Ignore this thread!

[Slache]

After a discussion with Jo (as in JJM's child) who loves Latin I think we're doing Oxford anyway. I loved what she and her mom had to say and once I saw it I was in love. It will not do what MP Latin will do for grammar, but I think we'll get all of that covered in Greek.

[Junie]

Tonight's snack: gf pretzels (a much smaller portion than usual), cheese cubes, carrots sticks, and a kiwi.

I've been trying to eat better snacks because my bedtime pasta snack that I had done for so long was 800+ calories! 

I've lost 4 pounds this week!

[KrissiK]

2 hours ago, Susan in TN said:

My hair definitely needed to be cut, swept, AND tidied!  So did the back deck!  

Dd15's tutorial high school formal is on Thursday - in previous years they have provided a corsage for the girls, but this year they said we would need to provide one ourselves.  I think I could make one if I force a peony to open and maybe use a couple little roses/buds from the knockout rose bush by the mailbox, and maybe some of these little white flowers I saw growing by the stream yesterday.  I'd have to figure out how to put it on something she could wear on her wrist or maybe in her hair.

 

That sounds very pretty!!

[Slache]

2 minutes ago, myblessings4 said:

link?

https://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Latin-Course-Part-I/dp/0195212037

[prairiewindmomma]

I had dessert for dinner tonight.

[KrissiK]

We had a thoroughly delightful evening. We got the backyard cleaned up and bought some chairs and an umbrella from Home Depot.  I’ve been potting some flowers, so our backyard is actually livable. And now is the time to live in it. We at dinner outside and then the kids entertained us by running around throwing bean bags at each other. And no one ended up crying. 

[prairiewindmomma]

I need to plant my lavender and daisy seeds. I am hoping to get some starts so I don’t have to shell out $10 a plant.

[Slache]

17 minutes ago, myblessings4 said:

At what age/level do you think you will start this?

With a background in Greek and Spanish as early as 6th grade. It's a college text.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Pulling gently on soft puppy ears is very comforting. At least for me. I’m not sure what the puppy thinks. 

[Tsuga]

5 hours ago, Slache said:

We are home. It wasn't awful but I'm now very carsick. She tried and failed to make me look like a bad mom. It was great.

... 

 

We also discussed the fact that my children don't drink milk. Again.

Milk is such a weird cultural thing. I digest it well but plain milk is to me baby food. I don't have an issue with drinking it but why is it such a big deal to have? I don't get it. Seems like pure marketing. Like beans and rice aren't better?

I learned Latin with Oxford. I can read signs and inscriptions found in random pubs including one in a nearby bar that says "if you can read this you have too much education." I missed one word so we decided I am perfectly educated. Thank you West Coast taxpayers for my education!

[Tsuga]

We don't do Latin because we ended up with free German and Chinese. I know it's not classical but we will start a second for each, also free, in middle school. So I let go. DD2 wants Latin and if she doesn't go for French as an elective I will do Latin.

[Jean in Newcastle]

The nuce thing about having a diy personality is that I have never felt the need to copy someone else’s template. (Not that I am the only person to have ever done tthings  a certain way!)  And my kids have inherited my independent streak and haven’t always wanted to do things in the way  that I had initially picked out for tham. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

3:30 am. I finally got myself to stop hacking up a lung and now I can’t sleep. Bah. 

[Another Lynn]

Good Morning!  COFFEE!  ~D

 

It's a coffee Booyah!

[Jean in Newcastle]

In an attempt to bore myself to sleep, I will describe our grammar journey  For what it’s worth  Which might not be much  

Early elementary- I did our own “Charlotte Madon style “ grammar using the Flicka, Ricka and Dicka books  https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/flicka-ricka-dicka-and-the-new-dotted-dresses_maj-lindman/983764/?mkwid=sRYaRwenT|dm&pcrid=70112861832&pkw=&pmt=&plc=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlaKuuKPf2gIVE77ACh2FqwO1EAQYASABEgIm3_D_BwE#isbn=0807524948&idiq=8443091  Both kids liked this approach but when I tried to switch to premade CM materials they both rebelled at the old fashioned nature of those materials  (Side note:  I think it ironic that CM materials are often kept in the 1800’s since CM herself was all about being cutting edge  )  

3rd grade- I bowed to WTM peer pressure and did Rod and Staff grammar  This is when I learned that you can kill that spark of learning in a child  And yet I did this longer than I should have with my older child  My younger child was not as capable of handling ill fitting materials and didn’t last long     .  Because of this stupidity on my part (with my particular kids) we had to have a “grammar detox” for the rest of elementary  

Middle school plus 9th grade-   we did Analytical Grammar  I wish that I had skipped from Flicka, Ricka and Dicka to AG in the later years

Oh- ds did Latin from 3rd grade.   Dd didn’t  Both did equally well in AG  

 

 

[Junie]

Good Morning!

I was awake some at about 5:00 this morning.  Maybe it was because I wasn't in a pasta coma.

(((Jeannie))) I hope you are sleeping near Seattle.

[Slache]

5 hours ago, Tsuga said:

Milk is such a weird cultural thing. I digest it well but plain milk is to me baby food. I don't have an issue with drinking it but why is it such a big deal to have? I don't get it. Seems like pure marketing. Like beans and rice aren't better?

I learned Latin with Oxford. I can read signs and inscriptions found in random pubs including one in a nearby bar that says "if you can read this you have too much education." I missed one word so we decided I am perfectly educated. Thank you West Coast taxpayers for my education!

But milk is the only way to get calcium and if your kids don't drink it every day they'll have osteoporosis in their 20s!

1 hour ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

In an attempt to bore myself to sleep, I will describe our grammar journey  For what it’s worth  Which might not be much  

Early elementary- I did our own “Charlotte Madon style “ grammar using the Flicka, Ricka and Dicka books  https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/flicka-ricka-dicka-and-the-new-dotted-dresses_maj-lindman/983764/?mkwid=sRYaRwenT|dm&pcrid=70112861832&pkw=&pmt=&plc=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlaKuuKPf2gIVE77ACh2FqwO1EAQYASABEgIm3_D_BwE#isbn=0807524948&idiq=8443091  Both kids liked this approach but when I tried to switch to premade CM materials they both rebelled at the old fashioned nature of those materials  (Side note:  I think it ironic that CM materials are often kept in the 1800’s since CM herself was all about being cutting edge  )  

3rd grade- I bowed to WTM peer pressure and did Rod and Staff grammar  This is when I learned that you can kill that spark of learning in a child  And yet I did this longer than I should have with my older child  My younger child was not as capable of handling ill fitting materials and didn’t last long     .  Because of this stupidity on my part (with my particular kids) we had to have a “grammar detox” for the rest of elementary  

Middle school plus 9th grade-   we did Analytical Grammar  I wish that I had skipped from Flicka, Ricka and Dicka to AG in the later years

Oh- ds did Latin from 3rd grade.   Dd didn’t  Both did equally well in AG  

 

 

You mean you just discussed the grammar as you went? That's what we've done. He asks for help with his stories and asks questions about his copywork. I just drank the grammar koolaid and felt like we needed more. Mary even said she wanted grammar so we started FLL and she lasted all of 2 days. 

I'm still going to do English Grammar Recitation because I think it will simplify our foreign language studies and be extremely simple, but it won't be a challenge or time commitment. 

The new WTM middle school grammar looks pleasant to me. It's one teacher's guide with 4 workbooks that go through the same information 4 times. It's supposed to cover everything you might need to know for English grammar. I thought John could do it once, then a few years later I'd do both with the same workbook, then a few years later I'd do all three with the same workbook. I think it has potential to be simple to execute. We'll see.

[Slache]

Morning, Critter. 

[AMJ]

On 4/26/2018 at 8:49 PM, Tsuga said:

I'm 40. Sometimes I read retirement stories etc. and I think... wait a second. Am I younger than average on this board? I'm going to post a poll. Please participate.

 

You are just a kid!

[Critterfixer]

I'm up. Slept well under the influence of cold spring air and the lullaby of local nightjars.

[Critterfixer]

It probably won't come as any surprise that I'm a fan of whatever grammar does not make the child hate it.

[AMJ]

On 4/27/2018 at 6:59 AM, myblessings4 said:

Morning!  Coffee!  My challenge is to get through the day!  I'm working 11ish hours, and training one new person this morning and another new person this evening.  

Still need to stop at HEB and buy some meat.  Oh!  And don't let me forget deodorant and shaving cream for dh!  I forgot yesterday.  I'm supposed to buy some fake snakes, too.

Oh!  And I need to email registration for all the teens for the youth conference.

Help me remember!

Happy FRIDAY!!

 

Did you remember all of this?  Have you done it all?

#timely

#felpful

 

[Critterfixer]

Grocery list and editing to do this morning. I might do some school planning, but we took the week off. I probably ought to catch up on the Latin I missed while in heavy editing mode. We start Fourth Form after the late spring break.

[AMJ]

On 4/27/2018 at 7:40 AM, Paige said:

DDs 13 are with us no more. 

14 years ago yesterday, I was 33 weeks and had my weekly doctor's appointment. I told him I felt off and DH was scheduled to leave on a several night business trip that afternoon. He checked and said I had no signs of having the babies soon and said DH was safe to go out of town. Later that night I rearranged the furniture in DS's room for his big boy bed, put him to bed in his new bed, and then felt a pop but no gush. An hour after that, I was getting concerned that maybe that pop was really my water, and out of an abundance of caution, I called a neighbor and asked him to watch DS for a little bit. Poor neighbor! I have no idea when he was relieved- DH called a friend of mine sometime late that night or the next morning and asked her to come over and my parents arrived late the next day. DS didn't know the neighbor and would have been scared. 

I drove myself to the hospital with just my keys and ID in my pocket, fully expecting to be told I peed myself and to come home. I checked myself in and they made me use a wheelchair and when I got up, my water really broke. We called DH and told him to come back from his trip. He started driving. About an hour later, they decided I had to go somewhere else, so we called DH and told him to turn around- I was being flown back to where his conference was! He got to the hospital as the helicopter landed. The doctors at the new hospital were the meanest in the world for reasons but eventually Babies were born in spite of them and after a few stressful weeks we were home, and now we have brand new DDs 14! I think at just this time 14years ago they were waiting on a test to come back to decide if we'd have babies today or try to wait a few weeks. 

 

Happy belated birthday, DDs!!!!

[AMJ]

On 4/27/2018 at 10:33 AM, KrissiK said:

Louis Arthur Charles?? Really?? 

 

All family names, I think.

[AMJ]

On 4/27/2018 at 10:54 AM, Critterfixer said:

But it's really difficult. 

 

((((Critter))))

#retroactivehugs

 

[AMJ]

On 4/27/2018 at 11:01 AM, Slache said:

John has vomited 

All over his magic set

I have cleaned it up

 

 

I could not finish

Joshua chapter seven

My voice just gave out

 

 

Miss Frizzle is on

I am taking a sick day

And so are the kids 

 

((((Slashie & kids))))

#moretretroactivehugs

[AMJ]

On 4/27/2018 at 2:30 PM, Critterfixer said:

I think I saw my final rejection for the contest. Apparently my writing really stinks. Or something. 

ETA: But that was the last one on the day, I think! So I don't have to look anymore.

 

They have no taste, obviously.  You don't need to take part in that silly contest.

[AMJ]

On 4/27/2018 at 7:10 PM, Critterfixer said:

Around five I got worried about my kids. I remembered that I sent them to the lake with water and lunch but no sunscreen! However, Nana came to the rescue, and they were slathered before the got in the water. I worried that they might be tired, hungry and thirsty. I couldn't find out when they were coming home. In the end, DH and I ran to the lake to rescue them.

They didn't need rescuing. We got there in time to see them skillfully managing some substantial lake waves in their boats, keeping pace with Grandpa and Uncle with no problems, and when they got in, both of them had all sorts of stories to tell about exploring the lake, heading up creeks, getting off on islands, annoying the Canada geese, and finding a dead raccoon in a creek. They saw deer, gar, a wild turkey, an enormous snapping turtle, and a feral hog and her nine piglets taking a dip in the lake. They identified several flowering trees, saw other plants they admired, and named a creek, "Inlet of a Thousand Raindrops".They are wild with enthusiasm for a float trip tomorrow on the river, despite having spent almost eight hours on a kayak today.

Where did my boys go? I think they might be growing up on me.

 

This is wonderful.  

[AMJ]

On 4/28/2018 at 6:00 AM, Another Lynn said:

Good Saturday Morning!  We saw Avengers with friends last night.  I will say nothing about it.  #nospoilers

TV - sometimes we watch Jeopardy #alreadyold.  NFL football.  College basketball.  That's probably it.  Sometimes the food channel, but not lately (that's really dh and dd, not me).  The TV mostly gets used for OYAN lessons and occasionally youngest watches Scooby Doo dvds.  

 

 

Yesterday I took an actual day off.  All I did was play with food and binge-watch Eureka.  And DH got some attention last night, too.  It was lovely!  And I still got in nearly 5000 steps, despite watching so much TV.  (Lots of pauses to go flip bacon on the grill or get other things cooking)

I am back to being responsible today.  Dad's laundry is running, and in a bit I will take DD13 to get new shorts with the latest Kohl's cash we have.

[AMJ]

12 hours ago, Critterfixer said:

Thanks to the WTM Forum, when Christopher Vogler used the term "tall poppy" I knew exactly what he meant!

 

What does it mean?

[AMJ]

10 hours ago, Susan in TN said:

For your evening entertainment: my favorite song from today's children's choir concert.  The Lyrics are from a John Updike poem "Recital", which he wrote after seeing a headline in the paper advertising Roger Bobo's Carnegie Hall performance.  Roger Bobo was the tuba player for the Los Angelas Philharmonic for 25 years and currently teaches and performs in Japan.

(This is not my kids' choir performing.)

 

Wonderful!!!!   Applause applause applause!!!!

[Critterfixer]

6 minutes ago, AMJ said:

 

What does it mean?

The southern term would be "too big for his britches." The discussion in the book was about how different cultures have different perceptions of the character of "the hero" in a book, and in Australia, the readers prefer a hero who is not a "tall poppy".

[Critterfixer]

I'm also looking at the contest as a bench-mark for other contests. The word count has steadily gone down as to what agents wish to see, and I'm seeing that reflected in the contests. I hope to see the word counts posted at the end of this one. It's possible that fantasy writers who are writing within their genre constraints (100K to 120K) need not submit, and if so, I really want to see the contests reflect those unwritten rules a little better. It's fine if they wish to cite the time restraint, but I want it up front. It was not up front in this contest for either editor. Those editors that specified word count in their profiles, I did not lobby.

[AMJ]

3 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

3:30 am. I finally got myself to stop hacking up a lung and now I can’t sleep. Bah. 

 

(((Jean)))

[AMJ]

13 minutes ago, Critterfixer said:

The southern term would be "too big for his britches." The discussion in the book was about how different cultures have different perceptions of the character of "the hero" in a book, and in Australia, the readers prefer a hero who is not a "tall poppy".

 

Thank you, that make much more sense.  "Too big for his britches" is quite a common saying up north, too (Minnesota and such).

[AMJ]

Yay, I'm all caught up again!

[KrissiK]

Double post. How did this get here? I posted this last night.

[KrissiK]

Good Morning!!!

COFFFEEEE~D

Sunday!!:)

Church!!:)

[KrissiK]

32 minutes ago, myblessings4 said:

 

Oh!  I forgot!  There were kittens!!  8 baby kitties!  

We’ll take 2 females. We are desperately looking for kittens.

[KrissiK]

We just do grammar. Rod & Staff. It is good. Very good. I don’t have a philosophy of whether to do grammar early or not.

I think the idea of doing grammar through Latin is quite valid and I have learned a lot about grammar through my own study of Latin, even though there is a lot in Latin not applicable to English grammar (primary and secondary tenses, anyone.) My own kids are absolutely floundering in Latin and I am trying to figure out whether to make up my own curriculum that mirrors Henle, just waaaaaaaaaaaay slow, or drop it altogether. 

[Critterfixer]

I want baby kitties. Well, not really. I just want to pet the baby kitties and cuddle with them.

Drafted a letter to the contest asking that word counts be specified for each editor in the future. Haven't sent it. I want to see what falls out with the word count length in the selections. But if the un-official cap is a certain number, I think that needs to be up-front in the guidelines.

[Jean in Newcastle]

42 minutes ago, AMJ said:

 

Thank you, that make much more sense.  "Too big for his britches" is quite a common saying up north, too (Minnesota and such).

I’m working on becoming too big for my britches but I need to lose more weight. Plus stretchy yoga pants accommodate a lot more sizes for one pant. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

I slept for a few hours. Lynn had a pet alligator. It bites. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

Both my kids, but especially dd, were allergic to drill style learning. Or any learning that went tediously from parts to whole. But they are both visual spatial learners. So am I. So I understand.

Since the majority of learners are not visual spatial learners it makes sense that the majority of materials out there don’t fit my kid’s needs. It also makes sense that these materials that failed so spectacularly for us work so well for others. (So I am not dissing your favorite materials or approaches  This is why I said that our experience might not be “worth much”  It won’t apply to most families  )  

(Interesting side note: being a visual spatial learner meant that Ds could translate Latin quite well but bomb the parsing.  Though he later learned to translate first and then figure out the grammar because thst is whole to parts. ). 

[Jean in Newcastle]

Btw- this whole “different kind of learner” thing is why I went from feeling like the square peg in a round hole in brick and mortar schools to discovering that I still felt like that among homeschoolers. It’s why I rarely actually join in on homeschooling posts. And why I dread it when people ask me what they should do with their kids. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

I lost three more pounds on the sicko diet. This makes it less likely that I will gsin all the weight back as soon as I feel better. 

[Slache]

1 minute ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

Btw- this whole “different kind of learner” thing is why I went from feeling like the square peg in a round hole in brick and mortar schools to discovering that I still felt like that among homeschoolers. It’s why I rarely actually join in on homeschooling posts. And why I dread it when people ask me what they should do with their kids. 

Sorry. I love knowing what everyone else does. It gives me ideas. I don't mimic you.

[Jean in Newcastle]

18 minutes ago, Slache said:

Sorry. I love knowing what everyone else does. It gives me ideas. I don't mimic you.

You're stressing me out! 

[Slache]

1 minute ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

You're stressing me out! 

You'll be okay.