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SporkUK

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Everything posted by SporkUK

  1. I agree with Hunter. We've tried various things with spelling rules and word origins,but the more the child has needed help spelling, the less any of those helped. Some simple and inexpensive that gets done quickly has worked well for us. I like Spelling Essentials for teaching different tactics for learning and encouraging a personal spelling dictionary alongside the spelling rules and part of words. With Spelling Essentials I taught it with just the book and either having them read/answer outloud from the book or writing it out on a whiteboard. Since doing that, my older two have their own personal spelling work. I keep a list of words they've missed and they work on 5-10 words a week, a few minutes a day in different ways: doing word studies, writing them out look-cover-check method, writing them in alphabetical/anti-alphabetical order, and so on. Other than giving them at the start of the week and testing at the end, this is independent work in their notebooks. Any words they miss on the test stay on for the next week and I add new words. With my 7 year old, I also keep a personal word list, but I include her personal review as part of her spelling lesson. I likely won't do spelling essentials and independent work with her until next year ot the year after. She has only started doing spelling as part of her lessons this year. She has also worked on Ultimate Phonics using their sentences as copywork which I think has helped her a lot. We do spelling lessons on whiteboards. I use Essentials in Teaching and Testing Spelling because I need something with British spellings and it has dictations for each section which I like (and it was cheap on eBay). With my 7 year old, we do 3 review words and 3 new words most days and I read a word and then check after each one and we discuss any issues/mark as needed. Then she writes sentences for her words, I check them, and we're done. The older ones get four words and we check at the end of the whole thing, marking together and getting them to point out the pattern before they write sentences. At the end of each section which vary in size, there is a dictation day with a short story. Those tend to be challenging days. My oldest, who has the hardest time with spelling, is going to add typing/typed spelling this upcoming year for additional practice in both typing and spelling as someone I think on this forum recommended trying that for struggling spellers. I'm thinking of using sequential spelling since I already have a copy and I think he'll like the longer words and see the patterns easier with them typed rather than writing.
  2. We haven't yet, but it is an option we're likely going to take which I wasn't expecting when I first started home educating my eldest. In that time, GCSEs and other school qualifications have changed a lot, the expense for exams has risen for private candidates, and more and more places that used to take private candidates are not doing so any longer. My local area has fluctuated a lot in resources for home educated teens in the last six years so I'm nervous to rely on it. For a while I was worried, but a couple of years ago at a science event my eldest met some of the teachers of the new University Technical College which has Year 10 and Year 12 entry. He has had his heart set on it ever since and at first I just agreed in principle in a 'that sounds nice but we'll see when you're older" sort of way. With all the changes to GCSEs and really just generally coming around to the idea that a couple years in a technical school at 15-16 would give him, and his siblings if they choose to do so, a world of experiences I can't - they have robotics and engineering suites and design classes and connections to a lot of the major local businesses with systems in place already for work experience and apprenticeships as well as connections to the local sixth form-college should any of them choose less technical routes for A-levels or whatever they want to do after GCSEs, it seems... a decent, realistic compromise that will give them the best chance at getting those qualifications that right now there are physical and financial barriers to me being able to help them do. The academics I think we could do, but the connections and getting a place for testing that wouldn't involve a lot of disruptive travel - the last thing they need before an exam - just makes it less likely we'll home educate through GCSEs. We do have the local sixth-form college as a GCSE back-up plan as they do a programme for 16-17 year olds, but it has far fewer options particularly for science that I'd rather not unless there was a plan for after that fits those limits. So, in short, we're planning to use state schools to meet examination needs and to give wider connections and opportunities. It's also a very handy motivator right now as some GCSEs are only available to those students who go in at a certain level in English, maths, & science, those not at that level are given extra time in the school day to work on those at the same time as classes like the beloved computing GCSE. Doing more English now so he can do less later and more computing sounds fine to him.
  3. London has barriers in some places - some intersections have a lot - but, like Laura Corin said, it's hard for them to be placed in many sections for many reasons - many streets are just too narrow, how the roads bend, avoiding other services already in the ground, and the amount of people. Westminster bridge gets so many people - it's right by a tube entrance, a popular tourist spot for pictures and close to a lot a popular tourists sites, Parliament is on one side and a major hospital is on the other...honestly, I worry about trampling when I've gone through there and the idea of barriers - I could see issues of people getting trapped either on the pedestrian side trying to escape or pinned against it if a car went through a crossing. With London's experience of the IRA and more, and how quickly police responded to both of the recent attacks, I'm not sure much more can be done with the environment to protect people without causing other issues and vulnerabilities. We had a marathon through my city the day after the latest attack. I know bigger cities use metal barriers for protection but my road - an A road that has highway traffic - just had traffic cones down the middle with one side open to traffic and one closed for runners. I had the passing thought on the morning of the risks in that but really it's been fine for decades and once the tail truck past the road was open which wouldn't be possible if they put more up. The city I'm in, a couple hours by train north of London, has metal barriers on main roads at the corners and near crossings - and I regularly see them bent up so they seem to be working. Young adults jump over them all the time though so the part of the attack where they got out with knives would be hard to prevent (and there is an issue of making them any taller as then kids can't see over or around them to cross safely at crossings - some studies show high barriers and plants can make a crossing more risky). I'm not a driver so I might miss them but I've noticed and seen a lot of requests barriers to be put up recently to stop quads and bikes on certain footpaths as they were knocking kids over than for car on roads. Thinking of major buildings in the area... some have those round concrete bollard type things and I know there are parts where metal ones can be put in to close roads or spaces off for events. The city centre is mostly pedestrianized so there are fewer cars which helps but there aren't really many barriers - that would prevent emergency services and other needs getting in & make it hard for shops to get stock - it's all marked by differences in road material.
  4. I live in a city so likely less than many others. Within 15 minutes walking from me: two large parks, a small lake mostly suited for fishing, bird watching, and RC boats, the River Derwent and its' walking paths, the small forest and open spaces by the river, & the bird sanctuary. The larger park has a lot of sports facilities - courts for tennis and basketball, football pitches, BMX and such riding tracks with ramps and such, outdoor exercise equipment area, and such. Only the larger park has toilets but the small one backs up onto a lot of houses so most can just use our own houses or friends' houses. If we're talking 15 minutes driving, there are dozens of other parks, woods, along with the Elvaston Castle nature reserve & their other groups with the large forests and park. I could go walking for hours in the woods and the kids love the large paths around especially when horses go past. There are also tons of bike and walking paths everywhere. For mountains though, I'd need to go... 30-40 minutes north by car/bus for the Peak District National Park. I've no idea where one would go for lakes to go boating, though I know the local rowing groups all use parts of the river. I love it here. When my older two were small, we live on the other side of the city where it meets the suburbs and it was awful for me. In a 15 minute walk there was one tiny park between some blocks of flats and one big open area with a park that had very little upkeep. The rest was mainly housing as far as the eye could see though it was far leafier looking with more trees dotted everywhere. It felt both cramped and isolating because there were so many houses but no communal space and we had to leave to do anything.
  5. Frog spawn is eggs/jelly egg mass seen in ponds though sometimes used here to discuss the wiggle speck before it comes out as a tadpole (though some things classify the speck as a tadpole and frog spawn as the eggs before fertilization). Baby frog classifications, who knew they could be so complicated? :laugh:
  6. Not sure. I see a lot of different fashions in the mums around me as well as the teens. Some days I seem to be & am easily clocked as a mum; other days people think I'm their big sister or I get carded repeatedly. I think I dress more like a mum than a teen. My comfy-uniform is long skirt or kilt + tank top or shirt + overshirt or fleece or, if feeling fancy, a blazer. Occasionally a dress and overshirt if I want to make things easier and I'm not risking much temperature change. If it's going to be a late night out I may add a layer of thermal shirt and leggings so I have maximum layers to deal with the possible chill. At this time last year I was still covering my hair and wearing cloth caps but I've chosen to stop. I don't think it did much to change how people perceive my age - I was asked quite a few times, mostly by older people, if it was some new kids' fashion. Comfy uniform is completed with an active band on my glasses, my necklace, and my crossbody bag when I go out. I buy most of my clothes from charity shops. All my fleeces, my blazers, most of my skirts are charity shop finds. I typically use eBay if I want something specific or unusual like the kilts. I know but always check my measurements before ordering and have gained a good eye and understanding for what works for me and what I'll actually wear -- everything is better with pockets, always buy the larger size if on the cusp, good materials for me are lighter layerable tuff rather than thick, no fake pockets, colours I like - bright tops and dark bottoms - and what I won't wear like white, and deep pockets. I can't recall the last time I shopped in a department store - a lot of them have clearance eBay stores anyways now. DH picks up basics like socks and boxers when he goes grocery shoppings and I occasionally set something for click and collect if I or one of the kids want specific kinds but otherwise charity shops and eBay do me well. I've no idea what department any of my clothes would be in. I don't think I'll ever be too old for sparkles though. My current ankle length skirt has a lovely red and gold band around the bottom hem and my spouse bought me my favourite blue sandstone necklace because I loved how it looks like shiny stars in the light. I also have a light-up colour changing light saber umbrella so maturity is not my top priority in my appearance, or at least not higher than good visibility and fun.
  7. I don't think anyone who has said they find it personal/rude/concerning has said that is how they respond. I deflect. I'll say the city I currently live in and for most nice people it stops there and we move on to more interesting things. If pressed or they're surprised I'll say how long I've lived there. If they remark on my accent not sounding like I'm from there, I'll say I get that a lot, I moved around a lot as a kid, and try to move the conversation on. So a person needs to really be asking before I'll give up and say "I'm originally from the States" which isn't something I like talking about for a long list of reasons. There is practically nothing you can learn about who I am now from that other than it's a place I do not want to return and have not been in many years and the floodgate of anti-US comments/jokes it usually opens does not help improve my desire to talk about it. I get some, maybe even most people are trying to be friendly, but I think more than people here may think are not. Even in my great diverse city, I am wary. I live where the EDL is active and they crash events regularly - especially events where people are actively trying to share their culture. 3 out of 4 of my councilors are UKIP, I get people who knock on my door to gleefully tell me how if elected they'll kick immigrants out or make it harder for immigrants to be employed, I avoid certain parts of my city because of previous xenophobic experiences including threats of violence against me and my kids. When I say that question makes me wary, this is all what's going on in my head. Chip on my shoulder or whatever, I'd be pretty foolish to ignore the cause and effect that opening my mouth has led to others turning hateful or violent. Yeah, it would be great if I could live as an open book. I go to and organize events where ice breaker questions are common (of which 'where are you from' is a rather weak one - rarely gets conversations going, just awkward monologues. Current and upcoming stuff usually works better) and I am known for my tendency to babble when I feel like. I support the Human LIbrary and it efforts to make these type of personal conversations more available; however, I have long learned that is not a safe option in public spaces with random people without others as protection. We live in an age where just talking about ourselves online gets people doxxed and threats and hurt, let alone what happens to people in person. And really, other people are not our textbooks. If people wanted to be educated on something, we have the world of knowledge at our fingertips where people who choose to open themselves up write about such things and should be supported in doing so. People who want to learn use those. Expected random stranger to open up to educate and make the world a better place, as if that is some people's jobs just by existing in public space seems an unfair risky burden and the idea that just by saying where I was born or why I immigrated is going to actually teach anyone anything seems unrealistic. I feel safer walking alone the 20 minutes from the city centre to my house alone in the middle of the night as a slow disabled woman going past pubs and industrial estates than answering the question "where are from?" from someone I don't know. Sure, like the walk, very little is likely to happen, but if something does happen, I am the one who is going to get hurt and for what - someone's curiosity? for something I have absolutely no control over? I literally wear buttons on my bag and patches on my wallet with more interesting topic options than that and if someone wants to be interested in, like, or dislike me, I'd far rather it was because of something I cared about.
  8. I don't think it's rude or offensive; however, I am wary when I get asked that. I have people respond in so many different ways. I have had people discuss lovely trips they or others have had there. I have had people ask me to compare the weather. I have had people go on about how they'd love to go live there and do not get why I would leave. I have had people go on to tell me at least I'm one of the "good" immigrants only based on my country of origin. I have had people demand to know why I "still" have an accent after all these years. I have had people shocked I speak English at all or so well because of how I look and being listed as 'ethnicity: other' on forms - like I've literally had hospital staff mime 'eat' and different types of food at me. I often feel opening my mouth is taking a risk and answering questions on my past is laying myself vulnerable in a way I don't like to do with people I don't know very well. This is particularly true for me because it is pretty much always followed with asking me why I immigrated here which I still can't feel comfortable answering to strangers so come up with rosy half-truths. I'd really rather not have to do that but I've little other option once they ask. I understand people are curious but really, hearing over and over "I knew I heard an accent" or "I knew you weren't ~really~ from [city that has been my home for almost my entire adult life]" from people I've just met feels like people are saying "You obviously don't belong and you need to explain yourself for my interest". I mean, as interesting as people might find my past - I didn't get a choice in where I was born or how I talk and there is no polite way for me to say "I don't want to discuss that with you, that's personal for me and I don't know if I can trust where this is going". That's true regardless of the person asking. Some people love discussing their past and heritage, I am not one of them. When there is a polite way for me not to talk about these things maybe it won't set off so many alarm bells when people inevitable asked because I've chosen to speak.
  9. I have spent the last several days on and off debating/trying to figure out if I can fit in another bookcase somewhere in this house. I've come to the conclusion that I'd really rather not. The only place that one might fit it is the girls' bedroom...though there have been jokes about the bathroom. So, I had the thought of asking other people that may have houses full of books what you all do. I really want as much accessible to the kids as possible but I'm finding the more bookcases or anything are over full, the less likely they are to use them. As an example, one of the bookcases has a shelf of picture books and a shelf of larger storybooks and, other than to shove in books that go elsewhere, they tend to not get touched very much unless I specifically recommend something there. The section with novels on that case is two deep so only part of it gets much use. I am right now thinking of just taking a week (at least) to just deal with the kids' areas and all the bookcases but I'm just pulling a blank on how to do so and have them be used. Maybe a bunch of boxes/baskets? We haven't had much luck with those before. So, how does everyone manage books in their homes, both books for lessons and general reading. Hoping we can all get ideas to help each other.
  10. I almost have it down to five, I don't think there will is enough to go for ten this year for me. Has anyone gotten the Figurative Language by Broomdale House that can tell me what it's like or where it is on the publisher's page because I cannot find it at all. Even googling for it brings up a different programme by the publisher and the build a bundle page. It's in the Upper Grades #1 pack as well. It sounds ideal for my 12 year old but I'd love more information.
  11. I would either unfriend, or set them to acquaintance and set posts to friends except acquaintances and see if you feel their not seeing your posts makes any difference. Likely it won't and you may feel better then about unfriending. I mainly use facebook to keep an eye out for local events and for links to places I read regularly but don't want/need inbox alongside message functions. For friends, I prioritize those I know now over everyone else so it's the two that live with me, family, people I see regularly, and then a handful of other people. I use the acquaintance feature a lot as well as "see less of" to work out who to drop and I have a couple people due to event organizing I keep on but no longer follow. Because I go to a lot of different events and help organize groups, it can get a bit full but I clear out pretty regularly - every few months or before/after a big new event when I get multiple more requests. I have, in all my deletes, only once had someone take issue -- and that was my sister who never spoke to me on there, but did seem to gossip to everyone what I was posting. I got fed up after about the 5th or 6th time I tried telling someone something to be told she had done so already. I feel good having it around 40ish but without acquaintances/not follows it's down to probably half that.
  12. No, you can block anyone even prior to any contact - you can even block people's emails without knowing if they have a facebook account. Janeway - I agree with the others that getting block-happy may help, just block as much as possible and tighten your privacies up as much as possible. As for the lies and fake news, well, people will either know you and what you do in good faith or not. You can't do anything about that. I've been trashed in a few places for not toeing the line and the people who matter always see through it. Though I have to agree with Mergath that in your original post that you come across as very judgmental & gossipy and while you think you haven't said anything -- those kind of thoughts have a way of bleeding through. You could have just said they aren't the kind of people you'd usual be in a group or friends with and left it at that but instead listed thing and thing you feel is wrong with them. I take this as venting from what is a hard situation for you but...I'm polyamorous and I'd like to think I'm a pretty decent person. My brother is divorced, as is my mother in law and late step-father-in-law, and they're pretty decent. Now none of us may be the kind of people you'd like to be friends with or in a birth group with, but...maybe reflect on why you seem to have stewed over all this for so long and seemed to have kinda enjoyed listing it out like that for this group.
  13. I once had a guy in a shop argue with me about this. When I was over 8 months pregnant. He had said "young man" and started talking and asking random questions but I hadn't responded - thought he was talking to someone behind me while I was checking out. He got rather annoyed about it. Even after I pointed out I'm a woman, the obvious bump, the cloth cap I was wearing which was rather feminine [he said my lack of hair made me look male, the cap was white with gold and black swirly trim]. He still seemed annoyed when I left. I got a lot more strange comments when my kids were small. Once had someone think I had a dog in a baby carrier in a shop...she was shocked he was an actual baby. Another time on the bus, someone thought he was a doll, I've had people argue my eldest as a baby was a girl because he is apparently too pretty to be a boy or talked like a girl when he was babbling/copying. Also got some odd remarks when I used mobility scooters or canes or other devices, especially with the kids, it seemed to attract people to not engage their brains before talking [or shouting on occasions]. The absolute weirdest involved neither though. I was in like an indoor market stall type shop which had electronics in a big locked cabinet. The owner was unlocking it for the person in front of me and asked if I wanted something from in there as well. I said "No, I just want these glasses". Apparently, my accent amused another person, random other shopper, who then proceeded for the next 3-5+ minutes for the person in front of me and myself to checkout kept repeating the word "glasses" in an what I think was an over exaggerated version of my accent over and over. It was so strange and at the time quite intimidating. Never had anything like it before or since.
  14. I found listening to her podcasts on the stages of growth in writing quite helpful in understanding it and what everyone was talking about, though they're a few years old now so the talk about products near the end of most of them is a bit out of date but in general they explain it all and how it can be used.
  15. Sounds like my eldest! We did give up on it for a bit, then restarted with his younger sister with just doing Khan Academy Grammar for a few weeks to see what he did remember and make it more relaxed/fun as the people in the videos are very enthusiastic. As a bonus, they got some history and reasoning behind grammar along the way which did help when we moved onto Grammar Made Easy with the why we were bothering & lack of attention issues. The writing, parsing, and diagramming their sentences from tiny subject noun | verb sentences does seem to be getting through, feels a bit like he's treating it like his beloved maths so far, but only time will tell. We're continuing with grammar to help with his writing, his BSL practice, and it's part of GCSE English Language which he'll be taking in... four years :scared: . So, we've both agreed to make it a 'daily small bite size' focus to try to get him there. Grammar Made Easy takes ~15ish minutes at this point with occasional longer ones and we're going to follow it with Oxford English Grammar because it matches the kind of language and format that will be used in later studies and tests. I have a few other resources like the Big Fat English Notebook and the BBC bitesize page, but I'm trying to relax on grammar.
  16. I use Ultimate Phonics free word list which has a page or two of words followed by a page of sentences for each lesson. For us, they read the words and sentences and then they pick one sentence to copy but for a kid who really enjoys writing or copying there would be plenty to use.
  17. displace, it's an annual sale where lots of curriculums and bits are sold in bundles. Each year has different stuff and different bundles though for the years I've seen there is usually ones for particularly grade groups / subjects / usually a parent/home making one / sometimes there are ones like a Charlotte Mason bundle and so on as well as a make your own bundle options. It's good for getting some popular things cheap but also a good way to fill ones hard drive with lots of PDFs one then forgets about :lol:
  18. I live on a main road in a struggling working class area that gets a lot of these. Thankfully the JWs have moved from wanting to talk to wanting to hand us a leaflet with details & dates of upcoming info meetings and some of the other churches are following suit or having stalls in the city centre regularly but some of the others are still awkwardly coming to my door. We only get teens who are with adults though which seems safer for them. I have never felt listened to, comforted, or informed by a stranger on my doorstep. I have felt intimidated, I have felt insulted, I have felt entirely not listened to at all. I have had large men dragging around young immigrants who were obviously trying so hard to prove they were doing a good job to the dude even though they could barely speak English and obviously very anxious, I have had my beliefs and disabilities misconstrued and mocked, I have had people seeing I'm trying to teach my kids tell me how I needed to ensure my kids got the "whole picture" by teaching creationism [i was seconds from having my kids pull all the mythology books to show them how they're learning the "whole picture", we have some lovely ones on origin stories]. I try to be nice and not get angry but I have had to get one of my kids to get my spouse [who is far larger than me and thankfully works nights so is here during the day] on several occasions because they're preventing me from closing the door. I do not care how well-meaning some of them are, their intent is irrelevant when the result is harmful. My street is pretty much lined with signs on doors and windows requesting these and other door-steppers do not knock because of the issues with people feeling intimidated and manipulated -- and that's before we get to the scams and con-artists. I would think churches would stop if only to prevent being able to be used like that, we regularly get warnings from local police about distraction thieves and burglars who try to get into homes under the guise of religion or tip van men. There is literally a church in sight of my house with a large sign of open community events as well as a religious-based homeless youth hostel who distribute event things through our letterbox regularly. We are not going to miss it. Honestly, I would feel more inclined to hear and be comforted or whatever in a neutral public social space than having my day interrupted in my own home to do so. There are several befriending and such services that could be good for those who want to listen to and comfort people. As others said, there are so many other ways to help and inspire people to a way than being at someone's door telling me about Jesus. To me, that is very antagonistic, I automatically feel I am going to get hostility which I have gotten from them just like I am when UKIP are at the door to tell me about the immigration problem when I am an immigrant.
  19. Another with an issue with most women's underwear. The gusset isn't much of an issue but the leg holes, I don't know, any bigger and they'd fall off the waist but my leg holes rub and are uncomfortable like they aren't quite in the right place. It's better when I wear them with cloth pads. I guess it stretches the material out more, Now, I actually pretty much only wear typical woman's underwear with the cloth pads and otherwise...I wear boxers. They just fit my body shape better.
  20. Thanks, that's a great one :hurray: I'd known he was or had worked on one for schools but hadn't seen something available like that before. It's quite different to what I've been looking at which are the ones where kids pretend to run a home or business which usually are just as much if not more maths skills practice to financial education which I thought might ease my math-loving but wary about any grown up talks eldest, but from skimming it, I think how it is worded for finances kids do and peeking at adult work would suit him well. I still would like to find a British financial literacy get a feel for the basics book or something [this specifically says it doesn't talk about opening accounts and nothing about tax and such] for Y8 or Y9 before having to deal with GCSE stuff but finding British financial resources aimed for this age group is proving more difficult than I expected. Seems like there is gap between very basic this is money books for younger kids and too dense financial advice books for adults.
  21. I've found a few American business maths courses that could be done with a little tweaking and more American consumer maths courses that would take a lot more due to banking products and stuff being quite different. I've squirrelled them away just in case, but I would like to find something either British or maybe that gives a global perspective that could be used open-and-go or with enough teacher handholding to use with pretty independent when it comes to maths Year 6-8 age kids and crossing my fingers someone here can help as I'm running out of phrases to google trying to find this!
  22. Similar, and I knew people who graduated with me who were a few months younger [and one person who was a junior who graduated with us] and I'd been taking college classes for over a year at that point. I spent that summer living with a friend because it was that or homelessness - I was too young to get things on my own or get help from a lot of sources where one had to be an adult and too old for parental responsibility to really be enforced or get help as a child. I had a lot of difficulties my senior year because I was too young though I am glad I was able to get away as soon as I did. 14ish years on and it makes little difference I think...other than I still live with the then friend I lived with that summer & we have kids now :lol: I live in England now which does not really have redshirting at least for state schools - you can defer entrance but kids are still placed in where they would be just having missed what everyone else went through. It's been an ongoing debate whether this should change - particularly when Scotland and Northern Ireland have different systems (as do private schools). So far, we're not really affected because we home educate and all the activities they do use age or qualifications to progress; only my occasional council reports and keeping an eye on the future as some of the GCSE programmes here are Year-based keeps it in my mind. My current year 3 child, who is an August birthday who was very ill when she was younger and really struggled until about a year ago would likely have been recommended for it if we lived elsewhere. I find the "wisdom" from the OP odd, like many here my life certainly has not been on some track by how long its been since graduating high school. University I did a bit earlyish then again lateish though certainly was not the oldest by far, housing [still renting], work - I'm totally restarting freelance now...I was teetotal and didn't go out drinking socially until I was 30 and even now will be one of multiple people at events not drinking since between it negatively affecting some of my medical conditions and just generally not liking it, it's rare I'm in the mood for alcohol. Like, I had a very bad childhood which still affects me (currently having a bad period of panic attacks) but of all the things I consider about my own parents or that I would like my kids to thank me for, this is not really up there, which is good since it is out of my hands.
  23. I put "Changed your mind from anti- to pro-" though for me it's more afraid of the medical community & being supported by a community in my early parenting years that fed that fear to coming to terms with medical abuse that was inflicted on me and having a wider community that helped me understand and support me with my fears around medicine. I have been verbally, physically, and sexually assaulted by medical professionals and had some who put my well being and life [and in one case a pregnancy] at risk for their pride/bad mood/whatever. It was very very easy to convince me that doctors and the medical community did not have my or my child's best interest at heart. I immigrated shortly before becoming pregnant with my eldest and my family were far both physically and emotionally and I didn't know many people locally so I kinda grabbed the first group with both hands and they were a "natural" group that felt the world and everything was purposefully trying to make us all miserable and sick and whatever and stories like mine which are awful enough would be...encouraged is the wrong word but anecdotes were certainly used to prove that by avoiding all of whatever we were doing the best thing. If anything they inflamed my anxiety and the few medical professionals I came across did not help, it was very black or white from all sides. I thankfully didn't have anything horrible happen like I know some others who switch sides do. I just needed more time, more people, more...kindness. I was simply terrified of doctors and what they could do because of what had happened to me and so many I know. I needed everything explained nicely and someone to hold my hand. Now all my kids are caught up as they can get.
  24. I second Math Mammoth for 3rd grade. That's when I shifted my now Year 5 child to it because the lack of instruction on the page in Primary MEP and having all the extra bit beyond the page each day was really frustrating for her.
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