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ondreeuh

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ondreeuh last won the day on February 17 2019

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  1. For all practical purposes we are homeschoolers, although my son is enrolled in a public school that verifies work and issues a transcript. This year and next year are sort of an 8/9 combination since we work year-round and his school allows credit for some courses taken in 8th. He is finishing up English 1 and Algebra, so he will have those put on his high school transcript this fall when 9th grade begins. He is staggering his other classes with some starting already. By the end of the school year, he should have credits for the following: 1.0 English 1 - home-made literature & writing using Novel-Ties guides (taken in 8th) 1.0 Algebra 1 - AOPS Intro to Algebra, independent w/ online book (taken in 8th) 1.0 Biology - Oak Meadow, independent (working on now, finish in winter) 0.5 Economics - Fundamentals of Economics, independent (working on now) 0.5 Composition 1 - Oak Meadow, independent (working on now) 0.5 Literature of Tolkien - home-made course using guides from Harper Collins (summer) 1.0 English 2 - Oak Meadow "The Hero's Journey", independent (school year) 1.0 Geometry - AOPS Geometry, independent w/ online book (school year) 1.0 AP Human Geography - taken at local high school (school year) 1.0 French 1 - taken at local high school (school year) 0.5 Human Anatomy & Physiology - Oak Meadow, independent (next spring) 0.5 Health & Nutrition - Foods for Today text, independent *or* ASU Universal Learner (next spring)
  2. There is a ton of varying & contradictory advice here. I remember from posting history that your dd was on several medications that had weight gain as a side effect and has been heavy for a very long time. There isn't going to be an easy answer. Her medical providers should be in the loop. If you just want her to lose weight, then there are several methods to do that that will lead to rebound weight gain and strengthen an unhealthy relationship with food (like forbidding junk food in the house, serving her different meals from the rest of the family, or suggesting weight-loss medications or fad diets). Instead, I strongly encourage you to focus on building healthier habits for the whole family. The meals you posted seem to work for the rest of your family, probably because you eat smaller portions and/or eat light the rest of the day. There is still room for improvement, though. ALL of us benefit from eating well even if we are thin. At 14, she is still reliant on you to guide her towards making healthy habits. Some of these can be: eating all meals together serving water with every meal starting dinner with a "starter" of veggie soup or salad switching out white carbs for whole grains letting her help cook using smaller plates and smaller utensils portioning out meals instead of serving "family style". A good place to start is a half-cup of starchy foods like rice or pasta, and follow the plate "rule" of 1/4 starch, 1/4 protein, and 1/2 veggies. waiting for a half hour before going back for seconds for breakfast, we often make something up ahead of time, divide it into portions, and then warm it up each morning. We like baked oatmeal, breakfast casserole (not the Amish recipe with a ton of cheese & cream since we aren't manual laborers! Just eggs, hash brown potatoes, cottage cheese, some turkey sausage crumbles, and some milk), steel-cut oats, etc. Cereal is kind of a treat and then paired with some turkey sausage links or scrambled eggs. Aside from family meals, there are snacks to consider. Here are some suggestions: setting a set time for snacks. For us it is 3 pm. We eat lunch at 12 and dinner at 6, so this works for us. making sure snacks are hearty enough to last until dinner. Showing up to a meal with a growling stomach leads to overeating. I had to learn that I need to eat more in order to eat less. using 1-cup bowls to serve snacks like pretzels or goldfish crackers (and pair that carb with something like cheese or peanut butter) never eating out of the bag/bowl/whatever. Take a portion and eat it at the table. I think it is important to work in "treats" in order to show that this is a lifestyle that can be lived happily (assuming she is not diabetic, but even then maybe still). A scarcity mindset will work against achieving a healthy balance. We make dessert a regular event so it's not a huge "splurge". Typical desserts for us are a single small scoop of ice cream, a small brownie, 1-2 cookies, a serving of Jell-o pudding, etc. We do small and frequent rather than rare and decadent. We each have our own "treat stash" where we can put holiday candy or any other treats that we aren't sharing. I use these bins from IKEA and label them with our names. The great thing about these is that it keeps the treats out of sight, but because they are labeled and separated everyone feels comfortable that their treats will still be there when they want them. We only eat treats after dinner. Mid-day snacks are things like crackers, fruit, nuts (I portion them out in little jello-shot cups), or cheese sticks. For purchased candies & treats I sometimes buy fun-size or individual portions. My kids are good about only taking one serving though. Not using a treat as a reward! This is really important. I see so much messaging about how it's normal to eat a pint of ice cream after a bad day, or going out for a sundae to reward a good grade. Try not to use food to comfort. I highly recommend the Healthy Parents Equal Healthy Families episode from Half-Size Me. For lightened-up recipes of typical American comfort foods, check out The Skinnyish Dish and Emily Bites. My favorite source for recipes is Budget Bytes because they use fresh, whole foods, are simple & usually quick, and are IMO very nutritionally balanced. Probably 80% of my dinners are from Budget Bytes and I've maintaining a 80+ pound weight loss for three years. Feel free to PM with any questions.
  3. I am that American in Europe who has to find food at 6 wherever we are. I just can’t adapt to the more typical schedule, and I certainly can’t survive on just a little bread or cornflakes for breakfast. If we are going to eat out, we almost always do it for lunch since I get cranky when I have to wait for dinner. My son spent two weeks in a Flemish hospital last year, and here was the menu: Breakfast (9): bread with either Nutella, jelly, or spreadable cheese, and lots of coffee. Pretty much just carbs. Lunch (noon): a massive plate of meat, starch, and veg, plus a small dessert of fruit, yogurt, or a little cake. The main dish was something like spaghetti Bolognese, roast beef and gravy with potatoes, chicken curry and rice, etc. Really nice, high-quality meals. Supper (6): bread with either deli meat/pâté, assorted cheeses, or some egg salad. Very light, more like a snack. Thankfully, his room came with a mini-fridge, so I was able to give him more food for breakfast and supper. He couldn’t ever finish the lunch.
  4. 6pm, plus or minus 15 minutes. The kids and I are on a pretty consistent routine: breakfast around 8, lunch at noon, snack at 3, dinner at 6, dessert at 7. I find this keeps us fueled through the day so that we make nutritious choices and don’t get impulsive or hangry. Dessert is something that has only become routine in the past couple of years, but we also eliminated most snacky food so it’s our one indulgence. For snacks we have fruit, veg, nuts, crackers, etc. I recently read a really interesting book about the evolution of meals in America. In a nutshell, our standard meal components and times have a lot to do with work patterns, social pressure, bunk science, advertising, and morality. Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465025528/ One thing I have noticed is that if I go to bed on an empty stomach I wake up early due to hunger. So sometimes I have a bedtime snack which helps me sleep so much better. It’s funny how others have the opposite issue.
  5. My 19 year old is not college bound as of now; it is partly by choice and partly by circumstance (we live overseas). Most people do NOT understand that there are kids for whom college is not the best path and just assume that every kid should go. I’ve gotten several people trying to explain to me how it can work - oh the local university has classes in English, he could go to the UK, he could move back to the states and attend, he can do online college. This kid doesn’t even know what he would want to study, he has LDs that make learning difficult, and frankly he needs more maturity and life experience before navigating the college world. We’re still working on “life skills” and will be for a while. He may end up doing online CC classes if we can find something he wants to study. Right now he’s self-educating with Great Courses and a math review program. Plus we’re going back to Megawords and continuing to do literature studies together. We’re looking for a good series of project-based MS Office tutorials and a volunteer gig. He has health issues, so coronavirus has put volunteering on hold. I can’t see him doing an apprenticeship program as he is not a kinesthetic learner. I see lots of people who were “late bloomers” and I’m pretty sure this is the case for him. Pushing him ahead before he’s ready will just degrade his confidence even more, so we are being patient. In the meantime, he is super helpful around the house and very kind to everyone. I guess that is the upside to having not gone through a “typical” phase of a push for independence.
  6. I just saw this post - this looks super interesting! Can you share more about how your DD used the books - did she correlate them together somehow, or just do one after the other? Did she write essays or do projects? Basically, how were these turned into a course? Thank you!
  7. We're going to do some environmental science next year for 7th/8th. I'll be using FoodSpan lessons, alternating with Holt's Environmental Science textbook. Each are about a semester's worth of work, so together they make a full science course if you're counting that kind of thing. Actually the Environmental Science is probably meant to be a full course, but it doesn't have that many assignments. Oak Meadow has a high school environmental science course that could be done by a 7th grader, adapting the assignments as needed. OM courses don't use tests, but have projects to demonstrate learning.
  8. Well it’s nearly three months since I posted my plans, and they have changed a little. We finished History of Science, Fallacy Detective, The Thinking Toolbox, and the geography class. Oh and we did a whole bunch on The Hero’s Journey but didn’t get to LotR. We also are planning a move back to the states, and our new state is a high-reg state. So I have to be a little more intentional about things like health, art, and PE. Math: finish up AOPS Pre-Algebra this fall and then move into Intro to Algebra. We are loving this. LA: Vocab from Classical Roots A, and Essentials in Writing. I’m alternating writing units with our literature units so some of his writing will be about lit, and he will also write about history and do a research project. Lit: I’m using lit guides for 10 books, including Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer, Anne Frank and The Hobbit. We’re also keeping a reading log to document his interest-led reading (he loves popular science & history books). We’re doing a short story every Friday and graphing the plot. Science: HST Physical Science. This should be really easy for him because he has a good background in this subject, but that’s fine. We should finish early, and then we’ll move on to Environmental Science. History: Hakim’s The History of US Series plus a whole bunch of biographies and a little historical fiction. I’ve added in documentaries on Fridays. We’re also reading through Painless American Government, and we’re doing an Elections unit study this fall. Oh and we’re doing a workbook on the history of American music that I paced to fit with our US history (fine arts: check!). And we will hit up some museums for state history and write a report. Spanish: Spanish for Children A with Dr. Seuss books in Spanish. I’m so ready to do Spanish since it is so much easier than French! Logic: Art of Argument for sure this semester, and then probably Discovery of Deduction. Health: a health workbook that actually looks pretty good. We’ll do projects on heredity, planning healthy meals, creating a truthful tobacco ad, and learning some first aid. PE: I don’t know. Hopefully XC skiing, maybe ice skating? Archery? Rock climbing? He has almost no interest. Other: speech drills on our own to clear up his articulation and italics to clean up his handwriting. Oh, and a 4-H cooking course. it looks like a lot when I write it out, but it’s really a lot of small things. That works for him as he loves to keep checking thing off his list.
  9. My 12 year old is definitely not PG, and I do have a bit of imposter syndrome affecting me here. On the other hand, what we do is pretty different than my local friends do. So here we are. We normally school through the summer as we take many travel breaks during the off-peak season. Because of that, we just move on to the next thing and change plans throughout the year. Here is what we are doing now and what we have planned next. He is strong all around, but his main interests are the social sciences. Math: he recently moved over to AOPS after finishing up Math in Focus. Since it is a new program for him, he is working through prealgebra now to review and get used to their system. He is blazing through and it looks like we will be able to stay with AOPS. We’re just using the online book and alcumus. Grammar: currently he’s using Exercises in English to review what we did previously in Voyages in English. There really isn’t instruction in the workbook, so if that gets too annoying we may do WTM grammar (purple), though he likes being independent. Could do GWG too. Writing: We recently started Writing with Skill 1, and plan to continue. We will do creative writing on Fridays. I have Hot Fudge Monday and The Creative Writer on hand for that. I have him write an essay about once a month that relates to our literature units, and I’m going to add more history essays this year. Literature: we do various lit guides. We are currently finishing up Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. On deck I have 20,000 Leagues, A Girl Named Disaster, Eragon, Maze Runner, Mosdos short stories, and a ton of others. I’m soon going to teach “The Hero’s Journey” and we’re going to use that model as we read through The Princess Bride and The Hobbit + LOtR. I also have a world mythology unit planned (Crash Course plus a book of myths & legends), Excavating English, and Adventures in Fantasy (writing a fantasy story). History: we are 1/3 through Bookshark’s History of Science. This is a perfect fit for him. I’m supplementing with k12’s Human Odyssey books. Science: right now it’s just history of science. I might try a McHenry unit. I’m ok with it being a light science year. He reads a lot of popular science books and is getting a solid big-picture understanding. Our next formal (textbook) science is physical science, but it will be a few months before we get there. Geography: he will soon start an online Eastern Hemisphere geography course. It’s a tutorial model, and it does assessments so the student can test out of what they have already mastered. Hopefully he will find it easy to complete in a couple of months. Logic: we are working through The Fallacy Detective now, then will follow up with The Thinking Toolbox and Art of Argument. Philosophy for Kids somewhere in there too.
  10. Hey there! We have more restrictions than most places in the states. We have been in lockdown for about four weeks and are only allowed to go to grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, banks, post offices, and restaurants for takeaway (of which there aren’t many still open near me). We can’t go to parks or drive anywhere for exercise but can walk near our homes. No more than 2 people in a car. We have to shop alone and grocery carts are mandatory to maintain distancing. Our bases are requiring face masks at all times starting tomorrow, but we can’t go to craft stores to get materials to make masks. So we are using pillowcases and scraps. I see in the US many places are allowing non-essential retail stores to stay open and people can still go to parks and trails. Must be nice! Our rules will be revisited next week, but I’m hearing they will be extended to May.
  11. It’s been forever since I visited the board, but I needed a change of distraction! We haven’t saved much yet. We already ate at home, and I have always kept a fully-stocked pantry (well, since living in the bush for a year without access to any stores or restaurants) so we have not done too much extra stocking. We did make sure to have plenty of flour, oats, meat, shelf-stable milk, beans, rice, pasta, etc. We buy extra eggs when we find them, and we keep buying produce. I’m challenging myself to use up those random things at the back of the pantry, and my meal planning is at a gold-star level, so we are making the best of this. Our food prices haven’t changed. Belgium supposedly has expensive groceries compared to France and Germany, but dry goods and seasonal produce are still dirt cheap. I really don’t buy many snacky things - we eat three meals and a snack, which is usually fruit, nuts, air-popped popcorn, crackers and peanut butter, or cheese. Dh did stock up on beer, though he isn’t drinking more than usual so it will even out. We didn’t have high commuting costs but are for sure driving less. We haven’t bought really anything “extra” - this is a chance to use the stuff we already have! We have a ton of games, puzzles, craft supplies ... although the kids still have about the same amount of free time as before, so we aren’t trying to fill up blank time.
  12. We have loved MIF since 1A 🙂. Along the way we have supplemented with Beast Academy, Zaccaro, and 70 Must-Know Word Problems, etc, but we have done all of MIF too. We also always use Math Minutes for "review & preview" since MIF is somewhat topical. I would say that's the only con of MIF - it could really use a supplemental review book, especially the B book content (statistics, geometry) since that isn't really reviewed in the A books. Courses 1 & 2 were an awesome fit, and Course 3 seems to be just as good. The number of problems is just right (we use the practice workbook instead of the textbook problems- they are completely interchangeable). I teach from the TM and have him show me he can do the guided practice problems before I hand him the workbook. I generally use the pacing in the TM, but I sometimes combine days. Like we never use two days for a chapter opener - it's either one day or we combine it with the first lesson. I still have more Zaccaro books to use. I might supplement with alcumus if my kiddo is interested. He liked BA, but I'm not sure if AOPS is going to suit him. After Course 3 we will move on to some Algebra course, but I expect to be able to go through it pretty quickly unless we use AOPS. There is a lot of Algebra in C3 and the texts I have (Dolciani, Foerster, Jacobs, Holt ...) don't look like much of a step up. I love teaching MIF, and I'm sad about switching to a visually dry book.
  13. I saw this thread and thought I would update 🙂 We started our school year last week, as we school year-round and travel a lot. I am mostly doing Option B. Most things will go year-round, but I will have a sequence of unit studies. Unit Study: currently health & fitness, then probably world religions, philosophy, something like that Science: Holt Science & Technology Life Science Math: Math in Focus, Course 3 (our final level! We're both sad about moving on) History: British History using various resources, including BBC documentaries, SYRWTL history, and field trips to England! LA: Voyages in English 7 for grammar and writing, Vocabulary in Action for vocab Literature: lit units, not really tied to history. Mostly Novel-Ties, Rigorous Reading, and Teacher-Created Resources.
  14. Sadly, I agree, LOL. I still eat an occasional burger but usually not with cheese, and I don't eat it with fries. It's just not worth the calorie cost. The USA really got it right when they started requiring chain restaurants to post nutrition info. You can plan ahead and make healthier choices. Soups are often light or moderate. Some salads are worse than a burger. It's impossible to guess the calories from the menu descriptions. You can eat well and stay in your calorie budget while eating at restaurants, but it takes pre-planning. A Big Mac is 540 cal and a BK Whopper w/o mayo is like 500 calories. I bring my own bell pepper strips! I drink free soda water from the soda fountain or a diet soda. Diet drinks work great for me. A 500 cal meal means that my other meals will be lighter, but I can make a very satisfying turkey wrap for about 165 (50 cal wrap, 50 cal turkey, 40 cal hummus, 25 cal tomatoes & spinach). So I enjoy my fast food burger and feel good about my day. If I don't want to spend 500 cal on a burger, I can get BK chicken fries for 290 (which are delicious). McD's has two grilled chicken salads for about 350 cal each. I just spent a month in the states and found lots of yummy choices at Panera Bread. I live in Belgium and hardly anywhere posts nutrition info.If I go to a restaurant and can't get the info, I eat until I'm satisfied and log an estimate.
  15. Every person's weight loss & health recovery journey will be different, because we all have different issues, both psychological and physical. Some people have thyroid issues, some have mobility issues, some have chronic fatigue, some have binge eating disorder, some have a history of food scarcity, some use food to celebrate, some use food to soothe, some self-sabotage ... it is all so complicated. Personally, I got over weight because I have a big appetite and am naturally not very active. I've lost 95 lbs through tracking food, focusing on nutrition, & getting moderate exercise. I started out on a "diet" to lose weight fast (WW), but even then I did not cut out any food groups (in fact I plan in daily treats!) and I didn't do anything radical. Over time I figured out which foods were the most satisfying, which addressed the appetite issue. I also learned to stop at "satisfied" and not "full." I'm not an emotional eater, and I only overeat if I've restricted too much, so I've figured out how to eat enough early in the day that I don't go overboard in the evening. I started out January 2018 using WW's Smart Points program (via iTrackBites) but I've been just counting calories & tracking activity with my Fitbit since last winter. I hit my goal weight in February 2019, and I have changed my habits very little now that I'm in maintenance and not weight-loss mode. I still eat the same foods and get the same activity but have a couple hundred extra calories in my daily budget. For me, tracking calories in and calories out is the simplest, most un-emotional way to approach food. I don't have good foods & bad foods. I don't make good choices or bad choices. I just try to eat mindfully, focus on nutrition, and enjoy treats and junk in moderation. Some practical tips that have really helped me: I found substitutions for some of my favorite foods that were a better value for the calories. (different pancake mix, low-carb wraps instead of sandwich bread, Skyr or Greek nonfat yogurt, different hummus). I added a ton more vegetables to my diet and now eat several servings a day. I figured out that I need to have treats available & accessible so I don't think of them as a limited-time offer, LOL. So I keep a stock of single-serve mini ice creams, fun-size candy bars, etc. I don't feel any urgency to eat it today because it will still be there tomorrow. I schedule meals for 9, 12, 3, and 6 and usually don't eat between them. I will eat off-schedule if it's a weird day or I'm extra hungry or extra active, but this is my general schedule. I keep a protein bar and bag of nuts in my purse so that I'm always prepared. I plan on having higher days & lower days. This gives me room to enjoy a restaurant meal or a special treat because it still fits in my plan. I eat lighter 5-6 days a week and have higher days 1-2 days a week. I weigh myself most days but only record it once a week. I use the recipe builder on my app to figure out the nutrition info for my homemade food. Super easy! The best advice I have followed is to make gradual lifestyle changes that you can maintain for the rest of your life. So to that end, don't cut out chocolate if you really like chocolate. Don't undertake strenuous cardio if you hate it. Don't feel like you are sacrificing too much. And don't make too many changes at once! Start out just tracking your normal diet to get a sense of where you're starting from. Get a Fitbit to see your baseline. Figure out your calorie target - maybe it's 1500 or 1800. Divide those up into your meals - maybe you want to eat 300-500 calories per meal. Build each meal with nutrition in mind, and be mindful of getting enough protein and fiber. Include treats in your plan! Whether it's a mocha, a glass of wine, a brownie, whatever - don't deprive yourself of what you really want, just eat the smallest amount that will satisfy you and track it. Start out trying to increase your step count by 2000 steps or whatever. The slow approach to weight loss is the fastest when you look at it long-term. Losing weight and keeping it off comes down to adjusting your mindset. Podcasts I recommend are We Only Look Thin and Half-Size Me. HSM recommends the book The Diet Fix by Yoni Freedhoff. WOLT recommends books like Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. I like the book The Diet Trap Solution by Judith S. Beck. When I get a little too interested in treats, I read books about nutrition and food marketing to straighten myself out. I like Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss.
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