I think I'd be more concerned about teaching her to be careful what she says because she never knows who might be listening. I'm certain she didn't expect you to over hear her, but you did. What if someone from the inviting family had heard? She might not realize what she was saying, but the other person might still have been offended. Words can be powerful and I don't think 7 is too young to start learning that lesson. Just my 2 cents. J

I wonder if that would work getting my oldest to do her math lesson? Nope, it wouldn't stop the huffing and puffing and rolling eyeballs. Never mind! J

I have a friend who shops at "Wal Marts" and "Targets." And, no, she doesn't shop at more than one of each. :) Then there's my sister who buys medicine from the "farmist." That's how she says it. AAAAAaahhhhhh! J

I've bought the control journal, but haven't used it yet. :( It looks good, though. I want to start it with the new year. The rubba scrubbas are fantastic! They are good for cleaning out the car, getting sand off kids, brushing the dog or cat, those things are just great! I bought the rubba scrubba broom, but didn't like it. The handle was just too bendy for my purposes. My friend, however, loved it and I gave it to her. I have a cd of hers, very fun music, and the cute little flylady doll that sits on the ledge in my kitchen and smiles at me. Jeannie

We have two corgis. We live in the south, so their thick coats shed all year long. The furminator is a huge help! Now if I could just figure out a way to afford hard wood floors......

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Spelling errors drive me crazy. As a teenager, I worked for a small weekly newspaper that competed with another small weekly. Our editor was very good at her job. :) Each week, she would take the competitor's paper, proofread the entire thing in red ink, and send it back to them. At fifteen, I found that hilarious. As an adult, I find myself wanting to do the same thing. J

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How can we bring homeschooling to the masses? Hmmm.....tough question. The first thing that comes to my mind is that most people, or at least the ones that I know, choose to homeschool out of concern for their child's well being. Maybe their child had special needs that weren't being met. Maybe public school had failed to teach their child anything. Perhaps they wanted their children to have a more religion-based education. Maybe they had a horrible childhood experience in public school and didn't want their children to suffer as they had. No matter what their reasoning, at the heart of it is concern for their child. I am not, by any means, saying that people who send their children to public school don't care about them. I am saying that people who choose homeschooling are doing something very difficult that they really don't have to do. Having grown up in the public school system and graduated one of my children from that same system, I can tell you there is little there that is done for the child's well being. Perhaps it is different elsewhere. I hope so. Here, pretty much every policy is in effect to make things easier for the adults. Or to prevent the school system from being sued. Certainly, there are always teachers who truly care for the children they teach, but there always seem to be far more who don't. I am trying to be as fair as possible, so please don't flame me. :) I can only speak for my own little corner of the universe. Until there is a genuine concern for the well being of children, I can't see how the benefits of homeschooling can ever be brought to the public school system. There seems to be a lot of concern over budgets, and test scores, and looking good politically. Kids always seem to be the pawns in these power struggles. One thing I do know for certain.....there are no easy answers. Or easy solutions. J

I think you should definitely talk with her parents about the situation, even if you only talk about her violating the personal boundaries of others. It sounds like her parents are either oblivious and need someone to get their attention or they are consciously ignoring her behavior and need someone to make them take her in hand. I also agree that she sounds as though she has some sort of sensory issue. Her parents might be offended, but they might also be grateful to you for drawing their attention to the situation. I know more than one family that has become so accustomed to their child's behavior that they truly do not see how it can be disturbing to other people. Jeannie

I definitely agree....do not engage her in arguing. A dear friend of mine struggles with this same issue and I have watched her do this with her daughter for years. Every time I see it happen, I can see that if she would just refuse to rise to the bait, so to speak, the problem could be solved. I've been watching her argue with her daughter since the child was 10. Now, she's 17 and her mother has no control over her behavior, including getting her to go to school every day. The child has learned that if she continues to badger her mother, she will get what she wants. I know that your situation is not this bad, but I know that my friend's situation wasn't always this bad either. If your daughter can read, you might consider writing her infraction on a white board and underneath it, write the punishment. If she gets her doll back at a certain time, write it down where she can clearly see it. If she's in a time out, give her a timer so she will know that it is over when the timer dings. If she continues to ask "when?" you can answer with, "Look at the board" or "What does the timer say?" Anyway, just my two cents. Hang in there. Jeannie

Does this mean I should stop vacuuming my own living room because a maid can do a better job? :tongue_smilie: Please say yes! Jeannie

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: Thanks.....and now I'll be examining all of my future thread titles for possible comedic responses. Jeannie

The one that drives me the craziest....."center around." Um....there's only one center and it's not around anything! It should be "center on." I have very vivid memories of my 11th grade literature teacher expounding on this point. "Irregardless" drives me nuts, also, but it's been covered. Another one that is especially grating to my nerves....using "mines" to mean "mine." As in, "That cookie is mines." Argh! I also frequently point out that you cannot poke your eyes out. You could poke them in, but to poke them out, you'd have to go through the back of your head. I'm just saying..... jeannie

During a conversation a few years ago, someone made the comment "actions speak louder than words." My little one, about 5 then, turned to me and asked, "Who's Andrew?" "What are you talking about? I don't know anyone named Andrew." "You said Andrew speaks louder than birds. Who's Andrew?" Jeannie

I was also very upset over Steve Irwin's death. He was so in love with life. I always felt like he was living life to the fullest every moment. I felt so sad for his wife and children. And part of me really believed he was larger than life....that the dangers of his job and lifestyle would never conquer him. He's the only "celebrity" whose death has ever affected me very much. Most of the time, I just kind of think, "Oh, that's sad." But I was heartbroken when Steve Irwin died. Jeannie

Perhaps he would understand if you gave him visual or written examples. For instance, showing him videos or passages in books that demonstrate dignified behavior. I don't know, maybe I'm off base here. LOL When I read your post, I started thinking how I would try to explain it, and I'm kind of drawing a blank. I would love to hear what you come up with and how it works. jeannie

When my son was in 7th or 8th grade, his teacher gave bonus points for mistakes on local signs. All the students had to do was document the location of the sign and the mistake. Needless to say, my son got a lot of help from me. My favorite was the sign at the Golden Arches advertising apple pies 2 for $100. j

How about The Society for the Prevention of Early Feline Demise Through Apostrophe Misuse?

We tried this with our first year of homeschooling. However, I didn't have any littles. I had a 1st grader still in PS and my 6th grader was home. My 1st grader became more and more unhappy as the year progressed because she wanted to stay home, too. Fortunately for her, the school started ticking me off more and more so I ended up pulling her out in Feb of that year. These days, she can't understand why any kid would want to go to public school. LOL I honestly thought it would be a lot harder than it turned out to be. School for a first grader does not take long and it was easily done in between other things. If you truly think you will be overwhelmed, you might just leave her there, at least for a few months. On the other hand, if your ultimate goal is to have all your children home, it might be easier to just bite the bullet and pull her out now. J

I grew up with the 94-100 grading scale. When we moved to Texas, I was appalled to discover that a 90 was an A. Even more shocked to discover that an 80 was a B. When I grew up, an 86 was a big fat C. Ok, a C plus, but still a C. I know the college grading scale is 90-100, but I just can't go by that in our schooling. My daughter is very much of the "good enough" mentality, so lowering the grading scale for her would just give her permission to lower her already low standards. If she gets used to thinking of a 94 as the lowest A she can get, she'll be used to working harder when she gets to college. I hope. Jeannie

It sounds to me like you need to have a very calm, non confrontational conversation with him and address whatever misconceptions he seems to have. If you are noticing it repeatedly, it's not your imagination. Perhaps you might even suggest a book or two for him to read. He probably would take information from a book more readily than from you. In the end, you can't change his mind if he doesn't want it changed. At least you will have tried. It does sound to me like his opinions and misinformation are probably affecting his understanding of your daughter. That could be a dangerous thing if he overlooks something important because he is blaming it on home schooling. Anyway, that's my two cents. Jeannie

I am still trying to decide what to do for my upcoming 8th grader's grammar. We are using Lightning Lit, which is going well for her. Unfortunately, it is unbelievably light on grammar instruction, so I need a supplement. This is our second full year of homeschooling. We used Lightning Lit 7, also light on grammar, so any grammar instruction she has had has been public school. Ergo, she's never diagrammed a sentence, etc. I would like some recommendations, if possible, for a grammar, usage, and mechanics course that is not rigorous, such as Rod & Staff, but is thorough. I'm not sure if I am explaining this well, but I would really appreciate any input The Hive may have to offer. Thanks jeannie

If you are saying "ant" with anything other than the short "a" sound, you have an accent. :001_smile: I don't know very many people who can hear their own accent. I have a friend who has a Southern accent so bad, she can turn any one syllable word to a two syllable word. Bed becomes bey-ud. And she can't hear it. My sister lives in Minnesota, and I've noticed the "whiny a" sound (love that name, btw) seems to be a regional thing. I associate it with Minnesota and Wisconsin. I think it's really cool that you are taking the time to figure these kinds of things out while you are educating your children. I had to break myself of the mispronunciations that I grew up with. And I'm still working on a few. J

I bought the teacher's edition and wish that I had bought the curriculum guide instead. I really wanted a planned course of study laid out for me and thought it was in the teacher's edition. It is for only the first chapter. Phooey! Of the two, the curriculum guide would probably be much more useful. Jeannie