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Noreen Claire

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Posts posted by Noreen Claire

  1. On 7/9/2020 at 11:27 AM, mommyoffive said:

    The appliances thing really worries me.  What if my fridge breaks?  Ahhhh

    My 15-year old freezer isn't keeping things cold (think mushy, defrosted meat), and my fridge is sometimes freezing the milk. So, I went to buy a new one this morning, and I was told they *hope* to have the one I want in-stock mid-august. Awesome. I called and searched everywhere - no luck. Will cross my fingers that we can make it that long.

    • Sad 3
  2. 1 hour ago, Dotwithaperiod said:

    I may be the only person in the US who has never seen anything from the musical, never heard the songs. Oddly, I have zero interest in it. We have Disney, tho, so maybe I’ll try it.

    This was me, too. I'm halfway through so far, because my BFF was horrified that I knew nothing of it. Will finish the rest after the boys go to bed.

  3. 1 hour ago, Arcadia said:

    I have to organize by subjects. Both kids are subject accelerated but in different ways. So subject is the easier way to go. Grade level would be too confusing.

    Subject grouping is especially easier for humanities. Grade level seems so arbitrary for things like languages, music theory, history, economics. 

    I have kids like this, too. I think I'll try to keep the math and science together, the history and lit together, etc. 

     

    1 hour ago, Arcadia said:

    We didn’t have manipulatives or play dough as both my kids didn’t like those. My Legos though is sorted by type (techno, Bionicle, regular) in 18 gallon totes. My lab supplies are also in clear plastic storage totes which makes it easy for me to see. Art supplies are in an IKEA kitchen cart. 

    My kids love manipulatives to use on their own, so I want to keep them out and easy to get at, but not so easy that they end up everywhere. The Legos are the only toys that live in bedrooms upstairs.

    I just took the art supplies *out* of the Ikea cart! We have so little storage in the kitchen, I moved it in there to hold mixing bowls and such.

  4. I desperately need to sort/organize/purge my homeschool books, manipulatives, art supplies, games, etc. The majority of our stuff is in two bookshelves and one built-in cabinet in my tiny dining room, along with the too-small table, seven chairs, and the rolling art cart...and my cookbooks...and my dutch ovens...and DS8's typewriter...and a metric ton of playdough... ACK! We have too much stuff!

    Can you tell me about your homeschool organizational scheme? (Bonus points if you can post pictures, pretty please.) Do you organize by subject? By grade level? By wherever it fits? Do you only keep out what you are currently using, or is everything out all the time? Please, inspire and motivate me to make some sense out of this chaos! 

  5. DS8 is a voracious reader. He prefers nonfiction books, and reads (and discusses with us) many math and science books well above his age/grade level. His current bedtime book is the fourth Harry Potter, he recently finished both Greek Gods and Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan, and he routinely reads whatever middle-grade graphic novels DS11 leaves around the house. This is all to say that he has shown himself to be a very good reader, with excellent comprehension and a large vocabulary.

    We've been working through the Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading since starting in 1st grade (he showed no desire to learn to read in K, and I didn't push it). He's never, not once, had trouble with any of the lessons, but since I've heard SWB mention that students who are natural readers sometimes have trouble in the upper grades because they abandoned the later phonics lessons, I've been determined to just finish the lessons. However, we recently hit lesson 221 (out of 231), and suddenly DS8 is having all sorts of trouble. Most of the words are ones that he *uses* in everyday conversations, (e.g., charade, mechanic, maneuver, unique, etc.), but he can't seem to pronounce them when he reads out loud. I can't tell if he's guessing, or looking at them like sight words, or what. He reads the word "unique" as "unquite," the word "chandelier" with a hard /CHa/ instead of a soft /SHa/, the word "plaque" is "playkee." I asked him to read the sentence (from lesson 228), "I do not need all of that repetitious information in order to plan my trip," and he got all of the words except "repetitious" which he wouldn't even attempt. He dislikes breaking down words into syllables to sound them out. I think it's because he's never had trouble reading before, so he doesn't think he should have to do it?

    I am going to just repeat and repeat and repeat these last lessons until they stick, but what else can I do? I was thinking maybe we could make flash cards of the words that give him trouble, with the word on one side and the rule on the other. I also have Wise Owl Polysyllables on the shelf, I can add that in, a page or two a day. What else would you recommend?

  6. I am working through AoPS Introduction to Algebra and Introduction to Geometry books, because 1) DS11 will start the Algebra book this fall, and 2) I'm looking for interesting problems to use in the developmental math college courses I will be teaching this fall.

    I am also listening to SWB's History of the Medieval World to review for our history cycle this fall. I'll start History of the Renaissance next.

    • Like 1
  7. Yes. I started 16/8 fasting April 2109. It slowly morphed into 16/8 combined with 5/2 or 4/3 total fasting without much effort. I lost about 30 pounds in nine months, and it really helped curb my sweet tooth.

    I still dabble in 16/8 and 5/2, but it's been a very hard few months and I am a very good baker. 😉 I'm maintaining the weight loss, +/-5lbs.

  8. 1 hour ago, RootAnn said:

    And this all makes me wonder if too much histamine in our bodies aggravates (makes worse) the anxiety? Am I late to the thought process with this?

    DS11 has mild underlying anxiety that flares drastically when he has any level of inflammation - getting a cold, losing a tooth, having an ingrown/infected fingernail, etc. He had a dental cleaning yesterday with the hygienist who is known to be a bit rough and today he is noticeably more anxious and edgy. I will give him both a daily antihistamine (generic claritin works well for him) and regular 200mg doses of advil to keep it under control for the next few days.

    • Thanks 1
  9. ***UPDATE***

    I walked cookies over to Ida's house this morning, and spoke to her sister. Ida fractured her wrist when she fell, and required surgery to insert a plate. She will be discharged from the hospital this afternoon, and is doing well. She has many nieces and nephews who have been calling to check on her, and should be well cared for when she gets home. Also, she likes snickerdoodles, which is a happy coincidence, as that is what I baked for her!

    I also brought cookies to Ida's neighbor, who was the driver of the car that hit Ida. She is doing well, and is anxious to visit Ida after she gets home to make sure that she is okay and to express her sorrow for what happened (and for what *almost* happened).  She was surprised that I would come check in on her. I can only imagine how she is feeling.

    Please keep Ida and her neighbor in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks!

     

    • Like 13
    • Thanks 1
  10. 10 minutes ago, Danae said:

     

    I just came back to this thread to say, I would be more worried about mental/emotional effects than viruses at this point.  Be gentle with yourself, and if you need to talk to someone to process this make sure you find a wise friend or therapist.  What you witnessed almost happening is horrific, and I suspect it's going to hit you even harder as your brain has time to work it over.

    Yeah. I keep breaking out in tears. I'm so glad she's okay, but I'm horrified by the fact that I might not have been there - I walk a different route each morning.

    • Like 2
  11. I came home and immediately showered and put my clothes into the wash.

    Ida's niece just called me, looking for some more information about the accident, as apparently Ida is suffering from dementia. She will need stitches in her face and surgery on her hand, but is otherwise doing well. They also gave her a rapid COVID test, and it came back negative.

    Thank you all for your responses. As you can imagine, I am still a bit shaken myself. I am also having flashbacks to when my DS8 had a bicycling accident in April and required emergency care. I've seen too much blood this spring, THANKYOUVERYMUCH. I think I'll go eat some carbs...

    • Like 19
    • Sad 3
  12. ***UPDATE***

    I walked cookies over to Ida's house this morning, and spoke to her sister. Ida fractured her wrist when she fell, and required surgery to insert a plate. She will be discharged from the hospital this afternoon, and is doing well. She has many nieces and nephews who have been calling to check on her, and should be well cared for when she gets home. Also, she likes snickerdoodles, which is a happy coincidence, as that is what I baked for her!

    I also brought cookies to Ida's neighbor, who was the driver of the car that hit Ida. She is doing well, and is anxious to visit Ida after she gets home to make sure that she is okay and to express her sorrow for what happened (and for what *almost* happened).  She was surprised that I would come check in on her. I can only imagine how she is feeling.

    Please keep Ida and her neighbor in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks!

     

    ***********************************

    tl;dr:  I came in close contact with four strangers, none of which were wearing masks, and about a dozen masked first responders this morning. Should I quarantine myself away from my family? I live in MA, which was hard hit but has been seeing infection rates drop. What would you do?

     

    I was out for a walk this morning and looked up to see an elderly woman across the street had been knocked down by a car backing out of a driveway, and it was very slowly driving over her. I ran across the street and stopped the driver, and cared for the woman on the ground until help arrived. Thankfully, the wheels had not yet touched her but another moment or two and she would likely have been killed. She had hit her head, and had a very large cut across the side of her face from her glasses. The driver ran back into her house to have her daughter call 911, and within minutes there was a fire truck, an ambulance, and several police cars. All of the first responders were wearing masks, but the lady on the ground (I learned that her name is Ida), the driver, the driver's daughter, Ida's sister (who came out of their house, which was next door), and someone else who briefly stopped to help, were all not wearing masks. I spent +/-20 minutes with Ida, and then several minutes talking to the driver (who was very shaken up) and her daughter.

    My question is, with respect to COVID precautions, should I now be quarantining myself away from my family? Seven people live in this house! What do I do now? What would you do?

    • Like 6
    • Sad 3
  13. I make this recipe often - and I ALWAYS use King Arthur Flour flours. They are just better. https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/easy-self-rising-biscuits-recipe

    I use my food processor to cut in the flour if I'm being lazy, then I dump it into a bowl to add the milk. Sometimes, I throw in a cup of shredded cheddar and a sprinkle of garlic powder. I pat it into a rectangle and cut it into rectangle-ish pieces. They always come out yummy!

  14. 11 minutes ago, Jentrovert said:

    Oh, that would be wonderful . . . 

    When the library announced that it would be closing (due to covid) in March, we had a 24 hour heads-up from one of the children's librarians. That night, I went through their online catalog and put every single book that I knew my kids liked/would reread/had previously mentioned/looked interesting/was science- or math-related/had a complete series available/was illustrated by Ben Hatke or David Shannon on hold. They called the next morning, and I picked up ALL THE BOOKS. We spent our lockdown with just under 200 library books. They reopened on Monday, curbside pick-up and by appointment only, and all of our books are due back next week.

    I love my library! Also, I owe them cookies...

    • Like 6
  15. 47 minutes ago, Jentrovert said:

    The library FINALLY doing online holds! Limit is 10, which is awful, but they allow each of us to have a separate account, so I can do 40 books. Not enough, but much better than 10.

     

    I have 100 books on hold/request/in transit right now. This makes me love my local library even more...

    • Like 1
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