[Vegans - would you eat this?]

That's what I thought. Am I also right in guessing that your "no" is based on more than just the taste and appearance of the stuff? 

[Vegans - would you eat this?]

(Cheese made with milk proteins grown in yeast that have been modified with DNA from mammals.) 

 

I'm really, truly not trying to start anything hostile, it's just that my cousin and I, neither of whom are remotely Vegan, have a difference of opinion on the subject, and I thought I'd see if I could get input from an actual Vegan. 

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/offbeat/milk-free-cheese-made-using-human-dna-strands/ar-AA2QyMS

[Been away for a while, what have I missed?]

Let us know when it gets published.  We'll have fun telling people that we "knew MamaSheep back before she was famous"!  

 

Ha! Will do, if it ever happens. And when I'm on book tour (har har) I'll tell them to let anyone who knows what WTM means come to the front of the line. :)

[Been away for a while, what have I missed?]

Wow. I sure have missed a lot. (And not so much...lol.) 

 

One thing I've been up to is attempting to be a "real" writer. It's been kind of weird, actually. I wrote a novel, because I always wanted to, and I wasn't sure if it was even still a possibility after the stroke. Apparently, life is short, and you can't count on your brain living through it intact (who knew? ;) ). You'll probably laugh--it's sci-fi romance, because I was pretty fed up with reality at the time. It was kind of meant to be a "practice" novel that nobody would see, because although I've been reading about novel writing for a while, reading about things like pacing and character arcs is way different than actually executing it in real life.  It turned out too long (because hey, it's me and I talk too much...heh...and because I needed to get a feel for how many words it takes me to get through a scene and so forth, since I never kept track before), and I showed it to some friends to see if they could suggest how to shorten it or split it into two books. One of the friends was a writer who has a friend who is an agent, and my writer friend was excited about my story, and was talking it up to her agent friend. The agent friend asked the writer friend to have me send her the manuscript. She did, I did, the agent liked it, and signed me on. Over the past few months I've been working at splitting the manuscript while still having both books work as complete stories, which has involved wedging some new scenes in and making them feel like they fit. It's been an interesting challenge, but I think I'm more or less happy with the split. I'm currently finishing up a final round of edits, and then my agent is going to start shopping it around to publishers. (Which, frankly, freaks me out just a bit.) I don't know if this will go anywhere, but it's definitely been an interesting road to go down and see where it leads. Last night, my first short story went live on my web site as "bonus material" for the novel (no spoilers, it just takes place in the same universe and one of the main characters from the book makes an appearance.)  So today, I'm waiting to see if any of my Facebook friends read it, and maybe share the link with their buddies. It's a bit nervewracking having it "out there"...lol. I'm such a baby. 

[Been away for a while, what have I missed?]

Welcome back!  I'm glad to hear things are improving for you health-wise.

 

In the last two years I've gone from having two at home to empty nesting AND my oldest got married.  It's been quite the change.  Fortunately, hubby and I get along super well, so we've been adapting our schedule, etc, together and enjoying it (allowing plenty of time for reminiscing).  Right now, those two are home for Christmas break.  I'm loving it!

 

Otherwise, to keep me occupied and learning a whole new language (medicalese), etc, they found a benign brain tumor... After radiation it's supposed to be stable now.  We'll know more for sure in June.  Since that's dropped off time-wise, my body is now playing around with other issues necessitating a 102 class in medicalese.  This one is providing far more questions than answers.  I'm not sure it belongs in a 102 class...  I'm finding myself wanting to drop the class, but my class advisers don't think that's a good idea.   :glare:  I do plan to skip out on class in Feb (nice spring break planned!).

 

And to keep me sane (besides having hubby around), I still teach/sub in our local high school part time and really enjoy it.

Yikes! I hope they find you some answers.

[Been away for a while, what have I missed?]

Hi Amy-- I missed you.  Welcome back.

  I didn't have a stroke though I had a stage 2 lateral Minor Traumatic Brain Injury (lateral), that is what concussions are called nowadays and the latest findings are that non bleeding concussions, like I had, can be just as bad as small bleeds that stop and lateral injuries are worse than front to back or vice versa.  Anyway, that happened to me in late March but I was already having so many other brain problems from lupus, perimenopause, and also not enough oxygen from my asthma getting worse, that altogether I have fallen apart this year.  So I relate to you and all who have strokes since I have many of the same problems and also having a slow recovery. Do you have a clotting disorder too or do you have the opposite?  I have two to three clotting conditions and am on lifelong coumadin too.  I was just very fortunate that my problems really got worse in very late 2013 to now and I only had one to homeschool and she is a senior and did dual enrollment, co-op classes, and self teaching for the most part.  

 

I hope everything keeps getting better for your family.

 

Good gravy! That does NOT sound fun at all. 

 

As it turns out, I actually have not one, but two genetic clotting disorders. My hematologist says that he's only met one other person who had two of them at the same time, and that was way back during his residency (or fellowship? or...something). Apparently I'm even more of a freak than we thought. ;) But at the time I was also pregnant, and over 40, both of which are additional clotting factors. (I lost the baby and they say I can't have any more, but I'd rather not talk about that if you guys don't mind.) They said it was probably a darn good thing that I was not also a smoker. A clot formed in the large vein leading out of my brain on the right side, and the back pressure blew a hole in my brain near the optic lobe. Apparently we're all astounded that I can still see. (I'm trying not to think too hard about that, too.) But I got to see a really cool 3-D model of the left side of my brain after it was all over, because when the CT showed a bleed they did an MRI with contrast, and since there was no blood circulating in the right side of my brain, all that showed up was the left. (Look, it's true, I only have half a brain! Tee hee.) It's actually pretty scary to think about, because I had that incredible headache for four days before I could get anyone to take me seriously. I'd been to urgent care twice, and this was my second trip to the ER, and they just kept telling me it was a migraine, and giving me fluids, tylenol, and benadryl (because I was pregnant and couldn't have anything stronger) and sending me home.

 

But anyway, yeah, two clotting disorders, and I'm getting old. 

 

And things have been getting much better for my family. Dh has gone back to teaching, and I must say I'm really liking the steady paychecks. 

[Been away for a while, what have I missed?]

I remember you! Missed you BAAAAAD. (get it? Sheep?)

 

Hahahaha! Ewe are so silly. ;)

[Need help pulling together some science stuff!]

I second the suggestion of getting help on the high school board for planning high school with early graduation. 

 

That said, for a middle school science, loosened up a bit, and allowing for more of a child-led approach, here's what I would suggest: 

 

Preparation: 

1) Schedule time, not topics. Instead of planning a list of topics, plan an amount of time each day, or each week, that you will spend learning about science. 

 

2) Get a good science encyclopedia, like this one from DK or this one from Kingfisher. Photocopy the table of contents, and place it in the front of a binder. Make tab dividers for the binder that match the major divisions in the table of contents. For example, if I were using the DK encyclopedia, I'd make dividers that say:

• How Scientists Work
• Matter
• Reactions
• Forces and Energy
• Electricity and Magnetism
• Sound and Light
• Earth
• Weather
• Space
• Living Things
• How Living Things Work
• Ecology

Although I might combine some of them, or even just divide it into Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Space, Living Things, and leave it at that. 

 

3) Get the  Thames and Kosmos kit called Elements of Science It has a good assortment of workable hands-on lab activities, and includes all the bits you need (except things like water, and I think batteries, but it's been a while since I got it, so I don't remember exactly--but I haven't had to buy extra stuff otherwise.) And one thing I like about it, as opposed to some other kits and science activity books, is that each project has an explanation with it about why it works. 

Execution: 
 

During science time, have your daughter pick a topic from the encyclopedia's table of contents, and read the pages about that topic (it's usually a two page spread, and it's got a very different feel to it than a textbook (IMO), and doesn't take very long if she's a good reader). . With your daughter, make a plan for studying that topic that includes the following: 

• Read about it (my shorthand for any sort of "input" on the subject -- the science encyclopedia entry, library books, watching documentaries, interviewing a professional in the field, etc.)
• Write about it (shorthand for any sort of "output" on the topic -- a report, an essay, an outline of a chapter in a book, a drawing of a relevant diagram, a lapbook-style minibook or manipulative, etc.)
• Do it (something hands-on: a lab activity from the kit, an experiment proposed by the student, a field trip, model, poster, etc.)

You can approach these in any order, and you could do more than one thing in each category. For example, you could do an activity from the kit to spark interest, then read about the principle involved in the science encyclopedia, then watch a documentary, read a library book, watch a video on You Tube, and then have her write a bulleted list of facts she remembers, or a description of what happened in the You Tube video, etc. Or you could have her read the encyclopedia pages and make an outline from them, then do an activity from the kit. Or you could go on a field trip to a natural history museum, have her take a picture of something there that interests her and write down what she remembers from the museum, then look up that topic in the encyclopedia and add a few facts to her report page. Whatever form it takes, and whatever order it happens in, just make sure you get those three things-- 1) input, 2) output, and 3) hands-on experience --done for the topic you're working on.

 

Record keeping: 

 

Put the "output" (outline, diagram, lab report, photograph of model, bullet list, notes, etc.) in the binder behind the appropriate tab. 

 

On the photocopy of the table of contents that's in the front of the binder, mark that topic in some manner (highlighter, cross out, check mark, etc.) so you know you've already explored that topic. (That doesn't mean you can't come back and revisit topics of interest, it just helps you have a good overview of what you've covered, and what other topics haven't yet been touched upon.)

 

 

 

One nice thing about this method is that you can get a decent basic understanding of a topic just from what the encyclopedia mentions, leave it at that and move on, or you can take however long you want on a topic of interest, and dig into more depth if you want. For example, if your daughter is into astronomy, you could start with topics from the "Space" section, and if she wants to dig deeper, you could add a more advanced book, like Universe:The Definitive Visual Guide, which covers a number of the same topics, but in greater depth and at a more high school to adult level. Her notebook might have outlines of info about each planet from the science encyclopedia, a photo of the telescope she built with the Thames and Kosmos kit (along with a brief diagram and explanation of how the lenses work), an article clipped from a science magazine, and a list of interesting facts from "Universe", a list of important space exploration vehicles or missions, a brief biography of a famous astronomer, a timeline of important discoveries in astronomy, and so on. Or maybe she'll read about how the electromagnetic spectrum factors in to imaging objects in space, and want to go off on a tangent about ultraviolet light or whatever. Either way, if she puts in a reasonable amount of time on a regular basis, she'll learn a lot, and you'll have a good record of her studies. Also, you have control over the amount of planning and prep you've got time and energy for (kit projects don't take much, interviewing a pro might take more, but you can pick) which for me is a big bonus. 

 

Just remember, read about it, write about it, do it. OR input, output, hands-on. Mix and match. Put it in the binder, mark it off the list. 

 

Also, you could continue this for 8th grade, depending on how you need to structure things for early graduation. 

 

Anyway, good luck, and I hope this helps. 

 

 

ETA: I think I forgot to mention this, but one of the nice things about the science encyclopedia format is that each topic stands alone and isn't dependent on knowing the material that comes before it (unlike text books). That makes it easy to skip around without getting lost. Also, if you did want to continue this approach in high school as a "general science" kind of class for a non-science major (which it sounds like your daughter would probably be?), you could use the Usborne Illustrated Dictionary of Science as your encyclopedia "spine" (it's a bit more advanced), and just plan to supplement more. :)

[Homeschooling some kids, others in PS?]

Ds (will be 18 in April) was in public school until the end of 3rd grade. Then we homeschooled him exclusively (except for some therapies by appointment through the special ed dept. at the local school) until 10th grade, when he started taking one class per year at the high school, largely to learn to tolerate a classroom environment (he's very bright but has social and sensory issues that make school very uncomfortable for him). This year he's taking a college-level course through a program which we access through the high school, but which actually meets at a different location that seems to be more comfortable for ds (bonus!). 

 

Dd went to public school for Kindergarten and first grade, was homeschooled for second and third grade, went back to ps for fourth through sixth, and is now in seventh grade. We decided at the beginning of the year to try the public school until Christmas and see how it went, but she's having some serious enough issues there that we'll be bringing her home part time. 

 

The upshot is, I've had an elementary student at school and a preschooler at home, then a homeschooled upper elementary student and a public schooled lower elementary student, then two homeschoolers (the easiest year by far to do field trips and other fun trips), then a middle school-to-high school student at home with an elementary student at school. Now we'll be doing part time both places with both kids. 

 

I like that we can get the best of both. Like others have said, the thing that chafes most is the limitations placed on our time by the school schedule. We've also had a few issues with dd being jealous of ds when she was in school and he wasn't (when she was in K and 1st; being homeschooled for a couple of years cured her of that...lol). I've found that it helps to be open with the kids about our reasons for choosing the educational placement for each that we have, and why we believe each child's situation is the best fit for him or her. They're smart kids, they can follow the reasoning. We have also discussed the fact that both arrangements have pros and cons, and that in a lot of ways each is as annoying and/or awesome as the other. And although we reserve the right as the parents to make the final decisions about such things, we do ask our kids about their preferences and priorities, and take those into consideration when we're weighing options. I think the kids appreciate the fact that we're making decisions for each of them as individuals, taking their individual personalities, strengths, and challenges into consideration, rather than just stuffing them both into a one-size-fits-all schooling situation. They're very different from each other.

 

Anyway, overall, it's been a good experience around here, even with the challenges that crop up from time to time. 

[Been away for a while, what have I missed?]

Oooh! I found the zombies!  :zombie:  :zombiechase:

 

Also a ninja.  :ph34r:

 

Party!

:party:

[Been away for a while, what have I missed?]

So glad to hear you're doing better!

 

In the past year-ish we've had some boardies in major car accidents, we've had the birth of triplets to one poster, the loss of loved ones by many, and some major health events with some others.

 

So.....life stuff. And it keeps marching on.

 

Shoes in the house is not as hot these days. Kurieg only heats up if Bill wades in. :p

 

The threads about social justice issues are where the flames have been hottest lately.

 

Well, those and anything Duggar adjacent.

 

Politics are still taboo.

 

February still finds people snippy and grumpy.

 

There is still no consensus on if virtual homeschoolers are "real" homeschoolers, if the world is getting better or on an express train to hell, or if the Oxford comma should live on.

 

And wait to you hear what DawnM and Unsinkable did to Catwoman...........

 

:p

Hahaha! So, same old forum then. That's good to know. (Except hooray for new babies, and I'm so sorry for those who have lost loved ones. We've lost a few around here lately too. Also, just found out my little sister is getting married...)

DawnM AND Unsinkable? Oh, poor Catwoman!

[Need materials for learning Lua]

My daughter wants to learn it, and I am clueless. She took a programming workshop thing for teens this summer at the college where my dh teaches, and apparently did well, but I am very NOT a computer person, and don't even know where to begin. 

 

Dh keeps saying he'll see what he can find in the way of Lua instructional materials, but then he keeps not having time, so I thought I'd ask here. :)

[Been away for a while, what have I missed?]

Well, let me tell  you about that DawnM . . . .  

 

Now that you mention it, I think I've heard rumors....lol....

[Been away for a while, what have I missed?]

Awesome! Zombies! I'll have to re- figure out how those darn smilies work. I think the format here changed not long before I went AWOL, and either it got erased from my brain (which is a possibility, that sort of thing happens) or I never really figured out this format in the first place. Must go zombie hunting. 

 

But I have to say, Benedict doesn't really do it for me. Not sure why, my sister thinks he's hot stuff, but for some reason, he's just not my cuppa. There is a slight possibility that I might have a small celebrity crush on Jared Padalecki, but I hadn't thought about him in terms of kilts...hmmm....

 

Of course, my number 1 kilt guy (who sadly doesn't even own a kilt, even though his roots are definitely Scottish) is still my hubs. He's awesome. 

[Been away for a while, what have I missed?]

HA!  I was going to fill her in with incorrect gossip......torrid affairs, drama, drugs, arrests.......man, I was really planning to have some fun!

 

 

Oooh! That sounds like fun. I say go for it. :)

[Been away for a while, what have I missed?]

I remember you!  What's new?  We can't post direct pictures of kilts and cupcakes anymore but we can post links.  (I think there is a sticky about all that at the top from SWB).  

 

Yeah I saw that, and wondered what drama had brought that on. Someone must've complained about copyright infringement or something. Kind of a bummer, but definitely understandable. And hey if kilts and cupcakes aren't worth clicking through links for, what is? Lol. 

[Been away for a while, what have I missed?]

Yay! Familiar faces! Thank you for the nice welcome back. :)

 

And thanks for the good wishes health-wise. I actually had my 2-year check up at the neurosurgeon's office a couple of weeks ago, and they say I'm doing well and they don't need to see me back again for another 3 years (Yay! I've discovered that I really don't like MRIs). There don't seem to be any major long-term effects, and the minor ones are mostly just amusing and occasionally annoying. Everything takes more time and concentration than it used to, so I get tired more easily, I use a lot of post-it notes to plug holes in my short-term memory, and my spacial sense is easily confused by sloping floors and busy carpet patterns--I can't quite tell where the floor is, so I walk like a drunk; it's terribly amusing. Otherwise, though, I'm more or less still me. And I'm grateful to have gotten off so lightly, when it could have been so very much worse. And now that I know about the 2 sneaky blood disorders I've evidently been innocently walking around with my whole life, I can do something about them so they won't sneak up on me like that again. So yeah...I'm good. Thanks for asking.  :)

[Been away for a while, what have I missed?]

After my stroke 2 years ago I had to re-evaluate a lot of things about how I was using my time, and focus on just the most important things. This forum was one of the things I had to let go. But I miss you guys, and I've decided to take dd back out of school part time because there are some things she really does just learn best at home. So I'm going to try popping in here a bit more often and being part of the community again. It may turn out I just can't do it, because everything still does take more time and concentration than it used to, and I'm also trying to be an author on the side, but I'm going to give it a try. 

 

So...does anyone here still remember me at all? What have I missed? Are there new "code words" I should be aware of? New hot topics to avoid unless I have time to wade in deep? New babies? New projects? New curriculum? 

 

Someone please catch me up. :)

[Pulling dd12 from school (part time) - rushing to put a plan together]

I know I get a little "broken record" but I can't recommend CLE highly enough. The LA is super easy to implement, and SUPER thorough. It covers spelling, grammar, etc. Their scope and sequence is very thorough and on their website (clp.org). I would recommend starting at least a grade level behind. It's pretty rigorous. 

 

Their reading program is also excellent. I have a local friend who has a son who was borderline dyslexic. Around 6th grade she had him go back through all the CLE reader lightunits, starting in grade 4. Grade 4 and up are 5 books - so they can be done in a semester with daily work. He did 4/5 one year, 6 over the summer, and 7/8 into 7th or 8th grade. (She may have started this in 7th - either way - he was substantially "older" than the reader level). It helped him a TON with basic comprehension and retention. The readers are very grade level - the workbooks are challenging. In addition to assigned "lit" type reading - this is an awesome fairly cheap, easy to implement, subject. My kids really love it, too.

 

If you do go the CLE route, I can't emphasize enough the need to be on top of the checking. Theoretically the kids are taught to check their own work in Grade 2. I did have my kids check theirs (we're taking a break from CLE for grammar through Latin) but I checked their checking most days. They'd give me a quick brief, "I missed a couple of the direct objects, but I think I see what they're looking for." I never had any incongruity between their reports/grading and tests and quizzes, so I am sure they were being completely honest about the daily work. 

 

For spelling I'd look at either Phoneitc Zoo ($$) or Rod and Staff (super cheap). If you do CLE, it's included and it might be worth just trying it out. It's very phonetic based. PZ is great and doesn't have grade levels so it's not a "behind" thing. It also has a strong audio element that might help. R&S is cheap, old school, drill. I like it. It's not flashy and maybe baking up a few grade levels might help. I have one terrible speller, and despite using almost EVERY spelling curriculum, we are not reverting to typing reports, spell checking, and working on editing skills. 

 

I have no programming advice at all. My kids are finishing a YouthDigital class, but I really have no idea about their programming stuff (my kids are doing game design, so it's using a game program more than actual program language). 

 

HTH!!! 

 

Thanks, I'll have to look into CLE. It's been a long time since I looked at their stuff and I don't remember why I went with something else. Possibly religious content? Don't remember. But thanks for the recommendation, I'll go have another look. 

 

Game design sounds like fun. My dh is teaching some of that at the college level these days. Out of curiosity, what game program are your kids using?

 

 

 

[Pulling dd12 from school (part time) - rushing to put a plan together]

She was tested at the school, and theoretically they included dyslexia in the testing. They did decide she has a "specific learning disability in the area of written expression" (if I remember the label correctly...don't have the paperwork in front of me). And she has an IEP because of this. She has also had her hearing and auditory processing tested by an audiologist, who says she's fine in those areas. 

 

Talk to me about immersion reading?

[Pulling dd12 from school (part time) - rushing to put a plan together]

Thanks. I'm guessing she's about 5th grade reading level. She mostly reads by "sight", and definitely needs some work with decoding, since the way she deals with unfamiliar words is to just guess a random word that starts with the same letter, even if it makes no sense at all in the context. 

 

I have the first two levels of "All About Spelling." That might be a good place to start.

 

Does anyone have suggestions for good books? She liked the Michael Vey books a lot (though she missed a lot by skipping the big words), and recently has had fun reading Janitors. She has a hard time sticking with books where the plot moves slowly, and prefers exciting action. BUT, with her at home, I will be in a better position to insist that she just has to read what she's assigned, so...I dunno. She likes history, so maybe I need to aim for some historical novels or something.

 

 

[Pulling dd12 from school (part time) - rushing to put a plan together]

Hi all. :) It's been a while since I hung out here much because homeschool has been going more or less smoothly with my son, and I've needed to spend my computer time doing other things. But we've recently decided that we need to do something different with dd12, who has been back in public school for the past few years and is in 7th grade this year. We'll be keeping her where she is for some classes, like orchestra and drama, and maybe some other things, we're still deciding. But for at least math and English she'll be coming home, and I want to give her some time to work on stuff she has an interest in but either aren't taught at the school, or that she hasn't had time for due to all the silly busy work. 

 

I need to give her a placement test still, but I'm pretty sure I have the right levels of Math U See already, so I think math is in hand. 

 

English, I'm not sure about. I have some stuff I used with ds at that age, but he has always been a very strong reader, and dd is not. In fact, she could really use some remediation in that area. So with English I'm kind of starting from scratch and could definitely use some suggestions. Her reading is iffy, and her spelling is atrocious. She does a decent job with grammar and things like identifying main ideas. Where do I start? Where do I go from here?

 

Also, she would like to learn the programming language Lua. She took a programming workshop for teens this summer at the college where my husband is teaching and did well. It was a different language, but apparently she has the reasoning skills for it. Does anyone have recommendations for resources to learn Lua?

 

Taking a deep breath, and regrouping.

[What's your favorite ACT test prep book?]

Thanks I'll look into both of those. :)

 

[I'm trying not to freak out, not googling...]

I agree with Mrs Mungo.

Dehydration gives me a hideous headache, and if I don't catch it at that stage can make me horribly dizzy. Drinking sufficient fluids always gets rid of it. Fluids and a nap sound like exactly the right thing to do to me. 

 

[What's your favorite ACT test prep book?]

I'm looking for one that will give ds a friendly, accessible introduction to how the test is administered, a little practical advice about what to expect, what to bring, what is allowed, what is not, etc., as well as presenting some sample questions. I'm not looking for a hard-core "how to make everyone else who took the test look stupid" book, just, one that will make it sound do-able for a kid who gets really nervous about new things.

 

(I'm sure there's been a thread on this before, but my searching didn't turn one up, so ... help?)