Jump to content

Menu

mamabear2three

Members
  • Posts

    567
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by mamabear2three

  1. At the end of last school year I came up with a plan based on some conversations on the hive about art and music and would love feedback now that we're starting to implement it. I'm teaching the older two this year - 2nd grade and K4. Monday's are our "fine arts" day when we do all the subjects that I tend to allow to fall by the wayside: Art (including drawing, art appreciation, and monthly projects) Music appreciation Singing Poetry Piano lessons Spanish (we do this all week, not just on Mondays) Geography Bible (we do this all week too) Then the rest of the week we do our "core": Bible Math Science History Spanish Language arts (including spelling, reading, writing) Piano practice I guess my biggest concern after doing it for one week and planning out week 2 is math. My choices for each subject seem to be doable and appropriate, taking approximately 2 hours to complete (and I mostly allow the K4 to join when she wants and play when she wants), but is doing math only 4 days a week a good idea?
  2. She hasn't seen my daughter since before we went off the meds - we were at the dr. for another child and the dr. remembered that we were doing this trial and asked how it was going. So she was making assumptions. Maybe that's part of my problem - all the assumptions. The psych we went to for diagnosis assumed that because the IQ testing was "average" that it was accurate and that any unanswered questions were answered with the ADHD diagnosis. The pediatrician assumed that the meds would be the best answer because that's "always the answer" in her experience. She assumed that OT would be "helpful but not a solution" because she's never seen kids be able to go off meds. And she assumed that my daughter's grades will suffer because I took her off meds when in fact she was well above grade level before we ever got the diagnosis in the first place.
  3. That makes sense, and yes, she had reactions to the meds that we verified when we took her off of the meds this summer. They increased her anxiety by a lot (but not enough to warrant the Dr. doing anything about it...it was very concerning to me though because when she would have an anxiety moment, it would paralyze her). The meds also caused her to be very down/moody to the point where she wouldn't always last for a playdate without coming to me and being sad and gloomy and wanting me to rub her back. She couldn't get to sleep without melatonin and she wasn't gaining weight appropriately (and to maintain her weight we had to use ensure drinks). Not to mention the fact that the meds weren't consistent in their effect - most days she would be focused and on task for school but we still had random days/times when she couldn't focus no matter what. That's what I'm loving about the OT - she's calm, organized and able to focus. She's also eating well, sleeping a lot better, able to manage her anxiety in what I would consider to be normal for her age and rarely has down/moody moments. We start school in a week and a half, so I need to wait to see how that goes, but if you saw her now without knowing her history, you wouldn't know that she had been diagnosed with ADHD because her behavior is within the range of normal for her age.
  4. I'm trying to figure out why my pediatrician would seem to have an agenda for keeping my daughter on medication for ADHD if the occupational therapy is making a huge difference in her behavior. She asked for an update on our no-med trial and how the OT was going. We are seeing amazing results and inspite of my report, the Dr. seemed very concerned for her ability to keep her grades up in school without meds even to the point of telling me that the anxiety and tiredness/low moods were a tradeoff of the medication and that sometimes the benefits outweigh the negatives. I explained to her that her grades were never an issue and gave her a couple striking examples that she couldn't argue with because they were pre-meds. (like reading level that jumped from K to 3rd grade in a 2 month stretch of time). Anyway, she ended by saying we'll wait and see and I know she can't force meds on us, but it just seemed strange that she is SO pro-meds.
  5. I just added a fourth to our mix... and I have to agree that adding number 3 was the hardest (of course,I had 2 under 2 for a couple months after my third was born...) My fourth pregnancy was my most difficult and yet he's been the easiest baby so far (but we're only 8 weeks in, so we'll see how that goes!).
  6. Thanks! I was recently worrying about my dwindling paper supply - the 2 box limit on this deal should get me several years worth of paper :)
  7. Does anyone have McRuffy 3rd grade math? I have a question... I bought the curriculum used a few months ago and just now am going through it in depth and am missing the memory cards - I'd hate to purchase the entire resource packet just for a few missing cards. If anyone has them, could you message me some info about them, if not the numbers, then at least the difficulty level (how many numbers on each card, etc.) so that I could make my own? TIA!
  8. Awesome, thanks for the ideas :) I have tried music, but not headphones, that might be more helpful than ambient music. I need to put a schedule back up, she always does well with a visual schedule and I never keep up with it, I need to do better!
  9. I'm particularly fascinated by this idea - do you see this skill carry over outside of your dedicated practice time?
  10. Quick summary of where we are: DD7 was diagnosed with ADHD in Oct. We chose medication at the time, struggled through some things over the school year but focus/behavior was much much improved. Issues with sleep/moodiness/anxiety/weight gain have me concerned and looking for alternatives (and keeping a journal with her both on and now currently off meds has verified my concerns). Bottom line here is that the negatives are outweighing the positives and I want to try alternatives before trying new meds. I've tried essential oils will no success, and we are about to start OT (next week). I’m working on diet/gut health. But I expect that if anything works, it will not be overnight and so I need to work on the environment in the meantime. I am confident in my ability to control hyperactivity through various activities but I am struggling with the impulsivity/inattention. I know I need to specifically modify the environment/set her up for success/teach her executive function skills and am looking for anything that anyone has tried that has worked. If I have a whole toolbox full of ideas, I figure I’ll end up with more success and less frustration overall. So tell me how you set up your “school†area so that it minimizes distractions/increases focus, what organization methods you use? How do you handle parenting through poor impulsive choices? (She doesn’t do anything dangerous, it’s more picking fights with siblings by taking toys/throwing toys) Any ideas are welcome!
  11. Thank you for your comments, this gives me a lot to think about as I sort through everything. I really just want to "fix" it, and I feel like everyone says their thing will work an that everyone else's thing won't work or isn't good. I do think that one of the solutions to right now is to try the OT because I won't be able to know anything until we try that.
  12. Thanks for the helpful thoughts and questions! Here is some more info: Ideally yes, I'd love to be able to take my daughter off of meds. I also mentioned that to the OT and her only comment regarding meds was that it seems crazy to her that dr's are so quick to prescribe meds for ADHD and so slow to prescribe meds for anxiety. She also said that based on how I describe some of the things that my daughter does off meds that it sounds like she has ADHD and some sensory stuff. Based on the evaluation, she said that she has minor issues crossing midline, but that her biggest issue is that she has an under developed vestibular system (so she can't balance on one foot with her eyes closed, doesn't get dizzy easily, crashes into things all the time). She said that after 3 weeks we would know whether the issues are all sensory, all ADHD or a combination of the two and be able to make a decision from there how to proceed. The $300 is because we have a deductible to meet for services... after the deductible is met we would pay approximately $20-25 per session and while we would not be able to afford 2x a week long term with that, we'd be able to go 1x a week or at the minimum, every other week. I kind of felt like in order to know if it will work, I have to do it right for the 3 weeks and then figure out how to cut back. Regarding therapy - she didn't say specifically what she would do, but mentioned the program "how does your engine run" and talked about putting a sensory backpack together for her with things that will help her anxiety, and said that if in the end it's "just" adhd, she can give us a lot of stuff to do that can help with that too. (this OT is recommended by our speech therapist - whom I have great respect for and has done amazing things with my son. He went from no words to talking in just a month, gaining 3-5 words per session.) She also did the evaluation for free, if that makes any difference. She talked about how she really likes homeschoolers because we can actually do the homework properly unlike kids who are at public school all day. Why do I think the meds don't work right? I feel like before meds she would swing between normal and high and with the meds she swings between normal and low. I've been to the dr. several times, asking about my concerns and whether her behavior showed a need for a different medication and each time the dr. asks a ton of questions and in the end says that the meds are working properly and that the concerns I have are not bad enough to warrant a change in meds because the other meds can cause worse symptoms. We even had a whole workup over the winter due to a severe lack of energy/not gaining weight/depressive mood and the Dr. decided that based on all available information, none of it was due to the meds (the weight gain issue started before she started on the meds) and that her vit. D was the only number off in her blood work so supplementing that would help. My daughter participates in ballet but that runs from Oct-May. It does bother me that the OT and the psychologist used the exact same example to describe why they think she has ADHD - the psychologist said that as a child with ADHD she won't, for example, be able to give proper amounts of attention to the imput she receives so the sound of the fan, the sound of our conversation and the sound of the trash truck outside all receive the same level of focus, thus preventing her from properly focusing on the conversation. The OT used the same exact example to explain how a child with a sensory issue is different than a child with ADHD - saying that a child with sensory issues will not be able to give proper amounts of attention to the sounds she hears while a child with ADHD would have more issues organizing it all in her brain. Saying that sensory is external and ADHD is internal. So either I'm being told incorrect things about ADHD/sensory issues by someone, or the OT doesn't really understand ADHD (which I figure is very possible since she is an OT and not a psychologist). She said with sensory issues she can do things that change the brain while with ADHD she can only give coping techniques.
  13. My daughter was diagnosed last fall with ADHD and has been on medication since. But I'm not convinced that the meds are working right/that the diagnosis is entirely correct. An OT evaluation was recommended by a friend and after a lengthy conversation with a highly recommended OT, I'm trying to decide what to do. It will cost of $300 after insurance covers it's part (she is out of network) for just the 3 week trial the OT recommended. My pediatrician thinks it's worth trying but that she's "never seen anyone be able to go off of meds from OT". The full recommendation is: 1 week journaling mood/behaviors on medication, 1 week journaling mood/behaviors off of medication and then 3 weeks of 2x a week OT plus lots of sensory diet assignments for at home all without meds then reevaluate. After this period of time the OT thinks we will be able to identify How well the meds are really working/which negative behaviors are because of the meds and which are in spite of the meds and whether the OT can help. (ie, is it sensory issues or is it ADHD or is it combined.) Here's what I'm seeing in my daughter and my concerns: 1. anxiety - it's not consistent and it is not always predictable but it is a problem. Ped. doesn't think it's a big enough problem to escalate to treatment of any type but it concerns me - When she has an anxiety issue she is incapable of working through it, instead she melts down. I am really hoping that the OT might help in this area. The OT thinks the meds are exacerbating the anxiety issues. 2. after getting anxious about the OT evaluation today, my daughter came home and as the pent up energy from her anxiety over the appointment wore off, bounced off the walls in total pre-medication hyperactiveness in spite of having taken her meds today - we have bad days on the meds too, where I check under the breakfast table to make sure she actually took her medicine. So while the meds do make days livable and school doable, they are not a consistent solution. 3. after a busy week at camp, we forgot to give her medicine to her on Saturday - she wasn't "perfect" but she was strangely well behaved and able to slow down and focus/listen to directions even at a birthday party/playing with friends. (does this mean the sensory input of camp helped??) 4. When she is not medicated, she is able to sit still/listen/focus if we rub her back a particular way (she tells us specifically how she wants us to rub it and will sit for however long we are willing to rub) (this seems odd for a true ADHD child... maybe I'm crazy). Anyway, bottom line, any been there done that moms who have found OT to help you go off of ADHD meds? Am I crazy to think that maybe this is sensory instead of ADHD? And is it worth $300 to find out? We don't have a lot of extra money and it will be a stretch to come up with that amount.
  14. The only problem there is that I need to work on her ability to do anything independently... I was considering implementing workboxes to help with that but if I give her an independent assignment I'd only get about 15 minutes max before she would be back at my elbow again. I guess that's why I was thinking desks in the same room - then I could go back and forth between them a little easier.
  15. I have planned probably a half hour to hour max - math, phonics and a following directions workbook. Last year she would come to me at the dining room table and we would so some things together at her insistence and she wasn't ever really happy that I didn't just devote a good chunk of 1-1 time to her school. I kept trying to get her to play because that's what 3 year olds should be doing! But I finally got the point that she was not happy being left out of schoolwork and boy did her face light up when I showed her what I got for her to do next year. She wanted to start RIGHT NOW, lol. The other things she would do are group things (like art, listening in on history/joining in on science) that we would probably still do at the dining room table or in the living room. So I wonder if instead of 2 desks, I need just one for the older and split the two between the dining room and school room.
  16. Where do you find your kids work best when you are teaching more than one at a time? I am going to have a second grader and am giving into my 4 year old's begging and will do k4 in the fall with her. The second grader has ADHD and I am wondering if having them work on things at separate desks instead of at the dining room table together might be less distracting to her. I have a "homeschool room" but it doesn't have a lot of natural light so I use it more as a resource room. I am wondering if putting desks and more light in there would be beneficial or if I'm just looking for a project (ha, cause I always need another project!).
  17. thanks everyone! I had someone mention to me they used notebooks and page protectors and I was wondering how common that was - I also prefer to have my kids write directly in the consumables. Makes me feel better to realize that I'm not missing something to save a couple dollars!
  18. Do you let your kids write in them? Do you ask them to write in a notebook? Do you use a page protector and white board marker?
  19. yes, it was homeschool classifieds... the person I bought from on a yahoo curriculum exchange was a different book and I did receive that one... it was mailed one day earlier and I received it within a week. I think pregnancy is effecting my brain, I just need these books to show up and then everything is bought and ready for school in the fall and I can focus on the last couple weeks of pregnancy and not have to think about school anymore!
  20. I'm going to give the post office a decent chance at delivering the package first, then if it doesn't show, I'll give the seller a chance to make it right first. I was looking on paypal and have quite a while to file a claim and since there's no tracking info, it wouldn't be a problem to get the refund. I know that whenever I sell things media I have to pay an extra dollar to get the tracking info, so if she didn't spend that dollar, then there wouldn't be tracking info. I always spend the dollar when I ship things to protect myself.
  21. I don't think that she did print a label from paypal - I never got notice that the package shipped. I had to email her for confirmation that she had shipped it, so I'm going by her word only. Ok, so I'll wait another week and a day or so and then if I haven't received it I'll start a claim through paypal. Thanks for your help!
  22. I bought a couple books off of someone on a yahoo curriculum exchange and she told me she shipped them on Tuesday, April 28 and that the post office said they should be here by Monday, May 4. I contacted her again on the 7th to see if she had a tracking number as I had still not received the books and she told me that they "didn't give her one b/c it was media rate" and that it takes "up to 10 days". As of today's mail, I still have received nothing. I'm annoyed that she couldn't spend the extra dollar to get a tracking number and don't know how long to wait before starting to worry about the books just never getting here. Is it unusual for the post office to be that wrong in the estimated arrival time of a package (According to the estimate by the post office, it's over a week late)? I've ordered quite a few used books in the past couple months and everything arrived quite quickly in spite of it all being media rate. I paid through paypal so I know I have some protection there, I've just never had a problem buying used and don't know how long to wait!
  23. And I'm really liking the concept of a second honeymoon at 25 years. :)
×
×
  • Create New...