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Donna A.

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Everything posted by Donna A.

  1. Yes, I've noticed that. My kids haven't had many Goldfish in a very long time because of this. :glare: Every once in a great, great while I'll buy 3 of the small packages for them as a special treat, but I don't keep them "around" anymore.
  2. I began noticing the TP downsizing right after the first stimulus package was passed back in October of '08. I remember it because I was at my mom's 1100 miles away when that happened, and the election was less than a month away. On our way home, there were *several* gas stations closed along my route (halfway across the country), and the price had skyrocketed on those stations that were open. When I got close to home and it was late at night, I stopped at a convenience store to buy milk for breakfast. The shelves in that store were EMPTY because deliveries had not been made. It was sooooo eery! :huh: I don't remember what I did about the milk... I just remember how empty the store was, and the numerous closed gas stations, and I knew that *everything* would be different from now on. :001_unsure: Not long after that, I noticed the smaller TP rolls. I didn't notice it by sight at first, but by feel. The same amount in my hand just wasn't getting the same results. :glare: At first I thought I imagined it, but later realized that they were, in fact, smaller. The next item I noticed something was downsized was tuna cans, and after that, it was the "regular" Reese's peanut butter cups. They didn't used to have so many choices in pb cups... that only came about after they downsized the regular ones that we'd had for as long as I can remember.
  3. Shared this with my dd who works at Mardel... just in case a customer asks. 'Cause you never know. It's the ultimate educational supply store, right? :lol:
  4. Then we'll have the advantage over non-homeschoolers who don't know about Rainbow Resource.... :D
  5. I didn't actually see the documentary myself, so I have no opinion on whether it did or didn't. But the article I posted caught my attention because my mom (who's almost 89) watched it and RAVED about it. She is a *huge* FDR fan. Some of the phrases referenced in that article are exact quotes that I've heard my mother say over and over again through the years. It made me wonder how many people like my mom have just believed and repeated the mantra told through the media all these years (as the article suggests)... that it was, in fact, FDR and his policies that "saved" the country. Since many here seem to agree with my mom about how great the documentary was, and the article I posted confirms that, I would be led to believe that the documentary did NOT make it clear that it was W2W that brought us out of the Depression. (Because my mom would not agree with that statement.) Any thoughts from others on that point? Did the documentary in fact attribute the war to America's "salvation" from the Depression?
  6. Here's another perspective: http://dailysignal.com/2014/09/28/new-deal-end-great-depression/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social
  7. This is interesting. I've never looked at Enki and only briefly know anything about it, but my girls' dance teacher uses it with her own kids. I wonder what she's going to do now.
  8. Agree with this. My oldest took one year of Latin in high school, loved it, learned from it.... but with only that, she got a near-perfect score in both Reading and English on her ACT, has Ace'd all of her CC classes (4) so far, and her Comp teacher kept two of her papers to use as models in future classes. Her history class (which she took before Comp) was all note-taking, lit analysis, research and writing (no textbook and no rote memorization, except for a few significant dates), and he told her she should be able to CLEP Comp. She took it anyway, for the experience, and was top student in the class. While the one year of Latin was beneficial and enjoyable (to my dd), years and years of it for the sake of getting good test scores are apparently not needed. ;) Now if you have other goals for her to learn Latin, that's another story. But if you're doing it primarily for the boost in test scores, I say drop it. You can always reconsider it another year. Sometimes when you wait, it's too late to be able to go very far in it (whatever "it" is). But sometimes, waiting produces more fruit because the student is more interested, and has their own reasons for wanting to study that topic.
  9. How do you like the E. George study? I was just thinking about this the other day. My teens have read the "Young Woman" version of this book, and I've read the "Woman" version. Curious what the "Girl" version is like.
  10. Or for someone who doesn't agree with infant baptism, there's also the 1689 London Baptist Confession which can be a very in-depth study. The Westminster is well-known, but many don't even know that there's a "Baptist" Confession out there.
  11. If you're wanting to combine multiple subjects, have you considered My Father's World? It's intended to be used with a wide range of ages (includes books and assignments for many different levels, including an extensive, optional booklist in the back of the TMs), and it would cover everything except math and language arts. Every child always done math and LA at their own level, anyway (no matter what program you're using), so you can either plug in those subjects where they appear in the written lesson plans (i.e., "Math", "Spelling", "English"), and just follow the grid from top to bottom, or you can do things in the order that works best for you. www.mfwbooks.com
  12. I'm not sure I understand the question. If you used ECC last year, didn't your rising 9th grader participate?
  13. Is it all subjects and grade levels, or just certain ones? It would be nice to just run down the street to pick up and English and Math. I'll have to ask my dd if they have it in our local store. She just started working there and gets an employee discount. :coolgleamA:
  14. LOE (according to my understanding) is a more user-friendly version of Spalding... same methods, different format and easier to use. So I really think you'd be fine using LOE. I do agree with the poster who said the book Understanding the Logic of English is very helpful. :) It helped me, too. Not so much for spelling (I've always been a good speller), but for how to work with and explain things to my daughter. Since you've already got the "program' in your possession, though, I'd say to just give it a try.
  15. No. My dd did Apologia Advanced Bio and got all A's. She did this with an outside class with a "real" science teacher who's an Occupational Therapist as well. They did the study guide and memory work (vocab) and tests and lots of hands-on, with dissections. It wasn't a fluff class. But the only chemistry she had done was a VERY light chem course, Chemistry 101, which is primarily reading and research based, not a ton of math to it. In fact, she hadn't even finished the Chemistry 101 yet when she started Advanced Bio. There's not really that much chemistry in Advanced Bio.... and yes, this is the 2nd (newest) edition book. What chemistry there was in Adv Bio was directly related to the human body... more like biochemistry (i.e., DNA). Not things like metals or the elements. In trying to decide what to have my second dd (who just completed Apologia Bio) do for 10th grade, because I'm quite frankly a little "afraid" of Apologia's Chem course because of the amount of Algebra they're supposed to know before taking that course, I asked my older dd's Advanced Bio teacher about it. She said that my dd #2 would probably be fine taking the advanced course before chemistry, as the amount of chemistry they did in Physical science is usually sufficient. We've since decided she's not going to do that, only because dd's not really interested in doing the Advanced Bio course, but she could've if we really wanted her to.
  16. Actually, they do! :001_smile: Couple of questions for you.... Are you following an Ambleside type of schedule or format? How do you *schedule* all that? Where did you get Story of the Middle Ages? Which author/publisher? I had subscribed to Nature Friend for a while a few years ago and LOVE it. It's funny that I see it listed here, as I uncovered a few copies during our packing/moving house, and I'd begun thinking about subscribing again for this child. I had also considered buying Story Starters for her, more for something fun to do than anything else.
  17. I hadn't realized that there's even a difference in narration techniques... parts-to-whole or whole-to-parts. This has been very helpful, as I realize now one reason my youngest dd, and maybe even my middle dd to some extent, have struggled with the CM way of literature and history study all these years. Middle dd has compensated for her difficulty in oral narrations with writing, but that isn't going to work for youngest. BOTH of these girls do better with the read-and-answer-questions format which you find in textbooks... which I *loathe* for the content subjects. Maybe it's time to try the WTM method of narrating (and probably writing, too). I only saw one person mention what they do for Spelling. Anyone else? :001_smile:
  18. Thank you, ladies! These are exactly the types of responses I was looking for. :001_smile: I think I need to print them out and re-read them with pen in hand... I have questions about a couple things I saw, and maybe more. One question off the top of my head... Homeschool Mom in AZ, you mentioned doing narrations more like SWB than CM. How are they different? I thought narrations were just narrations. :001_unsure: Maybe I should re-read that section in TWTM. It's been a few years since I've looked at it. I agree that CM and classical (WTM) are complementary to one another... and yet different. It's the "different" part that I'm trying to work out in my head as I move forward with my two youngest daughters. How much of WTM(ish) resources or methods do I want to bring into our homeschool. My older two have done VERY well with CM language arts through the years, but my 15yo is now asking to dissect the parts a little more and has discovered that she really loves language in general, and I think that my youngest *needs* some parts-to-whole learning. If one were starting WWS with an older student, would one start with the first book? How late is too late to begin this series?
  19. ... what resources you use, and give a sample of an average day at your house? I'm having a brainstorming session with myself because we've hit a crossroad in our homeschool due to life changes. We're in a new house, some of my health & energy issues are being resolved, and my oldest dd (around whom the majority of our homeschool has primarily centered) recently graduated. I absolutely NEED to focus more 1-on-1 with both my rising 10th grader and my delayed 6th grader. Up to this point, my focus with the youngest was in her reading and language skills, so now it's time to branch out. I'm trying to decide whether to go more "purist" CM, or whether to mix in some WTM resources, too. I do NOT want to use TOG or Simply Charlotte Mason. :tongue_smilie: I do tend to like unit studies as long as they're somewhat structured, but I'm also good with "books only", while being hands-on in other areas. We've used mostly MFW for many years now, and I hesitate to say this (because I've said it before), but I think I'd like a change. No fault of the curriculum at all... it's just ME that would like to do something different. I feel like I'm hitting a new stage of life or something, and that I'm at a point now where I *can* do something different. Anyway, if y'all wouldn't mind sharing what your mixed CM & WTM day or week looks like...... :001_smile: Any and all subjects!
  20. On my way to bed (I cannot stay up until 11:30 or midnight again tonight! :wacko: ), but wanted to post to let you know I saw this, and will respond tomorrow. For now, I just want to say, "Don't panic." :) It can look overwhelming at first glance, but you'll find your stride after the initial learning curve. As Crystal has shared, there are a number of ways to make it "doable" in your personal situation... picking and choosing what's most important where time and interest level are present. Start by reading the Teaching Tips and "Help! How do I fit it all in?" sections at the front of the manual. I'll come back tomorrow and share what works for us. If I forget, give me a holler! Sometimes I mean to come back, but forget in the midst of busyness. :001_rolleyes:
  21. Good job! :) CT (or anyone else who might know), a quick question for you..... How does Horizons math compare with Abeka's? I actually can't remember if you've ever done Abeka math, but I know you've used quite a bit of Abeka in the past, so just wondering.
  22. ECC and CTG are very different, so there are things in each of them I love. One is based on space (each unit is comprised of a different geographical location around the world, its main culture group, language, religion, animals, weather and land climate), and the other is based on time (following major events and key people chronologically, etc. which you know as you've already a few years of chronological history). ECC does have worksheets for the older kids as they use Exploring World Geography in researching more details about each country, but again, that's only the older kids -- so perhaps your 5th grader -- but I suppose you could skip those worksheets if your child would prefer to do some sort of "project" representing what he's learned about each country. Notebooking pages, illustrations, something on poster board, a Power Point presentation, a tri-fold display board.... Anything would work! You could use the worksheets in that book as a guide for what to research, but then he could do his own thing for the presentation. There will be recipes, crafts, and other things to do that could part of that... just depends how much time and energy y'all have. A country is a country is a country, so there's some repetitiveness in that regard. But since each country and people group is unique, and there are many different things you can do in learning about each one, there's variety, too. Yes, some change depending on 'where' you are in the world, and some don't. For example, there's a cooking activity for each country, so do you consider that a "repetitive" activity? I guess it is since you're cooking something every time, but... the kinds of foods you're preparing are unique to each country. However, as you study different missionaries that have gone around the world and what they do, those activities would be quite varied. One missionary does Bible translation work, one does missionary flights, and another works in orphanages. Marie picked just a *few* countries from each continent to study as there are nearly 200 countries around the world and only so much time (and interest), but at the end of ECC, there's additional "blank" time on the schedule for you to research any other countries that you desire. Israel is a major country to study, but is not studied in ECC because it's covered in detail the following year in CTG. I would suggest you consider a few things before deciding: 1. What are your goals for your oldest before high school? How important is it that he complete a second full, 4-year history cycle, knowing that he'll get a full cycle again in high school? *Is* he going to do a 4-year history in high school, or is he going to do a year of geography at that level and then just do surveys of history (which is what the public schools often do)? (Note: If you use MFW for high school, a half-credit of geography is included over the course of the four years, in addition to the four years of history.) 2. Do your children have much exposure to the concept of missions, other people around the world in context of the way they live today, and what their religions and lifestyles are? How about Bible translation and other types of missions from which they themselves might be called to one day? How well do they know world geography, the oceans, the kinds of weather that they have in other parts of the world? (A pre-made geography game is included in ECC.) 3. Does your oldest child follow current events at his level at all? If not, 5th grade is a great time to be introducing that to him. MFW recommends signing up with God's World News, from which you get a, I think maybe quarterly? magazine explaining what's going on in the world from a Christian perspective at various age levels. (You get a discount if you sign up through their website.) Of course you could do this anytime, but it goes especially well with ECC. 4. Pull up the lesson samples from both programs (ECC and CTG) from the website and print them off. Read and compare them side-by-side so you can see what's done in each of the three core subjects: Bible, history/geography, and science. (And note on the weekly grid samples and teacher notes how they also incorporate enrichment subjects.) Better yet, grab a couple of the workshop CDs that they sell and listen to them to get a good feel and explanation of MFW's goals, philosophy, and methods to see WHY they do what they do, and how they do it. Determine if it aligns with your family's goals at all. MFW is a unit study, so all the content subjects are interwoven with each other based on the two subjects at the top: Bible and history/geography. Including science. http://www.mfwbooks.com/products/M50/105/0/0/1 I wouldn't say the science in MFW is "light", because it's about exposure at the younger ages, with more detail added for older children, just like in history and Bible. Some people think it's light, but I suspect there are some moms who don't understand that builds on itself just like history does and is repeated more in-depth at each learning stage. MFW has nature study/walks scheduled every week in ECC, and these are sometimes (not always) tied to either the animals or the earth science/land forms/climate that you're studying in science that week. Yes, *I* would get a set of students sheets for my 1st grader because there are several sheets in there that he can either color or do something with right along with his older siblings. My 1st grader would join the rest of us in the content subjects, even though I wouldn't make him do every single thing my 5th grader does. Here's a link to a post I wrote one time explaining how the biblical themes progress from year to year in MFW... this might help you in your decision, too... particularly as it relates to the Charlotte Mason method. http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4004#p66798
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