mktkcb
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Posts posted by mktkcb
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You aren't alone. ALL my kids, and myself, are quirky that way. I've bitten my nails since I don't know when, and have never been able to quit. ALL my kids have been very "oral". Always putting something in their mouths. Twitchy/flappy (for lack of a better word LOL!). picky (scabs, noses......you name it :o) ) You mentioned "snorting", which my ds 11 started doing about a year ago. My least twitchy/oral/flappy middle dd 15 has struggled with Trich (hair pulling) since age 11. I am convinced there is a genetic component in our case. My mother was a nail biter/rubber band chewer (?? not sure why she did this) until she began taking medication for depression as an adult. The skin picking behavior you describe is just one of a whole range of behaviors that are often difficult to classify. What you describe, though is NOT in the catagory of "cutting". These are just strangely compulsive behaviors. As others have said, They have been thought to be connected to tourettes, or OCD but no one has really come to any airtight conclusions. My oldest dd 17 has grown out of most of her quirks. My middle one will probably deal with trich her whole life (she is comparatively mild compared some others, we used a book about trich that focused on behavioral management stuff, she pretty much "owns" it now, meaning I don't make it an issue/nag her/ etc.., and that helps the most in her case), and my youngest ds 11 is still very sensory - everything in the mouth, does the snorting thing (I alert him when he does it by asking if he is blowing out candles again :o) ), and I can't think of what else....there's other stuff. Anyway if you google "skin picking", you'll get lots of insightful info on these sorts of things. Here's an article thats fairly informative http://westsuffolkpsych.homestead.com/skinpicking.html. Anyway, don't freak out. Get informed. Thats my best advice. HTH.
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END???? END????? What is this "End of the School year" of which you speak?????
Kayleen (whose teenage children will be finishing courses all summer......sigh)
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Yep, DD 17 is taking it for the first time. She did pretty well on the PSAT, so I think she'll be ok. She hasn't prepared all that much.... not like she did for the psat.....because I signed her up fairly late, and she just hasn't had much time. She's not very happy with me (heh heh) in this regard, but I told her "just do it". If she tanks in any one area (doubt it) she can brush up and take it again in fall. We'll see.
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Actually, I would look at the punctuation puzzler cd's (there are 2 levels), and editor in chief for more application oriented stuff. I think these would be more focused: PP on Cap/Punc, EIC on finding your own mistakes. Just a thought.
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For language programs that are abundantly repetitive, from day to day, week to week, year to year, I think the 2 that stand out for me would be Shurley English or Rod and Staff. Now, Shurley is very verbal/auditory in its approach (used lots of chants/songs), and Rod and Staff is more standardly visual. The nice thing about R&S is that you can use it lots of way depending on writing skills. I've used both of these, and although they are praised for their "rigor", both of them can be used at a nice gentle systematic pace, both have cumulative type review every day (just about). Anyway, those would be my recs. I'm sure there are some great programs out there for special needs kids as well, I just don't know about them. HTH,
Kayleen
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Ok, seem things are leaning a particular direction. Thanks for confirming that side of my logic. It does make sense to me. This particular child is extremely challenging. Part of his desire for one-upsmanship stems from his older sister jealously guarding her Nancy Drew cds from him. BUT, in her case, you DO need to cd to load, and he isn't the most careful of the posessions of others all the time. More than one instance of mishandling her cds has led her to ban him from them. So part of his motivation is just revenge. Well, given the bit of needed moral support, I'll inform him he's outvoted (he won't be very happy, but oh well....I'm used to that with this kid). Another "tough darts hombre" moment in the life of my uber emotional, uber difficult, uber immature, yet uber sweet and uber gifted (he just one of those "uber" sort of kids, iykwim). He's also uber cyuuuute, and thats him kissing me in my avatar. He also plays a mean piano. Thanks guys.
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We have a computer issue at our house that just doesn't seem to want to go away. Sigh. In a nutshell: DS 11 owns a computer game cd (bejewled). He loaded it completely onto one of our (older) computers, meaning you no longer need the cd in order to play it. For quite a long time now, there has been an ongoing feud between him and his dsisters over whether they should be "allowed" to play it "without asking". They maintain "We aren't messing up his games, or damaging his disk, or hurting him in any way.....games that are completely loaded for use on a 'family' computer are fair game". He doesn't like this in principle. In his mind, whats "his" is "his", whether it is "digitalized" property, or physical property. Bearing in mind that he is the youngest, a bit henpecked, and extremely sensitive about property, and very competitive. Bottom line.....his sisters often score higher than him, and he doesn't like the game stats to not be in his favor. He likes to have the "high score". I completely waffle on this. I see validity on both sides of the aisle. I hem. I haw. Sigh. I just can't settle on what I think is "right", kwim. In my mind, he needs to learn to enjoy his game without having to be "superior" (an ongoing problem that we work on all the time), and his sisters are truly not perpetrating any evil on him or his game. OTOH, I do acknowledge the need for kids to have certain things that belong only to them. Yes, I've considered banning them all, but this would *thrill* my son out of sheer spite. So.....opinions? I just want a solution that I can understand to be fair. What do you think??
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Its hard, isn't it, to settle on history. If you've really narrowed it down to those 2, I vote Winter Promise. If you are still scoping things out, My Father's World, and Mystery of History might be options as well. For LA, you might look at Character Quality Language Arts. I know....its not bandied about as much as some others, but it sounds like you are looking for an IEW/imitative type writing program coupled with dictation/grammar/& spelling. CQLA brings all that together amazingly well. I may be trying it next year myself with my son. Check it out here: http://www.tfths.com/cqla.php I would read the FAQs first, then look at the samples. There are 4 levels, and 3 levels within each level, so it is something you could definitely use for both kids simultaneously. Downside....not incredible cheap. But its very good, imo. AND, they have a months worth of samples, so you can definitely try before you buy. Anyway, see what you think.
Kayleen
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If I made my son write out all the sentences he'd be neurotic for sure. He a pencil-phobe. I have the extra worksheets, which we only use on occasion. I allow him to write in the book. They aren't particularly expensive. So depending on the lesson, or the day, we alternate between doing things orally, diagramming on the whiteboard, him circling/underlining what needs to be done directly in the book, him typing up a writing exercise on the computer, or as I said, the occasional worksheet. He does enough writing across the curriculum in general. I just find R&S REALLY easy to use. Lessons rarely take more than 15 min or so. There is review in every lesson. It isn't a subject I'm going to make any more painful than it has to be. Now that said, my son is very bright, and "gets" stuff fast, and doesn't forget it, so making him write out "every single sentence" would be counterproductive for him. Other kids might *need* to do it in order to learn what they need to learn. Bottom line......I love R&S, but YOU know what your kid needs. HTH,
Kayleen
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It gets done. Lessons don't take forever. We can do much of it orally. Very thorough. Review exercise in every lesson. Open and go. It just works. Now, all this said, we did do some shurley early on, and I like it as well, but for now R&S is great.
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I don't know if History Odyssey would be a good fit.......it relies quite a bit on SOTW (one of the main spine texts), and if you really want something other than that, you might be running into it more than you'd like. You might look at Winter Promise, or My Father's World. They have nice "all put together" programs. Or Mystery of History. Hth,
Kayleen
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We have used and loved a number of their products. All my kids have gone through all of some of the BTS books. my kids have used and enjoyed the reading detective software, word roots software, logic spiders software, punctuation puzzler software, and maybe a couple others. These are GREAT programs for the most part. I may be getting the BTS software for my ds next year, and maybe 1 or 2 others (science detective? not sure.) Oh, and we've used the mindbenders books also. Sigh......I love their stuff. Its addictive, but I tend to only get stuff at the conference every year, and it is usually discounted a bit there. Have fun.
Kayleen
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Adult (although my kids have seen most of them, and in no significant order)
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Master and Commander
Pride and Prejudice
.....past these 3, I get a bit muddy, meaning there are lots that I like: Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Back to the Future, Second Hand Lions to name a few.....
Kids
Lotr again (I know, I know.....)
Indiana Jones
Jumanji/Zathura
Incredibles/Meet the Robinsons (we like Pixar in general)
Narnia
Holes (ok that makes 6....sorry)
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My oldest will be a Senior next year. She did Miquon in 1-3, then Singapore 3b-6b, NEM 1-3A, switched to Blitzer Precalc (college level precalc). She is very solid in math. Middle dd did Miquon/Sing combo in 1-3, then Singapore through 5B. Struggled through parts of NSM1, Jacobs, & a few other things. She is in 9th now, and doing Aleks for Alg 1. I'm thankful for the foundation of Miq/Sing, but she just does NOT get math in general. It wouldn't have mattered what we used. Ds, 11, did Miq/Sing 1-6, parts of NSM1, and is now doing Kinetic books Alg 1. He is a bit math accelerated, but motor skills challenged, so Kinetic books keeps him motivated without making him write so much as to be discouraging. He's only in 5th grade, so when he finishes KB, I'll probably have him do Aleks to solidify the Alg. while doing Geometry at the same time. Nothing like having a 5th grader and a 9th grader doing the same level math.....sigh. I do love the Miquon Singapore combination, though, personally. And yet math is so subjective. There are many roads to success.
Kayleen
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Hi,
Obviously, the #1 option would be lessons, due to the technical aspects of learning violin, but the ONLY books I would recommend if you are really determined to do this yourself would be the books by Ebaru called "The Violin Book", I believe even SWB recommends them. Here's the link. I guarantee they aren't the least expensive, and there are tons of violin method books out there, like All for Strings etc that are less expensive, but those books do NOT explicitly teach the technique (holding the violin, holding the bow....all the physical aspects). The Violin Book does. Here is the link. http://www.ebaru.com/index2.html
Hope this helps,
Kayleen
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If you have an oster blender, like I do, you can get a smoothie cup attachment for it. I love it and use it all the time. You can see it here: http://www.amazon.com/Oster-6848-6848-000-950-Blend-N-Go-Cup/dp/B0006ABOD6 . I literally use this every day (actually I own 2 of them). HTH,
Kayleen
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I think this is one of those things that, either way, isn't going to scar your dc for life. FWIW, my son takes piano from a VERY good older experienced teacher who travels in the summer, and doesn't lose sleep over her students taking time off in the summer. She does encourage them to work on this or that (meaning she makes sure they have songs to work on if they want to), to do some theory, get a head start on Certificate of merit technique for the coming year, go to some concerts, do a piano camp....etc. But nothing required. She will do lessons if we want when she is in town, but that usually only 4 lessons or so over the course of the summer. This summer she is getting her knee replaced, so she is taking the summer totally off to get all ready to start in Sept. She told me once that she has never noticed that her students lose ground significantly as a result of summer break.....and she has been teaching a loooooong time, so I trust her on that. So I would say if you want to keep doing lessons, fine. If you want to break, fine. Do what you want - the world won't fall apart either way.
Kayleen
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Well, I'll totally commiserate, and to make you feel even better, I'll even let you peek at just how wacked things are right now. Go here: http://www.shutterfly.com/account/userhome.jsp and admire my lovely dr table, stairs and computer desk. Ugh.....I definitely have work to do. I do need to have company. That is extremely motivating to me. My standard excuse to myself is that we have minimal square footage (3br apt), and NO storage for anything, and no garage, but those are just excuses. Its time to declutter before the sanitation police take me away. Heh.
Kayleen
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my take is that you should find a music store (or whatever) that has drum instructors, and ask what the typical progression is for kids learning drumming. Seems to me that kids start out with a drum pad to learn on, the move up to real type drums. I personally wouldn't spend bucks on a drum set without my child having first put in the time with an instructor. I don't have a drum player, but my dd (then 13) rented a violin for a few months before we invested in a decent instrument. Also consider letting him pay for part or all. As in "prove to me how much you really want this".
Kayleen
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Look at Smarr Publishers http://www.smarrpublishers.com/C2405.html . Sounds like you need something very straightforward and easy to use. This is their anc. lit course. It includes writing lessons and vocab. along with the book analysis. It is extremely easly to use. Just open up and go. It has been great for my math/science analytical type who loves to read but hates to pick apart what she reads.
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I just prayed for you....I can't imagine dealing with chronic illness like this. I also found an interesting article about a treatment for Marfans coming out of Johns Hopkins. Don't know if any of you have heard of this, but it was intriguing anyway. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/hmn/F07/feature1.cfm
Kayleen
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Well, I've discovered that my children (so far) have followed the progression that I went through growing up. Meaning that in middle childhood, naps are looked down upon in general, although occasionally enforced by parents. But around age 13 or so, both my girls "woke up" to the realization that a nap is really nice during the day when you are extra tired. I did the same at about the same age. So, my 11 yo ds would be offended if I even suggested it. My dds (almost 15, almost 17) sneak them as often as they can when I'm not paying attention LOL. I'll be looking for "so & so", because they need to be diligently working on Physics only to find that they snuck up to bed.....:o/. Teenagers!
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Well, I don't know what to tell you except muddle through and be a bit wiser next year, but I am highly empathetic. I have a similar ds, who is very involved in theater and piano. Throw church AWANA club activities into the mix, and spring is always a little dicey. So far we haven't gotten in over our heads to the extent that you are, but I don't think I could add in anything else without doing so. In fact I am highly relieved at the moment because my ds was just in the local Jr. Bach competition, and they send about 30% to regionals, which I discovered was the date of the "build your car and race it" event for AWANA (my son loooooooves to do this every year). He played well enough that I was scared he was going to make the cut, and I'd have to actually ponder which event to go to. Well, he didn't make it (yay!!), so he gets to do the low-key-non-stressful-fun-activity. AND, he was eligible to play piano at the Music teacher's convention this year because of his certificate of merit scores, but its the same weekend as his play for which he has 2 different lead parts. So we turned down the convention recital because if you say yes and end up not being able to do it, you are blackballed for future years. You have to sign in blood early, but you don't know your exact date or time until middle of June! OK, I've rambled......I assure you, I feeeeeeellll your pain. Best wishes, and happy negotiating,
Kayleen
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Hi Tammy,
It seems like you are looking more for a world history AP, but you might enjoy this link for future reference anyway. The courses are totally laid out, with assigned spine and supplemental reading, and totally free. My dd is currently doing the Algebra 1 and tolerating it (she hates math, so that is a success in our house!). http://www.montereyinstitute.org/nroc/nrocdemos.html . These are very thorough courses. HTH,
Kayleen
Ds has a bad/dangerous habit...please help me "cure" him...
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
I second (or third or fourth) gum chewing. Gum is a staple in our house, just as playdough was a staple when my oldest dd was little. We should take out stock in trident LOL! Another tip is finding fiddling "stuff" for them to keep their hands busy at odd times. Koosh balls, silly putty, doodle pads, legos, .....be creative. See if you can keep track of when he is most likely to do it, as a help to finding alternative things during those times. Anyway, thumbs up to gum.