Barbara H
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Posts posted by Barbara H
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Ditton to the concern with allergies. If you are allergic to cats, I'd tread very carefully with getting a guinea pig. A lot of people are allergic to guinea pigs or develop allergies if they live with them. I had guinea pigs as a kid and I love them but I am very allergic to them now.
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Have you tried the stained glass books like from Dover? I love those.
I understand what you are saying about liking a relaxing craft that isn't too demanding. I enjoy making beaded necklaces in part because there is no real need to concentrate. If I don't like how it turns out I dump it off the string and try again. It is a slightly more complicated version of a craft a four year old could do and sometimes that's exactly what I need at 9 pm. in front of Neflix.
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My first answer is what others have said - availability of books, easy to use online catalog, accessibility of interlibrary loan, etc.
My second answer is community programming. For us the library serves a special role in our hoemschool by providing free educational programming. Over the years for us that has included story time, kid music time, ballroom dancing, yoga, chess club, puppet shows, films and discussion, board game groups, and book groups. Most of these activities cost the library very little - it is more a matter of having space and opening it up to people from the community. It can be very difficult in a lot of communities to find free accessible public spaces and if the library can provide that space that means a lot.
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A lot of kids in CO don't go to UNC because of the meat packing plant. Yeah, I couldn't stand 4 years of the Greeley stink.
I lived in Greeley for a while as a young child and yes, the horrible smell is very strong in my memory!
To me it is perfectly reasonable to consider something as big as the whole town smelling bad or just not liking the layout or feel of the campus. What drives me nuts though is when students make an instant snap judgement, positive or negative, based on some tiny factor about the tour guide.
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I do not believe lack of AP Latin is ever going to be the make it or break it thing for anyone. And, for what it is worth, I have seen more than one student bomb with AP Latin after doing really well up that point with Latin. It is a big transition - same goes in college with the transition from 200 to 300 level Latin. While we certainly do not want kids to drop things without a reason, I also believe it is a very healthy thing to learn that sometimes we have to let something go and shift priorities.
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I'm sorry he is struggling. While it is very difficult this has hit during senior year, it is a positive thing that it is happening now instead of freshman year when he is not at home. It is good you are taking it seriously and providing him lots of support and access to counseling and testing. As you know this is not an uncommon age to start having problems these sorts of problems and the most important thing is to address it directly.
It is always hard to answer questions like this without having all of the particulars (his record, the sorts of schools, etc.) but I will offer a general answer. If he is likely to pull a very low grade - low C, D or failing, particularly if it is in more than once class, I would consider the possibility of withdraw from one class if he doesn't need the course for graduation. That is something that can be presented at midyear with a brief explanation. If he sticks with classes and pulls much lower grades, again I would consider giving colleges a brief explanation with the mid year report. Better they know there is a specific problem that is being dealt with than to just think he's got senioritis.
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Great son, you eat the toenail and I get leftover korma for lunch tomorrow. Works for me.
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My take is a bit different on this. Mid to late teens are a time to learn to deal with some of the difficult stuff while you still have your parents' support. To just protect him from it - like give him the money - is to deny him an opportunity to learn to be empathetic or to do the right thing even if it feels lousy. In life most of us will get dealt tough stuff and it is good to deal with some disappointments before you are in the grown up and in the middle of the real thing. If you cashed the check down the road when he understands dementia better or looks at this from a different perspective if he might feel some regret or embarrassment about having taken advantage of the gift too.
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Sleep deprivation is a real issue for teenagers and yes, homeschooling can help with that.
Research: "The study concluded that more than half (55%) of teens who were homeschooled got the optimal amount of sleep per week, compared to just 24.5% of those who attend public and private schools. Conversely, 44.5% of public and private school teens got insufficient sleep during the school week, compared to only 16.3% of homeschooled teens."
As far as the late night body rhythms the one caution I see with that is that teenagers also often struggle with screen habits. Anyone who has read anything about insomnia knows screens are a huge issue for many of us. I'm a bit cautious about concluding that any teen who stays up late must have a body that needs to operate that way. With sufficient daytime exercise and no screens beyond early evening, the system may work a little differently.
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We loved Minimus - one of our favorite things in our entire time homeschooling. While it is kid-like and friendly, there is some good substance there too. We did it as a small co-op so we were able to chip in for the teacher's guide and worksheets. I would guess the teacher's guide would have good resale value as the used copies on Amazon are as much as the new.
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Just another idea.... with trying to balance therapies and appointments, we found it just worked better for us to do lighter school more days year round. I'd rather do a bit of school on a Saturday morning or in July than I would to try to send a tired child to therapy or do school with a tired child after therapy. It just made all of our lives easier get away from the idea of the public school schedule and do our own thing instead.
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With a seven year old I would also experiment a bit with your exercise routine. Some kids do best with school first thing and then play, some do best with hard exercise before school, some do best with very small amounts of seat work mixed in with exercise. It might be good to try a few approaches and see what works. Ask him to help evaluate what helps him pay attention. Some elementary age kids do best when they have something to fidget with (a little toy or squeezy ball).
For me personally, I try to really draw a distinction in my mind between wiggly, goofy, and rude behavior. A lot of seven year olds don't look like they are paying attention, they may be flopping around, fidgety, and silly. Try to let some of that just roll off your back and don't engage with it. Be flexible and open to the lesson progressing in a different way than you'd anticipated. It is appropriate though to draw the line at rudeness.
As you are getting used to working with each other, it may be helpful to give him words for what he's experiencing - "too easy? too hard? too confusing?" You can also "make a deal" - "do one and show me you know it and we are done."
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For kids who want to do a lot with academics and extracurriculars, making good use of summer can be really important. Year round school, or at least some subjects or test prep in the summer, can make life more sane. That's not for everybody but it is something to think about. Also, keep in mind that they don't necessarily have to work ten hours a week year round to get the value of work. It can be more something more seasonal too.
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I'm not finding it with a quick Google but I've read some research before that said that arrogance is not that common of a problem for gifted kids. Maybe someone else has a link. While we may have this "don't get a big head" idea the reality is that this isn't that big of a problem for most kids. Being outside of school helps with that too.
It can be helpful to start regularly noticing the strengths and hard work of other people. It doesn't have to be all academic things - it can be noticing a person's lovely garden or how well they play the guitar. Just the idea that he hears that lots of people work hard to get good at a lot of things.
If you think he's hearing a lot of that reading talk I would directly ask him about it - has he noticed what people say and what does he think about it.
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You might set up a situation where they can't talk to you about the unperfect things because they don't want to disappoint you, and if they haven't ever thought about the things that could go wrong, when they do, they might think it is the end of the world instead of a pretty normal occurance in student life.
Great questions. And, yes, even if your kids are mellow and you think adjustment to college life will be easy, they ALL need to hear that stuff (from little things to very big ones) can go wrong and that no matter what you will be there for them. They all need to hear this message. It is tricky because of course we are proud of them as they begin this next chatper. And, of course we expect them to work hard, take it seriously, and do well. But, too often they only hear the weight of the expectations of others and don't hear enough about supports available, the normalcy of having some bumps in transition, and of our unconditional love.
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No matter the major or the college, the transition from childhood to adulthood can be really difficult for some teens. For a person that you know has some vulnerabilities, it may be good to have a plan set up as she transitions into college. That might include the expectation that she see a therapist on campus, that she have a stress management plan, that she check in with you on a particular schedule, and that you or someone has has really gone over with her in detail what her options are in various situations where she might struggle, etc. Does that make sense?
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Thanks for the help. I'm sorry if I was unclear. I'm trying to figure out if the the local state U is $12,000/year (non-resident) how much of that would the we need to pay based on our income?
For example, I can locate online mortgage calculators. Plug in the numbers, and that's what you pay for your house/mortage/interest. Is it not that simple with college costs?
The net price calculators are mandated by law and they will give you an estimate. They vary in accuracy but they are a starting point. If you put the college name and net price calculator into Google you should be able to find the net price calculator on the college website. Or, you can go to a site like the College Board and you can get an estimate for several colleges without having to put your data in multiple times.
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http://netpricecalculator.collegeboard.org/ The College Board net price calculator is one place to start.
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I'm still shocked that multi-choice is a present in high-school level tests.
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It doesn't stop there.... there are multiple choice on the exams for graduate and professional school as well - GRE, MCAT, GMAT, etc.
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my dd gets upset everytime I ask the student tour guide about gluten free dining, but I keep asking. There's no point in focusing on a school if on campus living is required of freshmen and she can't eat.
Admissions should be able to set you up with someone in dining services who can talk to you about it in detail. This is really important stuff and I would not trust the answers of a student tour guide. Not because they would intentionally be deceptive... but as a parent of a kid with a serious food allergy, I've just learned a lot of people are totally clueless about this stuff.
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(Part of the reason that I wanted to make this post is to help alleviate the guilt that some parents feel when they realize that they cannot afford Perfect Fit U. It is one thing to have the perfect fit on paper; it is another thing for a student to take advantage of what the school offers. Sometimes students have to make it work--and they find that less than perfect can work quite well.)
Excellent point. As parents it can be easy to get into the mindset where we feel it is our responsibility to make everything work out for our kids... or that we've failed if we can't give them the perfect educational opportunity. In reality, education is in large measure what students choose to make of it. What is most important is not what the experience of the "average" student at the school but YOUR student at that school. Are they involved? Do they go to campus events? Do they go above and beyond what is required? Do their friends help them grow in positive or negative ways? Do they get to know professors?
While the "average" or "middle" of the public K-12 may not teach critical thinking well, we need to keep in mind that the "top" kids are often still quite amazing. Perhaps at times amazing in spite of what happens in school rather than because of what happens in the school - but still amazing. I think a lot of people would be surprised by the level of students at the very top of their classes at "Podunk" colleges. While we should maintain our critical thinking about the need for significant reform in the system, I also think it is important for homeschoolers not to underestimate strong students from public and private K-12 education.
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Honor society based on first year in college GPA. Costs money, doesn't carry a lot of prestige. We decided to skip it. The more meaningful honor societies are Phi Theta Kappa (for two year colleges), Phi Beta Kappa, and honor societies based on major.
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Barbara,
The class is through The Potter's School. The class meets once a week for 1 1/2 hours with a project/assignment to be completed on the other days. I could not be happier with it! It had been highly recommended by a good friend whose child has gone onto engineering.
Lisa
Thanks Lisa. That sounds great!
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I'm a fan of adding a word to avoid the issue. Explained here... http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/singular_plural_%20collective_noun.htm Hope that helps!
Any insight into dd7 (writing)
in Accelerated Learner Board
Posted
Handwriting is a totally separate activity from writing. My suggestion would be to teach handwriting as a stand alone activity. 10 or 15 minutes a day.
I would 100% ignore what she's writing on her own. Let her have it, don't edit, don't mess with it, don't push her to write very much for school.
Also, she's seven. If she takes the SAT at a traditional age there is almost no chance it will still require a handwritten essay by that time. The ACT is already moving to keyboard essays (in many test sites by Spring 2015). It is just a matter of time.