ChristineW
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Posts posted by ChristineW
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California has definitely been hard hit with the housing downturn, but not all schools are going without librarians. I just attended DS' elementary school Partner's in Print parent meeting, and our library and librarian aren't going anywhere. The school just received 60 nonfiction titles this month from a private grant. The library is already bigger than the high school library I had in the 1980s. It's open twenty minutes before school and twenty minutes after. It's staffed by a FT librarian and at least two volunteers.
On the other hand, the teachers spent at least 1/2 of the time talking about literacy resources available through the school's digital subscription service. It's amazing the number of online books and other materials available to kids. Scholastic is also heavily promoting Storia, its new ebook division.
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Who is your favorite American Girl?
DD really wants Kit for her 6th birthday in January. Kit has short hair and looks like my daughter--both big pluses. However, I also find myself being drawn to a couple of the newer historical dolls, especially Caroline. DD's grandmother was born in Toronto and bicentennial celebrations for the War of 1812 were in full swing when we visited Ontario this summer. Wrong side, I know, but she looks gorgeous online, too. I know that she's far too delicate for a six year old especially with those long blonde curls but I'm tempted to get the books and a mini doll. I'm also thinking of getting some of the other books as well .
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:grouphug: Prayers for her family.
Christine
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:grouphug: Praying that he will find good work and quickly.
Christine
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And for that choice that they got the gift of LIFE. My life didn't end when I had children. And while my children's NEEDS are more important than my desires, their DESIRES are not more important than mine. Once needs are met, then everyone's desires get balanced. I am strongly opposed to the idea that children trump parents just by dint of the fact that they are children. Not only is it an unbalanced view, it also tends to raise narcissistic, self-center people who believe they are the center of the universe, because for twenty years they were treated like the center of the universe.
I repeat: my children joined my life, not the other way around.
But in this case, the OP is being the narcissist. She is teaching her son a very bad lesson, by showing him that mommy's WANTS are more important than the COMMITMENTS made to him and his team. She's not playing a real game with real stakes; the team is already going to forfeit so its just a scrimmage.
The point of sports at age six is to develop teamwork, learn to work through rough situations (too cold, too hot, against a team you can't possibly beat), and just show up. Only bringing him when she feels like it completely undermines everything he's supposed to be learning, and sends a signal that he isn't as important as his brothers. If she had said he wasn't old enough before signing him up or decided early in the season that it wouldn't work that would be one thing, but he should finish out the season and she should take him tomorrow.
I am not one of those "kids first" kind of parents. DS missed his first cub scout pack meeting b/c mom and dad already had plans to attend a fundraiser. My youngest isn't in dance b/c mom wants one day a week where she isn't running the kids to an activity. She can wait six months to start when Monday classes open up. However, I am an honor your commitments kind of mom.
Christine
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I don't understand what kind of help you want? You asked a question. We all answered. You don't like our answers, even though you more or less agree with them. So, now we're not helpful?
You signed up your child for this team, making a committment both to the team and, more importantly as far as I'm concerned, to him to get him there to play. Now, you want to skip it, because you have something else you'd rather do. And the solution is to just forget the whole thing.
I know you don't know me at all, and that my opinion won't make or break your day, but this is a decision I have real trouble respecting.
:iagree:
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My six year old would be devastated if he missed a game. I'd take the boy to his game especially since his older brothers are getting to attend theirs. If I really wanted to go to my game, I'd call the coach and see if he/she could drive my kid.
Christine
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Boo. Our store is on the list; we were hacked in August but fraud control caught it super early (activity on same card in NoCal and San Diego in the same hour).
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I was able to get some spy stuff at the Barnes & Noble toy clearance last month.
Christine
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Ivy & Bean. We're almost there--not quite so I can't 100% vouch for them--but I've paged through them and they seem quite sweet.
Mercy Watson books are also very cute.
--Christine W
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DS definitely plays sports. He's in a soccer league. He also has gymnastics and TKD once a week. At recess, DS plays either soccer or basketball with the big kids.
I'm going to try to find a way to walk to school. We live at the top of a steep hill and I'm 8 months pregnant but DH walks him once a week and DS says he can focus better that morning so I'll have DH take my car to the bottom of the hill so that I can get home.
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DS(6 and 11 months) is in 1st grade at public school. His teacher tells me that he is one of the brightest boys she's ever seen in her 30 years of teaching. However, she's also rarely seen a kid with his need for physical activity. He literally cannot sit still. The classroom is well equipped for sensory-seeking kids but DS will overcompensate on the wobbly chairs and fall over or he will crash into two desks on his way to sharpen his pencil. She has recommended that we go in for a pediatric evaluation. His issue is not attention. He is paying attention and understanding everything that is going on in the classroom so she doesn't think that it's ADHD although he is exceptionally disorganized. Two months in, she's had to replace all his supplies and he's lost his pencils again. He's also very, very intense, competitive and sensitive.
She's a great teacher and very encouraging. During every conference, she tells me that her son was bright and wiggly like my DS and is now an engineering major at a top ranked Western school.
Are there any resources out there for kids like my son? What should I read before asking for a ped's evaluation? I think that I will need to get one b/c we're close to the stage where he'll need a 504 plan for the classroom (to keep his ability to walk around when thinking, sit on an exercise ball while reading, find a quiet corner to calm down when he makes a mistake, etc).
Thanks,
Christine
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I was going to vote Township A, but then I read about well water and septic systems. I'd much prefer to have a sewer system.
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My uncle works at Tinker. His family lives in and around Norman. It's a beautiful part of Oklahoma. Close to Oklahoma City, benefits of being a college town and cost of living is low. I'm not sure what the actual commute is, but he's been doing it longer than I've been alive so it can't be too bad.
Christine
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Roscoe Riley Rules, Mercy Watson, Ready Freddy, My Father's Dragon, Horrid Henry, Andy Shane, Freddy Pickles.
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Grew up in StL so I'm happy for my team, but my 7 yob is disappointed tonight. (We're in the East Bay but to Daddy's chagrin he loves the Giants much more than the A's). Makes it a bit bittersweet.
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:grouphug: I'm sorry.
Christine
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So you mean to say he hates fiction, not non-fiction?
Have him read biographies, or books about great journeys or scientific discoveries. They are true, but can be written like a work of literature.
It is not uncommon for boys to prefer non-fiction. I'd let him - at this point, reading is all about expanding vocabulary and improving reading competency.
:iagree:
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I have no problem with the mom's sentence. Apparently, other news articles indicate that the mom tortured her daughter previously (2 week old bruises and evidence of burns from nail polish remover being used to remove older glue). Almost every inch of the girl's body was covered in bruises and there was evidence that she superglued the toddler's eyes shut. She was on probation for abusing her other kids, and had only recently regained custody.
Prosecution offered 45 years; defense wanted only 10. It's Texas. The defense made a bad gamble and infuriated the judge who felt a need to make an example of an egregious re-offender.
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Whatever, Bill.
I think requring homeschoolers to keep attendance records is silly. It's why I can't take it seriously. It has nothing to do with the time classroom teachers have to put in.
FTR, at least in California, public school students are counted as "present" on days when school is actually closed for teacher in-service time. If public schools can do that, I can count my children present just because they woke up and got out of bed.
Absolutely false. Schools do get paid for early release days because they meet the minimum instructional hours required by law. Full-day in-service days do not count toward instructional days required by the state. The teachers get paid for full day in-service b/c they are required to be there, and are expected to be working; the state probably does pay some money toward in-service days but the school does not get $ for students on days the school is closed.
However, this does lead to the problem in OP's complaint--schools have an economic incentive to have several minimum instructional days rather than a few full days off.
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Teachers work their butts off lesson planning and grading homework and tests for a room full of children.
In contrast I hear a lot of homeschoolers say they put in 2-3 hours a day, so everyday is "early release day."
Other homeschoolers mark "present" just because their children get out of bed.
Yet it is the school teachers who get bagged on. It think it's hypocrisy.
Bill
:iagree: It stinks for the OP that the private and public schools are on such different calendars, but I don't see the big deal about early release days. The teachers at my kids' school work hard. Good teachers need the inservice days to plan--and I don't mind that they get a real lunch once a month. The kids move classes for reading and the teachers were meeting daily after school for a while to discuss assessments and divvy up the reading groups. They do work to coordinate lessons so that Mrs. A will do apple graphing on M, Mrs B will do it on Tues, etc and then they all "dissect" the beat up apples on Friday. The district is implementing a new highly intensive math curriculum so the teachers are required to attend monthly training to discuss how its going and to refine technique. Parents are involved at the school so many (if not most) teachers are spending at least the first half hour after school gets out meeting with a parent about behavior, reading, family issues. There are curriculum nights a couple times a year in the younger grades as well as multiple social events that the teachers are expected to attend. The school calendar including inservice days is published every February before the start of the new year so it isn't like anything is a surprise.
If CA makes the proposed trigger cuts in January, we're going to be stuck with furlough days again. Now those I do have a problem with! I'm not keen about losing weeks of school which is big part of the reason we afterschool.
Christine
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My nephew is turning 10 in a few weeks and I'd like to get him a couple of books. My almost 7 yob thinks I should get him a couple of books from one of the Rick Riordan series but there are three series--Percy Jackson (Greek), Kane Chronicles (Egypt) and Heroes of Olympus (Roman?). Anyone have kids who like these? What about Alex Rider? Anything else I'm missing?
Personally, I'm in love with the Wildwood and can't wait to get Under Wildwood from the library but although DN is advanced, I don't think he's that advanced. The only people I know who have read that book are grownups (mostly fans of the Decemberists).
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Our state requires proof of physicals for all kids entering certain grades. Not to play sports- just to attend. And a dental exam for certain grades, too.
Same here, and if the child does not have certain vaxes (or the appropriate waiver), they are turned away. State law-no compromise, just the way it is.
If a company you contract with told you, "Bill what you think is fair" --
in General Education Discussion Board
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