Xahm
-
Posts
2,108 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by Xahm
-
-
5 minutes ago, WTM said:
The Taboo buzzer is incredibly grating, as are these: https://smile.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Lights-Buzzers-Classroom/dp/B00B2FNHB6/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2NONBZFJS8G5W&keywords=Set+of+4+buzzers&qid=1670204561&sprefix=set+of+4+buzzers%2Caps%2C140&sr=8-4
My kids keep asking why the Taboo buzzer has no batteries. Are we out of batteries?
-
1
-
8
-
-
I came to this forum when considering my then-toddlers' educational future. My husband had a terrible school experience while mine was decent, and we were determined to not fall into feeling trapped into one way if that way wasn't working. I had a lot of friends and family committed to homeschooling in ways that were commendable but that I would not share. To be honest, I was struggling to accept some of their reasons/methods for homeschooling and was pretty judgemental, though thankfully knew to keep those thoughts away from them. This board really has helped me think in terms of "there are many good ways to parent/educate/whatever and we can learn from others, even if we don't adopt their good way" instead of "there's a right way and we should all be figuring out what it is and then doing it "
NaN, I don't know if you are still following this, but you asked earlier about what has helped people be thicker skinned (or something. I'm not wading back through all that to find it ). For me, it has really helped to frame it in my mind as "Everyone has a reason for what they are thinking. Before I respond, let me think through and see if I can figure out why they are thinking as they do." I might need to ask some questions to figure that out. It turns out that the questions I ask when I'm trying to really understand them are much more helpful and respectful and less aggressive than what I say when I'm trying to show people they are wrong. When the conversation has that as it's base, I'm in a better position to address the actual rather than perceived differences and the other person feels more appreciated and so is better able to approach my ideas with an open mind.
-
8
-
-
Happy birthday to L, but comfort to you. I realized last night that I'm not in early days of parenting minors anymore, more like the halfway mark. It was a surprisingly (to me) sobering thought. You've done a great job, and I understand it continues, though it changes, as they are young adults.
-
2
-
-
Muncha, Muncha, Muncha was/is my favorite to read to little ones, and it has repetition and rhythm, though not as strongly as some.
-
1
-
-
I've got kids who do great with Beast Academy, but other programs do a great job, too. The most important controllable factor to having high math success, in my opinion, is having a parent/teacher/mentor who is confident and able to guide.
I would recommend getting a Beast Academy online account for yourself and going through it now, or at least going to the free printable resources page and reading through the chapter overviews to learn about how they present various ideas. Even if it isn't right for your child, I think it would help you to see math in a new way that will make you more aware of various issues as you evaluate curricula for your child.
-
17 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:
Thirty hours is a lot!!! That would probably do it for us, too.
Camps are great for that! As long as their camp buddy is fun. Thirty hours is a long time if they don't hit it off.
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:
Yeah, weekly never quite worked for us. The kids wouldn't get tight enough. We could do weekly after there was a base (although a week of dailly meetings wouldn't be enough), but not otherwise.
Thirty hours in one week then weekly after that seems to be enough to get my kids to realize "this is my friend I should greet and spend time with" and that's what I'm shooting for sometimes.
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, Clarita said:
That's my kids, too. I find that I have to find some activities for them to do separately so they will hang out with more than each other. (Sometimes they act a bit exclusive and I don't like them treating others that way.) Finding separate things for them to do is hard as well because they are close in age so, often they are in the same level.
Yep! My older two are 17 months apart and people assume they are twins since they are the same size. They have different strengths, so in some areas they are almost equal skill-wise, while others there's quite a difference. Cubs has been good because they are separated by grades, but my oldest's den just had never clicked with her. The second has some good acquaintances that I'm going will grow closer over the years. The third has two buddies there.
-
6 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:
How frequently do they see the kids at these meetups? I know that for my older girl, she needed a certain frequency to get closer. (My younger kid, on the other hand, is still talking about how she misses her friend she met ONCE on our road trip and has written her a letter. Their different levels of social motivation were really obvious from when they were teeny babies. It's really fascinating.)
Most things are weekly or every 2 weeks. When they participate in something where they see each other every day for a week or so and then follow up with weekly meetings, this seems to help the most. My oldest will be switching to a Girls BSA troop soon (from coed cubs) and I'm really optimistic it will be great for her. Lots of time together, working towards a common goal, helping each other to individual goals, and seeing each other regularly, including trips together. She needs a close female friend or three.
-
My kids' best friends are each other. They really, truly get along and support each other the vast majority of the time. It makes it a little tricky, though, because they often don't push themselves to expand their circle. They all have kids they consider friends and kids they are relatively friendly with, but I don't like it when we go to a playground meet up and they just play with each other. Last year we had one meetup we went to over and over and they finally started to initiate activity with certain other kids, but those kids moved on to other activities and the meet up fell apart.
They do also have a little group they play with Minecraft with online that includes a close real life friend. I'm not really worried, but I do kind of wish they would befriend the children of the moms I click with.
-
I've got 4 kids with the oldest being 10. We try to stick to things that they can all do, just at different levels, to reduce the driving time and keep things streamlined in my head. Right now we have: Sunday: Church and Scouts, Monday: Soccer practice, Tuesday is free!, Wednesday: literature bowl for eldest, church music for all, Thursday: gymnastics class and sometimes a history center class, Friday is often a field trip, Saturday soccer game.
This already feels so busy I can't imagine what we would do if different kids had different things on the same day. We keep most things to the afternoon and evening so that there's plenty of time for school and play, but supper can be tricky.
-
If it helps you feel better about coming across as strange, here's my story.
Due, probably, to having studied foreign language intensely in the past and living abroad for a time, one way I calm my nerves before meeting new people is thinking through what they are likely to ask and making sure I can answer those questions in a variety of languages. This makes me feel much more relaxed but means that when I then do introduce myself in English, I have a weird accent that sounds vaguely European. People then ask me where I'm from and I have to try to explain this oddity without making myself sound nuts or dominating the conversation with a really strange tangent. I have no idea what people think if they meet me on one of those days. Thankfully at this point I can mostly laugh it off, but if I let myself get nervous about it, the cycle intensifies.
-
1
-
-
You may want to look into ProgressivePhonics.com It's a series of free books online that are made to be buddy-read. Parents read the black text while kids read the red. I think it works really well for quick learners to pick up on, and the stories are fairly funny. There are some worksheets that coordinate with it. It's clearly a project of love for the creator, though she seems to have stopped updating it before she planned to.
-
1
-
-
My preschooler just got it! (Study participant). No side affects at all, but he didn't have any for the original either.
-
7
-
-
I grew up in a small conservative Presbyterian denomination and we're now Methodist (UMC). I grew to strongly dislike several things about my birth-denomination, like the emphasis on being theologically correct, that the Westminster confession had all the correct interpretations of every aspect of the Bible. There's a lot I could say about that, but I'll leave it at saying that I like the humility of the UMC position of saying there are many possible ways of viewing things. My parents are not happy and will be less happy when they realize we aren't going to leave the church if/when they open to allow gay marriage.
-
1
-
1
-
-
I'm glad to see you back and to hear that your marriage is stronger. Whatever we lived as children has such a strong but invisible influence on us, so I'm very impressed at your ability to see it and work on improving.
-
2
-
-
Thanks, all. We do a lot of talking while calm, and it really does help. Most of the time, he appreciates cool logic and does well with rational discussion. I think that makes it harder on him when he's out of control because he hates that feeling. Today we talked about how he could ask for 5 when he starts feeling it welling up, and I'll give him 5 minutes to cool down before checking in. We may have to play with the timing, but I'll remind him of that option in the morning before starting school stuff.
For the most part, he only dumps on me and dh. His siblings just get growled at and pushed aside and a few "shut ups" as he storms away. If course that can be hurtful, but even when he's angry he's not trying to hurt others.
I think I'll get the explosive child book. His improvement over time makes me feel like we are on the right path, but because this was not the method modeled when I was a child, I have self doubt. The way I saw it handled with my brothers clearly didn't help, but that's still sometimes my mental norm, even when I'm concisely choosing a different way. Some outside reinforcement can shore things up.
-
1
-
-
My eight year old son is a "big feelings, big reactions" kind of kid. All in all, he's on a good path up the mountain of learning self-regulation, but it's a path with lots of switchbacks and spirals instead of straight up. Overall, my husband and I are good at reacting calmly instead of escalating the situation. Explosions aren't dangerous as much as obnoxious. He's learned to throw pillows instead of books, for example, but there's still lots of door-slamming, yelling, name-calling, and tears. Once he's calmed down, which can be in just 5-30 minutes, he tends to be genuinely loving and kind. He'll pick up the pillows or whatever he's knocked down, if he notices them.
My question/need for brainstorming is, what else should I be doing? Do I just let him cuddle up and move on, trusting that he knows his behavior was unacceptable and it will improve with maturity? Do I take the door off its hinges so it can't be slammed? Do I require him to say one nice thing for every mean thing he said in anger? I don't feel a need for vengeance, but I also don't want him to fall into the bad habit of storming and raging and then expecting all to be okay. Part of me says he's still really young, but another sees how quickly he's growing. I don't want to be dealing with a 14 year old acting like this but with increased size, strength, and hormones. I don't worry at all about him becoming actually violent, but I also don't want to be his emotional punching bag or let him think that women should be used that way.
Obviously, I'm posting to get feedback, but it's also been a stormy sort of week and my husband is travelling for work. Be kind.
-
One thing to be aware of is that the "one weekend a month, 2 weeks in summer" slogan is not remotely a promise. It's highly likely that the school year will be interrupted by training, which our family has found to never be just two weeks a summer. Professors are required by law to let National Guard students make up work and tests and not penalize them, but if they aren't great at making up work, or if a professor feels vindictive and petty, that could be bad. (Similar protections for civilian jobs when guardsmen miss work for military duty) That's not to mention deployments.
If the young person is interested in the military and doesn't mind needing to take a semester off here or there, it can be very good. If the young person thinks it'll be a "no big deal" way to help pay for school and such, they will be disappointed.
-
4
-
-
Since you already have plants, I bet your idea of expanding on that is good. If the community thinks of you as a plant source already, that is a great in road. The troop affiliated with our pack sells Christmas trees and wreaths as their big fundraiser, and they say the best profit comes from the wreaths. If you can get traffic on those without doing the trees, it seems like that would be great
Mostly I'm just listening in as we'll be entering that world in March-ish.
-
2
-
-
It looks like Sadlier follows Common Core fairly closely, which means that you should be able to use any Common Core aligned program fairly easily. I would look at the placement tests and samples for several to see what you'd be comfortable teaching, then have her take the placement test of the one you thing would work best.
-
You could look at Science Mom's Earth Science (if you Google that, it should come up easily). It's a mix of explanation, watching demos, and doing a few activities at home. Kids will learn more with parent support, but they can learn a lot just from the videos. That isn't at all one on one tutoring, but maybe if she finds a particular area of interest you could then find a college student studying that area to do some additional tutelage.
-
14 hours ago, HomeAgain said:
When people with authority attempt to impose their opinion as fact, we all lose. The guidestones are just a more recent example of the lack of discernment between fact and opinion this country has cultivated.
1 hour ago, scholastica said:No argument that our populace has a lower than average ability to discern news from opinion.
We do however have freedom of speech. That’s what gave a person the authority to share their whacked out opinion.
HomeAgain, when you wrote, "The Guidestones are a more recent example..." did you mean to say say the recent hubbub leading to their bombing/the bombing itself is a recent example? Your subsequent posts make it seem that way. I think Scholastica and others (including myself) initially thought you were referring to the creation of the monument. The monument's creation is a pretty clear example of weird opinion, strongly stated, covered by free speech. The bombing and intense rhetoric leading up to it is something else entirely. Can you see how the confusion perhaps occurred? I don't think anyone was trying to twist your words or be obtuse.
-
3
-
-
I'm not sure about question 1. The activity book has pictures and maps for you to print out or copy.
I'll be doing this volume with my kids this year. I'm aiming at my 3rd and 5th graders, but 1st grade brother will be along for the ride. I delayed it for a year to get them a little older. If recommend prereading sincev you likely know what your child can handle. If you are doing this as part of a co op or something, you could probably skip sections you didn't think your child is ready for or cover them other ways. The activity book has suggestions for picture and other books, both fiction and non fiction, to go along with each section.
-
1
-
Mid year check in, how's it going?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
We're about halfway through the school year (American), and it seems like a good time to assess how things are going.
Here at our house, things are fine but sometimes hectic. We get math, reading, handwriting, history, and science done well and regularly, but we get stretches of forgetting about spelling. My oldest (5th) is doing a grammar focused year using Rod and Staff and it seems a bit eh, but she's putting up with it. I want to finish out All About Spelling with her so that I can use that time to do some more focused writing instruction, but I'm going to have to really focus on that this winter to get that to happen. She'll finish up Beast Academy sometime this Spring, and I think we'll do a more relaxed pre algebra and algebra before jumping into AOPS.
My second (3rd) is doing great in all areas but writing. He is a master at avoiding writing more than is absolutely necessary. I'm trying to balance doing enough writing that he develops some endurance and dexterity but but so much that he gets a really bad attitude that will make things harder in the future. I worry about whether I'm making things too easy, but we just did standardized testing and he did really well, so I guess it's working well enough. In the spring semester I'm hoping to find a way to incorporate more writing into something fun so that he gets a bit more practice.
My third is a first grader. Learning comes very easily to him. His biggest thing right now is handling setbacks, especially when I'm not there. If he doesn't know a coach/Sunday school teacher/etc really well, he will just shut down over small problems, like not knowing which station to go to. Most of the time a simple question could fix the problem, but he doesn't ask or even say anything. I need to focus on some role playing with him.
My last is a baby no more. He's turning four and ready to learn basics and be part of things. I'm trying to take ten minutes a couple times a day to focus on reading, memorizing poems, etc and giving him the opportunity to show what he can do. It delights him to no end to be able to learn new things.
The biggest trick is balancing flexibility with structure. We can fit everything in easily if all goes according to schedule, but there are so many good reasons to shift things around, and then things start falling apart.
How are things going for the rest of the elementary set?