rocassie
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Posts posted by rocassie
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We generally go to bed around the same time as each other but not always. Depends on when we are tired. We rarely get up at the same time as he is usually up and out the door to work before the kids and I are up.
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I think it really varies. Sometimes price equals quality but not always. It really depends on the product and what you value more about a product.
Although I am frugal, it can be worth it in the long run to pay more upfront if it means better quality. My DH's work shoes are a perfect example. For $30 (he has tried many different brands) he can buy a pair of work shoes that meets his work requirements but within 3-4 months something is ripping or coming apart. Or he can spend more (it's about $60) for a better quality of shoe that will last him the whole year and only has to replace them because the sole has been worn down or the insole is all torn up. Over the course of a year he spends less overall by spending more upfront.
Other things like used books, I want the cheapest option as long as the book is intact and still completely readable.
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I read this book quite a while ago. I enjoyed it but it hit a little to close to home. The author was able to articulate so well feelings I have regarding my childhood but unable to put those feelings into words.
I agree with others about intelligence and resiliency. However, I would take it a step further and say it is also a love of reading. Books open a window of possibilities that life doesn't have to be the way it is. The majority of people (including myself) I know IRL or I have read about that escaped abuse, neglect, and poverty (although not always poverty) read quite voraciously.
The subject material is really heavy but I'm glad she was able to make a success of herself and maintain a strong relationship with her family.
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It was a great lesson in grammar. What makes it a sentence vs. a phrase. As long as I prefaced our dictation by saying phrase or sentence, DD knew to capitalize and use punctuation on a sentence (although I did still have to remind her sometimes).
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Thanks for sharing. It never crossed my mind to make something, we use a notebook but I think this would be more interesting for DD7.
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I would allow the youngest to pick first, but allowing them to pick would be dependent on the needs of the family. In all honestly, I would want to rotate bedrooms every year to give them a good thorough cleaning, but I think it's great if the kids can work out room arrangements themselves. I don't think the oldest or the oldest male (I knew a family that did it this way) should always get first choice, but then again I'm the middle child so I may be biased against the oldest.:)
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Well my dd8 really loves Right Start math. In fact, I recently tried to switch her over to Singapore thinking it would be a little less teacher intensive for me, and after a few days and many tears we have returned to Right Start. We are in the middle of level C.
Things she loves--
lots of hands-on activities (using the abacus and other manipulatives)
fewer worksheets (as compared to other math programs)
math card games (for practice, which means less worksheets)
oral practice (which translates into less worksheets)
You may be noticing a common theme (less workbooks/worksheets). My dd8 just is not a workbook kind of gal, so RS has been a great fit for her. It is teacher-intensive, which is hard on me (I have littles running around), but I think for a core subject like math that is sooooo important, I can make the sacrifice. I've decided to make other subjects less teacher-intensive to allow extra time for RS.
Other math programs to look at--Singapore, Math Mammoth. Those are definitely more workbooky if that's a consideration.
Life of Fred is a fun supplement that can be done mostly independently, and my dd8 looooooooves it. Just throwing it out there, even though you said you don't want to piecemeal. It would be so easy to add that to Saxon though, and just stay on the Saxon path if it's working well for you anyway.
Right Start is really quite different both in scope and sequence and approach. I would consider the RS transitional lessons if you decide to make the move. Maybe even print out some RS sample lessons from the website and do them with your ds first as a trial run.
Good luck! Hope you can find the right program!
This is my DD7 almost exactly. I actually don't mind how much it requires of me because I need the refresher. Not sure how I feel about that when DD4 starts math, but for now I don't mind.
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Myself, I like Greenfield Village better than the Henry Ford museum but I love seeing how people lived in different times. Before you get to Detroit (driving on I-94), Ann Arbor (or really Univ. of Mich) has some neat things (Botanical Gardens, Natural History Museum, tours, etc.) to check out as well as some amazing restaurants.
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I feel your frustration. I have a 2.5yo. Everything is stacked beyond his reach (well really his reach and whatever he can move to get higher) and therefore disorganized in haphazard piles. I try and include him but he wants all the attention on himself. It is challenging. I keep repeating to myself, "It shall pass." :)
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I would vote no to traditional school work but not to learning materials. Fun puzzle books(or printed packet), print out a map or mark up a map with the route, travel games, paper and pencils, books, audiobooks, etc. Something for if they are bored but no pressure to have anything completed.
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I'm okay with sharing but I really feel like the mother who is currently in the trenches (i.e. currently raising the little(and older) ones and trying to maintain a home with said children should take priority. I'm all for honoring my MIL and Mother with a card and phone cal but I think the focus should change once they have graduated to grandmotherhood.
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We have a 2011 Sienna. It was between a Sienna and Odyssey for us too. For us it was down to price honestly. We couldn't afford new on either and started checking used. One of the Toyota dealerships had a used 2011 Sienna which was the current model because it was a fleet vehicle.
We have been very happy so far. I personally am not a fan of bigger vehicles so I can't say I love it, but I do need it to fit the whole family and would buy another in a heartbeat. We haven't had any problems and DH has been able to do all the maintenance (oil changes and such) himself.
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Generally gifts are opened around here but I don't bat an eye at not opening gifts either. If it is to overwhelming for the birthday child, then I opt for not opening gifts at the party. At small parties, I will have DD open her gifts. It is only at family parties where we get close to 30 people. Since everyone kind of arrives at different times (everyone has to travel to us), I will have the kids open gifts as the giver comes and then they get a little bit of time to play/wear that gift.
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Thank you Merry! Once again, you all have helped me so much. I think I'm going to just stick with it and give it time. DS doesn't mind doing AAS, which is another reason I was reluctant to change. Merry: I have a question about the dictation sentences for our resident AAS expert. :)
At the end of the section/step when we dictate sentences, the book states to 'dictate several sentences each day'...does this mean I should do those before moving on to the next step, or incorporate them AS I move on? For example, if there are 10 sentences, should I dictate 5 (or a few), then move on to the next page (step)? The next day, dictate the other 5, plus continue on with where we are in the next section? --OR-- Dictate those sentences until he has done them all, (probably 2 days) before going to the next page/step?
I hope that's clear enough. I've really wondered if this is what's slowing us down a bit and if I'm using this part of the program correctly. Thank you!
I just wanted to say that instead of dictating sentences every day, we do the sentences at the end of the week as a test. Often I will pick 4 or 5, and depending on how DD does, we will move on. For us this works because DD is much more cooperative if we only do one/two points from the lesson a day rather than trying to do a little of the whole lesson each day. She doesn't like to get into something just to move on and gets very frustrated(bored) if we are repeatedly covering what she already knows.
This is how we structure our week:
Day One: Word Analysis and Introduction of new Phonograms/Suffixes/Etc.
Day Two: Word Sort (like the long A categories), Long E book, Homophones, Etc.
Day Three: Words and Brief review of day one and two
Day Four: More Words and/or review if she had difficulty OR Test
Day Five: Test if we didn't do it the day before or review of concepts if the test didn't go well or no spelling
Just another thought on how things can be structured differently.
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I too am fast and furious in birth. I am quiet (more low moans, no screaming) and retreat into myself. I take a hot bath when labor begins mostly because it was the middle of the night and everyone was still sleeping:). Water, in general helps me relax. I take deep breaths as I slowly count to 10 and then release as I slowly count to 10, over and over all through labor. It gives me something to focus on and the deep breathing relaxes me. Also, I do not push until I feel the need to push regardless of what the nurses say. I push in whatever position feels the most comfortable. So far it has been kneeling on the bed with my torso upright.
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I have an old Narnia set (I think my mom got it for my oldest sister sometime in the 1970's) and LWW is actually the first book the in series. I believe it is publication order and that has always been the order I read them.
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I did K-12 parochial school, and DH did K-8 parochial and then 9-12 public high school. Growing up (about 30 years ago), I knew a few families that homeschooled. They were Catholic and did not live close to the parochial schools or it was too expensive for them. Interesting enough, all the families I knew homeschooling, the dads were the ones teaching and the moms worked.
Education in my home was very important and I loved learning and reading. Having known the homeschooling families growing up and viewing them very favorably, I knew it was an option but didn't really seriously consider it until my oldest started reading at 3yo. I didn't want to pay (we were going to send her to the parochial school) to send her to class just to be bored. Thus started our journey in homeschooling.
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My DD is on level 3, and I still occasionally have to remind her of the "rule." It's not often and usually an unfamiliar word but when I prompt she does recognize that she made the mistake. I don't call it the floss rule just ask about remembering which letters do we double following a short vowel in a single syllable word. I'll have to remember "floss" as that's a lot less to say.
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I felt really good after each birth so other than a day or so right after we returned to a regular schedule. I wore the baby in a wrap all day which made it really convenient. Right around the 7mth mark, it became more difficult and then I just did the basics-math, reading, and handwriting. At the 1st grade level that was about a half hour to an hour of work. When baby turned a year, we schooled during nap time or schooled some in the morning and waited for projects during nap time.
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I was reading Peter Pan aloud to the kids, and I had to look up quite a few words. Whew! The one that really stuck with me was embonpoint, used to describe Tinker Bell. It means plumpness of person which I have never pictured Tinker Bell to be thanks to good ole' Disney. :001_rolleyes:
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We love audio books in our household checked out from our library either the CD's or MP3 format. My almost 7yo will listen for 1hr to 3 hrs depending on her day and mood. She likes to draw or stare out the window while she is listening. She has listened to all sorts of books. Mostly age appropriate in content but the reading level is often YA to Adult. Myself I like to listen when I am taking walks or when I'm knitting/crocheting. I or my Dh will still read a chapter book to her at night, usually one or two chapters, and she usually listens in when I start reading to the younger ones.
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My DD, almost 7, can breeze through the easy chapter books and it's only now, about a year after she started reading them, that she can "summarize" or "narrate" what happened in the book. I did ask her questions, mostly because I was interested to know what she liked or didn't liked, but I had to ask simple questions. Questions like, "What's the main characters name?; "Does main characters have any siblings?"; or "What does the main character look like?". My DD loves to talk, and once I got her going on things she definitely knew, then much of the rest of the story started to come out. Of course, it was jumbled and not in the order that happened in the story but I got the gist of what she comprehended. I do want DD to enjoy reading therefore I try not to quiz her but rather have a conversation and open dialogue and letting it go if she doesn't seem interested.
WWYD -- books from your childhood
in The Chat Board
Posted
If you do have grandkids down the road, I think passing on a favorite book(s) with maybe a personal note as to why it is a favorite would be a wonderful keepsake for a grandchild.