Slipper
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Posts posted by Slipper
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My middle daughter (6th grade) is a self-motivated learner. This past year was both great and awful (our first home-schooling her). We had a major distraction a couple of months into the year that affected our whole year. This particular daughter was left mostly alone for the year and happily did everything (except math, but she's focused on that this summer). She is thriving on her own.
My problem is that I can assign something like two chapters in math, one chapter in history, Bible work and her daily science lesson. A couple of hours later, I'll check back and she's completed everything and is working on a power point presentation on the history of influenza and it's impact on lungs in the elderly. That is nowhere on my list of things to accomplish.
I'm happy that she's interested in doing things, but she's so scattered. She'll bounce from that to working on a report and tri-fold presentation on Italy. Then she'll read obsessively about hurricanes. Then read dictionaries, then study rattlesnakes.
Her interests are so varied (factoring in crafts, artwork, piano, exercise) that she's starting to drop projects. (Not to mention the path of destruction she leaves behind her of books, papers, ribbons and fake organs). I'd like to organize her. I know that many of you have kids who race through interests (and do them quite well). How do you shape and guide this quest for knowledge to help develop other skills? (For example, she can't write papers as public school never covered that).
I feel like I'm doing her a huge disservice. I can somewhat keep up with her regular schoolwork, but she's capable of stretching educationally and I want to help her develop in that area.
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My daughter is not in high school (6th grade) but she is leaning towards a career somewhere in the science realm. (I realize she may change her mind and that's fine, but for the sake of this post, let's assume she's going into some type of research field).
I've read on other topics that colleges want to see science subjects with labs. How do you do that as a homeschooler? Currently, our science work include experiments, but I think you're referring to something more complex when discussing labs.
We are in the middle of nowhere, no library resources (not even inter-library loan) with very few homeschoolers in our area. I'm curious how I would put this together to be acceptable for college?
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Honestly, I can't think of a worse place to be than riding with her. If I go, I'd rather go by myself. Lately, our relationship has been strained because she has been manipulative. I've been trying to stay out of her way. My step-dad can go, however, he doesn't like churches or funerals. (They make him uncomfortable).
She's physically capable of making the trip, but doesn't want to.
I do think someone should go with her because she was close to this particular cousin. I'd just rather it was not me. My brother isn't sure if he's going, it depends on his work schedule. My sister is definitely not going due to her work schedule.
Part of the problem is 'me'. I'm tired of being stuck doing everything for everybody. Doing the baptism cake will be fun and joyful. Going to the funeral would be appropriate and a good thing to do. Driving my mother anywhere makes me want to grab Xanax. (But I can't go and refuse to go with her).
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We attend a small church. My daughter was baptized a week ago and it was beautiful. One of the other ladies there has a daughter who will be baptized a week from Sunday. They do not have a lot of money and I offered to bake a cake and help with refreshments. The little girl is a friend of my daughters and I would love to do something to make this day special for her.
Last night, my mother's cousin died unexpectedly. She slipped getting out of a swimming pool, hit her head and drowned. She was alone when it happened, so there is an investigation and autopsy. I just received a text message that the funeral will be a week from Sunday as well.
The funeral is two hours away and I will be unable to do both activities.
I was not close to my mother's cousin, although we were facebook friends and occasionally chatted on facebook. We do not send holiday or birthday cards. At reunions, we chat for a minute and move on. I'm very sorry that she died as I remember her as a kind person. I do not know her immediate family and they wouldn't recognize me if they saw me.
I really want to be at the baptism to support my friend and make her daughter's special day as wonderful as I can.
My mother had asked me earlier if I would ride with her to the funeral. (Her husband dislikes funerals). I told her it would depend on what day as I had other commitments for several days. She was VERY unhappy with my answer (she's been very unhappy with me lately anyway). However, my relationship with the deceased was not one where I would mentally clear my calendar no matter what for the funeral. My thoughts were that I would go if possible, not go if I couldn't.
Is it incredibly tacky to choose a baptism over a funeral? Is one considered more important than another? I'm struggling over what to do. I could take the cake to the church the day before, but I hate missing the actual event.
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Thanks. They offer a family three day week-end space camp that I'm considering. With the travel and actual cost of the camp, I want to make sure that it will be worth it.
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I'm trying to add field trips and I'm wondering if anyone has been to the Space center in Huntsville, AL? It's a few hours from where I live, but it's do-able if it's a good place to visit.
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That looks incredible! Thanks. :)
If you think of the books, I'd appreciate it.
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My daughters are in grades 6 and 3. My 6th grader is highly motivated and inhales academics. My 3rd grader is a "stop and smell the roses" type of learner. :) In an effort to conserve time, I have both of them in Noeo Physics (different levels). I feel like I have numerous 'extras' for most of the topics covered (magnets, force, levers, light, sound, etc). What I don't have are extra items for astronomy. Both girls have used a telescope (actually, our neighbor has a great one we borrow on occasion that is incredibly powerful). I'm not interested in 'building a solar system'.
What can I use for astronomy? I do have some books that we will be reading (or re-reading), but it pales in comparison to the other neat items I've listed for the other topics.
I'm looking for materials for a very math/science oriented 6th grader (who isn't afraid of being challenged) and for a 3rd grader who enjoys reading and doing but is content to close the book at the end of the day.
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I have also had multiple root canals (bad teeth - family, same as PP) and have had no health issues from it.
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Yes, he would get accommodations, but he has to be tested for a LD first. They won't test him. Unfortunately, the whole conversation is now dead. They said the kids were doing just fine and they plan to continue prepping for the test the way they have in the past. I was hopeful they would let me help develop a game plan, but the answer is no. :(
It's frustrating because I want to help. But, at the end of the day, it's their call.
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Thanks for the responses so far. Jane, I happen to agree with you regarding my nephew, but that's not my call to make. I'm hoping they'll take me up on my offer to help as I feel like my niece needs a back up plan and my nephew needs a completely different one. He has always struggled in reading, significantly, but in our community, testing for learning disorders is considered shameful. (I moved here from a different area so I worry less about stigma and more about what the child needs). The school suggested testing which is when my SIL and brother pulled them out to homeschool.
My niece has taken one outside cc class and made an A. She is a self-motivated learner and enjoys school and I'd love to see her score improve. Her score hasn't budged in 18 months so I'm at a loss without the subscores. To the best of my knowledge, she made a 21 all three times. I haven't actually seen the paperwork, but I'm assuming they are being truthful. (It's possible they aren't if it went down).
And, no, if I were a college admissions person, I wouldn't believe the gpa either. (That's why my own kids take standardized tests - I want to see how they compare to the rest of the country).
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My kids are younger, but my niece will be a senior this upcoming year (and my nephew a junior). I'm wondering if colleges will look at their gpa or will most of their concentration be on ACT scores? Both my niece and nephew will need a scholarship to afford college. My brother and SIL are hoping that their gpa will help (my niece has straight a's and my nephew has all a's and one B). My niece has taken the ACT three times and scored a 21 each time. My nephew has taken it once and scored a 12. I've asked them to send me the subscores. I'm hopeful that I can figure out what they need to concentrate on.
I have always felt that colleges might not give a lot of attention to gpa simply because the parents are the ones giving the grades. But, with my kids being younger, I have no idea what colleges look at for homeschoolers.
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I believe even a non-poisonous snake would cause some type of reaction - swelling, bruising, etc.
Sometimes bee stings will leave a small dot where it punctures, but I would still think it would be swollen.
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We live out in the country and as a general rule, if it's not reacting we don't go in. I've gone in for a spider bite before after it caused vomiting, lethargy and drowsiness and a knot the side of a peach on my leg. I take the girls in if it is extremely swollen (they have reactions to bug bites).
I've always heard that a snake bite feels like someone hit you.
If it was an animal, you should see several teeth marks. If you see a regular pediatrician, you might want to call and speak with a nurse and ask what to do.
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Thanks everyone! :) Yes, everything was lovely and it was a special day for all of us. Step-MIL did mention to my mother that she had make-up out in the car (my mother had bought from her previously) but my mom told her she was no longer going to purchase from her and that it was inappropriate to bring up at a baptism. Step-MIL was shocked and upset (I think from losing a customer) but nothing else was said about it to me. I had forewarned the pastor but if anything else happened, he didn't mention it.
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What I ended up doing was freezing the bread. I took the loaves out this morning and assembled the sandwiches while the bread was frozen. That way I could cut the crusts and cut them in half without the bread squishing up. They tasted great. Assembling took less than an hour, so I'm definitely doing it again. :) Thanks for all the suggestions.
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If you don't have a regular dentist, look for an emergency dental service. If it's something that is infected, they typically want you on antibiotics for a week or so anyway before they do anything.
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My youngest is being baptized tomorrow. We go to a small, conservative Presbyterian church. This is our first baptism. I have had issues with my FIL and his wife before and we do not have a good relationship. I am pleasant and try to ignore small swipes because the kids adore them (most of the time). I have also had problems with family members having really poor manners when attending kid's events. I had decided to stop inviting them and just send them copies of the performance on dvd. However, I felt that they should be invited to the baptism.
My step-MIL (FIL's wife) called my mother yesterday with some questions about the baptism. Step-MIL sells a popular make-up (not saying which one) and does quite well. She's very aggressive with selling.
Step-MIL asked my mother if it would be okay if she did a make-up demonstration after the baptism in the fellowship hall of the church. (We are hosting refreshments in the fellowship hall). My mother told her that it probably wasn't a good idea and they should probably spend the time visiting with the grandkids.
I am at a high stress level (and have been for a few weeks) and sometimes my mouth tends to shoot faster than my brain can control. I feel like it is highly inappropriate and flat rude to try to sell make-up at a baptism. FIL and his wife are very attentive church-goers and I can't believe this would be acceptable behavior at any church, so I feel like they know better.
I need a simple, discreet (so I don't unintentionally cause a scene) thing to say if I see her unpacking make-up or handing out business cards. If she gets mad later, that's fine, but I don't want my daughter to witness a bad scene.
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My daughter's baptism is tomorrow and I'm serving refreshments afterwards. How do I make my party sandwiches look nice? If I freeze the bread and assemble the sandwiches early tomorrow morning (cutting off crusts), will they thaw by noon? I'm serving chicken salad and pimento cheese.
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My oldest daughter has autism and is functionally non-verbal. She can occasionally say a word in an appropriate manner but rarely.
On risperdol, she was happy nearly all the time. She was compliant with dental work, doctor appointments, etc. She became impatient when forced to sit for long periods of time (church is a definite no), but could happily stay in a sunday school class even if she didn't understand what was being discussed. Our one problem was that she had started urinating on herself. She usually does that when she's anxious as a 'control' behavior. It had become excessive, several times a day. She hasn't started her period yet, so I thought maybe she was having some preliminary stomach cramping or something like that and was acting out.
We saw her psychiatrist last week and he was concerned that we had upped her risperdol to a point that was causing the wetting. (Previously, she had severe wetting/urinating problems on a higher dose of risperdol and we had to back down). He thought it was time to change her to another medication and decided on abilify.
We gradually moved her down on risperdol and up on abilify over the past week.
The good news - she has become more assertive in getting things she wants and we have seen some language increase.
The bad news - where do i begin? The assertive behavior in getting things she wanted (such as the nintendo) has turned into obsessive behaviors. She tantrums when not allowed to play on it. Typically, she went to bed happily at 8:00 and was asleep by 8:30. Her internal schedule made this a breeze. Now she is up for most of the night. She's pressing on her eyelids and started chewing on a hard plastic baton (it was filled with glittery liquid) and cracked it. While I was checking for damage to teeth or braces, she bit me. When I told her 'no', she started crying. I finally found some ativan and gave her some and I'm praying she will fall asleep soon.
I plan to call our psychiatrist tomorrow, but is this normal with a medication change? She typically has trouble with medicines and has had some nasty reactions before. I'm miserable. I want my happy girl back. Will it get better?
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I agree. You wrote nm (alphabetically mn), so they wrote po (rather than op). So the next one should be rq.
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Yeah, I'm starting to think my brother had the right idea after all! lol I can't hide very well from my mom as she lives next door to me.
She's always been a 'me' person. At the same time, she's very concerned about what other people think of her. She doesn't think that other people are tired of her retirement parties. She's thinking that everyone will see how much her kids love her to throw her a party.
She knows that I haven't the time. At first, when she kept insisting that I NOT throw the party because I didn't have time, I gratefully agreed. But then, she mentioned that perhaps I should just postpone it or hold it at another time. Then she would again tell me that I don't have time and I would agree and she would start flipping through the calendar for a better time.
To be clear, I NEVER wanted to throw her a party, it caught me off guard. My brother was against it as well. My sister loved the idea and supported mom in trying to find a time. (Of course, she lives four hours away, so she can't really help much).
What I finally decided to do (and thank you all for your advice), is to move it indoors at my mother's house. She has volunteered repeatedly to have her house used and since she lives next door, I'm going to take her up on that offer. If she doesn't like it, then the party is cancelled. That way, she is in charge of cleaning it. If she wants help, my sister will be in town the day before and she can help. We'll have streamers and a banner for decorations. I can twist those up and make the banner in advance. My sister will be in charge of putting those up as well. Since we're moving it indoors, I'm going to use the excellent suggestion of 'Welcome to the Sweet Years' as a theme and make it a dessert bar from 1 - 3 in the afternoon. I'll purchase sodas and bake a cake. (That makes my financial obligation to be streamers, sodas, cake). I'll tell my sister to spend her $100 on desserts and we'll ask guests to bring desserts. My brother emailed this morning to say he would be there and could do something small, so I'll put him in charge of drinks and clean up afterwards. We'll do email invites.
I already know she won't like it, but I'll have fulfilled my part in organizing it. I'm not going to throw a huge lavish party.
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Wait, your mother expects you to raid the trust you have set up for your severely disabled daughter so she can have a THIRD retirement party?
My head hurts.
Well, close. It would be her FOURTH retirement party. As for the rest, yes.
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Thanks for the replies so far. I'm glad I'm not unjustified in my resentment. I really love the "Welcome to the Sweet Years" suggestion and have the guests bring sweet items. This will be an outdoor party and we're in Alabama, so it's HOT. But, it's possible that we can work around that.
I may end up canceling, but I'd like to put an end to the nagging. If I don't do it now, she'll bring it up again at Thanksgiving. I just want it to go away. If it won't, it needs to be easy and able to be quickly planned and set aside so I can continue with my other projects.
As much as I hate to miss an educational opportunity for the girls, I think you're right that having them learn to plan it all will end up being expensive for all the fun stuff they will want to do. I'm going to assign them decorating with flowers and such. (We live in the country, we have flowers, leaves, branches, rocks, etc we can use to decorate). They can also make the banner.
I'll have my sister do the phone/email invites. I hate talking on the phone as I don't hear very well.
I'm getting so many good ideas from this thread. Thank you and please keep up the suggestions.
The problem (as usual) is money. We do have substantial savings, thanks to an inheritance. We receive a small income each month from it. The bigger picture is that our oldest is severely disabled and she will need lifetime care. Everything we've received is tied up in trusts for the kids - lifetime care for our oldest, college for the others. We can still access it, but we try to only take out what we need. I've always felt that my mother feels resentful because I don't spend money lavishly, but our kids come first. We really do not have a lot. We line dry our laundry, grow most of our own food, shop at garage sales and thrift stores for clothes.
I always feel two steps behind...how do I get ahead?
in Accelerated Learner Board
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Yes, she does everything I ask. Our deal is that she finishes what I ask her to do, records her work in a planner (including grading any tests and listing her grades). In return, I try to purchase the things she asks for (microscope, prepared slides, solar learning kit, snap circuits, etc). Some days she'll do her work and then do fun things for the rest of the day (she's working on a quilt, writing a gluten free cookbook, outfitting a dollhouse in origami furniture, etc) and other days she focuses on a project that is academic.
I feel like if I could focus her attention, she would be really great in one area (although she does well in all areas, even extra-curricular). I know she wants to do scientific research for a career but I have no idea how to get her there. I keep thinking we should try to guide her somewhat. But, maybe not?
I'll work on writing in the way suggested by AKMom.