KJB
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Posts posted by KJB
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When I was about 10, my school had a talent contest. My friend and I were going to play the ukulele and sing a song. We practiced and practiced and then finally went to try out. I'll never forget the experience. I played my heart out and sang as loud as I could, after which the adult running the try-out said to me, "Why don't you just play the ukulele, dear, and let Elizabeth do all the singing." :lol:
And to this day, I do not sing. Every time I sing at church, it's a muffled half lip-sync kind of thing as I laugh to myself and repeat those words. "Why don't you just play the ukulele, dear...." My MIL, who has a beautiful voice and taught piano for many years, tells me I'm not bad. She encourages me when we have to sing the birthday song and all of that. When I told her the ukulele story, she was furious. She has tried, over the years, to rehabilitate me. :D
If I were you, I'd let her sing. I'd encourage her, clap for her, and give the evil eye to anyone who would damper her spirit. Has she watched American Idol? You could let her watch and explain that some people are like Simon and some people are like Paula and there are a whole lot of people in between. You sing for yourself. You don't worry about everybody else. If she thinks she's good, that's good enough. And tell her just that, and warn her that some people might be mean to her because everyone's a critic.... That's showbiz.
You learn a lot more in life from the challenges of dealing with people than from the pats on the back. IMO, your Mom should be your biggest fan. It's the rest of the world's job to put you in your place. And they will. And you might have to help pick up the pieces, but that's OK. Or, it might go a lot better than you expect and your daughter might have a positive experience. That's OK, too.
If this is a church function, or even if it's not, you could share your story with the adults in charge and give them the opportunity to explain to the crowd in a general way before the performances that being a rude audience member won't be tolerated. A stern reminder for the audience to be kind to people with guts enough to perform could go a long way.... And then, don't forget to praise the heck out of your daughter for having guts to get up there, because that's what this opportunity is really about.
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to anywhere (frequent flyer miles) and I went to San Diego and had a romance with my cab driver from Afghanistan for the week I was there. He was so cute and so exotic. His family had fled their home country and his father had been killed. He was the oldest son. He had quite a fascinating (and sad) story. He was just 25 and I was 20.
I got a weeks worth of free cab rides and I had a great time!
When I went back home (back to college) he continued to call me, but, alas, it wasn't to be. I think to have had a real relationship with him, I would have had to consider changing my religion. I also think, in "real life", he would have been really controlling. But, it sure was fun to let him show me around and buy me dinner! Not to mention, his stories really opened my eyes to the harsh realities for people in so many places around the world.
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I was just about to post the same thing!
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http://www.amazon.com/Saint-Joseph-First-Communion-Catechism/dp/0899422403
We just do them together every day until the child knows them. My older two also picked up most of what they needed to memorize just by attending their Sacraments class.
Congratulations to your little guy!
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I would try really hard to get him into a different school. If he could go someplace else, he wouldn't have to deal with seeing the other kids as first graders or any other negative social consequences.
Also, it would feel more like a moving forward instead of feeling like he was being held back, kwim?
Hug your little guy! I have a 5 year old kindy guy and they are just such good little fellas at that age. I'm sorry this has been a tough academic year for you guys. :grouphug:
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:) yes, life is short. to give a bit of history... on my perspective of the "do it after the kids are grown"....
I don't mind being responsible and paying what needs paid for. Really I don't. Heaven knows I'm used to doing it by now.
But I don't want to scrimp and scrape for decades in the hope of a day that never comes, kwim?
Here's an idea for you. What if you take the money and call it trip money. You stick it in an account and you plan your trip for next year. Honestly, your husband already going isn't going to save you that much. If you add a little each month to the account, it will make up the difference.
Anyway, my thought is then you ride the year out and let your dh's employment stabilize while you plan. A year from now, if things are good and you've managed to not spend the money, you go. And in the meantime, you have to pretend the money isn't there! Keep reminding yourself the money is already spent for the trip, just as it would be if you'd already gone.
At least this way, you won't regret going and coming home to dire circumstances. A year from now your dh's employment will hopefully be something you can count on. If he doesn't find another job quickly, you have the security of the money tucked away. This also allows you to plan the trip of your dreams instead of being tied to your dh's business trip agenda.
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Plan a wonderful trip for later in life when all of your children are old enough to appreciate the experience and you can afford it.
European travel is just too expensive right now. You likely couldn't even share the room your dh already has. They would probably insist you have three rooms for a group your size. European hotel rooms tend to be small and the rules tend to be strict. And how will you get around once you're there? You'll need a large vehicle and they are difficult to find for rental. You might end up needing to rent two smaller car$. Even if you luck out and are able to rent a big enough vehicle, the streets aren't made for such a beast. Driving on narrow streets and parking can be very very difficult.
I understand wander lust and the desire for adventure, but when living expenses are on the line, and you never know what health crisis looms when you have that large a family, you're better off to be conservative. There will be a time in your life for travel. It's OK to "seize the day" if it's just you and hubby, but when you have so many little ones dependent on you I'd say you have to choose to be responsible. Heck, if you want to travel later with little kids, you can bring the grandkids!
Sorry. I would rather be cheering you on. If you ignore me, I hope you have a wonderful time! :grouphug:
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*And* we had to drive on the wrong side of the road. :001_huh:
We have an old pickup truck at home that is a pain to drive which has a manual transmission. I'm sure we'll teach the kids to drive it since we have it, but I don't think we'd buy a car just so they could learn.
I learned driving my college boyfriend's Ford Festiva. Good times. :lol:
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The older kids always read. Sometimes they stay up really really late finishing a book and sometimes they go right to sleep. Either is fine with me as long as they get up without complaint the next day.
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I would kiss the ground you walked on if you had set up a resource folder of local music teachers, art teachers, vendors, directions to local parks, co-ops, home school groups, field trip opportunities, tutors, etc. and I had just arrived.
One of the biggest challenges we face, as military home schoolers, is trying to re-create the life we left behind. Having a resource file of all local home school helps would be invaluable. The library is one of the first places we visit after moving. I find they are either well set up with this type of information or sorely ignorant as to what the community beyond the base has available.
Also, not sure if the librarian would go for this, but a collection of math manipulatives might get checked out routinely. It would also be handy if they had science supplies like a microscope, butterfly net, magnifying glass, etc. that could be checked out. Also, for overseas locations especially, more general educational dvds would be nice to be able to find.
Anyway, thanks for working on this! It's a great idea!
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1. Routine. Routine. Routine. Our life is about getting school done every day and not about getting to activities. The kids know the expectations and they meet them 'cause that's just what we do. It's routine.
2. Memory Work. They know so much just from doing daily memory work. I've got a memory work basket and they quiz each other with the flashcards/lists we're working on every day and the poetry they're working on. They review stuff from almost all subject areas in this way every day.
3. Travel. We study and then go see as much as we can.
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They won't be able to. We don't have the right to bare arms. They'll have to settle for a fist fight instead :D
I wonder if you get arrested at gunpoint in the US if you don't pay your taxes. What a frightening thought :glare:
Tax evasion is how they put Al Capone behind bars.
Or, at the very least, they arrest your property and cash it in to pay the tax bill.
And, yep, when you're arrested, the police have guns. Rather or not they point them at you depends upon how compliant you are, I'd imagine. :D
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Seriously.
There's no where left to start fresh. We are of the pioneer spirit. We're not far enough removed from relatives that actually immigrated to have had the spirit bred out of us. Our parents and grandparents came to the US to make a better life. They succeeded.
Many of the countries people listed as places they'd leave for have plenty of people who want to come to the US in spite of the economy or whatever list of problems we might have as a country.
Yep, people still want to come to America. DH's family is in Ireland and many of them still want to come. His parents took ships over around 60 years ago. His Dad realized the dream. He came to the US when he was in his 30s. He retired as a wealthy man. He wasn't a banker, a doctor, a lawyer, etc. He was a carpenter. He worked. He was frugal. He's now rich.
I would want to go somewhere we could have real freedom. I don't think the earth has anyplace like that left.
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But I *do* think it is important.
I don't really care if they like it or not. :D There are a few other topics they would prefer to skip too.
I don't put music up there with reading or math, but I do see the importance of learning the basics. They may not follow through, but at least I would have done my part to expose them to the subject.
See, I'm a fan. I'm just not able. Driving to lessons might break me. I honestly don't have a wall left for even a key board- apparently the military housing planners didn't design these homes for seven children who homeschool:tongue_smilie:. And I have not a musical bone in my body (although my index finger can work an ipod screen superbly, which is a skill in itself, no?).
Argh! The guilt. Don't get me wrong. I'm having a teacher planning day and I can see easily how impossible it would be to squeeze in right now. I shouldn't beat myself up over it, but....but....I can't quite let it go.
:chillpill::chillpill::chillpill:
Thanks ya'll!
Jo
We live in military housing and we have 5 home schooling children. And I understand. First, I'll say one of the difficulties you don't point out is that you have to move all the time so you have to find new teachers all the time. That is so incredibly frustrating.
Now, for some ideas for you.
First, you know the community center offers lessons. You could drag the kiddos there. Another idea, is to find a teacher willing to come to your house. They exist and some will give you a deal since you have so many students. :D Another thought, find a high school student willing to come to you. There are a lot of kids with enough training to start a beginner. Do you have one of those garage sale sites? We have one here (we're at Spangdahlem AB) and they have lots of ads for services. You could place an ad for "piano teacher willing to come to my house" and see what turns up.
As far as room for a piano: buy a keyboard or a cheap digital piano. They are light and easy to move. If you spend a little more, you can get one with weighted keys and good sound. If you cheap it up (and you can) you can get one to stick under the bed after the kids are done with it. Again, check out your garage sale site or Craig's List.
My older kids have had piano and are getting good enough that they enjoy it. A lot of kids claim to hate it because they don't want to practice or put the work in to get to the point where it's enjoyable. It is a lot of work, but imo, it's worth it. I'm really glad we've done it even though it has been a huge pain because we keep having to find new teachers.
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I'm jealous!
Where's that green-eyed monster smilie when you need him? :D
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If I were in your shoes, I'd start having him shower every night before bed. I'd give him a kit of his own of new hygiene products. A nylon bag with his own comb, brush, shampoo, soap with soap holder, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, lotion, deodorant, and anything else he might need. I'd do night because it's less hectic than morning when you're trying to get school rolling.
Anyway, I'd give him specific instructions about shower length, soap application, deodorant, dental care, etc. I'd also give him some fresh smelling lotion to apply after his shower in addition to the deodorant. Then, I'd make sure he had fresh clean pjs and undies to put on. I'd also have him changing his sheets once a week (himself!) if he doesn't already.
After shower time, I'd give him the smell test. I do this with my 9 year old son. Smell his breath; examine his teeth. Smell his hair, his elbows, his armpits to make sure deodorant is doing its job. I'd also smell him whenever he leaves the house to make sure he smells OK. If not, he'd shower before he left.
I'd also make sure his laundry is kept up with and his room is tidy.
I agree that this is a parental responsibility, and quite frankly, a parental source of shame if it's not handled properly. If my son doesn't smell good, than neither do I. Kwim? I wouldn't allow a third party to knowingly humiliate my son when I could help him.
Good luck to you. Parenting isn't easy and I'm sorry you have to deal with this, but take the bull by the horns. You'll be glad you did.
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With my 5 and 3 year olds I have them work cooperatively to "beat the clock" when we have to go somewhere. So, in the case of your example, your dd wouldn't "win" unless your ds was ready to go outside too. Once she hurried and got dressed she'd have to help him so they could both "win".
In other words, have her compete cooperatively so they can win together. Declare they both won because they beat the clock.
You can use this for anything. When they get in the car you can time how long it takes for them both to get on seatbelts. Then they can try to beat their old record.
Make her "win" dependent upon her brother's win. After all, you're the ultimate judge. You get to call who's a winner.
Another idea:
Have an ongoing kindness competition. Explain that you've decided to give a special treat for whoever is kindest. Let whoever ends up second all the time "win" a treat for being second and kindly allowing the other person to be first. Do this frequently enough at first to make being polite a well rewarded state of being. Then back off the frequency, but still reward occasionally for whoever lets the other person go first.
Good Luck! I agree that this is a stage and will pass eventually. Better to work with the stage than fight it, imo.
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However, they are out of level for all of their subjects so I can't really say the grade classification is the one I'm teaching. I don't think you can put their level in a neat box but since the purpose of the poll is to find out their ages, there you go!
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The response email I received from the woman I contacted:
"I just got off the phone with the president just to verify this and yes it came up on the radio station. Our concern was that having a younger child who is not used to group instruction being in a group and having troubles with it.
As you are already signed up we will just leave as is and see how things go."
So there you go. I feel much better.
Thanks for all your opinions.
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is that not only were they all home schooled, but *you* didn't already know them. That means there are a lot of home schoolers out there!
I always feel like that 6 degrees of separation thing is extra true within the home school world. It seems more often than not, even if I don't know the home schooler I'm visiting with, I know someone they know or vice-versa.
How cool!
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Thanks for all the support. I don't know what will happen, but at least my kids won't be caught in the middle if they really aren't wanted.
I'll let you all know!
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I totally agree with you. I wish I'd just said we home school.
So, knowing my regret, do you think I should go out of my way (an email or phone call) to make clear that my kids are home schooled? What would you do at this point?
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No, we're not. But swimming lessons open to the public for sign-up cannot then exclude certain groups of that public.
If they are advertised as not open "for the general public" but rather "only open for children enrolled in a brick and mortar school" then they meet the criteria you set forth. Also, I'm not sure why they can't exclude certain groups. They're not excluding based on race, gender, etc.
(BTW, I'd like to think you're right. I'm just not sure. I think they probably can exclude us since they are private and accept no federal or state funding.)
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said, on the radio, that home schoolers weren't allowed. I've now heard it again from someone else. They are a private group with private rules. The ladies running the lessons are volunteers; mostly moms of swimmers. They didn't put anything in print, which I was looking out for, but I'm pretty sure they didn't want us. Their appearance on the radio was a question and answer session about the lessons and the team. Of course, it was primarily an advertisement.
Why couldn't they not allow home schoolers? It's their show. People vote with their dollar and most kids attend brick and mortar schools and don't care about if the weird home schooled kids (said tongue in cheek, of course) get to participate or not. There were probably 5 times the number of kids wanting lessons versus the number of slots. And, of course, that's *after* scaring all the home schoolers away by their radio broadcast.
Home schoolers aren't a special group with special protections against discrimination as far as I know.
Yes my friends, it's another dessert question...cheesecake toppings??
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted · Edited by KJB
My suggestion for something simple but a bit unique would be a simple dusting of nutmeg or other fragrant spice. In the fall, pumpkin pie spice would be nice.
Raspberry is my favorite fruity topping, but, oh boy, that chocolate, pecan, caramel thing up there someone posted....