City Mouse
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Posts posted by City Mouse
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Kashi brand dark chocolate chip cookies. They are yummy, but have so much fiber that if I eat more than two in one day I get extremely "regular" :-)
Frosted (or not) mini wheat cereal is high fiber. We like to eat it dry here in place of other crunchy snacks.
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I don't think that reading passage is "disgusting" but I would agree that it is above the maturity level of a 9yr old. I would not be alarmed however if that was something an 8th grader might read.
I don't think there is any reason to go to the media or the state government at this point. How about talking to the school administration first? That looks like a school web page of some sort. I would think that it would be easy enough for the passage to be removed.
Perhaps the school could address your concerns with the testing provider as well.
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Another GPS hater here. My DH will use it even when he knows the route and the GPS tells him to go a different way.
I need to see the big picture first and keep maps in the car.
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I have hardwood in the kitchen and thought I would like it, but I don't like it and now his we had taken it out. We did have it refinished before we moved in two years ago, and now it looks as bad as when the house had been sitting empty for several years. I will admit that it is not moderne hardwood flori g hat you might purchase today. I think it is just light colored pine boards used as flooring.
If you dont have the money for hardwood, or want something durable for the kids, when we redid some of the floors(like down to the dirt) in our now house we ran out of money so we went with vinyl flooring. We got floating, self stck planks that look like wood. It was very easy for my DH to install. It handles mud, snow, and pets well, and it is very easy to clean. Best of all, when the contractor talks about having to cut through the floor to work on the foundation I am not horrified at the thought of running the floor.
We sort of plan to replace the floor with something "nicer" when the kids are gone, but that is many years from now.
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I have to agree with the PPs. I think you may be over reacting a bit.
I thnk she handled the fence thing very well actually. I would be happily and amazed if my kids handled a similar situation so well on their own.
I have had many unfortunate kitchen accidents as a adult and have the scars to prove it. When my DH was in his early 20s and was still living with his mom, he (he says it was her) accidentally left the water running a bit on the kitchen sink one night and flooded the kitchen and three other rooms causing major damage including replacing cabinets and carpeting.
By 11 yrs old I would read everything I could get my hands on, and the only books that were off limits were kept in my parents room (and yes, my siblings and I read them anyway. mom just didn't know) my favorite books in the 7th grade were Trixie Belden and Steven King.
I say you need to figure out your most pressing concerns and make those the house rules. Such as no cooking when parent is not home. No reading books that are in parents room.
but the more you push the kid to tell you every detail of her life the more she will hide from you.
I would much rather have an independent minded 11yr old than the sheltered 11yr old who has never ordered her own meal from McDonalds.
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If it was enough money...
My DH says he would like to work part time at his current job, but would do it for free so that the village could hire another person for the department.
While my DS is still school age, I would probably not work, so that I could spend more time with him. I would love to do one of those year long, around the country, homeschooling in an RV trips.
We would also like to invest in our small town to make it a better place for young people to live, and some recreational activities. Maybe find a way to get some sort of industry or business to come here so that there are decent jobs.
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I don't really have much to add except about the part where you get paid for child care.
If she is talking about you getting the child are subsidy money that she might be eligible for, it is not as simple as it seems.
You would have to first become a registered home childcare (or whatever it is called in your state). You would also have to register for the food program (similar to what a school would do) and provide set menus for meals. Since they live in your home, I don't know if that would even qualify.
It is not an impossible task, but it is a lot of paperwork. Some states even require onsite inspections.
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We have had current friends help us move, but we have never had new neighbors that we don't know help. After we have gotten to know the neighbors we have asked for help moving large appliances or furniture occasionally.
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Although I do agree that the price seems high, from what I have seen, the app is more than just letter tiles.
It allows the user to track multiple students at the same time keeping track of where they are in the program which tells me that it was really intended for a turoring/school setting rather than home use. Also, it has the words for each section preprogrammed in, so that you don't have to take the time to make each word for the student to read.
I dont know this for sure, but I would assume that when you purchase a level on the app, you don't have to purchase the lower level to have those tiles appear. Meaning that if you purchase only level four the alphabet tiles and the unit tiles would still be there not just the new tiles for level four. You need to purchase the lower levels of the app if you are going to use it do do the lessons.
It seems to me that the program is really priced as if everyone is starting a tutoring business instead of home use. I wonder if that organization that sends out free curriculum to homeschoolers in need would have Barton levels? It would not be that hard for families to make there own tiles.
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Sure, I wish it was cheaper, but if I had gone straight to Barton instead of spending the time and money on other programs I (and my DS) would be much better off. I have bought workbooks, leveled readers, and even paid for online resources. Some of it helped a little, but none of it was enough. I have easily spent enough over the years to pay for 2 or 3 Barton levels.
I have done what the PP suggested and bought a roll of sticky backed magnetic strip from Lowes for $3.50. I cut small pieces and stick to the tiles. I stick the tiles to a cheep cookie sheet that I got at the local dollar store. I am going to look for bigger cookie sheets when out church as its annual rummage sale in the fall.
I have thought about paying for the iPad app just because my DS gets all figity with the tiles and drives me crazy sometimes, but I am going to hold off on that for a while.
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I grew up Protestant though we did not attend church regularly after I was around 10. I always enjoyed going to church as a kid and would go with any friends/family members that envited me. I dont remember attending any of those "fun" churches though my cousins were Pentacostal. DH grew up Catholic, and i enjoyed attending Mass with him and his family. After we married I converted. My kids have been raised catholic. My DD18 has always liked going to mass and participating in church activities. She liked the RE class, being al alter server, singing in the choir.
My DS, on the other hand absolutely hates everything. A couple of years ago we moved from a big surburban area to a small town with lots of Hispanic influence. I don't mean this in a bad way, just that the area is historically Hispanic and the Catholic Church here incorporates a lot of Hispanic traditions that we are not used to coming from a different background. Also, the priest is a bit odd, and often presents things as doctrine that are just plain wrong. Even after two years of regular attendance we still feel like visitors many days.
I live in a very rural area were there is only one Catholic Church, one Methodist, and one baptist church. Any other churches are at least 45 min away.
I am wrestling with the idea of allowing, or really encouraging, my DS to pick a different church to attend. I would much rather that he find a church that he likes and wants to attend then forcing him to continue participating in the Catholic Church by dragging his body there, and as soon as he is old enough he will run far away in the other direction.
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I have several in my calf that developed with the last pregnancy (11yrs ago). They have never caused me any problems, bit it is visually I appealing to me. I have never had anyone seem to notice.
I also have very pale skin and have some very visible veins, but never cared.
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I broke my right arm when I was 10. I just wrote most stuff with my left hand.
Give her a few days for the pain to go away first, but then she should be able to use her left hand for writing simple stuff like single word answers.
For grammar you could have the sentences written out and just have her mark the corrections. She could still work out math problems, but maybe fewer than normal. She will just need more space/paper when using the non dominate hand. Or she could even use a large dry erase board to write on.
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One on my DS favorites is The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Although not a "classic" is has very nice illustrations. It is sort of a cross between a novel and a picture book.
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My DH, who is a police officer, and his fellow police officer friends used to joke about doing just that. I don't think any of them actually did it though.
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When she was about that age, my DD would get anxious and worked up at bedtime because she would worry about not being able to fall asleep which, of course, would keep her from falling asleep.
What eventually worked for her was to tell her that she could stay awake and read in her room as long as she wanted with no pressure to fall asleep by a certain time.
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By the way, not one of the colleges that mynDD applied to ever asked what grades she got in elementary and/or middle school.
I would worry more about content learning at lower grades and save the worrying about grades for high school.
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Making a 1st grader study for "hours" for a test seems a bit unreasonable.
I always tell my kids that I expect them to do their best (or close). If a "c" grade really is the best you can do then that is good enough for me. For my DS with learning disabilities getting a "c" may be as good as he can reasonably get at times.
On the other hand, my DD made "D" in middle school language arts, but scored a perfect score on the state writing test in 7th grade. I used that as an example to her that I did not feel that her "D" was her best effort.
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Not at this time.Thank you!
I think that life will be easier if I split them up. My son can read somewhat. But I want this to be the LAST program that he does.
Will you be selling Level 2?
I was lucky enough to borrow levels 1&2 from a friend to try it out before I had to start buying anything. I live in an extremely rural area with limited resources, so I am actually thinking of offering Barton tutoring as a business. I don't know how that will work out though as people here cannot afford the tutoring prices that are common elsewhere.
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I don't have ant experience with the Phonics Road program, but I started using Barton this summer with my DS11,reads independently on a 2-3rd level, and just finished 5th grade. We are on the last lesson of level 2.
I did go look at the Phonics Road website, and it seems as if it is a similar program but more comprehensive as far as writing and literature go. Unfortunately, there are no sample pages to look out, only the videos, and I don't want to do that right now.
The main difference I see with Barton is that it is more focused only on reading and spelling allowing faster progress for a student that need to catch up. There is some basic grammar included, but outside reading is not recommended at the lower levels. Also, barton was originally designed to use with older students, so it does not look "babish" like some programs might. I cannot specifically comment about Phonics Road since there are no samples of student materials.
The only downside that I can see to using the same program with both a 6yo and 11yr old at the same time is how the older child will react to doing what he perceives as 1st grade level work. Also, the older child will probably be able to progress faster initially since he does already have some reading skills.
Would you be able to arrange your time to work with each child separately?
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The liquid version Ritalin is not that new. I remember considering it for my DD just as Datrana patch came out. At that time the liquid version was not time release, but that may have changed.
I actually like that your ped is suggesting the liquid so that the dosage can be fine tuned specifically for your child's needs. When using a pill form, you are limited by the dosage available.
That being said, the many horror stories that I have heard regarding Ritalin side effects were usually kids that were improperly diagnosed and medicated.
I would probably give it a try for 1 month since it was recommended. If you don't like the results you could stop.
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I don't have any personal experience, but from what I have read, people in many Asian countries have a different view of education, and life in general, than most people do in the US, and not all of it is better than in the US. So I would just ignore her.
Also, many studies have shown that early readers (unless they are truly gifted) tend to level out in later years and the other "regular" readers catch up to them.
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It is not unusual for kids to "read" words that are above what they can comprehend. An example is that after 4 years of high school Spanish manyyears ago, I can "read" Spanish word but I have no idea what it means. Your son has learned the phonics skills to decode words at the 8th grade level, but he has no meaning to go with those words.
In general, what you do to improve on reading comprehension is go back a grade level or two to a reading passage that you know he is capable of reading and focus on comprehension activities. He may need to work on general vocabulary as well.
If this were my child I would look for a short comprehension workbook at the upper end of 3rd grade level and start from there. If he does well then move up to the next level.
How his he with listening comprehension if you are reading to him at a higher level? How are is oral language skill in general? Does he use 8th level vocabulary in his everyday speech, or his his oral vocabulary closer to that 5th grade level?
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The BSA has always had Backcountry weight limits. It is on the medical form that must be taken to events. The weight limits are actually quite generous. I currently meet the limits and I am extremely overweight an out of shape.
this article on homeschool accountability was in my local paper this morning
in The Chat Board
Posted
The problem I see with comparing his lack of education at home to poor public school education is that for public school students "we" know who to blame. That is the whole point of educational reform, testing, accountability, and even the Common Core standards that so many people think are terrible. Although it is a long process, administrations, and teachers, are held accountable and sometimes replaced when not effective.
These parents chose to educate their children a certain way, and that is fine. However, if public money (financial aid) is going to be used to remediate a child's education at a community college when the parents did not do a good job, why shouldn't the parents be held accountable just as a school is?