MamaBearMO
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Posts posted by MamaBearMO
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I think what worries me most about this situation is that I don't trust myself.
When my pain levels are up, I'm short tempered, snappy, and have little to no paitence for bull carp.
I can totally see losing it completely if she were to impose herself on us. No holds barred, just a complete explosion high and wide.
I don't want to do that.
Read The Wizard of Oz and Other Narcissists!
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Well I got together with my friend and we pow-wowed about what might be a solid approach I can stick with since it's still early in the year (even though we've been doing stuff since July, technically it's the start of a new year).
She loves all about spelling herself and uses it with her children. She's also used Saxon phonics and used Ordinary Parents Guide to, in her words, condense the wordiness of Saxon for the scripting. We talked about where my son is now (her son struggled to read too) and her suggestion is to start with Saxon Phonics 2 (since he knows the basics that make up the first section review before going into the learning material) and keep doing all about spelling since it's working for him.
She has all the books and materials and said all I need to do is replace the two workbooks and return the cards/teacher's manual, since she won't need them for about two years (her next child will use it).
What do you all think of Saxon Phonics?
When I was looking through it, it does look like starting my son on 2 would work. It looks pretty teacher intensive. Does anyone have any experience with this?
I think I do need to find something (besides all about spelling) that I'm going to be able to stick with, that has a good pace for the lessons and that has practice, Saxon seems to have that, but is there anything else out there to consider if I'm going to wipe the slate clean and do a full phonics program?
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What kind of health issues could be causing this type of behavior?
A host of things, from very scary (brain tumor) to less scary (endocrine), to lifelong (mental health disorder) to treatable (chemical imbalance), to it being just a phase too.
I wasn't going to post this as it's personal in nature, but unfortunately you also can't rule out that she's been abused and this is her way of crying out for help. Not that I think that would be your family members, but our cousins daughter did almost the same thing and had been abused (sexually) at 4 by a family friend. She started acting out (lies, manipulation, etc.) at 5, and it took two years to get it out of her what happened and it was devastating to the family. She's been in therapy now for five years and is doing much better.
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When we talked to her about it tonight she was remoseful. She did feel guilty about what happened tonight and was upset about it.
I hate to say this, but are you sure she wasn't lying? She's obviously keenly aware of how the adults around her are responding, so is she remorseful or is she aware she needs to show you something that seems remorseful?
What a sticky situation your family is in, so sorry!
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"best by April 2011"
It's fine, as long as the can and seams are intact and there are no dents. The "best by" doesn't mean it's spoiled, expired or bad, just that it was "best by" the date, but after the date it should still be totally okay to eat.
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My son was doing this when I would read the book first then he would read it. No more here. He is a listen, know and remember kind of kid. So when he hears it he knows it (for the most part). So once I stopped reading the books to him, he really dropped back on pace and started actually reading the books. Now if he reads a book more then 2 times himself he knows it by memory and we don't do that book again. He tries to get an easy time out of it, but I caught on and know better now.
So, my suggestion would be you drop the reading the book to him first. See how that goes.
I hear ya! When I had him read it first, never seen before, he was upset. I assured him it's okay, just take your time, sound the words out, and we'll then read it together if he wanted. He really didn't want to read it on his own first, but he did it and struggled a bit, but did it. So at least I know that he's not just memorizing and can't read or sound out the words. I can see though that while he can read, we need to slow down so he can gain some fluency. With my reading to him first, I think I artificially inflated his speed, but certainly not the fluency. I'm hoping if we slow down a bit, that will help and he'll become more confident.
I was looking at some options online today and found a program that looks interesting. Has anyone used Recipe for Reading? What do you think?
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Last night I sat down with the All About Spelling books (I have level 1 and level 2 in hand) and realized much of what we have gotten through takes us to Level 2, Step 12, so I think I'm going to continue with All About Spelling and concentrate on that with him, adding readers to match the lessons and take it slowly to give him a lot of reading practice.
A friend is going to loan me her Ordinary Parents Guide, so I'll look that over. She suggested that I line that up with the spelling, use the chapters as they match instead of going through from start to finish, to reinforce and explain more each rule. If it looks like that might help, I'll order a copy of that too.
I so wish that there was a step-by-step guide to help parents figure out how to teach reading. Something like, this concept usually takes this long, then this concept takes that long on average. I have no idea how fast or slow he should be learning or how fast or slow we should move through the material!
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I might not word it that way, because then a nurse or resident might read "Tell you to start pushing at 10 cm."
I would put: "I am planning to push when my body tells me to push and do not need direction or assistance."
Except that if you're not at or very near 10 (as I was with my first) and start pushing, you can run into some serious complications! I had serious urge to push and was only at 6, if I'd "listened" to my body and pushed, pushed, pushed it would have been a nightmare!
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...shhhh
Don't tell the Roman Catholic Church that Latin is dead!
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I'll play devil's advocate, but will first say I do think 50 push-ups is excessive, especially for a 5-year old.
My son just turned seven and has, on occasion, been late to karate.
His sensei, on the first class explained to all the importance of being on time and that when you're late, you will do "overtime" for the time late, and in that time do push-ups, jumping jacks, etc. for the time you owe him.
My son started karate when he was six, and for weeks was not late. Then, one afternoon, he was dilly-dallying and wound up 10-minutes late to the class.
I'm pretty sure I looked harried walking in, but he was not late because I made him late, he made himself late. So, not all instances of late are the adults fault. And on that occasion, yes, he did 20 push-ups, 30 jumping jacks, 10 squats and some other stuff that took ten minutes.
The second time he dilly-dallied and was six minutes late, same thing, he did his overtime.
It only took his sensei two times to reinforce the rule to be on time, my son has never been late since from his own actions. The one time since that he was late and it was my fault, he was five minutes late and I let his sensei know it was my fault and guess what? His sensei wanted me to do push-ups and jumping jacks...and, ya know what? I did do it, to show my son why, barring an emergency, it is important to plan in advance and manage time so you're not late.
That's just me though.
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People tend to be more receptive to direction when you tell them what they can do, instead of what they can't do and when you explain things rather than make demands; does that make sense?
Here is what I'd do instead, if it were me:
Do not offer any kind of drugs (epidural, pitocin,etc...)
If I need pain medication, please be assured I will say so; you may offer suggestions for position and movement that may help if I appear in pain; and if I ask, then provide suggestions for pain relief medication options.
No IV, but willing to have it prepared
You may place a hep-lock in case of an emergency; please do not administer any IV fluids and/or antibiotics before we discuss and agree first; unless I or the baby are in distress, I would like to have access to clear fluids orally, ad libitum (side note: if you're colonized with Group B strep, they will want you to have IV antibiotics during labor to avoid transmission to the baby)
No "helping along" the birthing process (no breaking water, etc...)
If you feel I need to have anything to help the process along, like stripping or rupturing membranes, let's discuss and agree first; I would prefer to avoid the use of labor stimulants like pitocin.
Ask me if I want to be checked instead of telling me to be checked.
You may check progression on our agreed to time line, which we'll discuss and agree to when I am admitted for labor and delivery
I want to be able to move around as I feel the need to.
You may monitor when needed, then remove the equipment so that I may move around as needed.
No controlled pushing. I want to push when I feel the need to.
Please let me know when I have reached 10-centimeters so that I may begin pushing as I feel the need to push; I would prefer to avoid controlled pushing if I can.
After birth:
Daddy will cut umbilical cord
When the baby has emerged, I would like my husband to cut the cord.
Hold baby right away for at least an hour
Once baby is cleaned off on the OHIO, please allow me to hold her for at least the first hour to initiate breastfeeding.
No bath for baby (why? do you want to do this or...?)
No Hep B vaccine
As I am and my husband is negative for HepB, the baby will not receive the HepB vaccination following birth or before release from the hospital.
Baby will be breastfed ONLY, do not give pacifiers, formula, sugar water, etc...
Breastfeeding is very important for me, so please do not give the baby a pacifier, formula, sugar water or any other fluids orally unless we discuss and agree beforehand.
Baby will be with me at all times
I would like the baby to room in with me, so please ask before taking to the nursery. If the baby needs to go to the nursery, I or my husband would like to accompany her there and back.
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Fat cells remain as they expand and contract depending on whether you're burning fat or storing fat.
When you're "burning fat" for energy, you're liberating "free fatty acids" (FFA) from within the fat cell to use as energy.
When you're "storing fat", you're pushing free fatty acids (FAA) into the fat cell for storage.
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Do we have any Muslim posters who would like to chime in? I'm curious what they would say. Specifically, since many Muslims (or at least those who get all the press) say that Jews and Christians and all other non-Muslims are infidels, I'd guess that they don't think that "the big three" all worship the same God.
Jews & Christians = People of the Book
Non-believers = other people (religions) who haven't learned of Islam
Kaffir = those who reject Islam, a disbeliever (Jews & Christians are not kaffir since they're people of the book)
The term "infidel" is from the latin "infidelis" (‘not’ + ‘faithful’), and originally denoted a person of a religion other than one's own, specifically a Christian of a Muslim (believed to originate as a term/word during the Crusades).
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I am curious as to what you all think and I hope my Muslim mamas here chime in. :)
I have been studying the Middle East and Islam for a while. I am a Christian.
I had no clue until recently that Abraham was so significant in Islam. That then made me think that Allah and God seem to be the same.
I think Jesus is seen as a prophet (??? or just a nice guy lol) but not the son of God.
Help me think this through please. Thank you so much!
Yes, it is the same God, Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, in the same line as Judaism and Christianity. Muslims believe in Adam & Eve, Moses, Abraham, Noah, Salomon, and all the others in the Old Testament, the believe Jesus was a prophet and is the Messiah (that he will return, just like a Christian does), and the believe that Muhammad is a prophet who came after Jesus. They also believe in the angels, satan (shatan), heaven and hell and that Mary was a virgin and Jesus was born miraculously. They also believe in the miracles of Jesus throughout his life.
They do not baptize children and do not baptize themselves as adults.
They do not believe in original sin, and Eve is not held as responsible for their banishment from the Garden, they share the blame equally.
They do not believe Jesus died at the crucifixion, but Jesus was taken up by God, to heaven and will return again. The quran does say that his disciples saw him, in flesh and blood, before he rose to heaven.
Any of our Muslim posters can correct if I got anything wrong!
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Okay, so today I had him read one of the books he'd not seen/read before and he struggled, skipped some words, guessed a few, but overall was sounding out and moving along at a pace that wasn't horribly slow.
So, at least I can assume he's learning to read?
Given that he didn't breeze through the book, I think maybe it's a good idea to slow down a bit and let him fully digest all the material we've covered the last couple of weeks, reading each day within the blends and long vowels to build some better fluency, then move on.
Or should I continue along to get through all the material and then work to build fluency?
With the spelling, I'm totally sure he's really spelling now and not just memorizing the word cards and such. I dictated a sentence to him and he wrote it out and there were no spelling errors. He does segment words as he spells and sounds out as he spells, so this isn't something I think I need to worry about. And I think I should probably skip all about spelling at this point until we get the reading more steady and fluent?
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Now I'm totally stumped.
My son (just turned 7) has been plugging along for a couple of weeks now with moving ahead in his phonics and we're doing reading everyday. We're playing a lot of games, and mixing things up to keep it interesting. I've been really pretty amazed at how well things have been going since it seemed like we were working on CVC words forever and now we've managed to get the blends down and the long vowels too!
Or so it seems....
Here is what we've been doing:
We're up to Lesson (Step?) 19 on All About Spelling. The boy can spell, really! Has not once gotten anything wrong on the board with the tiles or written on paper. I've even added words from the lists that follow the ten in the unit.
I've been making flash cards with the blends (final and initial), the long vowels, CVC's, etc. He picks 15 a day and reads the word on the cards, never skips a beat now. Yeah, right?
We've been doing three Nora Gaydos readers a day. Yes, three! And I started doing a suggestion I read in Reading Rescue 1-2-3; that is, To-With-By. I read the book to him, he reads it with me, then after we've done the three, he reads them to me, by himself, on his own. Again, we're now up to the last books in Level 1, so they're still pretty simple, but have enough challenging words that I feel like he's been making progress.
So, what's the problem?
Well, tonight my son says, after reading the last of his books to me, "Mommy, you know I know all the books by heart, right?"
Huh?
So, I pulled Bed Bugs (book 6), one we did last week, and challenged him to tell me the whole thing, from memory. He recited the whole thing, word for word, not one mistake!
So then I said, "Okay, we just did Stuck Duck, what was that one?" He again recited it, word for word, not one mistake.
So I pulled The Fox Begs and asked him about that one. Again, he recited it, in full, no mistakes!
What the.....Is he just memorizing these books and not really making any progress with reading? Is he just memorizing the words with All About Spelling but not really learning to read and spell?
Is there a way I can test him to see if he can really read, or if he's just memorizing every last thing?And goodness, if he's memorizing it all, what the heck does that mean?
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Which state do you live in that you have to have 1000 hours? I think it is crazy to set a time limit to learning. Some kids learn quickly and some don't! I am so glad that we don't have that law in WV mostly because that must be a pain in the butt to constantly keep track of!
Missouri requires a minimum of 1,000 hours a year; 600 minimum for core subjects and 400 additional hours for electives or more core time. Looking at where we are now, since starting in July, we'll easily exceed 1,000 hours.
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I just wanted to add this for those who are looking at off/on site and the dining plan.
Like I said, our family has been going to Disney for YEARS. My FIRST memories, from 4 yrs. old, are on the old keel boats at Disney. :D So, I LOVE them. BUT, as someone else has said, their food quality has gone way down hill, ESPECIALLY during free dining.
Part of the reason our 2006 trip was so miserable is b/c we had just started eating healthier about a year before. We could NOT handle all that junk food at Disney quick service places. We felt miserable and bloated.... and had to go to the bathroom, a lot. :blush: Just the thought of staying in a value and having to eat at quick service places twice a day makes my stomach turn in knots. Seriously, most of it is pretty bad..... any place that has healthier options, like Columbia Harbor House, will be really crowded.
You can see all the menu's here: http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm
So, in 2007, for our "do-over" trip, we had sandwich stuff back at the condo, like nice hoagie rolls, shredded lettuce, submarine oil, meat, cheese, etc. We would get to the parks at rope drop (9:00 a.m.) and go back to the condo around 12:30-1:00. My 3 yr. old took a nap, in his own room, and I was able to shower off and change clothes, (even in October, you will work up a sweat!) eat a nice healthy lunch and even sneak in a power nap some days. We would go back to the parks in the late afternoon and stay until closing. We felt SO much better, experienced no stress and we weren't completely exhausted by the end of the night.
I never really "cooked", other than pop some Kashi waffles in the toaster. So, for us, it's not about saving money.... it's about enjoying ourselves. By getting that midday break, we feel better and are more relaxed. By eating half our breakfasts and most lunches in the condo, we felt better and were able to then spend our money at nice restaurants every night. And when we went to those nice restaurants, we were in fresh clean clothes and not already bloated from the crappy lunch we had, KWIM? I just don't consider eating every meal in the parks a "perk"; to me, that is a downgrade, something that will take away from my vacation experience. I understand that not everyone has the same food preferences, and that for most people, it won't affect their tummies, but if you are a healthy eater.... it might make you pretty miserable.
Anyways, just wanted to out that out there, just in case there are other people with the same "foodie" issues ;)
I feel pretty much the same way, no way I want to do counter service meals daily; I don't even eat fast food at home, so why would I on vacation? That's why we do the deluxe dining plan. It works well for us since we usually do two meals a day instead of three, with a late breakfast or early lunch at a table service restaurant (Tutto Italia, Wave, Coral Reef, etc) and then a signature for dinner (Jiko, Artist Point, etc.). But some don't like to do table service either, they prefer to do quick meals. We go for 10-14 days at a time, so we don't need to rush, so table service for us is great!
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Yes.:( My dd had only a few spots but ds was covered for weeks and quite ill. Ds the younger was only born but didn't get it. Chicken pox vaccine is not given in the UK.
If you consider vaccinating your son, who was a baby, do titers first, he may actually be immune from the exposure and just didn't get blisters.
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In MO kindergarten is optional and we don't have to maintain records (we don't register unless the child was already in PS and don't report or test) until the child is 7 before the school year starts due to compulsory age being 7.
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We do lessons five days a week (M-F) and reading is daily, seven days a week with only a few exceptions. My son also goes to CCD on Sunday mornings, so that counts, but isn't me teaching. So my son really does something everyday. Definitely helps with the 1000 hours we have to log in a year!
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Smithsonian
National Geographic
Scientific American
Wired
The Economist
Atlantic
My son gets:
Boy's Life (cub scouts)
Kids Discover Magazine
Top Secret Adventures (Highlights world geography subscription)
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Tell me about DVC private rentals though. I've looked at buying into DVC, but right now it doesn't seem worth it. So how do the rentals work? Do you rent through an agency? Is it cheaper than a traditional Disney hotel stay? Obviously you use the dining plan, so how do you set that up? Through the owner? Through Disney? Can you choose any DVC property you like? Inquiring minds want to know. :lol: TIA!
There are a couple of rental agencies, the one I've heard a lot about is David's I think (something like David's DVC?). I go over to the mouseowners forum though, where they have a section that's for rentals and look to see what's available, see who has points they want to rent, and then once we figure out a price per point (I usually try to stay in the $10 range, but have paid as little as $7 on distressed points that were in holding for the owner) the owner then calls to find out if dates are available.
A few things I've learned doing this: If the owner has points at the resort you want, you can reserve up to 11-months in advance, if not, just seven months in advance. The earlier you book though, the more you'll pay for points since they can get a premium for the points while they still have exclusive reservation ability. An owner can booked you into any resort you want as long as there is availability for your dates.
Doing the rental through an owner, I've found has a couple of advantages. One is the dining plan, you don't have to start it the night you arrive, nor do you have to have the same plan every day you stay. The owner we rented from explained how it worked and we wanted the deluxe plan anyway, but liked we could start it the first full day instead of the first night when we'll arrive later than able to use it that night. The other advantage is that if you only wanted the dining plan on a couple of nights, you can do that too.
Once the reservation is made, the owner would take care of adding the dining plan if you wanted it. You have to pay for the dining plan the day it is added, so you can do it right away, or you can wait until, I think, up to 72 hours before you're going to check in?
When you rent from an owner, you can book magical express (it's still free) and you can use all the transportation and the extra magic hours. You can also get your tickets at a discounter, like undercover tourist, and save a little bit there instead of paying at the gate prices. You can also check-in online, which saves some time when you arrive.
I just checked online. If we'd booked directly through Disney, the same exact nights, with the deluxe dining plan and 10-day park hoppers, it would cost us $9516, so renting privately with a DVC owner saved us $4500.
ETA: I also just played around a bit and instead of staying in a 1-bedroom with a private rental, I could stay in a hotel room on-site at a value (Pop) with same things, 10-day park hoppers and deluxe dining and it would cost $4200, so for about $800 more we get a larger unit instead and just go through an owner to do it.
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Well, $10,000 is what I budget, just to be safe, but I try not to let it get to that point.
The best thing that saves me money is planning. Early and thoroughly. We stay at value resorts (POP Century is my favorite), because that enables us to have a longer vacation and since we are a family of five, our resort choices are limited. We get two rooms and I diligently search the web for discount codes (our on-site room at POP last year was only $65 per night). Once you make a reservation with Disney, you can always call back, give them a code and get the discount.
Also, sign-up for the free vacation planning DVD on the Disney website, and do anything else you can to "register" with them. They will send you mailers advertising the parks. There is usually a PIN code on the mailer that will give you a discount when you book with the code. I've gotten up to 40% cuts on my room price this way.
We always try to book our next Disney vacation before we leave. You will save AT LEAST 35% when you do that (it's called the "bounce back" offer). It requires a $200 deposit, but that is refundable up to 45 days before your actual vacation.
As for what we do in real life to save money....I'm pretty frugal. All our vehicles are paid for, we hardly ever eat out at home, I do freezer meals and buy in bulk to save on groceries (I only spend $450 per month on food and that includes toiletries, etc.), we open the windows instead of turning on the air conditioner...stuff like that. Also a Disney trip is a large part of our Christmas gift. Whatever money comes in from grandparents, aunt and uncles, etc, goes into the "Disney fund". I do the same thing with all my dh's bonus money from work (he gets a monthly bonus based on profit)....all of it goes to the "Disney fund". Fortunately for us his bonuses are fairly substantial and we are able to pay for our trip in this way.
As far as airlines go....book early. For us, Delta has the best deals for our next trip. Last year, Southwest did. My dh also has a credit card that he uses for business purposes only (he is reimbursed monthly by his company for his expenses) and it is an airline reward card. Last year, 3 out of our 5 tickets were free, which saved us about $1500.
We prefer staying on-site, because with our room discounts, the dining plan and the fact that we don't need to rent a car, we save money. I also just enjoy being there the entire time. For me personally, I feel like I lose some of the "magic" that is Disney when I stay elsewhere. Also, a hotel that may be "10 minutes away from the front gate" can be a lot longer in the traffic crush of morning arrivals. Not to mention, the front gate is actually miles away from any of the park entrances. LOL
So yes, our Disney vacations are not for everyone (in fact some folks probably think we're insane :lol:), but it is something we really enjoy and so I make the effort to plan and save for it. I also prefer to stay for a minimum of ten days (since we're so far away, a "long weekend" at WDW just isn't realistic or worth it), because that actually saves us more money in the long run. Park tickets are only $5 a day per person for everyday over your fifth day. That really lowers the average cost per park day for us.
I also pack cereal, granola bars, etc. for quick breakfasts in the room and that saves some money, too.
Anyway, take time to plan, research, and save and I think you'll find a nice Disney vacation isn't that far out of reach.
We stay on site, typically 10-days, and don't do the mental gymnastics above to come in under $5000 for a family of four, staying on-site, deluxe villa 1-bedroom, 10-day park hoppers and the deluxe dining plan.
Since we rented the points, we can decide which days to do the dining plan and don't have to do it the entire stay, so we don't start the dining plan until the first day (not the first night), so that cuts one night off, so we only pay for nine nights, which works well for us.
We're going next month - Boardwalk Villas (private DVC rental) in a 1-bedroom unit cost us $2000; 10-day park hoppers $1042 (undercover tourist with mouse savers discount); deluxe dining plan $1593 - total $4635. One of our four is under 3, but if he wasn't and we paid for one more kid, that adds $530 for dining plan and park hopper ticket, so just over $5000 for the ten days.
I don't think that's too bad when you consider it's all meals, all snacks, all beverages, all parks, we're on site (walking distance to Epcot, boat to DHS) and it's just over $100 a day per person; if both kids were paying, we'd be at $125 day per person.
Latest MIL Plot
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
To understand why she ignores Wolf, you can read Harpy's Child.