imagine.more
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Posts posted by imagine.more
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Our daughter has been labeled intellectually disabled and also previously was labeled with a "specific learning disability in reading" (i.e. dyslexia). She's also hearing impaired and ADHD (fun times!) haha!
Anyway, I basically went off of the symptoms to decide whether her dyslexia was true or not. She had the low working memory (crazy low) and unusually high spatial reasoning (as in, just above grade level, not crazy high) and then she had obvious letter reversals and the main thing was she just couldn't read at 11 years old even after years of the schools trying phonics programs. So we started with Barton Reading and Spelling and I could tell almost immediately it was difficult for her, which showed she needed it. Everything clicked and reading makes sense to her now and we're just on level 3.
My DH's aunt used Barton with her special needs daughter (Intellectual disability due to shaken baby syndrome) and it worked for her too. Her daughter reads really well for her age and ability level. So honestly I kinda figure it might work for some other special needs kids too and if it works who cares if dyslexia is the official diagnosis that child has :) You'd know by level 2 if it was unnecessary amount of remediation, your kid would be super bored and find every task easy. A dyslexic or struggling reader finds them challenging and engaging. Basically anyone who struggles with working memory would need some sort of Orton-Gillingham reading instruction to make progress in reading, because O-G targets working memory specifically among other things.
So if you haven't yet it might be worthwhile to have the school district do a basic WISC test or get some testing from a neuropsychologist and pinpoint the specific areas of strengths and weaknesses but don't fuss too much about the diagnosis or interpretation they come to from his results.
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I get nauseous a lot more easily ever since experiencing morning sickness with my firstborn. Before that I never remember getting nauseous honestly.
I do get dizzy a lot now but it's unrelated to what I'm doing and directly related to my lowish blood pressure.
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Thanks so much! this definitely supports what we've seen using o-g with our hoh daughter. I've considered utilizing cued speech with it too but wasn't sure if that would fit well with it or not.
We were told 12 months ago by her school that we were unrealistic to ask them to put as a goal in her IEP that she would make 1 year of reading progress (from 1.5 to 2.5 grade level) in 12 months. Now I can say that we have made at least a year's progress in the past year and that's with her being diagnosed intellectually disabled with processing difficulties and taking breaks when I went to get trained in O-G this summer and this winter while I've been sick with morning sickness. My hope is to see her on a 4th grade reading level by September and I think she can accomplish that.
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I don't know of any secular ones that match WPD planners for beauty and similar format unfortunately. However, the Erin Condren planner would come very very close and might be superior in some ways. If the price on the Erin Condren one makes you choke (it does for me) then check out Plum Paper Planners. I LOVE the Plum Paper Planners, they are an excellent size and just very well-made. Nothing fancy but visually appealing enough for me. They have teacher planners where you can customize the subjects when you order which I really like as a homeschooler.
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Finland scores well on the less rigorous PISA tests, not so well on the TIMSS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trends_in_International_Mathematics_and_Science_Study
The Asians come out on top on both, but I guess it is more enticing to get pretty good results without trying too hard, as opposed to the "work your butt off to be best" attitude of the asians.
I think this is a very good point that unlike the video touted Finland is not a the absolute top in academic achievement. However, for me personally I'm not necessary competitive enough to want my kids to be the absolute best academically, like #1. I'm also somewhat naturally suspicious of anything being put above all else, whether that is academics or economic success or the arts or whatever. All good things, absolutely! But not the end-all-be-all of life.
So I do think Finland is more enticing because to me it is a good example of achieving excellent results (within the top 10% pretty consistently) and yet without sacrificing anything else like social skills, free play, athletics, emotional health, etc.
I really enjoyed the video, I think it addressed a lot of the questions I've had about how Finland can achieve what they do academically. And I don't think being homogenous or small explains it all. Minnesota is just as homogenous (*I* got asked what culture I was from when i lived there!) and a similar population and yet they scored 17th on the PISA math tests that Finland scored 1st or 2nd on. Theoretically our states have some educational autonomy so we could replicate aspects of Finnish education at the state level.
I think a lot of what they do that helps them succeed is the same reason homeschoolers often score well compared to public schooled students. Now these aren't true for everyone but they are some common trends I see among homeschoolers and the Finnish schools:
- parents think education is important
- play-based instruction in the early years and then starting slow and steady, revving up to a more demanding curriculum in high school
- short instructional time (I'd say in elementary school avg homeschooler spends 3 hours a day and avg Finnish school spends 4 hours but with four 15 minute breaks in there)
- encouraging creative and critical thinking (I think as a homeschooler I could improve here myself for sure in my instruction)
- lots of free time in the afternoons, particularly outside (my kids are outside 2+ hours a day but NONE of our neighbors' kids are)
- accelerated math (I know lots of homeschoolers who just let their kids keep going in math, leading to being a grade ahead or more. Those Finnish 8th graders were doing the Pythagorean Theory, which I didn't do until 10th grade Algebra II in PS)
- focus on teaching to read BEFORE anything else. I read a neat story about how with struggling readers they basically sit and read with them 3+ hours a day for months until they are caught up, suspending most other subjects. Homeschoolers usually do this by default, it's just common sense that you teach the kids to read (whether at 4 or 7) and then move on to learning through reading. US schools do not do this at all, our local school has several illiterate 6th graders that are doing the typical curriculum.
- teacher autonomy (can't beat homeschool for this :) )
- student independence in learning
I am a bit jealous of the Finnish vocational track, those resources they have for the kids are amazing! Our voc track was a complete joke in PS, it was for slackers who wanted to smoke pot outside and get A's in "home ec" where they made pancakes from a box or A's in "computer ed" where they'd do one powerpoint presentation for 50% of their grade. As a homeschooler I'll struggle to give a rigorous education to my non-traditional learner who would do better in a more vocational track as opposed to college prep. I just don't have those kinds of resources or background knowledge, kwim?
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Why is there no way for an adult to get the necessary documents without parental assistance? There are lots of crazy parents, there should be a way for their children to cut ties and move forward.
Yes, this is a big problem for children all the way up to age 24 and beyond.
My parents, mainstream public schoolers all the way and typical secular suburban parents, didn't want to meet with me to give me my records either after my mother kicked me and my 2 sisters out at ages 18, 19 and 20 in a drunken tantrum. We all were enrolled in college and struggled so much to get these basic documents. I was able to get my documents after a few months thankfully! But FAFSA was a nightmare every year tracking my dad down and trying to persuade him that I truly needed him to fill it out or I would get no financial aid. I looked into emancipation but it would have been a huge hassle and cost money that I didn't have.
So yeah, it's a bit frustrating that the article is touting this as a homeschool issue when it's not really. Though I will say the whole not having a birth certificate at all is super odd and does seem to be more common among extremist homebirthers and homeschoolers. And I say this as a homebirther and homeschooler, lol! My baby has a birth certificate for sure, I can't see any reputable midwife not doing that basic service as part of the birth process.
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I think Sebastian Frederick Charles would be a really good fit! Sebastian and Alexandria totally work as sibling names :)
I also love Atticus but I won't recommend it because I'm planning on using it if our LO is a boy :) Ours will be Atticus Michael if he's a boy, because mommy got bored and finally read To Kill a Mockingbird last summer, haha! This is what happens when Literature majors have children....2 of my children are named after book characters, haha! But I hate nicknames, which is one reason why Atticus works well for us. If you like nicknames, which it sounds like you guys do, you might be bummed to not have any good nickname possibilities.
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I use these cable drops: http://www.poppin.com/Organization/Cable-Organizers_2/Assorted-Cable-Drops.html?gdftrk=gdfV26053_a_7c2564_a_7c10874_a_7c705105338002&kpid=705105338002&gclid=CNLuqdCd2MMCFXRo7Aod5QwAHA
I attached these to the inside of the medicine cabinet and the toothbrushes fit perfectly in. It's been that way for a year now and they are still firmly stuck on. I just pop the toothbrush in and out no problem. You can also label just above the toothbrush if your kids might confuse their toothbrushes with another's. I kinda color code my kids (yes I'm a freak) so that hasn't been a problem for us :)
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Same as others have said, in my experience Melatonin is great for falling asleep but will not help you stay asleep. I take it and my oldest son takes it because we both tend to get out of whack sleep cycles periodically (usually in winter or summer) and melatonin prevents the lying-awake-for-hours annoyance before bed. I love it for that because it just helps me get to sleep and doesn't leave me groggy in the am.
For staying asleep I think you'd have to look a bit further unfortunately. I agree the weighted blanket could definitely help if he has sensory issues. My oldest has slight sensory issues but thankfully while he's low sleep needs he is generally a good sleeper. He just drops naps early.
One thing to consider is overstimulation. My friend has 3 children with sensory processing issues and all of them require a lot of sleep and have a low tolerance for wake time before becoming cranky, unhappy, or hyper. Hyperactivity is a common symptom of over tiredness, which you might know from dealing with sensory issues already. In that case maybe an earlier bedtime, as odd as it sounds, would help.
On the flip side, I was once given great advice when my oldest son was 2.5 and acting up at bedtime and not falling asleep and waking early. I was told boys (and girls, but boys even more) require 3 hours outside every day :) So I did that, I set about doing everything possible to get my son outside all morning and afternoon (2 hours minimum, 3 was the goal) and his sleep issues resolved completely. His behavior improved and he was just a happier kid all around. So for him he needed more stimulation but of a very particular kind....sunshine and fresh air and free run of the yard.
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My mother gave me the same opportunity. If I was in an uncomfortable position and needed out, I could say she wouldn't let me. I never, ever considered that an option for things like you are describing though. They aren't remotely the same thing.
Yes, this is what my husbands' parents told he and his sister. It was for things like if a friend invited them to a party they felt would be too wild or for if someone offered them a drink or pot or something. They knew they could freely use the "ah, no, my mom would kill me" excuse. Or the "no, sorry, my mom says I can't come to the party". They never even thought to use it for other things!
I think you should simply sit the kids down and tell them what they've been doing is wrong and dishonest and that in the future they will never use you as an 'excuse' to get out of stuff that is simply hard or not fun. Explain that this is for when they need an easy and safe way to say "no" to a situation they think is going to make them uncomfortable (in the, I-might-be-asked-to-play-spin-the-bottle way) or would be unsafe or illegal. As a way to stand more strongly against peer pressure at a time when they might not have the confidence or authority to say no effectively. I would also tell them point blank if they ever misuse this rule to get out of perfectly safe and expected activities they will be punished twice - once for not doing the work and again for lying.
Personally I kind of think kids should stand up for themselves and not lie to their friends to get out of bad stuff but just say "no, I don't want to do that, see you later" but my in-laws used it and it worked quite well for them. DH and his sister knew their parents had their back and that they had an easy 'out' should they find themselves in a bad situation.
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We are expecting #5 in August. Only one is out of carseats/boosters.
We had a Kia and honestly it was so cramped! Technically it had 7 seats but realistically with carseats we had 6 seats which with 4 kids made things full. So we got a Honda Odyssey and have been so happy that when it saved our life and was totaled this Christmas (we were rear-ended by a semi on the interstate!) we replaced it with the same model but a different year. 8 seater Honda Odysseys are awesome! It drives fantastic, even in the snow, it doesn't feel like driving a boat, and it has tons of space. We all drove 1000 miles for vacation and fit 4 kids (3 carseats, one is a monster convertible seat), a suitcase for each, and a backpack for each plus blankets, our usual car emergency gear, and cd's and dvd's and a large picnic basket. And we still had room to spare and see out the back. Oh and the Odyssey gets great gas mileage.
So yeah, I highly recommend a Honda Odyssey, 8 seats for anyone with 4+ kids, especially if you have carseats. We have ours configured with DD13 in the back, DS6 in the back in a booster, DS4 in the middle middle in a FF seat and DD2 in the side middle in a convertible Evenflo Advanced (if you have seen one you know it's safe but a total beast of a carseat!). When baby comes we'll put the 6, 4, and 2 year olds in the back all forward facing and then the baby and DD13 in the middle so she isn't climbing to the back anymore.
I have a friend who has a Toyota Sienna 8 seater which is also amazing. We once fit (EASILY!) 6 kids, 4 of whom were in carseats.
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So, I heard Game of Thrones was good. He looked at a few shows and told me he thought it would be too violent for my taste.
Same w/ Breaking Bad.
A friend loved Orange is the New Black. Dh replied, "I don't want to watch a show about a women's prison."
I like Downton Abbey: no way will Dh sit through that.
We both enjoy Dr. Who for the kids' sake, but we're waiting for the new season at the moment.
I'm willing to swing more into his direction and watch Sci Fi or Mission Impossible type movies. I've heard that Edge of Tomorrow is good, but Dh keeps saying I'll find it violent.
Long ago we both enjoyed Ground Hog Day, Edward Scissorhands, Forest Gump, Big. Basically we like Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford.
We actually watched the Sopranos long ago before we had our boys. I didn't like the violence (I had to leave the room a few times), but enjoyed the relationships between the people.
I really enjoyed Maleficent. He sort of liked it. (He complains about movies that are too "girl power" and make boys and men look like dolts. We have boys.)
Left alone I'll watch HGTV or cooking shows -- which is a no-go for him.
Any movie or TV show suggestions? After the boys go to bed we really just get irritated w/ each other because we can't agree on anything. I'm far more willing to swing in his direction so I'm not at all asking for "chick-flicks."
TIA!!
Alley
If you want something Game of Thrones-ish but less violent (mildly) and a bit more female-friendly maybe try Outlander? My DH shockingly has really enjoyed it, there's enough manliness going on with the fights and political/historical stuff for him but there's a strong female lead too. The men are very strong-minded, not wussy, Diana Gabaldon does not like stupid people so she basically doesn't write any in, lol! There are sex scenes but I assume if you're okay theoretically with Game of Thrones the Outlander ones, which are mostly either married sex or a few cases of bad rapes (and they're treated as bad, no rapist is given an 'out' as being justified), wouldn't be offensive to you.
Something with a similar pace to Downton Abbey but more masculine is the Father Brown series on PBS. We've watched that a little bit. My DH tolerates Downton Abbey but definitely doesn't get into it and mostly job hunts with it on in the background while I watch it.
Grimm might be good, definitely more suspenseful than Once Upon a Time.
What about humorous shows? Black-ish is hilarious! I love that show, cracks me up every time. The dad does get a bit of that doofus-dad syndrome sometimes but not as bad as Everybody Loves Raymond. And what about a show that has some humor and drama like Parenthood? I know it just ended but I bet netflix or somewhere else has it to stream.
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((hugs)) to get a whole new diagnosis is stressful! I agree that an MRI would be a good idea at this point. I wish we could get an MRI for our daughter to find out if her issues are FASD related (she's adopted) or a random congenital defect or developmental or what. She also has unexplained profound sensori-neural hearing loss, they didn't properly diagnose her and get her hearing aids until age 8 because of delays in getting an appointment, etc.
I will say hearing impairment has been both less troublesome and more troublesome than I anticipated when we agreed to adopt DD :) In day to day life she wears aids and it's no big deal. I watch her in the kitchen because she can't hear the tea pot or the hissing of the gas burners when they don't light properly. We also know if a fire happened we'd likely need to go get her just like the little kids because she doesn't hear the alarm always. But otherwise I just make sure she can see me (no calling to her from upstairs, lol!) and she's fine. She has a speech impairment but her articulation is decent and we all understand her fine. She's really a pretty normal kid and has pretty good independent living skills for her age. The biggest issue I've seen is how big the low vocabulary issue has become. It affects every part of life for her, poor thing. She struggles to understand so much and like J-rap above, we often find she has been mishearing and had no idea how it was said really. Some of those mistakes are funny and others are sad. Also, as you found when we're doing reading lessons (we use Orton Gillingham) I need to use tricks to help her identify differences in sounds. We explicitly teach and encourage her lip reading tricks and only do lessons with me sitting at the table across from her with zero distractions around. With that and wearing her properly working hearing aids she does really well with the Barton lessons. I also teach her self-advocacy in asking politely for me to repeat if she doesn't hear instead of pretending she does hear me.
You've done really well to get your DD tested periodically and get her a diagnosis nice and early. She won't have missed out on as much yet in language exposure. I hope the MRI gives some more answers and maybe some good hope for the best strategies and treatments!
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I'm all for a good hair cut but if your issue is poofy-ness then shorter will make it worse, not better. I totally agree with using an anti-frizz serum like frizz-ease. Also, if it poofs right now you might find you can get it to curl a bit or wave. In my profile pic I have my hair 'curled' basically by taking a shower before bed, french braiding on both sides, and then sleeping on it. I wake up, take out the braids, and put a bit of smoothing hold spray on it. And yes my hair was the bane of my existence because of the poofy-ness for years!
If you do want to go short, and that's good too, then I suggest straightening it or at least using an anti-frizz serum on it regularly. Another option is to curl it with a curling iron. Any of those should tame the poof and give you a nice, easy, short style.
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We're considering relocating for very similar reasons. We love our house but it's in a very tiny city 2+ hours from any major cities and further isolated by mountains on all sides. Our decision will likely be made by finances honestly, whichever way we go. We'd love to move within 30 minutes of a major city but get 1 acre or more ideally to have a bigger property. Mostly we're looking for more connections with people, better school options for our oldest, and more of a homeschool community for our younger ones.
But for your situation since your DH has firm employment no matter where you live and you have already been driving to a more metro area for things I'd try the move. I think renting for 1 year and renting your house out might be the best option that way you can test out the waters and if you absolutely hate it then you can backtrack no harm done. But if you find you love it that gives you time to really find a house and property in the new place that has many of the features of your old home. If you want to keep your chickens you'll want to just outright buy though. I'd look up backyard chicken ordinances in the city and see if you'd be able to keep chickens if you got a home there. We live in a small city and the laws don't mention chickens so we're able to legally and happily keep 5 hens in our backyard. Our neighbors love them and we love them too, it brings a bit of the country feel to our tiny yard (as in about 1/10 of an acre). You very well might be able to keep certain aspects that you like from your current home if you can find a home with a pretty yard that allows you to keep the chickens and create a nice garden.
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Buying and selling homes is incredibly stressful! My parents used to flip homes that we lived in and it was never as big of a fuss but nowadays they still do it and they're so stressed out because the new mortgage requirements make it so that even a pre-approved, ideal buyer can end up getting caught up in red tape and paperwork, pushing the closing date a month late at best. Closing dates are now more like rough estimates and should never be counted on imo. And in our area houses sell for full price usually but they take 9-12 months to sell because the market is just slow, not many people looking. We're currently debating selling and moving to a bigger city but the prospect of selling our house and going through the mortgage process again has me really gun shy! Last time we ended up technically homeless for 2 weeks between our rental ending (and we had given ourselves an extra 45 days past the original closing date as a buffer!) and the actual closing on our new home. It was all stuff outside our control and nothing we or the seller did wrong, just silly last minute requirements for the house from the mortgage companies because of the new laws. And our house was new construction, I can't even imagine if we'd been buying an older home that might have chipped paint or something they could deny our loan for, sheesh!
So yeah, you're not alone and it's not always been this way. And depending on your area it can be easier or harder to sell. It's always a bit of a guessing game getting the timing right between selling the old house and closing on the new one. The people I know who don't stress about it as much have family nearby they could stay with if they guessed wrong and extra cash so they wouldn't be in trouble if they needed to pay 2 mortgages for a month or two.
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No time to read everyone's responses but yes I'd follow the advice and hold off. Level 1 seems kinda light for L.A. but is so crucial and any reading/writing work will cause guessing and undo your work. By Level 2-3 you start to see a bit of grammar (identifying who, did what, and where phrases) and more spelling and dictation work. It's hard to ignore the common trend working with an older child but so crucial. I understand because my DD is 13 and so it's really hard for me to hold off!
I would continue studying literature but exclusively through read-alouds and audiobooks and oral discussion. Use speech to text or simply write it down yourself so there is a written record of the responses if you have a state that requires a portfolio. As long as you continue to study literature this way the vocabulary will continue progressing and you can even talk about all sorts of literary analysis things all orally.
By level 4 you can let them write a bit more but always spell for them any words they have not yet encountered in Barton. Not getting exasperated at this requirement to spell so much for them is hard but necessary, lol! I'd wait until level 5 (I think this is what Barton recommends??) to reintroduce required reading but even then I'd read ahead and put a dot over every word that your son hasn't covered in Barton yet. You read the dotted words and he reads everything else. That way he gets practice but without falling into any bad habits of guessing.
The program requires letting go of your typical curriculum ideals but is definitely worth it, my daughter was reading on a 1st grade level at 12 and hadn't made progress in several years (same exact reading scores for 4 years straight!) but after 1 year of Barton now (Level 3 currently) she's reading on a solid 2.5 grade level easily. She has a lot of sight word knowledge too from other programs so I'm thinking she'll be at a 4th grade level by summertime. And she's technically intellectually disabled and hard of hearing! So any typical learner who just has dyslexia is going to easily make that much progress and more in a year or two.
Once your son is reading on grade level he'll be able to progress much faster and more independently in all subjects so it's not a waste to pause other language arts work for a couple years.
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This!
Of course there are things I would do differently. (Kids, by the way, are now 23, 21, 18, and 14. All thriving, in their own extremely individual ways.) And yes, I do think one of my sons would have done better in a school environment. Not for academic reasons--just because of the ways in which he related to us, to others, etc.
I share this in a live workshop only because children and parents are complicated.
But he education we describe in TWTM is NOT too difficult, or too demanding, or too intense. I followed it, with MANY ADAPTATIONS, with four very different kids, living four very different lives.
My workshops about the challenges that our kids present us with have never in any way repudiated what we've written in TWTM. They are, rather, an attempt to acknowledge that FAMILY LIFE IS COMPLICATED AND THERE IS NO SINGLE WAY OT TEACHING, LIVING, AND COPING THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE.
I'm so distressed that my attempts to share the (sometimes bitter) insights from over two decades of parenting have been interpreted in this way. But this is what often what happens when you try to be honest.
Sorry 'bout the shouting.
SWB
I've listened to your workshop on this topic and I took away from it exactly what you're saying here. Definitely didn't get any sense that there were regrets about the overall choices or method of homeschooling and just a lot of really helpful honesty and specific insights reassuring everyone that homeschool should always be tweaked to suit the student, parent, and the particular situation. I definitely got the sense it was more specific things you wished you'd done this way or that, or things you wished you'd realized were legitimate options (like allowing one kid to go to school for a bit when it might have been a better fit). As a newer homeschooling mom I value those insights from those on the other side with multiple homeschool graduates successfully launched.
Anyway, I didn't want you to think that all or even most people who listen to your workshops came away with those misconceptions. I felt like you clearly presented your personal experience and also gave some more general advice that could be extrapolated to other families' situations.
And for what it's worth I feel like WTM is a pretty basic homeschool method, not too rigorous or too light. I have to go faster and further than the prescribed path with my advanced kid and slow it down and hang out in the grammar stage forever for my special needs kid. I keep waiting for a normal kindergartener where i can do the usual suggestions :) My 4 year old shows great signs of being wonderfully average so I'm still holding out hope!
Also, WTM was the one book/resource that gave me permission to teach my young kid to read when he wanted to, that he would be fine and it wouldn't kill his childhood to have 5-10 minute reading sessions during rest time a few times a week. It's such a rarity to find someone in favor of early reading in the homeschool world, reading that little preschool section was a breath of fresh air.
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I'll be keeping an eye on this, we just started a co-op this year near Altoona and it's been going so well! We did have everyone turn in a basic clearance but not all of the ones listed above. We also set it up so there are 2 adults in every room at all times, which I think goes a lot further towards safety because as in the case that started this law most abusers don't have a record of their abuse legally.
Ugh, yay, more fun involved in homeschooling in PA. I think we can avoid this since we don't technically have parents pay (they make a free will donation which covers the insurance for the church space we use and allows us to do a few more fun classes that need more materials and to maintain our website for the future).
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Are you asking if there's a denomination that's good for introverts? I've often thought Catholicism, if the church overall is a good fit, makes more space for introverts than some other denominations.
In some ways you've answered your own question if a traditional service feels right to you...what denominations locally are more traditional?
Amy
Yep, I'm Catholic and it's a great place for introverts in general. Larger Catholic churches are even better. In general (of course some places are different) they respect privacy and personal faith expressions. Some are more participatory, doing readings and singing loudly and such, and others are more quiet in their reverence. And most of the parts the congregation participates in are not social things, it's genuflecting and bowing heads and such. The peace offering is about as social as it gets and if you're quiet people are respectful if you simply fold your hands and give a genuine smile and nod to them and mutter "peace be with you". Others hug or go around the whole church sharing the peace, lol! My kids are more on that end of the spectrum, they'd spend 20 minutes just shaking hands and hugging people if they could :) To each their own, I like that there's welcome for both introverts and extroverts.
I attended my DH's Lutheran churches for years and it always made me so uncomfortable how nosy people were. There was no focus on worship, it was all about socializing. Fun when you feel like it but if you're maxed out on people for the day it can be overwhelming. They are a lot smaller than typical Catholic churches and I think that makes a difference.
I'd say if you're looking for a different church congregation in your particular denomination go for one that is bigger. It sounds counterintuitive but its the same reason I went to a large state university and my extroverted husband went to a small private college. Larger = more anonymity. Also, of course you might want to avoid any charismatic leaning churches, they like participation :) And earlier services tend to be better for introverts.
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No, I would not.
DD (13) had several friends get phones at 10-11 and all of them have been in constant trouble since with silly things like misusing the phone to call boys or people they didn't know well, texting mean things, calling late at night, losing the phone, or breaking the phone. It's been a mess. Even at 13 most of her friends have phones but don't use them for anything worthwhile. One of her friends (13, 7th grade) has lost her phone twice since we've known her. Once it was left at a friends' house and once it was left in OUR playhouse outside. Ugh, not something I like being responsible for as the hosting parent of some tweens hanging out together.
It's much easier to say "no" now than it is to take the phone away permanently later after giving the privilege if they misuse it.
I suggest tying it to an age or developmental milestone. We personally tell our kids they can have phones when they have a driver's license since they will need them for safety. My husbands' parents also tied it to maturity/milestone. DH got a phone at 14 because he was painting and repairing mailboxes around town all summer by himself as a summer job. They realized it'd be good to be able to get ahold of him in the middle of the day and that he might need to call for a ride at the end of the work day. His sister got one by 13 because she was a serious gymnast who was going out of town with the team for meets on a regular basis. She also stayed after school frequently to work on group projects for her gifted classes. Those are all signs of unusual maturity and situations that make the usefulness of a phone outweigh the risks. At the time of course there was no texting or internet access on phones and MIL has told us she wouldn't have given a smart phone at that age.
If you tie it to an age or milestone it gives them something to look forward to, something to work towards. And they're more likely to treat it with care and not misuse it.
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Okay, I think Central PA is too darn big, very confusing. I got excited seeing this because I'm in Central PA, but we're 2.5 hours away from Hickory Falls. Oh well, back to homeschool oblivion in Altoona :) Have fun!
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That's very good news! I have suspected high levels of prolactin too but they never test me because I'm always either pregnant or nursing :) But I leaked milk a year after I weaned my firstborn without being pregnant or anything, which shows possible high prolactin. I'm glad your daughter is getting seen now early on! Doctors tend to blow everything off once you start having kids. Apparently everything is a pregnancy or postpartum symptom and it's impossible to have an actual disease AND be pregnant or postpartum (sarcastic of course).
Praying the MRI goes well and you guys get good clear answers!
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Tiramisu, no unfortunately it's near impossible to find a doc who will test cortisol levels or give credence to anything besides the most typical issues. You're right that it is what's recommended in many thyroid circles and I agree it should be done more typically but alas, in practice things are very different.
With me my antibodies were so clearly elevated that I definitely have Hashimotos so I was just happy that at least that was being treated, but yes I do suspect there might be other underlying issues with me. Problem is when you live in a rural area like I do you kind of just have to make the best of the available medical care. I've lived in 3 different places with these thyroid issues and none have had good docs that were willing to look further.
And I have had hypo symptoms and low free t4 and high antibodies with a TSH of 1-1.5 pretty consistently. My body temperatures when hypo are around 96.5, which is pretty crazy low and a clear sign that can't be chalked up to having four kids (something my doctors always said was "well, you're tired because you have kids.....") So anyway, TSH, while a good secondary thing to check, is not the best indicator like you've found out with your daughter and like many others say here.
Low IQ and dyslexia?
in The Learning Challenges Board
Posted
Oh and I just wanted to say that reading things about how all dyslexics are super smart and everything is frustrating to me. My daughter won't be able to compensate for poor reading by opening her own business, the girl can't even figure out a dime is 10 cents, lol! I mean, yes, she's got talents stronger on the right brain side like being artistic, athletic, and outgoing, but she's still behind everyone else her age across the board, even in her relative strengths. Her strengths are her areas where she's about average for her age. So yes, we acknowledge and praise and work on those areas, but it's not the same as if she's Einstein and a genius who just talked late and will float by on her other strengths forever. But we're not alone I think in having children who struggle overall intellectually but also have this additional specific struggle of dyslexia. It just doesn't make for as impressive stories in books and websites so it's not talked about. Still, I think my DH's aunt getting her child who is functionally 5 to a 6th grade reading level is pretty amazing! And if you find out your DS does have dyslexia and choose to remediate I think you'll find the results impressive for him individually as well.