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Best Of
Homeschooling help offer...post questions here
Whether you either deciding to start homeschooling, or now having to school your kids at home (public school at home), or do video/virtual school (the last two aren't actually homeschooling by definition), I would like to offer help to make things flow a bit easier. It is never an easy transition, especially if one is thrust into it with no choice.
My credentials: I was homeschooled and we have been homeschooling as a family for over 20 years. We have many kids from early elementary to graduated & holding down a good job. I have one 14 year old who has been done with her Trig since before Christmas...so I am sure that she could troubleshoot a few math problems too.
I am welcoming specific questions on lifestyle, scheduling, physical movement, disabilities, boredom, activities, curriculum, and whatever else might come up.
I do realize that there are other experienced homeschoolers here & I certainly welcome them to chime in. We can all help.
I am considering making this a "group" to not fill up these main forum topics, but need to ask those in charge of TGN if this is acceptable. It also depends on interest if this idea would be viable.
In the meantime, I would like this to be a safe place to ask questions about anything homeschooling/schooling at home. Help is only a post away. 😉
Re: Best Gardening Tips!
Mine is not necessarily a garden tip but it is VERY helpful to the unaware.
I'm a sucker for morning glories, the flower. I personally think they are gorgeous on a trellis or vineing on a fence etc..
What I didn't know though was how they spread. A morning glory plant spreads unusual from most other vines. Pulling the root out of the ground is impossible because it travels everywhere underground (like its own railroad track system down there). And since you can't get the entire root system out, what do us normal people do? Obviously we just take a shovel and dig up the plant and a bunch of the roots come out with it
BIG mistake! Because everywhere one of those roots you have broken you now have two new plants starting underground. So instead of one plant you dug out, you now have two plants which will be coming up.
AND, when you were digging if you put your shovel into the ground several times to dig up your morning glory, every single time you cut any of the root underground you just started two more plants. Therefore cut a morning glory root anywhere and you've just started more plants.
So now instead of one plant, later that season you will find small morning glory plants everywhere.
I have spent years now just trying to get rid of my morning glory because it just does not work where it is for my garden
The moral here, go ahead and plant one (only one) wherever you like it as long as it is not anywhere near anything else which will get strangled to death as your morning glory multiplies. And since morning glories do need a lot of space and something to grow upon, make sure you give it some room to grow right up front because once established, it is gorgeous but it also can become a pain in the Bu..!
greyfurball
Re: A couple random thoughts on Corona Virus
@Grammyprepper Thanks for still working. My husband and I are trying to keep small businesses afloat (mostly restaurants locally) and only go to grocery stores when needed. We are being extra considerate and pleasant to everyone still working, whether in person or on the phone. Now is the time to send out positive karma.
shllnzl
Shelter at Home Order in My Area
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was prepared for panic, I was prepared for groceries to fly off the shelves (mostly). But the shelter-at-home order came as a surprise to me. I guess I don't watch enough of the news to know it was coming. But here it is! That really shocked me. Gas stations and grocery stores are open, medical stuff... but does this mean I can't go for a walk? Visit the park? I guess so...
My husband works in the auto industry and his job is considered essential, so he still goes to work today. The kids and I are going to be home doing schoolwork and then doing some intensive gardening to feel more normal!
Megan Venturella
Re: A couple random thoughts on Corona Virus
I am pleased that this forum gives all of us a chance to get news about other peoples' experiences during this difficult time. Professional news agencies do not provide personal details. What we get here is real.
shllnzl
Re: A couple random thoughts on Corona Virus
Hi @LaurieLovesLearning oh, thanks so much for thinking of me. I've been meaning to reach out and let you know what a great job you are doing in the forums. I so much apprecaite it.
I am still in Puerto Rico. I know, I know, my kids are screaming at me "Mom! get back where all the preps and your community is!".
But I will assert again that I don't think the virus is the threat. It's the fear that is being generated by the media that is of concern. We will all see how it goes in the end, but I knew the banking system and economy was on the brink of collapse. Creating a "pandemic" to prick the bubble privdes a very convienent scapegoat for everyone from politicians to central bankers.
I'm not being stupid... of course. I've picked up some supplies, and I don't unnecessairly put anyone in danger. I have a lot to do getting our next Home Grown Food Summit ready that I'm sort of in self isolation anyway because of my work.
Here in Puerto Rico, when I do go out for walks, I'm looking at empty lots and thinking of creating a community garden. :) But there is lots of food around here. The iguanas are big and fat! and the mangoes will ripen soon. LOL
For our planetary emergency, I think the worst is yet to come. There is going to be a huge economic fallout that will happen from this global shutdown. What will the banking system do with all the defaults on credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages? And all the small, mediume, and large businesses with debts they can't repay? American Arilines has like $250 billion in debt? And thier revenue just disappeared for the past 6 weeks. And then there are all those trillions of dollars worht of deriviatives...
The stimulus package won't do much to stem that tide. It's going to get really messy.
But at least everyone has toilet paper! 🧻
I hope you have some preps and are staying safe.
Chuckle Of The Day For Everyone (whether you raise livestock or not)
Decades ago when I was in the US military I happened to get stationed down in the flatlands of Texas, cattle country.
At the same time, my husband was sent to the same base a few weeks later so we actually for a few months we got to live with each other at the same time. For married couples in the military, that in itself is often a luxury.
While there, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came over to visit (from Florida) with a guest, a fresh air child from New York City.
For this 9 year old boy, the first time out of the big city, the open air and big spaces with absolutely nothing in sight was a totally unusual sight. As we drove from the airport to our "home", all of a sudden this child "kind of screamed" and then said "so that's how they do it!"
When asked what he was talking about he just said, pointing "look...look out there." All the rest of us are looking and looking and all we saw were a few heads of cattle in the field.
All of us pretty much looked at him and asked what was he talking about. His answer, see those kind are chocolate milk, the while ones with black spots must be the white milk but I don't ever remember seeing any pink cows in my book at home!
We were nice explaining to him that's not quite the way it works when he goes to the grocery store and gets milk to take home.
kjrobinson54
Re: Just Want To Say Thank You
Thanks for sharing the positives you are finding these days! I feel like we need more of the positives pointed out every day so we become more thankful as a society. I have good days and bad, but most days I am thankful I still have my job and I know I will get paid so I can pay all of my bills. Sometimes I get frustrated that I cannot play in the garden and have to remind myself to put it into perspective. I have a blessing in the form of a job and a paycheck which some are stressing over what to do now. Getting something checked off that to-do list shire is great.
gardneto76
Just Want To Say Thank You
Sure when I heard we were going to be off mandatory ( a non-essential is me) for two weeks I was kind of bummed out. After all, I like going to my daily job even if I am retired.
But now that 3 weeks has gone by and three more weeks is coming (until the end of April) I am feeling so terribly happy about this enforced vacation.
After all, all of my Spring set-up for my garden is done. All my Spring crops are in and actually growing ( it's still pretty cold here every night so yes, they always need frost protection.)
Then I've actually built two new raised beds, filled them and am waiting for it to turn a little warmer so my strawberries can go in. That alone is a great reason to be thankful since I've never had the time before.
I bought a new greenhouse and set it up outside just so I could see if I could raise my own seedlings since I always have to drive about three hours to get good organic seedlings. Well, no driving this year since they aren't open anyway. And I'm happy to say my new plants are actually doing very well in my greenhouse.
And since I got all that plus the hundreds of other small jobs done or caught up that are always waiting for me around the house and yard, I started this morning building an addition onto my garage so I can get that huge lawn tractor out of the garage, thus out of the way all the time.
And I just happened to think last night, next this will be a great time to get three of the rooms painted in the house.
All in all, this enforced vacation has been a lifesaver for me!
So yes, this virus has its downside, but it also has its silver-lining as well.
So today, the #1 item on my gratitude list is just the simple thought that I have been given the opportunity to get so many things either crossed off or added to and also cross those off my "to-do" list.
greyfurball
Re: THANKYOU Marjory & TGN Team!
@Alison my sentiments exactly. Seeing all kinds of acts of goodness from random people in the face of this adversity. Gives me hope for my grandchildren. My kids will tell you that all my life I would stop to help someone who needed some help. Just the way I was brought up. Sure if we all continue to help those in need we will get through this. Stay safe.
EarlKelly