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Noreen Claire

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Posts posted by Noreen Claire

    my house is too small!!!!!!

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I'm with you. We're in a 1500sq ft house with seven people. DH and I have the largest bedroom (has a small walk-in), DS9 & DS6 are in one small bedroom, DS4 & DS2 are in another small bedroom, and DS23 has claimed the partially-finished basement (includes a 3/4 bathroom). The younger four do not have bureaus, are in bunkbeds, and have very few things allowed to stay in their small rooms (Legos and one bookcase in each).

    I keep thinking that I should put the four younger boys into the largest bedroom together, DH & I take the bedroom with the larger closest, and turn the other small bedroom into a craft/study/quiet room. When they get older and need more space, I could *possibly* fit 4 loft beds in the largest room, so each could have a couch or a desk space underneath to themselves. (At least two of the boys are predicted to be 6'3"+, and we have low ceilings!)

    • Like 2

    well, that was a failure...

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Something similar happened with DS23 at about that age, many years ago. He had a hatchet (machete?) and was asked to help cut up some branches (maybe it was an old Christmas tree?) and, when all was said and done, there was some serious damage done to a *living* tree nearby. DH was upset. We figured that it was fun/exciting to be wielding that tool and he got carried away. I have seen that happen, to a lesser extent, with DS9. My guess is that it has something to do with self-regulation that just hasn't developed yet.

    I know you have lots of other things going on with your DS, and I can empathize with the feelings of helplessness when trying to help your child and it doesn't seem like anything you do is working. My only advice would be to make it explicitly clear to him that, while you were surprised/angry about the damage to the plants, he is always more important to you than damaged plants. Then, I would take him out into the garden and give him the same tools again for another job, to show him that you still trust him, and try again. Just be aware that you will have to watch him a little closer.

    • Like 1

    6 year old writing backwards

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    DS6, my lefty, does all his school work properly but oftentimes will write his creative writing-type stuff completely reversed, mirror image, starting at the left and going to the right. It's happening less and less as the school year progresses. I'm not concerned.

    When I was bored in school, I taught myself to write my name backwards in cursive. I still do it sometimes, because it's fun!

    • Haha 2

    Raspberry pi questions, please help me!

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I want the Chromebooks for typing lessons, Google office/drive applications, web surfing, games, online classes, and coding classes. I know there are tons of online learn-to-code websites that my kids could use. I have no idea what my kids could use the raspberry pi for, especially since they are 6 and 9 and barely beginners. I need them to be able to work at the same time, or it can't come into my house. (I can only imagine the fighting!) Also, it's a no-go if the tablets can't still be used as tablets.

    I'll keep researching...

    Raspberry pi questions, please help me!

    in The Chat Board

    Posted · Edited by Noreen Claire

    DS6 is interested in coding. He's outgrown Scratch Jr and LightBot, and I've let him start playing around with scratch.mit.edu on my Chromebook. My father, who taught himself about computers way back in the 80s and has worked with/around computers until he retired last year, has decided that he's going to take over teaching DS6 to code. I was planning on purchasing two more Chromebooks, so DS9 and DS6 could code, do school work, learn to type, whatever. My father, however, has informed me that he's going to buy them a raspberry pi, connect it to something (I have no idea), and turn their Kindle Fires into touchscreen monitors to use with the pi. 

    Is this feasible? Will they be able to work at the same time with only one raspberry pi? Will they still be able to use their Kindles as tablets (we use Amazon Freetime, as well as for audiobooks)? What will they even *do* on a raspberry pi? 

    I still think Chromebooks are the way to go, but my father INSISTS he's doing this, and it's better his way. Can anyone talk to me about this? I'm out of my depth here.

    After WWE3, Intro to Composition or CAP's Writing & Rhetoric?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted · Edited by Noreen Claire
    blah.

    Because no one else has mentioned it, I'll ask if you've considered Killgallon? My 4th grader just finished WWE3 (we started late) and is now doing Sentence Composing for Elementary. We do each exercise orally, and he copies one sentence out when we finish, his choice. We will do Sentence Composing and Paragraphs for Middle School next year (5th), and then he will move into WWS for 6th. SWB recommends Killgallon here.

    You should be able to jump right in to FLL3 with no issues. We've done FLL1-4, and each starts with the assumption that you might not have done the previous books.

    FWIW, we started Latin using Little Latin Readers in 2nd grade. I've found that they are actually gently reinforcing the grammar we've learned in FLL. We spend maybe 15 minutes per day on Latin, 4 days/week.

    ETA: I just saw that ChrisB did already mention Killgallon. Sorry, was reading on my phone and missed that.

    Is BA Online enough without the workbooks?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    23 minutes ago, MeaganS said:

     

    How do you decide she's ready to move on? Do you require a certain amount of stars per lesson? How does that work for you?

    My son works for 45-60 minutes a day in BA. He did it this way when he worked in the books (3A through 4B) and now that he works online (starting with 4C, he's now finishing up 5B). He does every problem, in order. He is supposed to work for time (45 min) but he always finishes a problem set before stopping.

    He prefers doing it online (he's a bit of a perfectionist with math, and *needs* to know that he's getting them correct), but he reads the physical guidebooks. I have occasionally sent him to look up a solution in the workbook to help him solve a trophy problem.

    Working in the workbook and also the textbook seems like a bit of overkill, as they are usually very similar problem sets, and one set is enough, unless they could use some more practice. Even then, your can go back and redo the problem set online with different numbers.

    finished zaner-bloser 4. now what?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    On 1/14/2019 at 9:33 PM, happysmileylady said:

    I just make my kids write it all in Cursive.  DD10 is in Level D also.  I make her write all those answers in cursive.  I also make her do all her other reading and writing i cursive.  The only exception is math and anything we are doing with our history like at the museums and stuff.  Like if we are doing a Junior Ranger booklet at a park, I would rather she think about the answers than work on her handwriting.  But everything else....Daily math (which is a simple set of math questions we do at the beginning of each school day, not the actual math lesson,)   spelling, reading, etc etc....I just make them do it all it cursive.  

    So, I had him start writing his spelling work/words in cursive and, within a week, he was writing all of his work in cursive of his own free will. I did not expect that! His cursive has become much, much neater and more automatic almost overnight. Thanks again for your comments!

    • Like 2

    storage question

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Where do you store your curriculum/books/supplies that you aren't currently using? The items that you are holding on to for next year/next child? I just bought almost all of our books/workbooks for next year and between that stuff, the stuff we are currently using, and the stuff that is waiting for the next kid to use, I have completely run out of shelf space in my 'homeschool' bookshelf. What's your storage solution?

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