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Dory

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Everything posted by Dory

  1. I'm adding a little bit here rather late, but I haven't been on the forum for some time and when I came in here today this thread caught my eye. This is a major problem in my family and it bugs me. My one aunt and my mom are Messianic Jews. They hate the concept of Christmas though and they are very much against it. It has been so harshly pushed on my other aunt (mostly by my first aunt not my mom) that my second aunt has become defensive and now often posts things such as "it's Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays". It is more from pure defensiveness, not because she is pushing something herself. I, on the other hand wish that people would take a chill pill. I don't really care if secular groups, or satanists, or Jewish people, or Christians, or whatever want to put up decorations wishing others a happy holiday in their own way and from their own perspective. We talk about being inclusive and accepting, but it is not either of those things if we are unable to accept other people's views and well wishes. If we want to be accepted by others, we need to be accepting of others. You wish me a Merry Christmas, I will wish you a Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah? ditto. Happy Holidays? sure! I don't care what you celebrate. I think it's awesome that everyone can celebrate something that makes the winter more fun and enjoyable. Why not share that happiness to others in your own way, even if it just a greeting. Accept the greeting as simply well wishing, not a shoving of beliefs down your throat. People want to put up festivus poles, I'm supportive, people want to put up nativity scenes, I'll support that too. I consider myself Christian. We celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah in this household.
  2. We can't do more than one of them a year, but my oldest thrives with them. There is a spot for more discussion and it opens things up well for more in depth probing. It has helped my kids slow down and really think about the book. They are a little heavy, and my youngest doesn't find them very exciting, so more then one a year for each kid is just too much. We look through them and pick one out for the year. Then we pick a literature study from another group just to have variety in how we look and think through books. I love having variety.
  3. Tater tots get ketchup. Fries get ketchup or gravy depending on my mood. If they get gravy though, I usually go in search of cheese curds to add to it.
  4. We will stop grammar, in this household, when the child is able to consistently find the different parts of speech and use them well, when he/she speaks well, and when he/she is using those parts of speech properly and consistently in writing. Then i think it will be time to take those learned skills and use them elsewhere. That is what my mom did with me and I appreciate it. I enjoy grammar, but if it had been pushed at me for years I would have grown to hate it. Thus far none of my kids is ready to move on yet.
  5. I voted other because it depends on the kid. My oldest is registered as 5th grade this year and I considered moving him into it, but decided to spend one more year getting his fact recal a little sharper. He'll head into it in 6th grade. My dd will probably heading into it for 7th or 8th (8th is most likely) just because she likes to takes things in at a pretty slow and steady rate and math is not her favourite subject. My youngest, even if he didn't accelerate any more at all, would be in algebra easily by 5th grade.
  6. I wouldn't try and push studies at them either. That comes across as pushy and judgmental. Just tell them that you are pushing for your kids to be more interactive with people while they are kids and you would really appreciate it if the tv's could be off while you are there. Make it about you, not them and you have a higher chance of them complying. Attack their way of life, and even if you are right, most people will not comply.
  7. I sing about beatings and tease the kids that way too. My kids would ask for beatings which meant chasing them around the house and tickling them. It was all fun and games until my youngest piped up (very loudly of course) at preschool that his mommy gave him lots of beatings. There were audible gasps from the adults until it was explained and they saw he was grinning over it. Since then I have tried to be a little more careful.
  8. My youngest has been tested and is gifted, but is emotionally immature and acts like a typical 8yo in some ways and younger in others. Gifted doesn't always mean more mature, it just means they are able to absorb information differently. 3 grade levels ahead would make me think gifted and it usually runs in families so it's silly to discount her as being gifted simply because it feels and looks like familiar behaviour and skills.
  9. My son is reading well above grade level and has beautiful cursive but he struggles with writing. It comes across as a motivational issue sometimes, but he honestly is overwhelmed and can't think through it. He has processing problems though and while it doesn't affect his reading, it really makes him struggle to put much out with his writing. He needs very structured instructions and lots of time. He is getting there slowly. It takes patience.
  10. In the winter time we boil them. In the summer they are either grilled or over cooked over a campfire on a stick. We do a lot of campfires around here and a lot of black hotdogs. In the winter there is the odd hardcore BBQ'er who will pry open the grill at -40 to keep grilling the meat.
  11. I am so glad you ladies have educated me. I would have been seriously disappointed if we had been down south and had gone to someone's home expecting grilled meat with salads (what we always call BBQ here) and instead had pulled meat. At least now I know what to expect. As for the dead horse, I didn't even think to mentally question that one because I have been to BBQ's around here where they actually did grill up horse meat. No I didn't ever have any.
  12. My first was a c-section so I couldn't really use him as a measuring stick. The next was 5 weeks early. The third was three weeks late and finally induced. That last week was brutal and I finally ended up sitting in my doctors office crying and asking him to help me out. An 8 week difference from one pregnancy to the next feels like a lifetime.
  13. Just a heads up, I am all for kids being able to do their work without a calculator but if you plan on maybe, possibly them going to a school they should get a crash course on how to use a scientific calculator. I grew up on Saxon and finished my high school on it, and then decided I wanted an Alberta diploma so I did my high school over again online in two years. I almost failed my math the first year, not because I didn't know my math, but because I didn't know how to use the calculator and it was expected and often required.
  14. I was 5, my little sister was 7, and dd was 6. But that was just a regular braid. French braiding I didn't get until I was about 10 and Dutch braiding about the same time. My sister was 12 when she finally managed to French braid her own hair. She could do it on my hair before that but trying to do it on her own head was a little more challenging for her.
  15. Getting branches or something like that down your boot when riding is no fun. And reacting to a poke when on the horse tends to make for an interesting horse ride.
  16. A little extra is needed in the leg so is stays down over the boot while riding. Only a little though. Most the model pictures have a little more then is needed. I wear a 35' inseam on other pants and a 36-37' inseam on my riding pants. My nice riding pants are 37'. My at home pair are 36'.
  17. I think the kid was a little set up too. No RSVP means no. My oldest son had two no show parties. He invited all the boys in his class in grade one and three RSVP'd. We went ahead with it because three is enough for us. They didn't show. The parents all had plausible excuses (although really people, we all have phones, use them), so the next year we tried again and again had the same results. Now we do extended family parties or experience parties only. Sometimes they will invite one special friend to come with us or to have a sleepover.
  18. Slim wranglers usually boot cut. The wrangler work jeans are thicker, tougher denim then the Levi's. Guys who live the lifestyle need a pretty tough pair of jeans. If you are older then 10 and wearing anything else with cowboy boots people will notice you and assume you don't actually live the lifestyle. I'm meaning different cuts such as carpenter, loose, or skinny (especially tucked in *shudder*), not different brands. The odd person wears different brands. My dad always buys his jeans at Costco and they aren't wranglers.
  19. The biggest reason why oils are not used much in the medical community is because they already have meds that do the same thing and are more consistent and usually stronger and easier to control. I have kept a few specific oils around for years to use in a pinch and have had both doctors and vets compliment me on my use of natural products to deal with things until a vet or doctor could get to them. I do NOT think they are the end all and be all and I cringe over people that push them as though oils are what will save the world from all disease. I do think they are great for minor things and to help lesson how much one might need to see the doctor because one can deal with things himself.
  20. Wow!! We only have a small library here, but we stop there every second week and I take advantage of inter library loans.
  21. The poll only takes one answer so I picked my biggest reason for seeing a counsellor. I had to go through NUMEROUS counsellors before I found one that was a fit for me. I really learned a lot about what I needed too. It was hard work finding one and getting where I am but I would recommend it to anyone.
  22. We do wranglers. My little brothers and my boys are all tall thin kids. We use Lands End for dress pants (although they still don't fit awesome) and wranglers for everything else. Wranglers wear well. It'll be a couple more years and we will be able to shop at places like Le Chateau (not sure if they have those stores down there) for dress pants and they have lovely slim sizes for guys and look really really sharp.
  23. We have only used their lit guides, and I've found them to be great depending on the kid. My oldest liked a little dryer, straight forward type curricula. He thrives with the lit studies and we play with it and discuss the book ourselves because thus far I have read most the books he has read. My dad likes them now and then so we do one or two of them a year and use other styles the rest of the time. My youngest HATES their approach. He is a fluttery, bouncy, impulsive sort of guy though and MP is not that sort of learning style at all. I have seriously considered using MP for my oldest next year just to give me a little easier year. I am expecting a lot of other stuff to hit my plate next year so I am trying to come up with ways to simplify and yet not drop the ball on any subjects.
  24. I did lots of fun stuff long before they were old enough for school. We counted and pointed out letters as soon as they could walk and point. My oldest two went to school so they started at fairly average ages although I held my oldest back a year because of social delays. My youngest though only did preschool type stuff at the school 2 days a week as a social outing. We didn't start any really serious teaching until he was six and a half. He was reading at 2 1/2 though. He is doing really really really well. I am very happy I gave him the extra time to play and explore. I doubt he would've sat still for me to do book work any earlier then that.
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