Jump to content

Menu

a27mom

Members
  • Posts

    488
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by a27mom

  1. My dh works until 8 or 8:30 a lot of nights so our girls generally go to bed between 9 and 9:30. Sometimes I send them up earlier and tell them they can read. They also have the rule that if they are lying down and quite for 15 minutes after "lights out" but still can't fall asleep they can look at books until mom and dad go to bed, or they fall asleep. I prefer they stay up later because I need my alone time in the morning. My girls almost never get up before 7:30, and rarely get up before 8:30. So they consistently get 10 to 11 hours of sleep.
  2. This is an interesting point, and I will counter it with, I would much rather a system where the poor care has an identifiable reason than where poor care is random, or blind luck. Why? Because I can address an identifiable cause, I can't address blind luck. I definitely do want better healthcare for the "poor". I just don't think the way to improve healthcare for the poor is to make healthcare crappier for everybody else, so that we will all have equally bad care, then the poor don't know what they are missing. There are better ways to address it. But a lot of those ways might cost some government bureaucrats their jobs so they can't seem to get any traction. Besides wealthy Canadians do have access to better care. I used to live near the border, and work in healthcare, there were a lot of Canadians who utilized the US hospitals. In fact my family member was even advised by his Canadian doctor to get tested in the US quickly if one of his medical problems reoccurs. Although I do see that my Canadian family does find a lower standard of care acceptable, but I don't think they know what they are missing. Maybe the issue isn't that Americans don't want everyone to have good healthcare, but we don't trust the government to actually provide good healthcare.
  3. You can only have an HSA account if you have a qualifying High Deductible Insurance plan. What you are describing is a flexible spending account for healthcare.
  4. My one bit of advice has to do with the foster care system. If you look to adopt through foster care. Don't go into it planning to adopt, plan to be a foster parent and be willing to adopt if the opportunity arises. In my state it is extremely difficult to adopt children from foster care unless they are severely disabled or teenagers. Younger non-severely disabled children are adopted, but many are placed in "adoptive homes" and then not available for adoption. It is very difficult to terminate parents rights here. (This does vary by state). I don't recommend foster parenting unless you are willing to "not adopt", or you want to adopt teenagers, or kids with severe disabilities (by severe I mean lifetime mental age/ function of 2yrs or less). Btw it is awesome if you do want to adopt these kids because they need loving parents :). Again this might vary by state.
  5. Question, you said you don't have access to quality healthcare. So do doctors and hospitals turn you away because of your insurance or inability to pay? Or is quality healthcare too expensive, so you are unwilling to access it? I do agree that the insurance system is really messed up, and the current plan to force more people into a messed up insurance system is not helping. And it is nearly impossible for doctors/hospitals etc. to offer reduced rate care to people with insurance. (Though once someone has demonstrated inability to pay after the fact there are usually more options to help). Like Canada we do vary by state since the health insurance industry has been largely state regulated. I do know some (probably most) states run their Medicaid system much better than my state. But my Canadian relatives truly have poor access to healthcare, because the wait is so long. I had a family member die 2 wks before their follow up appointment to start treatment, the problem they died from had been identified 10 months previously, but it took that long for them to schedule 1 test and a follow up appointment. It is interesting though to read that this varies by region in Canada, my experience is mostly limited to Ontario. Though it is not terribly reassuring since I live in a particularly corrupt, poorly run state.
  6. I am an American, Christian, Healthcare worker, who has a significant amount of Canadian family (Toronto). I am opposed to government provided universal healthcare because of the poor care I have seen my Canadian family receive, and the poor care we are forced to provide pt's on Medicaid (state run healthcare) As a healthcare provider I am horrified by the pain, suffering, and hastened death my Canadian family experiences, due to the long wait time, and the "there isn't much we can do about it attitude". I was surprised on a recent visit to Toronto discover that my Canadian family has really no concept of how poor their medical care is compared to ours, (And I am referring to the care available to the poor in our area as well. ). I did not enlighten them on the issue, since one of the horrifying medical situations involved the recent death of a very young family member, and the pain is still quite raw. But it does haunt me wondering if she might be alive today if she had received care in the timely fashion she would have received it here. :( It is difficult for someone who lives in an area where everyone has access to good healthcare no matter the income, to accept significantly lower quality care so people far away who refuse to adopt our model can have slightly better care. We have several free clinics who work with the two local hospitals to provide free to extremely low cost ($1-3 a visit) care. The home care agency I work for provides care regardless of ability to pay, and most doctors and hospitals in our area with work with you on low cost payment plans or significantly reducing fees if you can not afford to pay. Unfortunately the ACA is threatening this very functional system since now those individuals who could avail themselves of free or low cost care may have insurance which requires copays etc... Free clinics simply can't afford to process through the insurance systems, and it is much more difficult, and in some cases illegal, for Doctors and hospitals to provide discounts to people with existing insurance. The poorest care is received by those who receive State government care (Medicaid, NOT Medicare ). Our state simply doesn't pay it's bills so Doctors can only afford to serve a small number in there practice. And while our free clinics would love to serve these people, they simply can't afford to hire the staff to do the paperwork, or keep up with all the hoop jumping the state requires, and it could be a legal nightmare for them to knowingly to provide care to a Medicaid patient, without billing Medicaid. Although I will say even this care is superior or as good as the care my Canadian relatives get. I am all for everyone having access to affordable healthcare. But the thought of the government being primarily responsible for that healthcare gives me the chills. Also, it seems to me that those who can afford healthcare should pay for it in full. Thus providing better healthcare for those who can't afford it. Most people I know aren't opposed to the government assisting with basic healthcare for the poor, "the safety net". They are opposed to the government attempting to "fix" the system by providing low cost healthcare for the rich. Oh and most people I know who are opposed to government run universal healthcare, are in favor of reform for our messed up insurance system, but not the current reforms.
  7. Thanks, hopefully I'll get them this yr. :) last yr I signed up and got the confirmation email but never received the certificates. My daughter wasn't reading independently anyway, so I didn't bother to call. But they both can read now so I hope we get them :)
  8. Our cats names: Chubby & Checkers Complete accident, totally unintentional, they were names separately! Sadly, Checkers passed away yesterday. :( As for nicknames, we shorten Chubby to Chubs or Bubs occasionally. Chubby was the largest in his litter, so he was "the chubby one" Checkers on the other hand I started to call Rupert a few months after we got her. So she had an odd nickname and it stuck, we used both names (as well as "Roo) frequently, poor confused little thing. We rescued her from the farm after her mother disappeared, we had been calling her Checkers because she was calico, on the way home with her it dawned on us that we were bringing her home to join 1 y/o Chubby and we groaned at the coincidence.
  9. Comments/questions where people assume I only wanted to have 2 kids and am done having children because I have the magic number 2. Yes I only have 2 kids, no it doesn't appear likely that I will have more, but that isn't my choice. Honestly the first time someone asked me about "prom". I thought I was agreeing with them saying how no prom was just one of the benefits of homeschooling ;). The inane drama surrounding prom annoyed me in high school, so I am glad my girls won't have to deal with it. I didn't go to prom, and I had no idea people seemed to think it so essential. ( BTW I was/am not opposed to prom for religious reasons, I just don't see the point. )
  10. I really only "plan" English and math, and that is subject to change. We are very interest led overall. LA: Logic of English Foundations C,D, and E/F if they are out early next year. Otherwise we will move to Essentials when we finish the available levels. Math: we do a mixture of MEP, Singapore, Khan academy and Life of Fred. We will be somewhere in the 2 or 3 levels in the fall for both MEP and SM, depends what happens over the summer. Oh, we do have PE, a homeschool swim & gym class at the Y.
  11. Thank you for posting this. It is very encouraging for someone who is few years behind you :)
  12. But it s a very small minority of whites who have the privileges you speak of, going to select schools, being able to call someone to get in. Most "white" people I know don't have that type of access. Those points are really an argument against affirmative action. It is not the Harvard grad's son who is not getting in due to affirmative action, it is not the 1450 upper middle class white kid who is losing their spot because of affirmative action. It is the middle class and poor white kids who lose out. The people with the special privileges are still going to get in, affirmative action or not. Thanks for this point. I was not going to comment in this thread since I am white. But the person I knew who was most opposed to affirmative action was a man of color. He was a brilliant engineer, who I am sure got where he was completely on merit. But his abilities were often in question because people thought he might have had special treatment due to affirmative action. I had been pretty neutral about affirmative action until I met him.
  13. This was really helpful. I retook the test with that mindset and scored in the firmly in INTP, (instead of INTJ). Which makes way more sense because I am so not organized, and am terrible at details. That description strongly fits me, especially as I frequently space out while thinking and ignore the world around me. My dh is ISTJ, and extremely J. So my spacy-ness drives him nuts at times. My girls are a bit too young for the tests, but I am pretty sure my oldest is ISJ, and my youngest is NTP. The jury is still out on the T/F for my oldest, she is pretty sensitive, but she is surrounded by T's. I am pretty sure my youngest is a verbal introvert like me. She will talk your ear off if she knows you, but she definitely needs her alone time.
  14. Lol. I have lived on the west coast, east coast, Midwest, and my mom is from Ontario so I visit there frequently. I have never known anyone who expected guests at a gathering to remove their shoes upon entering the home. Close friends and family yes, but it seems presumptuous in the home of an acquaintance. For those who are concerned about their crawlers on the floor, do you let them play outside and crawl in the grass? I don't really see the difference...
  15. I used to be a shoes off person in my home, but would have considered it rude to take my shoes off; and odd to be asked to take my shoes off in the home of someone who was not family or a very close friend, unless I accidentally walked someplace very dirty, (though why would I do that on my way into someone's home? ). I don't have any friends who have "no shoes for guests" homes. And even though most people I know take their own shoes off in there homes generally, you usually put shoes on while you are hosting a gathering, I have to wear shoes now because of foot pain. (I used to be barefoot all the time I was home so that theory doesn't work for me.) so if you make me take my shoes off I would have to walk to a chair and stay there pretty much the entire visit. Most people where I live have walkways to their home which are cleared when guests are coming, so guests are not walking through mud etc. to enter someone's home. People generally don't tromp through dirt if they are going to a gathering at someone's home, because you try to keep your shoes clean. I teach that to my children quite regularly. Also everyone has mats to wipe your shoes. If you were doing something earlier which might cause your shoes to be dirty you have shoes to change into in the car. It is really not an issue for normal visits. Of course it is pretty normal around here for people to sit on the ground outdoors. So what little residual that would be on someone's shoe in your home is not a health issue. Kids are encouraged to dig in the dirt around here as well, so playing on a carpet that had shoes on it, not a problem.
  16. Well we do live in "the country" so you don't see signs with letters constantly. I am pretty sure the little boy I am thinking of knew that the big yellow M was Mcdonalds. But there was no particular reason for him to call it an "M" (don't know what DD would be?). Same kid had plenty of observational skills. He could tell you all sorts of types of vehicles, very precisely - bobcat, loader, recycle truck, cement mixer, combine, tractor etc... But never had opportunity or the interest to explicitly learn letter names and sounds, letters don't have wheels you know ;). He picked up letters just fine at 4/5 and at the end of homeschool k is right on track sounding out cvc words. His parents are of normal intelligence, but not academically inclined. Once mom was assured that there was nothing wrong with him, she was happy to let him play at 3 and 4, and not force him to learn letters. I had a different experience. For my oldest it was numbers, she was enamored with calculators and expired coupons at 18 months old. To some degree this was influenced by us. My dh does financial analysis and tax preparation, he brings a lot of work home during the season. Daddy's little girl would hop up beside him and play with her calculator. My mom does some book work for my dh during tax season as well, so when grandma babysat she was often calculating too. But my mom and dh both have some impressive innate numeracy skills and love their work. I am pretty sure genetics plays a role in my dd's number fascination as well as environment. FWIW my other dd did not have the same number interest. But she learned to read by 4, just by being interested in her older sisters lessons, even though older sister still doesn't read fluently. My point is that all these kids are different. My friends ds is just fine, but at 3 and 4 wheels and movement were more interesting than letters. My oldest dd loved numbers, Lego, anything orderly, she learned letters early, but didn't read. My younger dd loves words, letters, stories, tv - she learned to read. Based on progress the other 2 will be 6 or 7 before they learn to read fluently. It is all ok.
  17. Wow, so much has been said. I agree w/ the OP, it concerns me when parents become concerned about their 3 y/o's reading skills. Not so much because I am judging the parents as wanting to push their kids, but I feel bad for the parents needless anxiety. I have a friend who became highly concerned when her 3 y/o didn't know his letters. She saw a lot of kids who went to preschool knowing them , as well as kids like my girls who liked that kind of thing knowing them. She was very relieved when I assured her that her active 3 y/o boy was perfectly OK not knowing his letters. This is what frustrates me, parents who develop a false sense of urgency or failure, and have unnecessary stress. .
  18. I scored INTJ on that test. However I was only 1% J, and I relate to P somewhat better, I am responsible, but not organized. I think the INTP description fits me a better in some places. I guess I am an INT, or maybe just NT, or maybe just T. T is the only thing I hit w/ 100% consistency on these things. In a college class I took the whole battery and scored ESTP. That is so NOT me. They grouped us by type in the class and it was obvious to everyone that I didn't fit in. I don't know how I got an S, just doesn't describe me at all. I assumed that I was an ENTP, but that didn't fit either. The problem is I am a verbal introvert. So if a test focuses the E/I on need for alone time or comfort with social interaction I score I every time. If the test focuses on how much you talk or are willing to talk I score an E.
  19. I use Foundations :). I have been using A w/ both my girls because of the phonemic awareness activities. I double up lessons and skip some of the activities. (Only my oldest does the handwriting, and she already prints nicely, so we are just using it for cursive. My youngest just writes her spelling words in capitals since she can do those, and I do have her do the handwriting large motor activities ). We are going through A pretty quickly, and should start B soon. When you dictate the spelling list it is ok to tell them what letter to use if it is confusing, although A uses all 1st sounds so you could point that out first. For words w/ K or C I tell them it is a tall /k/, if it is a K. (My kids would usually default to c at this point) I also would recommend watching the logic of English teacher training videos on you tube. They are excellent. They were made before foundations came out, but they still give you a lot of good info. In my case my older daughter needed all the sounds to read. She needs to English to be as much like a math equation as possible. Oh about the salt box. I just keep a separate Baggie of salt and pour it on a plate for them to "write" on. Dump it back in the bag when we are done, very easy and quick.
  20. Vision therapy helped my dd quite a bit. But she very specifically had conversion disorder and had difficulty focusing and holding focus at normal working distances. Her exercises were pretty clearly specific to ocular muscular coordination. And we could see improvement as we worked on the exercises. Vision therapy was not extremely expensive because they gave us a home exercise program and we did that, with quarterly rechecks by the developmental optometrist. Our insurance didn't cover it, but we don't have vision insurance for her anyway. She says the words don't move on the page anymore, and she can get through a book without extreme fatigue.
  21. Other. We tried Phonics Pathways. They liked some of the games but not the pages in the book. ETC, couldn't figure out the pictures, so gave up on it pretty fast. We love Logic of English Foundations.
  22. I don't know what is in AAR. But LoE foundations does include all the spelling and handwriting you need through about 2nd grade. The handwriting is in level A and B though, so if she is reading well, she may not need those levels. There is an assessment for which level to start with on the Logic of English site. There also is a separate Rhythm of Handwriting book available for handwriting if you skip foundations A & B. Essentials can be used with a 6 1/2 y/o, especially if they read well, though you might want to modify it some. My 6 1/2 year old is enjoying foundations, but she did not "read well" when we started.
  23. Math and English most days. Swim and gym class weekly. All other subjects are interest led, so it varies.
  24. I made a leap and assumed my 6 y/o will be fluent in the next 5 months since she is nearly, but not quite there. My 6 y/o started sounding out words around 4 and made great progress until it came to actually reading more than one big line of print. We discovered she had a vision issue which was only just resolved a few months ago. She is making great progress again, but her confidence took a big hit when she was struggling, so she won't pick a book and just read it though I think she could. I am hoping that with the summer reading program, when she will be required to read her own books, will motivate her and show her how well she can actually read. My 4 y/o started sounding out words when she was 3. She started reading easy readers with fluency in the last 2 weeks. She does pick up books now and read them for pleasure, though she has not started full chapter books.
  25. I get what you mean here. :) I wouldn't recommend both. But my child simply was not helped by the primer style programs, Maybe there are other kids who might struggle with OG, so doing both covers all the bases? Also, some might say that primer type programs get a child reading more quickly (which was not true for my daughter, but is true for some kids). Once the child is reading, an OG program then becomes more of a spelling/advanced reading program.
×
×
  • Create New...