Jump to content

Menu

nwmama

Members
  • Posts

    170
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by nwmama

  1. Oh no, not a handwriting ambush!  :lol:

     

    Italics has been easier for my ds, less picking up the pencil, and I do like it better.  I get what you are saying about ball and stick.  I guess I'll think about it for a while.

     

     

    Switching at 4/5 should be fairly easy and it's what I would do because I also prefer Italic. I don't think it really matters as long as you are doing something for handwriting. But I think it's easier to read, especially the cursive.

  2. If you already have SOTW, you might try using the audio books and the Activity Guide. My kids don't love it when I read the books aloud but they beg for the audio book and AG. And we try to get the suggested extra reading at the library. Then you wouldn't have to switch curriculums.

  3.  

     

    What if you tried TT, but continued Singapore as a supplement?  That way it takes some of the time pressure off of you for prepping lessons but the conceptual side of things is still there, too?

     

    May I ask why you want to switch to DVD based math with really young learners?  FWIW, a lot of kids as young as yours actually seem to do better with math games, practical application math and parent led instruction than DVD based instruction.  If you want something less teacher intensive, have you considered something like CLE?

     

    I'll continue with Singapore no matter what. I like having 2 math programs, 1 mastery and 1 spiral, so that they get used to different ways of doing math. We do math throughout the year so it's easy to fit 2 programs into our schedule. But since Singapore is fairly teacher intensive and I supplement with the Right Start games and abacus and LoF, I'd like to make the 2nd program less so.

  4. We've been using Singapore and Saxon for 1st and 2nd grade. I'm not unhappy with them but at some point I want to do a DVD math program. My aunt uses Teaching Textbooks and loves it so that's the first one I looked at. I do have a question that I can't find the answer to on their website. If I use the program for multiple kids, do I have to buy the workbook and answer book for each child each year or is there a way I can just buy a workbook if I already have the answer book for that year?

     

    And I know Art Reed does DVDs for Saxon but he doesn't start them until middle school and I'm not sure I want to wait that long. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

     

  5. My 4 year old DD is obsessed with Ramona as read by Stockard Changing. She says she is going to listen to it every day until she goes to college. My 8 yo DS loves How to Train Your Dragon series and I do too. Two words: David Tennant. Yes please.

     

     

    I was busy traveling during the holiday and just got back on the forum and found this. You just made my day! How to Train Your Dragon to make the kids happy and The Doctor to make me happy!

  6. What would it be & why?

     

    I just tried to reach the orthodontist...their hours are M-R 8:30-5, lunch from 11:45-2:15. 1/2 day on Friday.

     

    The dentist we use has similar hours, but is additionally closed one weekday.

     

    This boggles my mind!!  AND it made me think (rather tongue-in-cheek) "I should've been a dentist!" Haha.

     

    Which led me to the tangent that is this question. That's how my mind works...one shiny thought & I'm off to never-never land :).

     

     

     

    ETA: Based on the world today & what you anticipate of the world tomorrow, more than your particular child's strengths.  What do you think is a good gig today & what do you think will be a good gig tomorrow & why ;)>.

     

    A good friend of ours is a dentist...it's not an easy field. Not only does it mean lots of expensive schooling but afterwards you have to find someone to work under or buy a practice or start your own, the last two require business sense which a lot of dentists don't have. DH worked as a short sale real estate negotiator for a few years and worked with a lot of dentists and doctors who went bankrupt because they didn't know how to manage a business!

     

    DH and I think that engineering of any kind is going to keep needing people so we are trying to make sure that we are providing an education that makes that possible, I guess that is steering, but I don't really care whether they do it or not.

     

    It's not a career but we would steer them away from getting a general liberal arts degree or a degree just for the sake of getting a degree, we think it's a waste of money.

     

  7. Not sure if you are looking for classics only, but my kids are similar in age and this is what they've enjoyed recently (from a mix of audible and overdrive): 

     

    Mrs Piggle Wiggle

    Mr Popper's Penguins

    The Secret Garden

    Pippi Longstocking

    101 Dalmations

    Ginger Pye

    Ramona Quimby collection (awesome deal - many books for only one credit since it's a collection!)

    Henry Higgins collection (same!)

    How to Train Your Dragon

     

    We also tend to get books from the passages in Writing With Ease, I can usually find them in our library's Overdrive.  Also absolutely anything in the Hank the Cowdog series is very, very popular.  When my oldest two were younger I got them Magic Treehouse Books as well but now I try not to as they're coming up to being able to reading them on their own.  YMMV :-)

     

    I also never used to read as much as I'd like to my kids but by the time I get through 2 1/2 non readers, worth of daily school, I'm wore out lol.  They now listen to audiobooks during breakfast and morning snack and it's amazing how many books we've 'read' so far.  Plus it cuts down on goofing around and arguing at the table!

     

    Some of the ones I already have I got from WWE but I knew there had to be more I was forgetting. These are all great ones and are going on my wish list!

     

  8. Not necessarily looking for classics, more for amazing audiobooks. A good classic doesn't always make a good audiobook.

     

    The local library does have Overdrive, I just need to get around to looking into it. Audible is convenient because we have Kindles already. I'm just being lazy about seeing what I need to do to use Overdrive and if I need to get an app, etc.

     

     

  9. Right now, not nearly enough. We're currently living with my parents and they live on a busy road and there's no fence so they can't be outside without complete supervision. There is no sidewalk so we can't walk anywhere, either.  I take them to a playground when it's nice outside and fits in our schedule but that's only about once a week. To make up for it we found a gym with active childcare that we go to every day so they are at least physically exerting themselves but it's not the same as being in the fresh air every day.

  10. FIL is taking us to Chicago tomorrow to visit his family so...

     

    School with DS7 & DD6

    Pack

    Switch car seats and boosters from one van to the other

    Have our part of the house (we live with my parents) clean so my mom doesn't clean it while I'm gone

    Have Friday dinner with my parents early

    Pick FIL up at airport 1 1/2 away after dinner (why couldn't he fly into the large airport 20 min away? :cursing:)

     

  11. I've been feeling guilty because I haven't read out loud to my kids as much as I would like and I feel like they are missing out on stories that I want them to know and love. Then I remembered that I have Audible credits that I can use. Anyone have any good suggestions?

     

    I already got Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan read by Jim Dale.

     

    And we have the Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings and all the Harry Potter books.

     

    I especially love really great readers, like the guy who place James Herriot in the tv show does an amazing job reading aloud the books and David Suchet reading Agatha Christie books.

     

    Anyone have any favorite readers?

  12. Where were you living in the early 80's?

     

     

     

     

    I remember walking on a walkway alongside and above a huge rectangular pit...like an enormous swimming pool...and it was filled with sewage. It smelled worse than you can imagine. :ack2:  The employee leading the field trip said that everyone that worked there was used to the smell, but I couldn't imagine staying in that building long enough to get used to it. It looked and smelled just horrid. I couldn't even focus on the description of the steps that the sewage went through during its treatment, all I could do was stare at this huge pit of poop and try not to vomit. All I learned that day was that I really, really did not want to work at a sewage treatment facility.

     

    How gross!!!!

     

  13. It makes my husband super uncomfortable.  Sometimes it seems like empty platitudes, sure.  Mostly we understand the spirit in which it is usually given.  I think part of the issue with us is that there is very often an assumption regarding religious and political persuasion that goes along with military service.  We've often been thanked, with a follow up of a diatribe that people assume we must agree with.  We don't.  Then it just gets awkward. 

     

    This doesn't seem much like a real thank you, it seems more like a chance to vent and the thank you is just the intro. I'd find some snappy come back, not rude, but more along the lines of the things Dumbledore said. For instance, when I was pregnant with #3 & #4 I can't tell you how many times people, usually older men, told me with a sly grin "You do know how those things happen don't you?" wink wink. I got so tired of it I started to respond with a completely straight face "Oh yeah, we figured it out...but we really like it so we don't have any plans on giving it up." 

  14. We have Netflix and Amazon Prime so I forget what is on which one. I think we do more on Amazon though, Mr Rogers, Little Pim, Wild Kratts, and Signing Time. But Magic School Bus is on Netflix and some of the Wild Kratts are. We haven't watched many documentaries yet but I like that on Amazon if something isn't available on Prime then there's a good chance you can rent it without waiting for the Netflix DVDs and then have to worry about returning them.

  15. Depends on the gift. I get photo calendars for the grandparents. It's cheesy but it's the only gift they all talk about how much they love it so I keep coming back to it after trying something else more expensive that they don't seem to care about.

     

    A lot of things for nieces and nephews I do with Amazon Prime because they are all on the other side of the country and it saves me the cost and effort of shipping it myself.

     

    The rest of our gifts are usually knit by me or bought on Etsy. I used to buy locally in WA but we moved to KY this year and I haven't found local stuff yet.    

     

    I wouldn't consider myself a normal holiday shopper though.

  16. I'm working on a cable scarf that I plan to give to my grandmother for Christmas.  It is my first time doing cables - easier than I thought, although it is a simple cable.  Also, I went to a class tonight and started on a little stuffed owl. 

     

    If you like cables you should check out the videos for cabling without a cable needle. It makes cables so much easier!

  17. Oh, I like this thread!

     

    I just finished a Spiderman hat for DS3. Now I need to start the Before and After Scarf, sorry my computer is being stupid tonight and won't link anything, for my mom's birthday. I already made her one but I have two balls of Claudia Handpainted Silk Lace left over from another project so I'm going to make her two of the scarves to wear together like the pattern suggests. Since the Claudia is handpainted and each skein is unique the scarves will both be grey but not quite the same shade.

×
×
  • Create New...