I think the problem is compounded in that these students take advanced math courses, receive high grades, and then think they are "good at math." I had a college junior in my office this week who told me, "I am great in math. It has always been my best subject." She could not solve X = 100(2 + .03)2 and she had no idea of what a sigma sign meant. Somehow she had made an A in calculus!

We have spent a month in Austria several times with our kids, staying in small villages right out of Innsbruck. We have been able to rent a two-bedroom apartment for about $1000 for a month (has varied depending on the exchange rate). The area is full of family-friendly activities--hiking trails, lakes, swimming pools, castles, etc., and Innsbruck has museums and other cultural activities. Salzburg is two hours away; Munich is two hours a way, Zurich is about three hours away. Bolzano, Italy is only an hour and half away. It is easy to take the public transportation locally and the train for longer trips. Once we spent a month, never went more than 1 1/2 hours away from our home base and still did not have time to do everything we wanted to do in the area. "Holiday apartments" throughout Austria provide nice alternatives to hotels for families, and we haven't found a part of Austria we don't like. The biggest cost is airfare--we went this past December and paid about $825 a ticket (flying in and out of Zurich); this July tickets ran closer to $1600.

I tend to be a planner, also, but we pulled DS out of PS without planning. Our situation was the opposite--there were only a few weeks left in the school year. Many people asked why we didn't stick it out and use the summer to plan. However, when the proverbial straw breaks the camel's back, you have to make a decision that is best for your child at the time.

My kids attended a PS where there was a lot of parent involvement. The involvement was not just in fund raising but in every aspect of the school. My kids actually thought the parents of some of their friends were employed by the school. In fact, I think there were some parents that put in more hours, time, and effort than some of the actual school employees. I am a strong believer in parents being involved in and concerned about their children's education. But, there were drawbacks of so much parental involvement. Some parents were put in situations about knowing more than they should have about other children but they were not held accountable to any privacy laws or ethical standards as they would have been as an employee. These tended to be the same parents who would gossip around town about other children. Parents were also encouraged to come have lunch with their children. Parents were allowed to take their child outside to a special area to eat and their child could invite a friend. At times I was uncomfortable with my child having so much contact with another parent--I had no idea what adults my child was interacting with until after the fact.

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I think I will try scooping some of the ice cream up ahead of time as suggested. Does anyone have a good hot fudge topping recipe for the crockpot?

Do you have a favorite ice cream flavor and topping combination? I will be hosting about 50 teenagers (almost all girls) for an ice cream sundae party. I would appreciate any suggestions for interesting toppings, serving ideas, etc.

DD was headed to public school her freshman year. One band field trip was going to be over $3000! Yes, it was "optional" but it was part of band class. (This didn't include band uniforms, instrument rental, private lessons, competitions, etc--all those would have been additional fees). The band teacher said that she new it was an expensive field trip, so she was encouraging the entire family to go on the trip. It would have cost well over $13,000 for our family of four to go on the trip. DD asked to go to private school instead--we were concerned about the expense of private school, but compared to band trips like this, private school has been a bargain.

At the lower levels, I would: let children be children, stop having them sit at desks at 5 trying to teach them to read allow plenty of time for wonder, discovery, asking questions, outdoor activities provide great literature focus on the basics of reading and math expose children to beauty, art, music eliminate stressful, high-stakes standardized exams stop "journal writing" at early ages--I don't see much benefit from having a 5-year old write a journal with "inventive spelling" before he even knows how to write his letters properly. I think it forms bad habits At higher levels: provide more options for students (more trade school options without this being looked down upon) eliminate school sports; I would prefer to see these as community activities; I think the problem is two-fold: (1) it takes emphasis of academics at the school and (2) it places the school at too great of a focal point of the child's life. Children should be experiencing a variety of ways to get all of their needs met--the school should not be the place where academic, social, physical fitness needs, etc. are met. This isn't realistic for the rest of life. decrease the size of the schools (we have high schools around here with over 6000 students); at this level teachers should be able to know the students walking down the hall and the students should be able to know each other

I started having multiple teachers/switching classrooms in 7th grade. We did have a music teacher who came to our classroom occassionally in lower grades and by fourth grade we would go, as a class, to a music room for music. My children went to public elementary school and had multiple teachers and classrooms in first grade; the students split up for "specials"--art, music, and PE; the entire class did not stay together. Students were put into groups of A, B, C, D, etc. On Monday, Group A went to one PE teacher, on Tuesday, they went to an art teacher, on Wednesday they went to a different PE teacher and a music teacher. On Thursday, they went to another music teacher--yes it was very confusing. In first grade a student would have at least five "specials" teachers--two for music, two for PE and one for art. In addition to the "classroom teacher" there was the librarian, the wellness counselor, the the reading specialist, and the computer teacher who taught lessons to the students. There were a stream of student teachers coming in and giving lessons, There were also a number of other specialists pulling students out throughout the day for reading, math, speech, gifted programs, etc. I think the first grade teacher would have the same group of students and actually be teaching all of them at most 15 minutes in a day. It would not be unusual for my kids to come home from school in first grade having had seven teachers in a day--I thought all the "specialization" and "enrichment" was more of a distraction to their actual day than a benefit. I think children that young respond better to fewer teachers who know them well and see the bigger picture of their education.

I have received texts and emails regarding the death of a family member (aunt, uncle, cousin, etc.) or a close friend. I can see how it might be easiest on the family to communicate in that manner and get the word out to those beyond the immediate family. I have not liked, however, when someone beyond the immediate family has taken it upon themselves to post on Facebook that someone has died before the family has had an opportunity personally to contact family members. In one case, I had a cousin that posted on Facebook how sad she was because she had just left the hospital and that her Aunt Molly had died. At the time, Aunt Molly had NOT died. Yes, death was imminent and the family had been called in. One son, who was flying from another state saw the facebook post while he was at the airport and thought that he would not arrive in time to see his mother. When posting these types of notices on Facebook or sending mass emails and texts, the individual needs to make sure that it really is their decision to make of how to spread the word.

Pick up a campus newspaper if you can. You can see what types of issues students are concerned about, the level of writing ability at the university, and who likes to market to the students through the ads in the paper (this gives you a bit of an idea of what type of "consumer" the average student is). Browse through the bookstore. What does the level of textbooks look like? What is being sold as non-academic reading material? Spend some time in the cafeteria or coffee shop (or ones near the campus). What types of conversations do you overhear? Check out the bulletin boards. What campus groups seem to be active? Does the typical college organization put together material that is free of spelling and grammar errors? If you talk to a student or a professor, ask how much reading and writing is done during an average semester.

I am generally a very private person, but I guess I would have been one of the few who would have loved it if you came to the hospital AFTER my kids were born. Some may be local culture/customs. There are a lot of people where I live who have a number of visitors when they are in labor. My mom was a volunteer at the hospital and visitors would come looking for "Maria's room"; my mom would ask for a last name and would get "I don't know, but she's having a baby."

After three days of walking around with a broom, there has been no sight or sound of a bird or a bat; there hasn't been any sign of bird droppings or smell of a dead animal--everything has been checked: behind bookcases, behind the china cabinet, in the closets, and the attic. Our dog, which loves to chase birds, has been inside and hasn't seemed to notice anything. For those of you who have never lived in this part of the country this may seem impossible, but the best explanation at this point is that it was a giant, flying roach.

I am not opposed to the watching of movies for educational benefit. In fact, my hs son has taken a class on "the philosophy of film" from a philiosophy professor and has watched a lot of movies as part of schooling. I did find it ironic when I had to sign a permission slip for my kids to watch the Presidential innaguaration when they were in ps. A letter came home from the school district about how they wanted parents to be informed about whatever students were watching at school. Parents were given the opportunity to request an alternative educational activity for their children. No such notification or alternatives were available when movies were being shown.

Oh, I didn't want to hear "bat." The problem is that it was in our upstairs den area that doesn't have any doors--it opens to the stairwell and then to the living room and kitchen--maybe we will lock ourselves in my downstairs bedroom until the morning.

DD just came running downstairs screaming that something just flew in her face. I went upstairs and didn't get a good luck what what it is, but I think we have a bird in the house. DH and DS are out of town and it is midnight. I don't know where it is now. If it is dark outside, is there any good way to coax it out?

Excessive movie watching is one of the reasons my children are no longer in ps. My daughter attended ps middle school. There were days that she watched parts of Disney movies in five different classes--45 minutes of Little Mermaid in Science, 45 minutes of Beauty and the Beast in Math, etc. This was not curriculum related watching, but "entertainment." There were days that my daughter asked if she could stay home and read a book rather than having to watch part of these movies AGAIN. I discussed this issue with both the principal and the district superintendent. They verified that these movies being shown were a violation of copyright law in that the school did not hold a license to be showing these movies for entertainment. They said that the teachers had to sign a notice at the beginning of the school year saying that they would not show these movies. It continued and continued. When I sat down with a list of the movies my daughter had watched in one week's time the principal said she was most concerned about the movies in PE class (not science or math). She said that she didn't know that this was still happening. Not only was she the principal of the school, her daughter was in the same class as my daughter--she was clueless about what has happening in the classrooms. The message that the kids were being sent was: teachers get paid to put in videos; not to teach; copyright laws aren't taken seriously; schoolo work is not really important. The situation didn't improve--in fact it got worse. The principal asked me what she should do about it. I told her it was her job, not mine to be supervising what was going on, but if the teachers were knowingly violating the law and school policy and that they continued to do that they should be fired--tax dollars shouldn't be paying them. She said "Oh no, we have to give them the opportunity and enough time to remediate, just like we give students." The superintendent told me to let him know the next time it happened--which I did. He "investigated" and came back with the response, that the teacher did not insert the video in the video player, but a student inserted the video--so the teacher wasn't responsilbe! At that point, my daughter asked if she could PLEASE go to another school.

I don't know if this makes you feel any better. I had a college senior this week try to figure out if the regular exam was 2 1/2 hours but the final exam was 1.5 times as long, how long would he have to take the final exam. When he finally figured out that the final would be 1 1/4 hours longer than the regular exam, he said, "A quarter of an hour, that is 20 minutes, right?" It only got worse when he couldn't work backwards from the fact that the exam ended at 6:00pm to calculate what time he would need to start by to get the allotted time for the exam.

I think there is a big difference in the role of the teacher, mastery, and grading for children and for college students. For example, a third grader will probably not know whether or not they understand fractions. A test score may show that they do not and that review is necessary before they can go on in math. The child may not be ready for fractions yet and this instruction may need to be delayed. Once a student is in college, the student should be able to "self-assess" before an examination. They should know, for example, by attempting to work homework problems, whether they have a good grasp of the material or not. Usually students who do poorly on my exams have either (1) not put in the time necessary to learn the material or (2) do not have the appropriate background knowledge to complete my coursework successfully. Occassionally, a student does poorly because they are ill, just had a death in the family, etc. I am not sure that I have ever had an instance where I have seen a college student who needs to wait a few weeks to come back to a topic and then work on mastery. Yes, I have had some who needed to come back a few semesters after they have matured and are ready to put the necessary work into the course. But, that is a different issue.

As a college professor, I now see students who expect this. I don't know how many times I hear the question, "When is the retake?" It doesn't matter how many times I have told them that there are no "retake" exams. I do use an online homework system that allows them to rework problems they miss (with different numbers) until they get them right--but only up until the due date for the assignment. For example, if an assignment is due Monday at 9:00pm, they can do the assignment as many times as they want to improve their grade, but their grade at 9:00pm that day is the grade for the rest of the semester. They can still access the homework problems, rework them, practice and learn--it just won't improve their grade. I think there is some educational value in allowing students to redo the homework questions they missed (and it prevents complaints regarding missed points because of data entry errors). But, I do have a concern regarding the "redo until I get the grade I want" mentality. I think it promotes "guessing" until the student gets it correct. Why try hard the first time? I think it promotes sloppy work and an attitude of "I will do it when I want to." I think when we are educating students we have to look beyond whether they are simply learning the concept at hand; we must also look at what type of character, habits, attention to detail, etc. we are encouraging. I teach junior and senior business students, and I tell them their boss isn't going to continue to ask them to "redo" the report until they get it right--they will just fire them.

We were traveling internationally a few years ago and my husband purchased one of these to take along--the problem was that almost every recipe had a "can of cream of mushroom soup" (or a similar ingredient) which wasn't available where we were traveling. He said "We'll just susbtitute!" But, we found that we often had to substitute two ingredients--0r 40% of the recipe! Not only are different products available, measurements are different, temperatures are measured differently, equimpent is different, etc. It is helpful if you can find out what a few main ingredients are that will be readily available and find recipes that will work for those items. Two things we have found that we can usually make wherever we travel are spaghetti and scrambled eggs.

I have dealt with both--a child with encopresis and a teacher lying (about a different issue); both are difficult situations. As far as the encopresis, it is difficult for most people who haven't experienced it to understand. We even had trouble with pediatricians, and even GI specialists, not understanding until we found a GI that specialized in encopresis issues. I would have school nurses and teachers who would tell me that they knew how to solve the problem--if only I gave my child prune juice, didn't let them eat gluten, etc. They thought they knew more than the MDs treating my child. I even had one teacher tell me that she could tell by looking at my child's eyes that he didn't really need to go to the bathroom--this is a child who had been through extensive testing and hospitalization and had some nerve/muscle coordination problems that made it impossible to detect with internal monitors when he needed to go to the bathroom! The GI doctors we have dealt with have said that it is common to have constant problems with schools regarding this issue. If you need to talk to a parent who has been through this, feel free to pm me. A lying teacher was a difficult situation. When we tried to deal with it, the principal began covering up and life at school became miserable for our child. This is when we began considering homeschooling.

Both of my children started out in public school. My daughter now attends a Catholic school while my son homeschools. He would love to go to my daughter's school but it is an all girl's school (Maybe that's why he would like to go there :lol: ) The both suffer at times from "the grass is greener on the other side," but for the past few years this has been the best fit for each of them. One thing that we have found that helps, is that we keep our homeschool schedule on my daughter's school's schedule--if she has a holiday, it is a holiday. If she has school, it is a school day.

Is there a reason why she is already saying that she will be bored? If she is already imagining sitting for an hour and being bored? If so, maybe you need to reframe her thinking. Does she get to wear a nice outfit she enjoys? Does she get to see some family members she will enjoy seeing? Does she get to be "grown up" compared to the younger sibling being left at home? Also, is there a way you can introduce her to the music she will hear or learn more about the musical instrument being played before she goes? That way she would feel more connected and interested in the event. Why is it important to you for her to be there? I find I make more headway with my kids when I explain that they are expected to do something to show respect for a family member's interest, etc. That focuses attention on the value of the situation and the relationship being developed rather than on a power struggle that I want them to do something. Or, is her resistance not about going to the event but more about missing something else. For example, is she upset because she likes the babysitter you have arranged for the younger sibling and she thinks she is missing out on that time? I would try to remain positive with her. Is there a time that she has attended an event and enjoyed it more than she thought she would? Is there a time she successfully sat through a one hour event? Remind her of those times. Also, at her age she may have difficulty knowing what an hour is--she may need that put in perspective (the length of a favorite show, the amount of time it takes to drive somewhere--something she can relate to.)

I have a friend who is a high school math teacher. She was sent to a seminar in which she was taught how to teach her students how to answer math questions on the standardized test without reading the question. I teach a college finance course. I have a student who is struggling who came by earlier in the semester and asked what he needed to do. I suggested that he read the textbook and he asked, "What do you mean? How do I do that?" A few weeks later he proudly told me that he had found copies of old finance exams so he was doing a couple of questions every day on those exams like he had studied for standardized tests in high school because that is how he learns rather than reading the book. Needless to say, he did poorly on the midterm exam. I find that students who "learned" by practicing old tests day in and day out do not have a context for any knowledge. Subject matter is simply a collection of random questions to learn rather than a coherent body of knowledge.