msjones
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Posts posted by msjones
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Did the bike for 30 mins, both Monday morning and today. The plan is to do pilates tonight, and hopefully a walk with a friend.
I see that many of you weigh yourselves. I only weigh about twice a month on a very old scale that doesn't seem accurate. Do the new scales seem accurate? Does weighing help keep you motivated?
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This works well with my students and my own kids. Go in order and don't rush it. It takes time.
Teach them to count by 2s, 3s, 5s.
Teach the 2s table (2x2, 2x3, etc).
When the 2s are mastered teach them to double the 2s to get the 4s.
When the 4s are mastered, they double the 4s to get the 8s.
Then teach the 3s. When those are mastered, teach them to double the 3s to get the 6s.
Teach them to do the 5s either by counting by 5s or thinking of the 10s and halving them (i.e. if 10x7 = 70, half of 70 is 35, so 5x7 = 35).
Teach them to count by 9s. (Teach the pattern of the 10s increasing by one as the 1s decrease by one. Kids tend to learn that pattern quickly.) Then work on the 9s. They will already know 9x2, 9x3, 9x4,9x8,9x6, 9x5. They'll also be able to do x1 and x10, of course. So, you only need to emphasize 9x7 and 9x9.
Finally, work on the 7s. They'll know them already from working on all the others.
I hope I included everything. I'm in a hurry, but wanted to suggest this 'system.' It gives the kids a way to figure the facts out rather than just memorizing. They really build confidence by doing them in this order.
Also, at our house and with my students I use the Flashmaster. I have found it very helpful and worth every penny.
Good luck!
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Well, after nothing but cooking, cleaning, dishes, cooking and dishes for 2 days, today I walked 2.5 miles and did 45 min on my recumbent bike. It felt great!
I'm impressed with all of you keeping the routines up during a holiday weekend.
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HappyWImom, no one I know is intimidated by me as an exerciser. So, neither should you be!
I'm brand new to the exercise-checker-inner thread, and all the gals on there have been very motivating and supportive. It helps me drag myself out of my warm bed in the morning knowing I'll need to check in on the WTM board later that day.
And due to new and persistent foot pain I'm no longer a runner. I walk, do pilates while I watch TV, and use my recumbent exercise bike in my closet.
You can't be intimidated by a woman on a bike in a closet in her pjs. ;)
So, I'll be looking for you on the check-in thread!
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This sounds great!
I have let science go since the Sonlight got too challenging for my younger son. His eyes just glazed over as we did the reading for Science 3. My new approach this year was to work 'down' to him (he's 7) for once; he's been 'working up' to his brother all the years we've home-schooled.
Now I need to choose. We did lots of biology/animal kingdom stuff with Sonlight. So, it'll be Chemistry or Physics.
What did you think of the Chemistry? We've done very little of that so far...
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Have you felt that the content was enough for your 9 year-old without leaving your younger child behind?
That's the problem with Sonlight -- the reading just goes right over my younger's head a lot of the time.
Also, did you buy the whole set -- including the Science Club Kits? (I think that's what they're called...) Did it seem helpful to have the whole kit, or could you get by without it?
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Noeo Science? Has anyone used it and loved it?
I've done Sonlight Science K,1,2. Sonlight Science 3 will be WAY over my 7 year-old's head, so I want something new. Noeo appears to be about the right level and looks good on the website. But, I know no one who has even heard of it.
So, if you've used/seen Noeo, can you share your experience and help me out?
Many thanks!
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If I were you, I'd get into a pediatrician pronto. My son's doctor said he'd grow out of his lisp -- to just wait a year.
Well, the year passed, and he was still lisping at age 8! Turns out, the insurance would only cover speech/language therapy until age 7. UGH! And the therapy sessions were going to be $150/hour. If we hadn't waited so long, insurance would have paid for the therapy. I had missed the chance at private speech therapy.
Soooo...I did the therapy myself. It worked! In about 6 weeks his lisp was diminishing, and after 3 months, it was truly gone. We've had no problems since then.
I don't know the websites anymore, but I found a LOT of help online. I also used to teach elementary school, so I had some idea of what the speech therapists did with my students who had articulation problems.
Obviously, I'm not trained in speech articulation therapy, so I probably made some mistakes, but it was better than nothing and much simpler and faster than getting therapy through the school district.
Maybe a speech therapist on this board could recommend some sites for teaching 'l' and 'r.'
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Got up, dragged myself to the bike, and did my 30 minutes.
Also, I managed to do my pilates AND cook my sweet potatoes last night -- my husband took the boys to the pool.
He's off work early today, so I'm hoping to get out for a walk. It was unbelievably dreary here yesterday -- even by Seattle standards. I'm feeling very cooped up, and the bike in the closet only adds to the feeling of cooped-upness.
Way to go, everyone, on sticking with the exercise!
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30 minutes on the bike done for the day. I also did my pilates routine in front of the tv last night.
I'm hoping for a walk later as well, but we'll see. I need to get a head start on my Thanksgiving cooking tonight, so that may have to come first.
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Just a friendly reminder - we're waiting for an update!!!!
I did it! 35 minutes on the bike.
I'm now playing a much more exhausting game of scrabble with my boys and very competitive husband...the bike was easier. ;)
Thanks for all the encouragement!
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Accidentally slept late this morning, so I missed my morning recumbent bike workout. And now, at 5:10, it is DARK. So, my goal is 30-45 min on the bike after dinner.
It's often very hard to do post-dinner exercise, so I'll have to check back in. It is so helpful to have this accountability!
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I also love my recumbent bike. It takes up very little space compared to a treadmill.
Like nestof3, I also have a tough time getting out to run/walk during daylight (and, I have the first exercise injury of my life --grrrr.....) so the bike is a great solution. I usually do it first thing in the morning wearing whatever I wore to bed. I literally stumble out of bed to my bike and just do it.
I don't have a tv nearby, so I've started watching netflix dvds on my laptop. I'm amazed at how quickly the time passes.
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Lots of good ideas so far. I agree with keeping a list of all significant incidents. Also, would it be possible to communicate with the parent/s of the bully? The more light shone on what she is doing, the better, in my opinion.
I taught ps elementary school for 7 years, and dealing with bullying is complicated -- largely for the reason you mention -- the bully waits until teachers aren't looking. And they can't look all the time.
The best advice that I came across for a bullying victim was to stay away from the bully.
Now, initially, I know that sounds like a typical and unhelpful suggestion. But the 'staying away' is in combination with the adult intervention. As a teacher, I found that once all the adults were on the 'same page' (aware of the problem and prepared to deal with it -- as the adults at your son's school seem to be), it was helpful for the victim to have something HE could DO. We told the child to feel free to get up and move away from the bully at any time. To be sure to choose a recess activity far away from the bully. To approach an adult as soon as the bully tried to approach.
This helped the victim feel that they had some control over a very stressful situation. Hope that helps some. It would be so difficult to send my child into a situation like that each day. Good luck.
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You sure can brine that big turkey in a cooler.
The trick will be keeping the cooler cool since you live in Texas. Up here, we just put the cooler with the turkey in it out in the garage overnight. Unless your cooler will fit in your fridge, it may not stay cool enough.
Best wishes for you and that big turkey.
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Did the 30 minutes on the bike again this morning. I also managed to fit in the pilates routine last night while I watched tv.
I used to do the pilates more often, then we moved the tv to the rec (wreck)room. It is so unpleasant in there that I'd rather not enter at all, let alone go in there to exercise! So, I just Netflix and plan to watch the videos on my laptop while I do my bike or pilates routine.
We'll see how that goes. (Persuasion is due to arrive in the mail today...)The problem I have with indoor exercise is the boredom.
Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. I thought of y'all as I dragged out of bed this morning.
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One thing I really like about doing it myself is the lack of pressure. We paid for lessons for my first son for about 6 months. The teacher was very kind, and did a fine job, but, despite my best intentions, there was a feeling of "I'm- paying- good- money- for- these- lessons- and- you'd- better- learn- that- song!"
That was no fun.
Our practicing is very pleasant most days. They have as long as they need to warm up to a new piece.
I'm sure the day will come when we'll wish for a 'real' teacher. We'll have to see about that, though, because it is very expensive around here ($25 - $50 for a weekly half-hour lesson). I may just get a subscription to Piano Teacher magazine myself and see what I can learn.
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I did my 30 minutes on the bike in the dark corner of my closet with the fan blowing on me.
Doesn't compare to a run/walk, but it feels great to get it done.
And, yes, I DID get out for my walk last evening. It is beautifully warm and dry here this week, so it was lovely.
Tonight, I plan to do my pilates workout while I watch bad TV in the playroom.
msjones
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I agree with Lolly -- try fewer problems.
If she already knows how to do triple-digit multiplication, there's no need for huge pages of practice,in my opinion. Those worksheets with 30 problems are generally designed to keep a whole class busy while the teacher gets around to all the kids who are struggling.
If what she needs is review and practice, try a smaller daily dose of it. This leads to much happier math lessons around our house.
Once my kids have learned a tricky math algorithm, I just give them one or two of those problems each day at the beginning of our lesson. For example, one of my boys currently does 1 addition with trading, and one subtraction with trading each day. They also each do a set of arithmetic facts practice on their Flashmaster. All that practice takes a total of about 5 minutes. Then we go on the rest of the lesson (we use Right Start Math).
Of course, if you think this is a work ethic issue (which I sort of sense from your post),
my advice won't be helpful.She is pretty good at math. But, most of it comes to her without effort. -
I need some motivation, so I'm joining you gals here after lurking last week.
I'm a runner/walker with new foot pain (ugh). So, I've switched to mostly exercising on my recumbent bike. My hope is that my foot will like the rest and feel better soon. The bike goal is 5 mornings/week of at least 30 sweaty minutes and also easy walks in the evenings when possible. The morning workout is a switch for me, so I'm hoping to stick with it.
So, today I did my 30 minutes! It's a beautiful evening here in Seattle, so I'll see if I can get out tonight.
Thanks for the inspiration, everyone!
msjones
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We were not able to pay the $50/week for both our boys to take piano lessons, so I tried it myself. I had taken lessons for 6 years as a child (so, that's about 25 years ago) and could still play a little -- but not much. Certainly nothing I'd call 'accomplished.'
I just started out a few weeks ahead of my son -- learned the pieces myself. Then, following the book, I just started teaching the music to him. So simple! If your son is truly a beginner, I'm sure you could do this, too. I have enjoyed it very much -- we're all learning together.
We use the book series Alfred's Basic Piano Library. There are small 'lessons' interspersed with songs/warmups that build the skill from each lesson.
We do our piano first thing in the morning, right after chores. They each practice for about 15 minutes -- and about 5 of those minutes are with me. I just introduce a new song when they seem ready. The rest of the practice time is replaying songs they have already learned. I'm sure there are 'gaps' since I'm no expert, but, I figure there'd be a much bigger gap if we weren't doing it at all.
The boys have learned a LOT, so have I, and we've saved $200/month!
msjones
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Have you seen Julie Bogart's Brave Writer site/program? It's primarily a writing program, but I find that it also encourages me to enjoy my kids and my teaching. She has lots of suggestions for deliberately communicating with your kids, for slowing down, letting go, and "making relational peace a priority."
Here's a link:[email=http://www.bravewriter.com/]http://www.bravewriter.com/[/email]
Check out her blog and 'Bravewriter Lifestyle.'
Good luck!
msjones
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We love the RightStart Math Games around here!
I homeschool and also tutor kids who do Everyday Math, and use the RS games as a supplement. For 3rd/4th in particular, I have found a lot of great games to work on factors, division, percents, fractions, and decimals.
Also, good games for basic math facts and double digit subtraction and addition, which some people feel is covered a bit thinly in EM.
Good luck to you!
msjones
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Well, here I am, finally back to the conversation after a long, busy day.
Such interesting replies! I hadn't considered Susan WB's perspective as a 'business owner' of sorts -- that this board reflects on her to a degree. When I consider that, I can certainly see why she'd choose to kick the 'rowdies' out of her party.
I enjoy a political discussion. Even with someone who strongly disagrees with me. It helps me understand the other perspective and helps me to refine my own beliefs. (I'm a 'closet Republican' in Seattle, so I have lots of opportunities! Shortly before the election, my son actually asked me, "Mom, do they make McCain signs? I've never seen one..." That's how many Republicans we have around here! ;))
That being said, I wasn't in on any of the notorious 'tizzy' discussions on this board. I did see some that were very interesting and helped me see things differently. So, when I came back yesterday, I was sorry to see the politics gone.
msjones
I am SO glad we sent our oldest ds to high school this fall!
in Parents' Forum Afterschooling Board
Posted
I love reading about people like all of you! My husband teaches at a big, urban, public high school. Some of our home-schooling friends speak so extremely negatively about "The Public Schools" when they actually know so little about them. (Some of them, I believe, have never set foot in a public school, even as children...so I bite my tongue very hard when they voice their opinions.)
My husband works very hard, loves his job, and has many wonderful students. Most of the staff members (not all, of course) are people I'd be happy to have teaching my sons some day. I know I could not do at home what many of the teachers do at his school each day.
It's very encouraging to read a thread like this. Thanks for sharing your experiences!