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Jayne J

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Everything posted by Jayne J

  1. Just to up the ick factor a bit...I gotta ask, anyone else have Grandma routinely calling herself your children's mother? As in "Come here dear and give your mommy a kiss. Oh, I mean your grandma." And this is MY mother. Ugh.
  2. Thank you Peela. My kids are very young--5 and 3. I haven't really looked that far ahead I guess, in the Ambleside curr. I did check the Tanglewood and couldn't make the connection between their literature suggestions and the history (there are associated reading selections for history, but the literature is set up seperately, and doesn't seem interconnected.) I am going back to Ambleside to take a closer look at the Lit. rotation for the older grades! Thanks again!
  3. Thank you all for your replies. It looks as though my first instinct was what most people do--keep nature study as a seperate subject. I will probably do that, cutting down on other science time alittle. I tend to agree with Peela when she says: I honestly don't think they remembered much from the work I did do with them around that age and I wish I had instead spent the time out in nature with them developing the curiosity and interest and knowledge of their immediate environment, and also things like the Magic School Bus and nature documentaries. Its more than enough, IMO. I love the WTM rotation, but think it may be a bit heavy. Now, you were warned, so now that I have discovered all you CM + WTMers, I have another question...;) How about literature? I like all the wonderful literature the CM method, but it is all jumbled up in terms of time (historical period) Any CM curriculum I've seen (Ambleside, Tanglewood) pay no attention to associating history and literature. How do you feel about that? And as a secondary question, WTM is not very inerested in the "living books" approach I so love about CM. Anyone found any really great resources for living books that focus on "hard sciences" like chemistry and physics? Is that even possible?:D Are you regretting anwering my first question yet?
  4. I am striving to combine CM and WTM into a workable method for us. For those who have done this, I wonder if you would share your ideas about combining the 4 year model of science under WTM (Biology, then Earth Science, then Chemistry, then Physics in that order from grades 1-4, then repeat) with the CM concept of the nature journal as science. During grade 1, when you study biology, it would fit perfectly, But during the following three years, do you just keep nature journals seperate? Do you continue to pursue biology each year, along with other areas? Oh and please understand that if you answer, you will likely be asked a bunch more questions! :D
  5. Just chiming in here with a little bit of "yeah, I totally hear you." I once carefully worked up the courage to explain this very thing to my own mom, and ask her to cut back, and she said (and I quote) "It's my RIGHT as a grandma. I want to have something for them everytime I see them, so they know I love them." (We live 10 miles away, and see her once a week or more.) For my ds's last birthday, we wanted to buy him a bike. We were looking for a nice used one to fix up and paint together. Guess what she got him for his birthday? A brand new, all-the-bells-and-whistles bike. Without asking us. GRRRR. And don't even get me started on last year's Tickle me Elmo extravaganza for my youngest from my dad. Ack! Anyway, no advice, only sympathy. Oh, wait, maybe I do have a bit of advice--holding yard sales is your RIGHT, as a parent. You should have seen how quickly that Tickle me Elmo sold...:lol:
  6. Kidlovingmama, I saw your post about your history dilemma, and although I can't give you any advice, I'd sure love to get some from you. I didn't want to hijack your thread though, so... Could you please give a little more detail about how you combined the two different ages through SOTW? My two are also 2 years apart and I've been wondering how to combine them into the same era of history without shortchanging either. Neither have started formal schooling yet, but the oldest is beginning K this fall and I've been struggling with how to do this, and keep everyone on track and on rotation (doing the eras 3 repeated times over the course of k-12) Did you skip an era for the younger to get them in synch? Or extend one era through two years for the elder, or just not start at all til the youngest was ready, or what? Can you tell this has been making me a little crazy? :banghead: Nah, I'm not obessive or anything. :laugh:
  7. I agree with Ravin about Enders Game, although you may want to look over it first yourself--there is some sadistic behavior by the bad characters, etc. I think it's probably fine, but just a heads up. Orson Scott Card has a couple of other series worth reading: the Alvin Maker series (alternate history of US/magic) the Homecoming series (a futuristic sci-fi exodus type story) Another suggestion is the Foundations series by Isaac Asimov. The first 3 are written by him, and these are the good ones. After that the story line was taken over by other writers, and bleh.
  8. My 5 yr old ds loves African animals, especially gorillas. I'm putting together a read aloud list for summer, and want to include some about Africa/gorillas if I can. He will listen to fairly long books, I'd guess up to about 2-3 grade level, if they hold his interest, but I'm open to more difficult material if you know of any.
  9. Ummm.. I know its a little late, but I had to post because the exact same thing happened to me today :001_smile:. I cooked them anyway, then cooled them and popped them in the fridge for tomorrow (its just like using canned beans.) If your recipe calls for you to simmer a long time, like a soup or something, I'd still cook them after soaking and add them near the end. Sorry it came to late, but that's my method, for what it's worth.
  10. Ahhh. Gotcha. Its a visual relationship type tool. Ok, that makes sense. Thanks!
  11. I usually have half a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter, and whatever fruit we have in the house. The protein from the whole grain and peanut butter reallly sticks with me through the morning and keeps me on an even keel (I tend to get crazy if I don't include protein in the morning--I soar and crash. Thus, I've given up my beloved everything bagels which were white not wheat and didn't really go well with peanut butter:ack2:) I also have coffee, but mix it half caff. /half non. I really feel much better since I did that and never miss the caffeine. I was a bit of a coffee junkie and tended to overdo it. Now I can drink the same amount, but get less jittery. Another suggestion is a hard boiled egg and wheat toast.
  12. I want to begin teaching my children Spanish now (they are 4 and 2) but obviously, programs based on reading and writing the language are not the best fit, as they cannot do either. I'm wondering if any of you have come across a program of audio/spoken Spanish? My other thought is to find a Spanish speaker for a tutor, but our area (very rural and not many Spanish speakers) makes that difficult--have any of you done this? Any pointers on how to go about finding someone for the job?
  13. Oh, can you hear them, my sobs of joy? Oh you lovely door lockers and kicker outers! Thank you! After recently moving from a forum that would have called CPS on me for insisting my children go outside it is WONDERFUL to hear from other mommies who think that is perfectly fine. Mine are too young right now (2 and 4, with no fence) but when they are older... oh yeah.
  14. Hee Hee. I just realized this, but every time a have a baby I get a massage, and haircut/color. The massage is a pregnancy massage and the haircut/color is after the baby is born! I guess I'll have to either have a large family, or really long hair.....:laugh:
  15. Thanks thanks thanks for all the replies! RebeccaC thanks for the in-depth info on Noble Knights, it's really helping me figure out what I want to do! It sounds like alot of people are saying that both NKK and Miquon need some supplementing. I'm thinking that the combo of both might be best. The cuisenaire rod issue is still causing me some hesitation--any more input on how hard they are to learn to work with? (I'm REALLY not a math person, can you tell?:001_smile:)
  16. Thanks everyone for the feedback. I'm glad to finally find some folks who've heard of Noble Knights, let alone actually tried it!! I've been looking and drooling and wondering for a long time :D Rebecca--The biggest questions I have are these: How extensive is the content? The site says it can be used for k-4 math, and that seemed to me a bit of a stretch. Is it? And second, how necessary are the knight figures and the optional animals for the second game? Could a little boy with, oh say 50 lbs. of plastic knight toys, and a few animals make do without all the extras? Ellie--thanks for the heads up on the cuisenaire rods. Frankly, I've never worked with them before either, so it would definately do us good to get familiar first!
  17. Ok, so here I am again, asking about math curricula. (Is that right? Curricula? Seems like it should be...) Anyways. Has anyone tried this http://www.livelylessons.com/index.html ? It's the Noble Knights of Knowledge math curriculum/game. Looks interesting, and my son loves knights so it seems like it would be fun. Anyone have any advice? Next, how about Miquon Math? Love it, hate it? If you used it all the way through to the end, what did you switch to, and how did it work for you? These are the two front runners for our elem. math, and I'm not sure what to do. Thanks!!
  18. Wow! Jen thanks for the link--the site looks great! Later tonight, when I have a second to think, I'm going to really go over it. Kathie, RightStart sounds good. I'm going to check it out; we really like playing games together so that might be perfect. Thnks again for the suggestions.:001_smile:
  19. Hi! I'm new here, so I thought I'd introduce myself, and ask for some input from everyone here. My name is Vicki and I have 2 littles (third one is due in August!). My son is 5 and my daughter is almost 3. I am planning on homeschooling all the children and have had so much fun thinking and planning the years to come, reading books and perusing catalogs. We've started some basic phonics work, and other Pre-school/Kinderg. type stuff, but are not jumping in and "getting serious" til next year when my son turns 6. I've had no problem at all planning and shopping for most subjects, but I am stuck on math. So, this is where I ask for some input. We are Charlotte Mason/Classical, but are taking a fairly relaxed approach (as per CM) til my son is 6ish. So I have a year or so to research and find a math program. My first thought was Saxon, since they are so well known and "safe" in the homeschool world. But after working with my son a little on phonics, I'm thinking it might be a little too regimented and structured for him. He seems very process oriented and balks at "boring" work. I'm looking for a play based program, one that helps a child sort of moodle around with a concept til it is clear. He really likes to take his time and explore an idea thoroughly before he "uses" it. Any suggestions? Thanks!
  20. Knitpicks.com is a nice site for yarn, but for actual needles etc. I'd suggest starting at a hobby/craft store like Michaels or AC Moore. They tend to have the best prices because they carry the very basic basics. If price is no object, then the ebony and rosewood needles are lovely, but plain old aluminum or plastic is much more affordable. I would suggest finding a pattern you like and want to try and then buying just the needles/yarn/supplies you need for that project, that way, if you discover you don't really like to knit, it's not a major investment. Then again, if price is no object... This is a hobby that can be very expensive if you let it!! (by the way, I actually recommend getting your yarn from Michaels/AC Moore at first as well--it's not as luxurious, but much more affordable--but if you love natural fibers and luxurys like cashmere, silk, etc. knitpicks has good prices)
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