Maxwell 23: Backyard Breeding

[tabitha2]

Christina is very beautiful and totally stands out from the rest with her dark coloring. 

 

[Tangy Bee]

Ok, so I guess I'm the only one who notices how clean Anna Marie's carpet is dispite having many "little" kids. That's white carpet folks...just how is this possible?

[JermajestyDuggar]

14 minutes ago, Tangy Bee said:

Ok, so I guess I'm the only one who notices how clean Anna Marie's carpet is dispite having many "little" kids. That's white carpet folks...just how is this possible?

Because they make their kids wear giant rubber bibs until they’re ten. Ok I’m exaggerating but I think ChrisAnna are ridiculously clean and neat all the time. It’s creepy IMO. 

[Lisafer]

At the risk of boring you folks to death, I'm still on the curriculum choices. I pulled the descriptor for the Rod and Staff curriculum, which shows just how much of an agenda it has (at least they're honest):

"These Bible-based textbooks by Rod & Staff Publishers are designed to make the child God-conscious. This curriculum not only teaches the Bible but uses many illustrations of how Bible principles can be applied in everyday life."

(I pulled these quotes from Milestonebooks.com, which seems to have the most easily-accessible info regarding Rod and Staff. I don't want to rely on my memory of the textbooks).

"About Our Books

Do animals talk in your books?

The general answer is no, except in the case of Balaam's donkey. You may find expressions that a certain animal or bird "seems to say...."

An exception has been found in the 5th Reader. The story "Rebellion in the Hive" tells a moral tale, in which bees are portrayed with human thoughts and emotions."

So this is actually a question that people ask about their textbooks, then. I am greatly amused. Steve must be pleased.

I checked the Abeka website as well. Their mission:

"Our mission is to support and equip students, teachers, and parents by providing amazing Pre-K through Grade 12 academic resources based upon biblical values."

They're still pretty fundie from what I remember, but their mission statement is less hard-core Christianese than the Rod and Staff. But once you find their "What We Believe" page, it's full-on fundie all the way. Explicitly rejects evolution and throws in an anti-LGBTQ statement for good measure, as well as asserting the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the Millennium, which are open to interpretation even among Christian sects. Not to mention, a complete 1st-grade curriculum is over $700. Holy Mother, people can actually afford that?

My mother used some Rod and Staff, but not the full curriculum. A lot of their textbooks I remember being dry as hell. Black and white, with illustrations of Mennonites doing farm work. Definitely not relevant to modern life for most of us, at all. We used less Abeka stuff, but at least they had better illustrations and were more about equipping people for living in the modern world instead of raising barns by hand and plowing fields behind a horse (no offense to people with those skillsets). 

I also remember more Rod and Staff books in my younger grades, and then moving on to more advanced, more modern textbooks in my teen years. I don't think I would have been prepared at all for college if we'd only had that one curriculum. 

This has been Lisafer's screed on religious textbooks. TL;DR: I do not approve. 

[MamaJunebug]

2 hours ago, Tangy Bee said:

Ok, so I guess I'm the only one who notices how clean Anna Marie's carpet is dispite having many "little" kids. That's white carpet folks...just how is this possible?

You keep that room off-limits. These are people who tempt babies to leave a blanket and swat them when they do. Heck, they probably don’t even need babygates to block the carpeted rooms off. 

[anjulibai]

More on the fair. I don't know why Sarah waits so long to update. She could have delayed the Colorado posts. Still no baby post. Hmmm.

Also, WTF is this? 

[Foudeb]

40 minutes ago, anjulibai said:

 

Also, WTF is this? 

A manly appendage after a vigorous bout of self pleasure. 

Not sure why they gave it to a kid. 

[formergothardite]

On 9/3/2018 at 8:50 PM, Lisafer said:

Anna Marie's kids have Rod and Staff. Rod and Staff is a Mennonite curriculum

Anna Marie is using Math for a Living Education which is from Master Books. A Christian place, but I do know a homeschooler who is secular and uses that math curriculum because it is a Charlotte Mason inspired math curriculum. Charlotte Mason was big on making education enjoyable. I'm actually surprised they are using it, because from what I've heard it teaches using fun stories and manipulatives and not lots of seat work. 

https://www.masterbooks.com/math-lessons-for-a-living-education-level-2

She is also using a Charlotte Mason language curriculum, which is giving me hope that she isn't going to be all dry and boring. 

[IReallyAmHopewell]

58 minutes ago, anjulibai said:

More on the fair. I don't know why Sarah waits so long to update. She could have delayed the Colorado posts. Still no baby post. Hmmm.

Also, WTF is this? 

 

I assume you mean what is this beyond cringe-inducingly phallic? Fishing rod with fish.

So many photos here to set Junior High boys off into fits of laughter. The penis-like things they make. UGH

1 minute ago, formergothardite said:

Anna Marie is using Math for a Living Education which is from Master Books. A Christian place, but I do know a homeschooler who is secular and uses that math curriculum because it is a Charlotte Mason inspired math curriculum. Charlotte Mason was big on making education enjoyable. I'm actually surprised they are using it, because from what I've heard it teaches using fun stories and manipulatives and not lots of seat work. 

https://www.masterbooks.com/math-lessons-for-a-living-education-level-2

She is also using a Charlotte Mason language curriculum, which is giving me hope that she isn't going to be all dry and boring. 

Anna Duggar uses this math, too. It is pricey, but great if you are into that type math.

I used the R/S math and English and skipped much of the "other" content to get my kids caught up on math when they were adopted (ages 8 & 9). Boring to look at, heavy-handed with the "tone," but honestly they are excellent in these two subjects. Grammar unlike anything out there today--I wanted REAL grammar--we even diagrammed sentences so they'd understand how it all fit together (they were not native English speakers). And, my kid had PTSD from his past and ADHD related to fetal alcohol-the dull black and white illustrations made it much easier for him than modern web-like graphics in books. [When he went to public school I photocopied a lot of the busiest pages for him]. 

[Granwych]

59 minutes ago, Foudeb said:

A manly appendage after a vigorous bout of self pleasure. 

Not sure why they gave it to a kid. 

Shouldn't that appendage be red?  

I'll see myself to the prayer closet, recently restocked with wine and brownies.

[Lisafer]

35 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

Anna Marie is using Math for a Living Education which is from Master Books. A Christian place, but I do know a homeschooler who is secular and uses that math curriculum because it is a Charlotte Mason inspired math curriculum. Charlotte Mason was big on making education enjoyable. I'm actually surprised they are using it, because from what I've heard it teaches using fun stories and manipulatives and not lots of seat work. 

https://www.masterbooks.com/math-lessons-for-a-living-education-level-2

She is also using a Charlotte Mason language curriculum, which is giving me hope that she isn't going to be all dry and boring. 

Yes, at least she's not using exclusively Rod and Staff books. That would be rough.

My mother used a lot of Saxon math, which is (or at least was) used in public schools as well. Very dry and focused on repetition--which is not necessarily a bad thing--but too light on actually explaining concepts, IMO. As I'm helping my 7 year old with math now, I'm delighted by the conceptual way that math is being explained (we use workbooks and also Khan Academy online). 

I'm biased against Christian curriculum, I admit. It may not be a problem for parents who aren't planning to indoctrinate their children into fundie-dom.

 

[bertnee]

I was in a private Christian school for elementary grades and we used A Beka. Can't say I'm great at math (likely not A Beka's fault) but goddamn can I diagram some sentences!!! Plus we learned cursive. Not sure if they still do that subject, since it seems to be phased out of most schools now. 

We didn't learn anything about evolution. Universe was created by god, done! I'm not sure how much other elementary school students learn about that, though, since it seems like a BIG topic to explain to kids. Aside from that (really frickin big omission), I think the other science topics were handled okay - at least, I didn't feel behind and got good grades when I moved to a different school starting in middle grades.

[Lisafer]

15 minutes ago, bertnee said:

I was in a private Christian school for elementary grades and we used A Beka. Can't say I'm great at math (likely not A Beka's fault) but goddamn can I diagram some sentences!!! Plus we learned cursive. Not sure if they still do that subject, since it seems to be phased out of most schools now. 

We didn't learn anything about evolution. Universe was created by god, done! I'm not sure how much other elementary school students learn about that, though, since it seems like a BIG topic to explain to kids. Aside from that (really frickin big omission), I think the other science topics were handled okay - at least, I didn't feel behind and got good grades when I moved to a different school starting in middle grades.

Yeesh, the diagramming! I HATED diagramming with a passion! Crucifying sentences on little sticks, is what that was.

I will say that the Rod and Staff Artpacs were...not terrible. Taught me how to use shading and how to draw little Mennonite people in Chinos. 

I think one of the best things my mother did was use the Sonlight reading list for fiction books, and also reading aloud to us for years and years. We were introduced to a lot of classics that way. Sadly, I doubt the Maxwells are going to be big on reading fiction with their homeschoolers. 

 

[danvillebelle]

BTW Lisafer - love your handle and your avatar.  SPN family for life here. 

 

[Lisafer]

16 minutes ago, danvillebelle said:

BTW Lisafer - love your handle and your avatar.  SPN family for life here. 

 

Be still my heart! SPN forever! 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

37 minutes ago, bertnee said:

Plus we learned cursive. Not sure if they still do that subject, since it seems to be phased out of most schools now. 

I can't speak for every school (obviously  ), but my kids are in public school, and my "big" kid started learning cursive last year in 3rd grade. They use a curriculum called "Handwriting Without Tears" for learning both printing and cursive. It's kind of simplified compared to the way I learned cursive, but after a year of learning it, she writes pretty clearly.

My sister's kids also used Handwriting Without Tears in their virtual school, but most of them didn't spend much time practicing, so their writing isn't always that great. A few of them can't write as legibly as my 9 year old.

[formergothardite]

57 minutes ago, bertnee said:

t goddamn can I diagram some sentences!!!

Diagramming sentences was my superpower! I could diagram some shit out of sentences and I absolutely loved it. I found it soothing. I'm not sure it has helped me a great deal in life, though. 

[catlady]

16 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

Diagramming sentences was my superpower! I could diagram some shit out of sentences and I absolutely loved it. I found it soothing. I'm not sure it has helped me a great deal in life, though. 

i loved diagramming sentences too!  Math didn’t come easy for me, but all things relating to English, grammar, spelling, and reading did, and made me feel smart as a result. 

[Coconutwater]

Too bad they can’t let the kids have fun and enjoy the fair, I wonder what they think when seeing other kids having fun while they stand there handing out tracts? 

[IReallyAmHopewell]

1 hour ago, formergothardite said:

Diagramming sentences was my superpower! I could diagram some shit out of sentences and I absolutely loved it. I found it soothing. I'm not sure it has helped me a great deal in life, though. 

Yes! mine too and it helped--I learned what goes with what. I just plain loved doing it too. Yes, I was an odd child. lol

[Black Aliss]

2 hours ago, Granwych said:

Shouldn't that appendage be red?  

I'll see myself to the prayer closet, recently restocked with wine and brownies.

I'll join you because I cannot figure out what the balloon creation in the last photo on the blog post is supposed to be. And my mind goes to dark places. Also because. . .brownies.

 

[Jana814]

38 minutes ago, Coconutwater said:

Too bad they can’t let the kids have fun and enjoy the fair, I wonder what they think when seeing other kids having fun while they stand there handing out tracts? 

I feel the same way. But maybe they don’t question it. 

[Dru]

1 hour ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

I can't speak for every school (obviously  ), but my kids are in public school, and my "big" kid started learning cursive last year in 3rd grade. They use a curriculum called "Handwriting Without Tears" for learning both printing and cursive. It's kind of simplified compared to the way I learned cursive, but after a year of learning it, she writes pretty clearly.

My sister's kids also used Handwriting Without Tears in their virtual school, but most of them didn't spend much time practicing, so their writing isn't always that great. A few of them can't write as legibly as my 9 year old.

I bet I can't write as legibly as your 9yo. Lol No matter how much I practiced I could never get my hand to cooperate. I remember my daughter's Montessori teacher telling me that my daughter's handwriting isn't up to par and she needs to practice more. I was like, well it's better than mine...

1 hour ago, Coconutwater said:

Too bad they can’t let the kids have fun and enjoy the fair, I wonder what they think when seeing other kids having fun while they stand there handing out tracts? 

My guess is they feels sorry for those kids because they're frittering away their time on entertainment when they could be winning hearts for Jesus.

30 minutes ago, Black Aliss said:

I'll join you because I cannot figure out what the balloon creation in the last photo on the blog post is supposed to be. And my mind goes to dark places. Also because. . .brownies.

 

I think it's supposed to be two swords in scabbards. Though I find it a bit difficult to believe that the Max's would be okay with making such a thing.

[JermajestyDuggar]

Little blonde girl: “Why are you asking me where I’m going when I die? I’m five. Make the balloon animal already.”

[catlady]

I see a Norwex booth across the way (behind the blonde girl). I wonder if the Maxhellions bought any for cleaning ceiling fans.