Rachel
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Posts posted by Rachel
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If it's every time you first get up or lay down it might be crystals in your ear. Look up the Eppley Maneuver, you can find videos on You Tube for how to do it. I had been struggling with dizziness for a couple weeks and this took care of it.
There are lots of caused for dizziness though, caffeine and sugar both cause it in me.
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You mentioned she likes to cook, what about a cooking class, nice cookbook, or something from Williams Sonoma? A second saucepan in her favorite size would be nice too, but those can get quite pricy.
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I grew up in SD, we went out in all temps. It isn't likely to get below 0 where I now live, so I can't really say how cold or how long I'd let my kids play outside. I have noticed that with the humidity here, a 25 degree day feels colder than 5 degrees up there does.
My sister said it was -10 when they did chores yesterday. My niece (4) and nephew (8) wear regular clothes then over that insulated bibs (carharts), heavy winter coat, heavy socks, Sorel boots, gloves, and a hat when they do chores. I think they sometimes wear a scarf or neck gaiter over their faces.
You need to dress them in layers, for playing in the snow the outer layer must be waterproof.
We don't get a ton of snow where I now live but I do put my kids in snow pants and boots. I tried having them wear two layers of their socks and then one of my heavy pairs in rain boots one winter, even in the 20s their feet got cold pretty quickly. If your feet or hands get cold it's hard to warm back up. You should be able to find kids' snow pants for under $20 from Walmart or Target (check online if your store doesn't have them), they will most likely be black, but they'll be warm and if you don't need them daily for several months, last through the winter. If you can't find waterproof gloves, at least go with fleece. They won't be very warm in single digits but they will repel some water.
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Care Bears. The local grocery store was encouraging kids to buckle their seatbelt, if you did a certain number of times you received free tickets. I'm pretty sure the only reason my dad took us was because it was free.
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Wow duckens, that is really helpful. Thank you!
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Thanks for all the advice. I have heard so many good things about the Suzuki method, but as far as I know we only have a guitar instructor here. I will check with my local homeschool community about teachers, thanks for that reminder.
I am excited for him to get started, I just hope that his interest and love for music continues.
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My son is 6, able to read well, and is very interested in music. He sings on key, has decent rhythm, and is interested in playing both the piano and the trumpet. We are happy with him playing trumpet someday, but would like him to start with piano. It's been years since I took piano lessons and once I got into band, my lessons were through my school, I don't know what to look for.
I know we have a lot of options in our area. In a quick search I found a lady down the street with 25 years of experience, she majored in piano and taught elementary music. The local piano center has several teachers, all have degrees in performance or pedagogy, they all have several certifications & associations that mean nothing to me but sound good. I haven't asked my friends where their kids take lessons yet, but I know I'll have several additional options.
What should I look for in a piano teacher?
- Is a degree or certain certification preferred?
- How much experience?
- Group or individual lessons?
- How frequently should lessons occur? Weekly?
- Is a certain method preferable for a 6 year old?
We have a full sized keyboard and we can have my mother in-law's piano. It's located in another town and would need to be moved to our house and tuned. Is the keyboard OK for starting out?
I know this varies greatly by area, but what is a reasonable price?
I am hopeful to start lessons in the spring, but if the general consensus is to wait a bit, should we get a lesson book and start working through it now and then start lessons next fall?
Any other suggestions?
- Is a degree or certain certification preferred?
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I just realized I posted this on the wrong board, moving it now.
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posted to wrong board
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I generally buy my husband tools. He also has a 40 year old truck he'd like to restore, I've bought him parts as a gift as well. He likes practical gifts and hates to spend money on himself. Since I don't always know what exactly he needs, several years ago I asked for a wish list and asked him to send me a link to additional tools or parts. He still does it. Periodically I ask him if he needs something taken off the list.
Two of his favorite gifts from me have been a small tool box and a pocket knife, a really nice one.
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How old is he?
Although I freely say "I love you" to my husband & kids, I have trouble saying it to others. It's not that I don't love them, it is just uncomfortable saying those words to them.
I don't think I would force him to say, "I love you too" in response to someone telling them he loves them, but do teach him how to respond. Maybe saying "thank you" or "I care about you too". I'm not sure of the wording but something that acknowledges he heard the person.
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I felt like you 6 months ago. You may want to spend some time on the Pre-K/K board, I have found it incredibly helpful.
Initially I wanted a plan like My Father's World (MFW) or Sonlight, but quickly I learned those wouldn't be the best fit for my son. When I realized that I could pick a different curriculum for each subject, it felt so freeing. Then I got overwhelmed at the number of choices. It was helpful to come up with an overall plan for my year. I wanted my son to learn to read and I wanted him to practice math and writing. I also wanted some Bible in there.
I selected a phonics program, a handwriting book, and a math book. We already attend a bible study every week, so I also added in some memory work. I don't plan out individual daily lessons, we just do the next lesson in the book. I had to do some tweaking, but we have a pretty good routine now. Our days do not look the same as they did in September, but that's OK. I generally spend about 20 minutes on each subject. Sometimes a math lesson goes more quickly and I don't feel like I can give a good overview of the next topic, so we end early. Memory work almost never takes that long, but I still set a timer because that helps my son. Reading always goes longer, he loves reading.
I can't find all the threads that I thought were helpful, but here are some:
http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/480969-preschoolpre-k-plans/
http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/481453-a-bit-confused-about-where-to-start/
http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/476259-do-you-do-formal-lesson-planning-for-k/
http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/484587-so-of-how-long-for-kindergartenthrea/
thank you! So do you use different curriculums for different subjects? I'm sorry for all the questions its just alot to take in.
Yes. The nice thing about choosing a different curriculum for each subject is that you can select the level he needs. If he is doing better in math, you can move through at a quicker pace. If he struggles with reading, you can move as slowly as he needs.
If you have a copy of the Well Trained Mind, you can use if for guidance in selecting curricula. She advocates for a low key kindergarten year but it ramps up in first grade.
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I get that said to me all the time, I always take it to mean they are wishing they had enjoyed that time more themselves.
I actually hear, "Boy you have your hands full" more often. Sometimes it bothers me, I always wonder if they think my kids are wild or something. Then I snap out of it and realize that I have good kids and I shouldn't put much stock into what a random person thinks after a 30 second encounter.
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I've done all three, I don't particularly enjoy going to a movie alone, but I'll do it. I never ate at a real restaurant on my own before my husband pointed out that men do it all the time. Sure enough, just about anytime I go to a restaurant now, especially at lunch, I'll see a man there alone, but I rarely see women alone. My husband spent the first 6 years of our marriage out of town a lot. If I didn't like doing things alone, I'd have gone crazy.
Does your friend live in Atlanta or is she just visiting? If she lives there maybe a movie isn't her thing but she might be able to find an exercise class, a craft class or book club to help her meet people.
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If you are an Amazon Prime member you can check out one book per month, There are a couple websites for lending books (booklending.com is one), there are also a Facebook groups for lending books. I've never looked for kids books so I'm not sure what the selection is like. The regular selection is so-so.
You can do a search yourself for free or $0.99 books. There are also blogs out there that keep lists and alert you to deals. I don't have any recommendations on blogs though.
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I don't think you can go wrong either way.
I read both to my 17 month old. I'll let him turn the pages in regular books if I'm reading with him, otherwise he only has direct access to board books and whatever his siblings have left laying around. Board books can get torn up too, usually instead of the corner of a page it's the front cover though.
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Depending on the state she may be able to get a job. I started working at a grocery store bagging groceries at 14, the hours were limited since you can't work past 7 on week nights and no more than 20 hours per week. The store still hired 14 year olds last time I was back home.
She can make better money babysitting though and would have more control over the hours.
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I just discovered a feature with my library that is wonderful. After placing a book on hold, I can "suspend" the hold. I tell the system when to end the suspension and then it will treat it like a normal hold after that. So I can go months ahead in our curriculum, request the library books we need, set the suspension to end the week before we need the book, and it will be waiting for me at our weekly library trip to pick up when I need it.
Yes, I wish our library had this capability. Although I do think the children's librarians will do this for me if I give them the list in person. It would be nice to do it online though.
Love this thread and bookmarking for future. I'm a library addict and love seeing what some other libraries are doing. I will now ask my library about the ILL we have (borrowed from neighboring counties) because I use it all the time and am curious about the cost to the library.
For our library...
- I love the drive up window that was installed -- when children were babes and toddlers and library trips became taxing, I loved being able to place holds even for items on the shelf and just drive up and pick them up.
A drive up window for holds would be awesome!
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I'm sorry.
I've been through something similar with my mom. Now that she has her life straightened out she is a lot better. She has always known where to find us as we did have contact with her parents.
She has been clean for about 8 years. During that time my brother has been able to develop a good relationship with her. My sister and I have an on again off again relationship with her. I don't think she is a bad person despite what I have been told, I do think it's hard for her to understand how I was hurt by her lack of participation in my life.
I am glad I never completely cut her out of my life, as I learn more about her struggles, I have sympathy for her. She would like I step into my life and be grandma to my kids, pretending that 20 years of stuff never happened. I struggle with that and need more boundaries. She is my friend on Facebook and I do let her see pictures of the kids, I'm not comfortable with her sending extravagant presents to them though.
So, I don't know if I have been helpful, but I do sympathize with you and hope you can find a solution that works in your situation.
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Growing up our dogs were family pets, us kids got to throw out some names but ultimately my parents had the final say. The cats and other random pets we had usually belonged to a specific kid, so they chose the name.
My husband and I have had many random dogs through our house and we always throw around names for a month or so before we settle on one we like.
I do think you should get veto power, but if your girls are really having trouble agreeing you could throw their top names into a hat and draw one out.
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My good friend's 7.5 year old still plays with hers a lot. I played with dolls (mostly Barbies) until I was 9 or 10.
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I second the books unless you know of a specific need.
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We limit, but only because DS13 literally becomes addicted to the screen. We're talking all loss of the ability to function, physical withdrawal once it's gone, depression, the whole 9 yards. We haven't tested it in years, but at 8 he would pee his pants because he couldn't force himself to walk away and use the bathroom.
My 6 year old is this way when he watches too much TV. Too much seems to be more than about 30 minutes. If he's been really active that day, and I let him watch a movie, he doesn't act out too much once it's over, but if he's been doing quiet things, he does. He almost never notices he needs to use the bathroom when he's watching TV.
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I'm curious how other families limit TV and your reasoning behind limiting the time.
We have one TV in our house, in general we don't turn it on when the kids are around. We don't have a specific limit to the amount of time our kids are allowed to watch TV. They watch a 30 minute kid show 2-3 times per week, shows my husband and I have DVRd or are on Amazon Prime and think are appropriate for their ages (6, 3, 1). They also watch a movie a couple times a month. If one of us is sick, my husband is out of town, or I'm pregnant the time is usually more, maybe a 30 minute show per day and a movie per week. Right now the kids pretty much agree on show choices.
We limit the TV time mostly because we notice a behavior difference in our oldest son if he watches too much TV. We also prefer that they spend their time being more active, if the TV is on they tend to sit down in front of it, spaced out.
Neither my husband nor I try to limit our TV watching, but we don't watch it much if the kids are around. My husband usually turns on the big college game on Saturday and NFL game Sunday, but doesn't usually watch the whole thing. Occasionally he'll watch a college basketball game on a weeknight. He rarely watches an entire game unless it's his team or a really good game. This is usually while the kids are napping/resting, but sometimes they'll sit with him. I have 3 shows I watch regularly, I DVR them and watch them when I'm doing something else like dishes. If my husband is gone in the evening, the TV is always on for background noise.
I can see that as our kids get older we'll need a more formal plan, so what do you do in your family?
If your husband travels 50% or more for work...
in The Chat Board
Posted
My husband's travel is erratic, he'll travel a lot one month and then not at all for several weeks. With little kids it can be tough, there is no one to help out with taking care of the kids, or errands, bill paying, doctor appointments, etc. If you stay home, you are on the clock from the moment the kids wake up, until they go to bed, and middle of the night too. I have to have a good attitude about it or it really begins to affect how I deal with the kids. Depending on the type of work, you may have difficulty figuring out when to communicate. My husband tries to Facetime the kids at bed, but often he is at dinner with a client and not able to. We usually text during the day and talk at night before bed.
50% travel is a lot, that could mean he misses out on birthday parties, recitals, games, etc, that is something to consider.
4 hours is still a long drive for your mom, how often is she willing to drive that far? Does your mom work, does she already have a lot of commitments, how realistic is it that your mom would help with the kids? In my family, it would be unlikely unless it was an true emergency (like my husband or one of my kids was hospitalized), but not all families are like that. Have you lived near her since you have had kids? My in-laws love to help with the kids and frequently offer, but they are busy with their own church, work, friends, etc., and it does not happen very often. Even when I have had my MIL lined up, on occasion she'll have something come up and cancel at the last minute, it's frustrating, but something to consider before you change your life so drastically.
I wish you luck in making this decision, a huge raise is quite tempting.