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againstthegrain

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About againstthegrain

  • Birthday 12/04/1984

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  • Gender
    Female
  • Location
    Iowa

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  • Location
    Iowa
  • Occupation
    Homeschooler and FT Middle School Math Teacher
  1. Not quite what you requested, but in the same ballpark.... have you looked at Memoria Press Online Academy's Medieval History or European History 1? Or they have AP European History but I haven't looked at that scope & sequence.
  2. 9th grade DS Biology (MPOA) European History 1 (MPOA) Algebra 1 (DS started 2nd semester of 8th grade so he'll most likely move to Geometry in the Spring) Writing/Grammar/Literature (BJU) Cultural Geography (Fall only, BJU) German 1 Paleontology (Spring only) Swim Team Lifeguard Certification classes
  3. I've busily been reading old threads discussion about leaving kids alone at home in relation to ages (and state laws). One topic I didn't see covered, which I am hoping for some discussion, related to siblings. Our son, almost 9 is very responsible and very mature. I have no issue leaving him home alone for up to a couple hours and being assured he will follow rules and that he knows all safety needs, etc. When I reflect on why he has these abilities, I see a history when he was 6 and 7 of failing and trying again - opening a door for a stranger (FedEx man who had a birthday scooter for him), not coming home from a friend's house by a certain time, not looking when crossing the street and re-discussing it repeatedly or leaving a friends house to go... to the park, for example, without communicating with us. I let him grow by letting him fail. I haven't done the same with our younger child and she doesn't show the growth our older child does. I want to give her that freedom to fail to grow and feel it is worth the risk. My only big concern is my older child will parent her and restrict her to the point of causing her to make poor choices to get away from him or rebel against his oversight - which I would probably honestly do if I had an older sibling as well. As a result of homeschooling, simply growing together....she sees herself as his peer, not a younger child that he should watch over. Does anyone have any ideas on how to give her this growth without worry of sibling problems from the older child parenting the younger one? It's a struggle for us as we have taught our son to watch out for his younger sister (2 years younger). Our goal is to give them the ability to stay at home, together, alone (with our neighborhood of adopted grandparents all within a house away) for maybe an hour, hour and a half to foster independence and growth. Not looking for discussion on whether it is acceptable at X age to leave kids, etc. The other threads had plenty of that. I am searching for a good discussion on how to manage sibling relationships in regard to staying at home alone. Thank you!!
  4. I need a list today. Clean microwave Clean stovetop Dishes Wash laundry Wash laundry Dry laundry Dry laundry Fold laundry with DD Fold laundry with DD Fold laundry with DD Fold laundry with DD Prehistory school lesson Menu plan this coming week Make coffee Make more coffee Sweep Take out trash Take out recycle Water garden Refill mulch bucket for kitchen compost Clean shower curtain liner (sulfur water = stained curtain) Clean bathroom: toliet, floor, tub Put bible index tabs in bibles Thaw meat for dinner Make a batch of homemade bread Make chocolate cookies with DD Make homemade rolls for potluck dinner tomorrow night Blanch and freeze garden carrots Resolve to assign more chores to kids
  5. Harvesting!! 46 Copra onions curing, 3 left in the ground 21 carrots harvested, 30 left in the ground 2 gallons snap peas harvested 4 kohlrabi harvested What took a major hit because of our heat wave: Cucumbers - managed to get 2 large, 2 small Zucchini - managed 2 large ones Summer Squash - managed 2 large, 2 small And what didn't make it... 2 eggplants Acorn/winter squash Still in the ground doing great: 2 eggplants Tomatoes - turning color - last count was over 25 from 6 plants! 90% cleaned up from the boys taking down the pine tree and trimming the maples (Oh my word, they trimmed a lot more than I thought, we wood chipped for 20+ hours, 2 more of trimming downed branches and a couple days of the firepit with the excess brush). I need to finish up a pallet later today with sides for the last of the firewood storage. I also made a compost bin! Pic: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0rkh7yqd4dl2rjs/20160725_092547.jpg?dl=0
  6. We are Iowa IPI so we have no requirements. If we were Iowa PI we have a 148 day requirement. Here's our schedule: August 8th - (first day of regular studies) 18 days September (one day off for dentist appts, one day for labor day) 20 days October (untraditional day on Halloween) 20 days November (one day off for birthday, veterans day doing community service, all Thanksgiving week off) 15 days December - OFF January (resume on the 2nd) 22 days February (nontraditional day on Valentines day with local homeschoolers) 19 days March - 22 days April - 20 days if needed (This is a total of 156 days) We give ourselves till the end of April to finish up - usually the older one is done a few weeks ahead. He gets motivated when we hit the last month.
  7. They are compliant children and I don't think they would have any issues following directions (they are very well behaved in teacher-student settings in a coop as well as their local Awana and sunday school classes. She is in touch with the private school - I'll mention to talk to them about what curriculum they use. That's a wonderful idea (it is a Christian school) to pass on! I know she's worried about the 6 year old and writing. The child is reading and finishing up 1st grade math now but she said she may use pentime or something because the 6 year old dislikes writing and though she can write her name, sound out words as she writes fairly well, it is all in uppercase and takes the child a long time (which to me sounds like a normal 6 year old?). I know the older one is a couple grade levels ahead in reading and writing, though she said that she needed to work on a spelling program with the 8 year old and didn't know whether she needed to enforce cursive writing (I guess they went through it last year and the kiddo can read cursive easily and write it somewhat but they didn't stay on it so it's not quality cursive writing). If it were me, I'd make sure I kept them on pace in language and math but other than that just enjoy what they want to enjoy subject wise. I haven't said that though, I'm not sure if that's really good advice, ha! Yes, they would be in 1st and 3rd. She stated the 6 year old was moving into mostly 2nd grade materials just continuing from where they left off last year, except in handwriting where she would be in 1st grade level. The other child sounds way ahead in pretty much everything? I know the older kiddo does their reading/math/handwriting or copywork by themselves completely.... but has no formal test taking (like the assessment tests?) experience nor heavy cursive experience. I'll check in with her in the morning, see what she has learned from the school. Per my suggestion she said she was also emailing the 2nd and 4th grade teachers tonight to just check in to see what concepts/behaviors they expected from kids at the beginning of the school year... that seems super helpful to me...?
  8. My sister has kiddos the same age as mine, 8 and 6. She's planning on enrolling them in a local private school NEXT fall (2017-2018). They'd be entering 2nd and 4th grade. I've worked with her kiddos and material wise they will be solid assuming this year goes in kind to the past years. If anything, they will be ahead in some subjects. However, she brought up an interesting point - how does she prepare her children for the more structured environment? They have a more relaxed approach. She asked if she should switch them something like CLE this coming year to get them used to the writing work, etc. I told her I'd ask the professionals (that's you ladies). The kids have never taken any tests except her older one does speed math drills, how can she prepare them for taking exams?
  9. Just got a phone call from the rescue's behavioralist. She said we were right to bring him back and was going to watch for a better match for our family. Here's to hoping.
  10. Yay for the adding of river soil helping! The boys trimmed my trees and fell a pine tree. In one of these pictures you can see the pine laying on the ground... I'm moving the beds back there as I harvest them Hooray!!! (Also, we have lots of wood chips and are still chipping. Great compost adder I hope!) https://www.dropbox.com/sc/uwg6mjbg713yfnl/AAA1xN6xrwGNxIcJIM3YIUaDa
  11. Oh, I know in my head we didn't fail. But my heart is heavy. I sincerely thank you guys for being here to reaffirm what we felt though, it really helped. The kids adored him too and are bummed. They still want a dog though, so I see that a positive that they were able to see this dog's issues and not indicative as all dog's behaviors.... if that makes sense.
  12. Thank you all. I got ahold of the Sheriff's office who told me about a backdoor area they take pets they pick up with Animal Control at this rescue center. We took the dog there, surrendered him and after seeing my 6 year old's bite mark and bruises, we received a very heartfelt apology from the rescue center regarding their oversight on the screening for risk with kids. I feel like a dog owner failure. We have waited 6 years until we could buy a home to adopt a pet. We flunked.
  13. I guess I could call the city. They would send animal control. But that seems like overkill, he's not vicious.... just seems threatened and is aggressive toward kids.
  14. Yes, they turned me away with a card stating all people who could assist were busy until 4-5pm. I asked if I could make an appointment for 4-5pm and they said they couldn't do that, didn't have the behaviorist's schedules and could not guarantee if I showed up they would be there. I can't even get anyone to answer/return my call about returning him to the shelter. My father suggested trying to rehome him into a home without kids, but I see that as a major liability - DS has been bitten while selling door to door cub scout items when an owner couldn't keep the dog inside. Sigh. I feel like a horrible person, but I don't see much option other than returning him. The rescue league states on their adoption agreement I have 5 days to return him. It's been 3 weeks. The incidents didn't start until a week in and when he bit DH we felt it could have been a trauma of placement issue, but the last two weeks have shown it is something to do with the kids -- which leads us to the thought he was mistreated by kids in the previous house. I feel stupid though honestly. They told us at adoption"He nipped a child, age unknown and circumstances unknown, in the previous house. He did not draw blood, it was stage 1. We feel after review in our behavior dept there is no behavior concerns and there are no child restrictions on the pet."
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