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blue daisy

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Posts posted by blue daisy

    "Please tell me about homeschooling." How would you answer?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I've received this question a lot lately since most people we know IRL do not homeschool and do not know anyone who homeschools. So we're a bit of a novelty in our circles. LOL Everyone has been asking me how homeschooling is going and usually they want to know why we chose to homeschool.  I keep it pretty general (everything is going well, we're enjoying our time together, we liked our public school but just wanted more time together as a family and more flexibility, etc.).  Inevitably, they ask more questions, specific to what they want to know. (A lot of people want to know how I know what to teach, or where I got my curriculum, etc. so I mention state requirements, that boxed curriculum is available as needed, but that I also researched homeschooling for so long before my husband actually agreed to it that I was able to select various programs for each of my kids based on their strengths and needs, etc.)

     

    I'm sure he is coming to you with his own questions, so that will guide a lot of your discussion.

    • Like 1

    ELTL and IEW? (X post)

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    I think if you're seeing progress like you describe, I would keep doing what you are doing. If you are dealing with autism especially, overloading is the worst thing you could do. I would also go VERY slowly with adding in narrations and outlines in other subjects. For example, don't have him do them on the same days and also not when he's doing them with ELTL. I would consider one narration per week in addition to ELTL and that's in one additional subject--science or history or whatever but not both.

     

    And I also don't think you have to add anything more. I really think if your seeing progress with something like you describe, give it this year to work its magic on him without mucking it up.

     

    Less writing is less damaging than too much writing.

     

    You might also consider leaving his favorite subject writing free. He's getting the writing skills elsewhere and he'll likely retain enough if he's already engaged. This is the opposite of what others might suggest, which is put a lot of work into what they like because they'll do it and do what they dislike in a get 'r done way. Instead, I would take the subject he likes and a do it in a way that's most enjoyable and stress free for him.

     

    This is not ELTL specific advice but seeing what I have seen in ELTL makes me comfortable in saying it.

     

    Thank you, this is really helpful.  This is basically what my gut was telling me, but my head was telling me that as a newbie I don't know what I'm talking about.  :)  I'm still learning to trust myself and to teach the kid in front of me, and I believe this approach is best for this kid. 

    Your favorite simple art projects that turn out to be amazing

    in General Education Discussion Board

    What is it about a dog that provides such good therapy?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Great post. I grew up in a cat family, and I still love cats but my husband and son are severely allergic, so I got my first dog after we got married. She was our first baby. She passed a few years ago, just before I found out we were pg with #4, and with all the craziness in our lives since then, we haven't really considered getting another.....until now.  DS9, who has a lot of anxiety and emotional issues, has been begging for a dog for months, and I think we'll seriously consider it in the spring. (We live where it's super cold and snowy all winter and I don't really want to train a puppy in that, lol).  My husband is probably going to be the hardest to convince, since he still misses our other dog so much, but I think it will be good for all of us to get another.  I know my son feels like it will help him manage his anxiety and feelings better.  They are just such good companions.

    ELTL and IEW?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    If you actually have IEW, have you watched the DVDs?  That might help you to see if you need/could/should incorporate IEW into what you are already doing.  I highly recommend watching the DVDs. Just set aside 10 or 15 minutes a day while you fold laundry or pay bills or something.  Even if you don't end up using IEW as a formal program there are some helpful techniques in there that might assist you with helping your student should they run into snags in their writing in general.

     

    Good idea.  I've glanced at them quickly but haven't really watched.  At this point I'm leaning toward doing IEW slowly over two years with him, but I should watch the DVDs myself now to help incorporated their strategies. Thanks.

    ELTL and IEW? (X post)

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    I'm cross posting here because I didn't get many responses on the K-8 board.  I'd love to hear from someone using ELTL in middle school.

     

     

    Would you use both together?  Or just stick to ELTL?  I purchased ELTL for all my kids and IEW as well for my 6th grader as I felt he would need specific instruction in writing techniques.  We started school a month ago and have been using ELTL since the beginning and I put off IEW for a while, but I'm finding that ELTL has a lot more writing than I anticipated, and after a few tears the first week (lol), my oldest is doing very well with it.  He's doing outlines, narrations, etc. with no problems.  I'm seriously thinking of putting IEW aside for the year. Do you think ELTL has enough writing that I don't need another curriculum? He is using level 5.

     

    For what it's worth, he is autistic (high functioning) and is very very bright, but written output can be very hard for him.  I don't want to push and overdo it, but I do want to make sure he is getting enough instruction.  I plan to add outlining and narrations into his history and science work during the year, but we aren't doing that yet.

     

    If you've used ELTL, please weigh in!

    ELTL and IEW?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I had that idea this summer, too. We ordered IEW through our charter, and we just started ELTL a couple weeks back. This is for our 3rd grader who was struggling in writing last year--extremely bright child, but writing is not happening with the same ease. IEW has not arrived yet, but I am kind of regretting purchasing it as ELTL is working so very nicely for him.  Not sure I am even going to crack open the IEW, and if I do, I'm not totally sure how to work it in. Maybe as a special assignment once and a while, as ELTL looks as though you can skip a lesson here or there and not loose too much ground. 

     

    I didn't even bother with a formal writing program for my 3rd grader, but I felt I should give my 6th grader more explicit instruction. But, yes, I've been very pleased with the ELTL curriculum.  I feel like my third grader is definitely getting enough writing practice and exposure to good literature and beautiful language. 

    ELTL and IEW?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Would you use both together?  Or just stick to ELTL?  I purchased ELTL for all my kids and IEW as well for my 6th grader as I felt he would need specific instruction in writing techniques.  We started school a month ago and have been using ELTL since the beginning and I put off IEW for a while, but I'm finding that ELTL has a lot more writing than I anticipated, and after a few tears the first week (lol), my oldest is doing very well with it.  He's doing outlines, narrations, etc. with no problems.  I'm seriously thinking of putting IEW aside for the year. Do you think ELTL has enough writing that I don't need another curriculum? He is using level 5.

     

    For what it's worth, he is autistic (high functioning) and is very very bright, but written output can be very hard for him.  I don't want to push and overdo it, but I do want to make sure he is getting enough instruction.  I plan to add outlining and narrations into his history and science work during the year, but we aren't doing that yet.

     

    If you've used ELTL, please weigh in!

    OIT to cure food allergies

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    My 9 year old has a peanut allergy in addition to a number of environmental allergies.  When we learned of his peanut allergy at age 1, we took him to our local clinic which is also a very well known and respected clinic/hospital and the allergist there basically told us to avoid all exposure and bring him back for a check up in 3 years.  We were not ok with not doing anything so we took him to an allergy clinic about an hour away that uses sublingual drops to treat allergies.  He's been on that program for several years now. For the first year, they treated everything except the peanut allergy, then gradually added peanut to his drops.  At his next appt, we are supposed to do a peanut test and then he would have to eat a peanut M&M a day for treatment.  We are so excited about the therapy because it changed us from a position of being afraid of everything he touched or came into contact in public (did a kid that just ate a PB&J just go down that slide at the playground? Or did a kid read that library book while eating peanut butter?)  to a place where he can live a pretty normal life and eat pretty much anything except actual peanuts of peanut butter. But we don't worry so much about the "processed in a facility that processed peanuts" foods anymore.

     

    Our insurance does not cover the actual drops (because they are not FDA approved) but they cover the allergist visits and testing.  We go once a year for a visit and testing and then they mail us the drops every few months.  It is absolutely worth the cost to us if it means he can live a fairly normal life and that a reaction would be mild if at all vs. life-threatening.

    Tooth fairy/Santa: when does belief end?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    My 11 year old son started writing notes to the tooth fairy this past year asking if he could keep his tooth.  By the third or fourth note, I sat down and gently told him that while the tooth fairy is a fun idea, it's not real.  He can keep putting his teeth under his pillow for a coin if he wants (I'm sure he will), but I just felt like he was too old to carry on that game.  He's not the kind to break it to his younger siblings so I don't worry about that.  I do worry when Christmas comes this year if he will start asking me about Santa.  That's one that I would like to keep the magic alive for awhile if I can.

    4 year old still filling a night time d*iaper...

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    My 6 year old still soaks a pull up every night. We've just started working on it (limiting fluids, making her get up and go if she wakes at night but not waking her on purpose yet). I'm not worried about it and she isn't bothered by it either. In fact, like another poster, we would sometimes find her with a full pull up before she fell asleep because she didn't feel like getting up. Lol. So, we're addressing those issues before using an alarm or waking her to go yet.

    Book recs for my 6th grader?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Galen and the Gateway to Medicine (Jeanne Bendick)

    Herodotus and the Road to History (Jeanne Bendick)

    Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad (Rosemary Sutcliff) -- or Padraic Colum's version

    The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of The Odyssey (Rosemary Sutcliff)

    Twice Freed (Patricia Saint John)

    God King: A Story in the Days of King Hezekiah (Joanne Williamson)

    Hittite Warrior (Joanne Williamson)

     

    Thanks!!!

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