. :-). I thought, "wow, here's a co op that my children and I enjoy" and there's no Latin. What a great way to introduce more kids to Latin! Voila! Magistra Lisa :). I working towards converting them to classical methods ;-).
So, I want to help the kids get up to speed *if* I can. I love the moms. I don't see any of them really upping the grammar at home. (And yes, I am okay with that. One of the ladies cares for a baby fulltime while homeschooling her 3 kids. One of the ladies confessed a longstanding grammar problem of her own. Another has two daughters that are incredible dancers who have dance for hours every week.) These are neat kids with neat parents - who don't put the same standard on English grammar and Latin that I do. All great homeschooling families; all with strengths and weaknesses in their own ways!
And because I am 48yo, I've learned that it is all good. I *love* my Latin scholars. I have 9 students, the ones who "get" the English grammar - all A students. The ones who struggle with syntax, all get Bs except I have one "C" student. (I grade 25% HW; 25% quizzes; 50% Loyola University tests.)
So, even though, they are missing 2-5 questions on each test having to do with sentence parts, they are doing pretty well overall. I am so proud of them!
I can't wait to see the book you recommended. If it worked okay, I might be able to assign extra grammar exercises.
Based on all your responses, I will ditch the 15min of classtime idea.
4Wildberries - We live rurally and go to a very tiny church so I really enjoy the way my children *love* co op. IT is a great co op full of homeschooling moms just "getting it done" every week. I so admire the young moms. I enjoy "sharing life" (only once a week lol) and the mutual caring and sharing we all do!
I have a co op class of 9 in Henle; and 12 5th-7th graders in a Canon Press Latin class. And the neat thing, there would be no Latin at this co op without me. I can see that changing as I see at least 2 moms showing an interest!
Lisaj, mom to 5
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I would like some advice.
I am frustrated by the poor grammar knowledge of 4 of my 9 Henle Latin 1 students. These are 9th graders who can not identify (in English) indirect objects, direct objects, possessives and even subjects. These are average students who have *no* prior Latin study. Although they are working hard, their poor English syntax knowledge seems to be glaringly apparent for the first time.
I can not schedule additional time with these students. I have to cover it during 1hr per week Henle co op class OR let them falter the rest of the year.
I'm torn between 2 ideas:
1 - Start with a 15min Shurley English lesson each day designed to "re-teach" the easy process so these students can acquire the skills they need. I think the weekly Shurley classification system might *cement* the knowledge for these kids?
2 - Just spend 5 min a week reviewing *one* of the sentence parts & give 10min a day extra homework to the students who need this help. I also am thinking that if every week, we go over "subjects" for 5-min, then after a while, picking the subject will be automatic! THen we'll move to the next, say direct objects.
I am thinking along the lines of something that is not time-consuming for me. (I am a first-time Latin teacher and spend more than a few hours each week just doing homework ahead of the class, correcting thing and preparing for each class. My children and I did Latin at home for 4-5 years.)
I feel badly for my other students (that know this grammar) and I'm not sure how to address this with them?
Thanks for any ideas!
Lisaj
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I have 3 teen dtrs, ages 18.5, 16.5y & almost 14y.
The oldest and the youngest are soooo emotional. Their mood swings are so big. And they are both prone to pity parties and crying jags. The middle is more like me - has swings, gets annoyed to easily, but not the dramatic crying jags with cries of "you don't love me" or "I am the only one who gets in trouble for anything around here", etc.
Any other daughters like this??? I'm constantly saying mildly soothing, patronizing things just to not get sucked into the drama. I do care (X 10,000), but in their most emotional moments, they can *not* be reasoned with or barely comforted. With the middle daughter, I can kind of "wait it out" but the 18y almost 14y, whew!!!
Just tell me I'm not alone...
Lisaj, mom to 5
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About 8yo then (now 16yog)... Don't chew on the cord for your alarm clock. It was even arcing. (sparking)
It never occurred to me to tell anyone that?
Lisaj, mom to 5
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Lunch: leftover spaghetti.
Throwing me off today: Using tractor and 11yo son to unsuccessfully pull 4wheel drive car out of ditch at the end of our driveway. No damage, no one hurt. Ended up leaving it there for husband to take care of :>).
As for the helping someone else: Called someone who needed encouragement.
Happy Homeschooling!
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The local Christian High School uses the same book as Chalkdust PreCalc and so I ended up hiring the wonderful Calc/PreCalc teacher to tutor in addition to the CD DVDs we were using. Our pace was pretty slow though as I was too busy to help daughter move it along. But daughter's comprehension and enjoyment quadrupled with the weekly tutoring meetings (4 months).
Lisaj
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They are all whip-smart. But the dwaddling and the distractions just seem so hard to work with - not just one kid - or even just 2 - but ALL 5 kids and me.
Currently, I just have 3 at home and I do about 1/4th of the work all or most of us together orally.
Anyone else in this position? Coping skills? Tips?
Lisaj, mom to 5 (one is at college; one at Christian High School)
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Ooh, I should have mentioned, I have 5 kids. Currently only 3 are hsing, so I usually take the 8yob with me. I found consistently taking 5 with me a bit over the top stress-wise if I had doctor and such appointments. Also, most of my (maybe 1x a week during the day) trips to town are 3-4 hours....
However, even in the past, with olders, the work output really went waaaay down when I was gone. Even tho it meant they had to do it later.
Remind me how to respond when someone says I'm taking money away
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Flabbergasted.
A better question is what is the STATE doing with the money that they are *not* sending to the local school district? The pot of money (REVENUE) that the state takes is the same regardless of how many students are being educated by the various local school districts. The taxes are the same for all of us whether we home-educate or not? Maybe your FIL could do an expose on what is happening to all that money? That money is going somewhere in the state - and my guess would be that the state public school bureaucracy is *spending* the money somewhere.
Don't teacher's unions routinely battle (or work hand-in-hand with the state supt.) I would kindly suggest to your fil that the question is very legitimate - he should certainly ask it at the state level since it doesn't have *anything* to do with local homeschoolers?
Lisaj