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| april update! |
| 01.29.08 (8:28 pm) [edit] |
woohoo! i am so excited to report that april is doing so well. over the holidays, our "reading" took a backseat to preparations for the holidays, so it has been a couple of months since we have read together. last week, we revisited some of the materials we had been using. this evening, april brought out her large print "reader's digest" and was not only able to pick out and pronounce lots of words, she is now putting words together into sentences! it is amazing and it is a miracle! we just passed the 2 year anniversary of her incident and things are beginning to "click"...it is tough to watch her struggle and try to sound out the sylables, or to see that she is overloaded ... then we just stop momentarily and take a breath and she goes right back at it...getting the word that she was struggling with....
again, thank you all for your continued prayers and good thoughts...it is working! xoxoxoxox
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| things here |
| 01.27.08 (11:26 am) [edit] |
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things here have been difficult...my youngest has moved in with me and the adjustment has been stressful, to say the least. i am trying my level best to be helpful and supportive without being an "enabler", but i wonder, if i had not let him in, how he would handle his responsibilites without a job. i have not spent so much money in the last two years as i have this last two months, and it scares me to death. i also believe that he has emotional issues that only a professional can help him with and it is draining my heart and my energies. i do not want this to come down in a negative way, but i know that i must draw the line somewhere soon. please pray for us.
xoxoxo
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| an interesting and useful site |
| 01.18.08 (7:26 pm) [edit] |
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www.infoplease (dot)com
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| What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895... |
| 01.14.08 (10:21 pm) [edit] |
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What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895...
Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?
This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas, USA . It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, and reprinted by the Salina Journal.
8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS - 1895
Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of "lie,""play," and "run."
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.
Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank C heck, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.
Orthography (Time, one hour)
[Do we even know what this is??]
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacriticall y and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.
Geography (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.
Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.
Gives the saying "he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it?
Also shows you how poor our education system has become and, NO! I don't have the answers!
=
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| 50 Lessons for Life |
| 01.11.08 (7:28 pm) [edit] |
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~ 50 Lessons in Life ~ * ~
01. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
02. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
03. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
04. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
05. Pay off your credit cards every month.
06. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
07. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
08. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
09. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion.
Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
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| update |
| 01.09.08 (3:50 pm) [edit] |
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an arrest has been made...
one young man is out of the hospital...he has lost the sight in one eye but the doctors think that he will not have brain damage as was first thought....
and they had beautiful, clear blue skies on the day they buried Omar.
Thanks for your continued prayers and good energies.
xoxox
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| I can only imagine |
| 01.05.08 (9:05 am) [edit] |
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My mentor made "the best year yet" her mantra in the last few months leading up to the New Year. I have been aspiring to that theory. Then, on January 3, the birthday anniversary of my brother, btw, we all received some terrible news. A co-worker's son, his nephew and another young man were the victims of a terrible tragedy...the details are all a'jumble, but what I do know is that there was a fourth man...they were all in one car...the fourth man shot my co-worker's son...the car crashed into a tree...the other two men were shot and left for dead...another car or two pulled up, picking up the shooter and were quoted as saying "did you get them all?"...then the left the scene. One of the young men had been shot in the face. He did not die, but pretended he had...when the shooter left he was able to call 911 and my co-worker. The second man is in very critical condition and the one shot in the face is able to retell what happened and is doing physically ok.
The point of this is that, one, my brother died just shy of his 21st birthday some thirty odd years ago in an act of violence, and this taking place on his birthday, all this is replaying all those "tapes" in my head...I know firsthand, that my coworker and his family will NEVER be the same. This man's son is in the service, served in Afganistan, has a young wife and little baby girl. He was here on vacation to see his family for the holidays and he just turned 25 on Jan. 1st! I know that some will say well, he was out at 3 in the morning and he was at a nightclub that has a terrible reputation for drugs and fighting, etc....but this man that died is a good man...and his family is good people. I don't know them well, but I know people. My heart is just broken for them! I know that the young man that died is fine...he is in heaven and he doesn't hurt, but the loss for the family will never be OK...there is no explaining it and no justifying it and no understanding it. The pain and suffering that the other two young men are going through is not ok, either. The one man may not survive or has already died...there have been reports that he died and then reports that he is fighting for his life. It may be that the officials don't even want us to know because they don't want the third man's life endangered because perhaps the "shooter" would try to get to him so he can't talk! It is a frightening and terrible time that we live in...I wish that I had answers to all my questions...what I would like to say is, please send out your prayers for this young man, Omar Nunez, that died and for the families of all 3 of these men that are suffering. I pray I can come to terms with it and move forward to make this year, 2008, the "best so far"...
xoxoxo
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