violamama
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Posts posted by violamama
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We had the most productive homeschool day in our history today. The boys were actually excited about it. Exhausted, but excited.
On to the next 9 years of tweaking it.
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This is all really helpful!
I'm going to go with simple physical lists to start but I can hear a digital version calling my name. I've just started exploring EverNote (mac's OneNote?) and need to keep working on that. Maybe I'll try printing from it so the format becomes familiar. So far we haven't used the computers much for school things except math games, but I can see it coming.
Thank you thank you!!
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I have an almost 9 year old and it has dawned on me lately that he needs more responsibility and more control over his day. For both our sakes, I need to back off some of the thousands of reminders I give him. I also need a quick visual reference of what's left to do.
I briefly tried workboxes but it wasn't a good fit and felt like even more work for me (though I may have been doing it wrong).
My idea is a simple list with a check box next to each topic. At the end I was thinking of putting a box for tidying up and putting away school materials.
Do you guys put other chores on the same sheet as school assignments?
Would some of you share with me what has worked for you when you had kids this age?
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My 6 and 8 year olds are totally into Build a Bear right now. The options for animals/outfits range in age so I would think most 9 year olds could come up with something they like. Plus, it's neat because it creates an activity/experience rather than just being a static gift. We actually just discovered BAB because somebody gave us a gift card for our own adoption!
A $25 gift card will buy just about any of the stuffed animals, or a basic stuffed animal and an outfit for it. $50 gives the kid LOTs of options.
I bet experiential gifts would be much appreciated as they can go out and celebrate as a trio!
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I find it interesting the way the OP phrased her question: How would I feel about somebody else's response to an organizer of a parent meeting?
It seems inappropriate to co-opt the response of another parent and blame an emotional reaction on it. It feels (see what I did there?) like a form of gossip. It's firmly in the category of minding my own business and evokes my favorite: "not my monkeys, not my circus".
Sometimes I have the sense that other people have a complex architecture of feelings being hurt or comfort being disturbed by things I don't even realize I am doing.. to them, at them, near them? My mom worries about this stuff and at times it makes her really miserable. I promise I am careful of others' rights and feelings, but not to the extent that I would have thought twice about what sounds like an accidental "Reply All" and whether I ought to be ticked off about it. In fact I consciously try to teach my kids to avoid thinking too much about things like that email. Doing so can lead so easily to an over-developed sense of entitlement, and that is just exhausting. -
My 6 year old sometimes makes big frustrated battles. He doesn't usually do this over school stuff. There have been times it has strayed toward what you described.
I think even if (or maybe especially if) you see it as a power struggle, being more wiley and creative makes you the winner. Out-stubborning directly is not the only tactic at your disposal.
A poster above mentioned the "bummer" comment. If that kind of thing resonates, you might like the book, "Teaching with Love and Logic". I have found it fairly useful with my kids and the trickier ones in our music camps. -
We are 2 months home with our 20 month old daughter from China adopted through Holt. While her first month or so was tough (mostly for her), I have to say we have actually been surprised how smoothly our transition has been. She sleeps well, she adores her brothers and us, and I cannot believe how freaking awesome this kid is. It is probably not the norm, and we are prepared if issues should arise, but I wanted to encourage you.
The current China Child of Promise (special needs anywhere from almost non-existent to more complex or severe) program is running around two years from initial application to family day. With any good agency you will get/ are required to take a lot of training. I say that not because I think training covers everything but because you are not alone in gathering the facts and resources you need if you do have a good agency.
Holt talks a lot about finding a home for every child (not the other way around). They also support family preservation, have greatly improved the orphanages and helped introduce the idea of foster families, and have done a lot of work with children not eligible for international adoption. We recommend them.
Good luck with your info gathering!
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You know, there's a Talking Tom app that will repeat back what you say in a higher voice, much like someone mocking you. They even give the player ways to beat him up (also ways to be nice, but those aren't as eye-catching). This is considered a young child's app. :glare:
Yes, my SIL introduced that to my kids at Christmas one time (they were 4 and 6 at the time). And then the family wonders why I'm so "finicky" about the screen time we allow around them.
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Please don't stop donating your weird and out of fashion stuff to Goodwill. I probably scoop it up when I stop by "just to drop off some stuff" every week or so.
If I worked in a church and somebody asked for an iPhone, I would never have assumed a donated one would be unacceptable and if it was, why didn't the recipient try selling it on Craigslist themselves? Full discosure: I didn't read the article because frankly it sounded kinda depressing.
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I'm not really qualified to comment, but I can't help it. I am very impressed with the parents here. Including you.
One small thing- as a music teacher I've had many many students' parents say they thought the kid never enjoyed practicing at all even though they were made to do it regularly. Despite all the grumbling, when the kid grew up they remembered it entirely differently and were even grateful. Perhaps this no-fun phase for your olders will be like that. They'll remember the benefits and the process of getting to the things they end up loving. Try not to take too short a view.
If anyone offers to help you out (watching toddlers? making meals? taking a subject?) it seems it would be good to let them. Have you been able to ask for any help from your community? (Church, community center, neighborhood, friends, etc?) Maybe even an exchange of days with a friend for a couple of your kids?
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I never thought I would homeschool and I seem to catch on real slow, so I'm continually surprised how much we get out of it.
My older kid's first year of school would have been all about discipline had he gone to the public school down the street (with 37 kids per kindergarten class). It would not have been much of an educational year. From other experiences we have had, I believe it would have planted seeds of hating both himself and school. Instead, we learned that he loves learning about the elements, science, rocks, and how things work. I learned that at this stage we are able to get it done in just a few hours per day, and his pace seems pretty speedy (and his little brother's right with him) even though he is not a particularly focused child.
We have traveled a lot. I have friends who have a hard time getting their kids out of ps for one day, let alone the weeks and months we take. We dug rocks at an old Tungsten mine in Montana and a thunder egg farm in central Oregon. We hit up a turtle hospital in Florida and chased lizards in California. They have seen countless concerts and lots of RC Helicopter flights. They have favorite composers and know how to sit quietly and listen, and they'll chat your leg off if they are in line next to you at a Starbucks or a bookstore.
I learned that I really love spending time with my kids (okay, well, mostly) and it feels like we are getting all these huge additional freebies on top of that. My kids like to play together. They sleep a good 12 hours at night and have several hours a day to themselves, and I keep reading that that's supposed to do good stuff to their brains. Those luxuries and some of our closeness as a family would disappear if we were on the district's schedule.
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Saltwater aquariums are really expensive, take about a year to set up properly and should probably be explored after successfully keeping a freshwater community tank or two. I like www.fishlore.com for aquarium advice. They're what WTM forums are to the home fish tank world.
That worm idea is really cool!
We've had hermit crabs for a while now. They're cheap and relatively easy, but a little boring.
My biggest piece of advice is to start with a trip to a pet store, but follow up (before buying) with research online. There are forums and communities for almost any pet and the enthusiasts are much better at what they do than most shops.
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Loving this thread. I've tried teaching the kids some of the languages I know but didn't really stick with it.
We just started having a Mandarin tutor come to our house and we use YouTube quite a bit. It's a lot of fun to have the whole family working on it together. DH and I have been skipping ahead through books & videos because we're sure the kids will lap us soon anyway. We have secret ambitions to live in China at some point.
We have the Rosetta Stone mandarin discs but haven't really clicked with them. I am not crazy about RS for other languages, either, but they seem to be the most recommended... -
I'm pretty sure I wrote something along the lines of this exact post about a year and a half ago. I have been impressed to the point of shock at the changes in my kid's behavior toward others in that time.
Mine still has to sit on the side of the pool during swim team from time to time for dumb stuff, like taking off his own goggles in the middle of an assigned set of laps or wiggling the kickboard like it's a spaceship or generally goofing off. But! He has really grown up and improved in the important area of "annoying others". For example, he used to constantly ambush family members with too-hard tickles or jump-and-hang-on-you hugs. (Which was hard because he truly thought you would like it... every one of the eleventy thousand times he was reprimanded for it.) FWIW, he had trouble at church, too, and was easily over-stimulated in larger groups or noisy situations.
He is just so much better lately! Now, for example, I've notice he'll still occasionally run right up to a person as though he's going to do something, but then he sort of tickles the air in front of them while doing a little run-in-place maneuver. We see him coming and smile rather than cringing & tensing up. It's much much better for all involved and we tell him as much daily.
I do think it's nice to have some space as a homeschooler and just a liiiittle more time to let him mature before you let it get you down. In my experience with boys that age (teaching music and public school) it is not at all uncommon for them to fail to acknowledge the discomfort or anger of others. I often find that at the bottom of my worry is the feeling that people won't like my child. I also worry (-ied) that they would think we were not "on it" as parents. This didn't really serve me or my boy, to tell you the truth.
It sounds like you have a great coach there- and if she's had some experience with his age then I bet she knows how to take the long view of a kid's personality. Try not to let it get to you, and just try some of the ideas you and others have posted. Also, save these stories for when he has kids.
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I was watching the news for traffic info, getting ready to board a flight to Baltimore from the west coast where I had just taken an audition. It took a while to get back to the east coast. I remember saying "Oh man, are those falling things PEOPLE?!" Because they broadcast live feed until they realized what it was.
Still can hardly believe it...
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School
Son's violin teacher is coming to teach and help with office work
Swimming- take letter practice stuff for 5yo
Son's piano lesson
Get fingerprinting paperwork for me
Other son's cello group class
Send packets to beginner group class kids
Count how many tiny violins we have, maybe order still more.
Run with husband & boys
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Oh man, you guys are inspiring.
We did school. We did lessons.
I am so swamped with my small business right now, I barely have time to make meals. I'm not complaining- we want my husband to leave his job and work from home. More to do is a good problem to have right now. It just means my garage is going to be a mess and I will have to hold onto our morning school time by the skin of my teeth.
It's good for me to have to do lists and see some if yours. Thanks, hive. Zzzzzzz.
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My 5 yo is like this.
We try to do all our math & english with LOTS of hands-on stuff: bending pipe cleaners, glueing stuff to other stuff, playing memory games with cards to reinforce letters, drawing with all sorts of salt-chalk-watercolors-etc.He loves our cc curriculum because it involves lots of songs, projects, social interaction and hand motions. We have about worn out Pinterest adding to our memory work for him.
I loved the coffee comment above!
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Skylar figuring in: Yes.
Also, I have a black and evil heart because I was so rooting for Walt and Jesse, and would not mind if Hank went to Belize.
I think the bad guys will take Jesse and Walt into servitude cooking for them. Lydia is the new Heisenberg.
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Ditto: Best wishes for the study, Jean.
Tomorrow
CC 9-12
Order a swarm of tiny violins for group classes next week
5 yo's cello lesson
Keep up search for Chinese tutor
Clean out goodwill stuff in garage
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I would look up. If you see one on the floor, they did not crawl there.
Sorry! -
Got it all done today except
"Clean out goodwill stuff in garage"
But I'm cool with that.
Jean, hope you get what you need from the sleep study!
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Sorry, Jean, that's lame.
Tomorrow
Morning:
Call guitar students
Homeschool without yelling or rushing
LUNCH
Swim classes
Teach 2 students
RUN with hubby
DINNER
Clean out goodwill stuff in garage
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Relaxing with my boys eating daddy's biscuits & fruit all morning- CHECK!
Redesign brochures (adding new homeschooler classes and discounts)
Find a new park (it's 80 degrees today!)
Call guitar teachers
Do your kids work independently?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Yes, for short bursts. We have recently started emphasizing it because it seems to increase their enjoyment & motivation. If it didn't, I don't think I would worry too much about it, to be honest.
The 8 year old reads, does math, practices piano, does copywork, and practices memory work. These are all at most 15-20 minutes before I check in. Not sure it counts as independent, but it feels like a good start.
The 6 year old would like to not only be independent but also supervise everybody else. His management style leaves something to be desired.
The 1 year old is independently cute.