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justme824

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Posts posted by justme824

  1. He wasn't really, but there's a reason that story is so very persistent.

     

    To the OP: How are we defining "classic" here?

     

    For me a classic is a book that has stood the test of time. One that people still consider a book worth reading, teaching, and learning from. I know there are defintely books written today, and within the last 50-years, that will one day be considered classics. We'll read those yes, but they aren't part of this list for me.

  2. I think all of the Dickens would be tough for a 6th grader.  I'd save those until 9th/10th grade.

     

    Same with "Don Quixote", "The Three Musketeers" and "The Count of Monte Cristo."  

     

    ​Even "White Fang" and "Call of the Wild" could wait two years.

     

    Thank you for this. He has read Don Quixote and loved it, and has requested to listen to at least one Dickens book (he loves to listen to tough books, but not read them himself). But I think I'll make a note to push the others off for a bit since there are still plenty of excellent choices for him listed that he hasn't read.

    • Like 1
  3. The Princess and the Goblin, the Princess and Curdie

    The other George MacDonald books, which are mostly collections of novellas so they wind up with different names occasionally.  The Light Princess, the Golden Key...

    Children of the New Forest

    The Lost Prince (by Frances Hodgson Burnett)

     

    Can they be newer things that may become classics?

    Chronicles of Prydain

    Riddlemaster of Hed and its sequels

     

    He has read the new books you mentioned for sure - just keeping them on a different list.

     

    I added the others to the above list - thank  you!

  4. I am making a list of classics that I'd like to know my kids get a chance to read or listen to before they hit the great classics. I am aiming at using this list to guide book choices in this area through the end of 6th, or possibly even 7th & 8th depending on my children. If there is anything you would add (something I overlooked or probably don't know about) or delete (should save for high school years) from this list please feel free to post and I will adjust the list accordingly.

     

    Tom Sawyer

    Huckleberry Finn

    Mary Poppins

    Anne of Green Gables

    Heidi

    Old Yeller

    Robinson Crusoe

    The Secret Garden

    A Little Princess

    Swiss Family Robinson

    Treasure Island

    Kidnapped

    Pollyanna

    Alice in Wonderland

    Through the Looking Glass

    Around the World in 80 Days

    20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

    Journey to the Center of the Earth

    Call of the Wild

    White Fang

    A Christmas Carol

    Oliver Twist

    Great Expectations

    A Tale of Two Cities

    The Jungle Book

    Just So Stories

    Little Women

    Little Men

    Robin Hood

    King Arthur

    Pinocchio

    Winnie the Pooh* (but not books of poems)

    Bambi

    Black Beauty

    Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court

    The Prince and the Pauper

    Wind in the Willows

    The Reluctant Dragon

    Little Lord Fauntleroy

    Pippi Longstocking

    LOTR

    The Hobbit

    Chronicles of Narnia

    Little House series

    Don Quixote

    Greek Myths

    The Odyssey

    Black Ships Before Troy

    The Little Prince

    Moby Dick

    The Three Musketeers

    The Count of Monte Cristo

    The Princess and the Goblin
    The Princess and Curdie
    The other George MacDonald books, which are mostly collections of novellas so they wind up with different names occasionally.  The Light Princess, the Golden Key...
    Children of the New Forest
    The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett
    Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales
    Gulliver's Travels
    Pilgrim's Progress
    Red Badge of Courage
    Sherlock Holmes
    Dr. Doolittle
    Peter Pan
    Nicholas Nickleby
    Peter Pan
    The Wizard of Oz
    Beatrix Potter

    Aesop's fables

    Men of Iron by Pyle
    G.A. Henty
    Marguerite Henry
    Five Children and It
    The Railway Children
    Andrew Lang Fairy books
    Shakespeare
    Tales from Arabian Nights
     
    • Like 3
  5. I am at the beginning of figuring out what I want 6th grade to look like. I always start with a good booklist so that is my focus at the moment. My 11-year-old and I have decided to make a list of 100 books we want to make sure not to miss - he is a huge reader and will probably more than double that amount in a year when he adds in his own free reading!

     

    Books on this list will either be read by him, listened to by him via audio, or read aloud to him. We don't follow history cycles so we read all over the place when it comes to history. I want to toss in a few classics of course. We will add some re-reads of old favorites, etc. I am browsing my favorite booklist checking for books he hasn't read yet. But, I always love to aks what you guys think are the best of the best for the age I am working on. So...

     

    If you could only choose TEN books to make sure your 6th grader reads this year what TEN would they be?

  6. My 11-year-old (will be 6th grade) would like to venture into the world of online classes this year. I am trying to decide between the two. Any opinions? I was thinking of going with Athena this year, then moving over to G3 in the spring or even next fall. This will be his very first time taking an online class so I want to provide a good experience.

     

    For Athena I am eyeing the Mythology Exam class and World Geography. I haven't really looked at the class schedule for G3 yet.

     

    Any opinions?

  7. We do weekly tea times her. Love them. When we started we went out and each bought a special mug/teacup, small fancy plate, & a fancy tablecloth that is used for just our weekly tea time. That is the most special piece to the whole thing. I try and bake each week with my 4-year-old. We bake enough to freeze our treats so on the weeks we don't feel up to baking, or time isn't on our side, we can choose something from the freezer.

     

    But really, the special mug/teacup, plate, and tablecloth is what takes it up a notch for us. I can server broccoli and water and they'd be thrilled :)

  8. I finally got my hands on a set of the Faraway Tree series audios read by Kate Winslet only to discover they are abridged, which wasn't noted when I purchased them. Grrr! I find it odd that in some places these are listed as abridged, yet others they are listed as unabridged. The runtime for both is exactly the same.

     

    Anyway...Has anybody listened to them? I'm curious how abridged they are.

  9. My son is in 5th grade now, moving to 6th in the fall. We loop everything but math. Math is done first thing, then we move onto the loop. The loop schedule gets a refrest every 6-weeks (we school 6 on, 1 off). I try to keep 5 things in the loop. Two stay constant - Latin & writing. The other three fluctuate a bit over the course of a year - artist/composer studies, science topics, logic, geography, art, documentary series, projecs, etc.

     

    We love it because no two days look the same. Our routine is the same, but it feels different all the time. 

    • Like 4
  10. Here it is the 60-90 minutes after lunch. I use the baby as our guide so when her nap rolls around, so does rest time for everyone else. My two boys (11 & 4) head off to their rooms and listen to audiobooks and play. The baby sleeps. I do whatever I need to do. With the ages of your kids I'd suggest something like this. It might take a week or so for them to get in a groover, but eventually I bet they come to enjoy that time.

  11. We travel a lot. The one vacation that has been requested as a repeat was our Yellowstone / mt. Rushmore trip. After that our tour through Utah National Parks. The other super awesome trip we did was drive down the Mississippi River over 17 days. We started in Minneapolis and ended in New Orleans.

     

    We've done the cruise thing, talk about doing it again, but when it comes time to plan the next trip we always pass on the cruise.

    • Like 1
  12. I'm thinking I'd like to make some changes to math around here. We do a big portion of schooling over the summer (when the pools & beach our too crowded!!!) so I am trying to figure things out for a June 1st start, and with a 2-week vacation at the end of May I need to make decisions and place orders.

     

    Over the years we have dabbled in all kinds of things, with Life of Fred being our primary and most consistent thing. He is about through with Fractions and I plan to do Decimals of the the summer. I won't give up LOF since he loves it so much, but I am wanting to make it more of a supplement at this point in time. We've gone slow, but his skills are solid.

     

    I'm not really sure where to start looking. Math curriculum has never been my thing, but with more advanced math topics and a couple of littles around, I want something to hold my hand and help me guide him from here to the end of HS. I am available to help, but math isn't my strength either. Dad is around and can help some.

     

    So...any ideas on where I can look into going from here? Do you think I should have him finish LOF Decimals over the summer, then start something new in the fall?

     

    EDIT - I was just remembering possibly moving on to AoPS pre-algebra. What exactly do I need to make sure he is solid in / familiar with before we start this? Do you have any suggestions on what he can work through to make a successful transition?

     

    EDIT - I had him work through the Saxon placement today. He worked through the first 40 problems, which test for 5/4 and 6/5, and missed one, but this was a decimal question and since he hasn't done decimals I can understand that. I'll have him do the rest tomorrow. He glanced through the 7/6 test and said all the problems but two looked familiar. I think he'll stumble here.

     

    So what I am seeing is that Life of Fred alone has done a great job. Would you agree? Should I bother adding to it, or just keep moving through the LOF pre-Algebra series?

  13. My kids are 11, 4, and infant. Here is how things go around here.

     

    Me

    • Maintain the kitchen by making sure things get done. We all work together in the kitchen. If the dishwasher needs to be emptied somebody empties it. All dishes need to find there way in the dishwasher when you are done. Clean as you go is the motto we live by. It only takes a few minutes if you do it right then. If you wait until it is a disaster it will take quite some time to get it all cleaned up.
    • I go to bed with a clean kitchen. Because we stay on top of it all day long this takes all of 5-minutes or so and makes my mornings so much better.
    • I do laundry as needed, make sure it gets folded and put away. Some weeks I'm on top of it daily. Others I let it go and we have a laundry marathon on the weekends. I just stopped stressing about it and it seems to help my mood over Mt. Laundry that seems to always exist with five people living here.
    • I sweep at least every other day, but I prefer to sweep daily. I try and do this during full house pickup at the end of the day.
    • Once we have completed full house pickup the kids can only take out things that they can clean up in 5-minutes or less. Usually I make them go outside!
    • Every Sunday I clean out the car, restock diapers & wipes in there, vacuum if it isn't a car wash week, make sure we have sunscreen in there, fill up the gas tank, etc. I want my car ready to go on Monday. I also check the calendar and get a feel for what is happening and make sure there won't be any sudden surprises.

     

    11 year old has daily chores.

    • Monday & Thursday he empties the bathroom trash and swishes the toilets while there. He also empties the laundry room trash.
    • Tuesday & Friday he works on his dusting loop. Basically I typed a list of all the places to dust, he dusts for 30-minutes, checks what he did, then starts there the next time he dusts. I'd say it takes him two weeks to get through the house before he starts over.
    • Wednesday he cleans his bathroom.
    • Over the weekend he needs to make his room mom clean - vacuumed, dusted, picked up nicely, sheets washed if needed, etc.
    • Thursday evening he takes out the trashcans to the curb, Friday he brings them back in.
    • Daily - wipes his bathroom sink/counter, folds his laundry as needed, empties kitchen trash, empties recycle bin in garage, helps in kitchen as needed, wipes the table/island after meals, and helps with full house pickup at the end of the day.

    Almost 4-year-old

    • Helps set the table for dinner - placemats & silverware are his jobs
    • Clears the table after meals to the counter
    • Sweeps up under the table/island after meals
    • Helps put away his laundry
    • Cleans up his room every evening
    • Helps with full house pickup at the end of the day

    Infant

    • smiles, looks cute, and I'm sure is gearing up to follow us around and undo our work :)

    Nitty Gritty Cleaning

    • I only do this once every six weeks. Basically, I scrub my house super duper clean, clean out cabinets, clear off counters, make sure books are shelved nicely, clean out the fridge/pantry. Really anything I can to make my house look sparkling in all areas I do over the course of a week. I make a run to Target and stock up on anything we will need over the next 6-weeks (only going to Target once every six weeks saves me SO MUCH MONEY!!!), stock up on non-perishables in the kitchen, etc. I rotate/donate toys so we don't collect too much junk. Clean and resupply the art closet.
    • Then we hit the books and school for five-six weeks. Once I feel the house needs a reboot we take a week off and do just that. 
    • Like 1
  14. :grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug:   No good suggestions but a lot of sympathy.

     

    My first was a truly lousy sleeper.  Like 20 minute cat nap and up for hours and hours.  She didn't really sleep through the night until she was 3 1/2 years old.  The ONLY way she would sleep more than 20 minutes as an infant was if I put her on top of our dryer and ran it.  I had her braced with towels and blankets and put a little light up mellow fish thing near her that played gentle music.  She would watch the fish move slowly around, listen to the music and finally go to sleep.  That way she was at least sleeping for a couple of hours.  

     

    Unfortunately, I couldn't leave her there unattended so I just did a lot of laundry.  I got almost no sleep myself.  I don't recommend the practice.  I was so sleep deprived there were a couple of times I quite literally forgot who I was or who the baby was.  I thought I was back in High School and I was babysitting.  

     

    Good luck, OP.  This too shall pass.  It just may take a while.  Glad you are at least getting some sleep even if you are struggling with time for the other kids.  :grouphug:

    Thank you.

     

    My second had sleep issues way worse than this one. He didn't sleep through until 3 1/2 years old, which was just a few months ago. My husband and I were both walking zombies with him. Right now I'm very thankful I at least get enough sleep, even if my evenings are long and rough.

    • Like 1
  15. The No-Cry Sleep Solution I found generally encouraging though it did not work for me, though it may have improved things a little bit.

     

    Still, of all the books I read on sleep, it's the one I can recommend, because it generally aligns with my feelings about child-rearing: be consistent, gentle, and use all resources available to you.

     

    I feel for you. Sleeplessness is very hard.

     

    Also... some people are light sleepers. There seems to be a continuum from "I will make you a living zombie who wants to die because I don't sleep" to "Haha I will wet the bed until I'm 12 because I NEVER WAKE UP."

     

    Most kids are in between those two extremes of light / hard sleep, like my first. However my second was much closer to the "I will make you a living zombie."

     

    And no--no antibiotics, exclusively breastfed for six months (maybe 5.5 because she was grabby), I ate all organic meat and very little, I drink very little milk and eat only yoghurt and cheese for dairy, I tried elimination diets (just made me skinny as heck), it was awful before vaccines and gradually improved over the years as we got more and more vaccines so they weren't a cause, don't even go there. I night-weaned at six months because I wanted to improve her sleep. We did not co-sleep after two-weeks (forgive me, I could not let a two-week old really sleep alone) and I even had her nap in the bassinet from day one, just to avoid the nipple-bink problems.

     

    I tried to give her a pacifier many, many times. I did what the books say, what grandma said.

     

    She's just a light sleeper and so am I. It was hard. My heart goes out to you.

    I don't think she is a light sleeper. My second, yes definitely a light sleeper. He'd be asleep upstairs and we'd open a bag of chips downstairs and he'd start screaming. But she seems to sleep just find with all kinds of brother noise going on, doesn't even flinch if I get in the shower while she is asleep, etc.

     

    I've read No Cry (and a few others) and I've been trying the techniques but not really seeing any improvements. I'll wait her out, I'm just hoping to maybe stumble upon something that works. I'm not tired at all since once I go to bed she sleeps all night, pretty much in her own space, feeds quickly at 4:30/5 and then sleeps until 6:30/7. It is just the evenings that I can't seem to figure out.

    • Like 1
  16. I agree with this, too. Can you start putting her down in her crib for naps?

    Naps might be tricky for her, but I am totally willing to put her in the crib at night. She just screams bloody murder if I do. She'll happily play in there during the day for chunks of 10-15 minutes, but sleeping in there just hasn't worked. She started out in a bassinet beside our bed and would sleep there until for about 5 hours before waking up around 11/12. Then I'd just bring her to bed with me at that point. She starting rolling over and waking up every single time because she'd roll right into the side and wake up so I moved her to the crib instead. It worked for about two weeks, and then this whole waking up issue started. I've actually only been laying down with her for about a week or so just to try something different. If this worked I'd have just put her mattress on the floor and called it good (that is what worked with my second).

  17. When and how long does she nurse during the day?  It sounds like she is cluster feeding to me.

     

    Can you keep her awake to 8 or 9 in the evening, so you can be with your other two and then put her to bed?  I know you said that is her sweet spot, but it sounds like a cat nap and then feeding time.  I'd adjust that some.

    During the day she eats about every 3-hours or so, and she eats well. I don't think she is cluster feeding - she doesn't seem to be eating, just pacifying.

     

    I've tried keeping her up but she'll just start fussing and crying if we go past 7ish. The only thing she'll let me do is either let her comfort nurse, or walk around with her, neither of them helping me with my older two needing to get some mama time.

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