[Poll about what might be considered common knowledge in pet rescue]

I voted No becuase I don’t think it’s common knowledge unless you have adopted from a rescue. When we adopted our dog, they made that really clear and I was somewhat surprised. Not upset, just surprised. I thought it would have been something like “if you can’t find another home for her than return her to the rescue” but not that it was return her even if you had another home in mind. It made sense to me when I thought about it, but it wasn’t what I expected. 

[2019-2020 11th grade planning]

Pre-Calculus/Trig or whatever AOPS calls that level. He does it on his own. 
AP Latin with Lukeion 
?Shakespeare semester class with Lukeion, something else for English other semester 

That’s about all I know. I’m impressed (and a little scared) by all the planning people. 

We usually do History at home, not sure what he’ll want to cover. 

Either Physics or Biology but not sure of provider. If Bio I might just do it myself. 

Electives...? Psychology ? Some other Math ? something else 

[Hive anesthesiologist? Question about endoscopy and hair coloring]

It should be totally fine. 

[How often do your kids bathe?]

20 hours ago, Farrar said:

Once or maybe twice a week? Unless they had been playing in the woods or something, they usually didn't need it too much. They were never naturally smelly as younger kids.

When they were babies, every night, part of the routine. By elementary school, we did it when we got around to it. By middle school, they needed to shower more and it was a bit of a hassle to make them. Now that they're in high school, they seem to have woken up to the need to be clean and not smelly. Whew.

This almost exactl for my boys. My daughter has always really liked showers and so takes one daily. 

[For fun - those who need reading glasses - how many and where?]

I have two that I like. One in my purse and one by my bed. But I have other dollar store ones around for an emergency. 

[Singapore Math (5 grade) question]

We only use Intensive Practice and Textbook. I’ve done it that way for three kids all the way through and it’s been fine. 

I have three kids. One is likely to be a math major in college and loves math. One used to hate math, but mostly because he doesn’t like school and math is school. One likes math ok and is good at it but it’s more that she likes school and math is school. 🙂

For all three the approach of using just the IP book has been good. My oldest needed and thrived on more challenge. He and I would go through a section of the TB and then he’d do the IP problems without doing any of the practice problems in the TB or WB. That worked great. He is a kid now who loves AOPS and the self-teaching, discovery aspect of it. He also reads math books for fun in his spare time. My middle son hated math for a long time and struggled. I finally realized half of the struggle was that he found it boring and dull and was just not willing to do something boring. We had been using the WB some with him and supplementing with IP problems. Then I realized he would miss a ton of the more rote kind of practice problems but get all the harder word problems right. So we started just using the IP book. For him, I went through the TB and would assign practice problems and review problems from the TB to him sprinkled in with the harder more interesting IP problems. He needed a little more practice and review than oldest so we went slower. He also needed more direct teaching than my other kids and more of the review, so I added that in as necessary. My daughter is more similar to my oldest but more of the get it done mindset with Math. I assign her some problems from the IP book and then all the word problems/challenging problems. 

All that to say, yes, you can do it that way and it works fine. It might not work for a kid who is really struggling and needs more review, but that doesn’t sound like the case for your daughter. 

 

[Book a Week 2019 - BW2: Whodunit bookology - Hercule Poirot]

1 hour ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

Lonesome Dove was one of my favorite books, starting as a preppy teen girl, LOL. I read it until the covers fell off and I had to get a second copy. Lonesome Dove and GWTW were by far my two favorites into my 20’s. I haven’t read it since because I’m afraid to spoil it for myself like I did with GWTW in my 30’s.

That’s funny. In our discussion several people mentioned friends that they had who had read it as teenagers and loved it. Our theory was that people who read it as teens maybe saw it as more romantic and overlooked the more troubling parts. 

45 minutes ago, KathyBC said:

The Illiad should make a nice change from all the violence... 

Ha! 

[Book a Week 2019 - BW2: Whodunit bookology - Hercule Poirot]

I finished Lonesome Dove. It was not my cup of tea, although it’s not a bad book. Just so ultra masculine. It’s probably a fair depiction of the time and place but I really didn’t need to be immersed in that much violence for 850 pages. Almost everyone in my book group felt the same way, except for the 70+ year old woman who picked it. We decided it was partially generational, at least in that she had grown up watching cowboy shows on TV and the movies and just found that life fascinating. The rest of us weren’t entranced enough by the cowboys to want to put up with all the icky stuff. 

Not sure what is next for me. I’m reading the Iliad with my oldest for school and I need to read some other things with the kids. I have a big old stack beside my bed so trying to decide waht is next for my personal reading.

[Book a Week 2019 - BW1: Welcome to our Rambling Roads Reading Adventure]

No specific reading goals here, other than to read more. 

I’m currently reading Lonesome Dove for my book group. And starting The Iliad to read with oldest. I’m also reading The Fellowship of the Ring and The Girl Who Drank the Moon out-loud to my kids. And we’re listening to The Incorrigible Children and the Unmapped Sea in the car. 

I have many other things on my nightstand but I’m not letting myself look at them until I finish Lonesome Dove or the book club meets (whichever comes first). 

 

[S/O dog traing--dog people please chime in...]

I am not at all a dog expert, we have a minimally trained 5 year old dog (and it’s our first dog).

She likes to jump on people too. One thing we taught her was to go to a specific place on command. For us it’s her mat/bed which happens to be near our front door. We taught her to do that when it was just us and family by using treats. Then we worked on having her learn to stay there until we say to get off. Once we got her to learn to stay, we worked on going to the mat when she was excited but it was just family (she gets barky and jumpy when the kids play loud music or dance around). I added the command Quiet/Calm and wouldn’t give her the command to come get the treat until she was lying still and calm. Now when someone comes over, we will usually tell her to go to her mat and then let her off to get a treat if she is calm. It’s also useful when kids are over and she gets overexcited. 

[Poll: Conflict Resolution - A Much Needed Skill]

4 hours ago, DesertBlossom said:

I agree that people shouldn't be recording everything or posting it online. But part of me hopes it at least makes some people consider their actions. A while back there was a woman who accused a child of assualting her in a store, touching her backside as he walked by. Someone posted the video of her berating the child and family. The poor kid was in tears. Later surveillance video showed it was his backpack that brushed against her.  The child hadn't done anything wrong. This woman's reaction was so out of line, I don't know that anything but a little public humiliation would show her she was in the wrong. But maybe not them either.... 

I can see that but the problem I have with it is that everyone can have a bad day. Posting it online I feel like is a way of labeling the person as being one way, it gives no grace. Maybe this mother had a particular horrible day. Maybe she was fired from her job. Maybe her kid was having one of those super annoying kid days and she was just at her wit’s end. Or maybe she’s just and entitled horrible person who makes a habit of going around yelling at people. But as soon as it gets posted online and has potential to get shared and go viral...she becomes only that horrible entitled person that everyone is talking about.  And I think posting the video that has her child in it is particularly egregious. 

3 hours ago, Pen said:

 

I rewatched the video and needed to change what I wrote.  

I empathize  with your distress about people posting such videos (especially for me in this case for the sake of the child in it).  

I myself don’t know for sure who filmed the interaction or posted it.  There seem to be possibly as many as 4 maybe even 6 different adults involved.  The mom, the mom’s friend (who takes the child and speaks toward the end), the woman she is speaking to, the person taking the video, and the person holding the dog’s leash.  Maybe the person holding the leash and taking the video are the same person.  But it could also be the friend of the dog owner taking the video (perhaps the one who allegedly used the F word to the mom, or a bystander or other member of the group that seems to be gathered at the right). 

Toward the very end, a person shows up in the video with golden retriever on leash (saying it’s illegal to harass service dogs) who I initially thought were Nala and her owner, but who I now think may be a different golden retriever and owner.  If that is Nala’s owner then someone else was filming.  

To me it almost looked like the Mom was playing for the camera at first, and then got upset about the filming later when it appears that her view about what there should have been in terms of signs and speaking nicely to her isn’t being supported.  

 

 

That’s a really good point. Although, I think I read a news article that seemed to suggest it was the same person. That’s where I made that assumption. But I could be wrong. 

It also sounded like from some of the articles online that it was a group of people who were training service dogs, not one person with a dog. So it could have been any of them taking the video, I suppose. 

[Poll: Conflict Resolution - A Much Needed Skill]

I said not enough info. From the video, I’d say the mother is more to blame but the more of these kind of things that get posted online, the more I feel like we (as a society) are all too quick to rush to judgment. We’re seeing a tiny clip from an interaction and it’s hard to know exactly what happened.

And even though I think the mother is likely more to blame, the fact that the service dog owner posted the video online makes me biased against her, it’s such a horrible trend. I can understand taking the video, if she felt threatened and wanted to intimidate the mother and make her go away or was worried about having evidence for her own protection. But posting it is really unnecessary. 

[Teens and Christmas]

We’re doing a lot of the things mentioned here...bluetooth speaker for 15 year old,  bluetooth earbuds for 12 year old. Funny Tshirts for both. Books.  Some card games.  I’m getting them both a year subscription to Amazon Music to share. 

They like getting food that I don’t usually buy. I got 15 year old Pop-Tarts for his birthday and he loved that. And we got 12 year old Cinnamon Toast Crunch for his birthday and I think it was his best present. 

Someone got my oldest a Yeti mug for his birthday and he really loves that. 

[Short Thought Provoking Novels for Middle School]

There are some great graphic novels out there...

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
El Deafo by Cece Bell 
the ones by Raina Telgemeier (Smile, Sisters, Drama) 
maybe not so though provoking but if your goal is to get her to read more, The Baby-Sitters Club books were recently remade into graphic novels. My daughter devoured those. 

Maybe less intimidating because it’s less words on a page would be some of the excellent novels in verse...

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Crossover or others by Kwame Alexander 
The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary by Laura Shovan 

 I also agree with the idea that reading for pleasure should be reading for pleasure, even if it’s “below” reading level. 

[Cheap activity trackers?]

I got my daughter this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071W2S48Z/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

She loves it. It was cheap, but seems to be pretty durable and works well. She doesn’t wear it at night, so I’m not sure how it is at sleep tracking but I think it is supposed to do that. It doesn’t have a battery, which I like, so she she takes it off and plugs it in every night. I don’t think you have to do that, it’s just her routine. It’s not waterproof but is water resistant, she’s worn it accidentally in the shower and it was fine. It has an app you can use, we put the app on my phone and she likes to see her steps overtime. You don’t have to use the app, but it was fun for her that it was available. 

[Girl Scouts suing the Boy Scouts?]

On 11/7/2018 at 1:26 PM, Margaret in CO said:

I think one of the weaknesses of GSUSA is "available" troops--that there's a cap on numbers in a troop. I think BSA has a better system--just keep adding patrols. Most troops split at around 50-75 Scouts, which I think is a good thing. I hate it when a parents tells me they couldn't join GSUSA because there wasn't room in the one in the only troop we have here. The parent may want their girl in GSUSA, but may not be able to form a new troop. The girl loses out. 

 

This is why we didn’t do Girl Scouts. My boys do Boy Scouts and when dd was in 1st or 2nd grade she was interested in being a Girl Scout. So I contacted a couple of different local Girl Scout Troops and was basically told I had to start my own becuase they were all full. I’m happy to volunteer and have been very involved in Boy Scouts and all our kids activities. But starting my own troop was way more daunting than just being an adult leader or volunteer. I couldn’t take it on at that point. So I told dd we’d wait a year or so and see if we could find another troop and maybe I’d look into what it took to start one. She then lost interest. We now have friends in other troops who have been actively recruiting her as I think their numbers are low but she’s busy with other stuff and not interested anymore. That’s fine but I really felt like it was a weakness of the GS system. Within other organizations, I’ve seen the value of growing volunteers. You give the new person an easy job, then something more involved, then put them in charge when they know the system. But to just say you have to start from scratch is kind of overwhelming. 

[Adding a bluetooth type device for speaker phone calls and playing music?]

I don’t know about the bluetooth aspect, but dh got me one of the things you can plug in that is supposed to allow you to access the phone over a radio station. I think the one you linked basically works the same way. The problem we found is that it has to be a radio station that has no other signal, and in the busy area we live in there are literally no stations that it will work with. When we’ve traveled and there are areas with very few radio stations it works great but it just won’t work around her. 

[Anyone familar with food banks... kids in 4H have an idea, is this workable?]

We volunteer regularly at a food bank. They have bags for the kids that have things for school lunches...shelf stable boxed milks, single serving applesauces, granola bars,etc. They also have a bin with random candy and small snacks like single bags of chips that have been donated by people. When we are packing the bags we can throw in something extra for fun. They try and keep the main food healthy, but it is nice to have treats as well. 

[chores, life skills]

On 8/30/2018 at 1:41 PM, regentrude said:

Same here. And that includes myself. It somehow all gets done, when it needs to. Kids helped when asked to. Both are now perfectly capable of running their own household.

I would rather make it a goal to spend minimal time on housework because there are so many things in life that are more important and more fun. 

 

This is us also. 

My goal for my kids was that they would know how to cook and clean and that they would see the household as one where everyone chips in when needed. Some days, they have more school work and I do all the cooking. Sometimes I’m in a hurry to get to work or need to go somewhere and they make lunch. Or dinner. We all work together. 

I’d guess they spend about an hour a day on average, including things like cleaning up after themselves after breakfast or feeding the dog. But it’s all spread out and just part of life. 

[I am so angry! DD ER Experience Last Night]

Two thoughts...

My SIL is an ER doctor. She always thinks of the worst thing first. She doesn’t think “let’s rule out the most obvious” but “let’s rule out what will kill you or be really serious”. My kids laugh because she is super overprotective and germaphobic. I tell them it’s because she sees all the weird accidents and infections. She sees a sore throat and thinks “better make sure it isn’t epiglottitis”. I think “probably strep”. 

The other thing is that I’ve been in that setting, where as a doctor I feel like something needs to be ruled out or considered and I have to decide whether or not to mention it and freak out the patient or to be deliberately vague. It’s a hard decision, and even harder if you don’t know the patient/family. For example, a toddler with bruising might be leukemia. Do I mention that to the parents and then have them freak out and be in complete panic for 24 hours until the labs come back? Or do I not mention it but tell them to get bloodwork just to “be sure” and then take the risk that they won’t take me seriously and go get it done or that I will then blindside them if it ends up being something serious? It’s easier for me because I know the families and can try and tailor what I say to their personality. But I’ve definitely erred both ways...freaked out people who were more anxious than I realized and had people feel like I didn’t give them enough info when I was trying not to panic them. 

Also, ER doctors always tell people to follow up. Always. And probably the doc thought that mentioning a specific potentially serious diagnosis would make a busy college student more likely to follow up than just saying “make sure to see your doctor”. 

Sorry she had a bad experience. Sounds like the bedside manner could have been better, but I’m not sure that the doctor made a mistake. 

[vent . . . some things are coincidence]

6 hours ago, Scarlett said:

K, so you were joking....?   I am a little blonde at times.....so if you were joking......lol

 

I was joking. ?

[vent . . . some things are coincidence]

1 hour ago, Scarlett said:

 

You mean like every issue I have with Ds is because he is an only? 

Yeah, it is annoying.  

Well as an only child myself, I can say that probably is the cause of most issues. ?

[My neighbor’s dumb@ss dogs]

I don’t have a great solution but a story...I sleep with earplugs because noises really bother me at night. My husband is a pretty deep sleeper. One night I was super tired and could hear a dog barking but it was kind of muffled by the earplugs. I kept thinking “Who is being so rude to leave their dog outside?” Then I heard a weird noise in our hallway. I got up and met my oldest son who had gotten up to let in our dog who we had forgotten to let in before we went to bed. ?

 

[Help! Rising 2nd Grader "hates" math]

I’m a little late to the thread, but we use Singapore and Beast Academy and I have a couple of kids who have expressed math hatred in the past. ?

I have found that for my kids math frustration comes because of three reasons: 1) They are bored. 2) They are a perfectionist and afraid of getting it wrong. 3) They don’t understand it. How to deal with the frustration depends on which it is, so I think it’s good that it sounds like you are trying to figure out the cause. I’d also say that the same kid in my house has had times of being bored and times of not understanding. So it’s not always the same approach for the same kid. 

We use Singapore differently than most people. I just use the textbook and IP book (no workbook) because it’s more challenging and helps avoid boredom. I don’t require every problem. Often we will do every other problem on a topic. If they get them right we move on. I do have them do all the word problems. When I have a kid who is having trouble with a concept, I add in the problems from the textbook. All three of my kids mostly get frustrated because of boredom so this has worked for us. 

We use BA as well, as a supplement. We do it on Fridays as “fun math”. Generally they are working about a book behind in BA. So my 4th grader is in 4B for Singapore and 3C for BA. That has helped cement concepts in a fun way that doesn’t feel like review (which the ones who get bored hate). 

[Lab reports in middle school - how often?]

Never. ? 

I’m fairly laid back about science until high school. I was a Chem and Bio major so I love science and think it’s important but we mostly just read, watch documentaries, do fun experiments and learn about things they are interested in. I don’t have them do any reports. My oldest took Chemistry at our co-op last year in 9th grade. He did fine with writing reports without having done them before. 

I will say that my daughter is very different from her brothers. She likes things like workbooks and quizzes. So I’m going to use a more formal program with her this year. And when she does experiments she likes to write down things in a notebook. But I won’t require it.