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Gwenny

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Everything posted by Gwenny

  1. We are putting our house on the market in the early spring, and I'm wondering what sorts of things I can do to help it sell faster? This is a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, 1400 sq. ft. house on your standard suburb lot built in 1960, and will probably go for around $165,000. Definitely a starter home by most standards. We've been in the house 13 years and there are a lot of small things that need to be fixed first, but I'm not sure where to put most of our efforts. For sure, I'll paint all the rooms and we need to get new carpet throughout as well. What paint color would you find appealing if looking for a house? What carpet color? In our kitchen, we have vinyl peel and stick tiles that are worn and need replacing, but I don't know whether or not I should replace that too, or just let it go. It's not horrible, but I would replace it soon if I were buying this house. We've remodeled both the bathroom and the kitchen since moving in (about 5-7 years ago), so that's not a problem, but I worry when I see the houses similar to ours that have come out onto the market. Many appear to have been gutted and "flipped" and have brand new everything in all the most popular finishes and colors. Some are obviously vacant but beautifully staged. I'm afraid our lived in old house won't compare to the newness of these remodeled ones. I have solid wood cabinets and much better appliances, but I don't know if the average person looking would even pick up on that anyway. They'll see the shiny newness and the granite in the others and ignore mine. We live in a really huge neighborhood and the same 4 or 5 houses repeat throughout. There are a lot of ones just like ours to compare to. What are the things that make a house stand out in your mind? Also, all our furniture looks old and worn and cheap. It looks as though 2 kids have jumped, ate, stood on, and made forts with it all for 10 years. Is it worth it to invest in new furniture just to help a house look good to sell? I guess I will at least get to take it to our next house. All we really need is new couches and coffee tables I suppose. And I refuse to rent furniture. I'm also willing to pack away everything not necessary, declutter, and stage the house to the best of my abilities. See, now I'm in the thousands here with paint, carpet, and couches! All for a house I don't want anymore! Please tell me if these changes are worth it, or if I should just leave it and hope for the best.
  2. Oh, and I have to warn you. My son asked for cheesecake for his last birthday and not a single kid would even taste it. He loved it, though!
  3. My then 7 year old daughter asked for rope one birthday. She still loves and uses her ropes often! Last year, at 10, she wanted a cardboard box. And at Christmas she wanted olives and pickles.
  4. IEW is the other option I've considered, but the price keeps me away. I love the idea of it, but I've thought the same with other programs and been disappointed too many times.
  5. I only have Rod and Staff 5, but how complete is it when it comes to teaching writing? This year, we started R&S after completing FLL1-4, and I've found I really like it. I understand the grammar so much better than I did with FLL. My dd completed all the levels of FLL, but still struggles to identify even the basic parts of speech. She can rattle off the definitions of them all, but can't pick them out of a sentence. I can't do any better, even after teaching her each lesson. My original plans were to use R&S for grammar and WWS for writing, but now I wonder if I can use R&S for both? I love the idea of teaching writing through history and science, and it seems easier if I incorporate what is being taught in R&S into history or science. For instance, after writing a paragraph is introduced in R&S, we can then practice writing a paragraph about whatever history topic is covered, and so on. It just seems simpler than doing the separate writing from WWS. Plus I'm afraid my dd won't be able to keep up with WWS. She frustrates at the simplest things, and I can see it really getting to her. On top of that, I don't know if I have the brain power to walk her through WWS if she needs it. I know next to nothing about writing, and sadly, WWS seems a little too "brainy" for me. I've never even heard of topoi and copia in all my life. On the other hand, I want to give my dd a strong foundation in writing and I don't want to cheat her by going with R&S just because it's simpler. Do the higher levels of R&S prepare a child well in writing? My dd has gone through all the levels of WWE, but I feel like she is clueless about writing. She doesn't know the parts of a paragraph, she has no clue how to right a book report, etc. All she can do is take dictation and summarize. I realize that is the goal for levels 1-4, but she still seems woefully behind. TWTM states that the child should write 1/2 to 1 page summaries of books read, but dd has no clue how. She doesn't know where to begin summarizing an entire book, especially if it's 200 pages long or more. That skill hasn't been taught in WWE and I don't know how to teach it. Do I need to get the Basic Skills books SWB recommends in TWTM? Sorry I'm so clueless, but I hope those of you that have used the higher levels of R&S can help me out.
  6. For Rod and Staff's Following the Plan, what do I really need to purchase? Do I need the complete set, or can it be done with the teacher's manual alone? Thanks!
  7. Thank you all! I never knew there was a 00 size, and it sounds perfect. That shows you how infrequently I shop for clothing. Our mall has most of these stores, so I guess I'll just have to go there after all. I've seen other thin girls in jeans that fit, so I knew they were out there somewhere.
  8. My 10 year old daughter is about 5' 2", but only about 76 pounds. I'm hoping one of you has already done the leg work, and found out the best place to shop. It has to be reasonably priced as well. I buy the kids clothes almost exclusively at the thrift store in general, but this growth spurt she's been having makes her a size not often found at the thrift store. Her height and long legs put her in a size 14, but her waist is a size 7/8 or 10. She's been wearing some 7/8 shorts for years now because in shorts the length isn't as important. I had her try on a size 0 for fun and found it to be almost the same size as a 14. So, is the juniors section where I should look? The juniors seem to have super low crotches and don't seem to have adjustable waists, and even the pants with them look really sad on her. They're all bunched up at the waist and the hips and bottom are super saggy. She always looks like she's wearing someone else's clothes. I'd like her to have at least a couple of pants that truly fit her for when we go out somewhere. She's tough on clothes, so the thrift store ones with cinched in waists and droopy bottoms will have to do for tree climbing and regular play days. I'm positive that the waist on kids clothes has expanded over the years. I had the same slim build as my daughter, but I never remember having this much trouble finding clothes. And that was before many of the pants had adjustable waists. Shirts are another story. Too wide in the shoulders and too short in the arms. Are juniors shirts longer? Being slim, she doesn't have a teen's figure. So many juniors tops are made for someone with more of a bust. She should be fine with a tee shirt though. Please tell me you have some ideas on stores to try. I don't want to drag the kids out to the mall.
  9. Sparrow, it never occurred to me that Dr. Bronner's is drying. My own skin is so incredibly oily, that it would take something phenomenally drying to change that. I've heard that harsh products can cause the skin to overproduce oil but even when I went through a phase of only using water to cleanse my skin, it's still super oily. Until recently, my dd never washed her face (sad, I know, but she hates soap), and it was still oily. What's a good, gentle, very natural cleanser? I'll look into the Cera Ve for moisturizing. I'm avoiding benzoyl peroxide because from using it myself in the past, I know that it bleaches fabrics. I worked hard on her quilt and pillowsham and I'd rather not risk ruining it. Maybe we'll try to salicylic acid first. I'm going to use myself as a guinea pig with the zinc. I picked up a bottle and see if helps me first. I'm wary of using on her because of her size and unknown dosage.
  10. My dd just turned 10, and since the age of 9, she has started to have acne. Lately, it's kicked up a notch with about 10-15 little whiteheads scattered in the T-zone. It's starting to make her self-conscious, especially since puberty started early with her and her friends have never had a pimple. She washes her face with Dr. Bronner's castile soap morning and night, but other than that, we haven't tried anything yet. I've heard of chelated zinc for acne, but I don't know if you can use it on a girl this small. I've never seen it recommended for children, only teens. She's 5'1", but a very slim 75 lbs. Any other suggestions? I strongly believe in diet impacting our skin, but I think her diet is pretty good. We have no milk in the house and she only has a little cheese a couple times/wk. She eats an insane amount and variety of fruit (it's one of the only snack foods I allow), and she eats a variety of vegetables. My own acne is terrible right now, so I wonder if it is something in our diet. I recently stopped BC, so I thought that may be it, but I'm not sure. At about the same time, I also started following the Eat to Live diet, so maybe it's our nearly vegetarian lifestyle? I've read zinc is more difficult to get on a vegetarian diet. Fish oils? DHA/EPA from algae? I hope someone out there has a solution. I'm concerned that if her skin is acting up like this at only 10, what will it be like when she's a teenager?
  11. With an outdoor cat, you also have the risk of someone thinking your cat is a stray and adopting it. Especially if it won't keep a collar on. I have an indoor only cat, and I do feel bad about denying it outdoor freedom, but because it looks like an expensive cat (imagine an all-white maine coone), I'm afraid of someone taking him. Several friends have warned me that it's not uncommon for cats to be "adopted" when they aren't really strays.
  12. I still can't figure this out. I can find the book in my downloads, but not in Overdrive. When I double click on the title of the book in downloads, it takes me to Windows Media Center. It doesn't really seem to be there either, because the search feature can't find it and there is no category for audiobooks. After I download it from the library, it takes me to Windows Media Center, too. I'm going to have to find a tech savvy friend nearby. The only ones I can think of probably don't listen to audiobooks, though.
  13. Please, someone take pity on a poor idiot like me, and help me!
  14. I bought a sansa clip zip mp3 player for my daughter's birthday, and I don't have the slightest clue how to use it. I downloaded the firmware updater and then went to the library site and downloaded the Overdrive Media Console. After selecting a book from the library, and selecting open file (I tried save file, too), I get sent to Windows Media Center. There is no option for audiobooks there. I can't find the book there, only videos, music, and pictures. When I called the library, they told me to go to Computer, then select Overdrive Media Console. When I do this, it is empty. I gave up on that technique after many, many, many tries and consulted the manual. I tried the drag and drop method and all seemed promising until I checked the mp3 player and it says empty in the audiobook section. I even attempted putting them in the music file, and still no luck. After messing with this thing awhile I seemed to somehow turned on something that is causing it to sync (don't even really know what that means) and whenever I plug the mp3 player in, it says it's busy transferring. Transferring what? It's certainly not audiobooks. I'm so frustrated with this thing. Every set of instructions I find on the subject don't work. Maybe the device isn't compatible? No one I ask at the library has heard of the Sansa clip. Now I've reached my limit of downloads from the library, but I can't return them. It says I have to use the device to return them, but they don't appear to be on the device. I hate that I got this for my daughter's present and I'm too dumb to work it.
  15. Perhaps only girls would like this, but how about a 5 year diary/journal? Mine is called One Line a Day (from Amazon), and it only has space for a couple of lines or thoughts for each day. Each page is for the same day, so you can see what you were doing the previous years on that date. With all the changes that take place after graduation, it might be fun to be able to look back over that time. I think it's around $15-$20.
  16. Wow, it sounds like my kids are more adventurous eaters than I thought! It never occurred to me when the kids picked out those cakes (they go through the cookbook each year and pick) that some kids wouldn't eat them. I've known kids that don't like cake of any kind, but I know for a fact from attending a few of these kid's parties in the past, that they do at least it the traditional bakery cakes. Mine have NEVER turned down a dessert. No matter what it is. When I made the cheesecake, I knew some wouldn't like strawberries, so I only put a few in the center as garnish and made a strawberry sauce separate on the side. It didn't help that when I told them it was cheesecake, one child couldn't believe it was a cake made of cheese and they all found it the funniest thing ever. I'm guessing he thought it was like cheddar cheese? How do you get to the age of 10 and never hear of a cheesecake? We live a mile away from The Cheesecake Factory. Next year will be a box but I'm still putting whipped cream icing or homemade buttercream on it.
  17. I gave my 2 kids a birthday party today, and their cakes didn't go over well at all with the kids. Is it just this group of kids, or are these cakes far out there? My son had a cheese cake with a dollop of whipped cream and fresh strawberries in the center, while my daughter had a sweet cream cherry cake with whipped cream frosting. After slicing into my daughter's cake, the kids saw that the layers had cherry jam between them, and wouldn't eat anywhere near the "red stuff". It's jam; surely kids have tasted jam, before. The second ingredient is sugar, who doesn't like jam? Not one kid ate either of the cakes (except mine, who had a slice of each)! Some ate the whipped cream off my daughter's cake, but when my son said, "Who wants some of mine?", no even tried it. They actually looked grossed out. One child wanted a dollop of just whipped cream on his plate, but after tasting it, said the cool-whip tasted funny. It was just heavy whipping cream and confectioner's sugar - how could that taste funny?! Would your kids eat these cakes? Did I just invite the world's pickiest eaters? Should I just use boxed mixes and canned icing? Yes, I know I'm probably more upset that I should be, but it's sad to throw out so many slices of cake that you worked hard on. My daughter's cake had 3 cups of whipping cream in it! On the bright side, most of the adults really liked them. And why can't I make paragraphs? Return isn't returning me?
  18. What do you do when you need to do yearly testing, but you have a child that hasn't finished this year's math text? My daughter isn't terribly far behind in her math book (strayer-upton practical arithmetics), but she is far enough behind that she won't get to all of the work with fractions, perimeter and area. There are other bits that I had planned on teaching her after working on this book, but we won't even finish this one in time. I absolutely love Strayer-Upton, but it doesn't teach graphing, number lines, coordinates, or basic geometry. I was planning on going through Math Mammoth and doing any lessons that her book doesn't cover to make sure she had everything covered. What I didn't bargain for was how long it would take to grasp long division. I purchased to Spectrum Test Prep book to work through to ease her extreme test anxiety, but there is quite a bit she's never seen before. On the other hand, if this test prep book is similar to the CAT, she is well ahead in computation. Strayer-Upton teaches division with 3 digit divisors, and the test prep book doesn't even divide by 2 digit divisors. I don't want to push her ahead before she has mastered the basics, but I also don't want the consequences of her failing the test. Now that I've typed all this, maybe I just need to order the CAT and teach just enough of what she needs to pass it. I'm always reading that you should teach to the child's level, but no one ever mentions what they do when testing comes around. How do others handle it when the scope and sequence of what they use to teach doesn't match the scope and sequence of the tests.
  19. Thanks, Ellie. You're so kind to keep answering my questions. What this book needs is a section where the steps in the program are carefully laid out. They need to show what is done daily and in what order to progress. I don't need lesson plans, but a general daily and long term plan would be great. As for the part about the 4x/day, somewhere in the book, it says it's better to drill 4x/day for 2 min. each, than in one 8 minute review session. Perhaps the 6th edition is different, but it says that while beginners of any age are mastering the first 45 phonograms, to preteach identifying syllables, vowels, consonants, and to demonstrate the marking system. I'm going to give the book another read-through this weekend and see if I can grasp it all.
  20. Anyone? Does this sound like it will work?
  21. Thanks for all your replies. I've been dragging this book around with me for the last couple of days, and think I have the general idea behind it. Now it doesn't seem too complicated and I'm starting to think that I'm probably missing something. The book says this will take a sizable amount of time to implement, but I don't see how it could possibly take that much time. But then, I don't plan on incorporating all the writing portions beyond the basics of capitilization and punctuation, and so on. So far, it sounds like I need to: introduce the sounds of the first 45 phonograms and learn how to write them review the phonograms orally 4x/daily written phonogram review daily begin writing words in notebook after first 45 phonograms are learned and just follow the script given with each new word to teach the appropriate rule And while he is mastering the first 45, I should be introducing what syllables, vowels, and consonants are and demonstrate why and how to mark words. Also, preteach relevant rules before dictating words into the notebook. Is that how it's done?
  22. I got my copy of WRTR (sixth edition) last night and have spent some time reading it last night and today. Wow, it really isn't laid out in a way to make it simple or easy to follow. Every other paragraph ends in see so-and-so in the Kindergarten Through Sixth-Grade Teacher Guides. I wish it had sample of what a day's lesson would look like. When you introduce the the phonograms and their different sounds, do you explain at that time why and when the different sounds are used? Or do you wait until you come to a word that those sounds are used in? For example, when teaching the phonogram /e/, do I simply teach that /e/ says e and ee (can't type the symbols for those). Then, when I teach the word me, is that when I explain that e says ee at the end of a syllable? Then, if me is the first word taught for spelling, and it uses the 4th spelling rule, do I just teach the spelling rules as they are needed in the words? I'm sure I'll have more questions later, but that's it for now. Thanks
  23. I first accidently posted this question on the general education board. I've been looking into spelling programs for my 6yo to begin next fall. He has apraxia (severe speech disorder) and I don't think spelling is going to come easily to him. At first, I was looking into AAS because it seemed very thorough and intensive, but then I repeatedly came across WRTR as I researched it. I've purchased the WRTR book, but it hasn't arrived yet. It seems that many people love it, but that it takes a while to understand the text and requires many re-reads. Is this something that I will be able to implement with only the manual and flashcards? I can't afford the lesson plans and extras on their web-site, so I'd love to be able to do it with just the manual and cards. Has anyone done this program with a child with speech problems? What do I do with sounds he has difficulty pronouncing, like s, s blends, sh, ch, and r's? We are currently using phonics pathways for reading, and he does great the simple words, but we have hit a wall with long vowels and multisyllable words. Not much progress has been made this year because he needs to be reminded at each long vowel word. Since he has already begun reading, will it be confusing for him to switch to a new method? Thanks
  24. I've been looking into spelling programs for my 6yo to begin next fall. He has apraxia (severe speech disorder) and I don't think spelling is going to come easily to him. At first, I was looking into AAS because it seemed very thorough and intensive, but then I repeatedly came across WRTR as I researched it. I've purchased the WRTR book, but it hasn't arrived yet. It seems that many people love it, but that it takes a while to understand the text and requires many re-reads. Is this something that I will be able to implement with only the manual and flashcards? I can't afford the lesson plans and extras on their web-site, so I'd love to be able to do it with just the manual and cards. Has anyone done this program with a child with speech problems? What do I do with sounds he has difficulty pronouncing, like s, s blends, sh, ch, and r's? We are currently using phonics pathways for reading, and he does great the simple words, but we have hit a wall with long vowels and multisyllable words. Not much progress has been made this year because he needs to be reminded at each long vowel word. Since he has already begun reading, will it be confusing for him to switch to a new method? Thanks
  25. KKinVA, I just looked it up and it looks like its not available in her area.
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