[Boston area folks...a ? re: airport, etc.]

9 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Overnight lots:

https://www.mbta.com/parking/overnight-parking

I know we’ve parked overnight at Alewife, but it was some years ago. 

Thanks. I somehow missed this page when I was looking before. 

[Boston area folks...a ? re: airport, etc.]

20 minutes ago, Matryoshka said:

Yeah, I would think there would be a train station in CT that would allow you to park overnight?  

I was hoping for something in MA. I live rurally and by the time I drive out of my way to the closest train station near me, buy tickets, and pay to park, it won’t be any cheaper or easier than just driving in and paying the hotel’s parking fee. Maybe I’ll just drive in. It’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow and that way I can avoid the walk from the train station to the hotel. 

[Boston area folks...a ? re: airport, etc.]

 

10 minutes ago, Matryoshka said:

You mean just not rent a car?  If you're staying the whole time in Boston, I would not rent a car.  Boston is a compact city and does have halfway decent public transport.  And yeah, parking is ridiculous.  Between parking and rental fees, you're probably going to save money even if you end up using an Uber a few times.  Where will you be needing to get to?

I’m driving up from CT. I don’t mind walking Boston. (Except for the sprained ankle part.) We’ve always just done it as a day trip though and found a place in the city to park for the day. This time I’m going for a weekend. I don’t really want to pay those parking prices for 3 days. Also, I’ll be going by myself this time (meeting friends who are flying in), so won’t have navigation help as I drive through the city. So taking the train or subway seems to make sense. I just need to figure out which station allows overnight parking. 

[Boston area folks...a ? re: airport, etc.]

Sorry to hijack the thread but I realized I may find some help here too. 
 

I’m going to be spending the weekend in Boston and just realized how $$$ it is to park at the hotel. Yikes! Now I’m thinking maybe it would be a better/easier/cheaper option to take the train in. The hotel is about half a mile from the Back Bay station so walkable as long as I pack light and drug up my sprained ankle. LOL Anyone live locally who may be able to PM me with some info for getting into the city? 

[Emergency homeschooling]

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

You and anyone involved would be very wise to look up mandatory reporting laws. They include neglect. This means if a pastor or any mandatory reporter knows, they are compelled under mandatory reporting laws to report neglect.

Thanks. As I said, the situation is delicate, and I have been purposely vague and left out many details. The children are not being neglected. Not physically, or educationally according to the laws in our state. Also, one of the people aware of the situation and lending peripheral support holds a position where mandatory reporting is a huge part of their job. So we are all very aware of where the lines are on the legal end of things. The goal of all of the adults involved is to step in BEFORE things reach those levels. So far, I believe things are being kept in a safe zone, but the situation is being closely monitored. 

[Emergency homeschooling]

1 hour ago, Servant4Christ said:

My first question is what state? Makes a huge difference in what the state demands.

As for your question re curriculum:

6yr old-

CLE english, math, and reading. I personally prefer R&S, but workbooks seem more doable for this particular situation. Library books, videos, nature walks, basic compass directions and learning about various community workers is sufficient for social studies and science.

 

Teen-

I have little help to offer here, but I will say CLE doesn't have sunrise editions in most subjects once they are this age and the older editions are terrible IMO. However, they are nationally accredited and do have a great homeschool plus program that will allow the child to graduate with a diploma after meeting certain credit requirements and they will provide you with report cards and a transcript for the student. You can use other curriculum for many of the subjects and make it work.

For english, you could use R&S after an assessment test to see where the child places. For math, possibly Learn Math Fast books would work.

We are in a no regulation state. Not even a Notice of Intent.  So no legal requirements to worry about. 
 

I hadn’t thought of CLE for the 6yo but that really may be easiest for the ones doing the schooling. I’ll add that to my list. I didn’t realize that the “system” changed in higher grades. Thanks for pointing that out. 

[Emergency homeschooling]

21 hours ago, PeterPan said:

 

[Emergency homeschooling]

14 minutes ago, cbollin said:

State specific.  In my state homeschoolers can either register with local school board or use an approved "cover school" to be legal.  The one I used (and linked to) has all kinds of options.  I used  the "legal covering" with the state where parents still select and teach whichever materials parents want to.   They also has programs for people in other states who want stuff like record keeping, or even help with homeschooling with tutoring (from materials they select)and these days they branched out more.  But the idea that they had was to still be "homeschooling" but helping teens and parents who didn't have tutoring or co-op options.  I don't know if the cost is in budget for the family in mind.  Thought it might be something to research if it helps the teen who otherwise is on their own. I know one of the cover school tutors did something like that a few years back for someone who had very little education in their homeschool but wanted to at least go to community college and needed serious catching up.  I haven't actually used that service but it popped in my mind when I read your post and thought I'd share the idea to look up.

 

Thank you! I’ll check into it. In our state we have no homeschool legal requirements so I’m not familiar with these kinds of things. When I talk to my friend tomorrow I’ll get a better idea of what they need. Having a lot of options will be good. 

[Emergency homeschooling]

1 hour ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

First thing I would do is to tell them to do some testing on the teen to see where they are in math and reading.  If they are far behind in either of these it will change the dynamics significantly.  https://christianlight.org/shop-curriculum/diagnostic-tests

These diagnostic tests in the link are inexpensive and will give an idea of where the teen would place and if there are holes in knowledge. 

For the six year old, I would just focus on some phonics, math and read-alouds if time. 

Yes, my recommendation for the 6yo was going to be to keep it really simple. Do you think two days a week are enough to teach a six year old to read? I always aimed for 3-4 days a week with mine. 
 
I hadn’t thought about CLE for the teen but maybe something like that or Paces would be good for this year. Paces wouldn’t be my first choice but as an emergency fill in might be ok. I will definitely recommend diagnostic tests for math and reading/English. I’m pretty sure the teen reads ok but I’ll ask about that. 

[Emergency homeschooling]

1 hour ago, cbollin said:

"if teen has help and accountability".....   made me remember that my cover school now has some options for that kind of situation where traditional pick your own stuff and teach your children is not quite right and the students and parents need more.  here's link to learn more https://homelifeacademy.com/homelife-learning/

they also have accredited school.  But the "home life learning" is not that one, but link to it is on that part of website.  and yes, leans Christian.

 

edit: more direct link https://homelifelearning.com/

 

Using an umbrella school isn’t really a thing where we are, I don’t think. Are these state specific? Or National? I’ll add it to my list of things to research tonight. 

[Emergency homeschooling]

Thanks for all the suggestions! 
 

deleted for privacy 

If you quoted me and wouldn’t mind deleting I’d appreciate it. 

 

[What was I thinking?]

I have seven siblings and we all played multiple instruments growing up - lots of piano, a couple of violins, a couple of cellos, trumpet, flute, guitar, and voice. Sometimes several of us would practice at the same time (in different rooms of the house) and we’d all try to play louder than anyone else. Obviously trumpet and piano had the advantage here but those high notes on the flute and violin could cut through sometimes too. 
 

I should maybe apologize to my mother for this. 🤔 

[S/O shift work and marriage]

    My DH is also in law enforcement. When he first started we already had our four kids (ages newborn to 5yo). It was rough! The first 6 months he was in the academy, which is a live-in program here. I had our 4th baby two weeks after he started. After that he rotated shifts every month.
     I think the thing that made it doable was that I was a SAHM and I homeschooled. That gave us the flexibility we needed to make it work. It was still difficult though. I taught piano lesson at the time so I had a set schedule while he did not. Also, it was difficult for him to keep track of the family schedule when his was constantly changing. That created a fair amount of frustration for us. I tried all different types of schedules to make things work better. Sometimes they helped, other times not so much. 
      Now, his shift is constant, 3pm-11pm (not counting overtime, of course) but his days off rotate weekly. This is a challenge too. Our kids are all older now and have pretty set schedules due to activities. I have to handle most of this on my own. I can only schedule activities for the kids if I can be the one to take them as DH is only available to help with kid stuff sporadically. And with his days off rotating weekly he almost never remembers what the kids and I have going on each day. It definitely feels like single parenting sometimes. He likes to spend time with us, which is nice, but his days off are often on days that are busy for the rest of us and he finds it frustrating that we aren’t available to have a day “off” when he is. 
    We have made it work for over 10 years now but it isn’t easy. Our marriage has had it’s challenges as well which adds to the difficulty. But we’ve managed. If I was working too I don’t know if we would have made it. I can definitely see why so many shift work marriages and LE marriages specifically end in divorce. 
 

[Buying and Selling Pet Peeves]

6 hours ago, Farrar said:

I totally read this as if you could buy and sell your pet peeves to other people and I thought, well, I'd love to get rid of some of mine, but who would want them? And then I realized what you meant.

Same. I was thinking “What? I can sell my pet peeves? Cool! But who would want them and why in the world would I want to buy anyone else’s?!” Then I realized I should probably get some sleep or something. Ha! 

[Habit trackers similar to 1000 hours outside]

Thanks! I hadn’t thought to google kid’s habit trackers. There are so many ways to google this. I want to do this myself too for some habits I’d like to work on. Seems like doing it with my teens would be a good idea. I’ve found close to what I want but not exactly so I may just modify something meant for another purpose. 

[Habit trackers similar to 1000 hours outside]

I have sedentary kids and would like to encourage more activity for all of us as we go into a new school year. I’m thinking an activity tracker similar to the sheets available from the 1000 hours outside page (but with fewer spaces) would maybe be fun for my artsy kids. I’d like to make each coloring “space” only 15 minutes so I don’t want too many spaces. I also would like to know how many spaces there are without having to count them up. Does anyone know of anything like this? There must be something but I can’t figure out how to search it. 

[Immunity from vaccination vs prior COVID infection? (spin out from lockdown thread)]

1 minute ago, AbcdeDooDah said:

Go to account. Then ignore users. You can add him from there. I learned this last night. 😊

Thanks. I’ve been here for years and typically don’t mind reading “all sides” or just scrolling by some people. But some posts are too short and I read too fast. I end up catching everything before I get past things I’d rather not see. 
 

Off to find this “ignore” feature. 

[Immunity from vaccination vs prior COVID infection? (spin out from lockdown thread)]

How do you block someone on here? I don’t comment often but I read a lot and there’s some things I just don’t need to read. 

[IEW - Writing Research Papers]

On 8/5/2021 at 3:55 PM, Momto6inIN said:

I think you're supposed to find them on your own online and provide them for the students for the beginner level. I found it confusing too, and we ended up just picking our own topic and researching it instead of trying to find the articles that were suggested.

Thanks. I like the looks of it overall and I think the step by step instructions will be helpful. It’s just not laid out as clearly as the other IEW materials we’ve used. Maybe I’ll choose a new topic too. The suggested articles are pretty dated at this point anyway. 

[nm]

9 hours ago, PeterPan said:

It happens, lol. Sometimes you can think yourself in circles! The best thing is always to go figure out someone else. Much easier than solving your own quandries. 😁

Yes! I was definitely thinking in circles! Took a break yesterday and will get back to it today. The goal is to finish the planning by the end of this week and this middle school history/literature thing is the last one. The end is in sight! 
But yes, solving other’s “stuff” is definitely easier! I’ve gotten a good amount of school planning done for my sister lately and found that to be MUCH easier. LOL 

[nm]

17 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Not a lot out there in that time period -- most booklists jump from Ancients into mid/late Medieval. Below are a few titles to get you started.

You might also consider adding in some folktales from around the world, as well as Norse mythology, and the Arabian Nights, as those tales were in oral tradition during the late Ancient/early Middle Ages -- just not written down/translated until much later. Also, especially for China, a lot of nonfiction history that is called "Ancient" is really set during this early Middle Ages time period.

Another thought is to look at a few history timelines, pull out ideas of major people, and look for biographies or historical fiction about them that would work for your ages. (Adult historical fiction often includes adult topics, so you'd want to preview...)

BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.
__________________________

4th century (300-400)
- ?

5th century (400-500)
- Britain = King Arthur (Pyle) -- classic literature
- Roman Britain = Black Horses for the King (McCaffrey) -- historical fiction; King Arthur
- Roman Britiain = The Lantern Bearers (Sutcliffe) -- historical fiction

6th century (500-600)
- China = Royal Diaries: Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South (Yep)
- Korea = Royal Diaries: Sŏndŏk: Princess of the Moon and Stars (Holman)

7th century (600-700)
- Britain = Beowulf (Morpurgo retelling, or other retelling) -- classic Anglo-Saxon literature, written between 600-900AD

8th century (700-800)
- Middle East = Arabs in the Golden Age -- nonfiction (flourished from 8th-14th centuries)
- Africa = The Empire of Ghana (Green) -- nonfiction; (empire ran from 300-1200AD, but esp. flourished 700-1000AD)
- Mesoamerica = Royal Diaries: Lady of Palenque: Flower of Bacal (Kirwan) -- historical fiction/real person
- France = Son of Charlemagne (Willard) -- historical fiction/real person

9th century (800-900)
- Middle East = Arabs in the Golden Age -- nonfiction (flourished from 8th-14th centuries)
- Africa = The Empire of Ghana (Green) -- nonfiction; (empire ran from 300-1200AD, but esp. flourished 700-1000AD)
- Mesoamerica = Well of Sacrifice (Eboch) -- historical fiction, Mayan culture

Thank you Lori! I always appreciate your posts. I’ll look through these ideas and see what my library has.
 

Your “confused” reaction was completely warranted. LOL I was confusing myself at that point. I think I was on my fourth edit of the post and/or title and was completely confused myself! I was definitely overthinking and then I started mixing up dates and time periods in my head and wasn’t sure if my question was making sense. So I just deleted it. I just needed to take a break, I think. Anyway…thanks again!  

[The “vaccination divide” in the US]

This conversation about fetal cell use in vaccine production is a good one to have, I’m sure, but that wasn’t my question. I was actually just wondering if anyone knows whether J&J is at all effective against delta. I suppose I could go look for that information myself but I’ve been busy and the women here are usually so informed I thought maybe I could save myself the trouble. One more shot and I guess then I’ll have to stop being lazy and go do my own research. So….does anyone know how effective J&J is against delta? My friends’ hesitation could POSSIBLY be because of fetal cell use, but I don’t actually know that it is. 
 

Also, does anyone know how close novavax is to being approved? Or how it’s looking against delta? 

[The “vaccination divide” in the US]

29 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Do you know why they are opposed to Johnson and Johnson?

Possibly because of fetal cells but I don’t know if that would be an issue with Novavax as well. Primarily, these friends are among the vaccine hesitant who are now considering getting off the fence and getting a vaccine. The J&J would be a first choice (among approved vaccines) but if it doesn’t have any effectiveness against delta it seems kind of pointless as delta is responsible for the vast majority of cases around here. 

[The “vaccination divide” in the US]

Does anyone know how the J&J is holding up against delta? I’ve seen reports about how “they” think pfizer is doing but nothing about J&J. 
 

Also, has anyone heard anything new about novavax? When it might be approved? How it does against delta? Last I heard it was highly effective, comparable to the initial effectiveness of mRNA vaccines, but with significantly reduced side effects. I believe I read that it was extremely effective against variants as well but I don’t know if delta was one of them. I read an article about it a few weeks ago (that I can’t find now) suggesting this might be the better vaccine option once approved. I know several people who are hesitant to take an mRNA vaccine that would happily take this option if it was available. 

[nm]

Deleted because I’ve been planning for next school year non-stop for days and I no longer know what I’m talking about or what I actually need. I’m going to come up with a loose plan and then wing it for the rest. Ha!