HeartString
-
Posts
928 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by HeartString
-
-
9 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:
I would prep my kids somewhat, I’m sure. I’d rather they do well than not and it’s not much effort.
We will from now on, after one of my kids suddenly didn’t do well this year after doing just fine the 2 years prior. 😒 We prep for the SAT/ACT because it’s important but I haven’t been worried about the state tests.
-
17 minutes ago, mckittre said:
I'm curious about test prep effects. I'm in Alaska, so my kids are part of that data (if it's recent enough). And I have two kids, both of whom took that test in 4th grade. My older just went in and did it as his very first exposure to standardized tests. He did well overall, and topped it in math, but would likely have done better in the writing portion if he had any experience at all in those sorts of questions. My younger was homeschooled until midway through 4th grade, then decided to go to school, and took the test there. They spent weeks! practicing for the test, and even the regular weekly curriculum includes standardized test practice.
That’s a good point too. When my kids were in school they spent weeks prepping for those tests. At least one full week per grading period, plus intermittent stuff. When my kid takes a standardized test I’m just like…”here, do this dumb thing, then we’ll get donuts”.
-
1
-
2
-
-
5 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:
I'm always kind of dismayed at the actual data I've found... because I actually think teaching one-on-one is SO MUCH EASIER. I've always been a far better teacher in office hours than in classrooms, and I would have SWORN before starting out that this would automatically mean homeschoolers should do better than other people at things. I really, honestly, thoroughly believed that this would happen.
I love homeschooling and I love our community, but I've discovered that I was naive. Teaching at home one-on-one isn't better as much as it is higher variance: if you strike out on your own, you can do great things or you can do terrible things. (You can remove the variance by using a pre-written curriculum and sticking to it closely, but then you remove the potential to do something awesome as well.)
I do wonder how much of the poor stats have to do with an over representation in homeschooling of kids that the public school was failing in some way, either because of bullying creating a crisis homeschooler or special needs being poorly met in public school. Since we’re a smaller sample size those could skew the results and make us look worse, when really we just have an over representation of dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalcula and autism.
That’s the full extent of analysis my 1 stats class and a lot of the 538 podcast can muster.
I know some of the problem in math is that so many homeschool moms are terrified of it. Of course most of the moms were once public school students who graduate unable to confidently teach first grade math, so I don’t think “we” should get all the blame for that. I’ll split that blame halfsies with the public school system, 🤪.
-
3
-
-
7 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:
I was thinking more in terms of turning away, not letting them come to parties or be in the home. How many people refuse to go to a child’s first birthday if the child was born out of wedlock, for fear of participating in that sin, the way they might refuse a gay anniversary party. Or go to dinner with a couple where one was married before. No one feels that “accepting” their divorced child is re-writing a moral code, but accepting a gay child is.
I’ve heard the same line about celibacy post divorce as I hear here about gay people. It’s ok to get divorced as long as you are celibate until that first spouse dies. But most people would find that absurd today. But many thinks it’s fine to say or think that of gay people. It’s a strange dichotomy.
-
3
-
-
1 minute ago, MEmama said:
Trans rights. The latest frontier of misplaced hatred. 😞
I stand corrected. Ty. I think I broadly lump gay and trans rights together when I’m thinking about them, but you’re right, they are different.
-
2
-
1
-
-
I do wonder if there is anything besides homosexuality that still engenders this particular response? It used be a myriad of things all in the same general category, premarital sex, illegitimate children, inter racial marriage, living together before marriage. Now the only one left is homosexuality.
ETA divorce. Forgot that one.
-
4
-
-
49 minutes ago, theelfqueen said:
I was thinking about this in the recent Duggar discussions... if my child had been arrested on charges such as those Josh Duggar is facing, in similarly damning circumstances ....if I knew one of my children had harmed my other children in the way he has done....if I believed they had committed a heinous crime but I didn't want to see them suffer ... could I or would i hire an attorney for them? Would I stand by them? I think I wouldn't and that makes me wonder about a lot of things, about myself, about unconditional love and the boundaries of acting on it.
The phrase “only a mother could love” exists for a reason. I don’t think anybody can know until we are in it though. I’d like to think in Michelle Duggar’s position I would still love my child, and get him a lawyer, then visit him in prison and make sure he was modestly comfortable in prison (basics like soap, toothpaste, Tylenol, ramen, books that prisoners are often denied unless they can buy them themselves) while also wanting to see him stay in prison for his own good, to prevent him from harming others. I would also take all steps to prevent him from hurting my other children or other children in general. A mother visiting a jailed child is one thing, bringing siblings to visit is another.
-
2
-
-
31 minutes ago, Quill said:
Yeah but I do have an internal conflict in some situations where we are “happy” our firm got a sentence reduced to a wrist-slap, but I saw the dashcam footage of a terribly impaired driver, for example.
But yes, I agree about public defenders. We often have people who were previously defended by PDs and they were neglected at best.
Our system is imperfect for sure, I could go on and on. I don’t necessarily want to sacrifice my kid to some ideal of how it ought to be though. If it comes to that we have to play the game the way it’s written. Trying to fix it is for a different time.
-
1
-
-
11 minutes ago, Quill said:
I have been thinking about this a lot recently because I now work in criminal law. A lot of clients are retained by mom/dad, grandma/grandpa or an aunt/uncle putting up the money, even in some cases where the “kid” is 30+ years old. It just makes me wonder what is the right thing to do.
Last week, for the first time, I watched a grown man hug his mom, kiss her and say, “Thank you for helping me, mom.” It made my eyes water! I typically have never seen the benefactor even say thank you, much less affectionately demonstrate gratitude. With that said, some clients have severe addiction or mental illness problems and may not be capable of that. 🤷🏻♀️
For better or worse we have an adversarial court system where everyone is entitled to representation. A good lawyer is important and public defenders are just too overworked to do much good. I don’t see how it could be wrong to get a loved one good representation. Tiresome with a repeat offender, sure. I don’t think it would be wrong to say no, I’m tapped out, I spent all the money I could spare on your last 3 burglary charges, I can’t this time. But I would help to the extent that I could for as long as I could manage. I also don’t necessarily think it’s a moral imperative to do so, since public defenders do exist and are considered adequate.
I’m also not wealthy enough to be able to just make charges “go away” with a donation or phone call, which would probably be the wrong thing to do, but not something I’m capable of anyway. Darn it. 🤪
-
2
-
-
6 hours ago, kiwik said:
Some people who believe being homosexual is a sin may change their mind if a child declares they are gay. But I can't see anyone changing their mind about bank robbing. I might be able to convince myself it is not evil to be a member of the armed forces if one of my sons joined.
I don’t know how it reconciled with homosexuality exactly, but I’d have no problem loving my child if they robbed a bank. Or murdered someone. I wouldn't help them go on the lam or lie for them. I would cry and be angry, then buck up, get them the best lawyer possible, visit in prison, put money on the prison account. Is there another option? My babies can do wrong. They are still mine. Does God do any different for us?
I wouldn’t really care if my kids were/are gay. My extended family has had a suicide we suspect was due to homosexuality. I think that changes things, puts them in perspective. *My* reactions will NOT be the reasons my children feel that kind of despair. Just no.
-
4
-
1
-
-
8 hours ago, Murphy101 said:
Okay.
let’s say my kid says they are homosexual. Well. I’m going to tell them I love them, God loves them, I don’t see a healthy future in this decision and I will help in any way possible for them to handle this struggle. But I’m not going to accept or welcome them having homosexual sex.
let’s say my heterosexual sexual kid runs off with a girl and shacks up with her. Well I’m going to tell him I love him. God loves him. I don’t think this is a healthy relationship decision, and I’ll support healthy decisions for them as best I can. But they are not going to get to share a room when we go on a family vacation and I’m not going to call her my daughter in law when she isn’t. I will pay for premarriage counseling though.
let’s say my daughter has an abortion. I’m going to tell her I love her. God loves her. I’m sorry she felt that was her only option. I’ll pay for counseling and I’ll encourage her to go confession and Rachel’s Vineyard. I would not go with her to get one. I would not support that horrible act.
Just a jumping off point, not picking at you specifically. I’m curious how does this play out with divorce and remarriage? Divorce is specially laid out as a sin in the Bible. I’m my husband’s 2nd wife, would you allow us to share a room in your home? Expect us not to be affectionate in your home? Would you celebrate our anniversary with us?
Im also reminded that mixed race marriages were also considered to be sinful at one time. Most people and the church have evolved on that.
-
1
-
1
-
-
10 hours ago, bookbard said:
Yes, this is very well put.
I kind of get the instinct to blame. When I stub my toe, my instinct is to growl at the next person I see! But it doesn't make my toe hurt less, nor stop me stubbing it next time.
I think part of why Covid has been so scary is that we imagined something miraculous occuring if a pandemic happened. Those boffins would engineer a cure within weeks, or we'd all work together to make a better world, or we'd at least be totally organised re toilet paper. But it wasn't like that. So what happens next time? We've all become a bit more cynical.
To be fair, the vaccine was found really quickly. Most of the time has been spent doing trials to show safety and efficacy. That all takes time and I don’t know how to get around that. I suppose if COVID had been more like Ebola with a 50% death rate we might have been willing to skip the safety trials and just take our chances with the vaccine. Which it turns out would have been ok in this situation, but that’s not guaranteed to be the case.
I agree with you though, I had expected better of us in the face of a pandemic. I think COVID was just low level enough that it was able to be politicized instead. It could be denied away in the minds of many people. It might have been different if people were literally dropping dead in the streets like a horror movie.
-
42 minutes ago, ktgrok said:
The documents you need to get the free ID cost money.
Depends on the state - to get a permit here involves being fingerprinted and taking a class on gun safety/use which costs a fee and involves getting to he 4 hour class, etc. They sometimes have it set up at gun shows where you can get it all done at once, but that costs even more. It's not a low cost or low time option in my state. I mean, probably easier than tracking down a missing birth certificate for some, but more expensive for sure.
Is that for concealed carry? My husband only needed to wait 10 min for a background check to come back and we took home a hand gun. He only needs to get a permit if he wants to carry concealed.
-
2
-
-
12 minutes ago, TravelingChris said:
I am someone who does have to stay away from vaccinated people-MMR vaccinated people because that is a live vaccine and those can shed the virus and I am immunosuppressant/ The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have no way of shedding- they do no include live virus or any virus.
How long does the MMR have a risk of shedding?
-
6 minutes ago, stripe said:
Specifically, though, unlike many other countries, there is no free national identification. There is only the passport. which most Americans do not have and costs $100 to obtain. And state cards, which are either ID only or for drivers, and cost ~$25. At the same time, many states are now requiring photo ID to vote. A birth certificate is often insufficient, because it has no photo, and many people, especially women, have changed their names.
Interesting though that an NRA membership card will count as voter ID in many places, but not a photo student ID issued by a college or university. Tribal IDs were excluded in some places until recently. Boggles the mind.
-
4
-
1
-
6
-
-
9 hours ago, Pen said:
@ktgrok you probably don’t want to consider this, but let’s say, hypothetically, in the event it does turn out that people who chose to get the jabs are actually putting out something potentially harmful to others (I realize you don’t believe it could be so, but just as a hypothetical) , how do you want the people who chose to get the jabs to be treated? Locked down? Locked out of businesses, colleges, schools, jobs, air flights? etc? Permanent mask requirement?
If the vaccines somehow turn out to make vaccinated people dangerous to *others* I think we would have to accept that at this point the majority of the population has gotten the vaccine and permanently restricting the majority of the population wouldn’t make sense. Especially once you consider that the vaccinated population would presumably be immune from damaging each other. Even in this hypothetical it stretches the imagination to think a vaccinated person would be in danger from the shedding vaccine of other vaccinated individuals.
The unvaccinated would then either need to follow the adage of “if you can’t beat em, join em” and get vaccinated to protect themselves from the vaccine shedding, if not the virus itself. Or they would just have to accept the risks and protect themselves as best as they can or create their own enclaves where they figure out how to avoid contact with the vaccinated.
The idea of setting up a state where the unvaccinated minority would restrict and isolate the vaccinated majority is…well, something.
Interesting thought experiment.
-
5
-
-
The position of global pandemic has been filled. Please try again at a later time.
-
15
-
1
-
-
Walmart has cake balls in the section with Hostess and Little Debbies. They are called Bakery Petites. I buy a couple of bags of those and arrange nicely on a plate. Voila.
-
2
-
-
1 hour ago, Not_a_Number said:
Well, we’re at a playground in a Boston suburb, and there are many more unmasked faces, including the kids 😕 . I dunno about this.
I just checked and Boston’s 7 day average is only 45 cases per day. New England also has the highest vaccination rates in the country, over 70% of Massachusetts is vaccinated. I can’t think of a safer place to play unmasked outdoors.
The anxiety is real though! I get it. You’ll get through it.
-
5
-
-
11 hours ago, Pen said:
No. I am giving my own opinions. No payments.
ETA: And I am not particularly good at influencing people am I? — I think it probably is the opposite currently where if I write something most of you probably tend to do the opposite. I think successful influencers tend to be subtle, canny, and very effective. Probably without people usually even realizing they are being influenced.
I have some suspicions of people who may be paid influencers here, but may be as wrong about them as you are about me, and I am not going to accuse anyone. Could be there are none on WTM. Could be there are. I think being alert to possibility is probably wise.
There are definitely some people pushing Insta Pots and Speed Queens.....interesting. 🙂
-
1
-
16
-
-
11 hours ago, Pen said:
All the ones you are “aware of”.
Seems somewhat circular in that we only know when we see such a statement that it is happening . If the statement is not made, we do not know about it. There’s no logical reason to assume every influencer announces the fact. Especially if it’s a situation where they might be kicked off a site if they did.
I think usually if it’s a matter of a brand of jeans it may not be a huge big deal. But if life and death decisions are involved then it is different. Yet possibly even things like giving jeans to influencer kids to wear causes a change in people’s minds and ability to evaluate what they are seeing.
Other than a few mommy bloggers I don't follow many "influencers", that's why I added the caveat. It is a good reminder to think critically about who we're getting our info from. How credible are these people? Where is there information coming from? Sure the Kardashians might have relevant ideas about lipstick, but maybe not medical info? Separating out opinion from fact, and thinking about just where that opinion is coming from.
I did find this interesting though, as far as influencers go. Almost all of the COVID misinformation can be traced back to the same 12 influencers on social media. Talk about an echo chamber.
-
4
-
-
7 hours ago, Pen said:
ETA this was supposed to be part of former post reply to @HeartString it seems to have split into two posts with some repeating —
I think you are trying to “debunk” by saying oh, but mask doesn’t reduce breathing to a state of OSHA loss of consciousness level.
Yes. Fine.
But they do seem to cause much more CO2 build up than I had formerly been aware of .
also a question for you - you accused me of “tossing out numbers” - did you really carefully compare my numbers and what you put or were you so eager to go find a “debunking” article that you yourself “tossed out” the debunking article without even bothering to carefully compare it to what I wrote?Did you watch the video yourself? Or just go on a Google search for a “debunking” article to “Toss out”?
I said your numbers needed context. You should read this from Wathe, especially the bolded. You're numbers aren't incorrect, they lack context and don't mean what you think they mean. You know that saying "I know just enough to be dangerous", that's what your numbers are. A tiny bit of truth, taken fully out of context, shaded a bit, and made to look like something else entirely. I know you didn't create them of course, I'm not blaming you. You're just getting info from a shyster.
This guy is a TV producer, not a doctor. He has no idea what he is talking about.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Bigtree
9 hours ago, wathe said:Right. I wear an n95 for up to 10 hours at a time. Some of that time is spent "working out", also known as CPR in full PPE. I have worked shifts where I have worn the same n95 continuously for 10 hours (no breaks). 02 sat is fine.
It is true that the CO2 level inside the mask is well above the CO2 level in ambient air. But so is the CO2 level in the air in your natural respiratory anatomical dead space at the end of each breath (mouth, nose, trachea, bronchi) which you also rebreathe with each breath. The space inside of the mask basically acts as an extension of your own anatomical dead space. Healthy people's bodies do not have any trouble to adapting to that extra deadspace. The human respiratory system is very flexible and can cope with an extra 100cc or so of dead space just fine.
Comparing N95 dead space CO2 concentrations with ambient workplace standards is a false comparison. Ambient workplace standards apply to the ambient air - air that comprises the entire breath, for every breath taken while in the environment. N95 dead space air, on the other hand , is a small volume, and the rest of the breath is comprised of normal ambient air that flows through the mask with each breath.
For fun: Study of physiolgical effect of N95 during exercise. Result: 1) "There were no significant differences between FFR and control in the physiological variables, exertion scores, or comfort scores", and predictably 2)"FFR dead-space carbon dioxide and oxygen levels were significantly above and below, respectively, the ambient workplace standards" - which, as explained above, is not meaningful.
Also: a very nice, through review article, Face Masks and the Cardiorespiratory Response to Physical activity in Health and Disease: "Although the body of literature directly evaluating this issue is evolving, for healthy individuals, the available data suggest that face masks, including N95 respirators, surgical masks, and cloth face masks, may increase dyspnea but have small and often difficult-to-detect effects on Wb, blood gases, and other physiological parameters during physical activity, even with heavy/maximal exercise" - subjects may feel subjectively short of breath, but their physiological markers change negligibly, if at all.
-
5
-
4
-
-
1 hour ago, Pen said:
I realize that this person is an anti vaxxer and that you will probably dismiss it as a “conspiracy theory”—I also realize that the meter used may not be accurate above 2000ppm. Though I expect it is better than no meter.
In any case, 1000-2000 ppm is apparently “drowsiness” level and there are a lot of situations that even “drowsiness” is not a good idea for.
While the meter may be less accurate in higher ranges, nonetheless 5000 ppm is apparently OSHA limit for 8hr/day exposure and lots of people have that long or even longer at jobs, at school especially if aftercare or bus is added on ... And I do not know if children and adults would have same tolerances. But even 6 or 7 hours per day 5 days per week may be rather a lot if it is for full time job or full time school.
I do not think it “proves” anything.
But I think it is as worth considering as videos that showed how masks stopped or greatly decreased droplets from going out from someone as he whispered, talked, shouted...
A lot of the numbers you are tossing out are not correctly construed in that video. This might help give you some context.
https://factcheck.afp.com/flawed-experiments-exaggerate-risk-co2-concentration-masks
-"Bigtree is the founder of an anti-vaccine organization, but does not mention any medical or scientific credentials on his website."
-"“They are using the wrong device and they are trying to compare the wrong numbers,” explained Hyo-Jick Choi, a researcher at the University of Alberta, who designed surgical masks and respirator filters that deactivate certain viral strains."
-"There is no doubt that wearing a face mask will increase carbon dioxide levels,” Choi conceded. However, the researcher warned that Bigtree’s video misleads by presenting the 5,000 ppm mark as a definite marker of toxicity. Five thousand ppm is the highest recommended exposure for people working eight-hour days every day, particularly in closed spaces.
The experiments further mislead by truncating the chart, making 5,000 ppm look like the highest mark, when in fact the real chart shows that 40,000 ppm and above is the level considered dangerous, even for short periods of time."
-
8
-
-
10 minutes ago, Pen said:
I would presume it is going on in most places — and in both* directions. Perhaps even micro-influencers right here on WTM forums.
* “Both” probably doesn’t begin to describe options. Pro any one vaccine compared to others, or Vice versa, or in favor of or against all of them ...
like when you were talking about advertising - I think influencers and micro influencers are a standard part of advertising nowadays. It doesn’t require any “conspiracy theory” to assume that.
They are a standard part of advertising, but all of the ones that I'm aware of tell you that they were paid for such and such product, or given it free in exchange for a review, or that they are using affiliate links. NPR makes a disclosure statement every time they cover Facebook or Bill Gates, among others. Transparency is important.
-
4
-
What are some curriculum trends you’ve noticed over the years?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
I agree. The number of adults who are still concerned about being “cool” and not liking “nerdy” things makes me wonder why we bother with high school graduation, so many never seem to leave that world.