Kendra
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Posts posted by Kendra
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Apple...
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I'm a kit girl :) The time saved going from store to store with seven children (heck, even without) is worth the cost to me. That said, I love H and H kits! I love that the instructions say, "Now clean up after yourself" and include the paper towels :D
What I like to do is spread the projects our over the course of our history study, sticking them into an appropriate week depending on whatever else we're studying. This year we're in year one of the cycle (ancients), so these are a few ideas:
Week 4 of MOH, Early Egyptians-- H an H doll and stick project
Week 5-- Mummy project, part I
Week 6-- Painting Project
Week 7-- Marketplace
Week 8, King Tut-- Mummy Project, Part II
Week 9, Trojan Horse-- Fresco Project
Week 10, Chou Dynasty-- Chinese Fish Print
Week 13, Homer-- Relief
etc.
We do each project on Fridays, which tends to be a lighter, wrap-up day. The projects take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour.
HTH!
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Tostadas are easy... fry the corn tortillas a tad to make them as crisp as you like. Top with beans, chicken or beef, shredded lettuce, cheese, salsa, avocado, etc.
I make a lot of tacos, but tostadas don't require that I stand at the stove and form the shells :)
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I know I'm going against the grain here, but I chose to forgo TOG because of our large family and the time it takes in mom prep. We have five students, a 4yo, an 11mo, and one due in May (pregnancies always come with 16 weeks of morning sickness, plus I had a miscarriage before my last two very close pregnancies).
I need to be able to read the lesson, or better yet, push "play" (MOH and SOTW on audio are much-loved here). We check out lots of related books from the library and keep them in a basket in the living room. They notebook and do the MOH map work. I know this sounds similar to the TOG method, but somehow doing it this way isn't so overwhelming to me.
YMMV, of course ;)
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I haven't seen you here or on my blog and wondered what you're up to???
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We were really, really glad we rented first. The town we moved to was poorly planned and had nice pockets next to really seedy neighborhoods. We wouldn't have known how to purchase strategically had we bought right away.
We had a 2yo and a newborn at the time, so we left a lot of things packed up before making our permanent move.
HTH!
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I feel like crud :(
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Bad cold has made its way into respiratory infection. I'm 6mos pg and am taking Robitussin to help, but what else can I do???
Uggggghhhhhh...
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Surrounded by almond trees and grapevines...
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Mine are:
9th grade son
7th grade son
5th grade son
3rd grade daughter
1st grade daughter
4yo
11mo
The 9th grader is on his own, almost entirely. My husband and I do weekly-or-so check with him, but he's super reliable so for the most part we don't worry about him
With everyone else, I use A Child's Geography, Mystery of History, and for the 5th grader on down, loosey-goosey science (because I'm a huge believer in Apologia science and have come to realize that they will have it all covered from 7th grade on up. Elementary science isn't really science anyway; it's nature study and discovery). They all do the same copywork based on what we're currently studying in history, but they each work at their age-appropriate pace.
What they do that's more individualized: math, reading and phonics for the 1st grader, logic (7th grader), Greek (5th grader because he wanted to), Latin (7th grader), and penmanship (3rd and 1st graders). We do math all at the same time so I can plan to be right there offering help, and their other subjects are done at the same time as each other, even though they're different.
It works for us. If you want more ideas for keeping those younger ones busy, I have a site and blog written just for you!
HTH-
Kendra
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If you haven't read Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, I know you'd get a kick out of it. Its focus is punctuation, but its presentation it super user-friendly.
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So much of this journey is about dying to self. People always say to me, "Wow-- seven kids. You must be really patient." I assure them that I did not start out that way (heck, I was a self-focused 22yo when we had our first child), but that with more children my patience has grown. Things that used to undo me are things I laugh at now.
I like order. I like decor. I like to at least try to look stylish. But some of that has had to go over the years and I can say I am a better person inside because of it. I got to thinking tonight at how delighted my kids are by the simplest things, and all those grandiose, over-the-top ideas and plans that ultimately would make me stress out and lose my cool with the kids as I mowed them down on my quest for perfection, are not necessary. Those things are about me, not them.
Last week I took a chocolate baking course at a very fine restaurant highly rated in magazines like Conde Nast. There were just three of us in the class, and one of the other women kept apologizing to me when she bumped me or was in my way, etc. I finally just smiled at her and said, "You know what? I'm a mother of seven, and I never cook anymore without someone at my feet. There's not a thing you could do to irritate me in the kitchen, so no need to apologize". What good would it be if I could execute a perfect chocolate souffle with creme anglaise, but could not speak with kindness to my neighbor?
I think that's where you need to recognize "the line". Is your quest for having everything done or done a certain way getting in the way of fruitful relationships with your children and husband? If not, then you simply need to find a better way for this season of your life. If so, then maybe you could ask your husband or a close friend to help you recognize and evaluate what the most important accomplishments at home are for you, right now.
Seasons come and go, so it won't always be like this. Someday my home will be decorated the way I picture it, and when I arrange candles on the table, there won't be any little hands re-arranging them for me. I'll have time to prepare elaborate meals that will bless others, but for now, raising these young people to love God and each other takes a front seat to everything else.
HTH,
Kendra
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And while I do have older helpers, I always think back to the wise homeschooling mom who once told me in response to me saying that I never feel like my head is quite above water, "Let it go. It never will be above water and there will always be something to do."
There are nine of us living in this house, and for the past fifteen years there has always been a toddler who drags things from room to room. Currently I cannot find my pie server or my kitchen sheers...
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I've only done one, and it drove me to glasses ;)
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My husband will be so bummed!
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We found out about it from Mouse Savers, and stayed there three times last year. Each experience was great-- clean rooms, great pool for the kids, really nice staff. Just be sure to request a room not facing the freeway.
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...except the past two years, in which I've been pregnant three times :eek: One was a miscarriage, but I wasn't prepared for how post partum I'd feel.
Also have to oversee the ninth grader's classical ed (which means we can't really relax too much academically), the 7th grader, the 5th grader, the 3rd grader, the 1st grader, the 4yo, and the 11mo...
But, this is all I've ever known since we began homeschooling 11 years ago, and so we have had to learn how to deal with morning sickness, fatigue, hormones, and needing to eat protein right now!
I just posted on some ways we cope, particularly during the end of pregnancy. I hope it's helpful. Some of the comments added have helpful ideas, too.
Blessings,
Kendra, 28 weeks with #8
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My boys get a kick out of the old Wild Wild West episodes. We check them out from Netflix. Wild west meets technology-- Jim West can get out of any pinch using hidden wires in his hat, knives in his boots, etc. A boy's dream!
Skip the movie remake.
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Sometimes I fear that this method spoils him, and I wonder if he will need audio college textbooks someday. On the other hand, it works. He retains everything this way and enjoys it as well. So, I'm sticking with it.
Exactly. He wants to go to law school and I am picturing all the reading he'll have to do!
But thanks for the advice; we'll let him listen and read along. When he gets to higher education, he'll have to realize mom and dad weren't just trying to be mean :p
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Is there a plausible reason why I shouldn't let him get the audio versions instead of making him read the texts? He is absolutely a verbal learner, and he says he has gotten far more out of the texts we've allowed him to listen to (Frankenstein, A Tale of Two Cities) but I keep thinking there has got to be some value in requiring him to reads the texts.
Thoughts? Opinions?
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There's a free download called Library Books that does the same thing. It's all on my desktop and I don't know how I'd live without it!
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I am tired of all the smut reporting on Fox. Do I really need to know that cops forced an athlete to have s*x with teammates???
This just in: We can see the ground!
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
You don't want to know the temp here today... just revel in your melting snow:p