Raising kids, was POLITICS economics

[Guest guest]

Tracey:

>I would agree with all of this, except in our particular society,

>sending the child to school. LOTS of reasons for this, including I

>want to raise my own kids instead of sending them to the government 8

>hours+ daily. And I disagree with so much of our culture, including

>what they feed kids and what school does to the family structure. :-)

I tend to agree with you there. We are currently " discussing " this ... my oldest

HATES

school and my youngest LOVES it. The school is actually pretty good, and they

try hard, but my dd has nothing in common with the kids, she's like the

" anthropologist

on mars " . I went to drop off something in her class one day, and the class was

out.

On every single desk was a cupcake ... someones birthday ... except hers. I

almost

cried ... she never mentions stuff like that, but it's gotta be weird for a 9

year old.

Since you have such a background in children's books, may I ask how you manage

to teach without impacting your time too much? And where to get real textbooks?

Our school has NO textbooks, which just floors me ... I always liked to go back

and reference what I learned, but nowadays everything is " workbooks " which

to my brain are not well organized.

If you want to contact me offline, I'd love to hear details (or online if anyone

else is interested!

Yup. So many people are working from home now that some utility

>companies now have special rates for work-from-home businesses, so

>that helps.

Here it is illegal to run a business from home with more than one employee,

unless

you own more than 1 acre. Which was our original reason for buying acreage!

>

>I've been following this discussion with great interest, because this

>combines three of my main soapboxes! Thanks to both of you for

>bringing up so many good points. I agree, Heidi, so much of our

>society just doesn't work, from nutrition to education to things that

>negatively inpact childrearing.

>

>Thanks,

>Tracey

Thanks ... speaking for myself, I'd love to hear from you too!

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

> Since you have such a background in children's books, may I ask how

you manage

> to teach without impacting your time too much? And where to get

real textbooks?

> Our school has NO textbooks, which just floors me ... I always

liked to go back

> and reference what I learned, but nowadays everything

is " workbooks " which

> to my brain are not well organized.

The most effective ways of homeschooling do not use

textbooks. " Unschooling " , which incorporates some Montessori ideas,

is one of these. We sort of do this, but I do impose some

structure. There are also a couple of literature-based curricula

that I like, even though I don't follow their lesson plans. I have

the books from those curricula around and my kids devour them!

Both of them like to do worksheets once in awhile, so I have some

highly-recommended ones for them to do. As long as they are eager to

do them it's no problem. More than once my son has done a semester's

worth of math over two weeks just sitting down about 3 times. And it

was math of a program widely acknowledged worldwide to be the best

program, and he was working a couple of years above his grade level.

Much better, IMHO, than having to prod him through a page or two a

day, every day. I doubt he'd be where he is if I did that: 7 y.o.

with 9th grade reading level and 4th grade math (with smatterings of

higher math thrown in). I did have to spend some time a couple of

years ago helping him learn to read, but only because he was

motivated to learn then.

Also, my business doesn't take a lot of my time; 20 hours a week at

most, but provides my half (and more all the time) of our income.

That leaves us with plenty of time for field trips, culturing things,

rescuing baby animals, etc.

>

> If you want to contact me offline, I'd love to hear details (or

online if anyone

> else is interested!

Yes, I can give you some more details offline.

>

> Yup. So many people are working from home now that some utility

> >companies now have special rates for work-from-home businesses, so

> >that helps.

>

> Here it is illegal to run a business from home with more than one

employee, unless

> you own more than 1 acre. Which was our original reason for buying

acreage!

I don't have employees, but I do have a lot of people I work with

that I'm paid to train, so that's where some of my income comes

from. And because I normally don't have customers coming to my home

I don't have to worry about zoning laws. It is a pain not being able

to have a sign though (neighborhood covenant restriction that also

keeps us from having any animals that aren't pets. They wouldn't

believe chickens are pets, I'm sure).

Smiles,

Tracey

[Guest guest]

> Here it is illegal to run a business from home with more than one

employee, unless

> you own more than 1 acre.

LOL! Good thing... that sounds almost as dangerous as walking

backwards with ice cream. Society would fall apart if we didn't have

government to protect us.

Chris

[Guest guest]

>The most effective ways of homeschooling do not use

>textbooks. " Unschooling " , which incorporates some Montessori ideas,

>is one of these. We sort of do this, but I do impose some

>structure. There are also a couple of literature-based curricula

>that I like, even though I don't follow their lesson plans. I have

>the books from those curricula around and my kids devour them!

Hmm .. that is the philosophy of her current teacher .. I like the teacher, but

really, I LIKED textbooks! Might be how my brain works, but I liked being able

to look things up again, and look ahead to the next lesson, and to see that

things were " in order " . Might be an Aspberger thing. My kids seem to be

the same way.

>Both of them like to do worksheets once in awhile, so I have some

>highly-recommended ones for them to do. As long as they are eager to

>do them it's no problem. More than once my son has done a semester's

>worth of math over two weeks just sitting down about 3 times. And it

>was math of a program widely acknowledged worldwide to be the best

>program, and he was working a couple of years above his grade level.

>Much better, IMHO, than having to prod him through a page or two a

>day, every day. I doubt he'd be where he is if I did that: 7 y.o.

>with 9th grade reading level and 4th grade math (with smatterings of

>higher math thrown in). I did have to spend some time a couple of

>years ago helping him learn to read, but only because he was

>motivated to learn then.

So which math worksheets were those? My kids UNDERSTAND math, but learning the

basics (like multiplication) are difficult .. my nephew has a real problem with

memorization

and so does my dh. But concepts are easy for them. Having gone thru math up to

calculus myself, I don't see how they can get away with not memorizing the

basics, and

the school isn't into that at the moment. So my dh avoids anything that looks

like multiplication

because she hasn't memorized the multiplication tables.

>Also, my business doesn't take a lot of my time; 20 hours a week at

>most, but provides my half (and more all the time) of our income.

>That leaves us with plenty of time for field trips, culturing things,

>rescuing baby animals, etc.

How nice!

> I don't have employees, but I do have a lot of people I work with

>that I'm paid to train, so that's where some of my income comes

>from. And because I normally don't have customers coming to my home

>I don't have to worry about zoning laws. It is a pain not being able

>to have a sign though (neighborhood covenant restriction that also

>keeps us from having any animals that aren't pets. They wouldn't

>believe chickens are pets, I'm sure).

Well, a couple of egg chickens they probably wouldn't notice, if they were in an

" aviary " . Meat chickens you don't keep long enough that anyone would notice.

If you let them run around, they would notice! But you can keep them quite well

by feeding them " weeds " from the garden.

When we were looking for houses, we avoided the " covenant " type neighborhoods.

So yeah, our neighbors shoot off guns and fireworks and even do paintball .. but

they

don't complain about us and we don't complain about them!

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

Hi Heidi and everyone,

Since you mentioned Asperger's, I was wondering if anyone here has

any experience with this condition. I know of a young mother whose

child has Asperger's, I thought I would suggest she might consider

joining this helpful, supportive and friendly group.

Sheila

>

> >The most effective ways of homeschooling do not use

> >textbooks. " Unschooling " , which incorporates some Montessori

ideas,

> >is one of these. We sort of do this, but I do impose some

> >structure. There are also a couple of literature-based curricula

> >that I like, even though I don't follow their lesson plans. I

have

> >the books from those curricula around and my kids devour them!

>

> Hmm .. that is the philosophy of her current teacher .. I like the

teacher, but

> really, I LIKED textbooks! Might be how my brain works, but I liked

being able

> to look things up again, and look ahead to the next lesson, and to

see that

> things were " in order " . Might be an Aspberger thing. My kids seem

to be

> the same way.

>

>

> >Both of them like to do worksheets once in awhile, so I have some

> >highly-recommended ones for them to do. As long as they are eager

to

> >do them it's no problem. More than once my son has done a

semester's

> >worth of math over two weeks just sitting down about 3 times. And

it

> >was math of a program widely acknowledged worldwide to be the best

> >program, and he was working a couple of years above his grade

level.

> >Much better, IMHO, than having to prod him through a page or two a

> >day, every day. I doubt he'd be where he is if I did that: 7

y.o.

> >with 9th grade reading level and 4th grade math (with smatterings

of

> >higher math thrown in). I did have to spend some time a couple of

> >years ago helping him learn to read, but only because he was

> >motivated to learn then.

>

> So which math worksheets were those? My kids UNDERSTAND math, but

learning the

> basics (like multiplication) are difficult .. my nephew has a real

problem with memorization

> and so does my dh. But concepts are easy for them. Having gone thru

math up to

> calculus myself, I don't see how they can get away with not

memorizing the basics, and

> the school isn't into that at the moment. So my dh avoids anything

that looks like multiplication

> because she hasn't memorized the multiplication tables.

>

>

>

> >Also, my business doesn't take a lot of my time; 20 hours a week

at

> >most, but provides my half (and more all the time) of our income.

> >That leaves us with plenty of time for field trips, culturing

things,

> >rescuing baby animals, etc.

>

> How nice!

>

> > I don't have employees, but I do have a lot of people I work with

> >that I'm paid to train, so that's where some of my income comes

> >from. And because I normally don't have customers coming to my

home

> >I don't have to worry about zoning laws. It is a pain not being

able

> >to have a sign though (neighborhood covenant restriction that also

> >keeps us from having any animals that aren't pets. They wouldn't

> >believe chickens are pets, I'm sure).

>

> Well, a couple of egg chickens they probably wouldn't notice, if

they were in an

> " aviary " . Meat chickens you don't keep long enough that anyone

would notice.

> If you let them run around, they would notice! But you can keep

them quite well

> by feeding them " weeds " from the garden.

>

> When we were looking for houses, we avoided the " covenant " type

neighborhoods.

> So yeah, our neighbors shoot off guns and fireworks and even do

paintball .. but they

> don't complain about us and we don't complain about them!

>

> -- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

My middle child is home-schooling because he can't fit into a regular school

environment. He has many characteristics of Asperger's, but not enough to be

formally diagnosed as having it. It was his bad behaviour at school that got me

looking into diet. Our family's diet is now much lower in additives and refined

foods, and I am very aware of making sure he has protein with his carbs to keep

his blood-sugar/insulin stable.

Cheers,

Tas'.

Re: Raising kids, was POLITICS economics

Hi Heidi and everyone,

Since you mentioned Asperger's, I was wondering if anyone here has

any experience with this condition. I know of a young mother whose

child has Asperger's, I thought I would suggest she might consider

joining this helpful, supportive and friendly group.

Sheila

>

> >The most effective ways of homeschooling do not use

> >textbooks. " Unschooling " , which incorporates some Montessori

ideas,

> >is one of these. We sort of do this, but I do impose some

> >structure. There are also a couple of literature-based curricula

> >that I like, even though I don't follow their lesson plans. I

have

> >the books from those curricula around and my kids devour them!

>

> Hmm .. that is the philosophy of her current teacher .. I like the

teacher, but

> really, I LIKED textbooks! Might be how my brain works, but I liked

being able

> to look things up again, and look ahead to the next lesson, and to

see that

> things were " in order " . Might be an Aspberger thing. My kids seem

to be

> the same way.

>

>

> >Both of them like to do worksheets once in awhile, so I have some

> >highly-recommended ones for them to do. As long as they are eager

to

> >do them it's no problem. More than once my son has done a

semester's

> >worth of math over two weeks just sitting down about 3 times. And

it

> >was math of a program widely acknowledged worldwide to be the best

> >program, and he was working a couple of years above his grade

level.

> >Much better, IMHO, than having to prod him through a page or two a

> >day, every day. I doubt he'd be where he is if I did that: 7

y.o.

> >with 9th grade reading level and 4th grade math (with smatterings

of

> >higher math thrown in). I did have to spend some time a couple of

> >years ago helping him learn to read, but only because he was

> >motivated to learn then.

>

> So which math worksheets were those? My kids UNDERSTAND math, but

learning the

> basics (like multiplication) are difficult .. my nephew has a real

problem with memorization

> and so does my dh. But concepts are easy for them. Having gone thru

math up to

> calculus myself, I don't see how they can get away with not

memorizing the basics, and

> the school isn't into that at the moment. So my dh avoids anything

that looks like multiplication

> because she hasn't memorized the multiplication tables.

>

>

>

> >Also, my business doesn't take a lot of my time; 20 hours a week

at

> >most, but provides my half (and more all the time) of our income.

> >That leaves us with plenty of time for field trips, culturing

things,

> >rescuing baby animals, etc.

>

> How nice!

>

> > I don't have employees, but I do have a lot of people I work with

> >that I'm paid to train, so that's where some of my income comes

> >from. And because I normally don't have customers coming to my

home

> >I don't have to worry about zoning laws. It is a pain not being

able

> >to have a sign though (neighborhood covenant restriction that also

> >keeps us from having any animals that aren't pets. They wouldn't

> >believe chickens are pets, I'm sure).

>

> Well, a couple of egg chickens they probably wouldn't notice, if

they were in an

> " aviary " . Meat chickens you don't keep long enough that anyone

would notice.

> If you let them run around, they would notice! But you can keep

them quite well

> by feeding them " weeds " from the garden.

>

> When we were looking for houses, we avoided the " covenant " type

neighborhoods.

> So yeah, our neighbors shoot off guns and fireworks and even do

paintball .. but they

> don't complain about us and we don't complain about them!

>

> -- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

>Hi Heidi and everyone,

>

>Since you mentioned Asperger's, I was wondering if anyone here has

>any experience with this condition. I know of a young mother whose

>child has Asperger's, I thought I would suggest she might consider

>joining this helpful, supportive and friendly group.

>

>Sheila

Well, my experience is ME, actually. Most die-hard programmers are somewhat

Aspergerish, and my family certainly was (when I heard about the

condition I just laughed and said " That's Dad! " ). Since going GF/CF I am

much less so, and therefore not as good a programmer, I think.

However, my nephew, who seemed Aspergerish, was recently diagnosed

with " myelin sheath damage " (probably from gluten, he's better now), so

I'm not sure exactly what was going on. All the diagnoses seem to be

based on symptoms, not lab tests, so they are rather qualitative, I think!

As for " helpful, supportive, and friendly " ... we are except when we

are argumentative and snide ... <G>.

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

You can join the various autism groups like Autism-mercury (

membership over 2,000) where children are being detoxed for mercury and we

are seeing huge amounts of mercury as well as other toxic metals showing up

in urine and faeces lab tests.

There is another list called GFCF on the lists where Autism spectrum

kids are being taken off Gluten and Cassein with amazing results...

And another list Enzymes () where ASD kids are taking enzymes to help

with digestion of foods and also with extremely positive results.

Best,

Re: Re: Raising kids, was POLITICS economics

>

> >Hi Heidi and everyone,

> >

> >Since you mentioned Asperger's, I was wondering if anyone here has

> >any experience with this condition. I know of a young mother whose

> >child has Asperger's, I thought I would suggest she might consider

> >joining this helpful, supportive and friendly group.

> >

> >Sheila

>

> Well, my experience is ME, actually. Most die-hard programmers are

somewhat

> Aspergerish, and my family certainly was (when I heard about the

> condition I just laughed and said " That's Dad! " ). Since going GF/CF I am

> much less so, and therefore not as good a programmer, I think.

>

> However, my nephew, who seemed Aspergerish, was recently diagnosed

> with " myelin sheath damage " (probably from gluten, he's better now), so

> I'm not sure exactly what was going on. All the diagnoses seem to be

> based on symptoms, not lab tests, so they are rather qualitative, I think!

>

> As for " helpful, supportive, and friendly " ... we are except when we

> are argumentative and snide ... <G>.

>

> -- Heidi Jean

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Heidi Jean.

I will see if she will join us.

Sheila

>

> >Hi Heidi and everyone,

> >

> >Since you mentioned Asperger's, I was wondering if anyone here has

> >any experience with this condition. I know of a young mother whose

> >child has Asperger's, I thought I would suggest she might consider

> >joining this helpful, supportive and friendly group.

> >

> >Sheila

>

> Well, my experience is ME, actually. Most die-hard programmers are

somewhat

> Aspergerish, and my family certainly was (when I heard about the

> condition I just laughed and said " That's Dad! " ). Since going GF/CF

I am

> much less so, and therefore not as good a programmer, I think.

>

> However, my nephew, who seemed Aspergerish, was recently diagnosed

> with " myelin sheath damage " (probably from gluten, he's better

now), so

> I'm not sure exactly what was going on. All the diagnoses seem to be

> based on symptoms, not lab tests, so they are rather qualitative, I

think!

>

> As for " helpful, supportive, and friendly " ... we are except when we

> are argumentative and snide ... <G>.

>

> -- Heidi Jean