rwilliams
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Posts posted by rwilliams
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How about giving him something that he can hit and kick like a one of those hanging weighted bags guys hit at the gym. We have one from walmart that hangs in my son's bedroom. Then you can say, people are not for hitting....but you may hit your gymbag. My son likes to play high energy music real loud and fight the bag. He takes karate. I think it is helpful to help boys channel their natural aggression in healthy ways along with the development of self-control.
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I would appreciate a workshop on how to approach history, science and the bible with my son so that he develops a solid understanding/belief system. My main difficulties are developing my own understanding and integrating all the pieces that I learned as separate parts. Examples that give me confusion......Young earth/old earth........where are credible sources of info? I currently say that there is alot of debate over this and even christians can disagree. I say that I do not have enough info to have opinion and that we will just have to learn more. Sorry if I am rambling....it is hard to form my thoughts....maybe I am asking for an efficient framework/approach to evaluate sources of info and wade through the less credible info when teaching my son an accurate christian world view that does not negate credible sources of info from science and history.
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Have her do some type of movement/gross motor activity right before history. Transition with a calming story of high interest that is short. Then proceed with history. Stop periodically and summarize to her what you just read in your own words having her fill in the blanks or act out sometype of action to jog her memory. Help her to develop "pegs" to hand the info on. During your summarizing part have her stop coloring and look at you. Try to add some type of movement to your summary. Then when you are trying to narrate or recall at the very end you can use your action movement to help her remember the parts of the story. Bascially the way to store memory is to make it meaningful and link it to the sensory system or an emotion. If you can do this with history, recall will be better.
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I love that BFSU encourages scientific thinking. Students are encouraged to ask questions and teachers are to ask questions that guide students to arrive at the answer. The author believes that like math, science should be taught in a systematic manner. The book is organized in 4 threads - Nature of Matter, Life Science, Physical Science, and Earth and Space Science. You rotate between the threads base on lesson pre-requisites or co-requisites. The lessons build on each other. So much thought went into the organization of this curriculum.
The lessons have a wealth of background information. Each lesson gives instructions on 1 or more demonstrations (using mostly ordinary household items) that allow the children to observe the concepts first hand. He gives great examples on how to explain the concepts clearly.
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My only complaint is that it does involve pre-planning. Each lesson spans multiple days/weeks and you do need to make a plan about what you want to accomplish and what you will need for that day. That is why I wanted NL - the lessons are laid out day-by-day and all the supplies were included. I just didn't get the same a-ha moments as I did with BFSU.
Joilet, I am curious as to what you think about Elemental Science particulary the Grammar Earth science curriculum. I am looking at science curr because I just do not have the time to plan out science although I have the ability and supplies. I do not want to hinder the inquiry learning method of discovery for my child or the excitement he now has for science. I just want to be able to get science done without having to scale back on anything else. Thanks for any feedback you have
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I agree with all the suggestions but wanted to add my two cents. I started the school year with a very structured morning routine that kept my son on schedule and everything getting done except I was wearing myself out. I changed my approach to "picking my battles" philosophy and now he gets out of bed and goes straight to math. I focus my time and energy on the academics that I have to personally instruct him on. If it is 8 am and he is just rolling out of bed.....oh well.....time for math. He has to get a shower before his afternoon outside classes start but I personally do not take charge of when he takes a shower anymore. Also, he can fix his own breakfast sometime in the am instead of me nagging to get him to the table on my time schedule. This approach worked better for us than the build a habit routine, although buiding habits works well for most other things.
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Glad to hear there's another Mom trying this approach. And yes, that's what I'd like to do: transfer the locus of control from me to him. I'd actually rephrase it as trying to REMIND his of his own control, which he's always had and always will.
For me, one of the main benefits of hs-ing is that my child can learn (or reacquaint himself with the knowledge) that HE is in control of his life--not the teachers, not his friends, not me. He has the power. I don't want to exist simply as a crutch that prevents him from remembering, realizing, that HE has the power. I want to be a support, but not undermine his own control. Does that make sense?
The difference for us it that I did have most of the power and control. My son wanted more power. We are both dominant personalties. I chose this approach to decrease conflict and give him more freedom. I only give him one day at a time.
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Yes, we have them and my kids go to them.
No, they don't have sex, believe it or not. And no, I am not really naive.
They only sleep with others in a shared situation- all sprawled out on several mattresses places together in the loungeroom, parents nearby and able to walk in at any moment- or they sleep boys in one room, girls in another- which is what they do at my place because I have a son and a daughter close in age with their own bedroom each, so its easy to do it that way. Quite often there are half a dozen or more kids involved.
We have a unique situation of my kids being very close to another homeschooling family of 2 girls the same ages as my 2, whose parents are very liberal- even more so than us in this way. These 4 kids are in the same Venturer group (previously Scouts) and also the same teen gymnastic group, as well as being homeschoolers- they have a very tight but large group of friends, both male and female. They all watch each other, they are all good friends, and yes, some are bf/gf at different times, and sometimes groups of them have sleepovers. Summer hols here right now- its fairly frequent.
There is no actual harm being done. No sex is being had. And they are having a warm, loving and open teenagerhood where physical contact, hugging, and even co-sleeping (in groups, parents around) is normal. I wish I had had a childhood like that. It might well have prevented me from being promiscuous and desperate for male affection in my teens.
I agree. I think letting kids hang out with parental supervision is much better than wondering what is happening. I would want the hanging out to occur at my house or houses where I realy trusted the parents but I see nothing wrong with kids 15 or over to have sleepovers with close adult supervision. It seems a great way to keep an eye on them and out of trouble.
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Holiday Travel Park has all the perks is very clean and ocean front. There is also a National Park in the Croatan sp? National Forest near the sound that is very clean and much cheaper. You have to drive to the ocean which is 5 mins at most. The National Campground is called Cedar Island and that's where I like to stay . It is less crowded and has more trees. But it does not have any extra activities like Holiday Travel Park.
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I have a 9 year old that I have implemented the very same approach. I was tired of nagging. Basically you are transferring the locus of control from you to him. It is working for us. It takes awhile to train your child and hold to the consequences for working on the weekend. He is learning time management and how to predict his day. It also it much easier on me. We still do all the hands-on, direct instruction lessons on my time schedule......he is just responsible for the more independent activities without my standing over him.
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If I felt that we would be safe, I would go! Think of it as an adventure. I like to leave my comfort zone on purpose. Use it as a time to get to know more about his family and background. You can usually find something in commom with most people if you try.
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is this what it will take, going to a therapist to get a good sensory diet? I was thinking about the ADD diet but really, she has very, very little in the way of processed foods. We have a lot of veggie stirfry for lunch, she can have hers over whole grains (millet/amaranth/quinoa) and for snacks veggies/hummus. She may have one or two servings of a refined carb per WEEK (cracker, bread) but I'm trying to really keep her whole foods.
I've really never heard of a sensory diet. There are so many different sensory issues, none of which I've seen with her. Is it an occupational therapist who would diagnose sensory issues?
There are lots of books and info on sensory integration available. We all have "sensory diets" to some degree. Think of things that help you focus or feel good. When I have to really concentrate I always eat crunchy snacks. Exercise always makes me feel better. Low lights are calming to me. Basically, it is finding activities or sensory experiences that help your daughter to become more organized neurologically thus promoting focus and sustained attention and then learning. We all can benefit from sensory activities that help us organize ourself. It will not cure the inattention but you will be able to see improvement. The more effective the program the more drastic the change. It is one piece of the puzzle but for some kids the difference is remarkable.
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Look into sensory integration for your daughter. If you can design an effective sensory diet and help her become as organized in terms of her nervous system as possible, learning will be easier. Children have to be "ready" to learn for info to sink in and actually attach. If children are not "ready" learning is not going to happen. An effective sensory diet will help your daughter to get her body/brain ready to learn. Most Occupational Therapists can help design a good sensory diet.
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My philosophy has always been whatever allows everyone to get good sleep. I decided not to buy into western culture philosophy about encouraging a child to sleep independently. My son slept in our bed until he was too big to fit around 5 and then slept on the floor in a tent. We have had various sleeping routines and my son has no problem sleeping in his bed, the playroom, my bed or my bedroon. I personally do not think it is important to facilitate independent sleeping for children. My son eventually did not need me near without any effort on my part. I would let my child sleep wherever they wanted as long as it did not interfere with my sleeping or my husband's sleeping.
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We used MUS for 6 months in Kindergarten. The reason I decided against MUS was I felt that if you only learned math with the same manipulatives it would limit your ability to generalize and really understand the concept. I like the idea of mental flexibility in learning math.....MM really makes my child think! When he gets finished is really understands the concept forwards, backwards and sideways. I felt that MUS always lacked this aspect.
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We are using Math Mammoth this year and it is "fun" for us in that it is mentally challenging to master. Just when you think you have it, the problem changes just slightly to make you think some more. My son stays mentally engaged the entire time without going into the automatic mode. It is very satisfying to master something that was challenging for a while. I have analyzed and explored over 6 math programs and I just love this one! It is a good fit for us!!
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My suggestion is to only have one goal for now and that is to reach a good state of mental health for you primarily and then your child. It seems that when we as the Mom are stressed it makes the stress in our kids worse. I would let go of all other expectations and just focus on things and activities that bring peace and calmness. Try to create a list of things that make you happy and relaxed and then do them. For me that is Zumba and eating lunch with my best friend at our favorite Mexican restuarant. If I miss these weekly events, I can feel the stress starting to accumulate. After you can maintain a pretty calm state most of the time, focus more on your child and find activities that will calm and bring joy to her. I work with kids in the home and I have seen the pattern of anxious Mom and exacerbation of behaviors in child......calmer mom and less behaviors in child. Mom cannot just appear calm......real, true inner calm.
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Hi Justin,
I just wanted to say that I appreciate the availability of these books. I have struggled for a long-time over how to approach the bible with my son with the fear of doing more harm than good. I feel confident that this text will be accurate and well-written, just as all the texts from Peace Hill Press I have used. I too feel saddened and angered by some of the responses I have read or heard about. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate the hard work and effort behind the high qualilty unbiased products PHP provides. It seems that when one tries to do the most good they are the most vulnerable for attack.
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I would probably try to do some math more than 3 days a week altogether. I found that Math for my son works better if there are not long breaks between lessons. I have also recently changed my thinking to 10 minutes here and there are valuable. We may not do a whole sitdown math lesson but a 10 minute review with a few problems is enough to keep from losing ground.
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I have been down this road. My answer is to go to a pediatric allergist not the pediatrician. After we started the allergist's program......no more problems at all!
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I agree with the general idea that we as Americans are living a hurried lifestyle. As soon as I became pregnant, I knew that working 40 hours a week was no life I wanted! It's nice to see the perspective that it is okay for your child to live at home longer and not necessarily be a bum. I do agree that Americans do not give their kids enough emotional support. I started thinking of homeschooling when I saw how hard it was for me and my child to separate for preschool. It just didnt make sense to me to send him off so tramatically.
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So True!!! I have worked in a nursing home and currently work in home health.....I tell my husband who says the same line of dying happy that I will not tote his oxygen or push his w/c. And when we go on vacation and he cannot go somewhere because it is not handicapped accessible....He can just want in the RV for us to get back. He thinks I am joking because we are still young but I am not. I motivate myself to live healthy by having the goal of being active enough to keep up with my son in 20 years to go kayaking and hiking together!!
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:001_smile:
Yesterday we were learning a particularly difficult lesson from his Algebra I text (Foerster's) and he had a bit of a melt down. He's pretty used to "getting" it quickly and not really struggling over the material. Yesterday he stuggled for quite some time. He had a tantrum, slammed the book closed, told me how stupid algebra is, and stormed away from the table. I yelled, told him he WOULD RETURN TO THE TABLE IMMEDIATELY, and forced him to continue on with the lesson. After a few more minutes he did get it.
I was not and am not a particularly good math student/teacher; he is. I regularly tell him, "If I can get it, you can too."
Teaching persistence in the face of struggle is VERY important and is not abuse. When you "get" something that was really difficult, THAT is what builds self-esteem.
I agree with this! I think too many parents shy away from confrontation when the going gets tough. I have decided that I can and will be whatever I need to be to teach my child the skills he needs to succeed. I go head to head with him when needed to push past his barriers for success. I have never gone as far as the Chinese Mom but probably pretty far as far as western standards. My reasoning is that when a child is faced with something very difficult and he perservers and masters it, it builds confidence and character for the next challenge. Life may be hard one day and I may not be there. I want him to have the fortitude and resources to meet life! When he was doing poorly in Math, I did not tell him how great he was. When he buckled down and struggled and started making real progress I told him how great he was doing, but he already knew it himself. To me that is what builds self-worth that no one can take away. It is based on his mastery, not another persons opinion.
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For the pencil that is straight up and not in the web space. You can simulate a handy[writer by taking a soft-stretchy ponytail holder and placing on the child's wrist, then loop the pencil around the bracelet directly behind the web space. This will solve that problem. You can google ot ideas and look at the picture of the handy writer to get a better idea. Your other daughter whose thumb is sliding over the pencil. If it is occasionally, I would not worry. we all change our grips when we write for a while and are fatiguing. If it is too often, go back to the stetro for a while. For your 3 year old......Kumon as these laminated alphabet cards that are erasable. The are large block letters with dotted lines inside. They give a circle for the starting point and a star for the stopping point. They also, give number cues for what line to make first, second and third. They would let her be independent in tracing the letters while giving her cues for directionality. I just used them with a 4 year old in therapy who is very strong willed and they worked great for letting her do it with less direction from me.
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rwilliams, have you noticed if switching to a drastically different font, will facilitate remediation, if it is mostly a matter of badly formed habits, rather than a disability?
All the students that I worked with had dysgraphia. The only difference I would think in helping a student with poor habits and a student with dysgraphia and poor habits would be the level of intensity in the remediation. I have never been able to remediate poor manuscript past second grade effectively when the writing started in Kindergarten. The best approach was to teach cursive. I never taught a different font because we followed the school curriculum. I would think changing font would be worth a try but cursive is the most likely to suceed. Plus, cursive is how adults write so there may be more motivation to learn. Just for info.... If cursive is learned and habits are formed poorly the next opportunity is to teach keyboarding. I recommend learning proper keyboarding without looking. This helps with kids who also have trouble with skills like copying and transferring. The real goal I think is to write in a manner in which you are able to communicate ideas fluently. Most kids have always been the most fluent on the keyboard. This freed up alot of mental energy they were using to form letters into actually forming ideas and thoughts. Dysgraphic kids would get bogged down in the mechanics of writing and lose progress with the skills or organizing thoughts, paragragh development and the higher skills involved in writing.
Seriously? 3000 calories?
in General Education Discussion Board
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When I started ww I realized that although I had been eating healthy.....my healthy foods were not on their list or were too many points. I feel the quality of my foods actually decreased but I lost weights. They are big on tracking points assigned to food and actually measuring out all portions. When you hit your total points for the day....you are done. They recommended foods that were high in dietary fiber that would actually leave you filling full. They caused these filing foods and they work.