nd293
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Posts posted by nd293
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Both children have always gone to the same dentist that I went to. However, when ds was about 2.5 we realised he had some cavities. We were in a new country, with no dentist. After the move he was very resistant to strangers, and he hated being touched by other people - a haircut was a nightmare. Given the circumstances, we went with a paediatric dentist. Under the circumstances, it was the best thing I could possibly have done - they were fantastic with him, and it ended up helping some of his general issues about interacting with strangers. It's is obvious that difficult children are not a burden to them, and they work hard to earn the patient's trust (they also specialise in special needs adults).
I subsequently took dd10 to them for a check-up, but I'm not sure I'd do it again - each appointment for a basic check-up and fluoride treatment was AUS$ 180. There are only 2 paediatric dentists in our city, as I understand it, and ours is already booked up 14 months in advance for annual check-ups (they obviously keep appointments open for emergencies). The dentist told me that, given demand, and the rewards of working with very young patients, he would prefer to limit his practice to under 5's.
Dd10 has taken my grumbled suggestion that paediatric dentistry might be a lucrative career choice to heart, and if she only remembers that she is supposed to support me in my old age, I might be able to recoup some of those expenses ;-)
We see a regular one because all the ped. dentists on our insurance wouldn't allow parents to go back with the kids. My younger needed me with her until this past year.When I first came up against ds's dental issues, I spent a lot of time reading about young children with dental problems, and this was a fairly common complaint. The logic from the dentist's point of view is that parents actually aggravate the situation. In contrast, ds's first filling was actually carried out with him sitting on my lap, on a normal chair, and lying back with his head in the dentist's lap. A good paediatric dentist will do whatever is needed to make the patient comfortable.
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Definitely in 5A - we are doing it this week. Dd says we didn't do it last year, which was Primary 3. We skipped Primary 4 entirely, so not sure about that one.
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I honestly just can't imagine anyone being clean after a day of housework and taking care of children. Then again, I may be extra messy :tongue_smilie:
I'm thinking you may be extra tidy as my level of housework never causes me to break a sweat. I don't think I'm doing it right. :001_huh:
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I have a stack of timber offcuts lying in the school room (it's too hot to work outside, and I'm wanting to build a shelf) - ds4 and his friend (a girl) were in there today and built a "fort" for their cars. So a pile of timber offcuts could be good for an outside area.
The two of them also spend lots of time playing in the huge sandpit we have in our yard, and love playing with water. Mixing it with the sand is always popular, but any pouring or splashing is fun - I usually just fill a couple of big storage tubs - sometimes they get in them, sometimes they pour the water out, or use paintbrushes and paint the fence.
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I'm also wondering if it wouldn't be better to send Corbin to school. Reasons?
- To meet kids and learn the subtle differences in culture
- To pick up the accent - he'd always sound like a Yankee if he spent all his time at home ;).
- To prepare for secondary school in Australia - I know what to do to prepare him for a US high school but the Australian system is mind-boggling to me. ("College" for grades 11-12?).
She's been doing pre-IB coursework and we could hopefully send her to an IB school but there aren't many. The non-IB schools look to have a very different scope & sequence (esp. math) and she wouldn't be able to continue Spanish. I did find a few schools that offer Italian. It's on the table to have her stay here with her grandparents. :(
We're South African's who moved here 2 yrs ago.
I think that yes, school will be more of an immersion experience in terms of culture, but kids pick up differences in culture and language pretty quickly, so homeschool contact can be sufficient. I think the advantage of homeschooling as newly arrived immigrants was that unless one has very strong contacts in the community, one might not have sufficient knowledge to make the right decisions about schools and where to live immediately. We rented somewhere where we could not afford to buy, for instance. If we had enrolled dd in the local school, we would have had to move her after 18 months, or would have had to limit our house hunting to areas proximate to her school. Homeschooling also definitely limited the stress of the move for her, as she wasn't thrown into a completely different community overnight. There are arguments for both approaches.
There are lots of accents here - accents are interesting! I once met a man who still had a strong South African accent after living in the US for 17 years - he told me that anything that gets you remembered is a plus in business.
There seem to be more schools offering IB at diploma level than at the primary level, but there are disappointingly few - dd also moved from an IB school, and I would probably have kept her at school if there was one here.
I just told my hubby the other night that I wanted to move to Aus. I don't know how to find out about qualifying for employment there, maybe you can point me in the right direction?There are a couple of ways to get into Australia. It is easier if the primary applicant is under 45yrs. I am not sure you can do it independently at all if you are over 45yrs - dh was on the skills list, but still did not get enough points. If you are under 45yrs it is a straight points system (which gives preference to certain skills, but not always the ones you'd expect) and takes about 2yrs, as I recall.
It is quicker to go the "Business Sponsored" route - that means you apply for a job, and the company sponsors you, usually on a temporary basis at first (as it is quicker) and then on a permanent visa. This requires that you are in a field where demand exceeds supply, of course. This visa can be used if you are over 45yrs, although the company has to jump through a few extra hoops to convince the government you're really needed. Our visa took about 4 months for the temporary, and about 7 months for the permanent, if I recall correctly.
The other option is the "Regional Sponsored" visa. Here you agree to go and live in an outlying area (and not all are in the middle of nowhere, so this can be a reasonable option) where there is a skills shortage for a period of time after you are accepted - I think it's two years. I'm not sure how long this visa takes to process, but I'd guess also in the two year range.
The website is very informative, if a little dense with information, and has accurate information on the time that visas take to grant.
Nikki
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Can you varnish over wood without having to sand off the old varnish first? I'll have to research... I don't think stripping it is an option. That would create lead dust everywhere.
Stripping varnish would normally be done with chemical stripper, rather than by sanding. It wouldn't create dust, but rather "goo". Some chemical strippers are better than others - none are fun to work with. The basic procedure would be to paint on the stripper, leave for a certain length of time, scrape the varnish off, perhaps use steel wool to remove any residue, then "wash" the surface with another chemical to remove any final residue and stickiness. I stripped glue off the entire floor using this process when I lifted our vinyl tiles.
If you varnishing over the timber will "seal" the lead in, then you could perhaps get by with a light sanding before re-varnishing. Using a water-based varnish would greatly reduce the mess and work.
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I don't think about this, because it seems impossible for us. We don't have friends of that level of closeness, and anyway, friends that we do have differ in religious background. My mother is the only parent who could step up, and she is 65yrs old and lives in a different country from us. I have two cousins who might be possiblities, one is a single teacher living in a different country, and the other lives in the same country as us, and has two similar aged children. My sister has similarly aged children but lives in a different country. I would not like the children to leave the country we have migrated to. That's 4 possibilities, 4 separate countries (4 separate continents too, for that matter). The only one my children have any real relationship with is my Mom.
The way it stands it would be a mess for my Mom and the immigration department to work out, I guess.
I think I need to talk to my cousin who lives here...
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why I am the ONLY one that can replace the empty toilet paper roll!
I am assuming you have a very complicated toilet roll holder than only someone with "Mom" in their title is qualified to operate. Our new house has a holder that allows the toilet roll to be replaced with one hand, and the new rolls are kept in an open bag on the floor next to the toilet. I am thrilled to inform you that this system can be operated by both children and husbands.
Unfortunately, only Mom is qualified to bend down and pick up the empty rolls which take refuge behind the toilet... I might have to invest in a bin - but then I'd have to empty it!
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Why not err on the side of mercy toward the grieving parents? Why is there no value in a peaceful death or dying at home?
Is it possible that they are erring on the side of mercy towards a dying child? Why do we assume that death at home will be peaceful? Is it possible that by keeping the child in hospital they are able to offer palliative care, while an infection might conceivable cause pain to the child in his last days?
I certainly understand the parents' desire to take their child home to die, but I am always upset by the knee-jerk reaction which suggests that the recommendations of the medical fraternity must stem from a desire to do something other than the best for their patient, simply because it is in conflict with the desires of the parents.
Nikki
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I think we all know there's a socialization problem.
It's not clear to me to which socialization problem you refer. I think many of us homeschool because of the very severe socialization problem we see inherent in institutionalised education: exactly whose "norms, cultures and idealogies" do we wish our children to inherit? In this sense, I see absolutely no socialization problem with homeschooling. I know exactly which norms and idealogies my children are inheriting, when and in which order, and I am perfectly happy with that.
If you are talking about socialising, as in "do homeschooled children have enough access to social activities" (and this is not the same thing as "socialization") then I think that we have an issue which needs to be addressed individually by each homeschooling family. Whether it's a problem depends on where the family lives, the nature of the child, the nature of the parent, other ties to the community and the size of the family. Homeschooling as a newly arrived, introverted, atheist expat with an extroverted only child, in a country where there were 6 homeschooling families presented a problem for us in terms of social interaction. I found it insurmountable, so dd went to school. For an extrovert parent with a large family of closely spaced children with strong church ties this same situation might have posed no problems whatsoever.
Assuming you are planning on homeschooling, and are asking why TWTM doesn't really address the issue, then I think it is because of the diversity of responses available to each family, and the level of need for social interaction in each family. For one child, one close friend might be all that is needed, while another might feel starved of social contact when provided with many activities. Balancing such needs within one family can be complex, certainly, and I find it to be a greater challenge than the academics of homeschooling, but it's not something I expect SWB to be able to advise me on.
Nikki
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My DD was like this. I opted to continue for a while until she was more prepared.
I think it is possible to do this, but still find a balance if you're feeling worn out and just a little too popular. With ds none of the usual distraction tactics worked, and I was pretty convinced that yes, he would still be nursing when he left for college. A thought I was starting to find just a touch disturbing. In the end, nursing to sleep was a habit, and was also very much about him having control of the situation - he was able to make me stop, and be with him 100% in the way he needed me to. So we broke the habit.
The first "break" came when we were having some fights over dinner, and we went with no dinner, no nursing. Because he is the most stubborn soul on the planet, this meant he went without nursing for 3 out of 5 days. After that I was ill with a cold, and told him I was feeling too ill to nurse some nights. Then for a few more night I would simply announce early in the evening that I was too tired to nurse. This was not an end to nursing, I should emphasise, but an end to "nursing dependency". There were most definitely tears, but he was still cuddled and loved and I got over the guilt.
Ds is 4yrs, and still nurses before bed every 3-4 nights. He asks more often, but accepts a "No" when I give it now.
With your dd, I would start by assuring her that she could still nurse if she had the cup of milk. This is what we did with dd who was much easier to wean than ds - she started having milk before nursing, which led to shorter nursing times as she was full more quickly. Over time supply decreased, and she lost interest.
Good luck in finding a balance that makes you both happy.
Nikki
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Alternatively, if he has a specific work contact, could he use the office address?
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I don't do mornings out during the week, or we get no work done. The exception is ds4's swimming lesson on Friday morning. Dd10 sits and compains, sorry, I mean works, while we are at the pool.
Tuesday and Thursday we are out from 2:15 to 6:45, more or less, although that is partly to save on driving - I collect ds4 from kindy, we go to the beach, then on to dd's activities. Wednesday we are out from 12:15 to 6pm, this includes activities for both kids, and a swim before and after dd's swim lesson.
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Manual - but I'm South African.
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But I felt like he didn't address the real possibility that I am shorting my kids.
Maybe the reason that my kids are falling behind is because I'm too eager to cancel school for a park day or a museum visit or a scout project (all good things individually, but with a time opportunity cost that must be considered). Maybe I'm spending hours on the boards talking about homeschooling instead of doing it. Maybe I'm searching for the perfect curriculum instead of getting 80% of the job done with what I already have. Maybe I'm avoiding school altogether because I don't want to confront the bad work habits and attitudes that I've allowed to fester (in part because they reflect my own).
I haven't read the book, but I think your observations are interesting. I've recently come to the conclusion that home is simply not the best environment for focused academic activity. There is way too much "life" going on - trips to the shop, cleaning (ha ha), appointments, social engagements and so much other stuff. And although I've become very strict on not allowing playdates and excursions to impact on our school day, the rest of the points you mention definitely impact negatively on our homeschooling, and I think focusing more on my own issues would be more helpful than 'worrying less".
Edited to add that I think it takes a fairly "humble spirit" to acknowledge ones own faults and the role they play in situations...
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But I have been pondering all day about the benefits for THE CHILD when they 'behave' (or otherwise). Does it really make such a big difference to the child when they get a bit older? Will life be harder in general for the 'naughty' child or the one who was taught to 'behave'?
It's not quite the question I want answered. Here's the one I find interesting: Does whether or not a child "behaves" have an impact on (or is it indicative of) who they will be as an adult? Will the child who behaves poorly be the neighbour-from-hell in 20 years? In short, I don't care too much how much harder life will be for the "naughty" child, but how much harder they might make it for society (and my children) in the future. When I see a child throwing toys and not being reprimanded, I suspect that destruction of other property is not such a leap of the imagination. When the child stares me down when I say "Please don't throw the toy, it's not yours, and you might break it." I wonder if they're the one throwing a punch at a police-officer down the line.
I spend a lot of time pondering this. Does how I parent matter at all? Or are we just who we are, genetically pre-programmed outcomes slightly modified by the very broadest impact of environment?
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‘Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.’ Marcus Aurelius
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My initials (my first name is Nikki) and the street number of the first house we bought, the one where dd was born (literally).
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I'd love to see them, too, but I'm not sure there's not a privacy policy about that somewhere....
Have fun!
What if we just got a photo of 6 itsy bitsy feet? Or even 30 itsy bitsy toes?
Enjoy yourself!
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If the baby wears a diaper, he or she will have urine and all the nasty stuff against his or her skin, and unless an adequate barrier cream is used - definitely not just powder - diaper rash will happen. And even with barrier cream, diaper rash will happen sometimes - dd used to particularly get it in the heat.
We used a cream with castor oil and zinc, both as a barrier cream and as a treatment. For a really nasty rash we would also mixed a low dose cortisone-based cream with the barrier cream. The quickest solution to a bad rash is simply to have baby diaper-less for a few days - potentially messy, but highly effective.
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I didn't bother with the paper towel version. I used those little bundles of washclothes that come in packs at the discount department stores, folded them in 3rds into a wipe box, then squirted them with a solution I kept in a spray bottle in our diaper basket.
Same here, more or less. I had a pile of cheap, small cloths. Mostly I just wet them as I needed them, but if I was going out I wet them and stored them in a wipe box.
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Hoping everyone from the board is OK. The footage from the CBD looks really bad. So much worse than the higher magnitude earthquake last year.
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Laminator
Printer-scanner-copier
Binding system with the re-usable spines - Proclick
Wall-to-wall Ikea Billy bookcases
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I found this one in a bread book while on holiday in the Philippines. We had no measuring cups (let alone mixers etc) so I have recorded it in very casual format, but it works every time, and is no hassle at all to make. Both on that holiday and on a later "beach holiday" I have made it in the morning after my first cup of coffee, and been able to make it to eat warm at lunch. It is only kneaded once, and goes into a cold oven. Can't beat that for ease!
Add a heaped teaspoon instant yeast to 250 ml warm water - leave 10 mins.
Add 1 tsp salt & about 1.5 cups flour - mix (with spoon or hand) until you get a dough that is just past the sticky stage.
(Adjust flour as needed - if you don't know what a bread dough should feel like, this might be tricky)
Knead 10 mins.
Leave to rise in well-oiled bowl, under an oiled piece of plastic - 2+ hours, until double in volume
Gently pick up the dough and toss in floured hands to elongate into a short French-loaf shape
Place the loaf on a pan dusted with cornflour (or flour if that's all you have)
Make slices in the top of the loaf, about an inch apart
Leave for 10 mins
Wet top & place in COLD oven with a bowl of boiling water.
Set the oven to 200C, bake 40 mins (until it sounds hollow when tapped and is lightly brown)
What is your "house is on fire" plan?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
We have a small house with detectors (compulsory in new Australian houses, and must be retrofitted before an existing house can be sold). Our big issue is that the opening windows have security grilles on them - if we couldn't exit through a door, we would have to break a window. This worries me a lot - but not as much as the possibility of someone entering through a window while we sleep. A fire is far more likely than an intruder in Australia, but I am still a South African at heart, and can't sleep without security bars on the windows.
A homeschooling family I know who live in a bushland area with high fire risk have a very detailed fire plan posted on the wall for their children, detailing everything from compliance (on a high fire risk day the children go where the parents tell them) to who is in charge (the oldest child in the house drives them out if the children are alone) to what to do if trapped (take refuge in a bathroom).