Ignore this thread!

[Jean in Newcastle]

I hate those. Once I told them straight out, "it os disgusting that you attempt to spread misinformation and mislead people this way. I won't answer appallingly leading counterfactuals and I'm hanging up now, but you should quit."

 

They didn't call back.

 

They just called back!  :svengo:

[Junie]

I'm back, just in time to say good night.

 

My computer was hijacked by my 2 high schoolers who were watching the debate.  I missed the first part of it, so when I caught up to them, ds15 and dd13 were telling me details about who said what and who argued with whom.  They were laughing and really enjoying themselves.

 

Who needs a sit-com when you have a presidential debate?

 

#homeschoolersrock

[Another Lynn]

Rise and Shine ITTers.  It's Friday Morning.

 

(That was a bit enthusiastic for 6am, but I'll leave it.....wait, let me take out the exclamation points and see if that helps.....Much better.  I felt like I was yelling.)

[ikslo]

Good morning!

[Openhearted]

Good Morning!

 

Tex, congratulations on the win. I'm praying for safe travels for you and your family.

 

Susan, I hope your eyes are better this morning. Allergies? Boxing? :D

 

ikslo, yay for power! So glad it's back. We were out for 6 days when I was pregnant with the twins. It was the remnants of hurricane Ike, and we had 60 mph winds. Probably stronger, and our area just couldn't withstand the winds. Thank goodness it was warm though.

 

Today, is a regular day. No appointments, gatherings, or unusual rituals scheduled just school. Yesterday was a big day, but I think we may be able to finish up the week even after missing two days.

 

Edited: because apparently I can't read

Edited February 26, 2016 by Openhearted

[Susan in TN]

Friday!!

 

Exclamations included free of charge. They do look a little too enthusiastic.

 

My eyes are still puffy, though slightly better than yesterday. The Benedryl maybe helped a little? Dd17 actually has an appointment at the eye doctor today, so maybe they can take a look while we're there.

[Southern Ivy]

I was thinking that a therapy goat would help with the yard work. 

 

Hmm.  I think that might be the very definition of "overkill!"  :laugh:

 

Well, if you want a yard barren of green (or at least barren as high as the goat can reach), then I say go for it. 

Our poor bushes and low hanging trees were stripped bare. It was an awkward landscaping design. lol 

 

I just talked to a "research" telemarketer.  I put "research" in quotes because it was a political poll with the most biased questions I've ever heard in my life.  And I'm not leaning one way or the other in the polls.  I finally told her that this was a complete waste of my time since the questions were so biased that they weren't even answerable.  Some were sort of like "If you knew that Senator XYZ was an axe-wielding murderer, would you still support him".  (Not a real question.)  It was also hard to answer the poll because this (older) lady was very bad at reading out loud and I had to take a moment to decipher what she had read before I could even think about the question.  She was quite adamant that I had to finish answering the questions.  I was politely adamant that she couldn't make me.  ;)  And I (nicely of course) hung up on her.  

 

I knew if I kept posting to a silent thread, I would get the booyah and of course it was the post about the political poll . . .    Does that break board rules? 

This made me laugh. As if she has some special power to make you not hang up the phone.  :lol:

[Southern Ivy]

Wow. I killed the thread for 34 minutes. That's a record. 
 

[Renai]

That is the saddest poem I have ever read. 

 

Dd16 thought so too. She felt she could totally relate because dh had broken her favorite mug a couple of weeks ago.

[Renai]

Again, I am missing out on key aspects of motherhood, me thinks.  I have never experienced this.  Except once when he got a little wild in the tub.  But that was water over the entire floor.  No puddles in front of the toilets. 

 

You don't necessarily have to have children for this particular experience. Drunk husbands will suffice.  :leaving:

 

 

 

 

 

(to his credit, he hasn't had a drink in a very long time)

[Renai]

If I were to design a family bathroom, I would totally have the self-flushing toilet attached to the wall with total clearance underneath, a little drain in the floor, a hose hooked up to the wall with a power sprayer, and all tile floor and walls.

 

Still potty training youngest at our house.  Will be SO glad to be done with little people body fluids.

 

This would cause extreme anxiety and a lot of potty-holding in my household. Although, in theory, it sounds nice.

[texasmama]

Hello, friends.

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2016 by texasmama

[prairiewindmomma]

This would cause extreme anxiety and a lot of potty-holding in my household. Although, in theory, it sounds nice.

Someone from dh's work has a self-flushing toilet. You can turn the self-flushing feature on and off. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Crazy day ahead of me. Depending on how much my kids can talk me into the crazy, I may be sewing a few costumes before this evening.

[JoJosMom]

This would cause extreme anxiety and a lot of potty-holding in my household. Although, in theory, it sounds nice.

 

When DD was small, she was convinced that the self-flushing potties were of the devil.  I'd have to go in with her and sweep her from the Toilet of Doom as soon as she finished wiping.  I would then guard her with my substantial person whilst the Toilet of Doom completed its fruitless attempt to suck my baby into the Sewer of Despair.

 

Oh, my!  The memories.

[Jean in Newcastle]

What happened to my eggs?  I opened a brand new carton yesterday and it is gone.  Thus dh gets spam for breakfast because I have absolutely nothing else to give him and I knew we had some in the pantry for the zombie apocalypse.  If he grumps about it I might show him a preview of the zombie apocalypse. 

[lots of little ducklings]

Howdy!

 

The break is just a bad sprain.  Did I tell y'all that?  I forget.  So only two weeks of crutches, and the brace guy shows up in 45 minutes.  Woo-hooo!

 

Which means I need to put on my pants.  Boooo.  

 

 

In other news, we (meaning me) are picking out new carpet to replace the damaged carpet from Winter 2015.  Also, we (meaning me) are still in the process of finishing the rest of the new drywall.  And we (meaning me) are beginning to prime the drywall that is finished.   While we (meaning me) tracks down a guy to patch the plaster ceiling.  And cooks. And teaches.  And launders.  And cleans toilets.  And wipes poop.   And arbitrates thirty-eight disputes every blessed hour from dusk to dawn.    

 

We (meaning me) was informed last night that we (meaning me) should probably think about preparing our taxes.

 

We (meaning me) is moving to Australia. 

 

:leaving:

 

 

 

 

[Renai]

They just called back!  :svengo:

 

I hope you read the script that Tsuga so graciously provided.

[Renai]

Someone from dh's work has a self-flushing toilet. You can turn the self-flushing feature on and off. 

 

But, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of said child going to the bathroom by herself?

[prairiewindmomma]

Spring break. And your oldest is only 8. I grant you a week's vacation from schooling formally.

[Renai]

When DD was small, she was convinced that the self-flushing potties were of the devil.  I'd have to go in with her and sweep her from the Toilet of Doom as soon as she finished wiping.  I would then guard her with my substantial person whilst the Toilet of Doom completed its fruitless attempt to suck my baby into the Sewer of Despair.

 

Oh, my!  The memories.

 

Sounds just like Gymnast. That, and loud toilets were melt-down-inducing. She'd pee her pants rather than go to a store bathroom if she thought the toilets either flushed on their own or were perceived to be too loud. I'm surprised no one ever called cps on me with hollering she'd do trying to get her to go to the toilet.

[prairiewindmomma]

But, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of said child going to the bathroom by herself?

I would turn the self-flushing on for the rest of the kids except littlest. Because she is convinced that self-flushing toilet demons do exist.  I would push the little button to turn it off for her, especially since I am there helping her wipe anyway.

[Renai]

 

So, in between compulsively checking everyone's hair today, I am reading letters written to my newlywed great-grandmother 100 years ago.  In the last letter I read, her mother was worried that her siblings were going to catch diphtheria at school.  I'm up to April 1915.  I have a few weeks left with these boxes of old photos and letters and then I have to return them.

 

Do you have a way of recording all of this information? I think I remember you saying you were taking pictures? Making copies? This is a gold mine. I'm sorry you're about to lose it.

[Renai]

I finally caught up. Kind of. 

[Openhearted]

:grouphug: duckling

 

 

I think you (meaning you) need to have Jean's version of the zombie apocalypse followed by bazookas and duct tape. :D

 

Good luck, by the way. And I'm glad it's only a sprain.

[Southern Ivy]

Backstory: 

We are talking about adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. Every blessed example is with a like denominator. At no point is there a discussion in the curriculum about different denominators. There are no example problems in the teacher's manual, no problems in the text book, and no problems on worksheets. 

However, on the test, there are 4 questions. This curriculum makes the assumption that students can jump across concepts, apply their knowledge of equivalent fractions, and know that you have to make both fractions equivalent in order to add or subtract. 

So, my question - 
Is it unreasonable of me to find this unfair and to just give them the answers for those 4 problems? It's a concept that will be taught in 5th, anyway. 

ETA: I guess I remember math in 4th grade. I was not capable of making those types of conceptual leaps and I would have frozen. Once taught, I would get it, but until then I wouldn't have known what to do. 

Edited February 26, 2016 by Southern Ivy

[Jean in Newcastle]

I hope you read the script that Tsuga so graciously provided.

 

No, but only because I didn't read her post until after the call back.  The call went something like this:

 

Person on phone:  I am a supervisor at _________ "Research" and there is a  notification that you did not complete your survey.

 

Me:  Yes, I did not want to complete the survey.

 

Person:  But we need you to complete the survey.  Your opinion matters to us.

 

Me:  My OPINION is that this survey is biased and stupid.  And my OPINION is that it is a waste of my time and I don't want to answer it. 

 

Person:  Um. . .

 

Me:  Thank you for calling.  Good bye.  (click)

 

[Openhearted]

Well done, Jean. Well done. :hurray:

[prairiewindmomma]

Do you have a way of recording all of this information? I think I remember you saying you were taking pictures? Making copies? This is a gold mine. I'm sorry you're about to lose it.

I am photographing all of the photos since scanning takes so long.

 

The letters were mostly written in pencil and so I am photographing what I can to capture handwriting style and then transcribing them over.

 

I completely agree that this is a gold mine, and I'm devastated that they will probably be trashed/destroyed/lost because of how the estate is being divided.  Yesterday afternoon I arranged the photos by families--in some instances I have family photographs taken 50 years apart.  Total treasure.

 

Ambrotypes, daguerrotypes, tintypes....there are some very old photos in the collection!

[Tsuga]

No, but only because I didn't read her post until after the call back. The call went something like this:

 

Person on phone: I am a supervisor at _________ "Research" and there is a notification that you did not complete your survey.

 

Me: Yes, I did not want to complete the survey.

 

Person: But we need you to complete the survey. Your opinion matters to us.

 

Me: My OPINION is that this survey is biased and stupid. And my OPINION is that it is a waste of my time and I don't want to answer it.

 

Person: Um. . .

 

Me: Thank you for calling. Good bye. (click)

 

What a bunch of bullies! You tell 'em!

[texasmama]

Backstory:

 

We are talking about adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. Every blessed example is with a like denominator. At no point is there a discussion in the curriculum about different denominators. There are no example problems in the teacher's manual, no problems in the text book, and no problems on worksheets.

 

However, on the test, there are 4 questions. This curriculum makes the assumption that students can jump across concepts, apply their knowledge of equivalent fractions, and know that you have to make both fractions equivalent in order to add or subtract.

 

So, my question -

Is it unreasonable of me to find this unfair and to just give them the answers for those 4 problems? It's a concept that will be taught in 5th, anyway.

 

ETA: I guess I remember math in 4th grade. I was not capable of making those types of conceptual leaps and I would have frozen. Once taught, I would get it, but until then I wouldn't have known what to do.

Fractions tripped up all three of my homeschooled kids. They needed repeated and explicit instruction and explanation and practice over the summer using other curricula to master them, even my mathy boys. So yeah, I'm with ya on this on.

[Tsuga]

Backstory:

 

We are talking about adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. Every blessed example is with a like denominator. At no point is there a discussion in the curriculum about different denominators. There are no example problems in the teacher's manual, no problems in the text book, and no problems on worksheets.

 

However, on the test, there are 4 questions. This curriculum makes the assumption that students can jump across concepts, apply their knowledge of equivalent fractions, and know that you have to make both fractions equivalent in order to add or subtract.

 

So, my question -

Is it unreasonable of me to find this unfair and to just give them the answers for those 4 problems? It's a concept that will be taught in 5th, anyway.

 

ETA: I guess I remember math in 4th grade. I was not capable of making those types of conceptual leaps and I would have frozen. Once taught, I would get it, but until then I wouldn't have known what to do.

That would bug the hell out of me. Is it to use the instrument to identify kids with exceptional talent? If not I would go through those problems ahead of time but not give the answers on test day, and grade as "extra credit".

[Southern Ivy]

Fractions tripped up all three of my homeschooled kids. They needed repeated and explicit instruction and explanation and practice over the summer using other curricula to master them, even my mathy boys. So yeah, I'm with ya on this on.

 

 

That would bug the hell out of me. Is it to use the instrument to identify kids with exceptional talent? If not I would go through those problems ahead of time but not give the answers on test day, and grade as "extra credit".

 

Thank you! 

After our opinion writing discussion, this was just bugging the heck out of me.

I will not ask my team what they are doing. They will just say that the kids need to suck it up and figure it out. 

 

So, I'm just going to give the answers and not say anything to anyone else. 

[KrissiK]

Good Morning, ITT!

 

Tex, have fun at the games!

 

Jean, you go girl! Tell 'em like it is!

 

Mary, I hate fractions! I hate trying to teach kids fractions!

 

Prairie, you do have a gold mine!

 

My dd hates the self-flush toilets, too!

 

DS is home from school today, due to teacher in-service. Ugh! But tonight, the three olders are going with the youth group to the "Rock & Worship Roadshow" which will be fun for them and dh and I are going to Fresno with the 2 littles for dinner at Sweet Tomatoes and shopping for a loft bed for youngest dd.

 

Have a great day, everyone!

Edited February 26, 2016 by KrissiK

[Southern Ivy]

That would bug the hell out of me. Is it to use the instrument to identify kids with exceptional talent? If not I would go through those problems ahead of time but not give the answers on test day, and grade as "extra credit".

Nope. It's not to identify any student. It's just the test that we made based off of the online question bank for enVision math. We just pulled questions from their bank for that topic. I didn't make it, otherwise I would have edited those questions out. 

 

Even when I had math gifted students, they were unable to figure that part out. So, I certainly don't see this group figuring it out. :/ 

[Southern Ivy]

Ok, so our team grades are in a Google doc. I looked at my coworkers class grades and they have almost all 80s-100s. So, there is no way they didn't feed those 4 answers to the kids. 
I feel better now. 

[Ellie]

Bronchitis. Contagious. Antibiotics. That is all.

[Southern Ivy]

Bronchitis. Contagious. Antibiotics. That is all.

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug:

[Susan in TN]

Bronchitis. Contagious. Antibiotics. That is all.

Yay for medicine. Hope it starts working quickly!

[Susan in TN]

MIL called and is very nervous about making soup for Sunday's church soup dinner. She has a package of Bear Creek broccoli cheese soup to which she needs to add 8C of water, cook and stir for about 10 minutes. She called me to go over the instructions on the package to make sure she understood them.

 

She said she might call me back tomorrow when she is making it to make sure she is doing it right. :D

[ikslo]

Backstory: 

 

We are talking about adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. Every blessed example is with a like denominator. At no point is there a discussion in the curriculum about different denominators. There are no example problems in the teacher's manual, no problems in the text book, and no problems on worksheets. 

 

However, on the test, there are 4 questions. This curriculum makes the assumption that students can jump across concepts, apply their knowledge of equivalent fractions, and know that you have to make both fractions equivalent in order to add or subtract. 

 

So, my question - 

Is it unreasonable of me to find this unfair and to just give them the answers for those 4 problems? It's a concept that will be taught in 5th, anyway. 

 

ETA: I guess I remember math in 4th grade. I was not capable of making those types of conceptual leaps and I would have frozen. Once taught, I would get it, but until then I wouldn't have known what to do. 

Can you give them a quick tutorial/explanation of like denominators before the test, and * the 4 questions then count those questions as extra credit?

 

 

 

ETA: nm!  I see this has been worked out. :)

Edited February 26, 2016 by ikslo

[ikslo]

I am photographing all of the photos since scanning takes so long.

 

The letters were mostly written in pencil and so I am photographing what I can to capture handwriting style and then transcribing them over.

 

I completely agree that this is a gold mine, and I'm devastated that they will probably be trashed/destroyed/lost because of how the estate is being divided.  Yesterday afternoon I arranged the photos by families--in some instances I have family photographs taken 50 years apart.  Total treasure.

 

Ambrotypes, daguerrotypes, tintypes....there are some very old photos in the collection!

 

You might be misplacing some of those before they are due to be returned.  :leaving:

[ikslo]

Bronchitis. Contagious. Antibiotics. That is all.

:grouphug:

[Tsuga]

Nope. It's not to identify any student. It's just the test that we made based off of the online question bank for enVision math. We just pulled questions from their bank for that topic. I didn't make it, otherwise I would have edited those questions out.

 

Even when I had math gifted students, they were unable to figure that part out. So, I certainly don't see this group figuring it out. :/

I think that is inappropriate and stressful to students in that case. Nothing wrong with a bonus challenge question at the end for the quick ones but making them feel they haven't mastered a topic after their hard work is just unkind. How frustrating to deal with that daily!

[Southern Ivy]

I snagged some no-bake cookies in the teachers' lounge. They're not diet approved, but they are definitely belly approved. 

[Southern Ivy]

Can you give them a quick tutorial/explanation of like denominators before the test, and * the 4 questions then count those questions as extra credit?

 

 

 

ETA: nm!  I see this has been worked out. :)

We ended up working them together. Same difference, but makes me feel a bit better. ;)

[Junie]

A few months ago I visited my parents out of state and also went to visit my grandmother (who lives a few miles away from my mom).  My grandmother has all of the old family photos, but she has been known to be *a pill* about things that she knows others are interested in.  For instance, when she hands down recipes she has been known to change an ingredient so that no one can make it *exactly* like she does.   :banghead:

 

So my mom went with me to visit Grandma and we had a plan to at least look at the old family photos.  Grandma got them out and I asked if I could sort through them and organize them for her.  She agreed willingly and helped identify people I didn't know.  Such as her parents!

 

After about an hour of sorting, my mom said something about going home.  But, oh Junie isn't finished organizing the photos.  So we talked her into letting me take the photos with me to my mom's house so I could finish organizing them.  And I would bring them back the next day.  Grandma reluctantly agreed.

 

I packed up the photos and got out of there with them as quickly as possible!   :auto:

 

I spent the rest of the evening organizing (and, ahem, photographing) all of the old photos!

 

Grandma has her photos back and still has no idea that I have preserved the images.

 

 

ETA:  BOOYAH!!  Exactly how I felt when we pulled out of Grandma's driveway with the family heritage photos!!

Edited February 26, 2016 by Junie

[Southern Ivy]

I remember when I was 13 or 14. My mom was really interested in her family's (rather sketchy) history. I remember sitting on the porch of an aunt that I had never met. I taught my 5 year old sister how to shell purple hull peas and my mom and Aunt Oda Lee talked history. Mom got some pictures to preserve and we learned all about how mom's uncles were moonshiners and how a few relatives "disappeared" in the swamps.  :huh: 
My aunt is really into our family genealogy and has a beaucoup of family pictures and stories. 
I love history, so this makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

[Southern Ivy]

Also, I love Fridays. We have computer lab for 50 minutes (the kids type and do math games), then we either have Genius Hour (where the students can research whatever they want) or we have a presentation by the firefighters or a lady from the state education department comes and does a history lesson. 
Friday afternoons are brainless for me. It's a good way to end the week. 

[Renai]

Family genealogy has been handed down to me. My grandmother on my mom's side has passed down a lot of photos (I think photocopied) and obituaries, and using my mother's handwritten family tree and notes and other interviews, we've pieced together quite a bit. I put every bit I have in Ancestry because I'd lose it all otherwise. Like, I lost some of the notes I made about some of the pictures, so now I don't remember who some of the people are. I have a vague idea. Our oldest living relative, 90+ year old uncle of my grandmothers, just passed away last year. There is one other relative I need to get mom to speak to before she passes on. I hated realizing I had just missed interviewing an important relative by a few months.