Annabel Lee
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Posts posted by Annabel Lee
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:lol:Lol..... I meant herbs you COOK with!
It was the "pot-style garden" that threw me off, not the "herbs". ;)
I have basil & cilantro growing in a container garden on an old picnic table in my yard. They're doing well, and I intend to bring them inside for the winter. I have dill growing with some wildflowers and might dig some of those up to bring in as well.
If you do start from seed, call your local cooperative extension to find out the exact names of the plants that do best in your area - not just zone, but the local soil conditions and other considerations.
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a pot-style herb garden on my deck. Any suggestions from those of you who have had success with this? Or things that went wrong?
Thanks!
:lol: I must be tired, because I read this in a whole different way than I'm sure you intended it, unless of course you're in Amsterdam. :D
On a serious note, I've never been able to get lavender or mint to grow from seed. I'm not known for having an especially green thumb, though I do try.
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Reading aloud to the kids: Lad, a Dog
Listening to audio CD of InkHeart in the car with the kids
Learned Optimism by Martin E. P. Seligman, also his The Optimistic Child
The Well-Educated Mind, but I've only just begun ch. 2
LOTR series, always, just for they joy of it
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Phew, I've got some reading to do!
Kfamily, thanks for sharing your way of organizing into 3 groups of books.
Lori D., as you might have guessed, BJU Reading bombed big-time (I PMed you about it some time ago). We lasted a week, but wanted to quit even before that. I had such high hopes for it. I guess some folks are cut out for it and some just aren't.
Whenever I have read the first book of a series that they end up enjoying, they only want the rest as read-alouds, too. My older son has followed up on 2 series on his own, but quit early on one and only read the other after I'd read almost the whole series aloud. I'm not sure how to "hook" them, other than to just keep trying different books. :confused:
I'll read through all those links when I have a better chunk of time, re-listen to SWB's lecture & print the handout, ask the kids which of those books (we own them!) they want to read first, and last but not least, :chillpill:!
Thanks for helping me with this. :grouphug:
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Sorry this ended up being so long!
In my search for a more structured literature study, I stumbled across a post by Swimmermom in which she asked 8FilltheHeart for advice on literature. I devoured the whole thread, which ended up reflecting ideas from the massive Circe thread, and now I'm a bit lost.
My kids are younger, so I feel a bit silly posting here, but as I read through websites looking for "Literature" for next year (TtC, many different lit. guide samples online, etc.) I feel the need to know where I'm headed with literature in order to know how to prepare the kids. I'm hoping that some of you who've BTDT will offer advice.
I'll preface my questions by noting that I could use a literature refresher - my own education left me lacking thorough familiarity with terms, devices, and especially analysis. I'm familiar with the very basics, but to give an example, I could probably learn much from TtC based on their samples & website. My problem is that I want it all for my kids - the structural knowledge from something like TtC and then higher levels of that same sort of study AND the good, familiar, children's classics, but I don't want to have regrets later. I do want my kids to have an easier time with Great Books later on, in HS & college, for having read children's versions. On the other hand I hate that my 6th grader has never read any of the Little House on the Prairie series, Narnia, The Hobbit, or even The Mouse and the Motorcycle or Alice in Wonderland. I want them to read some good children's lit. while they're young. We've read a small stack of "fun reads", good children's classics, as bedtime stories over the years, but I've mostly stuck to the history-based reading lists and curricula for school reading.
This year, before the Circe thread appeared, I read a blurb in TWTM logic stage section (3rd ed., p. 344) that says to keep a balance of at least one work of imagination for every biography or book of history and that really stuck with me. I think these works of imagination are still intended to be authored within the history period being studied. At least, that's how I read it, but I've always been in "extract the instructions so I can follow them exactly" mode when reading WTM.
For those of you who do not require all literature to be tied to history, do you still have your kids discuss and study the "fun" books? What should I use for this since at first, I'll be learning some of it right along with them? Do you choose "just for fun" books that are still authored in or written about the time period you're studying in history? I'm thinking of dropping some of the history-centered books, esp. historical fiction, from our schedule. My kids haven't enjoy many of them this year anyhow, and only read good books if I assign a certain # of pages per day. All they read of their own volition currently are Calvin & Hobbes, Garfield, 39 Clues, and Origami Yoda/Darth Paper books. I've always wished we had time to read the entire book whenever we read the passages from WWE.
Other than titles I mentioned above, and the WWE book lists, which books are not to be missed for kids this age who've been bogged down with history books for 4 years? Where should I look for lists of good children's classics?
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\We are finishing BP Y2 right now. Bible readings are not scheduled in Y2 like they were in Y1. There is a huge amount of reading on church history. Based on what you described, it would fit your needs nicely. We've had a great year with BP.I've only used HOD Bigger, but I recall the Bible being tied in with the history reading pretty closely. I loved HOD, but I think you could probably do better with a different devotional given your requirements.
Thank you, knowing that BP doesn't have the Bible readings in yr 2 is helpful. I'll take a look at their Yr 2 samples & booklist again to see if it would really add anything to what I've already got. I already have Trivium Academy's schedule that lines up the History Lives Chronicles and Trial & Triumph with SOTW, and Kate in Arabia's K12 HO + SOTW schedule, and others, so it wouldn't be hard to pull them all together. I just don't want to add BP if it would be redundant, kwim?
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I think it would depend on what guides and resources you are considering. The materials are intertwined with the other subjects but they stand up on their own too, so it really just depends on what you have in mind. I've used several HOD guides and would be glad to help if I can. What in particular are you considering?
Since I was considering using only the Bible & devotions portions, I was just going to place them according to age/grade - so for a 9 & 11 yr old, Preparing or CTC. I see that Preparing is semi-independent and only has 1 box for Bible while CTC has the Bible quiet time and also Bible Study. I just looked at the HOD site, and I think it must have been the CTC samples I viewed when I decided I liked it. The few Bible curricula I've had don't include such clear, direct instructions for prayer. That's the part I really like, esp. for my 9yo.
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I highlighted my questions in purple to make skimming easier, in hope for a response.
Does BP Yr 2 collate Bible readings with history, or is it beyond Bible times chronologically by then? I already own SOTW 2, various encyclopedias & time line reference books rec'd in WTM logic stage, the History Lives Chronicles series (Peril & Peace, Monks & Mystics...), Trial & Triumph, VP cards, K12 HO, and Streams of Civilization (but only vol. 1 - haven't looked to see if that goes into Middle Ages). Obviously I wouldn't use all of these things at once; I'd have to choose. I could use the free schedules available which coordinate many of these. I want simple, streamlined, enjoyable, & effective. I like Biblical/Christian/Church history woven into regular history where the events intersect. Based on that do you think BP - the core program consisting of the schedule & companion text - would be worth it for me? Why or why not?
Also, if you've used Heart of Dakota, do you think their Bible & Devotions portions can be separated out and used alone or are those pieces too intertwined with other subjects? Would I be taking away from their Bible/Devotions lessons by doing this? I just *really* like them and would do this if I found a cheap, used guide.
TIA!
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Hi, I use McGuffey Readers for reading. I probably spend 15 minutes a day/2 times a week on it. For the older kids (5th grade and 4th grade), we sit in a circle and they take turns reading a paragraph out loud. Then, we pause and I ask the meaning of any words that I suspect they don't know. For the 2nd grader...she just reads a page or two out loud to me and I help her sound out anything she can't read.
I ordered the entire set on Rainbow Resource a few years ago. If you do a thread search, someone plugged in the Lexile levels for each Reader. They go all the way to college-level reading (according to that thread).
For ME (it's not for everyone), it is an easy, cheap way to push their reading levels and go over some vocab. The language is very formal and it's very dry. The reading seems pointless, sometimes. However, one of my kids took the TAKS about a year ago and only missed one question on the reading portion. ;) So, it's got to be doing something.
Yep, that's how I plan to use them as well. For teaching reading from the start, I used Abeka with my first two (I'd never heard of homeschooling with anything else back then) and then OPGTTR with Bob books and Leap Frog videos for my youngest. I like the ease of use & effectiveness of OPGTTR.
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Anyone? I highlighted my questions to make skimming easier. :)
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Does BP Yr 2 collate Bible readings with history, or is it beyond Bible times chronologically by then? I already own SOTW 2, various encyclopedias & time line reference books rec'd in WTM logic stage, the History Lives Chronicles series (Peril & Peace, Monks & Mystics...), Trial & Triumph, VP cards, K12 HO, and Streams of Civilization (but only vol. 1 - haven't looked to see if that goes into Middle Ages). Obviously I wouldn't use all of these things at once; I'd have to choose. I could use the free schedules available which coordinate many of these. I want simple, streamlined, enjoyable, & effective. I like Biblical/Christian/Church history woven into regular history where the events intersect. Based on that do you think BP - the core program of the schedule & companion text - would be worth it for me? Why or why not?
Also, if you've used Heart of Dakota, do you think their Bible & Devotions portions can be separated out and used alone or are those pieces too intertwined with other subjects? Would I be taking away from their Bible/Devotions lessons by doing this? I just *really* like them and would do this if I found a cheap, used guide.
TIA!
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My set of McGuffey's is in the mail, on its way to me. I only got the third through sixth readers as I'm using it for oral reading practice/phonics review for 2 upper elementary dc. TWTM advises to get the ones republished by John Wiley & Sons, not the others. Rainbow Resources describes the differences in publications in their review of the Wiley & Sons set, which have a blue & tan cover.
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I think things are deliberately hyperbolic and the very extremes are emphasized in order to point to the problem as a whole.
It is true that inductions are dangerous and overused for convenience. Does saying that imply that inductions are never necessary? Of course not.
It is true that there are more risks to the mother with a c-section and that the c-section rates are too high. Does saying that imply that c-sections are never necessary? No.
It is true that under ideal circumstances homebirth is perfectly safe. That doesn't mean that hospital births are *not* safe.
All of those things are true, saying so doesn't take away from someone else's experience. I think people often take things personally that shouldn't be personal. Facts are not personal. It isn't about the individual, it is about women as a whole. Sure we could all discuss our very necessary c-sections (and I had c-sections) but that still doesn't change that the c-section rate is hovering at over 30% and it should be lower.
Women should have choices available to them. It will make our future daughters and daughters in law safer.
:iagree: 100%
The Business of Being Born reveals what I went through.
:iagree: It showed what I went through as well.
You get the same end result. Who cares how it got there?OK, I get your basic point and agree that your kids aren't going to fare worse than Rikki Lake's or any other home-birthed babies just because of how they were born. I'll give you that. BUT, I think what you might be missing, between all the hyperbole, is the basic point from the other POV.
<Edited to remove way too much personal info from the web>
So yeah, the end result would have been a lot different had I been around some of the more natural method folks. Last 2 births were nightmares in so many ways. With my last dc, it was a year-long struggle and 2 surgeries that resulted from the neglect of mainstream docs, things that midwives would have known to look for. The end result would have been a LOT different had I known about any of the more natural methods back then, or especially had we had financial access to midwife or natural birth center. My oldest needed the technology available at the hospital or would have been in danger. So, I see both sides of the coin.
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Oh geez Paula, that sounds awful! I know because I live it, too. My dh worked nights off and on erratically for years, and I couldn't sleep when he wasn't home. Now that his schedule has normalized somewhat, he wonders what's wrong with me. I'm doing well if I get the kids to bed by 10, but usually we're still reading together at that time. It's OK for summer right now, but I do want to back it up by the time we're ready to ramp up the school schedule. I've been known to say that before, so we'll see...
Speaking of insomnia, you know what's bad? When you realize it's too late to take a sleeping aid because if you took one now, then there's no way you'll be able to peel yourself out of bed in time. :/
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In the 3rd edition WTM,
p. 36 directly mentions use of MCP's Phonics program and Explode the Code
p. 41-42, list at the end of the chapter for ordering, listing MCP Plaid Phonics levels K, A, B, & C and Explode the Code Books 1 through 8
I'm now unsure where I got the idea from to use these as continuing phonics after the basic phonics program is complete. These pages don't say to do that. While I was looking for "starting in the middle"/remedial phonics ideas for older students a couple years back, I remember it being a big revelation moment, thinking I'd missed this tidbit which made everything make sense for my particular child. I clearly remember wishing I'd done it all along. I don't know where I got it from now. Maybe it stuck in my memory differently because of what I was looking for, what I wished I'd used it for, and all the many levels listed. :confused: I'm really sorry for any confusion, I truly thought that I read that in the book.
The McGuffey's Readers for Oral Reading Practice are on p. 62-63, as a pp noted.
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Alaska. It is nice to have it. I usually use it for consumable items and lessons. It does come with strings attached...testing. I go back and forth with my decision to continue or go independent.
The reason many people use it for consumable items & lessons is that the programs, some more than others, retain ownership of the materials and you have to return them afterward. Some programs request next to nothing back, others will give you a long, itemized list. They know what you bought since they purchased it with purchase orders for you or have your receipts you turned in for reimbursement.
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Does BP include any lit analysis? If not, did you add a program to it and if so what did you use?
Thank you!
No, Year 1 doesn't anyhow. It is just a reading list.
I use TWTM & SWB's Literary Analysis audio lecture methods with it. All the practical instructions are there, including questions to ask about the various genres. In TWTM (I think in the Logic Stage section) she advises against using only historical fiction for literature. She even gives a ratio but I don't remember it exactly (ex. for every work of historical fiction, read 3-4 works of imaginative literature). I do follow that, so I don't use BP's list in whole.
I also use CHOLL (Classical House of Learning Literature) on books that are listed in both CHOLL and BP. It's nice having a pre-written guide that offers vocabulary, story charts, and other literature extras.
From my experience with BP this year, I now know I want to have a guide(s) for a certain number of books throughout the year for teaching beginning lit. analysis and devices. Whether this ends up being a refined plan for following SWB's model, TTC, or a hodge-podge of guides, we'll see.
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I don't remember the first part:tongue_smilie:, but I second your last paragraph. They recommend having your dc read aloud to you from McGuffey (and McGuffey is challenging) once a week all the way through 6th grade. This is to build fluency in reading aloud and to spot any problem areas in reading before they turn into gaps. Such a seemingly small thing, but so important, IMO.
Ok, that's it. I'm ready to order them. Years ago, I tried printing from the free ones online at the Gutenberg Project site, but I only printed a bit at a time and then ditched it. I was going to streamline and do oral reading practice on other things we were already reading. I think I read that option in TWTM, too.
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Interesting. So in your opinion do you think AAS is not enough? We started AAS last year for K because DD was about halfway through OPGTR. I mainly chose that over Explode the Code because it had less writing.
AAS is generally enough if that's the route you choose for a continuation phonics and a spelling course. However, I was using it as "gap-filler" in addition to other programs, or to make up for not having used other programs. AAS is a fine program working well, and sometimes wonders, for many families; it just doesn't happen to be recommended in TWTM. Susan & Jesse have written on their criteria for recommending programs, and just because it isn't listed in TWTM doesn't mean it isn't a good one. ;)
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especially when you're just getting started with homeschooling and when you've just read TWTM for the first time. Over the years, I've found gaps that *I* created inadvertently, ones that I scrambled to fill but there just wasn't time in our schedule to fill adequately. *sigh* I found another one today.
TWTM recommends continuing phonics study after the basic K5 - 1st gr. phonics program is complete using either Explode the Code or MCP Plaid Phonics (which becomes Word Study after a certain level). I missed that part and focused on the first step, which was to use OPG at the time. Somehow I thought phonics was finished, then kept trying to fill in with phonics-based spelling rules programs in addition to another spelling program.
Today, as I read a RR review for McGuffey's Eclectic Reader's (the ones published by John Wiley, not the others), I was reminded by the review that TWTM recommends these as a formal reading program of sorts after a phonics program is completed. "Formal reading program" is my own paraphrase for it, because I've been trying on actual formal reading programs like a fashionista diva at a Louboutin store. Well, it just feels like that to my wasted time & money, anyhow. I know WTM advises against formal reading programs, but I've been attempting to fill gaps with them when all along there was this little, easily missed piece of advice sitting right there on my shelf. I get it out and re-read large sections regularly, so it's not for lack of that. I don't know why this didn't click earlier.
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UmMusa,
I would proceed with much caution approaching ps middle school, but that's a generalization. What is the school like that your son would attend? How high are the highs (how far can he go in a positive way, how high will they allow him to soar... or do they mostly herd students through the system?) and how low are the lows (bullying, violence, sex, drugs, discrimination, etc.)? Do the highs - the amount of positive opportunities - outweigh the lows?
I was once told by a very wise person that if I could only keep my kids out of one level of public school, middle school/jr. high would be it. It is an isolated place where they don't have to hold themselves accountable as examples to younger children, and aren't mentored by older ones either. His advice to me was also not to use the amount or level of "lows" a school has as my determining criteria, because that's looking at it with the expectation that my child will go that direction. Instead, he told me to look for the school(s) that had the highest "highs" - the highest level opportunites, most inspiring teachers, most programs which interested my dc, etc.
My personal experience in a ps jr. high was extremely negative and shifted the entire path my life took for a long time, much like happycc described above. My dd was exposed to so much just in the few elementary school years that she went to ps that I sent her to a small charter school for jr. high to avoid the ps. There are going to be "lows" in every school, whether ps or the most prestigious or most religious private schools, but the difference is how much. That really depends on the kids, the teachers, the parents, and enforcement of good rules to create a good environment - which is not impossible at a ps. There are a lot of variables to consider.
Now she's in ps high school, and while she's doing okay, I wish it were better than just "okay", kwim? She's had some struggles. I feel as though she is being steeped daily in a culture hostile to our morals and faith, one that eats away at them very subtly. She's become quite accustomed to a "normal" that I wish she weren't so used to - much of it shouldn't be normal. I have to be vigilant about maintaining faith studies and upholding our values. Comparatively, this child is in the group of the most grounded, "on the right track" kids in her school, so even with the struggles it doesn't get a whole lot better. On a positive note, she's had a few truly great teachers that have inspired her to enjoy learning (those subjects anyhow). This is out of 13+ she's had so far, though. On the other hand, a couple have been horrendous and I've wondered if they are sitting on their tenured bums, retaining these jobs just to collect retirement soon - not for interest in teaching. Talk to other parents who've had kids in the school to find out which teachers they really enjoyed. For me, it's a mixed bag.
You know your child best. After doing some digging to discover the "highs and lows" of the prospective school, do you have confidence that he'll hold to the foundation you've given him? Can he withstand the "lows"? I'm not asking to induce doubt, but for consideration with the open mind with which you seem to be approaching this.
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I chuckled to myself when I read the title because I ask myself that all the time. I'm surrounded by males who love sports, and I don't see any point in it. That doesn't mean I'm against it though, as it can have positive attributes such as Snickerdoodle mentioned. It just means that I don't see what it contributes to society, or why it merits such high dollar amounts in the pro realm. I'm getting off topic.
Something I would love to do is get together a bunch of kids who want to play the same sport and just meet regularly, like a team, and play. Of course, there wouldn't be other teams to play against, but I'm thinking back to the days when kids just met at the neighborhood ball park and played ball for free during younger years.
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Joanne, :crying: I'm so sorry and will pray for your family. He sounds wonderful, a perfect compliment to your caring nature.
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The closest I come to anything on your list is #7, but only pears with Miracle Whip, not mayo, and sans cheese. I saw it on Mr. Rogers when I was little and had to try it. Also #9, but with sweet pickle relish. If I make tuna salad the way I really like it, it will have diced boiled eggs, celery, red onion, lemon juice, and lemon pepper.
I think my husband takes the cake with his PB & mayo sandwiches. Blech!
Shocked at how much sugar is in everything!
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
There's a recommended limit of 24g/day for healthy people (non-diabetic or otherwise sensitive to sugar)? I never knew that, and it explains a lot. It would be very hard, consider most "healthy" cereal is around 7-10g/sugar per serving, and the serving sizes are sometimes as small as 1/2 C. Have you ever poured it into a measuring cup to see how much you're really supposed to be eating? Or, pour what you usually eat, then back-measure it by pouring it from the bowl to the measuring cup to see how much you've been eating? Wowzers.
I agree, it really is shocking when you start paying attention to these things. They put sugar in things that it doesn't even need to go in, like lunchmeat and spagetti sauce.