Rachel
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Posts posted by Rachel
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Update:
I purchased the jr. set, it seems to be the right level for my son. I can see eventually getting some add-on sets, but will wait and see what happens when the newness wears off.
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I'll add to the chorus to give her time, at 3.5 I wouldn't be worried about not knowing letters or being able to count yet. Chances are your daughter has strengths in other areas. My oldest and middle are night and day. It's hard not to compare children to their siblings but they all do things at their own pace.
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I will agree that Essential Math is pretty easy, knowing what I know now, I would have started with Essential Math B, instead of A.. I started it with my 5 year old who turned 6 mid-year, he flew through it. My 4 year old is not officially doing school, but when she asks, I let her do some of the pages in Essential Math A. I think it is appropriate for a 4 year old who enjoys doing schoolwork. If you go Rainbow Resource's website you can look at the table of contents and a few sample pages. It may give you a feel for whether it is appropriate for you son.
It took awhile to fall into this pattern, but what is working well for us is Miquon Orange one day a week, one day doing an activity from Education Unboxed, and 3 days of Singapore 1A (starting 1B in the next couple weeks). I did not introduce Miquon until my son had already completed EM A & B. There is no reason you couldn't do just Miquon though. I really liked Miquon once I figured out how different it is from more traditional programs. It's more about letting children explore concepts on their own. The 1st Grade Diary and Notes to the Teacher helped me immensely in understanding how Miquon works. Just looking at the student books was a bit overwhelming as there are minimal instructions. If you need a lot of guidance teaching it may not work for you.
If you like the looks of Miquon, there is a free pre-Miquon Cuisenaire activity booklet that a mom made available free for personal use. My kids really enjoyed the activities.
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When my kids are needing to burn off energy but we can't get outside I'll turn on music so they can dance. We also do indoor Olympics, I'll tell them to run up and down the stairs 3 times, run two loops around the kitchen, do 10 jumping jacks, etc for 20-30 minutes. They go hard.
Outside I have found hiking and swimming both help a lot. When we hike I think my kids go twice as far as I do since they weave back and forth and run ahead.
My kids really enjoy digging and hammering too. A box of nails and a scrap 2x4 can keep them busy for hours.
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Thanks for the feedback! Participating is completely his idea, he heard about the contests and asked if he could enter them.
As far as the issue with the rambling story, I would just let him finish writing it and then have him count up the words to see that he's written too much. Then it would be easy to say, "This story is too long for the contest. What part do you want to take out to make the story short enough? Is there a part you can cross out, but the story would still make sense?" Hopefully he would cross out the rambling parts himself. I don't think I would be comfortable coming in and choosing which parts to edit out or telling him which parts to edit out. In a regular "teaching writing" situation I would do that and view it as writing instruction, but I just wouldn't feel comfortable doing that for a contest where it's supposed to be the child's own work.
I think you have to remember that most of the kids participating in any writing contest attend b&m schools where there is nobody looking over their writing for them. It is 100% their own work. That is the standard I want to hold my children to for competitions.
I like that idea. It hadn't occurred to me to approach it in that way.
I definitely want him to submit his own work, that's why I wasn't certain what sort of assistance would be appropriate from me.
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There are a couple writing contests going on in my area that my 6 year old would like to participate in. I am not worried about whether or not he wins, but I do want him to do his best work. I think he will get feedback from one of the contests but not the other.
One contest is open ended, they write and illustrate a story about anything they want. For kindergarten it is supposed to be 25-200 words. It can be typed or an adult can write the words if needed to ensure legibility.
The other contest has a specific topic and has to be under 150 words. So far my son's is well over 200 words and it is way off topic, he doesn't want to leave out any details :). I am tempted to let him keep writing and then have him submit the paragraph that does fit the guidelines.
I have not worked with him on any grammar yet, but he loves writing stories and has already written a few "books". He will only be competing against other kindergarten students. Would you have your 6 year old write a rough draft before the final copy? I know he needs to use proper spelling at a minimum so that the judges can read it. What level of editing would be appropriate in this situation?
I cross posted this on the pre-K/K board too.
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There are a couple writing contests going on in my area that my 6 year old would like to participate in. I am not worried about whether or not he wins, but I do want him to do his best work. I think he will get feedback from one of the contests but not the other.
One contest is open ended, they write and illustrate a story about anything they want. For kindergarten it is supposed to be 25-200 words. It can be typed or an adult can write the words if needed to ensure legibility.
The other contest has a specific topic and has to be under 150 words. So far my son's is well over 200 words and it way off topic, he doesn't want to leave out any details :). I am tempted to let him keep writing and then have him submit the paragraph that does fit the guidelines.
I have not worked with him on any grammar yet, but he loves writing stories and has already written a few "books". He will only be competing against other kindergarten students. Would you have your 6 year old write a rough draft before the final copy? I know he needs to use proper spelling at a minimum so that the judges can read it. What level of editing would be appropriate in this situation?
I will cross post this on the writing board as well.
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Thanks for the replies. I'll definitely look into the battery eliminator. I think the Jr. Kit is the way to go.
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I've heard about Snap Circuits on the boards, but until today had no clue what they were. I'd like to purchase a set for my kids (6 &4), but I'm not sure what I need.
It appears there are a lot of different options with a lot of different price points. The Snap Jr. set is $22 on Amazon, it looks like this set comes with instructions for 100 projects. My son is the type of child who will go through the book and do every single project, after he's done he'll likely want to experiment on his own. He had a chance to play with a set today and hated to have to quit playing with it.
What would you recommend as a starter kit? I'm leaning toward starting with the junior kit and then adding to it later. Is this the type of thing that I would want one set per child?
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Listening in, I'm interested in these as well.
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If you have a college bookstore, you should be able to find good pencils in the drafting/engineering area that you may not find at an office store. I've had this pencil (in a different size) for at least 18 years: Koh-i-noor Rapidmatic. It's a little expensive for a 9 year old unless she is really good at keeping track of things. My engineer dad liked his so much he gave me one. I used it daily through high school and college and now just when I need a pencil which is not near as often as I once did.
My husband found one he really liked at Office Depot, it's in the $7 range, I think it's a Uniball.
As far as reliability, are you referring to the actual mechanics of the pencil, or are you having trouble with lead breaking? If it is lead breaking, try pencils that accept a wider lead. I like 0.5mm lead, I can get a fine line without much breakage. My kids need 0.9mm lead because they push harder. You can also purchase different hardness of lead. I've usually use HB which is pretty standard, but I like 2B as well because it makes a darker line without having to push harder.
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A Dog on His Own was a fun audiobook, I would not have enjoyed reading it at all. My kids are pretty young so I'm not sure older kids would like it though.
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I hate being late but when my kids were 4 and 2 and I was pregnant with #3, I could never get anywhere on time. I'm a homebody and used it as an excuse not to go anywhere.
Then I signed my oldest up for swimming lessons. With doctor appointments, church, bible study, and lessons we had somewhere to be 4-5 mornings for 2 months, after a couple weeks I was able to be on time consistently. It took practice to figure out a routine.
Now when I start struggling to be on time, I schedule places to go. Mornings can still be chaotic but it helps to pick clothes out the night before. The kids dress after breakfast, otherwise blueberries end up on everything. I keep toothbrushes downstairs. I always shoot to leave 20 minutes earlier than necessary since that seems to be the only way to cover last minute nose wipes, bathroom trips, etc.
Edited to correct typos.
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I think you got plenty of good advice about what to do with the refund. I think you need to talk to the hr person at your husband's work to reduce your tax holdings. Your refund would be smaller but you could have up to an extra $475 in your pocket every month. That would go a long way toward your debt and also help with the little emergencies that are causing the debt.
Hugs to you, I know it can be stressful when money is tight.
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I seem to remember Roald Dahl using them too. Conventions change, and apparently in 1950's England, ass and damn were colorful as opposed to offensive language. Faggot just meant exactly that, a bundle of sticks. My mom remembers cigarettes referred to as fags back in the 50s and early 60s in the south.
Also, pretty sure that overseas ass just means acting stupid and stubborn like a donkey. Arse is the vulgar word over there.
Colorful as opposed to offensive makes sense. My husband pointed out the difference in a$$ vs. arse.
Great topic. I love this kind of thing :)
Yes ass does mean donkey, and it can be used rudely, but it is a mild insult, not equivalent to a curse/swear word but more on the level of "you silly", or maybe "don't be a pig" if your child is eating with really bad manners. Around here you might also hear "arse!" which roughly means "bother!" and is only considered rude by the more delicate types of person (as in, it's the kind of thing I'd let the kids say but remind them that they probably shouldn't say it to their teacher).
I don't remember your D word in Narnia (and I really should, since I have a Narnia-obsessed child who has listened to the entire seven volumes at least 10 times!) - where was it? (I'm assuming you didn't just hear the bit about the beavers' dam when you weren't concentrating?!). Not sure about the UK, but that word certainly isn't considered rude by 99% of Australians. Oh just remembered, Uncle Andrew kept calling the witch "dem fine woman" didn't he?
When I was a kid in the 70s and 80s, fags meant cigarettes and there was even a type of candy by that name that was basically cigarettes made out of sugar. When it became illegal to promote smoking, they changed the name to Fads, but I don't think they're popular now.
It's fascinating how language evolves, though.
I am reading Huck Finn out loud again and I still find it hard to get that particular N word out - I keep feeling that the Inappropriate Language Police will swoop in and get me :lol:
There is a rant near the end, I think it was Fledge, he uses the D word a few times in a row. I think it was the several times in a row that surprised me more than the use of the word. We were in the car so it was in surround sound too.
Yes: ass means donkey or 'foolish person'. When Brits want to say backside they say 'arse'. 'Damn' is very commonly used - I wouldn't be surprised to see it in a book for older children.
Just an FYI: the habits required of Christians of different denominations and in different countries are not going to be the same. As one example: I had no idea, until I came across the idea on these boards, that there were Christians who felt that abstinence from alcohol was preferable for religious reasons. All the Christians I know in the UK drink moderately (unless they just don't like the taste).
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That's part of my curiosity, I've only lived in fairly conservative areas so I'm not always aware of what might be considered normal elsewhere.
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I'm curious about the changing meanings of words.
Recently my 6 year old son was reading to me while I was working in the kitchen, and read the word "faggot", I assumed he had mispronounced a word, so I reread the paragraph and realized that he had pronounced the word correctly. I immediately knew the word had a meaning I was not familiar with, it took a bit of searching online before I found the original meaning, sticks of wood tied together and used as fuel in a fire. I was a bit surprised but it was an older book, so I explained that the word also had an offensive meaning we don't use in our family.
Our family just finished listening to The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis and both my husband and I have been surprised by the use of a$$ and d@mn. The words were used a dozen or so times. As far as I know d@mn has always been considered a curse word although I think many people don't find it as offensive as some other curse words. I know that a$$ can also refer to a donkey, but in this book it was used as name calling. When I come across curse words in children's literature, I usually think the book was probably written for children older than my own. However, C.S. Lewis was a Christian and I have heard that The Chronicles of Narnia stories are based on biblical stories (I know that has been debated, I do not know what Lewis said about this and this is my first time through the series). As a Christian, I know some Christians curse, but I do think that Christians in general think cursing is wrong and try to avoid it.
Have the meanings of those words changed over time? Are/were those words considered cursing in the UK? Would those words have been offensive at the time these books were written (1950s)? What is a good resource for learning about the history of individual words or how they are used differently in different countries?
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You should both have one. If you died, you would want your dh, not the courts, to decide how to distribute your assets. In that FPU class, we also learned that some states divide assets like life insurance and bank accounts among spouse and your kids. If that happens, your dh might not have the funds available to raise your children because of laws requiring their portion to be held in a trust. I don't know all the details but that really stuck with me as scary.
Our state does that with your home as well if you don't have a will. So if my husband passed away, his portion of the house would be divided between me and my children even though my name is on the deed. That could cause problems later on when trying to sell the home.
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We were going to do it ourselves but ended up having an attorney friend help us. We are thankful we did it that route, we expect no one to contest it but there were some quirky laws in our state we wouldn't have known about otherwise. His fees were very reasonable for a straightforward will.
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We used to have a problem with ants in the bathroom at our old house. I couldn't find Terro and was nervous about using a spray since I was pregnant, so I cleaned the floors and wall with vinegar, it kept the ants away the rest of the summer.
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There is one I drive past regularly, they try to keep children's books in it. I've never used it though because parking is a bit of an issue on that street. When it gets nice enough for bike rides I plan to check it out.
I think if there was one near my house, then a homeless person would set up camp in it. True story.
The ones I have seen are about double the size of a bird house, they are truly little libraries holding maybe up to 10 books.
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A Little Princess
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I used Getty-Dubay with my son. It is continuous stroke, fairly straight forward.
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You can do it either way. I personally like fresh icing better, but it's personal preference. Most people will not notice a difference in flavor.
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Exercise & quitting caffeine.
Circe/Classical History ideas
in General Education Discussion Board
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I just read that thread too, as a result I put several books on hold at the library.
Curious about the history responses too.