RKWAcademy
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Posts posted by RKWAcademy
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I own it all. My kids are barely into SM 1A and are almost 6 years old. So far, we've primarily used unifix cubes. I wish I could switch them to the c-rods, though. I haven't taught the rods well enough yet, so now they just play with them. It seems to me the AL Abacus would be most useful but my kids insist the unifix cubes are easiest. They fly through math using just the cubes, so I can't complain yet. I can't really help with your dilemma because my solution is to buy WAY TOO MUCH. But, in my case, I would have been fine just sticking with the unifix cubes in the beginning.
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I was an accountant in the tax dept of a large corporation. We happened to be in a sector made up of engineers. In my role, I dealt with finance and accounting and engineers for certain projects. I loved when an engineer was in a finance role because it meant he or she understood the money side and the engineering! Most engineers didn't want to deal with the boring tax lady asking questions about their research! But, an engineer in a finance role understood why I was asking and how I was trying to benefit the company. Made my job much easier! Plus, it was fun to learn some of the engineering. At our company to really advance out of just tax, I would have rotated through many departments in finance.
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I lived in Atlanta straight out of graduate school (my first job was in midtown). I felt safe in the area. Of course I was not on a college campus and was generally working ALL THE TIME. Other aspects of the city/state didn't appeal to me, so I moved after two years.
I went to Alabama (main Tuscaloosa campus) for undergrad (Accounting) and my father's Chem Engineer undergrad degree is from Alabama. I would have to say UAH is not as strong. I second the pp with considering Auburn or main Tuscaloosa campus if you are looking in AL. And I never did Greek things or sports at Alabama - I turned out ok.
Just my two cents, but given the list above, I'd pick School of Mines! My sister and her family live in Golden. I love the area, and there is so much to do. Plenty of opportunities to be outdoors and active.
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We live far away from parks, and my kids use theirs daily. Ours came from Costco. Get hubby on board because they are some work to assemble. If we lived in a city, ours would get less use.
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My Dd's room was pretty bare until her 4th birthday. We redid both rooms that year. Her room is painted pink. We also needed to change her ceiling fan, so she picked out a pink ceiling fan. She has a giant mirror on one small wall so she can see herself. I added two pretty cheap throw rugs over the wood floors. She has grey light-blocking curtains and I found some thick ribbon that we use to tie the curtains back. She has two simple canvas paintings on her wall that were gifts. She hung a picture of her dance class on the wall last year. That's about it. I wanted to decorate a giant letter for her name and hang that, but I never got around to it. I also let her hang various drawings or certificates on the wall, within reason. Some day I plan to hang something for her bows and her gymnastics medals and maybe a gymnastics decal. That's about it. But she has a good bit of furniture, a dollhouse, a kitchen, and a bookcase in the room. It's pretty full, even without a lot on the walls. The best I can say is that the room is very pink.
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My five year olds finished Singapore Essentials in December. We just started 1A in January. I spent way too many hours trying to decide on math going forward. For now they are doing Singapore 1A and rightstart games.
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When OPGTR didn't click with my 4/5 year olds, I did All About Reading 1. That worked for them and we are currently on AAR2. We started it at the beginning of Kindergarten (August roughly), and finished before Christmas. It is pricey because there are so many levels. My kids liked the pace and the readers; their readers are really nice. There are also activities they can color, cut, and play. My kids liked the activities in the first level, although their interest in making them has waned. I'd say I'm about to sell my 1st level, but the kids like the readers (and can read them!) so much that they continue to go back and read them. So we're keeping it for awhile, even though we've moved on. There are many blogs that have reviews of AAR so you can see how a typical lesson looks.
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I have a similar situation. I want to join Audible but need to get my device situation figured out first. Right now, the kids both listen to audiobooks on old kindles (keyboard and touch). I want my kindle back so I can read, and the keyboard Kindle's screen is dying. Those kindles have external audio, but newer kindles do not. I don't want the kids having Kindle Fires because they will play games or wander around the internet instead of listening to books (they listen in their rooms during "quiet time"). I have an ipad and my husband has a kindle Fire, neither of which I want the kids to use without supervision. I suppose the best solution for me is an ipod or other mp3 player.
I wouldn't recommend an iPad over a computer. The iPad is great but it doesn't replace a computer. I'd store your files on a computer and external hard drive backup. Then you can easily transfer to whatever other device you use.
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A ProClick is definitely an extra, not a necessity. I use mine often for pdf print-outs, my yearly calendar/plans, etc - pretty much the things we use on a daily/weekly basis. I like that it is less bulky than a binder. I still use binders for more long-term things, such as my master binder, that hang around for longer than a year. However, I'd say when you make a booklet with it, it is best stored flat. I would think the pages wouldn't hold up to storing upright on a bookshelf. The finished product is a lot like a spiral notebook. If you like that, I would think you'd like a ProClick.
Yes, you can open and add/remove pages many times. I guess if you opened the spine too often, you could break the little teeth, but I've never had that problem. I add 6 weeks of schedules at a time to my yearly calander. I've never had a problem.
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Singapore Essentials
All about reading 1
Memory work - poems, planets, pledge, preamble to constitution, address, continents, oceans, etc. (their favorite part)
MUS primer (added to SM just to mix things up and help the twin who doesn't pick up on math as quickly)
Critical Thinking co - beginning (?) done all verbally
Tons of read alouds, including a lot of science and prehistoric times
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My son had a similar cough that started at that age. It was worse at night when he was lying in bed. Our pediatrician said it was likely allergies. He started on daily Zyrtec and a daily inhaler called Flovent. He also has albuterol for bad days. But we almost never need the albuterol except when he has colds. He doesn't wheeze anymore.
We took him for allergy testing, as well. That doctor agreed with our current course. We removed his carpet since it was old, and dust mites was one of his allergies. We covered his pillows with the special allergen covers, and I wash his sheets very often. He is doing so much better now. He has not been diagnosed with asthma. He was a preemie and had severe lung issues at the time, so he's really doing we'll not to be asthmatic.
I would take your daughter for allergy testing. If you don't do that right away, at least go to your pediatrician get her checked out. The Zyrtec my son takes made a lot of difference even without the inhaler. Hope that helps.
Edited to add: I just saw you said the cough just started, so my example probably wouldn't apply. My son's cough went on for a month or two before it became an obvious problem.
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We just moved to AAR 2, as well. My kids quickly realized the stories are much longer and the fluency sheets didn't go away. That started their whining. I'm only on lesson 8 or 9 now. They loved the games in the first level but have so far decided they don't want to color and barely want to do the activities. Most of their whining comes from the fluency practice sheets. I break those up over several days. Otherwise, they just have to deal with it. It doesn't take that long, they are really reading well, and it is working. Eventually the whining will have to stop. Right?!
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My husband and I love to scuba dive. I'm just a basic open water level. He's a dive master. Then we had kids. He still goes occasionally but doesn't teach any classes any more. I haven't been since I had kids - so almost 6 years. I LOVE Key Largo and Key West diving. I have zero desire to dive anywhere else, except maybe a FL spring or the river to see manatees. I dream about the day we will take a trip to see manatees.
We're in NC. My husband has gone out to wrecks off SC and NC. They are deep and cold and he reports MANY shark. I know the chances are slim of anything happening...but, you will never catch me out there! Yes, a real tiger shark, not a sand tiger, swam very close to my husband's friend (my husband wasn't on that trip, thankfully!) off SC. No thanks. But, the reefs in the keys are beautiful and many are shallow. I won't go very deep ever again. My husband doesn't help my fears when he regularly reports on Mary Lou, or whatever tagged white shark he tracks online.
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We live in a small rural county with limited library resources. The neighboring county has a fantastic library system. We pay $25/year to join. I'm in town in that county at least weekly, so it is easy to make my library trips. It is well worth the money and slight inconvenience.
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My twins were preemies with severe reflux. Prescription meds, which might have been liquid Prevacid, helped. For the better part of their first year, both of mine slept in a chair like this: http://amzn.com/B00CWN3FRS
When they were in cribs, I did like previous posters and lowered one side of the crib to make an incline. Wedges we bought were worthless. Hang in there!! It is so frustrating but it will get better when they get bigger - even though it seems growth is impossible with all the throwing up!
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My kids (boy/girl 5 year old twins) are both in gymnastics. Additionally, my daughter is in ballet and my son is in speech therapy. I allow only 2 extras (my son thinks speech is fun and doesn't really show any interest in any other sport than gym), and two of them are back-to-back on one day.
My daughter is an exceptional athlete and gymnastics is her passion. Her ballet and gym classes cost about the same (Recital fees are included in our monthly fee for dance). As she gets older (hopefully next year), she'll have to give up ballet in order to do more gymnastics, which is her dream. I am hoping my son finds a sport he loves, as well. I have heard from others around here that martial arts are much more than I'm paying for gymnastics. My kids get a great workout and just love it. So, gymnastics is the best bang for my $$$ right now. But if I could afford more (and didn't mind more time committments), I would require piano lessons. We are working on aquiring my mother's piano, so I hope to teach them at home soon. I'm not sure I offered much help but this is what my kids enjoy. At a minimum, stick with the YMCA!
Oh, while I don't have visions of college scholarships for my girl, I love her excitement and want to foster that in her. The excercise helps her concentration, attitude, and behavior. The biggest plus is that it has put some meat on my tiny girl's frame!
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I also use Donna Young and Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus pages. For my weekly pages, I made my own in Excel. This combination seems to work best for me. I bind it all with a ProClick, which allows me to insert/remove pages as often as needed.
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Legos! I can't tear my DS5 away from his lego table. He also listens to audiobooks for quiet time most days. He likes to tinker with math manipulatives, puzzles, dominoes, and that sort of thing. But, he also has a twin sister, so they have their fair share of tea parties and other games.
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We used AAR Pre-1 when my twins were 4. They already knew most letter sounds, so we went fairly quickly. After Pre-1, I tried OPGR and PAL but my kids just weren't ready or interested in either. We started AAR1 when they were 5. We enjoy it and are about to move to AAR2. However, it becomes fairly expensive to move through all of the levels. My kids finished AAR1 in 4 months, often taking several days for one lesson. We're sticking with it now because it is working and is enjoyable. I like the scripted program that is difficult for me to mess up.
First Grade Planning
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
My twins will be in first grade this fall (6th b-day in April). Here are my plans so far:
Reading - finish AAR2, move to AAR3
Spelling - AAS1 - maybe
Other LA - WWE1, FLL1/2
Handwriting - must I?
Math - Singapore Primary Math 1B, 2A, probably some of RightStart B over the summer
Science - ???? everyone's favorite
History/Geography - Adventures in America, lots of library books for Early American time period - my kids LOVE this!
Others - Spanish?
Extras
DD - Gymnastics, Dance
DS - Gymnastics (??), Cub Scouts