Wowser Dowser. What a crazy first week of homeschooling that was. (Our 2nd year, but our first with this new curriculum. Read more about our homeschooling journey here.) All. Day. Long I went from one kid to the next to the next, I could barely even get meals it was so nuts. “Mom, I need help!” “Mom, I don't get this!” “Mom, what do I do next?!” I'm a big fan of curriculum that combines subjects for the various grades so each kid isn't doing something different, but that's not what we went with because I'd heard so many good things about this one. I'm sure it'll smooth out and take less time as we get used to everything. So once I get the kids squared away each day and everyone is fed, then it's time to do my Kitchen Kop work, errands, laundry, and everything else moms do. All that rambling is just to help you understand why I'm not able to keep on top of it all quite as much these days, so if you don't get a response to an email or comment and it gets buried in my box, that's why!
- If you're not already an email subscriber, click here to check out my newsletter with the top August posts you may have missed. And you may want to sign up because only subscribers are eligible to win my favorite pan and only IF you tell me you want it in the comments at this post!
- Last week we had quite the situation here in our hometown. The text notifications started coming through on Wednesday that there was a 48-hour boil advisory on our city water due to an e-coli contamination. Some of the schools closed after only being in session 2 days. We were never so happy that we have a drinking water filtering system in our home. Ours is a reverse osmosis system, but only because we didn't know about these water filters when we bought it years ago. (This kind is much better than RO since it leaves the minerals in, but takes the bad stuff out. So when we remember, we add these mineral drops.)
Do you love Chinese food, too? When we were at Epcot last month the kids loved the egg rolls, so I made my egg roll recipe again last week and youza they were delish. I made them with this simple fried rice.
- Did you guys see this story about the two little girls who were harmed by the FluMist vaccine? Are you unsure about the whole vaccine issue? Read my other vaccine posts here.
- Have you heard of this app, If not this then that? I keep hearing about it, but I don't know what exactly I'd use it for…?
- Thank you, Megan, who sent me this interesting article: Diverse Gut Microbes, A Trim Waistline And Health Go Together. One more reason to pay attention to your gut health! Here's where you can read more: Gut Health 101: 6 Questions and Answers About A Strong Immune System and the GAPS Diet.
- Do you know anyone with kids on the autism spectrum? More evidence is proving what an impact gut health has on that, too. And it's also showing that, no big surprise, childhood vaccines oftentimes are responsible for underlying gastrointestinal damage linked to autism.
- Isn't this a cute picture from our neighbors' yard? Click here to share it on Facebook. Or pin it here.
Have a great week!
Connie says
well I’m an email subscriber and I’d love to win the pan 🙂
KitchenKop says
@Connie, be sure to comment over at the giveaway post, though! 🙂
Cecilia Capehart says
On modg- different kids doing ALL subjects separately does sound tricky! But I also know it’s a good ‘solid’ curriculum. I went to college with the founder’s kids ad I’ve used some ideas of hers (although since my children are 5, 2 and in utero only one does school work!)
I found the autism study interesting; it’s a good reminder to me to always give my daughter her probiotics. She autistic- super high functioning- and has definite gut issues- her biggest is constipation. Also, dairy has the opposite effect on her (so we’ve removed it except kefir and goat cheese which don’t seem to affect her). I wish medical doctors were more on board with treating autism from a biomedical point of view. It could help autistic kids (and their parents!) so much!
KitchenKop says
@Cecilia, I think some of her kids are now helping and working there, too.
And I agree, it’s very sad that more mainstream docs don’t get this stuff. (About the autism/gut connection…)
Kel
Kris says
I have done modg for the last few years and have 3 this year in modg. I definitely alter the cirr. To work for multi ages. I have a 5th 3rd and 1st grader. I have the older two do the spelling/phonics together, we do the memory work all together. We do the catechism on our own schedule together as a group after breakfast. This cuts out all of the different subjects. The girls do their history/science/reading on their own at quiet/nap time. We do not do any of the tests/quizzes for these subjects either. I think it just takes some time to adapt to the program, but after a period you will find it easy. The kids should be able to work on their own poetry memorization from 2nd grade on. My older two keep track of their own syllabus for what they have to do.
Probably more than you want, but I feel your pain. It took me a LONG time to figure out the WritingRoadToReading. Easy, but come across as confusing and hard to figure out.
Kris
KitchenKop says
I think that’s exactly what I need to do, figure out how to tweak this to make it work better for our family. I’ll get there, and I’m trying to be patient since we’re only in our second week. I finally figured out how to change the schedule with their online syllabi so that if we want to take a day off and go to the beach, I can just adjust. Otherwise I was frustrated that the schedule was so rigid!
Kelly
Peggy says
I can understand your wanting to give it a good try first, it’s especially hard to let something go when you’ve paid good money for it. But keep in mind that a stressed mama will show up as stressed kids. And uncomfortable learning situation in our house led to chronic headaches, and a few behavior issues we really could have done without. Keep your heart open and don’t be too proud to move on if it’s what you need.
KitchenKop says
I know… I will. (Keep my heart open, that is.)
Thanks Peggy!
Kel
Rachael Resurreccion says
The gut health link recommends a low calorie diet for gut health and the audio link talks about a low fat /low calorie diet for gut health. I wonder why that would be?
KitchenKop says
I missed that. Instead they should look into the GAPS Diet! There’s a link to a post with more info on that above, but I’ll add it here, too: https://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/08/gut-health-101-6-questions-and-answers-about-a-strong-immune-system-and-the-gaps-diet.html
Kelly
Julieo says
Do you still use your RO system? If so, do you add any minerals back to the water?
Thanks!
KitchenKop says
Yep, we use this when we remember:
https://amzn.to/18PiTXP
I should add that to the post, thanks.
Kelly
ValerieH says
The FluMist vaccine story is interesting. Who would have thought it would affect the children’s eyesight? One child recovered her light sensitivity on her own. But the daughter with a sudden lazy eye symptom is getting surgery. I would have waited to see if she would also recover over time before doing surgery.
Cherie Norquay says
I tried a curriculum that I really WANTED to work more than once, but every time, I felt just as you described. And the forums I belonged to of other parents using the same curriculums where filled with exhaustion, guilt, tired days, etc. People really couldn’t do that curriculum and live life. So every year for the past 13 years I have opted to keep a “loose” structure on my kids learning and following their interests and passions. I have a math curriculum for each and some copy work and phonics/laguage/reading depending on age level and then we read some good books together. Our days are somuch more pleasant and filled with games and field trips and nature study and just whatever my kids are passionate about. Don’t be afraid to abort your curriculum if your days aren’t working out as imagined. Or eliminate some of it in favor of just reading books together as a family. Kids WILL learn inspite of us! Blessings to you!
KitchenKop says
Thanks @Cherie. I’ll definitely keep that in mind as we move forward. I really want to give this a good try first, though. Last year was too willy-nilly for me, but this year is just the opposite, I’m hoping we work our way toward a nice in-between…
Kel