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sandst

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Everything posted by sandst

  1. I am not sure what to buy. The original plan was to enrol my dd in the Aliance Francaise Saturday (6 weeks courses). These run one per trimester but the cost is around $210 plus books... Also it would require travel time of over 1 hr each way and with all the other matters we need to work out as a familyI do not seem to have the time to invest... I can speak, read and write in French. It is a bit rusty but know most of the grammar rules and it would also work nicely as a review for myself. Looked at Roseta Stone but am not really impressed with it. Is there a good French program recommended for a 12 year old. Fluency, Reading and Grammar included. If it had some CD for pronunciation that would even be better... Thanks. :bigear:
  2. Please see below my request for info. I really hate these teasers and these changes really mess up my plan. My kids only started later with HS and SL seemed very attractive in the begining. We did their Core D & E for the past 2 1/4 years. We are about 6 weeks to finish but replaced the spine with SOTW focus on American History Chapters. I have four SL LA programs barely used. I really tried to make it work but it is not for my kids. What really grinds me is all the suspense and this would mess up my plans. I was planing on getting a full core plus LA for that Core (not their additional books just the LA for some assignments) and two add IG for the 2 year schedule for SOTW?!? Have not yet got any clarification? I wish there was another program that shedules SOTW over two years as this is what we have left before my daughter goes to HS. If we are still here she will start with Camdridge program with a Distance Online College... Just for the three IG is 3 x $70 + $40 for LA IG?... I cannot really wait until 2nd April beause if I understand correct it would be preaty useless.. Can someone please help. Maybe even guide me to another route??? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Judy, I know your website promisses all these releases but I cannot wait to order and find out I have ordered the wrong thing. It cost 24% shipping fees here and that is on orders above $900+. I have ordered over $1000 every year for the past two years... Also it costs 14% tax. So if I was to buy the old format and decided I wanted to swap it would cost me 38% plus for the error. Due to time constraints and the fact that my eldest child has max 1 1/2 year till High School and because we live in South Africa where HS is under attack and we are not sure if we will be able to continue with SL for High School I had planned on Core W with add ons from Core G & H. I wanted to use SOTW and mostly core W for the other readings. Also we own core B&C which I bought but never used because I was not able to keep two cores going so these would tie in nicely. But as far as I understand the new IG cores will have all the book notes together behind each week and not separated. This would not work becuse I am making a hybrid using Core W and adding in Core G & the Core H notes for SOTW and some add on books as well as pulling in some Core B & C Books for my son. I can only do this if the notes are separated. I really need to place my order before April 2nd otherwise my plan will not work. I was planing to buy Core W and then the IG for Core G & H?!? Please help..... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  3. All these ideas are great but my son is using it to remediate Privste School teaching where he eventually was memorizing the books rather thn reading we use it and called it therapy. He can tolerate the book (being 10 years old). When he is batling with a concept we slow down and use colour markers on a white board and AAS tiles to re-inforce. We are also using AAS to remediate his spelling. He has Auditory Processing problems and we have been struglbg with speed and accuracy. What I find that really helps is to have him dictate a couple of passages to me when he finishes a lesson. He gets motivated to read the passages really fast so that I cannot finish writting them and gets a kick out of grading these (reading again) and failing me. I write my 'dictation exercises' on a small white board. This might be a sóund stupid but it has really helped his speed and accuracy.
  4. These were bought used or locally: Teaching your child to read in 100 easy lessons. My SID child almost went off his rocka and the therapist said distar would not work. We are working through AAS and OPTR and this is working. Miquon Math. Never used. It gave me a headache just reading the manual. We have been using Horizon as our main program and then Singapore math, just the work books. We added the CWP this year... Planning to change to TT but will add in some Singapore. Before FIAR and FIAR. We do not have a good library system and it would have costed too much to order the books also I realized that Unit STudy and books like FIAR where they try to tie in everything together make no sense to me. My kids were 8 and 10 when we started HS so they had passed these anyway. All of these we bought second hand and I just gave them away yesterday to a local HS mom who was very happy. Things we like but battle to get into: 1. Artistic Pursuits (My kids would rather look to in the book but then they do their own thing). They do lots of free art, They dig into the recycle bin and in the art supplies. 2. Draw Squad. My sons look into the pictures but likes drawing up his own stuff 3. SL Bible Memory CD and their Bible Memory. We work on the verses from our Sunday School. So we just listen to the CD for fun. 4. Endless Schoolastic $1 books. My cart is full again?! I am sure that there is lots of other stuff but this is what comes to mind.
  5. I bought the 3 X 2 white board but it kept on being knocked down and the tiles would just go all over. We even lost one of -u- letter tile. I went out and bought small cookies sheets (slightly bigger than A4 sheet) that fit into each other and laid them out in a similar way as the white board. The top one is blank and gets laid in the middle for us to build our words. I keep the cookie sheets is order (alphabet on top, the phonograms left and right of the board and drop the top cookie sheet in the middle. It takes less than a min. to set up and pack up, no more lost tiles. I should try and get some pics tomorrow...
  6. Approximtely $5.25 per gallon. Considering that salaries (refer to small middle class not the vast majority of the population that live below poverty line) are about 1/3 of the salaries in US then it is quite expensive. Gauteng, South Africa.
  7. Portuguese is my native language although I have been living in an English speaking country for more than half my years. " Estamos ligados... Agora falamos"
  8. Our local primary school (k-7) has had cameras in the bathrooms since 2004, when a little 9 year old was r*ped by a worker on a team doing some renovations. I am unsure if the cameras are only aiming to the wash basins and doors or to the stall. Actually the entire school is covered by CCTV security. This is one of the many reasons my kids were sent to private schools and that we are now HS. Also they had a big drug (marijuana) scandal in 2007 and my neighbours 12 year old got involved with the wrong crowd and when he refuse to distribute laced foods to the younger kids then he was beaten up quite bad. He was given a special dispensation and allowed to finish grade 7 at home. Most of the perpretators got away with it. The classes are over crowded with 42 to 45 kids for one teacher in Grade 1 and it can go up to 50 kids per teacher. It is scary to think of what can happen to your children when they are at school. My son was in a very exclusive (and expensive) private school and some high school kids forced bear down his throat (he was only 7.5 at the time) whilst he was on Risperdal and Concerta. Luckly I picked him up early (no after care that day) and could see that something was wrong and took him to the doctors' office. The doctor almost swore at me and wánted to know why was this child drunk and was telling me how dangerous it was with his meds. Told him this happen at school and I had just picked him up?! He was ill for a few days. When I confronted the pricipal I was given a blank look and told 'Boys will be boys'... That kind of sealed the HS decision for me...
  9. :iagree:The Bible and not a book per say but these boards. Have been lurking for the past two years and have glean so much useful info...
  10. Thanks for hugs and wonderful suggestions. The biggest problem is that we live on the other side of the world. All the way down in sunny South Africa, Nelson Mandela's land. We live in Gauteng which is 6000 ft above sea level and one of the worst place for airbourne allergens in this country, probably in the all South Africa continent. The houses are built of solid bricks and we do not hae ai conditioners. Besise 5 star luxury accomodation and maybe some millionaires house Hepa filtration is unheard off. Even if I was able to source it would be very costly to install. Most products do not list proper chemicals in food. He is also allergic to MSG and several colourants and flavourants. He was making his own breakfast a while back with some rice milk that only stated emulsifier when he broke out very badly again. I shouls have known better, I am a bio-chemist and do lots of consulting work as a Food Tech. Phoned the company to be told a week later and several phone calls later that they were using casein as the emulsifier. Ok it was only 0.1% but had to explain to them that you can not claim dairy free and use casein, the protein in milk that makes it alergic. This is Africa and their tech kept on insisting it is only 0.1%... That is why my son was having an aniety attack this morning over the rice milk. Having SPD, ODD, ADHD and also ODC and some anxiety issues does not make for easy living. This poor child lived for the past few months in bed, covered in bandages screaming in pain so he has the right to panic. After a couple of weeks I found a rice milk that seems safe... Had to phone several companies, several times and insist on proper COA and COC and certifications. I work in the industry and can read the jargon and know my way around these food companies, I fell sorry for other parents... We had banned peanuts, treenuts, soya, MSG, artificial colourants and flavourings and preservatives from the house previously. This is a new set of allergies and a new set of rules... I need the hugs, prayers and good wishes... Also still trying to figure out safe detergents and shampoos here. No ingredients listed and ther are some Organic stuff that we can order on the net here but also no ingredients... Thanking you for all your care.:bigear:
  11. I need to hear this and we need set routines. I thinks it would be easier if everyone eats one breakfast and if we could keep all allergic foods out the house. The problem here is that the food choices are so limited and we have only embarked on this new diet for my son since begining of 2012 that I am still trying to find my footing. I spend time on Amazon wishing for the groceries available in ths US. But shipping on Amazon is so expensive. Also for a Bob Mill Gluten free premix you pay close to US $7. For a 5 oz. rice bread I paid US $ 25. It went off after two days and the closest place to us that gets it only has it once a week. GF pasta costs 4 to 5 times more than regular pasta... We got a box of quinoa cereal that costed US $12 and tasted horrible. At the moment we have only found one tipe of rice milk powder that does not use casein as an emulsifier and one type of puffed rice cereal that my son tolerates. The other problem is that he has SPD and has major sensory issues with food. Now such a recent radical change in his diet has caused major conflict, even though he understands that he does feel better and can now start acting like a normal kid after spending several months in bed last year. DS has SPD, ODD, severe allergies, ADHD (it was much better when he could take Concerta but he developed a heart murmur from it and is now on no mediation and we will wait until allergies are settled before seeing the psych doc again). DD had Children Onset of Bipolar Disorder, is extremely oppinionated and when she was six the psych report declared an EQ 12 plus. In a nutshell 6 going on 16 and now we have 12 goind on 20. I just need to vent and have some good suggestions on how to organize myself better. And this story of cleaning the kitchen umpteen times a day is driving me nuts but the thought of an extreme sick child scares me more.
  12. They are 10 ds and dd just turned 12. They should be able to do more and be settle in a routine but we only started HS in Jan. 2010 and my in-laws came to visit us in Feb. 2010 which disturb us getting into a routine and then when going back they both passed away in a plane crash in May 2010. After that we have battled to get back into a routine. Also my son got extremely ill last year spending most of the time in bed unable to move due to debilitating Eczema outburst. It was like 75% of his skin had been burned. It would go from red, to ouzing, to peeling off in big chunks to a week of apparent normality. We saw several specialists until he was finally diagnosed and we now sem to be able to work with a child that is not screaming in extreme pain for most of the time. We were never able to establish proper HS routines and even though we have kept up with Math and LA our schedule has been all over the place and my daughter is playing up because she feels her brother has gotten too much attention.
  13. This seems to be our new normal and it makes me doubt my ability to carry on doing this. Please see below my blog post and tell me why do I feel so stressed: I usually wake up around 6 am, now getting up is never quite at the time it should be. Finally woke up the kids at 8:09 am. My dd walked in and sat on my bed, starring around and in a daze whilst I was checking my e-mail. Well it took us over 2 hours to do medication and cream up my highly allergic son, brush my daughter’s hair and getting the kids to dress and eat breakfast. Oh, the joys of living with two LD kids that show signs of ADD, day dream and start building stuff with their breakfast dishes or conjure recipes and potions with the ingredients. My DS is allergic to most air borne allergens as well as peanuts (will stop breathing within 10 minutes), tree nuts, dairy, soya and gluten so far. So breakfast is interesting; ensure surfaces are clean and no cross contamination possible, have a 10 to 20 minutes fight with ds on what he wants to eat, finally make up chocolate rice milk and cereal. Have another 10 minutes fight with ds; yes it tastes nice, yes this new brand of rice milk is safe, yes mommy phoned manufacturers and checked all ingredients... In the meantime argue with daughter to stop trying to prepare toast until her brother is safely sitting in dining room eating his breakfast. Have daughter argueing back that she is starving and son argueing back he does not want breakfast... Eventually we get there and everyone eats, well not me,too tired grab an apple and wait so I can wash dishes separately and wipe the millions of crumbs... Now it is pass 10 am and we started chores whilst looking into some show on how to make your house greener. Guess this could be science... Finished with chores around 12 am. Decided we need to have lunch before starting school. Dd decides she also wants mash potatoes. There is not enough but there is pasta and bread rolls to eat with allergy free chicken goulash and peas. Yes, her brother needs the mash, no I do not feel like cooking a different side for him, yes he always gets his way and yes, yes life is not fair... After the big fight I am tired... Tell daughter and husband to wait... Why can't the rest of my family understand the risks of cross contamination? Dish out food for ds, fight about the importance of vegetables finally agree to 1 Tbsp. of peas if some raw vegetables are eaten. Dish out carrot sticks and peel celery (sensory issues). Send son off with food. Dish out for everybody else. Pray get everyone to eat and go and clean up kitchen, cross contamination, I promise since these allergies we have the cleanest kitchen on the planet. Sit at table and try to join family to eat. My food is really cold... Wait! Ds is finished need to wash up his dishes... Try to eat again, shout at daughter to wash hands before touching apples in fridge. Kids are chit chatting. Ask them to pile up rest of dishes, eat two bites of my lunch, cover it up in Glad Wrap and put in fridge. Settle for an apple. Clean up kitchen again and finish dishes. Now it is 13:20 time for school finally. Today we are focus on the 3Rs plus bible because once again we started late. Late seems to be our new normal. Settled kids up for school and hand out work... Check e-mails for my work and reconcile some accounting problems. Try to keep kids focus whilst trying to sort out my work. Show ds place value and work through mental math problems. It is now 15:00 , kids have a break and watch a show whilst I return some important business calls, dish out pre-packed snacks, warn again not to touch each other foods. Return to school work at 15:30, it is now 16:00 and I am so tired and hungry... My son is having a fit because we need to work on ASS and OPTR after his workbooks are completed?! Hopefully we will do our RA and History at bedtime and my dd can read her reader before falling asleep. What a nice day so far ???
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