I had heard of this site before but forgot about it:
www.booksshouldbefree.com
I just downloaded a bunch of children's books to start listening to tomorrow. I'm excited to play them on my new awesome mp3 player through the stereo system while we clean or work on art or other projects. Now I just need a radio converter so we can listen in the car!!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Strabismus and Stereovision-- our experience
My little 5 yr. old has had glasses since he was 9 mos. old. Our good eye doctor passed away a couple years ago, and I didn't like his replacement so it wasn't until last year that we found another one we liked. My daughter's vision was fine with her glasses, but my son was referred to a surgeon to because his eyes continued to cross even with the new glasses. That surgeon then referred us to a pediatric opthamologist because his eye muscles moved both side to side and up and down. The pediatric opthamologist was really nice and I'm sure totally competent, but he was also very honest about the fact that surgery may not solve my son's vision problems although it would help. But surgery was the only thing he was able to offer us at that time. I now had a name for my son's condition and hoping to avoid surgery I got on the internet and started reading about strabismus which led to learning about vision therapy.
Basically strabismus is where the eyes don't work together. The person can have double vision, or one eye will shut off and turn in or out. My son had developed a lazy eye because of the strabismus but his weak eye was strenthened by patching the strong eye and forcing him to use his weak eye, but now he was switching off eyes to see and not using them together which meant that he could not see in 3-D. It's different than the way we see with one eye because our brain is so used to seeing things in 3-D that when we close one eye we still see in 3-D, but for someone who has never used their eyes together, everything is flat like on a t.v. screen. It is explained very well in the book, Fixing My Gaze by Susan Barry. She gained her stereovision while in her 50s after a lifetime without stereovision. It is fascinating and it also helped me to understand what we needed to do to help my son and why vision theraapy may work for him,
There were 2 offices listed on the website in Utah, so I called and made an appointment with the one 45 min. away. She told me she would be able to help him after the surgery but she would not be able to help with the up and down movement. So I then called the office 1 hour away and I guess being board certified makes a difference because he thought he would able to help and studies show that a waiting 6 months to do surgery at my son's age wouldn't make that big of a difference so it was worth a try.
So I have been driving my 7 children down to the eye doctor 1 hour away once a week for 2 1/2 months now for vision therapy. Fortunately our insurance covers a lot of it-- we just have a $25 co-pay each session. The exercises they do are varied and interesting. I'll explain them some other time if anybody's interested. But they did an evaluation 2 weeks ago after 8 weeks of eye exercises at home and weekly visits in office and his vision has improved 1 line on the eye chart and now this week he told me that things are starting to "jump" out at him which means he is using both eyes together!!!
Yay!! I'm so happy for my little guy. I'm so grateful for people with effective tools to help us in this. I'm grateful to my Lord for showing me the way. We still have a ways to go, but what a relief. I think we are headed in the right direction and all the sacrifice is worth it!!
Basically strabismus is where the eyes don't work together. The person can have double vision, or one eye will shut off and turn in or out. My son had developed a lazy eye because of the strabismus but his weak eye was strenthened by patching the strong eye and forcing him to use his weak eye, but now he was switching off eyes to see and not using them together which meant that he could not see in 3-D. It's different than the way we see with one eye because our brain is so used to seeing things in 3-D that when we close one eye we still see in 3-D, but for someone who has never used their eyes together, everything is flat like on a t.v. screen. It is explained very well in the book, Fixing My Gaze by Susan Barry. She gained her stereovision while in her 50s after a lifetime without stereovision. It is fascinating and it also helped me to understand what we needed to do to help my son and why vision theraapy may work for him,
There were 2 offices listed on the website in Utah, so I called and made an appointment with the one 45 min. away. She told me she would be able to help him after the surgery but she would not be able to help with the up and down movement. So I then called the office 1 hour away and I guess being board certified makes a difference because he thought he would able to help and studies show that a waiting 6 months to do surgery at my son's age wouldn't make that big of a difference so it was worth a try.
So I have been driving my 7 children down to the eye doctor 1 hour away once a week for 2 1/2 months now for vision therapy. Fortunately our insurance covers a lot of it-- we just have a $25 co-pay each session. The exercises they do are varied and interesting. I'll explain them some other time if anybody's interested. But they did an evaluation 2 weeks ago after 8 weeks of eye exercises at home and weekly visits in office and his vision has improved 1 line on the eye chart and now this week he told me that things are starting to "jump" out at him which means he is using both eyes together!!!
Yay!! I'm so happy for my little guy. I'm so grateful for people with effective tools to help us in this. I'm grateful to my Lord for showing me the way. We still have a ways to go, but what a relief. I think we are headed in the right direction and all the sacrifice is worth it!!
Monday, August 16, 2010
My new Garden Blog
I've started a garden blog in hopes of keeping better track of what I've been doing to it and why it doesn't grow at all. It is totally stunted. I have sent in a couple of soil samples. I really want nice fresh produce from my own back yard. You can check it out at www.ambersveggiegarden.blogspot.com Wish me luck!!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
A poem by Mother Teresa
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
By Mother Teresa
Words to live by, I especially love the last 2 lines.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
By Mother Teresa
Words to live by, I especially love the last 2 lines.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Why study Latin and Greek?
I got this question in my comments-- here's the drawn out answer:
My husband had the unique opportunity of studying Latin as a high school student and one year at BYU. More than anything else he attributes his ability to think clearly and logically to his study of Latin. Also by learning Latin, he learned Grammar with a capital "G", most of us won't understand what he means until they study Latin. Grammar schools get their name from the schools where the kids attended to learn Latin, like in Anne of Green Gables. It was and can continue to be done.
Latin is a very organized language. The nouns, adjectives, adverbs and other parts of speech will have a different ending depending on what it is doing in the sentence-- subject, direct object, indirect object, possessive, or what word it is associated with etc. Therefore, in order to make a sentence properly in Latin, it must be clear exactly what it is you are tying to say. Same with the verbs and other parts of speech. I think the Grammar is what makes it so difficult. There is so much to keep straight which trains the mind very well. Also, by learning Latin, the student will learn English grammar as a by product and way better than they would by studying any modern language.
Another reason to study Latin is that many English words come from Latin, so it helps us understand our own language so much better. Latin is also the underlying language of our civilization. By learning Latin, we learn about history, art, science, and everything else Latin has touched which is just about everything in Western Civilizaiton.
So now why Greek? Greek has one less declension than Latin, so it is not quite so involved. So the Grammar is a little easier and that makes it a nice precursor to studying Latin. Many English words also come from Greek and how cool would it be to read the New Testament in the original Greek? And it is pretty fun to read in a different alphabet.
Tough subjects turning out disciplined minds?-- yes, just what I want. Do my girls like it-- yes when it's easy, and no when it's hard. They sure are pleased with themselves when they struggle through and finish what they thought was insurmountable.
Check out these articles from Memoria Press on studying Latin, scroll down to the bottom to see the Latin section. The section on studying formal Logic is also enlightening.
http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/
Need a short answer?
Mean Verbal SAT scores for 2006:
LATIN STUDENTS: 672
Spanish Students: 577
French Students: 637
German Students: 632
Hebrew Students: 623
Average for all students: 503
My husband had the unique opportunity of studying Latin as a high school student and one year at BYU. More than anything else he attributes his ability to think clearly and logically to his study of Latin. Also by learning Latin, he learned Grammar with a capital "G", most of us won't understand what he means until they study Latin. Grammar schools get their name from the schools where the kids attended to learn Latin, like in Anne of Green Gables. It was and can continue to be done.
Latin is a very organized language. The nouns, adjectives, adverbs and other parts of speech will have a different ending depending on what it is doing in the sentence-- subject, direct object, indirect object, possessive, or what word it is associated with etc. Therefore, in order to make a sentence properly in Latin, it must be clear exactly what it is you are tying to say. Same with the verbs and other parts of speech. I think the Grammar is what makes it so difficult. There is so much to keep straight which trains the mind very well. Also, by learning Latin, the student will learn English grammar as a by product and way better than they would by studying any modern language.
Another reason to study Latin is that many English words come from Latin, so it helps us understand our own language so much better. Latin is also the underlying language of our civilization. By learning Latin, we learn about history, art, science, and everything else Latin has touched which is just about everything in Western Civilizaiton.
So now why Greek? Greek has one less declension than Latin, so it is not quite so involved. So the Grammar is a little easier and that makes it a nice precursor to studying Latin. Many English words also come from Greek and how cool would it be to read the New Testament in the original Greek? And it is pretty fun to read in a different alphabet.
Tough subjects turning out disciplined minds?-- yes, just what I want. Do my girls like it-- yes when it's easy, and no when it's hard. They sure are pleased with themselves when they struggle through and finish what they thought was insurmountable.
Check out these articles from Memoria Press on studying Latin, scroll down to the bottom to see the Latin section. The section on studying formal Logic is also enlightening.
http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/
Need a short answer?
Mean Verbal SAT scores for 2006:
LATIN STUDENTS: 672
Spanish Students: 577
French Students: 637
German Students: 632
Hebrew Students: 623
Average for all students: 503
Friday, July 30, 2010
This year's Homeschooling Plan
I am really looking forward to getting back into schooling full tilt! I've got preschool, kindergarten, 2nd grade, 4th grade and 6th grade this year. Check out other people's plans at latter-dayhomeschooling.com
Math-- Each child does Singapore math at their level, the 2 older ones should finish the series by December and both should start Algebra around January -- I am very excited for this.
Grammar/Latin- We are studying Koine Greek with this fabulous curriculum called Elementary Greek. Not only is this a fabulous way to really learn English grammar and lots of Greek root words and the Greek of the New Testament, it is great preparation for learning Latin which we start when the child has finished the third year book which should be by May or June for the 2 oldest girls. This will become our focus. Preceding years, our focus has been in math. They need to start Latin by 7th grade to fulfill our requirements.
Science-- We use Singapore Science once the kids are proficient at reading and writing. The sixth grader should finish the program by May or June to be ready for junior high material next year. For the younger kids I am really excited about some expensive books I bought from a door to door European girl salesperson printed by Southwestern. They are actually really good. I was worried about the money, but I think it was worth it. We also bought a set of 5 used Southwestern Student Handbooks that have some great info and really fun experiments and and games for science, math, geography, and nature.
Writing-- All the children are required to write in their journal each school day. They can write whatever they want at least one sentence long. The little ones draw a picture, tell me what to write and then copy it. They also practice writing in workbooks I bought at Sam's Club and when we get our printer figured out, they will trace the scripture of the week in cursive. The older ones copy the scripture of the week each school day and write 1-2 compositions per week all in cursive.
Spelling-- I use The Natural Speller to find words for the kids to practice. When I was taking care of babies, I had my older girls practice typing out of a typing book I had bought. Now the older one may spend time typing her stories and I call that good for spelling.
Reading-- Once the kids can read well, they are required to read a book from a list for at least 30 min. per day. They love this part and have read books they wouldn't have otherwise read and have loved it. The younger kids learn to read by first learning their letters and sounds from the Letter Factory DVD, then by reading out of the Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. We supplement that with Phonics games from LDFR.com and the McGuffey readers.
History-- I started out homeschooling by reading the story of the world to my kids. It worked for me at that time because it was all new to me, I had no sense of history at all and it was a great starting point. However, now I think it is just too long jumping around too much for these little guys to keep up and let some of the events sink in. So now the older ones do 15 min. of history reading a day from books we bought at yesterdaysclassics.com . I also read books to the younger ones mostly from yesterdaysclassics and some picture books we have and from the library. We will be reading about American history together this year.
Group Time -- We'll have story time for the younger kids various classic stories and pictures books, history, science, and scriptures, also poetry and time for memorizing scriptures and poems, we sing primary songs and other fun songs and songs in Spanish and French, then we have Spanish class and Greek review and art and experiment hands on time.
outside activities-- 4 kids in soccer!! That will be busy-- violin lessons, piano lessons, boys club, drama, and book club.
Good thing we don't do everything everyday, we just do something each day. The kids have a list what they must accomplish each day. We include make your bed, brush your and get dressed among other things. They have to do Math, Greek, reading, journal, and scripture 4 times per week. Instruments must be practiced daily.
So that's the plan for this year. I still have to work out some of the details but I think we are all excited to get back into it yay!!
Math-- Each child does Singapore math at their level, the 2 older ones should finish the series by December and both should start Algebra around January -- I am very excited for this.
Grammar/Latin- We are studying Koine Greek with this fabulous curriculum called Elementary Greek. Not only is this a fabulous way to really learn English grammar and lots of Greek root words and the Greek of the New Testament, it is great preparation for learning Latin which we start when the child has finished the third year book which should be by May or June for the 2 oldest girls. This will become our focus. Preceding years, our focus has been in math. They need to start Latin by 7th grade to fulfill our requirements.
Science-- We use Singapore Science once the kids are proficient at reading and writing. The sixth grader should finish the program by May or June to be ready for junior high material next year. For the younger kids I am really excited about some expensive books I bought from a door to door European girl salesperson printed by Southwestern. They are actually really good. I was worried about the money, but I think it was worth it. We also bought a set of 5 used Southwestern Student Handbooks that have some great info and really fun experiments and and games for science, math, geography, and nature.
Writing-- All the children are required to write in their journal each school day. They can write whatever they want at least one sentence long. The little ones draw a picture, tell me what to write and then copy it. They also practice writing in workbooks I bought at Sam's Club and when we get our printer figured out, they will trace the scripture of the week in cursive. The older ones copy the scripture of the week each school day and write 1-2 compositions per week all in cursive.
Spelling-- I use The Natural Speller to find words for the kids to practice. When I was taking care of babies, I had my older girls practice typing out of a typing book I had bought. Now the older one may spend time typing her stories and I call that good for spelling.
Reading-- Once the kids can read well, they are required to read a book from a list for at least 30 min. per day. They love this part and have read books they wouldn't have otherwise read and have loved it. The younger kids learn to read by first learning their letters and sounds from the Letter Factory DVD, then by reading out of the Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. We supplement that with Phonics games from LDFR.com and the McGuffey readers.
History-- I started out homeschooling by reading the story of the world to my kids. It worked for me at that time because it was all new to me, I had no sense of history at all and it was a great starting point. However, now I think it is just too long jumping around too much for these little guys to keep up and let some of the events sink in. So now the older ones do 15 min. of history reading a day from books we bought at yesterdaysclassics.com . I also read books to the younger ones mostly from yesterdaysclassics and some picture books we have and from the library. We will be reading about American history together this year.
Group Time -- We'll have story time for the younger kids various classic stories and pictures books, history, science, and scriptures, also poetry and time for memorizing scriptures and poems, we sing primary songs and other fun songs and songs in Spanish and French, then we have Spanish class and Greek review and art and experiment hands on time.
outside activities-- 4 kids in soccer!! That will be busy-- violin lessons, piano lessons, boys club, drama, and book club.
Good thing we don't do everything everyday, we just do something each day. The kids have a list what they must accomplish each day. We include make your bed, brush your and get dressed among other things. They have to do Math, Greek, reading, journal, and scripture 4 times per week. Instruments must be practiced daily.
So that's the plan for this year. I still have to work out some of the details but I think we are all excited to get back into it yay!!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Herbal remedies
I have been reading a ton about herbal remedies and the uses of plants for all different sorts of things. My favorite information come s from Dr. Christopher and his School of Natural Healing. I can't justify spening the money on a full course but I have bought a bunch of herb books and I am learning a ton. I love plants and I love finding uses for them especially since I have been gardening challenged but not weed or herb challenged. I have a fabulous herb garden and some nice weeds.
Here are some I have been using recently:
Comfrey-- as a salve for eczema and blemishes in the skin, I've also been adding it to our smoothies for its high calcium content. There is apparently some question as to its safety, but I think that used in moderation it is very beneficial and definitely very healing
Herbs high in calcium for nursing and growing children--- nettles, oat straw, horsetail, lobelia and comfrey -- I've been making a tea out of these aded with red raspberry especially when my body is feeling over taxed with the burden of nursing 2 babies full time and I add them to our morning smoothie. Lobelia is another one where it is recommended that it be used carefully.
Colds and illness--- I always use echinacea and vitamin c, if it's really bad and not the kids I add cayenne, garlic and goldenseal
Tooth infection--- I use colloidal silver, garlic oil, clove oil mixed with white oak bark all applied to the affected area and then make a water rinse with a couple drops of spearmint oil
Mosquito repellant-- water mixed with a few drops of citronella essential oil and put in a spray bottle to cover exposed skin while camping-- works great and so much nicer than that stinky off stuff
Plantain-- rub leaves on any kind of bite or sting-- I blended some with some comfrey oil to rub on my daughter's eczema-- worked great also worked for the mosquito bite I got before the citronella stuff was sprayed
Hurray for herbs! I'm really enjoying learning about all the things they are good for. I will definitely be planting more of them and learning how to make my own tinctures and salves.
Www.herbal legacy.com. Is a great resource on the web as well as the books recommended by the school of natural healing and their free newsletter and www.mountainroseherbs.com is a great place to buy them and check out their books for sale too. Very fun and empowering.
Here are some I have been using recently:
Comfrey-- as a salve for eczema and blemishes in the skin, I've also been adding it to our smoothies for its high calcium content. There is apparently some question as to its safety, but I think that used in moderation it is very beneficial and definitely very healing
Herbs high in calcium for nursing and growing children--- nettles, oat straw, horsetail, lobelia and comfrey -- I've been making a tea out of these aded with red raspberry especially when my body is feeling over taxed with the burden of nursing 2 babies full time and I add them to our morning smoothie. Lobelia is another one where it is recommended that it be used carefully.
Colds and illness--- I always use echinacea and vitamin c, if it's really bad and not the kids I add cayenne, garlic and goldenseal
Tooth infection--- I use colloidal silver, garlic oil, clove oil mixed with white oak bark all applied to the affected area and then make a water rinse with a couple drops of spearmint oil
Mosquito repellant-- water mixed with a few drops of citronella essential oil and put in a spray bottle to cover exposed skin while camping-- works great and so much nicer than that stinky off stuff
Plantain-- rub leaves on any kind of bite or sting-- I blended some with some comfrey oil to rub on my daughter's eczema-- worked great also worked for the mosquito bite I got before the citronella stuff was sprayed
Hurray for herbs! I'm really enjoying learning about all the things they are good for. I will definitely be planting more of them and learning how to make my own tinctures and salves.
Www.herbal legacy.com. Is a great resource on the web as well as the books recommended by the school of natural healing and their free newsletter and www.mountainroseherbs.com is a great place to buy them and check out their books for sale too. Very fun and empowering.
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