Alice
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Posts posted by Alice
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Thanks everyone!
Cadam..I do have a friend who uses MUS. Hmmm, maybe I'll ask her if I can borrow some of her DVD's. Her kids are older so she has been a great resource for me. Thanks for the suggestion.
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I've been reading a lot of the posts about Math lately and thinking about Math education in general. I've decided that I'd like to read more about teaching Math and/or something to help me really understand Math better.
My ds is only 4 1/2 so this isn't a huge issue now but something I'd like to do for my own education and also in order to lay a better foundation for him in the years to come. I know I'm not saying exactly what I'm looking for in the best way...and I think that's partially due to my lack of Math understanding. I can do Math but I want my kids to really get Math...if that makes sense at all.
My Math background....I always did well in Math in the sense that I got good grades but I hated it. It was always my least favorite subject and I'm beginning to think it was because I could do the work but didn't see any "big picture" or really get the bigger concepts behind what I was doing. I liked Geometry but always did it "wrong". I'd get the right answer but with a different approach than the teacher. I liked Calculus because I had a good teacher. I went through Multivariate Calculus and Differential Equations in college. I did ok in Multivariate as I had a good teacher. Diff Eq almost killed me. I also took Statistics which I found dry and boring. (I took so much Math due to a Chemistry/Biology major.)
OK...enough about me...just wanted to give an idea of where my own level of math skills are. I've looked at the Singapore website which is the curriculum I am planning on starting with (and continuing with barring unforeseen circumstances). I noticed several books...Knowing and Teaching Elem. Math by Liping Ma, one called Elementary Mathmatics for Teachers and one called Arithmatic for Parents.
Any advice or experience with those books (I saw them mentioned in a post here recently but can't seem to find it)? Or any other "mathy" books that would be a good place for me to start?
TIA!
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I just bought the US Edition and will be starting at the beginning. I was mostly influenced by the price and by the fact that I couldn't see any benefit to the Standards edition that would make it that much more expensive.
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We have this one: http://search.live.com/products/?q=Portable%20Q220%20566001%20Grill%20(Liquid%20Propane%2c%20280%20sq.%20in.%2c%2012%2c000%20BTU)&p1=%5bCommerceService+scenario%3d%22s%22+docid%3d%2232F82C59ED567A5EB41E%22+p%3d%22a4ae416a4b10409391406679a778b2e5%22%5d&wf=Commerce&FORM=EGRE3.
Anyway, it's a gas Weber grill. It is portable, ours has a stand not shown in the link. It uses small propane containers although we discovered recently we could also buy an inexpensive converter to use with a large propane tank. We like it because it was MUCH cheaper than the bigger ones and it's really all the grill we need. It is portable...it's not super easy to cart around but can be done without too much hassle. We've taken it to several picnics and things. I use it almost every night in the summer....can't wait. :)
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It does not sound like dehydration to me. I would be very concerned about the possiblity of cardiac arrythmias among other things. The symptoms occuring when lying down are especially concerning. I think he needs a full evaluation ASAP (EKG, bloodwork, etc).
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Elementary School:
A red octopus in some play
I co-wrote three plays in 4th and 5th grade with two other kids in my reading group. This was basically a way for us not to do our work. They were based on the Trixie Belden books.:001_smile: We wrote in a part for me...I was Juliana, Trixie's cousin from the city. :D
High School:
I worked on a lot of plays as stage manager or backstage. I'm completely unmusical and so much of high school drama is musicals. But I loved theatre and wanted to be part of it. It was so much fun!
I did have one part created just for me...The Little Red-Headed Girl in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. Usually the little red-headed girl isn't seen but I sat just off the side and Charlie Brown would look longingly in my direction. You can probably figure out why I got to play her. ;)
College:
I auditioned for Stage Door as a freshman but didn't make it. I did get a role in some bizarre arty play but elected not to do it (it was sort of for the Stage Door rejects). I did work as a dresser on Stage Door and got to rip off this really cute guy's clothes and then dress him quickly in a tuxedo. A good skill to have, perhaps. :lol:
And there ended my theatrical career....
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This is what I'm doing now with a 4 1/2 yr old. We do a little bit and I plan on next year basically continuing the same. It will sort of be a kindergarten year, going as slowly or as fast as seems to suit him. He has a late birthday so "officially" wouldn't be in kindergarten in the fall.
Five in a Row (We're doing this now, he loves it and it works well for us. Very flexible)
OPGTR and ETC (We're going super slowly through Book 1 of ETC. He likes it. We do about 10-15 min a day right now.)
Singapore Earlybird (We've done 1A, 1B and most of 2A. I felt like he needed to slow down so right now we're doing a lot of math games and just fun stuff.)
Handwriting Without Tears (I just started this yesterday. He likes it so far. :) We've only done 5 min each day).
That sounds like a lot for his age but the phonics/math/handwriting are altogether about 30-45 minutes. The FIAR is mostly reading books together and a way to get me to plan out arts, fun science stuff, etc.
I know others will tell you to be relaxed...and I think that is great advice. I had a lot of people here tell me to just have fun with him at this age. I'm guessing if you're asking this question, you may be like me and want need/more structure. What's worked for me is to have all the stuff to do but to remember that he's little. So if there is a day where he wants to just play with Legos or go outside or look at books or whatever...I'm ok with that right now. Most of the time he enjoys doing the little bit of "school" we do and it helps me structure our days.
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman
/QUOTE]
I totally agree...amazing book.
I really love most anything by Richard Foster. I especially enjoyed his book on Prayer (Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home).
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4 yr old----tying things together with his jump ropes to "make machines", or building something out of scraps of wood to "make a machine", or playing in the sandbox with "the machines" (Do you detect a pattern here?)
17 month old---trying to do whatever the 4 yr old is doing :)
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But the whole vaccination thing does affect the money coming into your office. The people I know (including myself) who do not vaccinate also do not have the same number of "well checkups" as their vaccinating-on-schedule counterparts. Therefore reducing the amount of visits to the doctor, thus reducing the money coming into the office.
Oddly, I just had a very similar discussion on Sunday with a good friend from my church who has a 6 wk old and plans to delay vaccinations. She was asking me what was the point of going in for "well checkups" if she wasn't going to immunize.
I guess in my view "well checkups" aren't just for vaccinations, and so I recommend them to everyone regardless of whether or not you are getting immunized. A short list of conditions I've diagnosed in kids at well visits: craniosynostois (sutures of the skull knitting together too early), severe scoliois in a 5 yr old, scolisis in adolescents many times, thryoid disease, autism, many instances of eye problems, nystagmus (eye disease) in a 4 month old, hearing problems, diabetes and many cardiac murmurs/cardiac conditions. These were all parents who were good parents and who weren't ignoring their kids but just hadn't picked up the particular problem. In some cases it was a case of seeing something every day and not really seeing the problem where as it was very obvious to me. Or in the case of the cardiac diseases...the parents weren't listening to the hearts for obvious reasons.
I take my own kids to one of my partners for well-checkups, even when no vaccines are due. I just want another pair of eyes/hands/ears checking them out.
Anyway, vaccines really aren't where we make our money. Neither are well-checkups in particular. We would make a lot more if we just saw things like ear infections all day long. Insurance companies pay a lot more for sick visits than for well checks.
My experience has been that most of our patients who don't vaccinate come in as often as those who do. I don't really have hard evidence of that...just thinking of the families I know.
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I think it is worth it. We're not big Costco people although have become more so in the past year. My work provides a membership so we're lucky to just have it and use it as we want. Some things are definitely worth it...diapers at our Costco are 1/2 price regular diapers. That alone is worth a once a month trip for us. Diaper wipes are also cheap.
I do think you have to know prices...I've found some things really aren't that much cheaper and it's easy to get stuck with way more of something than you really need (although with 7 kids that might be less of an issue for you than for us :)).
Overall though, I think you can find good deals. They do carry organics. The organic milk at our Costco is much much cheaper than the store. The eggs are actually more expensive than the local family farm we get eggs from...so you just have to know prices. Our Costco has a fairly good selection of organic fruits and veggies although it's "industrial organic" as opposed to local stuff.
There is a handful of stuff we always have on our list to get at our local Costco that is cheaper than the regular grocery store: Dried fruit (mango is really cheap and good, blueberries are good), Cashews, Carrot Juice (my dh's addition to the list).
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Depending on their treatment, sometimes they aren't allowed to have live flowers or fresh fruit due to immune problems.
Something my SIL has done for me when I was in the hospital after having my kids (but could work for anyone in the hospital) is get me a bunch of magazines. She rolled each one up and tied it with a pretty bow and put them all in a bag. The idea was I could open one a day. It was great as my brain was too tired for heavy reading.
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Totally second the book that Barb recommended (How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman). It's a great book, and as a doctor I found it fascinating (and at times very challenging to my own weaknesses.)
Also, it's never good to make diagnoses over a message board...but it sounds to me like your kids have "constitutional delay" which is just a stupid name for the familial pattern you are describing. In some families people tend to go through puberty later which generally means having a growth spurt later. Going through puberty is what causes your bones to close and your growth to stop. So some people (me) were the tallest in the class in 6th grade but then stopped growing. Some people are small and then have their growth spurt later in the teen years...and for some boys that's even college. A very simple test if they haven't done it is a "bone age". It's just an X-ray of a wrist and it tells you the "age" of the bones. A bone age that is "delayed" is consistent with this kind of growth pattern and is generally reassuring that there isn't something more going on.
Also...a good formula for determining ultimate height:
For boys: Take Mom's height in inches and add 6. Average with Dad's height in inches. That's the median point, two inches on either side is the "expected growth potential". So for your ds you'd expect an ultimate height of 5'4 1/2"- 5' 8 1/2" given the heights you gave for you and your dh.
For girls: Take Dad's height and subtract 6. Do the same as above.
**This doesn't always work...but it's a good estimate to see if someone is where we would expect genetically.
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Alice, I want you to know I appreciate your post and do not think doctors are out to get people or are looking to inject evil substances into children:D I believe most people who become doctors do so out of a desire to help people. I hope my comment didn't offend you. (A doctor's office is a good place to go to get sick. They're full of sick people.) It was meant in jest though I didn't include any cute little smilies. I just figure most people go to the doctor because they are sick--at least that's usually when we go. I guess some people do go for well child checks and yearly exams and such, too. I think they're probably much cleaner than many public restrooms, and I still use those:D
Jennie-
You didn't offend me...I honestly don't even remember what you posted originally. But I wasn't offended by any of the posts. I too, was being a little tonuge in cheek about the "injecting evil substances" comment. :)
Thanks everyone else about the nice things said about my post. I'm always a little nervous posting about medical stuff, especially the more controversial topics...it's nice to know I was able to state my opinion without offending anyone.
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The Namesake is very good. (Based on a novel by Jhumpa Lahiri....not sure if I'm spelling that right)
Once is very very very good.
Not really an Indie film but I really enjoyed Dan in Real Life(with Steve Carrell, I haven't seen a lot of other things with him but this is apparently not his typical role)
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Ok, I'm a pediatrician. Not getting into the whole vaccine debate, but here are a few thoughts I had after reading this thread...
Why do some doctors refuse those who choose not to vaccinate?
Most of the docs I know who have this policy do so for legal reasons. They are scared that they will be held responsible if an unvaccinated child contracts meningitis or pertussis, etc. This may seem unlikely to some, but as doctors we are sadly constantly aware of the litiginous nature of society. Or an older adolescent could sue if the doctor didn't give shots and now they are deaf, blind or have other consequences of on of the diseases. In pediatrics most of the time the law allows lawsuits up until 18, or sometimes 21 so it's a possibility.
That said, I'm sure there are also arrogant doctors out there who just don't want patients who disagree with them. They certainly exist...but I'm not sure that every practice that refuses to see patients who don't vaccinate does it out of arrogance.
For the record, we do see patients who don't vaccinate. We have people who refuse all vaccinations, those who pick and choose and those that do them all according to schedule. We ask everyone to sign a waiver at each visit where vaccines are recommended and they are refusing them.
Separate Sick and Well Waiting Rooms?
It's a gimmick to make people feel better. Unless every doorknob, exam room, etc is separate you are being exposed to other things. And for most respiratory illnesss unless you have separate ventilation systems you're also being exposed. Best thing to do is wash your hands and your kids' hands.
It somwhat amuses me to see how many see our offices as teeming cesspools of germs....:D
We also go to a family doctor, and they are MUCH more laid back about vaccinations, etc. Probably because it's not their bread and butter!For the record, we make NO money on vaccinations. On most vaccinations we either just break even or we lose money. Many of the insurance companies pay us less for the vaccines than we pay to purchase them. It is not our "bread and butter"!!!
Why do we give them? Because we believe strongly in them. Most of us went through a lot of school and training because we love kids and want to take care of them and their families. It's a good job and I'm blessed to have it and to make a good living....but I could have chosen a lot of things that would have been easier, left me with way less debt and made more money. At the end of the day, I love the kids I see, I love the families I help and it makes me happy. I don't have some secret agenda to conspire with the government to inject evil substances into kids. And I don't have some secret under the table payment from the drug companies for every shot I give.
Whew...OK stepping off the soapbox now. I can respect all of you who choose not to vaccinate....just hope you can also respect that my opinion might come from just as well-meaning of a place.
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Here goes:
1) What did you think when you first received the jury notification?Kind of a combination of being annoyed at the inconvenience and thinking it was a cool opportunity. I didn't have kids at the time so it wasn't that hard for me, it was probably harder for my boss. :)
2) Were you questioned to serve on a jury? If so, what were some of the questions you were asked?The case I was selected for was an odd one...it was concerning eminent domain. It involved a homeowner who was sueing the state. The state has the right of eminent domain and was exercising it to widen a road, but the homeowner was sueing for more money as compensation. I can't remember all the questions but they involved whether we worked for the state, had every been involved in an eminent domain case with the state, knew anyone in real estate, etc. We also were asked if we owned property in the county, as that is a requirement to serve on an eminent domain case in this county. Interestingly, I replied that we had a condo but they said that counted as property. Also, interestingly to me was that of the people picked to serve one had been the head of a neighborhood association involved in an eminent domain case and the other was a realtor. The lawyers asked questions about those things but didn't choose to get rid of either of those individuals.
3) Did you serve on a jury? If so, what was your experience like?I did serve. It was overall very interesting. It was a 2 day case. We actually got to take a "field trip" to see the man's house who was sueing. We all got on a bus with the judge and went on a tour of his property and the house. It was boring at times as it was a lot of dry information involving numbers. We were allowed to take notes. There was definitely a huge sense of responsibility to pay attention even when it was boring. The decision process wasn't very difficult for us. Overall I though we did a good job of being fair and everyone on the jury worked together to try and make the best decision.
4) Did your experience influence how you feel about the jury system? Why or why not?After doing it, I felt proud because I do think it is an important community service. The judge found out I was a physician (on our field trip) :) and commented that she was surprised that I hadn't tried harder to get out of serving as according to her "most doctors really whine about it". That made me proud that I had done it also. I thought overall it was a good experience.
5) What role do you think the jury system plays in the American judicial process? Hmmm....not sure exactly how to answer that. I do think it's important.
Just as an aside, my dh was called to serve a few years later and was also selected for a case. His experience was somewhat different in that the case was, in his opinion, a complete waste of time. I can't remember the details but it was basically a traffic court case. I think you have the right to a jury trial instead of traffic court and this person had chosen that. It became this all day process to hear about this guy's speeding. My dh felt like the guy was clearly abusing the system and trying to get out of something. Just to say, I'm think the system is good for the most part but it's obviously not perfect and can be abused.
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Did you see this thread from a few days ago?
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17973&highlight=france
A bunch of people posted ideas of things to do in Paris.
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We just did a FIAR week on Madeline. Here are some of the picture books we liked:
Madeline (of couse :)) by Ludwig Bemelmans
Monsieur Saguette and His Baguette by Frank Asch
The Cat Who Walked Across France by Georg Hallensleben (great pictures and "geography" of France)
Count Your Way Through France by Jim Haskins
Bonjour, Mr. Satie by Tomie de Paola (Very clever book about a mouse and his friend in Paris who are friends with Gertrude Stein. There are lots of reference and drawings of famous people in France in the 1920's. It was way above my son's head but it was fun for me to look at and figure out who they were. The book is somewhat about the feud between Gaughin and Picasso. But my son liked it and didn't get the underlying story at all.)
Minou by Mindy Bingham
The Inside-Outside Book of Paris by Roxie Munro
The Moon Was the Best by Charlotte Zolotow
I, Crocodile by Fred Marcellino (About a crocodile captured by Napolean and taken to Paris)
La La Rose by Satomi Ichikawa (Sweet book about a lost stuffed rabbit but has scenes of Paris that I remembered from out last visit.)
A Spree in Paree by Catherine Stock
Crepes by Suzette by Monica Wellington (Also has great scenes of Paris as Suzette travels through the city selling her crepes.)
We also enjoyed watching Ratatouille for fun that week!
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Roasted chicken, Indian spiced potatoes and Spinach salad
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Two more suggestions from dh...
These are kind off the beaten track but we've enjoyed both.
Pere-Lachaise Cemetery. Sounds weird but it's really beautiful and many famous people are buried there: Oscar Wilde (with lipstick kisses left ALL over his gravestone), Heloise and Abelard, Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison (with candles always on his grave apparently)....
There are a lot of flea markets that are fun to go to. The biggest is at the Clignancourt Metro stop. It is HUGE. My grandmother used to go to this every single year when she went back to Paris. She found a lot of great bargains there but what I've heard that as it's gotten more famous it's gotten harder to find bargains.
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We went a few years ago when my ds was 18 months. I'm not sure how old your kids are but we found it for the most part very easy. It's tougher with a little one as the Metro stops are all just stairs and we were doing a lot of carrying the stroller. And things like booster seats or highchairs don't exist in the cafes. :) But people would help us and in the cafes they were always fine to have my ds sitting on my lap or next to me in a chair. The waiters would always make a big fuss over him and bring us extra bread and stuff.
We stayed in the Rue Cler neighborhood. This is the hotel we stayed in: http://www.hotelvaladon.com/index.htm. It was great. Very simple, but very reasonable prices, clean and safe. It came with breakfast I believe. One huge advantage to us was that they had a fridge in the common area that we could use. With a little one we loved having the freedom of buying milk, fruit, etc and eating there for snacks or dinners when we didnt' feel like going out. It's a great neighborhood even if you choose a different hotel. Safe even at night and there is a market on Rue Cler that sells fresh fruits and veggies. It is a place to see Parisians as well as tourists.
If you've never been to Paris you probably want to hit the highlights. Both my dh and I had been several times (my grandmother was French) so we didn't do much of the big sights when we went with ds. There are a ton of parks everywhere and we always were able to have a certain amount of "free-range time" balanced with seeing a sight. Some of the parks are really cool...we were in one with zip lines and this huge rope climbing structure like the Eiffel Tower. Not all are free though.
If you stay in Rue Cler you will be right near the Eiffel Tower. One of our favorite days was just hanging out on the Champs du Mar (big green park in front of the Eiffel Tower). There are parks, carousels, etc. And lots of Parisians from the neighborhood. Climbing the Eiffel Tower is really fun...I've done it but not with kids.
Other thoughts : Notre Dame is a must see. I've heard the catacombs are really cool but never done that myself. Centre Pompidou is really fun...it's a huge open space with many different exhibits. The building itself is cool also. Shakespeare & Co. is a wonderful bookstore on the Left Bank, fairly near Notre Dame. If you go to Notre Dame, be sure to walk around the "other island"..Ile St. Louis. It's tiny and doesn't take much time to walk around but is more residential and less touristy. There is also a great ice cream place somewhere on there. There are creperies on every corner and you should get as many as you can.
The Rick Steves book is really good. We've used him for several trips to Europe. You can get a little bit tired of seeing other Americans holding the Rick Steves book. :) But it's a great place to start and his recommendations for restuarants and hotels are usually very good.
And finally, I've always heard that the French are snotty and don't like Americans. I've never found that to be the case. If you know any French, try to use it...they will appreciate it. If you know none then just don't assume the person you are speaking to speaks English. I got much better responses when I would ask first "Parlez-vous anglais?" than when I would start speaking. It's just so much more polite. I think our last time with our ds was probably my favorite time because we did spend a lot more time in parks and just walking through neighborhood shops (it's fascinating just to go into the cheese shop or the butcher shop).
Have fun! Writing this has made me want to go back!
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Thanks for the help! We decided to "release" the eggs back to a local pond. This might be a fun project another year but right now it was stressing me out for whatever reason. My son liked the idea of letting the eggs have a better chance of survival..so everyone is happy.
(Robyn-We let them go before I read your post...I might not have been as stressed. Sounds pretty simple the way you describe it. I'll have to remember that next time. )
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Has anyone done this?
Someone gave us a bunch of frog eggs they had collected (I guess from a pond) and I think it would be fun to raise them...but I'm full of questions..
What do I put them in?
Can we keep them outdoors? I saw a lot of info online about aquariums but I'd prefer to have them outside. With a 17 mo old in the house, they'll have a better chance of survival.:001_smile:
What do we feed them?
Can we release them in the wild when they are frogs?
I did call our local nature center and they were moderately helpful. She gave me a little advice but mostly was discouraging the idea of removing the eggs from the wild. Which in principle I agree with...but now I have the eggs regardless. She also made it sound really complicated and like I needed to buy a lot of special equipment. (Aquarium, Aerator, etc). I was kind of thinking put them in water in the backyard...provide some kind of food and see what happens.
Help!
Crosspost from K-8 board...Singapore Math question
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
I posted this on the K-8 board also, but I thought I might get more responses if I posted here too. Thanks!
I've been reading a lot of the posts about Math lately and thinking about Math education in general. I've decided that I'd like to read more about teaching Math and/or something to help me really understand Math better.
My ds is only 4 1/2 so this isn't a huge issue now but something I'd like to do for my own education and also in order to lay a better foundation for him in the years to come. I know I'm not saying exactly what I'm looking for in the best way...and I think that's partially due to my lack of Math understanding. I can do Math but I want my kids to really get Math...if that makes sense at all.
My Math background....I always did well in Math in the sense that I got good grades but I hated it. It was always my least favorite subject and I'm beginning to think it was because I could do the work but didn't see any "big picture" or really get the bigger concepts behind what I was doing. I liked Geometry but always did it "wrong". I'd get the right answer but with a different approach than the teacher. I liked Calculus because I had a good teacher. I went through Multivariate Calculus and Differential Equations in college. I did ok in Multivariate as I had a good teacher. Diff Eq almost killed me. I also took Statistics which I found dry and boring. (I took so much Math due to a Chemistry/Biology major.)
OK...enough about me...just wanted to give an idea of where my own level of math skills are. I've looked at the Singapore website which is the curriculum I am planning on starting with (and continuing with barring unforeseen circumstances). I noticed several books...Knowing and Teaching Elem. Math by Liping Ma, one called Elementary Mathmatics for Teachers and one called Arithmatic for Parents.
Any advice or experience with those books (I saw them mentioned in a post here recently but can't seem to find it)? Or any other "mathy" books that would be a good place for me to start?
TIA!
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