Love_to_Read
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Posts posted by Love_to_Read
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Winter's Promise has a modern America course. Not sure how high the suggested age range is, but I'll bet some of the books could supplement the films, give some direction.
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this book may help with the attitude part, since you have found a tutor for remediating the skills part
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you know, books are very insulating...lining your walls could be considered a cost saving measure...
oh yeah, I've thought about how to ask for this for some time
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I think "stress" is too strong (and loaded) of a word. I don't stress about my kids handedness. But I am *aware* of challenges to teaching both R and L handed.
I did decide to leave handwriting of my eldest (RH) dd to my (RH) dh. I just thought it would be easier for him to model, I use a weird grip/slant, and it was an easy excuse to get him involved. :D I liked handing over that piece and it gave him a 10min daily interaction with her as a homeschooler.
I think it's unfair to be too hard on RH parents, though. Being a leftie means I've had to deal with the BS and adaptation, so btdt and know it'll be less of an issue with my RH'r. For me growing up LH at times it was a serious PITA, usually when a teacher was just clueless or school room LH-unfriendly (college). If a person is RH, a LH child can seem perplexing. Most of the posts I read as just concerned parents wanting to know what was/wasn't an issue since they were aware it was outside their experience, rather than they're being "stressed".
I guess I don't see anything wrong with a parent being concerned and asking the questions, even if the answer is to relax and let the child lead/adapt. In fact, I see a lot RIGHT with that approach and wish more of my elementary teachers stopped a moment and cared enough to ask someone!
:iagree:
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Most of the accomodations I grew up with were simple...
1. Take the paper out of the binder while writing; put it back when done. Develop a preference for binders instead of notebooks.
2. Get in the habit of not dragging pinky across the paper...hard to do when furiously taking notes, but hey, those don't have to be neat, so who cares.
3. If you have to cut with fussy sicissors using the wrong hand, you just apply pressure a certain way to keep the blades together.
4. Eat with elbows at sides if crowded.
5. Don't be afraid to try it right-handed...a few things feel normal that way.
Can't think of any others.
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Since my oldest (leftie) has some sensory-motor issues, I do worry about her a little. I probably will have her try a top-bound notebook at some point, and I've been known to catch her doing things awkwardly with her right hand (like laying on the bed to read the assignment, and then trying to write the answers right-handed since that hand is free) and remind her that she's IS a lefty, so please switch hands back to the correct one (left)! :lol: In my experience as a child, it didn't matter much, but I did go through a phase of being interested in left-handed products, so I'm kind of keeping an eye to see whether it matters to her given the extra difficulty.
For my right-handers, I'm not too worried. I think it'd be pretty funny if I got dh to teach them as the right-handed parent. Not gonna happen, though; timewise it will be me, and I'm sure they're fine. I don't really see them watching me, tbh. I put the pencil in their hands and adjust their fingers...I guess I do show them with my fingers for a moment...but it's not like they stare at me across the table doing actual writing, it's just placing the pencil in the hand before getting started. It's more, "Ok, the pencil needs to rest on your middle finger...no, don't use your whole fist..." They focus on which fingers are doing the work, and use the corresponding fingers. I'm not sure they've even noticed that I'm left-handed.
Actually, I'm not sure which hand I've been using to show them...without much thought, I usually choose whichever one they can see better. So,..if I'm on their left, I'll use my left, and if I'm on their right I'll use my right. Lol, now that I think about it, usually I do position myself on the opposite side so I can watch what they are writing; so on the left of a rightie with my left to demonstrate, or on the right of my leftie with my right to demonstrate, so it's the outer hands being used as we sit side by side. Which means that I'm a left-handed parent showing my leftie how to write with my right hand. :tongue_smilie::lol:
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A really good book regarding tantrums is The Explosive Child. I can't do it justice with a quick summary, but it's written by a psych who deals with kids who have explosive-inflexible reactions to things. Often it's a low tolerance for frustration coupled with high frustration from things like ADHD, LDs, SPD, motor delays, etc. (you mentioned OT services). He had some really good ideas for reducing overall level of tension and number of outbursts, as well as how to deal with trying to head off some instances and what to do during/after, and what not to do. I've seen great results with a child with ADHD. Haven't used it with RAD, but his approach works with a variety of causes.
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:( That's awful. I can tell you my dd would not be getting away with comments like that.
IMO, the biggest thing about being gifted is surviving until adulthood when people actually appreciate strengths...well, some people...
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:grouphug:I actually have an education major in one of the subjects that scares me for next year.:tongue_smilie:It's still inimidating to teach my own child for some reason.
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Have you broken it down into smaller tasks? Like read p1-2 and answer question. Read p3-4 and answer question. $.25 for each instead of money for a whole day.
Honestly, I'd probably send him this year. We deal with ADHD/ADD here, too, and your reasoning sounds perfectly reasonable. For several years, my dd flourished in school because she was brought back on task both by the teachers and by watching other students or interacting with them. Lots of context clues for...hmm, what should I be doing right now? She still got in some trouble with a couple teachers, but had several who were wonderful for her. I eventually pulled her out b/c they didn't do much of anything kinesthetic for her worst subjects, and nothing was sticking otherwise, but at his age, there will be good science experiments done with partners, and you can see how the rest goes. You can always come back if you have to, but I think it's well worth a try to go.
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Having been that child...
I would empathize with his predicament. Let him know that he does have the power to chose how he reads in public--how often, how well. (NOT during schooltime, but in public) Reading excessively poorly is going to come across as picking on others. They already know he doesn't read like that. Even mediocre reading is going to have the negaqtives mentioned above--people get bored. It's wasting a gift, lukewarm water, salt with no taste, hiding a light under a basket. But it's normal to want to tone it down a *little* to bllend in...it's a hard decision...and it's his decision to make. Show empathy.--peers are very important at this age, and very intolerant, very insecure.
Now to counter the desire to dumb it down, can you get him involved in public speaking elsewhere. I was on the public speaking team at school. Sometimes it's known as forensics (different sense of the word than CSI--speech team NOT forensic science!). At least THREE of the categories are related to reading aloud (presenting prose, poetry, drama, etc.) in addition to categories for persuasive speeches, informative, etc. It is a FABULOUS atmosphere for building confidence and taking pride in that talent, and meeting other kids who think it's cool that you're good at it. (I'd recommend joining via a team instead of independent, so they can be grateful for him earning the team points, and teach him to compliment others so he doesn't appear stuck up...and not to boast with overconfidence, either. ) Anyhow, since everyone is speaking, it's a great atmosphere for learning people skills with kids who are usually quite respectful and sensible, and who appreciate developing that talent.
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A lot of middle school (at least public) is repetative. I'd aim for 9th next year, and use this year to finish up any skills you consider necessary to survive high school academics.
What are the reporting requirements like in your state?
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(((((hugs)))))
It's hard to figure out how much time to spend on remediating a learning disability. Our experience is more in writing than math (dysgraphia), so I can't speak to having btdt, but I can tell you our overall strategy:
1. Keep doing her favorite subjects.
2. Try to work on the worst subject daily--make sure it's not getting avoided.
3. Keep the lessons short. Even if that means spreading it over more than one day.
4. Keep at it. We work on it as many days out of the year as we can. It's going to take more than 180 days.
5. Use tools to make it more accessible.
The long version of the 5 things above--
1. It's important to me that our dd still love learning. If we end up taking too long on the hard stuff, I'd rather cut short a medium-favorite topic than her very favorite. She needs something to be good at, kwim?
2. Try doing the worst subject first instead of last. Or at least keep an eye on the clock. If you're both dreading it...keep posting for tips like this thread and/or try new approaches. Sometimes, when you know that you've done everything in your power to make it understandable and break it down into small steps, you just have to present a confident attitude and be firm about having her try it for a week or so to get used to it. I say that only when using something like the toolkit you mention, something that is designed for this, that really isn't too hard...remember that she's used to regular approaches as being near imposssible, so be kind, but firm that this one is going to work so it WILL be done until you both get a feel for how it works in practice.
3. We try to know when to call it quits for the day. If we can manage a good attitude for a few minutes, or some serious hard work through half the lesson, that's more beneficial than having it turn sour. Frequency seems to be more important than trying to do a large quantity all at once. You *might* even be able to do two small chunks in a day with a break, as long as she doesn't revolt.
4. We school on Saturdays. This summer, we've taken a much longer break than anticipated due to vacation and such, but ideally we'd be doing a little bit of dd's worst subject in the morning or evening, or in front of the a/c during the hot part of the day. Slow and steady wins the race. If you slow down the pace without adding any additional days, the gap will get bigger between what she's doing and what her peers are doing. Your goal is to give her a solid foundation to catch up...not all the time every day, but a little of the time most days. Again, you'll have to see how that goes in terms of both of you feeling like it's too much. But don't take off an entire summer--even average kids lose up to 2 months, leading public school teachers to spend all of Sept. and Oct. on review (or Aug.&Sept. in the early states). If you go year round, that's 2 months further ahead you'll be toward catching up.
5. I've got to look up that toolkit. I'm so glad to hear there's something specific for dyscalculia. You're on the right track looking for something geared toward fighting this instead of struggling with things that aren't as effective. So, that's one tool--good curriculum.
Other tools---In our case, since the issue is writing, we do a lot of other assignments orally. I let her dictate to me for many of the things she does have to write. I'm teaching her to type, use spell check, etc., and give her extra space, any thing I can think of to lessen the burden of writing overall, so that she's not struggling every single assignment in every subject. Math isn't quite as pervasive, but you can still provide some tools like a calculator or times tables for assignments that aren't about memorizing facts. For example, if she has to do a math problem for social studies about reading a graph...let her use a calculator for history. If the math lesson is about the perimeter of triangles...focus on the concept, and use a calculator. Use manipulatives. Provide both a digital clock and an analog and don't make her whole day depend on reading them, just a little practice. Anything you can think of that is causing excessive frustration and effort, provide tools when you can...to free up the mental and emotional energy to carry on with learning the parts you are focusing on.
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I liked the logical sequence of Bob Jones for Spanish II. I haven't compared to other hs options, though, only to other school programs that IMO were illogically organized.
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I've given thought to incorporating spellingcity to make it more independent. When dd was in a different spelling program, I had her enter the words herself (copying from list), and then she could play games and test on them without me. (It says the words aloud.)
Since AAS's strength is building the words, not copying, I'd still have to stand over her, I guess. Maybe build with tiles together while feeding the baby, then hand her the green cards to enter them into the computer on spellingcity?
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We leave rice out overnight sometimes. It is never the same once it's been refrigerated, so I don't put it in there. We've not gotten sick. But then again, we eat the street food here and while we were sick for the first 10 months here, now we can eat anything and not get sick at all. We now have our proper 3rd world iron stomachs. :tongue_smilie:
I remember it getting left out when I lived 3rd World. But I think it was usually made at lunch, and thoroughly reheated at dinner. Definitely not eaten at room temp after sitting out, and probably not overnight. I'm still skiddish about doing that here, though, with kids.
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We lived off just a dorm fridge for a while, but IMO our food costs went up because we couldn't buy in bulk, and milk expired a lot quicker...I don't think the small fridge held the cold as well as a larger fridge, too much percentage escaping every time you open it. And it was really hard to fit a whole gallon; buying half gallons costs a lot more. Of course, we didn't have a separate freezer...you might be able to make a cooler work, or get a dorm firdge as cheap as a cooler, and make it work by rotating frozen items into usage.
I do agree on being as frugal as possible, but if you go this route, I'd follow strict food-safety guidelines regarding what can be left out, and keep a sharp eye on your budget. You *might* have the right diet for this, but in our experience, it cost us more to not have a real fridge. AFA food safety, some things have changed, like the comment above regarding washed eggs. Even the acid content of tomatoes is not the same as it used to be, nor are our stomach used to the same bacteria...my mom who grew up with far more lenient standards can eat things that will make me ill. I know...she's sent me the leftovers of things that she considers just barely getting old. Symptoms aren't always as severe as food poisoning, but they are there. And if you do get food poisoning...there goes a big chunk of money to the ER... I would try to postpone the purchase until you can afford it if you really can make it work, if you eat mostly veg. and have a fresh supply...but most people I think the scales will tip to where it's cheaper to have a fridge to save the leftovers and buy better quantities.
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I just bought a used IG out of this same burning desire to know what I'm missing. Even after talking myself into something free, supplemented with the reading list, when I saw the used IG listed cheap...
I *think* what you get is:
discussion questions
reminders to use the map
reminder to make a timeline
For read-alouds, you could probably manage all that on your own fairly naturally just paying attention as you read. For independent books, it might be more useful.
I still bought it to see if there's any magic that we'd be missing without it. Going to do trial run of the first two units of our backup plan this summer, then see if Sonlight helps in the fall, and if not, sell it.
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:iagree:
I think this is all true in my case. I don't know how many times a messy kitchen has prompted us to eat out, and that's no good for our diets or from a financial standpoint. I've also found that when the house needs a thorough cleaning, I'm more likely to want to go on a day-long roadtrip, just to get away. Waste of time and money. So if I just spend a few hours cleaning I no longer feel the need to flee and I feel much happier.
And I think just being in a messy space takes up a lot of mental energy. It makes me feel tired, which makes me want to just veg out.
This. I've read story after story on flylady of how finances are easier to manage when the bills aren't scattered, and diets easier to maintain when the kitchen is in good shape. I don't think it works in reverse--making a budet isn't necessarily going to do your laundry--but for many, many people, clutter is the big stumbling block making everything else that much crazier.
Of course, on the other hand, there could be some overlap...financially, it makes sense to prioritize cooking at home which is healthier, so a budget could lead to better housekeeping and diet... And starting with diet could lead you to feel healthier, to have energy to clean and pay attention to bills...so, I guess it could go both ways...
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A percent is "part over whole", so you need to make a fraction showing the amount she saved on top (the part of her income that the question is about), and on the bottom you put the total income (the "whole" amount in the formula "part over whole").
You'll need both units to match, so both numbers are about a month, or both numbers are about a year. In other words, you need either the amount saved for a year over annual income, or the amount saved per month over monthly income. Do you know how to convert the amount she saved monthly into a number for the whole year? Or, if you think it's easier, how to convert the amount she earns annually into a monthly number?
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What a great thread!
I'm hoping to get mine interested this way, too. Daddy lets them watch more tv than I'd like...might as well chose some useful shows.
Liberty's Kids from PBS...available on Netflix, and recent enough to have a website. American Revolution.
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What are you hired to tutor? Everything, specific subjects like math, just writing composition, the dysgraphia issues in general? My response as a tutor varies depending on what you're responsible for and how often you'll work with him. Also, any specifics as to what type of issues he has, since dysgraphia is a blanket term...some strategies work better for some kids than others.
Proud of you--I think there are a LOT of undx'ed students with dysgraphia, and I'm always glad to see their needs being addressed. Tutoring can be a huge help.
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I wonder if you could google your way to an answer on the web in Spanish...for example looking up a course on Children's Literature at a university in Latin America. If I remember after I'm done researching my current quest for books, I'll try to look around...I should really, really know the answer to this professionally, and I don't.
I studied abroad at one point, and I remember getting extrememly frustrated with a textbook...finally went to my host sister with textbook in one hand, dictionary in the other, and asked for help...and she ended up telling me that she could barely read it either because it turns out it was translated very poorly from English. That was back in the day before reliable internet, or I would have saved myself the trouble and bought the original!
Advice for my own geog./history study?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
How about each month you do one country for two weeks, and two more for a week each? Months like December, you can skip the fourth week.