sassenach
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Posts posted by sassenach
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You know, I never took fault with them for the way they are. Is she difficult? Yes. Is he lazy/a push over? Seemingly so. But they married each other and seemed to compliment one another. Did they have work to do? Yes, but so do dh and I. Marriage is all about the refining of self through the looking glass of your spouse.
What absolutely pisses me off is not their personalities or faults, it is their insistence on continuing this show when it's obvious that it is damaging their marriage and family. That is what I just don't get. at. all.
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Our next door neighbor is from Chicago and he says that. I find it endearing.
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I am so pleased that we got through our complete schedule on time despite one major life event and several long sicknesses.
THAT is impressive. We are painfully behind this year due to a move. Sigh.
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More recent than.
Ditto.
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I'm just curious. I haven't come across any of my Christian friends who let their child(ren) read HP books (or have read them to their child(ren). Am I the only mother that allows this?
Please tell me no, please tell me no, please tell me no...;)
We are Bible believing Christians, dh is a pastor and we allow Harry Potter after age 10. Dd loves them!
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Yes, I do plan on sending my oldest. We were not running away from public school when we decided to hs, nor are we "running back" to it. We will evaluate each child as their own person and make decisions as such. My oldest would like to go to ps for high school and we have excellent schools in our area. My dh and I agree that it is the right decision for her. We are too far out to know what the right choice will be for our younger kids.
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I don't know if you're shooting for Latin or not, but if so, The Latin Road to English Grammar works well to fortify grammar and also intro. Latin nicely.
As for history, TOG can be as light or heavy as you choose. For 5 children, I spend about 2 hours total preparing for each weekly cycle. I have kids in 3/4 levels, so I really have to be ready. That time does not include the copying or printing I do each summer so it's all laid out for me and I can simply prepare and order books via library. The set-up of the program allows prep. time to be easy, straightforward, and as light or heavy as I feel. Sometimes we read more, depending on topic interest.
It also has the Writing Aides program, which may or may not correlate with your history studies, i.e. some assignments are topical while others. like a state notebook are simply timely. This program has brought us into a large variety of writing genres, with clear instruction for pupil and teacher in the writing aides book. The graphic organizers have helped us all understand that writing is a process, and we are enjoying the process now more than ever.
If dd is heading to ps for high school, I'd say MUS pre-alg and alg will prepare her for an algebra course in high school. I find the program really helpful b/c it reduces my teaching time, teaches great shortcuts, and the kiddos like Mr. Steve. I will say, however, that after these programs, I do plan on working through a tougher program for their high school credits of alg.
HTH. Best wishes.
Funny that you mentioned Latin Road. I actually own that full program (the old version). It was given to me last year. SWB writes in TWTM that there isn't enough grammar for it to replace a grammar program. Do you think that it would be enough grammar if I added something like Daily grams? We are finishing up Lively Latin 1, and we've really enjoyed it.
Thanks for all of the TOG feedback!
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I have an unorthodox recommendation, but it is tried and true, and that is to enjoy those last years before the grind of high school and follow your interests in history, literature and science. You should of course still focus on tidying up the basics in math, grammar and writing, but this is the last chance to really follow those rabbit trails and read whatever you'd like.
I did this with both my boys and have no regrets. High school, whether home school or public school, is a time for college entrance requirements, AP or other college prep courses, and for some kids it is a time of starting to specialize in their own area of interest. Middle school is a time of raging hormones, of kids being stuck between childhood and young adulthood and they aren't always ready for what some curricula throws at them. I found that reading aloud or listening together to audio books was a way for us to rekindle that cozy feeling from read aloud time during their younger childhood, and it was a way for me to make sure they were exposed to some great literature. We discussed, we pulled out atlases and history encyclopedias to put things in context and most of all we enjoyed the time very much.
For science, we've watched good science programs on PBS and Discovery, listened to podcasts of science programming like NPR's Science Friday, kept good science reading material around the house. We've done Project Feed Watch through Cornell University, played with a chemistry set and still go to the zoo and other science museums.
I also think if you are facing burn out, this would be a great route to take. Just make a list of books that you'd enjoy sharing with your kids, and start reading!
This is a great reminder for me. I feel like the last 2 years have been just about slugging through material. We had a cross country move, which took 5 months before we were settled in our own place. Then 10 months later, we moved again. I'm desperate to make this fun again. At the same time, I know that she needs to make progress in the area of writing about what she has learned.
Today I started looking over Winter Promise. It seems like it's lighter than SL, with maybe a little more fun scheduled in. Something that I could possibly add a little more meat to and call it a day.
My problem with modifying SL is that SL is meaty, but in a different way than we need right now. So I feel like I'd have to subtract one kind of meat and add another. Doable, but may take more intuition than I have to offer.
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Thanks for all of the help ladies, it's so nice to know I'm not alone! I started to reply to each of you, but I'm losing steam.
I think what I've gotten out of everyone is
1) I'm sticking with MUS- dd and I both love it and I'm not going to fuss with what's working.
2) I'm still going to check out other grammar options, but I'm not going to be afraid to stick with Abeka.
3) Still not sure about history. I checked out Trisms, but I need to go back and take some more time on the website. I'm really not sure what to do still. My original plan was to do SL 6 and use Truthquest for commentary. Now I know that I need to get more written work factored in. I can continue with that plan and just modify SL. I could go with HO, and add SL readers and RA (and TQ). I could actually print up the TOG samples and figure out if that will work.....hmm. No matter what, the 2 things I need are more meaningful writing and good living books.
What I'm wondering about myself is if it will be easier for me to modify SL (because I'm familiar with it) or if I'll be prone to falling back into box checking mode and ditching my modifications. Part of me thinks that it would be easier to start with something totally new.
More to ponder. Thanks so much for the input ladies!
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I am so envious of everyone who can go to a convention but at the same time thankful because if I go to one, I'll come home with a bunch of material that I can't possibly use with my kids.
Thank you so much for your post. You are so right, most of the battle is just getting it started! I have definitely formed a habit of starting the year off with much more going on and then dwindling it down to the bare minimum.
The convention is a must for me this year I really need some inspiration. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it!
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I was fretting about 7th grade last summer, too. I'd done high school & elementary school, but realized I'd never taught middle school!
The biggest thing for me is to transition them a bit in 7th. Things like independent assignments, a test or two, a report, looking at literature differently, setting up simple experiments. I realize now that we slowly worked into those things over the year. Somehow last summer I was thinking I needed to be hard-line about my expectations or the transition wouldn't happen. But kids get older & start transforming before your eyes!
As far as your history thoughts, to me history is where I teach my kids how to think through all the riff-raff and opinions and world views out there. It's how I teach my values in context. That's why it ranks up there with math & language arts. (Of course, history is interwoven with Biblical history in my case.)
As for the pre-algebra, I think it's a good idea, since schools in my area start algebra in 8th or 9th depending on achievement level, and if she needs extra time she'll have it. MUS isn't the toughest program out there but at this point I'd either stick with what's working or move to what she'll be using in high school, because I can't think of a "pre-algebra" that shines on its own.
Well, I just wanted to say that I remember being in your shoes and we've made it thru 7th grade :tongue_smilie:
Thank you for reassuring me. This is the type of stuff my dh just doesn't understand! 7th grade really is different. You've given me a lot to think about. I so appreciate your commiseration.
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For the most part, I'd stick with the programs that have worked for you in the past. If it ain't broke don't fix it. If MUS is do-able and working, stick with it. If Abeka grammar is working, even if it's not necessarily recomended, stick with it. You do need to ramp up writing. I'd make that your focus for the coming year. I don't use Sonlight, but if you have found it enjoyable and do-able, I'd continue along with it, adapting as needed.
Thank you for this. I really do like a lot of what we do. I think you're right about sticking with what has been working for us. Thanks,
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As is, HO would be a big shock to your system coming from Sonlight. Have you thought about using it with some of the Sonlight Core 6 readers? We are doing Ancients Level 2, and we really like it, but I add in a lot of extra reading to make it more interesting. It isn't hard to substitute or add in things, as long as you know what you want to do that with. You would also need to have worked on outlining before you start this (like in Rod & Staff English) or you would probably need to buy an outlining workbook to help you along, or at least we did! HO provides great structure, though, and we love the mapwork, which is all included. And it does not take over your whole day or whole week to do it.
Best wishes!
Thank you so much for all of this info. It's super helpful!
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We've done well with Abeka for 7th and 8th grade grammar.
Has it been on par with previous years? I know a lot of people dislike Abeka, but it really has worked for us for grammar. Thanks for your input!
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Obsessing over these choices is starting to become a full time job. DD has been hsed since 3rd grade. From the beginning, we've used SL and MUS. We've bounced around a bit with language arts, but this last year we used Writing tales and Abeka pretty successfully.
Our plan is to HS for 2 more years and then public school for high school. I just read through the logic recommendations in WTM and I am so confused about next year.
Some of what is rolling through my head (in no particular order)-
MATH- pre algebra, do I stick with MUS? Do I go for another curriculum? Is MUS enough for pre alg and Alg 1?
History- In light of what I've learned from WTM, I feel like SL is imbalanced. I love the book selection, but we have NEVER finished a core on time. It's just too much, especially the RAs. I am not terribly committed to the uber history focus ala WTM. I'm not enthusiastic about pouring over original sources. I'd like to see dd do the outlining and more of the written summaries (I'd like this in history and science). I'm not sure if I should try to modify SL or just add some SL books to another program. I've looked at TOG (It seems very time intensive to me, but our library has a huge portion of the books that they recommend) and History Odyssey(Can I keep this interesting enough?). I'd like to do ancients next year.
Science- We've done all sorts of programs in the past. I'd like to do a general science next year. I'm considering going the text book + interesting experiments route. I'm considering BJU. This subject doesn't stress me out, because it's a natural interest and somehow we always find something to work on.
Writing- I have IEW TWSS and plan on implementing it. I plan on looking at IEW's ancients program at the convention.
Grammar- I'm really not sure. I like having a separate grammar program and dd likes programs that are heavy on diagramming. I'm pretty sure we're done with Abeka, due to no one recommending it after 6th grade. I'm still going to look at it at the convention. We only use the grammar portions. I've also looked over CLE (it's a strong possibility), R & S (not my cuppa), and GWG (also a possibility).
It's crazy to me that after this many years of hsing, I could be in a place where I have no idea what to do next year. Add to this a whopping dose of BURN OUT and bad attitudes (myself included) and I'm really not in the mood to sort this all out. I'm burdened to put some more fun into our days, and also to ready dd for public school. She's not behind, but I'd say my writing expectations need to be ramped up.
I'm looking for ANY and ALL input. I will be at a convention in 3 weeks, and I'm really hoping to make some decisions. Thanks!!
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Dh usually only takes 3 day weekends. This year he has a mandatory one week unpaid off, he's also off the Friday prior.
We have a place reserved walking distance to the beach - 15 hours away. Kids are all elementary age. We could stop and visit my family 4.5 hours away from here, stay overnight, then do the last 11 hours straight through. Would that be pushing it? Also we have friends with the same number and ages of kids who are 7 hours from our final desination. We could visit them and stay a night or two on the way to or from the shore. I don't want to overplan our trip. We've gone to the beach before, but it's been a 5-6 hour drive and we've only stayed 4 full days. This place is ours 7 full days. We will be going through or visiting three new states, so that's quite exciting.
WWYD?
We did a 13 hour drive with kids that were 2, 4, 6, and 9. It wasn't bad at all. We got an early start, and they watched dvds and slept. Your trip sounds like a lot of fun, enjoy!
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In my case, it usually means that I clicked in the wrong place accidentally when opening up a thread and ended up at someone's profile by mistake. I don't use the whole message/friend request stuff, so it's nothing personal at all when I end up viewing someone's profile.
Otherwise, I dunno.
:iagree: Exactly.
I often view the board on my iPhone and clicking the right spot on that tiny screen can be hard. I accidentally click on profiles on a regular basis.
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We have several times. The outer banks of NC (I think we stayed in Waves), Siesta Key and Casey Key in Florida (Sarasota area). All 3 were amazing vacations.
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I'll probably go back to school and become an RN. My original plan was to do that when my youngest entered K. So, I'm delaying my plan by about 13 years!
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Go! If MIL is that difficult to begin with, why worry about what she thinks? Just go.
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:iagree: Aren't these great?
It looks like they are trying to put them online. I copied this off their website:
"Good news! We are recording the best of our live webinars and posting them gradually on our Virtual Conferences page. We’ve just uploaded the first one - Writing Workshop, Part II. If you can’t make it to one of our live sessions, why not listen in for free?
Just head over to the Virtual Conferences page, click the Workshops tab, and go to Writing Workshop, Part II (session 2 on June 15th) to find the link!"
We are new to TOG and I am thinking about having my 13yo watch the "Teaching with Tapestry of Grace" webinar so dd will have an idea of what I'm going to attempt with TOG.
You beat me to it! I was just logging on to re-sign up for part 2, because I missed it last night. I'm so glad that they recorded it! It's even better than live because I can pause it. For part one, my family was driving me crazy with interruptions.
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He has had appointments. He said that the money was the reason he canceled it the first time, then when I made him another appointment, he said that he wasn't sure that he wouldn't want more kids, after all, he is still young and what if something happened to me? Now, this last time he said that he is old enough to not want any more kids, but he is scared. :toetap05: Do you know how many exams and surgeries I have had? It is ridiculous what women are expected to go through without complaint.
When my dh had his, we had hit our out of pocket max for the year (read- free) and he kept rescheduling. He FINALLY went through with it on New Year's Eve. It was memorable!
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I have nothing meaningful to add here. Just want to say that if I thought a tummy tuck could be part of the package, I don't think I would have insisted on dh having the V.
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I think the paper the ink is printed on is too thin.
The "end" pages are a nice thickness. I would never be able to highlight the "reading" pages, though - they are a step up from onion skin. This bothers me, as I had the "old" edition from the library, and it had nice paper.
Content wise, it seems fine, so far.
a
ITA on the paper. It wrinkles very easily too. Content wise, I'm very happy with the logic section.
Please help with this financial decision
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted · Edited by Shannon831
I just plugged in your cc info into the previously linked snowball calculator. According to this, if you pay the car off and then snowball according to interest rate, it will take 45 months to pay off the cards. That does not include the 3 months to build up your emergency fund.
According to this calculator, it would take you 30 months with the other method (paying off 1 and 3). Plus, you'd have your emergency fund.