Mom23Boys
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Posts posted by Mom23Boys
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Continuing to pray!
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Has anyone used Lightning Lit 7 with a 6th grader?
I will have a 6th grader and a 7th grader next year and I would like to do as many subjects as possible together.
This year, I had them in too many separate materials and I felt like we didn't go in as much depth as we could have and/or should have. I also have a 3rd grader.
So far, I have them both doing the same thing in:
Science
Grammar
Writing
History/Geography (my 3rd grader will be doing this with us)
Bible (3rd grader also)
IEW
Spelling and Vocabulary
Math they will definitely do different levels. So, that just leaves reading/literature. I could do them separate, but I feel like discussions are something we are weak on in home school, so doing it together would also help in that area. I will probably do most of the books/stories as read alouds, so we can discuss as we go.
Any other suggestions other than Lightning Lit?
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Continued prayers...
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Continuing prayers...
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Like everyone else said, normal for ear infections.
This reminded me of my experience with my then 4 year old and an ear infection.
Joseph ran a really high fever for around 4 days. He acted like normal, running around playing and doing everything he normally did. He either has no fever or fever over 104°, so I wasn't concerned since he was acting like he felt fine.
About a week later, he started running fever again, so I decided to bring him in to the doctor, even though he was acting completely fine. We were leaving for vacation in 2 weeks, so I wanted to make sure everything was okay.
Well, his ear drum was about to rupture. It was incredibly infected. The doctor said he didn't see how he could even hear and wasn't crying with pain. It probably started during the first round of fever.
As we left the doctor's office, he was literally skipping his way through the parking lot and said, "I've been wondering why I couldn't hear out of that ear." Gee, thanks for telling me. ;)
He hasn't had an ear infection since then, 4 years later. Before that, he had 4 infections before age 1, but then he got tubes and was fine.
He also has an extremely high tolerance of pain. He broke his femur when he was 3 and bc of his age, they didn't do pins, so for the first 10 days or so, every time he was moved, his bones moved. He had a spica cast. He handled that pain waaaay better than anyone else I know would've.
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I've always heard that responsible breeders aren't puppy mills, but most backyard breeder types are considered puppy mills. One of the differences being that responsible breeders are very careful to breed dogs who don't have the same linage. It's apparently very expensive to be a good breeder. I'm sure there are other differences as well.
I do know some people who think all breeding is bad, at least in part because of the number of rescues available.
I'm definitely not an expert, that is just what I've heard. Both of our dogs and our cat are rescues.
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I think this is church specific. Our program doesn't "reward" those that memorize and it isn't tied to attendance. I've seen a church where the kids earned "money" to use in the "shop" and that was probably based on memorization.
Awanas IS a memorization program. It IS challenging. Especially t&t. If you have a child that struggles, it might be hard. But I've seen kids excel at it that didn't know they could, I've seen kids that struggles learn new skills, and I've seen kids grow in the church WITHOUT completing a book. At our club they won't stand up for the awards each week when they ate announced, and they won't receive a ribbon at the end of the year. The purpose of those things isn't to emphasise so-and-so didn't complete a section but to celebrate that someone did.
To you, I'm glad you pulled your son if he was really struggling. Did you talk with your commander first? Were they aware of the problem and trying to help? (Sometimes they really AREN'T aware, especially if you were on a large club. Unfortunately kids fall through the cracks). Fwiw, we have many kids here who can't finish a book in one year. Two of our third year t&t'ers finished book one this year. They can take all the time they need, and they are still learning during lesson tine, and having fun at game time.
ETA: I'm hoping this didn't come off as snooty-it is not my intent!
It didn't come off as snooty. :) I'm glad not all churches are like that one. We didn't talk to the commander, although I guess that would've been a good idea to do before we stopped going. I honestly never though of it.
My pulling them was child specific though. It was also complicated by the fact that his younger brother is only one year behind him and most likely would have passed my oldest up.
We ended up switching churches not long after that, although that had nothing to do with AWANA. It was a huge church and my oldest would've gotten lost in the youth group and he was one year from moving up. It was also 30 minutes away.
After about 2 months at our new church, Jacob started saying things like, " People know my name here. They actually know my name." It was a good move for us.
Unrelated, but Jacob was very excited about moving up to T&T because he though it was TNT and they were going to learn about explosives... He was very disappointed when he found out it was basically the same thing at a different level. Sometimes I worry about my kids. ;)
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It's not necessarily overkill but you've hit the nail on the head with the context.
Some have Gatorade here in Seattle, and it's cold and rainy the whole damn season. I get the need for drinks in hot climates. Yes. I am pro-electrolyte. The funny thing is, you will have a whole Gatorade, technically two servings, for a seven-year-old girl in 58 degree weather in a light mist. That's not necessary.
I agree. During our "spring" season, which is started in our coldest/wettest month of the year, rarely will anyone bring Gatorade. My boys don't drink it from us then either. We will let them get one if someone brings some. Water is the most popular choice with the majority of kids, if they have options.
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My kids were in it and enjoyed it, but I stopped after my oldest's first year in T&T. He has difficulty memorizing things and it was set up to very obviously reward children who memorized well. I am not an "everyone must get a ribbon" person, but I didn't want him to get discouraged and feel like a failure at church. He didn't ask me to pull him, but he struggles with memorization in school too and I know that discourages him, so I didn't want to take a chance.
The other thing I didn't like about it was the extent they rewarded children for being there and not missing. At that age they are dependent on parents getting them there and it honestly felt like a punishment to at least some of the kids who missed a lot. I think there could be a better balance there. We missed more than the program "allowed", but it didn't bother my kids. Some of the ones it bothered were kids who for the most part were only at church for AWANA. It just seemed counter productive.
The above is probably program specific to a degree, but my understanding is the AWANA program requires strict adherence to the program.
The materials were great in my opinion, and my kids enjoyed it. Overall, it was a positive experience. We switched churches later (not related to AWANA) and our new church doesn't do AWANA and I am completely happy with that.
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We never have snacks at practice, but usually have them at games. My kids after game snacks have generally been healthier than the snacks my siblings and I got growing up. Our normal after game snacks were cokes, Little Debbie's (the 2 cake packages) and a bag of chips. We normally finished games after 8:30 pm.
My kids snacks still aren't necessarily healthy, but it seems like most parents at least put some thought into it. My kids have never gotten a canned coke. They get either juice, Gatorade or water to drink and fruit, cheese crackers or chips (like I had).
The Gatorade isn't necessarily overkill either. Our "fall" season of soccer starts in August. In South Louisiana. With games all during the day, up until 2/3 pm. My middle child usually plays the entire game and is running the length of the field the whole time. They do get dehydrated.
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Praying
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We started homeschooling for schedule reasons. My DH is a rotating shift worker and if the kids were in public school, during some parts of his schedule, they would end up not seeing him at all.
We started in 1st grade and originally thought we would be sending the kids to school starting in 6th grade because they would be older and could understand that their Dad only had to work a few days without seeing them. Most of the time at least. He just worked 10 weeks of nights, 4 on/1 off and wouldn't have seen them much at all.
My oldest is now going into 7th grade and we are discussing homeschooling high school. We now homeschool both for schedule reasons and academic.
School violence like you are talking about played no part in our decision, bullying is a pro for homeschooling, but wasn't a determining factor.-
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I'm so sorry. :(
ETA: This is no way makes you a bad mother. It makes you human. We've all been there and made mistakes before. I know it is hard to see your child hurt like this though. (((HUGS)))
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This is obviously a very tough issue to address. It requires a ton of resources to do more than a half-assed bandaid fix. If I had a budget to spend on school-aged kids, I'd be doing a lot more for these kids, rather than distributing breakfasts to kids elsewhere who neither need nor want them.
I am sure many ideas have been tried. One that comes to my mind is to extend after-school care to 6pm and provide homework help, a safe play space, and dinner to those who qualify for free breakfast/lunch. Meanwhile someone needs to figure out a better approach for the underlying problem with the parents.
Of course poverty is not a crime, but child neglect is, and so is drug abuse.
I agree with this. I do think though, part of the problem is deciding where to draw the line between poverty and neglect? Also, what are the impacts to the children from removing them from their family of origin to foster homes? In foster homes, often children are moved around from place to place with little to no stability.
My ideal would be helping the families whose only "crime" is being poor (which is in no way a crime) to keep their kids home, safe and well fed.
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I am so sorry. (For the circumstances you had to deal with at such a young age.)
Thank you. It was a very difficult time and in some ways I am still affected to this day in negative ways, such as anxiety. My dad left for work and never came home. If my DH is late, I panic.
However, it has made me who I am in good ways too. My mom remarried a few days later and her new husband adopted all 4 of us kids. His family took us in as their own from day one. My adoptive father made sure to keep us in contact with my bio dad's parents. They loved him. :)
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If they were that poor, they should have been receiving food stamps, which are only allowed to be spent on food.
I realize there are some places like this, but this is a very local issue. None of it can be generalized to the whole US or even all low-income communities in the US. That area needs major targeted solutions that would likely be counterproductive elsewhere.
They most likely would have all qualified. I am sure at least some had them. However, to qualify and get them (in the beginning at least) you need transportation. And, to use them, you need to have either transportation or stores close.
Public transportation is terrible in Baton Rouge and not available at all where I live, just outside BR.
This is a very local issue in some ways, but you can't convince me that there aren't areas like this across the country. And, as I've said in other posts, people are trying to work with these communities and help. We probably cross-posted at least a few times.
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Yes, there is a huge drug problem in the area. Huge. And gangs too. If you took every single child from every area like that one in Baton Rouge, it would be an insane number. Where would they go? People *are* in the area trying to make a difference. Individuals, religious groups and government groups with grants. Many times grandparents are raising them, usually not on drugs, because the parents are gone or in jail or in and out of their child's life.Either they are unable / unwilling to take care of their kids, or they need additional social supports.
Let's be honest. Frequently it's drugs making these parents incompetent. I don't care how many they are, those kids deserve better.
Look, I agree every child deserves better. If I could have, I would have taken every child in my class home with me. I literally cried myself to sleep many, many nights during my time there and even after. It's a matter of resources, unfortunately. And, poverty isn't a crime and people shouldn't lose their kids because they are poor. IMO
ETA: I don't mean to say that every person in that neighborhood does drugs. It is a known drug area though. I would be willing to bet most would move out of that area in a heart beat if they were able.
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The entire neighborhood/area was on the radar of both CPS and the police. You would have to know the area. They lived in old projects. Some had plywood for doors and windows. They couldn't walk in front of windows at night. Every single child would have had to be taken from that neighborhood because of poverty. Every single one. Where would they go? Their guardians weren't locking up food and refusing to feed them. They didn't have enough. People go into those neighborhoods and try to help and serve them, but without fixing the root problem, it is just a quick fix.Those children were being criminally neglected. I thought the law required teachers to report them.
There is no excuse for US parents to allow their children to go without food, especially not on a regular basis.
For those who are enrolled in free breakfast/lunch programs, it is not surprising that their parents / caregivers did not feed them those meals. Not feeding them dinner is a different (and criminal) matter. That makes me angry. We are talking like this is normal or acceptable behavior and it's up to the state to fill in the gaps. Yes, feed those kids, but more importantly, make sure they live with people who care for them.
I have never seen a more explicit demonstration of the cycle of poverty as I did in that school. I student taught 13 years ago and I still remember all the names of the kids in my class. It impacted me that much.
ETA: The reason I said every single child in that neighborhood, but only half of my class is because that school was a magnet school and the classroom I was in was the one magnet students were placed in.
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Here's my take on a variety of topics discussed so far.
1. My dad was killed in a car wreck when I was 5. I started 1st and my sister started 3rd grade less than 2 months after he died. We were different. We *knew* we were different. We were poor. My mom had to sue life insurance because they argued it was suicide since it was a one car wreck. Until my mom got that money (a small portion bc she settled) and social security survivor benefits set up, our income was 0. My grandparents paid bills and our community bought food for us. Regularly. Like every week. We knew we were different. I will never forget that a college and career class at a local church bought our school supplies and got us cute notebooks with characters on them! Just like everyone else had. It was one less way we were different.
We were dependent on our school, grandparents and community. None of us are dependent now. My older sister is a pediatrician with her MD/PhD. I have an education degree, but stay home and homeschool. My younger sister is a social worker and my brother is in law enforcement. Free meals didn't ruin us.
2. I student taught in a school with extremely high risk students. Most of them had their only food of the day at school. Many of them got to school too late to eat breakfast in the cafeteria. They were in kindergarten and relied on parents/grandparents/siblings to get to school. My supervising teacher and I bought snacks for the morning and afternoon for the students. Breakfast in the classroom would have been a great thing for these kids. In the afternoon, they were given a snack just before they left because for at least 50% of the class, that would be the last food until the next day at school. Weekends broke my heart. At lunch, a lot of the kids would put their arms around their plates, and shovel in food because of the insecurity they had. They didn't trust that it wouldn't be taken from them or just disappear somehow.
People need to eat. Period. These children weren't being fed, either from neglect or poverty. They deserve to have food just as much as the next person. It is hard to focus and learn with an empty stomach. I have trouble and I am not food insecure at all. While in an ideal world, all school meals would be the perfect balance of fat/protein/carbs and calories, it isn't now. We can't let the "best" keep us from the "good enough". The good enough is at least a start and is better than what a whole lot of kids have right now.
I don't think children should be forced to eat, but I see no problem at all in free breakfast for all. And I consider myself a conservative overall.
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Current church ~ you have to be buzzed into the office and all buildings are locked. I am pretty sure there are security cameras
Last church ~ locked buildings, security cameras, a bodyguard type person sat on the stage with the pastor, police patrols in the parking lots and security scattered throughout the sanctuary. They were prepared for any type of emergency, medical or security wise.
My current church is small, my last church had ~ 4000 members on the rolls. The security for the pastor had something to do with the size of the church.
Both churches have security procedures for the nursery area. Both churches Southern Baptist.
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Those are my kids. None of them have cranial molding, because I have a poor pelvic shape and they don't tuck under it or drop until I'm pushing. Then they're out in seconds.
My first was a transfer from direct entry midwife care that became a c-section after failed inductions for about four days. And that kiddo did indeed have some head issues, because she was asynclitic. Hindsight and all that - if we had known we would have never consented to them breaking my water before trying to get her repositioned. I was so mad after that c-section I immediately wanted to try again. I was totally pumped up for another birth after my traumatic first one, and got the VBAC I wanted fifteen months later.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if she felt similarly. Some people respond to cruddy birth experiences by swearing them off for years, some end up like me and want to try again immediately. At that point I wasn't on the large family train, it wasn't a pressure thing at all but my own desire.
This is all speculation but IF she had surgery and a rough birth, I hope her outcome is as excellent as mine was. And I hope she has an awesome babymoon :)
My first baby was 9lbs 1oz and was an emergency forceps delivery, with an APGAR score of 2. He had the biggest cone head since he was stuck for so long. Hats just popped right off his head.
My second was a super easy delivery, with a small head and shoulders. However, he had a form of craniosynostosis, trigonocephaly, which was the cause of the small head, so it wasn't really a good thing. He was my smallest at 7lbs 11oz. I didn't even really push.
My first 2 are 14 months apart.
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I had a 9 lb, 10 oz baby, 14 days early (definite on dates) and he looked like a section baby bc he wasn't in the birth canal for long at all. In fact, they had to give me pitocin when I was 10 cms, 100% effaced bc he was still under my ribs.
That said, he was my 3rd. I hope she had an easy delivery and a good recovery.
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We have a 2007 Seqouia and LOVE it. We get terrible gas mileage though ~14 mpg. It works okay for us though because I don't do much driving.
My DH's 2008 (or 06, I can't remember) Toyota Tundra gets better gas mileage than my Seqouia.
We are a Toyota family. We owned 1 too many Chevys and gave up. We had 2 with major problems way under 100,000 miles. In one, the transmission had to replaced at 50k miles. After that, we had a Honda for me and then decided I would join DH as a Toyota driver. :)
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Lightning Lit 7 for 6th grade?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Thanks for the info. Yes, I think he is ready for analyzing. Both of them are strong readers,so I don't have to do read alouds, but I would like to do what I could. I also don't have a problem dropping him back to something else if it turns out he isn't ready. Or holding his hand through some of the questions if he needs it.
I can definitely do different materials with each of them too.
That's why I can't decide. ;)