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Hkpiano

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Posts posted by Hkpiano

  1. Thank you, everyone! I guess I realized that phonics and spelling technically aren't the same but kind of had lumped them together in my mind. I suppose what I was asking was if we could just move on to spelling or if we needed to keep working on the phonics. It seems like the general consensus is to continue with the phonics (ETC or AAR) until she is a strong reader then worry about spelling, is that right?

     

    I definitely think The Wand will be a great tool but ETC gets done consistently so we'll probably continue with it as well.

  2. Thank you, barefootmommy!!! I agree that The Reading Lesson doesn't go into a lot of depth, I've been more using it as our spine, if that makes sense. I supplement a lot of what we do with games from another phonics program I have called Sound Town. I mostly use The Reading Lesson to help me know what to teach next, because Sound Town doesn't really have a set schedule of which sounds/letters to introduce first and my brain needs that LOL. I definitely don't think her phonics instruction will be complete when we finish the book. I keep going back and forth on AAR/AAS. I know it's a great program!

  3. Well, The Wand has a lot of phonics in there. Did she like ETC? In retrospect, I felt like it didn't do a lot for either of my kids. How's her reading? It's just so hard to say... I don't know The Reading Lesson really. The Brave Writer recommendation would be to put off spelling - she's really young, after all. However, I learned that for my kid who was struggling a little more with reading at that age, that I should have done a really solid O-G program like Spalding or AAR or LoE back when we were starting. It would have made a difference for him. On the other hand, my other son was fine not doing that and learning in context, like in The Wand, would have been fine for him.

     

    She really doesn't love ETC. She hasn't really learned anything new in it so far, it just feels like another chance for her to practice what she already knows (reading and writing basic CVC words). I thought about doing AAS with both kids, but they seem to be reading well without it. DS7 is reading at a 5th grade level, according to the tests I've given him. I don't feel like she's struggling with reading, it's a little slower with her than with her brother but he was an old kindergartener (Nov birthday) and she's a young kindergartener (July birthday). Maybe we'll finish The Reading Lesson, which introduces all the phonemes, and see how she's doing at that point. If I feel like she still needs extra practice and instruction, we'll start AAR or AAS...

  4. Does anyone else have a hard time putting together an FHE lesson on top of the homeschooling lessons? I usually ask DH to take care of it if he's in town, but he travels a lot during the week so it often is up to me. It just feels like my kids are always hearing from me, you know? And they're still too little to assign the lessons to them. Not to mention I'm a convert so I can't really draw on old memories from past FHE lessons, I have to either create my own or look up ideas online (thank goodness for sugardoodle, right?)

     

    I shouldn't complain, I looooove the FHE concept, I just struggle to pull it off sometimes...

  5. My DD5 (turns 6 in July) will be in "first grade" starting in the fall. We've been working through The Reading Lesson and she should be finishing that up by the end of the summer. She is just about finished with the first Explode the Code workbook and she just finished the third set of Bob books. For Language Arts next school year, I am planning on doing lots of reading with her as well as start on The Wand (Brave Writer) with her. But I'm wondering what to do for spelling/phonics? Should we keep going with Explode the Code (which she likes but doesn't love) or switch to Spelling Workout (which is what my son who is a grade ahead of her is working through, he just started book B), or do something else entirely??

     

    Any ideas or recommendation?

  6. For my DS7 (turns 8 in November):

     

    Math: Right Start C

    Spelling: continue Spelling Workout B

    Handwriting: continue HWT 2nd grade level, he's taught himself cursive using the little supplement that came with it, so I'll let him continue practicing that as well. We'll continue with Keyboarding without Tears as well.

    History: Story of the World Volume 2

    Literature: Classical House of Learning to accompany SOTW, also books from Quiver of Arrows

    Writing: Jot It Down and Quiver of Arrows

    Other misc Language Arts: continue Poetry Tea Time as well, and develop a plan for memory work and stick to it (still need to work this out, obviously!

    Science: TWTM-style Earth Science (Usborne First Encyclopedia of Our World and More Mudpies to Magnets) and Astronomy (can't remember the book we are using for that, it will be the second half of the year anyway...)

    Latin: Song School Latin 1 (just going for some fun and exposure, nothing too serious)

    Art: ArtTango and Simply Charlotte Mason picture study (three artists like we did this year, haven't selected them yet), hopefully a trip to an art museum at some point in the school year

    Music: piano lessons start when he turns 8, plus composer study (three composers, listen to select pieces and read a biography)

    PE: basketball and swimming lessons

    Home Ec: daily chores, plus I want to start having help more with meal planning, making the grocery list, grocery shopping, and cooking/baking (goal of having him involved with one dinner per week, I hope to start this over the summer so we get into the habit...)

    Religion: reading through the Illustrated Book of Mormon stories (we did the same with the Illustrated Old Testament stories this past year in our Circle Time and it was a really nice overview for them).

     

     

    Whew! That seems like a lot!!! Fortunately most of those subjects will be combined with his 1st grader sister and they still don't take too terribly long to complete!

     

     

  7. I used to until I switched from hard to soft contacts. Now I call them my bionic eyes. If I chop onions with my glasses on, I definitely cry.

    I wear soft contacts and have noticed the same thing. Chopping onions with my glasses on brings tears streaming down my face, but with my contacts in: nothing.

    • Like 1
  8. :iagree:

    Cancelllng the Disney trip is really mean, but the fact that she had an alternative plan in the works, just for her, seems suspicious.

     

    When I was in elementary school, all the classes would put on a play in June. It was a really big deal and all the kids looked forward to it. My 2nd grade teacher was a nasty old bag who was just counting the days to retirement, and when we asked about our play she just kept saying that she was working on it and it would be great. Weeks past and the other classes were starting to practice their performances and we still had no clue about our play. Then one day someone was whispering in class and she slammed her book down, said we were a bunch of hooligans, and that she was canceling the play because of our bad behavior. Picture a room full of sobbing 7 year olds. When the big performance day arrived, we sat glumly in the audience watching all the other classes.

     

    I later found out that she pulled the same trick every year — she couldn't be bothered to put on a play so she always found an excuse to "punish" the class at the last minute. :mad:

    Oh my gosh, how awful!!!!

    • Like 9
  9. okay - the reference to the tramp. I guess I need to see the context. I admit I took it at face value, as in meaning a trampoline. I know with texting many words are shortened and sometimes nothing more than symbols. I guess it could be a sincere jumping on a trampoline (which kids, even teens, like to do for completely innocent reasons) or a sexist guy wanting to see girls books bounce. (and those are guys who do NOT need this stupid leader as their youth minister. they would do better with someone much more conscientious of their spiritual growth.) for me, there isn't enough of the beforehand to know which one it was referring to.

     

     

    Wait, really?? That's how you interpreted it? I took it to mean he wanted to "jump on" as in do dirty things with "a tramp" meaning a woman of questionable morals. Do I just have a filthy mind? It is a very crude joke, IMO.

    • Like 7
  10. My No Muss-No Fuss Reading Program of choice for any child capable of blending and willing to learn to read is, hands down The Reading Lesson. I have the eBook version and have used it with several kids and it has never failed me. I seriously love this book. It teaches the letter and digraph sounds as you need them, not all at once so you can begin whenever you and your kid want to. Each lesson could be spread out over a week or more if needed or zipped through at the childs own pace.

     

    We use TRL for reading instruction and practice (it includes words, sentences and stories) and now that I know it exists, I like to use ElizabethAs' Sight Words by Sound during those first 5 lessons and do blending drills to build fluency with short vowel VC, CVC, CCVC and CVCC "sight words" words, while working through the first 5 chapters of TRL.

    We love The Reading Lesson too, and are pairing it with Bob Books and Explode the Code for a simple, open and go approach.

    • Like 2
  11. I thought of this thread today when I used an analogy in conversation. My friend didn't seem bothered, but I was very self conscious about it.

     

    I adore analogies, and love it when people use them in conversation with me; I had no idea they were so boring and annoying. Learn something every day, huh ?

    I don't think you should be self-conscious, I like using and hearing analogies too. Just be aware of verbal and physical cues that might mean your listener would like you to move on. Your friend probably enjoyed the conversation though, I think just the fact that you were conscious of how she may be reacting means you were okay. :)

    • Like 3
  12. This is so funny!!! My family is like this. 200%!!! And my husband's family strikes me as shockingly rude because he'll call his mom and say "hey, what time for dinner on Saturday? okay, see you, bye." WHAT? No greeting? No asking how they are? (Even if he just saw them...I know, I know!) That type of question would take 5-10 minutes with my father b/c we'd be so busy being nice to each other and saying our love yous and such.

     

    If my father or sister called and didn't ask how I was, even if I had seen them 30 seconds ago, I would think they were in an emergency situation or something!!

    Haha! It's sweet. Your way really is the nicer way. :)

    • Like 1
  13. Yep. I know I can tell long stories too.....I give word for word narratives....I take a while to get to the point.....But other times I am very much direct......if I call dh during the day it is for a reason. Usually the same for him. But he will call me up and use about 6 sentences of politeness before saying, hey, I forgot my laptop can you bring it to me. Arregggg!

     

    If I had been in his shoes the first words I said would have been, "I forgot my lap top,can you please bring it to me?"

     

    Oh well, we all have our quirks I guess and have to live with each other.

    When I was first married, I noticed this about my husband's family! They always have to say, "Hi! How are you?" "I'm great, how are you?" when starting a phone conversation, even if they are just calling to ask "Did you lock the door?" or "Hey, forgot my coat, I'll meet you there." Even if they have literally just seen each other 5 minutes earlier. I thought it was so funny and made the mistake of commenting on it to MIL. Oops. "You mean common courtesy?" she asked. Sigh. My family just isn't that polite, I guess (sometimes that's a bad thing, I know but in this case it's just a time saver)! :)

    • Like 2
  14. On the flip side, I have had someone comment on my conversation style. I tried really hard, but honestly, it's not much of a relaxed, friendly conversation if you have to be aware of and careful with every phrase or example. So the conversations became more professional where we just said what needed to be said and hung up. It's really hard to be good friends with someone if they grate on your nerves or vice-versa.

    I think this is right on. Some people just don't click, and although I respect kind, constructive criticism when I know the person loves me and we have a long-standing relationship, criticizing someone's conversational style is very personal and can damage the relationship irreparably. I know for me, unless this was someone I was really close to and they did it in a thoughtful, tactful way, I would probably just find another friend who enjoyed conversing with me!

    • Like 5
  15. When my DS broke the tip of his finger and mangled the nail in a heavy door, we were referred to an orthopedic hand surgeon who did surgery to repair the nail bed and reattach the nail. He said that if we didn't do the surgery, DS would likely have a nail that grew back crooked or not at all on that finger. That was 2 years ago, and while his fingernail still looks a little different on that finger, it is growing in straight so I'm glad we did it!

    • Like 1
  16. My grandma used to do something similar. I still remember the day she was taking my sister and me out for lunch and felt the need to explain in detail how tacos are made. We were both teenagers and had already told her that yes, we had eaten tacos before. We attributed it to her being a second grade teacher for years. No advice for you though, in her case we just listened and giggled about it later to each other.

    • Like 1
  17. It makes the Grandparents happy :). Seriously, I would do it anyway, but this is the linchpin on which they seem to evaluate our ability to homeschool.

    This reminds me of the time I had a mini melt-down when my first-grader tried to sign his grandma's birthday card in barely legible capital letters. Not my proudest moment, but it was so disheartening because we had been so consistently working on his handwriting, which is normally quite good, and I knew that she would be a little appalled at what he had produced at that moment.

  18. I went shopping with a friend who grew up in Beverly Hills for a while with a fashionable mom. I grew up with a mom who had no problem wearing holiday themed sweaters. This is what you do (why I never figured this out, I don't know). You go into a store and find something you like. A shirt, a sweater, a skirt, etc. You look for the cutest dressed sales lady (maybe even with your similar body type) and ask her to help you make an outfit. For example, I liked a skirt but had no idea how to make it into a cute going on a date with dh outfit. The sales woman paired it with a simple long sleeved black t-shirt, a glittery gold scarf (on very reduced clearance I might add), told me to wear it with black tights and black boots. Bam! A non-frumpy outfit! I got some cute outfits on that trip that I never would have picked out on my own. I have learned that the sales women are your friends - not just annoying people trying to "help" you so they can get commissions.

    Ooh, I love this idea!

  19. I get up early every morning to read the scriptures and run and/or do yoga. I do my best to get to bed early enough so I feel up to getting up at 5:30, some weeks it's a struggle if I have a couple late nights.

     

    Playing the flute and piano is really relaxing too, and I also enjoy participating in a monthly book club.

     

    If I'm especially stressed, a bath and a book or Netflix show is always nice! :)

    • Like 1
  20. I fit in best with Tier 4, but considering the fact that I am LDS, I probably belong with Tiers 5-8 in the fact that the author would doubt that I am "even saved!" LOL.

     

    Oh, and like the PP who defined Tier 8, we homeschool for academic reasons and so we can enjoy more flexibility and time with our kids!

    • Like 4
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