displace
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Posts posted by displace
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We live about 2 hours away. I prefer to drive up the night before (or maybe early in the morning?), stay one or two days, then drive back at the end of whatever day when finished. The shortest would probably be a one-night stay, and possibly after having passes maybe staying a few days at a time but multiple times through the year, esp in winter.
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Other sci-if/fantasy authors I like that haven't been mentioned:
Neil Gaiman
Patricia McKillip
Ursula LeGuin
Marion Zimmer Bradley (I like her sci-fi stuff better than her fantasy, personally)
Patrick Rothfuss
Patrick Rothfuss!!! The Name of the Wind and the Wise Man's Fear are two excellent novels! They are lengthy (if you're looking for a one day read this is probably not for you), extremely well written, and will totally draw you into the world.
Also, the Brandon Sanderson Mistborn series I think is also well written, less lengthy, but still the type of novels that will have you immersed.
They are both fantasy with magic in other worlds and light romantic interests but I don't recall any s*x scenes. Mistborn series has a focus on a mostly female protagonist or shared with a male.
P.S. -- Hope you feel better soon! I watched through almost all of the True Blood series on my last bedrest.
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We moved about one year ago back south, and I'm mentally prepared to take a family trip to WDW. We've been to a lot of other amusement parks and I wanted to wait until DS was a little older before forking over the $$$. He'll be 6, and we're considering getting a resident yearly pass. There seem to be so many options and I hope any other residents might give their opinions on them. Considerations for us include:
1) We afterschool, and will likely be going at various times for school days off, and I hope to avoid the summer heat if possible. So to me, I think the only passes that would suit us would be the annual or premium annual pass as the blackout dates seem to coincide with a lot of school holidays for the seasonal pass. Does that seem right to you or are the blackout dates really do-able and not a big deal (esp if we want to avoid summer visits anyway?). We'll probably go for a weekend each time, staying only from rope drop until early afternoon and just coming back later, with maybe fireworks or something occasionally as an evening visit?
2)It seems like a lot of people choose to stay at the resorts, but looking at their prices, I don't think I would do that. IDK, I guess we usually spend about $70/night in the "area", so if we got a cheap Disney hotel would it be much different price-wise or benefit wise? I've looked at a few discount Disney websites but the prices of the rooms at WDW still seem to be a lot more expensive than $70/night. Am I missing the best places for value?
3)Also, for days out we tend to maybe eat one "snack meal" (hot dog/burger type of food), and bring the rest of the food with us in snacks/fruit/juices/sodas/water, plus eat out dinner and hotel breakfast. These food plans seem expensive at Disney. I'm a little confused as a lot of people say they save money, but I can't imagine eating so many meals at Disney to make them worth it. Plus I tend to hate spending time at crowded places standing in line for food, IYKWIM. It's faster to just grab a granola bar and PB&J. Do the annual passes give a discount on all food at the parks? The website lists where the pass can give discounts but I'm confused as it lists specific restaurants in different parks.
I haven't been to WDW since I was a young child so I can hardly remember it, and now everything seems so different. In general, I'm a rough vacation planner (where we're staying, which place we're going, bringing food, maybe a place to eat for dinner), and it seems like a lot of people do planning at WDW to an extent that I don't think I could accomplish. If we see a long line, we skip the ride. If we're hungry, we eat. If we're tired, we'll likely leave. Is that laisez-faire attitude okay for WDW or would we enjoy and accomplish more by planning? I'm hopeful since we live so close-ish our multiple trips will make it not matter if we don't see everything we want at first (or second) go.
TIA!
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I've been feeling pretty guilty as I decided to go to the gym today. As a result, the whole house is pretty messy. I just joined a week ago. I really need to start putting my health first sometimes as I'm the heaviest I've ever weighed and starting to suffer health effects.
So, I went to the gym but neglected housework. I have a feeling this pattern may be frequent.
Do you sacrifice something (financial, familial, professional, chores, etc) to put yourself first (health, career, mommy time, massages, etc)?
Or do you juggle everything? I think I could shift more housework to the mornings and evenings or weekends. But it may not be as beneficial. Or I may just live with it. :ohmy:
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I wrote a blog post on the difference between Reading Eggs and Reading Express. They really need an in between. http://sceleratusclassicalacademy.blogspot.com/2013/06/going-from-reading-eggs-to-reading.html
Thanks for the good insight.
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My son does a reading/phonics program called "i-ready" on the computer. His school has a subscription, which we use at home. I don't know if it's available to the general public (I spent a tiny amount of time looking at their main website for you, but couldn't find the info easily), but I think it's a pretty decent program.
Thanks, I'll look into it.
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My son started Reading eggs in mid first grade while his guided reading level was C. By the time he finished RE, his guided reading level was still only level D/E and his decoding skills were not automatic. RE helped on his reading confidence but not on the fluency. Therefore, we went back to traditional way of learning to read. We did Dancing Bear fast track, guided reading and I SEE SAM. We also reviewed vowel teams using O-G method. We did try eggpress and my son does not like it much so we just dropped it.
Thanks for this personal insight. I think DS's reading is about level C with "encouragement", and we're about halfway through all the lessons. I think reading eggs is more of a supplement for us and think I'll look into another phonics program once it's completed (unless he's much more fluent at the end). I'll have to look up what vowel teams are and O-G method.
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Displace,
Where does finishing reading eggs put him? I know a lot of people like that program but I've never used it and I would guess there are others in this room that might have suggestions but are not familiar with it as well. Also, you can cross post in the general section as it gets more traffic.
We did Bob books, parts of Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading, and a bunch of different readers that a retired reading specialist gave us (think the Dick and Jane series and so forth). OPGTR, some of the Bob books and some of the readers we were gifted are available through our library and perhaps yours as well. The only computer program we used that had a reading component was more.starfall.com and I do think it's nice but not enough for what you want. Starfall does have reading library that highlights words and sentences as they are read. We also did and sometimes still do spelling using Scrabble tiles.
Is there anything that sparks a light in him? In another room "The Great Big Enormous Book of Tashi" was suggested for precious readers and it is well loved here. Every chapter is a story in and of itself and it would work well for a parent and child reading together.
I wish I could be of more help to you. There hasn't been a golden ticket here- just a lot of different things that seem to spark enthusiasm.
Well, the reading eggs program does teach phonics, but I don't know if it's complete or not as my memory of phonics is pretty... old. The website just lists what is taught (which vowel sounds, vowel combos, sight words, etc). It doesn't state which level it should place a child. IMO I feel it's fairly cursory and doesn't really have enough review of the concepts, though it does drill some sight words. Thanks for the reading recommendation. I'm having difficulty finding something he's interested in that he's able to read. Frankly, I think his skills need to improve more before he's able to read anything interesting.
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DS is in K and is 5 y/o. He has mostly been behind in reading in class but is *almost* up to level now. I have been having him do reading eggs one lesson every day recently. He grumbles but doesn't hate it, and his reading has skyrocketed (due to the program or just maturing I don't know). He is still very resistant to reading early readers, and I think a lot has to do with frustration on not being able to perform quickly and his need to work at it. He still sounds out almost every word.
I think we'll be done with all lessons if he continues in 2-3 months. Any recommendations after reading eggs? Should we just continue with reading eggspress? If it's similar to reading eggs I see that as more a supplemental vs an actual reading program. I'd like to do enrichment over the summer so he doesn't fall behind again and progresses. I have considered maybe 2-3 months of K12.com, explode the code, dancing bears? I really don't know. I'm not sure if after reading eggs there's still more phonics to learn, or if we should start on spelling or something else.
I'm open to most things, but "packaged" or open and go are easier for me than anything else. I also have AAR 1 which we originally got for a short homeschooling stint (shorter than I anticipated!). We never ended up using it because once school started it seemed like too much, and reading eggs was easy for me to monitor with a toddler at home and life in general. As a summer enrichment not during the school year I could try an AAR program if that's what is recommended. In general, computer things tend to be easier for us, but he will need practice with writing as well over the summer, and maybe doing a reading/writing program would be better than two separate ones.
What do you experienced teachers/parents recommend?
BTW, any recs of letting him just try to read some and me read aloud over the summer I would be uncomfortable with unless he really starts independent reading in the next 2 months. We've been playing catch up the whole year and I do not want to fall behind over the summer and feel pressured to keep on something academic through the summer. I also read aloud 2-3 books per day every day (usually picture books, occ a few chapters from books similar to Magic Tree House or more literature based, such as Charlie and Chocolate Factory, etc).
Thanks, everyone!
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These, to me, are red flags for vision issues. I strongly recommend an evaluation by a COVD developmental optometrist.
I should clarify: he knew at 2 years old the phonics basics (the A says "ah") but letter recognition by visually seeing and then saying, "that's an A, and it says ah" he did not know at the young age. Now he knows the phonics of the letters and letter recognition based on visually seeing. But when "reading", he'll guess a word, and when prompted, will say the letter's name and sound.
That being said, I don't know what a COVD developmental optometrist is, so he very well may need an evaluation! I did screen with a general optometrist prior to school starting and his vision was good.
I'm not sure if this is all relevant, but I'm suspecting more and more a problem with his prior preschool/daycare. He was there for years and I felt it was good, but after leaving there, I noticed immediate improvement in certain things, such as his stuttering, enunciation, etc. There has been improvement in his handwriting but when left alone, he doesn't write well. It makes me think he learned some bad habits there that he's stuck with and poor formal instruction that I was unaware of as I never did any schooling with him until HS K.
Let me google COVD dvlp optometrist though...
Displaced
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Ok, that makes sense. I'm not certain if their focus is on ied/504. They do mention preschool testing on their website so I'm hopeful it's just a very child proactive facility.
The only reason I'm considering testing is because voluntarily repeating kindy has already been brought up by his teacher (if his marks don't improve), and I need to make sure there's nothing overlooked.
Displaced
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Hello,
I'm considering testing DS5 d/t his unsatisfactory school reports. There is a possibility of immaturity (young age close to Kindy cut-off) vs struggles with writing (some of which I suspect are physical fine motor problems to be tested separately) and making careless errors vs maybe a LD? He is being compared to peers in a highly academic/advanced oriented public school. I have no concerns about his intelligence and neither does teacher (I think he's pretty bright but it's hard to be objective. :) )
There is dyslexia and ADHD in the family and high IQ as well.
It seems a lot of people on these boards recommend neuropsych to eval. I was considering for screening (as he is so young and only been in school a couple months now) to have him see a local psychology group. There are 4 PsyD, and I PhD, and they mention on their website testing for ADHD/LD. They mention a lot of things about children, working in the schools, rotations through the school system, etc. I was hoping a psychology testing (which will likely be quicker as far as setting up an appt, as well as much less expensive) would be a good starting place for just beginning concerns and his young age, vs the full enchilada neuropsych.
Would psychology testing from a place that seems to specialize in testing kids be an okay place to start or not likely helpful or too generic?
TIA ! Displaced
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I have an immature, high achieving boy. It's a mess. The whole-class instruction for phonics and math is years below him (class uses Saxon K for math; he is almost done with MIF 1). He only has a few opportunities for work at his level, which is either done 1:1 with the teacher or independently. Conversely, his frustration tolerance is low and he has a hard time regulating his emotions. His birthday is 3 months after the cutoff so he's well within Kindergarten age, and he couldn't handle the behavioral and social demands of a grade promotion. In our district, there are more opportunities for low achievers than high achievers. Low readers get a specialist in the class and extra pull-out in the afternoon. High readers get sent to the hallway to read independently for 45 min. (Not in my son's class, but the K teacher warned me it happens in higher grades). The kids who are still learning the alphabet and numbers to 10 seem happy as clams in the kindergarten class, but my son is a basket case because his worst behaviors come out when he is unstimulated. If he was more mature, he could be a great leader and self-starter, or could at least handle a grade skip. As it is, it looks like we'll be homeschooling.
I'd love to HS again. Because of our rocky summer/fall trial and all this, DH is pretty down on it. And I have high respect for his school so we may just have to see how things go.
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Jumping in here again.
I think it depends very much upon the approach of the school in general. Are they strongly emphasizing (almost requiring) early reading? Is it essential to be reading in kindergarten in this school? What are 1st graders expected to be doing in September? What do they do with kids who can't keep up? Is there a good option for those kids? Are other kids in his same boat, or is he really off on his own?
Often there is great support for later readers at public schools and those kids can do just fine. In some schools, however, there just isn't funding for remedial reading. (Often, schools in higher income areas don't have as much funding for extra help.) What I'd look for is a school that welcomes and expects kids' different rates of progress and is prepared with lots of positive support.
I will say he is getting some intensive intervention from what the teacher has told me. He gets a letter recognition program 3 x per week, small group with teacher twice a week, and they are going to start him with another person to monitor his handwriting with another student. When he started he didn't know his letter recognition/phonics well (which is strange because he knew what the letters say when he was 2-3 years old, but lost that knowledge). I was starting at pre-K letter recognition but only got through half the alphabet d/t our move. So since then he knows them all. From what I've seen the other children do from examples on the board, most kids in his class are writing 2 short sentences fairly well. DS examples look like a much younger child -- dramatically, which is why I'm wanting an OT eval now. As for the advanced children, she has only alluded to the children being allowed to advance at their own pace. Speaking to other moms who use the pre-K program next to the school, some 4 year olds are reading beginning readers.
I do feel he is just young, and maybe that's all this is, but when I monitor his behavior, lack of attention and focus, but great conversational skills and understanding of more advanced worldly concepts, makes me think testing for IQ/ADHD/LD is appropriate, as well as an understanding of his fine motor skills.
Displaced
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Thanks to all for the additional replies and insights. It's nice to get outside perspectives. DH and I are meeting with the teacher again this week to go over all these options: should we redshirt at this time, continue K and voluntarily repeat, keep going ahead, etc.
Further research has me confused as many articles regarding redshirting show very conflicting results. Ranging from immediate benefits in testing/maturity that degrade by 3rd grade, to no benefits long term, to detrimental associations (but no known cause/effect).
One thing I did find was an association with repeating Kindergarten and a higher risk of LD, etc. If that is the case, repeating Kindy would never solve a problem like that. I do agree we are putting too much stress on testing and kindy standards. But I also think DS is intelligent enough that the concepts are not above him at all. I mean, before starting K we were doing MUS and working on placement system concepts. They are just now starting numbers greater than 10, so I know he knows the concepts and I'm thinking it's more focus or ability to communicate it in a way they can test?? I think school just emphasizes things I don't care about but they feel are important, like how to test properly seems to be a big deal.
I've decided, no matter what, I want at least a basic school psychological testing and occupational testing. Learning disabilities and behavior concerns do run in the family, as well as high intelligence. If we find anything like twice gifted, LD, global concerns, that would help with our decision I think. If he has something else present, that's what needs to be addressed, not additional homework I think.
I may start another general thread to see people's personal experiences with repeating Kindy, redshirting, pushing ahead. But if anyone has those personal experiences I'd love to hear them. His school is large (~1,000 students K-5th) so there are plenty of other K classes if we do repeat so it's not all the same all over again (though I actually really like his teacher).
It's funny too because I was having a conversation with him about school and how sometimes things can be hard in school and did he feel that way and he said Not at all, so I'm ok with him staying for the moment until we sort this through a little better. But I am hoping to get testing done within a week or two if the school won't agree to do it.
Displaced
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I am going to offer a slightly different opinion just based on my experiences with preemies and kids with learning disabilities.
Is there any question as to whether he has any functional vision issues or any fine motor issues aside from being a boy and young?
We were in the same place with one child, and there were (and are) legitimate issues that were hidden by the fact that the kid is super smart. The frustration and attention issues popped up because he was being asked to do things he couldn't do.
Are they doing DIBELs?
I wouldn't move him on to 1st, but I am not yet in the yank him camp. I'd want more information....preferably from an OT perspective or from a teacher whose opinion I trust on what may be going on.
Thanks for this perspective. I had his vision checked by an optometrist before beginning school and so far, no known visual concerns (or hearing problems I think based on observation alone). His speech was a little borderline but has improved tremendously since being at school (enunciation, decrease/stop in stuttering) vs his preschool. Gross motor skills are fine but not awesome. He definitely has fine motor skill problems IMO but I don't know if they are enough to justify a diagnosis, KWIM? Teacher says he also needs a lot of fine motor skill work. I work with him with manipulatives (but I can increase this). Within the last few months he became interested enough in Legos that they are helpful. I also should allow him to use the scissors more often. I got a little rainbow loom (the bracelet maker thingy) to help, and some necklace/small beads to work with. But daily he usually only uses the Legos. The other activities are more often once per week (not all of them, one of them). When we did limited HS, I frequently would allow him to use number stamps for math because of his frustration with writing the numbers.
I don't know what DIBELs is/are. I'm considering getting IQ/developmental/LD testing since he is >5 y/o to see what may pop up. I'm not sure if I want to rely on school for this (not sure I would trust either a normal/abnormal result). They do FAIR or FIAR testing to predict academic success in reading (is my limited understanding), and he is doing well with that testing, 89% I believe.
Why can't us parents just know the future? That would make everything so much easier.
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Thank you to all the replies so far. You have all been so kind and helped ease my sadness. It has given me some new insights to consider and discuss with DH. Any reason to consider redshirting vs just voluntarily repeating Kindergarten? Is it just to avoid the negative record on his academic record? He already will have two unsatisfactory report cards if we pull out now.
Or is the idea of redshirting more of a relaxing approach as K may be too rigorous?
I'm just so heartbroken. I'm sure most everyone on this board understands as I think the majority of us are focused on intellectual pursuits/improvements. I find it hard to imagine my child would be in this position. Maybe it's just the standards, or his lack of maturity, but it's hard for me to come to terms with as I've always loved school and succeeded beyond expectations. As I think back though, things were soooo different when I was in K.
I also appreciate the votes of support that I wasn't the cause of this whole mess. I think I'm still going to feel mommy guilt though :o
My thoughts so far are to Avoid At All Costs a Failure in school. DH feels failure in 1st grade (if we push and progress and there's a fail at that point) is no big deal. He feels that would be equivalent to pulling him out now for pre-k/redshirting. I feel it would be a disaster of insurmountable and lifelong problems (teachers in the future labelling him as a failure, treating him as if he doesn't know much, expecting less of him because of grades, etc) for him to fail 1st grade. Intellectually I think he's with his peers but is making mistakes due to lack of attention, not because of confusion. And I see no comparison between putting him back in pre-K vs. him failing 1st. I think those two things are completely different and not equivalent and all. Any good research you can point to me of benefits of redshirting vs failing vs holding back voluntarily? DH is pretty scientific and evidence based research may sway his opinion (as it should).
I still feel so lost and underwater with everything school based and what to do. Please continue to give further/different advice as able.
Displaced
P.S. -- Sorry if it feels like I'm asking for more advice that has already been given/addressed. I'm just wanting to clarify benefits of redshirting vs. repeating Kindy. I'm sort-of thinking that since Kindy should be more advanced than pre-K, I should keep him there (as well as limited disruption of schedules considering our recent moves/upheavals/etc). FWIW, teacher says that he enjoys school there and likes it. He used to tell me he didn't like it but recently started saying he does like it, making me think he's more used to it now. We do afterschool for about 20-30? min usually 5-6 days a week. I don't think he enjoys afterschool work because he'd rather be playing. I read aloud an average of two new books a day as well. I forgot if I mentioned this before and my blood sugar is a little low so I'm rambling... :001_huh:
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Sigh :(
Background info: DS 5 has a close birthday cutoff for K and was born preemie by >1 month and he has always been borderline with meeting milestones, etc.
We had a big move right before school year started, and moved a couple times, so I homeschooled to tide us over.
HS was slow going. I was treating K as I remembered it from my youth: not academic enough and I planned on getting through curriculum during a calendar year. So when DS started K it was right at the end of the first quarter, but we had been reviewing remedial pre-K stuff and had a lot of time off because of the moves. He received Unsat in letters/phonics and writing expression.
I felt like I failed DS by not doing enough, not knowing enough about core expectations, etc. Teacher said he may catch up by next quarter and after school we have been working diligently to improve handwriting, reading, phonics, and extra math.
Today I met again and he has made great progress but still Unsat in all categories. Close to Satis in phonics/reading/writing but not quite because she said he is guessing in regards to reading. Meaning, he knows HOW to phonetically spell a word out but just guesses words based on picture clues, etc. Also in math he also received an Unsat, not because he doesn't know the concepts but because he may not listen to instructions or he's rushing, etc. She has no concerns with his intelligence or comprehension.
She brought up that if we get him caught up with his peers, how would first grade go with him needing to express himself even more with writing? His fine motor skills are still lacking a lot at the moment. I am also concerned. But on the other hand, if his understanding is good and reading improves, would his limited attention or fine motor skills be a reason for being held back in K (voluntarily or by failing)?
She feels it is a maturity factor that will just naturally change with time regardless of all the extra work we're doing. I'm thinking if we work smarter it will improve quicker. Also, mood-wise DS has mentioned most days he doesn't like school until last week where he voluntarily said he likes it now. The reason for not liking it before was "it's too much work". I'm thinking finally his skills are getting a little better and catching up to his thoughts and he's more used to the long days. Or maybe he'll work better now that he likes school.
I guess my thoughts are along the lines of K and failing/being kept back (both positive and negative), esp with regards to youth/lack of maturity or a slow start. Also in mind with future schooling/grade levels and requirements. I know if he continues to improve well I think he'll meet their benchmarks to pass (I guess I should figure out what they require though?) but will likely need intense help from me throughout the summer and after school for a while? Sorry this is all rambling but I'm a little distraught. Feel free to ask questions to clarify. FWIW, I would love to HS but DH is very down on it (we have a toddler and I must admit I do get somewhat distracted with her). I'm also hesitant now because I feel like my lack of knowledge of the requirements caused his failure in the first place. In retrospect I wish we had red-shirted him. :(
Sincerely,
Displaced
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Wow, thanks for all the replies, advice, and stories. For some additional background info, DS's birthday is about 2 weeks before the cutoff, and he was born premature so should have actually missed K cutoff. I didn't realize K had changed so much, though through this experience I'm of course learning otherwise.
Yesterday's afterschool went much better. My toddler took a late nap so I could just focus on DS. I let him watch one leapfrog show, then we did the homework sheets. Each sheet would probably take him 15 min if he went straight through, but there is groaning and moaning involved ("it'll take forever!"), and I allow a break halfway through each sheet. The math sheets are super easy for him conceptually, but there is a lot of reinforcement of writing numbers, which he struggles with. We also did some poem work (this is part of a weekly assignment) for a few minutes, and read a short book. I think it took 2 hr, including frequent breaks for snack, tea, leapfrog shows, etc. We skipped additional fine motor stuff and went playing at the park for 2 hrs afterwards.
Mood-wise there was a great difference. He did not say he couldn't do it or didn't understand, just whining about doing it. It still took way too long IMO. I think I'll switch a lot of the math to the weekends instead, as well as poem work. He received a coin as a reward. Today we talked about working hard and the goal to be to keep doing our best and trying. I want him to work hard, but also not be discouraged. Since we've just started this homework this week we're still learning a routine. And I want to give him a chance to succeed, as it's been hard to adjust to moving twice, starting a new school, etc.
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Thanks for all the tips and suggestions so far. I do think I'm going to change from M&Ms idea to nickels or something like that as I'm not really keen on using food as a reward.
Re: his teacher. She's aware of his academic needs and seems very competent. She does small groups with him and other students who need help as well. I have great confidence in her as she has a Master's and has been teaching K for 18 years, plus was teaching special ed before that. She mentioned that 6 years ago the curriculum changed, whereas before they took the whole year to know the letters and sounds, now they are expected to know it by the end of the first report card period.
I really like the idea of having tea or a special time for just us to focus in a nice manner doing work.
I used to have the letter factory and DS actually knew all the sounds when he was 2 or 3 y/o, but has "forgotten" it, or maybe just isn't making the connection between the written letter and the sounds. I'm going to start replaying it now. He knew it so well I packed it away. I have been limiting his screen time to mostly just leapfrog recently or Word Girl. I'm considering getting a subscription to reading eggs but sometimes he gets in the "guess until I get it right" computer mindset.
He's also needing a lot of fine motor skill attention, so I'm switching worksheets homework with mazes/tissue art/etc to make in between assignments.
I'm confident he'll catch up, though I don't know how long it will take. In the meantime I'm just concerned he'll have the mindset that school is hard, even when it may not be in the future or with subjects he grasps quickly. I just had a much different exposure to school. I was older when I started, K was much easier, it was easy for me, and I loved school. Of course I want a similar experience for DS and a love of learning. So I'm feeling like a task-master instead of sharing a love of school that I had.
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Hello,
Brief background: we recently moved twice. I was Homeschooling, and recently enrolled him 2 weeks ago in PS. At home we were going slowly through AAR pre-reading and HWT curriculum, anticipating up to a year to finish K.
The problem? Our new school district's K is actually a first grade type curriculum. By this time of the year, the children are expected to know all upper and lowercase letters, phonics, and a lot more writing than DS has.
So he is Behind. And I'm feeling pressure to get him caught up.
DS is young and also "young for his age" and is starting to display dislike for school because of all the sitting around that occurs.
There is light homework (reading everyday), poem worksheets, and we're working on the math sheets he wasn't there for. Today we had to do an extra sheet (recognizing the word white, writing white, circling white, etc). One problem is we worked on it right before bedtime (I forgot all about it), and by the end of the sheet he was crying and sad, frustrated because he "couldn't do it" and just a disturbed student. I was sad for pushing him to do the sheet, felt like I failed him for moving so slowly while HS and doing the sheet so late at night, and upset at the circumstances (moving, being so young in K, an advanced K curriculum, etc). I feel he's very intelligent and understands a lot and if he starting K next year he might be bored.
I guess my whole reason for posting is to get advice (No homework late at night from now on!) on keeping school fun and interesting as well as adjusting to a rigorous school setting. Also, if you've been in somewhat similar positions and have any advice/experience (as in: did your child do fine after a few weeks "catching up" or settling in, defocusing on school, or whatever), please share. My biggest worry is that this whole experience will cause him to dislike the whole idea of school. I mean, to cry about homework in Kindergarten? That is just unacceptable to me and I'm hoping it was a one-time tired-thing. Though sometimes working on the poems I see him make a lot of frustrated faces and I'm lightly concerned. Maybe it's how I approach doing work with him? Or maybe just him not understanding what to do and as he advances it won't be so hard.
My current strategy besides not doing work before bedtime involves M&M bribes, which I'm not happy about but I'm out of good options. I've also invested in a couple of "fun" ABC apps for my phone and board games with alphabet emphasis. I'm also thinking of having him join an after-school karate or something that he may enjoy, with the goal of improving self-confidence if he likes it. I also have Mindset to read on my Kindle as I'm wondering if it's more of a philosophy problem than actual inability.
Any advice and stories will be appreciated. I was really upset after what happened last night and hope there's someone who can share.
Thanks :(
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I prefer a one-weekly trip (which takes time planning ahead of time to decide meals for the week, about 1 hour). I go when DH can be home so I can go alone. It takes me 1-2 hours outside of the house. I do like to go early on a weekend day when everything is stocked and there are limited crowds, but will occasionally go on a weeknight. Usually every other week I will need to make a second trip for extra veges or fruits.
If I bring kids with me I can usually only spend enough time getting ingredients for one or two meals before they decide it's time to go back home :)
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I'm not sure if this is the right place to post (or if posted already), but I found this blog with some great homeschooling frugal resources:
http://theprudenthomemakerblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/keeping-homeschool-costs-down.html
I got some good tips from it and hope it's helpful for others. :001_smile:
P.S. -- let me know if I'm not supposed to link other websites here. :blush:
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I was wondering how quickly you are going through (or went through) MUS Primer with your K5? We are doing 4 pages (2 sheets front and back) right now. I'm wondering if we should go faster or slower. I'm not certain if there's a "goal" speed to accomplish, if the book should last all K year or if most progress to the next book or switch to another program before the end of K year. DS seems to be doing the work fairly easily and we could probably speed up because of that. OTOH, he doesn't seem to really like "doing school" so I don't want to push anything. It takes him maybe 10 min to do those 4 pages, FWIW.
Thanks :001_smile:
Disney World questions for state residents
in The Chat Board
Posted
Wow! Thanks for all the great tips! I was a little concerned about the approach I was going with this but it seems like I can find an excellent happy medium for our family, even if we don't stay on site or get meal plans, etc. I would consider staying onsite depending on how cheap I can get the resorts (advertised prices even for the $90 seem to be unavailable). But with the pass and a discount that would be more reasonable. I'll definitely have to look into that.
I'll carefully go over the blackout dates. Summer is not a big deal to not go for us (though water parks may be great), but that winter vacation with DS off of school for 2 weeks and the weather usually so nice, plus spring break, makes me really need to think about it. These passes will likely eat up our vacation budget for the year so we'll likely skip other types of vacations we would normally do (air travel to new places, etc). That means when we'd normally travel somewhere else for spring break we'll be home instead (and hoping to go to WDW, even with the crowds).
Good to hear about the discount on merchandise and the other tips too regarding the pirate cruise/discounts. We tend to be a "one toy per vacation" family, since the vacation IS the souvenir. But I was thinking of buying Disney themed cheaper toys and distributing them there.
Any other tips or opinions more than welcome!