How do you start off tutoring children ? DO you tutor out of your home ? Or do you apply at tutoring centers ? About designing curriculum -- do you know that there's a master degree in instructional design and there's a job called instructional designer ? Nowadays it's mostly needed by online learning providers and by any organization which needs their employees to be trained. MOst of instructional designers don't have a specific degree - they learn it on the job (usually they're HR people whose job is to train others in the organization). Interesting, huh ?

My be I'll try applying for real jobs. ON top of designing curriculum, teaching, and supervising/evaluating the teaching process for the religious weekend school, I also volunteered a couple of times during Islamic conferences -- running the madrasah/children program (leader position), and also running the woman's program, etc. I used to have a business website (2004-2012) which supplemented my hubby's income substantially (at its peak it netted over $20K annually for a couple of years). All while homeschooling. So may be I can put all those in my resume. What do you think ? Thing is, I'm not sure what kind of jobs I want. At least, by volunteering at hospital/CC/non profit, I will be exposed to different positions, so I will know what type of jobs appeals me.

I'm thinking of volunteering at a large hospital system in Houston also. I think my immunization is up to date (except for the flu shot). How long does it take from applying to volunteering ? HOw many hrs per week do you volunteer ? I'm thinking of volunteering for different organization -- probably like: one day at the hospital, one day at a non profit, one day at a CC, one day online (certainly one can volunteer online, right ?), one day off for errand.

DO you have to have certification for this ? Like alternative teacher certification ? And is it hard to find subs jobs ? Does the district have a list of subs jobs and you can pick and choose the timing, the subject, and the school ?

Thanks ... So what do you end up doing ?

NM

So ... I've been out of the work force for almost 10 years now. The next school year 2016-2017, I'm planning to put all my kiddos at school so I can start brushing up my resume by volunteering. Problem is ... I'm not sure what kind of job I want, so I'm having difficulties in determining what kind of volunteering opportunity I would need. I was a scientist in my past life. My last job was as a postdoctoral research fellow in one of medical school in Houston. I sort of love research but found it pretty lonely. I loved it when I got to mentor undergrad/grad students in the lab. I love that sort of interaction. SO I don't think I would like to go back to lab research. Right now, I'm teaching religious weekend school - I've been doing this for 7 years. I also develop curricula for that school. This is something that I enjoy - not so much of the teaching, but more of developing curricula. It seems that I like these followings: - mentoring/tutoring (one-on-one interaction) - some kind of counseling/advising/support - e.g. for disadvantaged students, cancer patients and family, refugees, etc. I feel this kind of work will be meaningful to me. - designing training/program/curricula/scheme. - teaching (may be -- but only at community college level, not K-12). What kind of volunteering jobs I would need ? I'm thinking of: - volunteering tutoring in Houston Community College (yes, they have this program) - volunteering in MD Anderson Cancer Center /Methodist/St.Luke -- they have a robust volunteering program, but not sure yet what kind of programs they have. - volunteering tutoring at risk students. I saw a non-profit organization called Community in School which specializes in lowering the drop-out rate of at risk students. They have volunteer openings at a school district next to mine. THe cons is that whatever program they have would be after school programs, and my kiddos would be out of school. So unless I can get my husband to go home earlier, I may not be able to participate in this. Or is it possible they have day program ? - library - but this doesn't seem to line up with my goals, right ? Unless I can get experience developing a program there. Any ideas ? TIA

Yahiya Emerick's Quran translation is in modern English and free flowing. I have the children version (w/ some notes) which I read aloud to my kids. We enjoy it. This one is the translation + extended study version: http://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Holy-Quran-Todays-English/dp/1450549535/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1449667303&sr=8-2&keywords=quran+yahiya+emerick This one is the translation + historical context version (shorter than the one above): http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Quran-Todays-English/dp/1451506910/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1449667303&sr=8-3&keywords=quran+yahiya+emerick

The basic surah (chapter) in the Quran which has to be said during muslim's daily prayers is: al fatihah. You can listen in youtube and read the translation alongside. Another touching surah - because of its rhyming and repetition is Ar Rahman . It describes ALlah's /God's favor to human being - and it has a repetitive verse (very moving when recited in Arabic) which means: "So which of your Lord's majesties would you deny?" This frequently moves people to tears if recited beautifully during the prayer. Surah in the last part (juz 30) of the Quran are short and deal with the main belief of Islam. They're revealed when prophet Muhammad had to invite the polytheist to Islam. The important one is: Al Ikhlas because it describes the oneness of God. There's also another surah which is called Maryam. It's beautiful when recited in Arabic because it's rhyming. It describes Maryam/Mary (Jesus' mother), prophet Zacchary, prophet Yahya (JOhn the Baptist), and of course the birth of Jesus (prophet Isa).

Yes, Crooked House is my favorite ! Other titles: - Dumb Witness - Towards Zero - The Hollows - Murder of Roger Ackroyd (highly recommended) - Hercule Poirot's Christmas. - FIve Little Pigs

The special ed. system -- is it district dependent or school dependent ? How do I compare the special ed. system between two schools or two districts ? Thanks

My first ds is going to be a high schooler next year and I may send him to PS. He has a mild LD - borderline ADD (almost, but not yet .. according to his NP), low processing speed (16%) and low working memory (can't remember). He had visual problems, but it's so much better now after a year of visual therapy. These impact his work. He can do the work, but he's slow to understand, slow to memorize, and slow to work. We live in a good school district in HOuston suburb (FOrt Bend), but we're zoned to a not so good high school and middle school (scored 5 and 6 respectively by greatschool website). Granted, they are still better than some schools in the inner cities, but compared to most schools in our district, these are in the bottom 20%. I'm thinking of moving, but hubby doesn't want the hassle of moving. Hubby thinks that it doesn't matter where a child goes in high school. A student will always succeed if he or she works hard during college years and not partying. He said that people drop out of hard majors in college because they don't want to work hard. Hubby himself managed to rank third in his computer science degree when he's in France by working 3x harder than the French because he's a foreigner who just learned French a year before his college entrance. I agree with him (how can I not ? He defied the odds) , but in my opinion, good schools tend to have better demography and is located in a better neighborhood, so they can give harder contents to the students. Hence, better college preparation and better odds in succeeding in college. I say, if a student is a bright and good student, then he can get to AP/IB classes even in a not-so-good school and get decent college prep courses. But, students like my son, will likely be placed in regular classes which will be low quality (not college prep quality) in bad schools. HEre I assume that regular classes in good public schools are college prep quality. SO my questions are: - Am I right here ? - Hubby said that our mild LD son will be stressed out in good schools, so it's better to go to the school we're zoned to, and then transition him to a CC then to local univ (U of HOuston, which is a decent univ in Texas). He said that U of H won't be as hard as Texas A&M or UT Austin, so I better relax and trust that our son will be able to survive college. Is he right here ? - Since I'm not familiar with American high school (we're both immigrants), I'm wondering how the students are placed ? Is there any placement test to determine who go to regular, honors, or pre-AP/IB classes ? Or all of these depend on middle school report cards ? - I also worry of the quality of his peers (morality and attitude) if he's placed in regular classes in a not so good school. Am I right ? What's your thought ? Good school, or not so good school for a mild LD person ? PS: By good public school, I mean public school with score of 8 in greatschool website and is generally recognized as a good quality school. Certainly not the top ones where competition is cut throat and students cheat to survive. TIA.

I may get this sometimes in the future, but I haven't seen it mentioned in the LD forum. But there is onebrain training kit which used to be frequently mentioned in that board - Dr. Stephey's kit. His brain training kit is similar to PACE, but can be done by yourself. A while ago, I found a brain trainer lady who used to sell both Dr. Stephey's kit and equipping mind kit. She said the reason why she switches exclusively to equipping mind kit is because the equipping mind kit is more complete and advanced than Dr. Stephey's one. But anyway, try the LD board. YOu may get a better response there.

To his credit, he refused to be a committee member. But yes, tehre's pressure to attend/participate.

Yes, I do this all the time now ... I feel manipulative though. I never do this before, as in never intentionally plan things like that in this intensity for a certain purpose other than having a family time. I feel guilty sometimes.

I tried this too, but it's too exhausting for me to always plan activities. My hubby's nature is not like your husband's though. We've been married for 16 years, and we've had several moves - from UK, to US, and to several areas. He's an introvert and is content to be at home. He's not social butterfly at all. This center -- he feels he has a duty to be supportive because it's community based, plus I suspect - peer pressure. Even in the past, before this center was built, we're already volunteering and participating in the community, but it's not to this level. So I think this is all connected to that new center. May be after a while, the newness will fade and everybody got tired ...:). I don't know.

Thanks .. I thought of that too. My mom even suggested a schedule. But I thought it'll be too restrictive for him. I feel bad doing that. But seeing that you also suggest that, then that must be okay, right ?

Yes, we attend most things together. He prefers me to go with him anyway. But I don't want to go to that many (KWIM?). It's getting better now that he doesn't try to participate almost every single one. Actually when I was angry, I threatened to stop going ever - and he has to bring the kids. I don't want to be home alone with kiddos after homeschooling them at day time. That's how he knows that I'm serious. Sometimes, when he attends for example recitation class, I would go to the gym. For daily prayers -- he sometimes attend the night and early morning ones. I requested him to go to other mosque because he can finish more quickly. In this center, after the prayer there's short lecture, or even just talking to people. Ever since this center opens, he almost goes everynight/morning for prayer. He's never like that before. Everytime, it takes 45 mins-1 hr. If he goes to other mosque, it's 30 mins each time. He agrees to tone down to just 2-3 nights and 2-3 morning a week, but he wants to do them in that center. So you see, I offer him alternatives -- it's not like I'm saying -- no, you can't go to the mosque. I would feel bad that way, right ? I already feel bad now ...:( And no, there's no imam at that mosque. No counseling at all, and even if there's ... I won't go.

even as a newbie with no experience ? But yes, I see what you mean. May be I'll try with CC because they must have a system in place with all the volunteers.

** Don't quote me, please. I may delete this later. ** Let me preface this by saying that I am, by nature,not an emotional woman. Friends complemented me for my patience and contentment. I"m v. laid back, and I never feel too sad or too happy. My mom is like that too; v. level headed. In short, it's in our genes .. :) The only people who can cause me stronger emotional responses (anger, sadness, happiness, anxiety) are my children and my husband, with my husband at the top of the chart. Around 6 months ago, we rekindled our love which had been more or less stale since I had my first baby (13 years ago). During those 'stale' years, we remained respectful, rarely argued, and did our best in our roles as mother and father. I still loved him and felt v. comfortable with him and our marriage was still a good enough marriage. However, my feeling for him was flat with small dips and peaks. After rekindling our love, I discover the level of happiness and love which are higher than usual (i.e. higher peak). I start to dress up for him, make an effort to make his favorite cake (although I still fail at that -- it's that complicated), etc. So, I show much more attention than usual. But with that, comes deeper trough. It increases my expectation of him - expectation to spend time with me, to be held, etc. When hurt and disappointed, I feel it more. Hubby said that he prefers what we have now because he loves me more (same as me) and feels v. close to me (same as me). Since this level of emotion is new to me, I sometimes feel v. uncomfortable. Now, there's something which makes me v. uncomfortable this past 6 months and causes me to have anxiety, anger, and disappointment more than I would like. HOpe you can help with this. Around 7 months ago, our ethnic group/community bought a building (w/ land) which is now functioning as our community center plus place of worship. This center is v. close to our home -- only 7 mins drive. Before we have this center, the community had to borrow a place approx 30 mins from our home. PErsonally I think our community doesn't need to buy a center like that, but most people support that effort. With the purchase of this new facility, there's a 'pressure' to contribute more, e.g. to clean, build/DIY, and attend more events. Our community is full of extroverts - people sometimes spend a night there on weekends (camping in our 5 acre land), socialize and cook togehter from morning till afternoon, etc. Because it also has a mosque, then religious activities including 5 daily prayers are also held there. I resent this because before we buy the building + land, the level of activities is just 'right' for us. Because the previous facility is 30 min away, we attend what we want to attend, and we pick activity we want to volunteer. But now that the activity level increases and there's a 'pressure' to participate (although unsaid), I grow to resent this center. I am an introvert, and I don't like socializing too much. I also think it takes away family time and his time with me. HIs time with me is now important for me (much more than before) because we rekindle our love and I don't want to lose it, and now I have a need to spend time with him much more than before. Before, becaise of our small kids, this private time was neglected and we're not intentional about that at all. Hence my flat feeling to him. I talked to my mom about this (with hubby's permission) to get other perspective. She has the same opinion as me, so I think I'm not an unreasonable woman. My mom offered two suggestion, i.e. more family and spouse time quantitatively and qualitatively, and make an agreed schedule for 'visiting' the center.I told this to hubby and he was willing to tone down his attendance. We don't make schedule because I don't want to restrict him (KWIM?). So, he does tone down, but still not to the previous level. He thought that he's already toned down to the previous level, but I don't see it the same way.I suspect there's a peer pressure going on as well - something to do with conformity. But to his credit, he also tried to give more quality time with me (privately) and family and refused to be a committee member. I really appreciate this because our friend was v. persistent .. :). I still miss our old way though. This center gives me anxiety and causes anger. I tried to control my feeling, but it has been 6 months, and I still feel threatened - as if that center is the 'other woman'. Everytime an email comes through announcing something from that center, my heart beats faster and I become anxious. After hubby assures me and tones down his activity, this gets better. But I'm still uncomfortable. I've tried to reframe my thoughts and appreciate my husband more for his effort to accommodate my feeling ( He's an introvert anyway, so it's not in his nature to socialize a lot --> So I don't think he minds that much accommodating me). I never have this kidn of feeling before. I feel like a bad person. I feel like a possessive, selfish wife, and I don't like this feeling. There's nobody I can talk to here because my good friends are even more active and extrovert than me. What should I do, short of moving out of the area ? I quite like the area I'm in although for hubby it's a 45 min commute door to door. IOnce I even persuaded hubby to move out of the area to be closer to his place of work, but that area is more expensive. I think I'm losing my mind, because I suggest such a ridiculous and expensive idea. Never happened to me before. I was always level headed. Any thoughts ? TIA.

Thanks. I just looked at 2 local community college websites. One is on volunteer basis and can be done either online or onsite. Another one needs a certain tutor certification which covers math, writing, and reading. Part time positions mean substitute teacher, right ? That'll require a certification in my state. I have friends doing this.

Tutoring is a good idea. I can just volunteer, right ?

YOu mean like an adult continuing education ? I've heard of that .. is it a volunteer position or paid position ?

I'm thinking of taking up a part time teaching job in a year or two. Problem is, my resume stopped 9 years ago. SO I'm thinking of rebuilding my resume. I'm aiming for teaching in community college/small suburb satellite univ (part time) or high school. I finished my PhD in 2001 and then worked as a postdoc researcher (biochem) from 2001-2006. I have no college teaching experience apart from mentoring grad. student during my postdoc years, but I've volunteered as a teacher and academic team once a week in our religious weekend school from 2009-now. Where should I start ? I much prefer teaching in community college. But I also heard that high school teaching experience can you make you more competitive when applying for a community college teaching job. Is there any volunteer teaching position where I can gain skills for teaching adults and build resume at the same time ? Any other way to build a resume ? Thanks

The husband of a good friend of mine was just scammed by IRS phone call. He paid $4K via MoneyGram/MoneyPak to the scammer. As soon as he realized that he was scammed, he went to the place where he bought the MoneyPak, but they said that the money was already claimed. He called the MoneyPak customer service, but there's nothing they could do. Any recourse they can take to get the money back ? I told them to report to IRS. SHould they also report to police ? WHich police ? This scam is well-known, right, so FBI must have this on file ? Should they also file a complain about MoneyPak to BBB ? Or is there any class action suit against MoneyPak ? Thanks