Jump to content

Menu

Shelly in VA

Members
  • Posts

    958
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Shelly in VA

  1. I think Trillium is right on here. There is obviously something else going on, not just the dog issue. I love my dog, but I kennel him when we travel! <smile> I think probably your sister feels like she has made sacrifices for her dh, and for whatever reason, she does not want to accomodate him here. Perhaps she feels like his work life is so separate from their married life that she doesn't want any part of it. Is she resentful of the time and energy he spends there, as opposed to with her? I just don't see how pet care for 2 days could be the real issue here! Kids, sure, especially if they were young or had special needs or whatever. $, maybe, but if you're offering to keep the dog, that won't cost her. Conflict with her work schedule, maybe? I don't know, but I think there is something more there. Sorry this is causing stress for you all; I have a sister and 7 sisters-in-law - believe me when I tell you that I understand the anxiety that this sort of thing can cause!! I hope it all works out.
  2. The Absent-Minded Professor (older Disney version; rated G) Gilligan's Island on DVD (not a movie, but my dc also enjoy watching these) Everyone's Hero (rated G) Air Bud (rated PG; series of sequels [not as good!] are rated G)
  3. Hoop rolling - roll a large wooden hoop along by means of a stick. It is harder than it sounds to keep the hoop upright! After some practice, the kids can race and try tricks with their hoops. We played this at a fall festival at an old restored school house a few years ago; you could recreate the game using hula hoops that the kids had to roll along with a stick.
  4. Thanks, all; the suggestions are great. About the pysanky eggs (which I mean to try each Lent, then I promptly forget... this is my golden opportunity, isn't it?!) - where do you buy the kitska? Do you purchase a particular type of dye? I'm supposed to go to work now, but I really want to google pysanky, candle making, and lip gloss instead!
  5. A while back, I was feeling CM-ish, and I liked the idea of the kids molding wax in their hands while I read aloud. So, I went to the craft store and bought a brick of it. Well, as it turns out, you can't just peel off a sheet or a chunk of it! So what do I do with this wax now? Thanks!!
  6. My ds LOVED Johnny Tremain at that age. There is a short book called "George vs. George" by Schanzer that is very good, with info on both perspectives of the Revolutionary War. You could also look for Jean Fritz books from that time period. HTH!
  7. Paper I do NOT have a handle on! I am trying really hard to handle it only once, and I'm getting better, but not great. One thing that has helped me is to have VERTICAL files, not horizontal (horizontal just increases my tendency to pile things). Somehow, I won't put a miscellaneous piece of paper in a vertical file, but I'll put just about anything on top of something horizontal! As for the miscellaneous junk... I mean valuable stuff... like glue, markers, scissors, etc. - I use the clear plastic stackable boxes. The kind you can get cheaply at back to school sale time, or the $1 clear shoebox type for larger things (glue, colored pencils, markers, scissors), and smaller stackable containers (like the disposable Rubbermaid type containers from the wrap aisle at the grocery store) for binder clips, googly eyes, that sort of thing. Because they stack, they look somewhat organized on a shelf, and because they are clear, even the non-reading kids can find what they want. Now, if someone can steer me toward a container my 2yo CANNOT open, my life would be perfect! Haha. Also, I go through the kids binders every 3 months or so to purge, and I put a few samples of their work into a hanging file which eventually goes into a binder at the end of the semester. HTH!
  8. I certainly will let you know how it is going. I'm eager for it to arrive so I can get started! Thanks. And if I need any help from the teacher's guide before I order it and it arrives, I'll just email you with ALL my silly questions. Haha! Seriously, no problem with the order; I appreciate the information you did give me. Looking forward to starting with this new program!
  9. That's very generous of you, but you certainly aren't responsible for my order!! I appreciate it, but I'll take care of it.
  10. Thanks for posting that, but too late! I already placed my order, and it has actually already shipped, w/o the instructor's manual. Let's hope I can push my way through without it, or with the help of the yahoo group. I can always order it later; thanks for letting me know!
  11. We've had the same problem. I thought maybe our sound card just wasn't good enough, but from the answers you got, I feel like it's just the software itself. I do like the audio function idea, and I will say we get more practice speaking b/c we are trying so hard to make the lever move! Thanks for posting this question.
  12. It is a lot of ink, and time, and paper... I think I'll only do one or two chapters at a time, otherwise it will make me a little crazy!
  13. I didn't think about having the kids read the lessons on the computer screen. They love any opportunity to sit in front of the computer, so maybe I'll do that, and use the printed copy for myself. Thanks!
  14. Or do you just print one master copy they can read, then print each child their own activity sheets? Thanks!
  15. Twice per year, I put together a 1" binder with samples of all the kids' work. (Not a binder per child, but one binder per semester; currently, I have 3 school-aged children.) I make a section for each child, and I put in a summary page listing what they covered that semester - I list texts, lessons covered, topics covered, etc. Then, I put in ~1 test/quiz or writing sample per month from each major subject. I feel like that shows their progress throughout the semester, which demonstrates that education is taking place. I also put in a page or two of photos of art projects, field trips, etc. And I keep a list of the books they read that semester. Hope that helps! For me, it is a manageable amount of material, and I really can see their progression when I compare writing samples, tests, etc. over the course of time.
  16. Thanks. I'll keep waiting. It's not as if I'm sitting around with nothing else to do... hahaha.
  17. I don't need it yet, I'm just anxious -- curriculum addiction -- and I'm wondering if anyone has received theirs yet, as TOG expected to ship them out this week. Thanks!
  18. I am a Christian homeschooler, and we have used CHOW. There were some parts I edited as I read them to the kids at young ages, but sometimes when I read something that I don't agree with, I will point it out to the kids. By that, I mean I will say something to the effect of, "We don't believe that people used to be apes, we know that God created people. But some people don't understand that, and that's why some books talk about silly things like people being apes." I think it's good for the kids to know, in an age appropriate way, that there are other belief systems, b/c I don't want them to be blindsided if someone mentions something contrary to our beliefs; I want them, at some point, to be able to defend what they believe. As for a reading schedule - generally, I read only one book aloud at a time. At most, we will be reading two, one during the day, and another at bedtime, but ONLY if they are such completely different stories that the dc won't get confused. For instance, right now we are reading Little House on the Prairie at bedtime, and The House of Sixty Fathers during the day. I'll usually do a very brief remember-what-we-read-last-time conversation each time we pick up a book. Hope that helps; late here, and going to bed, so I'm not sure how much sense I'm making!
  19. I do this every time we start a new level of Saxon; my dc generally skip anywhere from 10-30 lessons in the texts that way. This has worked out fine for us, and the kids feel like they're getting away with something!
  20. OK, so my "yes" actually means that I am at the point where I need to start working ahead of my children. I have just ordered Lingua Latina and Henle for that purpose. We are in LCII this year, and just like Beth mentioned above, I was fine through Prima Latina and LCI, but in LCII I am seeing the need for me to have a better understanding of what I am teaching. Hopefully Lingua Latina and Henle will do this for me!
  21. Thanks for the suggestion on scheduling. Our afternoon has improved, although the weather hasn't -- now it is sleeting! I agree completely with your comment that the cold might as well bring snow, and my kids are SOOO disappointed that there isn't any snow to play in they can hardly stand it. We DID take off for election day, and all the kids went to the polls with me. They always find that interesting; I think it seems sort of secretive and serious to them. Thanks for posting!
×
×
  • Create New...