Rachel
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Posts posted by Rachel
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I used the First Years Tub that the above poster mentioned for all three of my kids, it's worked well for me. You should be able to find it at Walmart, Target, or Babies R Us.
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You can use it on your computer but the app lets you scan books. It's available for both apple and android phones.
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On Goodreads you can keep track of whether or not you own books. You could create a shelf for donations too then remove it once you have made the donation.
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Kindergarten son using Primary Math, I assign all problems in both the textbook and workbook, we only do some of the activities in the HIG as he seems to be grasping the concepts at this point. He is also doing Miquon orange, we do one or two pages a week and have skipped some pages.
Earlier this year when he was doing Essential Math (SM kindergarten), I skipped quite a bit especially in book A, a lot of the concepts were at more of a preschool level.
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I found that as we left traditional school at 2nd grade, we were already plugged into traditional activities. We did not do a lot with other homeschoolers, for a lot of the reasons you mentioned. That was great for the first few years, but then I realized that the kids and I both needed to spend some time with others who were experiencing this life.
As much as homeschool is growing, we are still a bunch of social rebels out on a limb. I talked to another homeschool mom and she had the same issue. Last spring we started a homeschool recess. We started a FB group, very local as most homeschool activities seem to on the other side of town. We picked a day and met at the park once a week. As it got colder we talked to local libraries. Most wanted to charge, but one gives 2 hours free to any non profit children's group (not registered non profit, just no sales). We meet and bring board games and such.
We have stayed away from organizing anything. If one or 2 families don't show up, no biggie. No one is relying on anyone. It is purely a time for the kids to play and the moms to talk. Just a thought as it was really not much to set up, and now it just happens each week.
Other than that, we do stick with traditional activities. TKD and Dance are great ones. We also have a middle school boys choir that my son does. The director is great with working with them as their voices are changing.
I love the idea of using the library, I may have to steal this idea. I don't mind the park, but right now it's too cold.
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I struggle with this too, my son is craving male friendships. I like to just be at home, one kid activity per week is enough for me, otherwise other things fall through the cracks. Plus my other two kids still need naps (or rest time). We are very active at church but our life group only has girls, our best friends only have girls, the two homeschool boys who are semi-close to my son's age live 30+ minutes away in different directions. Trying to work out a time to get together is hard, the day we are free they have co-op. The day they are free I have bible study. We have a ton of co-ops here, but I'd really just like to find a park or support group. Our library has a group twice a month and I have found a weekly gym class for homeschoolers, but they meet during naptime for my youngest he can only miss his nap one time a week or he's a bear. I think (hope!) it will get easier in a year or two.
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My son is working through the Miquon Orange book. Today he did a bunch of review problems (addition, some subtraction, multiplication) and nailed them all. THEN on the other side of the sheet he got several problems wrong and they were all involving the same thing: solving for x when x minus something equals something. So for instance, one problem was x-2=3. His answer to x was 1. Of course this comes from the fact that he was somehow turning this into 3-2=1. If I give him 5-x=3 he will get it. If I give him 5-2=x he will definitely get that. But somehow it is very hard for him to grasp the concept of solving for x when x is the 'largest' number in this equation.
I stopped everything and worked with him a bit. I hesitate to say "you are trying to find the LARGER" number because he understands at least the concept of negative numbers, and you *can* subtract a large number from a small number if you wind up with a negative! So I am trying to call the first number in the subtraction equation the "whole" number--and we have the parts, we just have to find the whole. I demonstrated how this is basically the reverse function of adding. He gets it--sort of vaguely. He seems to kind-of-sort-of-grasp it, but I stopped working on it before math fatigue set in because I try to be sensitive to his needs.
(ETA: I also drew a number line and we used that to try to visualize the concept and solve the problems. It maybe helped??)
We'll work on it again in the morning.
But in the meantime: is there a better way to teach this specific type of problem?
I didn't get a chance to read through all the responses so someone may have already suggested this.
Education Unboxed has a game "what's in the box?" You basically set up a problem with one of the rods in a box. The child has to figure out which is missing. Playing that game might help him see what he is doing visually.
http://www.educationunboxed.com/whats_in_the_box_1.html; http://www.educationunboxed.com/whats_in_the_box_2.html
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I've been using xtramath.com, the Math Blasters app, and the mental math sheets from the back. Some days I'll write a few problems from the mental math sheets on the whiteboard and have him answer them. Other days I have him see how many he can do in 3 minutes.
I have thought about using the chart of facts to learn (I know it's in the HIG but can't remember if it is also in the textbook) and letting my son choose 1-3 facts per day to learn. I'd have him pick and then ask him several times throughout the day.
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I have a 4 & 6 year old (plus an 18 month old). I let the 4 year old sit at the table with us as long as she isn't distracting. I give her the option before we start school to play in her room or do school with us. She usually chooses school but she knows that if she gets too distracting she plays in her room. It isn't a punishment, but she knows that she can't be distracting. Today she played with Cuisennaire rods at the table, other times she'll color, or play with her Playmobile people. When we first started out (she was 3.5 then) I let her do pre-writing worksheets I found online (tracing circles, squiggly lines, etc), she really enjoyed those.
Some days I can tell she is going to try to talk my ear off, so I compromise and have her play in her room just for math time, the subject my son needs the most direct instruction. It is also the subject she likes the best and she is always trying to answer for him. Knowing the time is limited seems to help her.
I have found over the last few months that it helps if I do read aloud time before we start school and let my daughter pick a book and sit on my lap while we read. We used to do reading last, but flipping the order has helped her be less distracting.
She did not naturally play on her own the way my son has, over the past 4-5 months of doing school, she has learned how to do it and now she seems to enjoy it.
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My son is 6, once he took off with reading I just let him read. I still do read aloud to him and his siblings, we also listen to audio books. I have him read aloud to me a few times a week, partly because he enjoys it. He reads on his own as much as he can.
I generally choose the books I read aloud and he chooses what he reads in free time. At the library I usually pick out a few books for him that he may not have otherwise chosen, it's helped expand his horizons some. I've used the "Read Aloud Handbook", suggestions on here, and reading lists from the library to help me find appropriate books.
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The bottom part of mine rotate in, it's pretty easy to clean the bottom half. I very carefully reach through to clean the upper part, they don't get as clean since it's hard to reach all the way up.
Before we sold our old house we had the older types of windows with storm glass that were a pain to clean. We saw a sign on the side of the road for window cleaning. Two brothers did it as a side job and we hired them to do our windows, it was worth every penny to not have to deal with all those panes of glass. I don't remember what it cost but we don't hire people to do anything so I know it was reasonable.
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My situation is a little different. When my husband travels, once he returns he usually takes a day off to spend with us. It can be disruptive to our regular schedule. What I have found works for us is to all eat breakfast together and then start school a bit late.
Then Dad does something with the two younger kids like running errands or playing a game. We have a separate homeschool room so I take my son up there to do school. He is just in K now so school goes pretty quickly, especially without the other two causing distractions. It works well for us because my older son then gets alone time with dad later in the day while the other two nap. As the kids get older we will probably do light days when my husband is at home.
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If you are celebrating an anniversary or birthday let them know ahead of time. We got a more private booth and they had a couple complimentary things for us and a special certificate. It's been a couple years now so the details are hazy but it was a really fun date night.
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Does it say anywhere that Laura was dyslexic? My dad (a dyslexic, so very into that) told me this. With her mom being a school teacher and all, I wonder if that was one source of friction. Dyslexia was usually assumed to be either disinterest or stupidity, until recent years.
I haven't seen anything along those lines. Everything I have read said that Laura enjoyed writing and reading even as a young girl. I know that dyslexia is more complicated than this, but I would think her enjoyment of reading would have come later if she was dyslexic.
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I checked out the DK Biography on dear Laura after reading so many facts about her in that other thread about On the Shores of Silver Lake. It was a nice and quick read.
But.... I couldn't believe how little she saw of her family after she got married. Not only that, but when she went to see Pa as he was dying in 1902, that was the last time she saw Ma ever. Ma died in 1924 and Laura didn't go for the funeral. Was money so tight that she couldn't afford a train ticket? I wish the book told a little more of Carrie and Grace, but I guess there isn't much connection with Laura since she said Grace seemed like a stranger to her,"only now and then something familiar about her face," when she stopped to visit her in 1931.
Sigh...
I just read "Laura's Album" by William Anderson, its geared toward elementary students but has lots of pictures of the family, some copies of letters, and copies of newspaper announcements. Our library lost his longer biography so they are reordering it for me, I'm looking forward to reading it once it arrives.
I found it interesting that Caroline and two of her sisters all married Ingalls brothers. Also that Laura apparently rode on an airplane after visting rose in CT at some point later in life.
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Cholula, the best hot sauce. Peanut butter, I tried various options for a year including making my own and went back to Jif. Trader Joes tortillas, making my own wasn't worth it and my husband really dislikes whole grain tortillas. I also make Kraft shells and cheese macaroni for the kids about once a month.
My husband isn't as worried about real food as I am, so if he does the shopping or majority of cooking for the week all bets are off.
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We have one as our homeschool table. It works well to keep the 18 month old from grabbing things off the table.
I like having a table that height for cake decorating and cutting out sewing projects. I'm short and my husband is over a foot taller than me, my feet do not touch the ground when I sit on a regular chair unless I sit on the front edge. If we got smaller chairs for me, his knees would be in his face. With our counter height chairs I can rest my feet on the cross bars and he can put his feet on the ground.
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When I lived up north I always had a winter kit and never let my gas tank get below half. My kit included a shovel, boots, coveralls, tools (which I have no idea how I'd use but my dad made me), flashlight, jumper cables, food, water, and a sleeping bag.
Now I'm not that prepared. I do have a blanket in the car and usually have water, certainly not enough for me and 3 kids for any length of time. I always insist on the kids being dressed appropriately for the weather too. It's rare that the roads are too bad to travel on but I have been stuck while an accident is being cleared. I probably should prepare better.
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I've actually done this even when I didn't live in the same town. If you deal with them directly, your money can sometimes go farther.
True. My grandparents and SIL live in a bigger cities so I haven't done that for them because I don't know which florists are reputable.
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In the past when I haven't been home they have left them with a neighbor. Yes, you can order online, I do find it more expensive but sometimes you can find codes for flowers.com.
If you live in the same town you can call a florist directly. They will tell you what the procedure is if she isn't home and possibly you could request something different. If you don't have an idea of what you want tell them your price limit and the florist will help you.
You could also deliver them (or a meal) yourself.
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My first international trip was the Dublin area of Ireland, I would love to go back. I went with my SIL and MIL, they continued on to Scotland but I didn't have the time off to go. I would love to go back with my husband and kids one day.
My dad has travelled some internationally. He has been most impressed with Denmark and China (Bejing area). My SIL loved Germany and Austria, she only speaks English and did fine.
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My grandma always threw link sausage in with her pinto beans, maybe some onion too. It's really simple but one of my favorite meals, of course mine never tastes like hers.
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It should be interesting comparing the pioneers of the US to Australia.
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It sounds more like you have a layout issue than a space issue. Do you use all the bedrooms or could one be converted to storage space?
Our old house was 1000 square feet, we had a small shed out back. Anything that typically went in a garage like tools was out there. When we lived in a 700 square foot duplex before that, the tools stayed locked in my husbands tool chest in the bed of his truck. We kept a hammer and two screw drivers in the house just in case.
Our house had a closet in each of the three bedrooms but they were small. My husband raised one hanging rod, and put a shelf above it that I stored out of season clothes and shoes on. He added a second hanging rod below the first, doubling the hanging space. Shoes were kept on the floor of the closets.
Make use of cabinet and under bed space. I had to stack pots and pans in weird ways to free up cabinet space for other things. I used a cedar chest both for blanket storage and extra seating in our living room.
For me I just couldn't keep things I didn't have space for. I kept one Rubbermaid tub for Christmas decorations because that was all I could store. We had limited wardrobes and I did laundry more frequently. My kids toys had to fit in one of three baskets, if they got something new, something else had to go. We moved into that house before kids so it became harder to store things after having kids but we made do. While we technically didn't have attic storage we did have access. My husband put some sheeting down to create some storage up there, because it got really hot in the summer and cold in the winter we had to be very careful with what we stored up there.
In our current house we have a lot more space. My husband made a shelf over our garage door for little used items.
IKEA has some neat ideas for storage solutions.
Has Anyone Read French Kids Eat Everything?
in The Chat Board
Posted
I have a friend that bring drinks for her kids to my house too. My kids are big milk drinkers and this particular friend thinks I am torturing them.
I've read the book and really enjoyed it. However, it didn't really change or influence how I fed my kids because it was similar to how I already fed them. We don't have a set snack time in our house, but if the kids are hungry in the afternoon they'll ask for fruit, nuts, or occasionally carrots with peanut butter. We don't keep crackers, chips, etc. in the house. We only have cookies if we have happened to make them which isn't often.
My 6 year old is a great eater and loves trying new things. He especially likes spicy foods which always surprises me. My 4 and 1 year old are stubborn eaters (picky isn't the right word). Neither likes tomatoes, but they do generally try some of whatever is served and both like a decent variety of foods. They all love typical kid foods but with the exception of mac & cheese on occasion, I don't fix them.