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amyable

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Posts posted by amyable

    For the next ten minutes I will . . .

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I'll join you! I really needed this little kick in the pants. For ten minutes I'm going to relocate books to my girls' bookshelf so that I can put new curriculum on the shelves downstairs...so that I can take the 200 books of mine off my closet floor...to move the two file cabinets that officially have no home into my closet.

     

    But I'll probably only get through less than 1/2 the books in the first step in 10 minutes. :)

     

     

    Go!!:gnorsi:

    Real women's bodies

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I am a smaller boned person with narrow shoulders and narrow hips. I forget that a woman my same height with a bigger frame and more muscle can easily weigh 15 pounds more than me and look fabulous.

     

    :iagree:

     

    Or the opposite (in my case) is true... I can weigh what my friend of the same height but bigger bone structure weighs, and look nasty. :lol: She looks great and I look like someone taped a bunch of jumbo marshmallows on an asparagus :blink:

    I just want to move somewhere...often.

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I would love to move around too, but Dh is Mr. Steady and Conservative ... He tolerates my whims verbally, but I can't ever see him acting on them.

     

    Ho. hum.

     

    So, yes. I get it.

     

    :iagree:

     

    I lived in the same house for 16 years growing up, then moved something like 12 times in 8 years when I was on my own and first married. Now we are going on 16 years in this current house and I'm all :willy_nilly: We've been seriously house hunting for about 3 years -- mostly, I think 'cause dh is just trying to make me happy -- but nothing has worked out. We finally just decided to give up and stay here. To say that my heart is quite broken would be an understatement, but I'm trying to have peace about it all. I got tired of house hunting too. Too depressing.

     

    Maybe in 14 years when my youngest goes off to college! :nopity:

    Do you ever feel like Job?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

     

    I spent a lot of time studying Joseph a few years ago. Whenever life isn't going the way *I* think it ought to, I love to read about Joseph. No whining (that's recorded anyway) and every time things were looking up for him, somebody would throw him in prison. Eventually Joseph had the happy ending we are all looking for.

     

    :iagree: Meditating often on the story of Joseph is one of the few things that kept me from doing something stupid many years ago when mentally/emotionally I was at my worst. I even named my son Joseph 4 years ago. :D "God was with Joseph" - I keep telling myself that. Even though his life looked AWFUL, God was with Joseph, and Joseph was where he belonged in God's plan. I try to remind myself of that too - that my life is GOD's story and I'm just a bit player. :lol: It's not ABOUT me, it's about Him. He loves me and my life may be hard, but my eternity will be AWESOME. ;)

     

    OP, many :grouphug::grouphug: to you. I also could have written your post. Different problems, but same feeling.

    Who knows of good environmental colleges?

    in The College Board

    Posted

    I have a dd who is very interested in science: natural history, animals, the environment, etc. She is also very good with children, and I am thinking she would make one great science teacher! I had already looked at Warren Wilson and wanted to remember to check out these others, so I posted that emoticon so I wouldn't lose the thread.

     

    ...

     

    Wow, I'm from NJ and I don't remember ever hearing of this school. I don't even know where Madison is, I don't think. It must be in the north. I'm from southern NJ.

     

    Yes, it's in Northern NJ - Morris County near Morristown. I thought I would mention that I believe they still have a teacher's ed program in cahoots with the college down the street (it was either Fairleigh Dickenson or College of St. Elizabeth) - since you mentioned the 'science teacher' angle.

     

    No one's every heard of the school. ;) It gets mentioned regularly as a "hidden gem" and "one of the best, small, liberal arts universities that no one's ever heard of" :001_smile: Former Governor of NJ Tom Kean was president there for many years after his stint as governor.

    Who knows of good environmental colleges?

    in The College Board

    Posted

     

    Drew University is a small, liberal arts college in Madison, NJ. They had a good botany department when I went there (back with the dinosaurs - I was a biology major ;)) and it looks like they have an environmental science and sustainability major right now. They are a Methodist university, but you wouldn't know it from the undergrad population. Very diverse. I remember the professors being accessible and helpful, in general.

    What do you do when.....?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    It's definitely an option. I've gone through several but can never settle on one. I realize how incredibly egotistical this next sentence is going to sound, but it's true: I sit there with these people and think that they really can't help me because I'm smarter than they are. Seriously. I want to yell at them "DON'T YOU THINK I ALREADY THOUGHT OF THAT?!?!? GIVE ME SOMETHING NEW FOR MY $75 AN HOUR!".

     

    I realize there are GREAT therapists out there. I've had some (who are no longer in this area, unfortunately). I desperately wish I had one now. :)

     

    :iagree::iagree:

     

    I've gone to two or three and after two weeks or so I quit.

     

    I don't recommend my coping skills - I cry and eat a lot, and just keep putting one foot in front of the other even though I'm lonely and angry and sad. I just rest in the hope that someday it will all be over and I'll be in heaven, and none of this will matter anymore.

    A SN/dyslexia consultant for high school -- does this exist?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Thank you! There is only one therapist listed for my state (:glare: I know there are more) -- but I think I can ask the woman that did my dd's dyslexia testing a few years ago. She may do something similar or know someone who does.

     

    I'll check out Clonlara too! I didn't realize they had a special needs "department".

     

    I feel silly needing all this hand holding, but I just can't seem to shake the feeling that I'm somehow lying or cheating when I give my dd all sorts of accommodations and then give her an "A" -- I want someone "in the know" to say it's OK and expected to do X, Y, or Z, and to help us make those plans and figure out how to assess her...while still giving her a solid education and preparing her for college. :willy_nilly:

     

    Thanks again!

    A SN/dyslexia consultant for high school -- does this exist?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    In answering the planning thread earlier, I realized that what I need for my 9th grade dyslexic/ADD/LD but smart daughter is some type of consultant -- someone that will help me put together a curriculum that is doable for HER, lay it out for us in steps, and be someone we can be accountable to as the months go along. Possibly even some writing, science or math tutoring in there. Someone to go to for questions.

     

    I know there are things like Kolbe special services department, but I've been saving up curriculum for her for years and in so many instances I want her to use what *I* want her to use because I like it and it seems to be up her alley, YKWIM? So if I've substituted for every book, I can't imaging Kolbe (for example) could help us through, providing tests, etc for a bunch of books that aren't theirs.

     

    I want someone to hold our hands and walk us through this. :tongue_smilie:

    So, who else is elbow deep in planning?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I am right there with you! Today was spent swinging wildly between excitement and despair. :D

     

    With no wine or chocolate in the house, despair seemed to rule.

     

    :iagree:

     

    Luckily I just bought some cookies. ;)

     

    I thought I had things mostly figured out, but then we actually TRIED making it work. And I just can't seem to do it.

     

    I blame TOG. :lol: I *love* it, but my oldest is dyslexic/ADD. She is entering 9th grade this year. I'm not sure how much to cut out for her, and reading aloud so much of it is taking DEEP chunks out of time I just don't have. So I'm looking at ditching it for something else for everyone... and possibly even signing up the oldest (or more) for something like MODG, Kolbe, or American School. I'm despairing that the homeschool I'd always thought I'd have just isn't a possibility, and I'm so burnt out. I feel like throwing textbooks at everyone and just calling it good. (Not that that would work for my oldest anyway. :glare:)

     

    Can't somebody *else* drag my dyslexic dd through high school for me??

    :tongue_smilie:

     

    So I guess I'm not even planning yet - just researching to plan!

    So overwhelmed -- Please help me streamline and prioritize

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    As far as typing goes, he can't just do it in the summer because he has major issues with fine motor skills and he would completely forget everything from one summer to the next. He's already been typing for 15 minutes a day for 2 years and maybe types 20 wpm. That is the kind of thing I run into.

     

     

    Have you ever looked into adaptive keyboards or dictation software? My dd can think much faster than she can type (and can't spell her way out of a paper bag :lol: so we are starting to use some programs that type out what you say. The one we have isn't great, but it's a start (it's an ipad app).

     

     

    I want to also send you another :grouphug: - I "get" the whole "oh no we are approaching high school" panic.

    So overwhelmed -- Please help me streamline and prioritize

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    :grouphug: I'm sorry if you got the impression that I thought you were trying to fix your ds too much. I only said that *I* learned that *I* was trying to push my dd too hard and she could only do as much as she could do. Your ds sounds very happy with what you are doing! That is great. If he is happy and well adjusted to what you are doing, I don't see much of a problem -- other than perhaps cutting back here and there as you need to (like in ways some have suggested.

     

    And I hear ya on the too many choices causing paralysis thing!

    So overwhelmed -- Please help me streamline and prioritize

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Also keep in mind that although public schools are out at 4 and then doing homework, their entire day is not as.,.....intellectually intense as what you likely have your son doing.

     

    This is so true! Someone once explained it to me like this - remember that feeling you'd get when the teacher was working one on one with you or you were called on to answer a question in class? (for me it was not the most pleasant of feelings) THAT's what it's like *all the time* for our kids, especially those who are struggling. They have to be "on" all. the. time. It's intense. My family doesn't "do" intense very well -- we have enough intense in other areas of our lives! I try hard to get my kids to do hard work while still understanding the above and trying to stay lighthearted, with downtime.

     

     

    Oh and I forgot to mention above, if there are any "workbooky" subjects for my DD (and in math) I don't assign all the problems. If she has it in 4 questions, she HAS it and we move on or I let her off of that subject for the rest of the day. If there's a quiz I let her try it FIRST to see what I need to teach...if she gets 100% we move on! This gives us leeway later in the year to make up things we are maybe getting behind in.

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