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Entropymama

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Everything posted by Entropymama

  1. Maybe things are different in your area, but here math is required every year but history isn't. In fact the elementary kids don't get any history - they get social studies. They learn about different cultures, there are units on families and neighborhoods, different religions, geography, lots and lots of United States history and an entire year devoted to our state history (and there's really not that much to talk about) but nothing on the ancients, nothing on the middle ages. Even US history seems to start at 1776 with nothing about where those ideas about self governance and individual rights come from. One kid I was talking to recently had NO idea that the French and American revolutions were connected, or even that they happened at roughly the same time. To him they were completely isolated events. Are Presbyterians known for criticizing public education? I didn't notice anything in the article that told me he was biased because of his faith. Even if that's true, I find his points interesting, including the ones I don't entirely agree with. Or is this the purpose of education? To help young people think outside their POV? ETA: I can't remember what I was going to say to Katie, but I can't figure out how to delete her quote without messing up all my formatting. :laugh:
  2. I have a few thoughts. One, I think there is a big push for certain agendas, and time needs to be made for them. For example, when I was kid it was the anti-drug culture. Now it's anti-bullying. Also healthy eating and things like technology skills. When you add, you have to subtract. I think the school system looks at the curriculum and makes cuts in order to fit in these new 'subjects' and things like history get cut. After all, you can get through life just fine not knowing what Rameses II did or who invented the printing press. Spelling, handwriting and grammar are all going by the wayside because technology will do much of that for us, so why bother? I also think we've gone from whole-to-parts to parts-to-whole learning. So, for me, when I teach my kids, we grab a great book and read through it, stopping to discuss different aspects of the plot, characters, etc. Through this they learn about good character, what makes people behave the way they do, historical events, etc. (No news to anyone here). But at school they do it the other way round - they need to teach good character so they break down what good character is into easily identifiable and explainable concepts, then build stories of people who have those traits (written by committees) and each character exemplifies a trait. If the stories are vapid, or shallow, or downright boring doesn't really matter, so long as they fulfill their one purpose. On the other hand, I agree with Sparkly Unicorn that things are not exactly in a hand basket to hell just yet. The schools near me are generally quite good, and we have many options for charter schools and magnet schools. We even have something called Gateway which is seriously homeschooling at school. Multi-age groups, individual pacing, kids get to decide what they want to study and then create a project. I was cracking up at the orientation as all the teachers gushed about this 'brand new' model that was the future of education.
  3. I just picked up some bleach tablets that you dump in the toilet tank. Keeps it from smelling and I only need to wipe them down now. Clorox or baby wipes in the bathroom and the kids wipe the toilet down daily. Magic erasers for walls - the kids do that, too. They think it's fun. Dusting .. uhhhh... don't? :laugh: Kitchen - if this is a season, buy paper products so there are fewer dishes. If it's long term, and you can swing it, take a few hours to really go through and get rid of stuff and organize the cabinets so that you can clear the counters. Clear counters are easier to wipe down quickly and make the whole room feel clean, even if there are dishes in the sink.
  4. That thread was veering off, so I thought I'd just start one. Regarding free education and it's success and failure, this article was very informative. http://theaquilareport.com/how-a-generation-lost-its-common-culture/ "Our students’ ignorance is not a failing of the educational system – it is its crowning achievement. Efforts by several generations of philosophers and reformers and public policy experts — whom our students (and most of us) know nothing about — have combined to produce a generation of know-nothings. The pervasive ignorance of our students is not a mere accident or unfortunate but correctible outcome, if only we hire better teachers or tweak the reading lists in high school. It is the consequence of a civilizational commitment to civilizational suicide. The end of history for our students signals the End of History for the West."
  5. Where are you finding these stats? I'm very interested.
  6. There's a difference between eating to lose weight and eating to maintain a healthy weight. Once you're at your goal weight, I see no reason you shouldn't add back avocados, or anything else you like, in moderation. Full fat foods are often healthier than their processed, low fat counterparts, in part because many 'low fat' foods (packaged stuff) have added salt and sugar because you lose all the flavor when you remove the fat. I have also heard that you are more satisfied with full fat foods, so you eat less of them.
  7. Maybe now that selling season is over, you'll be the only one left in your area and all the poor saps who think they missed out can buy from you!
  8. My kids attend a weekly co-op that covers science, history and art. We'll have six weeks after the co-op ends before the end of the school year to focus on language arts and math, and whatever else sounds fun. If you had six weeks to do anything, what would you do? What are your favorite resources or unit studies? What did you read that your kids actually asked for every day? We need something exciting.
  9. I agree that there is a shift toward pre-algebra in seventh grade, although this wasn't always the case. I'm guessing it's easier for them to change the semantics than the curriculum to keep up with the trend. Why not?
  10. I was vegan for a short time (a year?). I got pregnant with my fourth and suddenly NEEDED to eat chicken. So I did. I had no issues, although I still had an aversion to dairy for a while.
  11. Our group doesn't. Our class fees are paid directly to the teachers, to the co-op itself doesn't make any money. We are very small and the three teachers make all the decisions at this point. There are maybe ten families.
  12. I had awful, awful heartburn with my pregnancies, that lasted for almost a year after. For me dairy was a big trigger, not yogurt but cream, milk, etc. So no coffee, sugar, tomatoes, or dairy. Nothing spicy, few carbs. Super fun. Lots of water was bad for me, too. The only thing I did that hasn't been mentioned was take marshmallow root. You can buy it on Amazon for about $5. I took 2 in the morning and 2 at night for about six months and it really helped, so much that with the diet changes and that I quit my Prilosec and Zantac (yes, I was on both) and now I'm back to eating normally with only occasional flare ups. I sometimes forget to take it now and it's okay. It really helps healing.
  13. I agree that using the word 'bullying' is powerful, especially if they're in public school as it's probably been drummed into them that bullying is wrong. I recently had a talk with my boys that went something like, "When you are doing something and it is clear that another person doesn't like it, but you keep doing it, that is bullying." It really caught there attention and overcame their protests of "I'm just having fun!".
  14. For those who have read Cloud and Townsend's 'Boundaries' - and I know it's popular here - there is a difference between your personal responsibility and the responsibility of those around you. We each have a 'burden' to bear; our own life and it's necessities. If our burden gets to be too much for us, then it's the responsibility of those around us to step in and help carry that burden. A woman's menstrual cycle falls squarely in her own burden. If she is incapable of dealing with it due to finances, mental or physical illness, etc., then it becomes someone else's responsibility to help her. No one is saying that someone who can't afford menstrual products should be forced to go without them, although I disagree that this is the university's responsibility (but this has already been discussed). The problem I see is that this young girl isn't saying she can't afford her tampons. She's saying that they're all the way on the other side of campus in her dorm room and she can't get at them right now. That's poor planning, and nobody's fault but hers. If she had some kind of mental impairment or physical ailment that prevented her from remembering to bring tampons or from carrying them with her, then I would say that she deserves some help. Is she going to assert that her first class of the day should provide breakfast, since she can't concentrate without it and forgot to set her alarm early enough?
  15. I second the idea of taking in child care. At one point, when my dh had just started a new job and was being paid very little, I did daycare and made more than he did. In my area it's not unreasonable to pay $30-40 dollars per day, more if you're only using child care a few days per week. (Drop in care can be $50) If you could watch a couple kids, potentially he could get a temporary part time job, giving him time to look for another job. With his work schedule I don't know how he could even look.
  16. I am so torn on stuff like this. I love, love, love the idea of relaxed, interest-led learning, being outside more, more time to build and explore and create. How does that fit with the classical model? Is it possible to have both?
  17. I would definitely think about making a little extra money. How much are you talking?
  18. Thanks guys! We've already seen Wild China and Mysteries of the Unseen World - those were both good. We watched Myth Hunters.. it was okay. I'll let you know if we find any gems.
  19. What are your favorites? I have a five and seven year old, so they have to be fairly tame, but I'm usually ok with PG.
  20. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Any particular pictures?
  21. Don't sweat it, she'll figure it out. My kids each had things they mispronounced but they figured it out when they started reading fluently.
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