Ignore this thread!

[Susan in TN]

I am.

I had a question for you which I will ask as soon as I can remember it.

[AMJ]

Getting close to page 1200!  And at the end of that page will be post #60,000!  Who will score these milestone Booyahs?!?  Keep checking in to see if it is YOU!

 

[ikslo]

Someone is wearing waaaaaay too much perfume at work today and it's making me want to hurl.

[Another Lynn]

Ikslo, might I suggest an Essential Oil diffuser to combat the smell?    :laugh:

[prairiewindmomma]

Cake, ice-cream, and berries haven't been an issue with braces.

 

Ds did have to give up anything gummy---swedish fish, gummy fish oils, etc. because they were a problem with tooth cleaning. Hard candy and gum also got the boot.  He says that nuts were a problem because they would stick in his teeth.  

 

He's only had one broken bracket this whole time.

 

He says the first thing he is going to do once his braces are off is chew a big wad of gum.

[Junie]

Yay Krissi!

 

:grouphug: , Ikslo.

[prairiewindmomma]

So, Oldest is blowing through geometry.  He did a week's worth of scheduled work in a day yesterday, in 45 minutes. (Coincidentally, he also has been taking his ADD meds regularly again. Ahem.)

 

In any event, I think I should just move him on to Algebra II---probably by Christmas--and then what.  Do I document Geometry as a completed one credit?  

 

My other option would be to pull out a college level text for him and go deeper into Geometry.

[KrissiK]

Good Morning, all!

 

COFFEE!

 

Going for the Booya/h. 1200 pages of the thread about nothing!

[KrissiK]

Post padding! One more time! Can she do it?

[KrissiK]

And that's a resounding no! Well, I need to have more COFFEE! I'll leave the Booya/h to the Booya/h Babe.

[prairiewindmomma]

I'm off to teach a friend how to make bread this morning.

 

ETA: Page 1200 booyah

 

For the gluten peeps: 

 

The GF version: 

Edited August 23, 2016 by kbeal

[Jean in Newcastle]

I'm in a very bad flare starting last night. I still love camp.

 

One of the things I love is when the teens ( most of whom I taught when they were little) come up nonchalantly to ask what crafts I'm doing. I let them do some too during free time. One teen was reciting to me all the verses I had taught him.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Critterfixer]

I'm feeling better. Still sore, but I can breath without gasping this morning. :laugh: Big improvement. I ought to be up for waterfalling this weekend, but no bushwhacks this time! 

I've got grammar and composition planning today. That's always fun and a little frustrating, because I want to leave a lot more time available this year for all three of us to work on our projects, but I still want to dig deeper into fiction, and I want to do an introduction to essay writing that isn't dull, boring, or dry. I hated the essay until I became serious about writing creatively, and discovered that essays could not only inform, they were meant to interest a reader as much as any story. So my challenge is to communicate that idea first, and secondly to offer up essay writing as good for the writer's mind, heart, soul and style. 

How to do that four to five days a week is the challenge.

 

Other than that, I have some writing, housekeeping and some cooking. Writers' group tonight.

[Susan in TN]

I'm in a very bad flare starting last night. I still love camp.

 

One of the things I love is when the teens ( most of whom I taught when they were little) come up nonchalantly to ask what crafts I'm doing. I let them do some too during free time. One teen was reciting to me all the verses I had taught him.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Awwww...makes me all teary-eyed. :)

[Susan in TN]

Critter, I'm still in favor of you getting yourself checked out.

[Susan in TN]

1200 pages of Happy Place!

ðŸ’🎉ðŸ»ðŸ­

[Susan in TN]

I think I may have 1/2 hour to get the pulled bbq pork and plain pork (for carnitas tacos - that's what I needed to ask Renai about) and broth in the freezer. That is, if the kids would stop asking for help with their lessons! What am I - a teacher or something? :D

[Critterfixer]

 

Critter, I'm still in favor of you getting yourself checked out. 

 

 

I think I'm going to live. If I was still having trouble today, I'd go, but it is really much, much better, and I didn't even need ibuprofen this morning. 

[Another Lynn]

I'm feeling better. Still sore, but I can breath without gasping this morning. :laugh: Big improvement. I ought to be up for waterfalling this weekend, but no bushwhacks this time! 

I've got grammar and composition planning today. That's always fun and a little frustrating, because I want to leave a lot more time available this year for all three of us to work on our projects, but I still want to dig deeper into fiction, and I want to do an introduction to essay writing that isn't dull, boring, or dry. I hated the essay until I became serious about writing creatively, and discovered that essays could not only inform, they were meant to interest a reader as much as any story. So my challenge is to communicate that idea first, and secondly to offer up essay writing as good for the writer's mind, heart, soul and style. 

How to do that four to five days a week is the challenge.

 

Other than that, I have some writing, housekeeping and some cooking. Writers' group tonight.

 

Hear, Hear!  I want to sit in on that.   :thumbup1:

[Critterfixer]

 

Hear, Hear!  I want to sit in on that.    :thumbup1:

 

Yeah, me too. Got a speaker who can teach me how to do that? :laugh:

I have my book of essays to use. I found a book called Breakfast on Mars, and it is very funny, enjoyable and presents multiple kinds of essays in a pleasing way. There are 37 of the little things, and we could do one a week, I think. In the forward, there is one sentence that inspired me to try something different when it came to essays, and it's a very classical idea, I think.

"We let kids plow ahead into this genre (essays) without arming them with inspiring examples."  

I want to spend some time enjoying and imitating the inspiring examples as part of learning how to write one. My thought was to use essays like the ones in Breakfast on Mars as models for practice while talking about essay writing in practice--how to come up with a topic, how to refine that topic, how to gather information and organize it, and then how to present it with style. I'm just not exactly sure how to do all that in a lesson by lesson kind of way.

[ikslo]

So, Oldest is blowing through geometry.  He did a week's worth of scheduled work in a day yesterday, in 45 minutes. (Coincidentally, he also has been taking his ADD meds regularly again. Ahem.)

 

In any event, I think I should just move him on to Algebra II---probably by Christmas--and then what.  Do I document Geometry as a completed one credit?  

 

My other option would be to pull out a college level text for him and go deeper into Geometry.

 

Move on so he has extra time to spend on the topic he needs to when he finally hits a wall. 

 

Of course, with a stronger foundation, maybe calculus would have been easier for me an I would not have hit my wall.  Then again, I don't think extra geometry would have helped with that.

 

 

 

Full credit, and move on gets my vote.  He can do college level in - gasp - college. :)

[ikslo]

I'm feeling better. Still sore, but I can breath without gasping this morning. :laugh: Big improvement. I ought to be up for waterfalling this weekend, but no bushwhacks this time! 

I've got grammar and composition planning today. That's always fun and a little frustrating, because I want to leave a lot more time available this year for all three of us to work on our projects, but I still want to dig deeper into fiction, and I want to do an introduction to essay writing that isn't dull, boring, or dry. I hated the essay until I became serious about writing creatively, and discovered that essays could not only inform, they were meant to interest a reader as much as any story. So my challenge is to communicate that idea first, and secondly to offer up essay writing as good for the writer's mind, heart, soul and style. 

How to do that four to five days a week is the challenge.

 

Other than that, I have some writing, housekeeping and some cooking. Writers' group tonight.

 

Can you teach my kid?  You guys can Skype, okay? Then DS might actually like writing, because now - not so much.  I am not a writer.  Sure, I'm great at reports, but creative stuff?  Um, no.  And we're on like our 4th writing curriculum and we both hate it and I just want him to want to go to school if for no other reason than WRITING.  Ugh. 

 

So, TAG, you're it!

 

I could have him do Bravewriter classes, or something, but...I'd rather pay you.  So you can start some ITT classes.  Right?  Easy peasy.  Train my kid to write and make squillions!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

(P.S.  I just had a really awesome lemon cupcake with raspberry filling and awesome blue frosting, and I think maybe it had too much sugar in it for the middle of a work day because all the sudden I'm bouncing around.)

[Another Lynn]

Critter - I had that book in a wish list and then forgot about it.  Maybe I need that.   :D

 

I concur with Ikslo and others regarding geometry credit for Prairie's ds.  I just wanna say we give the best homeschool advice here at the ITT!!!

[Critterfixer]

 

Can you teach my kid?  You guys can Skype, okay? Then DS might actually like writing, because now - not so much.  I am not a writer.  Sure, I'm great at reports, but creative stuff?  Um, no.  And we're on like our 4th writing curriculum and we both hate it and I just want him to want to go to school if for no other reason than WRITING.  Ugh. 

 

I think I'd better work it out with my poor guinea pigs first. I have no way of knowing if this will be fun or a huge flop. But I'll take notes.

The first essay is "Camp Dread Or How to Survive a Shockingly Awful Summer". The author is Ransom Riggs (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children)

The prompt is at the top of the page--personal essay, describe a time you had to do something you really didn't want to do.

What I thought I'd do is take an essay per week and subject it to the same kind of treatment that CW Homer gives models for imitation. Read it, discuss it, imitate key sentences and sections using techniques for sentence remodels, and then do a writing project on it. In this case, I think we would take the prompt and run with it--first coming up with ideas, then outlining, then writing using the model as a guide, then rewriting for editing practice. I think we could do one essay a week in that manner.

[Critterfixer]

I really like the graphic essays in the book where the author draws and tells the story. There are a few in the book and they are really cool. And since one of my boys came to me with a comic he was drawing and wanted to make a story with it, I think he will be interested in how to do the whole graphic novel/essay thing.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Camp morning #2

 

Good class again. They are really thinking. I had a pro ball player as my assistant this morning. It was so funny watching him help the kids with their crafts.

 

I never want to see another perler bead! They have taken over the camp! Whenever I turn around someone wants me to help them with their latest creation!

 

I am glad that I don't have to help tie-die t-shirts today.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Junie]

Yeah, me too. Got a speaker who can teach me how to do that? :laugh:

I have my book of essays to use. I found a book called Breakfast on Mars, and it is very funny, enjoyable and presents multiple kinds of essays in a pleasing way. There are 37 of the little things, and we could do one a week, I think. In the forward, there is one sentence that inspired me to try something different when it came to essays, and it's a very classical idea, I think.

"We let kids plow ahead into this genre (essays) without arming them with inspiring examples."  

I want to spend some time enjoying and imitating the inspiring examples as part of learning how to write one. My thought was to use essays like the ones in Breakfast on Mars as models for practice while talking about essay writing in practice--how to come up with a topic, how to refine that topic, how to gather information and organize it, and then how to present it with style. I'm just not exactly sure how to do all that in a lesson by lesson kind of way.

 

I just put this book in my Amazon cart.  Ds16 is probably going to have to start writing college essays soon.   :svengo:

[Junie]

Camp morning #2

 

Good class again. They are really thinking. I had a pro ball player as my assistant this morning. It was so funny watching him help the kids with their crafts.

 

I never want to see another perler bead! They have taken over the camp! Whenever I turn around someone wants me to help them with their latest creation!

 

I am glad that I don't have to help tie-die t-shirts today.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Now I'm curious as to who your assistant was this morning.  Some serious sports geeks (ds16 and myself) in this house.   :)

 

You don't have to put his name on the board, but if you want to PM me, I might sleep better tonight.   :laugh:

Edited August 23, 2016 by Junie

[Junie]

Oh, and I totally agree about the beads and the tie-dye project.  Crafts are so not my thing.

[Critterfixer]

 

I just put this book in my Amazon cart.  Ds16 is probably going to have to start writing college essays soon.    :svengo:

 

FWIW, I think the essays in Breakfast On Mars are aimed at the middle school level. But since that's the age I'm teaching, I thought it was a good place to start. They are quite informal, so not the stuff of college essays by any means. 

[Junie]

And, I just realized I'm hungry because I forgot to eat lunch.  Again. 

[Critterfixer]

 

And, I just realized I'm hungry because I forgot to eat lunch.  Again. 

 

Sometimes I do that with dinner.

[Slache]

The free app called Habit Tracker has me eating regularly.

 

Also, on Sundays I fill a glass container with shredded carrots, chopped bell peppers, olives, uncut grape tomatoes etc. and all I have to do is throw a handful on a bowl of spinach and BOOM instant salad.

[Junie]

I forget to eat lunch often because lunch is not usually gluten-free.  So I watch the kids eat while I do flash cards or a read-aloud with them.  My brain thinks that I've eaten.  Several hours later my stomach reminds my brain that I did not actually ingest food.

[Another Lynn]

I have the opposite problem.  I feel like I haven't eaten lunch, but oops, I already did.  bummer.   :hat:

[Slache]

I forget to eat lunch often because lunch is not usually gluten-free. So I watch the kids eat while I do flash cards or a read-aloud with them. My brain thinks that I've eaten. Several hours later my stomach reminds my brain that I did not actually ingest food.

Same here, because we eat different things and I use lunch time to do housework or shower. Habit Tracker has an alarm that goes off at nap time reminding me to eat. I have alarms for bible, yoga, school, bedtime routine... If I open the app I can cross everything off that I've done and there are charts telling me how terrible I am at keeping my habits.

 

I'm going to go eat now.

[Junie]

FWIW, I think the essays in Breakfast On Mars are aimed at the middle school level. But since that's the age I'm teaching, I thought it was a good place to start. They are quite informal, so not the stuff of college essays by any means. 

 

Thanks.  I'll look into it a little more before I actually buy it.  Items seem to hang out in my Amazon cart for months before they actually get purchased.  Ds15 is my whole-to-parts kid, so I thought that looking at some well-written essays might be a good starting point.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I never forget to eat. That might explain my weight.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Critterfixer]

 

Thanks.  I'll look into it a little more before I actually buy it.  Items seem to hang out in my Amazon cart for months before they actually get purchased.  Ds15 is my whole-to-parts kid, so I thought that looking at some well-written essays might be a good starting point.

 

I agree, looking at the things and working on emulating them is a valuable exercise. You might do a search for the best college acceptance essays written in the last five years or so and pick a few for studying with him. Those would be less academic, more to the point, and written by students trying to get into really good schools. I'll probably do something like that when the boys start working on more formal essays. Right now, we are just playing with the puppies.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I could be down doing self defense with the kids but I'm taking a break instead. Later I have to help one of the musicians transpose a piece. It's the blind leading the blind.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Critterfixer]

 

 

I never forget to eat. That might explain my weight. 

I forget all the time. It doesn't help my weight to forget. I just eat double when I finally remember.

[Based on Faith Academy]

(((Christina)))

 

 

:grouphug:

 

 

Owls are nice! Squirrel invasions are not!

 

((Christina))

 

Woohoo, Jeannie! You go girl!

 

I always take this thread seriously! Serious as a heart attack!

 

UghI 85 degrees! No wonder they aren't going to sleep! I'm so sorry! Try ice down their pants or something to cool them off!

 

I'm going to bed! Busy week ahead. School, dentist for one dd, opthamologist for another dd, piano tuner coming (I love when he comes, he always gives us a short concert when he's done, he's fantastic), both ds's start soccer this week and youth group begins for them, homeschool group meeting/swim party tomorrow afternoon.... Geez Louise! I'm definitely going to bed!

 

 

Good Monday Morning!  First "co-op" Monday for the two youngest (and me, since Moms stay).  I love the people in our group, but I'm a little grumpy about it anyway.

 

(((Christina)))

 

(((Prairie)))

 

(((Slache))) - hope Alex starts sleeping better soon!!!

 

Jean - have a great week!

 

(((Angi)))

 

Dawn, if you stop by, I'm thinking about you.   :grouphug:

 

Hope everyone has a good day.

 

 

He'll be discovering new and different things, many of which he won't realize until he talks to you about them.  You can watch/listen to him coming to those realizations.

 

I know it's not the same; just letting you know it isn't gone completely.

:grouphug:  :grouphug:

Sorry it takes so long for me to respond. Thanks for all the hugs. I know there are great things in store for my ds.

 

Two weeks until the "official start of school". We didn't even get a chance to go anywhere this summer.

[AMJ]

Cake, ice-cream, and berries haven't been an issue with braces.

 

Ds did have to give up anything gummy---swedish fish, gummy fish oils, etc. because they were a problem with tooth cleaning. Hard candy and gum also got the boot.  He says that nuts were a problem because they would stick in his teeth.  

 

He's only had one broken bracket this whole time.

 

He says the first thing he is going to do once his braces are off is chew a big wad of gum.

 

Quite an understandable goal!

[Based on Faith Academy]

I forget all the time. It doesn't help my weight to forget. I just eat double when I finally remember.

 

As I tell people when I make jokes about my weight, if I cared I would do something about it.

Since I haven't, then honestly it doesn't bother me.

 

This in reflection of me, not you.

[AMJ]

So, Oldest is blowing through geometry.  He did a week's worth of scheduled work in a day yesterday, in 45 minutes. (Coincidentally, he also has been taking his ADD meds regularly again. Ahem.)

 

In any event, I think I should just move him on to Algebra II---probably by Christmas--and then what.  Do I document Geometry as a completed one credit?  

 

My other option would be to pull out a college level text for him and go deeper into Geometry.

 

 

Shoot, yeah, go for deeper if he's up to it!  Woohoo!  Math wiz!

[AMJ]

I'm in a very bad flare starting last night. I still love camp.

 

One of the things I love is when the teens ( most of whom I taught when they were little) come up nonchalantly to ask what crafts I'm doing. I let them do some too during free time. One teen was reciting to me all the verses I had taught him.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

:grouphug:  :grouphug:   (gentle hugs)

 

I liked for the teens, not the flare.

[AMJ]

Critter, I'm still in favor of you getting yourself checked out.

 

 

Me, too.  Pretty please?

[AMJ]

I think I'm going to live. If I was still having trouble today, I'd go, but it is really much, much better, and I didn't even need ibuprofen this morning. 

 

 

Any twinges and you still go in the get checked out, okay?

[AMJ]

Yeah, me too. Got a speaker who can teach me how to do that? :laugh:

I have my book of essays to use. I found a book called Breakfast on Mars, and it is very funny, enjoyable and presents multiple kinds of essays in a pleasing way. There are 37 of the little things, and we could do one a week, I think. In the forward, there is one sentence that inspired me to try something different when it came to essays, and it's a very classical idea, I think.

"We let kids plow ahead into this genre (essays) without arming them with inspiring examples."  

I want to spend some time enjoying and imitating the inspiring examples as part of learning how to write one. My thought was to use essays like the ones in Breakfast on Mars as models for practice while talking about essay writing in practice--how to come up with a topic, how to refine that topic, how to gather information and organize it, and then how to present it with style. I'm just not exactly sure how to do all that in a lesson by lesson kind of way.

 

 

Maybe it just needs to be an essay by essay sort of way, with allowances for -- and celebrations of -- the first several essays being rather rough.

 

My kids and I are going the MCTLA route, but we don't have an author or practiced writer in the family who has already been through a lot of the ins and outs of figuring it out.  The writing is strong in your family, hmm, ye-es.  Use the writing.  No try.  Do.  There is no try.

 

In other words, maybe your family needs to just start writing essays with pointers from you, and while writing essays look over various elements of structure, style, purpose, joys of, etc.

[AMJ]

The free app called Habit Tracker has me eating regularly.

 

Also, on Sundays I fill a glass container with shredded carrots, chopped bell peppers, olives, uncut grape tomatoes etc. and all I have to do is throw a handful on a bowl of spinach and BOOM instant salad.

 

 

Ooo, what a good idea!  That just might be the saving of me lunch-wise!  Thank you for sharing!