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nature girl

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Everything posted by nature girl

  1. Have any of you heard of, or tried, the Mendability program? It's mainly a sensory integration program, looks like it's basically exposing kids to more than one sense at one time...I'm curious whether it makes sense to try it. My daughter has been balking at any neuroplasticity/reflex integration activities I try, and I'm drawn to this because it looks like it takes so little time and effort on the child's part. But it also looks a little too good to be true, and I can't find peer-review studies. Thoughts? Mendability
  2. We don't have firsthand experience, but I've heard a lot from others, as well as Barkley, about non-stimulants being especially beneficial for leveling moods (although not so helpful for focus and impulsivity.)
  3. Is that the Ancestry bit that you can get for $79? I've bought the Health and Ancestry for $99 (for myself and my husband) but I'm now thinking of buying it for DD. Do they give you the same sequencing when you buy just the Ancestry piece?
  4. Is she able to figure out the sound words begins with? Say the word and then that beginning sound? If so, I wonder if letter writing could somehow help her connect the look of the letter to a word beginning with that sound, and then to the sound itself? So, for example, she could draw a B, and then turn it into a bear, saying the beginning sound as she draws...(I realize I may be underestimating how difficult it is for a child with APD to break apart sounds.)
  5. A NT adult friend of my SIL still sleeps with her stuffed bear from childhood!! (And she's married!)
  6. OneStep, after hearing your son's story I think I've fallen in love. :) I've wrestled with this as well with my daughter, so I'll be following along with this conversation. We're lucky that it hasn't been too much of an issue so far (2nd grade), but I'm sure it will be as she gets older and kids get more clique-y. As an example, since she was very little, 2 or 3, she's made up various imaginary friends. And for the past 3 years that friend has been "Tweetie," a little bird she makes by fluttering her fingers, talking to it (it makes bird songs back), blaming it for little pranks, etc...I think she uses it too when she feels uncomfortable about situations or doesn't know what to say, it helps having that little friend at her side. So I wouldn't want to tell her to stop, but for a long while I was telling her it would be best not to talk about it with her classmates (I suggested she keep Tweetie in her pocket...) and she didn't mention it when she first started PS last year. But sometime since then, everyone in her class has come to know about Tweetie. She says they think he's cute, that they talk to Tweetie and acknowledge him as a real presence, and one of the girls in her class actually has started making her own bird with her fingers that she calls "Sweetie..." :wub: So we've been REALLY lucky so far, but I know that won't last forever. And that eventually a certain type of kid might use it as an opportunity to tease. SaveSave
  7. Promethease IS overwhelming! I used it on 23andMe data for myself last year. But if you know what you're looking for and search on those things, it becomes more manageable. It also flagged big risks I wasn't aware of. Peter Pan, how did you decide on the Niacin, D and K2? Was it the result of testing, or just something you wanted to try on him? I've considered doing testing on DD, to see whether there was anything we were missing. (I actually bought the aforementioned kit for her! But then saw they said not to use it on kids...even though they didn't explain why, I got worried they might be suggesting they might not be able to ensure privacy in the distant future, so just used it on myself. Now I'm guessing it's actually because kids under 18 can't give consent..) Anyway, DD's behavior on meds is good, but we're starting to see issues creep in, she's developing tolerance, and I really don't want to increase her dose. I've been keeping her off meds on weekends to try to reduce tolerance, and I can see how big some of the behavioral issues still are...and they're getting harder to contain as she gets older. So I've been wondering whether there's something dietary we can try...She's had digestive issues (constipation as an infant, a lot of spitting up, and then 2 years of diarrhea between 2 and 4, so even though those have resolved, I've been wondering whether there's something going on in her gut. We've done elimination diets, and tried various supplements, but stopped searching when we gave up on trying to help her naturally. Now, I really want to try again...But I don't know whether a genetic test will give us the info we need to know.
  8. I think one of the things that drew me to the program was the idea that there's some interaction between everyone participating...(I might be wrong about what this involves, that's just the impression I got from a cursory view.) I guess I'll try the 2 week free trial to see if DD wants to continue. Thanks for the feedback!
  9. I do think I'll try the free trial, then sign up if DD likes it and wants to continue. It's inexpensive enough with the discount, I guess, and I feel more comfortable hearing firsthand impressions, so thank you!
  10. Homeschool Group Buys is doing a significant discount, but I can only find a few reviews on this. (I'm looking at either the drawing course, Legos or the engineering course for my 8yo daughter...) Has anyone tried this subscription? http://homeschoolgroupbuys.com/jam-group-buy-2018/
  11. Homeschool Group Buys is doing a significant discount, but I can only find a few reviews on this...(I'm looking at either the drawing course, Legos or the engineering course for my 8yo daughter...) Has anyone tried this? http://homeschoolgroupbuys.com/jam-group-buy-2018/
  12. Thank you so much for your wonderful insights. There really haven't been any changes, in clothes or in detergents, so I don't think that's it. It could very well be winter, I've been having her soak in oatmeal bath every night and putting on copious amounts of extra-hydrating lotion. I also just bought a special lotion that's apparently supposed to calm the "itch nerves," without actually making her skin numb (although some sort of skin numbing might be next...I might also try benadryl, in case it's an allergic type of reaction. And I've sent her in with sandals in her backpack, to wear in the classroom. (Thanks for the idea, Lecka.) We'll see if any of this helps. Today was pajama day at school, and she always feels better in pajamas, so we'll see...If that helps, I'll send her to school in sweats every day! The teacher says she's been miserable...I just feel awful for her.
  13. Thanks...I read up a bit on brushing after posting, and it seems you have to do it every 2 hours to be effective, otherwise it can actually make things worse. Easy enough while we were hs'ing, but impossible now. I'll try letting her choose all her clothes, to see if it makes a difference. I actually just got a message from her teacher after having written the original post, saying she's continuously calling out in class because her feet are so itchy, and it's causing a stir among the other kids, it sounds like they're starting to ostracize her for it. :( The teacher is letting her go barefoot in class (actually told all the kids they could take their shoes/socks off if they wanted, so she wouldn't feel like it was only her, which was nice of her.) But she can't be barefoot outside the classroom so...I don't know what to do. The ASRS talks about escalating SPD, or is it just sensory issues in general? There haven't been any changes, and she really doesn't have a hard time with noise. I actually bought her new seamless socks a couple of weeks ago to see if that would help, so if it was a sensitivity to detergent (we haven't changed brands) that would have improved. I really can't think of anything specific that could have triggered this.
  14. My DD has always been somewhat sensitive (tactile only, although she does have some sensory-motor issues.) Looking back, she's always responded really fiercely to any kind of pain, although I'll admit I thought it was part of her tendency to be a little melodramatic. Over the past couple of months it's gotten worse, though. Her whole body feels itchy (especially her feet when she wears socks and/or shoes--I actually gave her a month's worth of anti fungal spray, thinking it might be athletes foot even though there's no sign of rash), but when she's barefoot (or naked) she doesn't itch at all. She's not willing to wear her (cotton) winter coat and many sweaters/sweatshirts because she says they're scratchy, and won't use her normal comforter, only a sherpa-type blanket. She's also been making me tear out all her tags. She's never had an issue with being hugged or held, enjoys back rubs, and doesn't have an issue with food textures. For awhile I had her in OT (the only OT in the area), but it was a long drive and really she wasn't getting any benefit out of it, and neither of us liked the woman working with her. But I'm wondering whether I should start doing some work at home with her, brushing or whatever, I guess I'll have to look up the best methods. It just seems so strange that this has only really gotten bad now, at 8 years old...
  15. Good suggestions above! I ended up incorporating stories into our math lessons, in order to keep DD's attention. If she'd been old enough for BA at the time, it would have been perfect for her. (We actually use it now on weekends when she's not on medication, and it's puzzle-y enough to hold her attention.) BA is also good for independent work, if that's what you're looking for. Online math is another option for independent work...Prodigy is super fun, free, and great for math skills, including drilling math facts. It goes up to 8th grade, I believe. (We have to limit DD's screen time or she'd be on Prodigy for hours...)
  16. In your case, I'd think it's most important to choose the curricula that best address the dyslexia/dysgraphia. I think any curriculum can work fine for ADHD kids, as long as it's engaging. And looking at your sig line, AAR, RS, MCT and Mystery Science seem perfect, they're typically more "fun" and hands-on than other options. My DD hated Singapore, because it was so repetitious, but we only did up to 2B, so I'm not sure what the later grades look like. For next year, you may want to look at BA, which my daughter has been loving. Critical Thinking has some fun math books as well... I agree with PP's that switching between preferred and non-preferred activities works well, using the preferred activities as rewards.
  17. I don't see the work she does at school, I just see her balking at the work she brings home, but I'm assuming she has the same issue. This was happening last year as well, I remember her teacher saying she'd asked her to go up to the board and figure out how much a set of coins was worth and she got up to the board and just said, "95 cents." The teacher told her to explain to the class how she'd gotten the value and she said, "I looked at it and saw it was 95 cents." Somehow she couldn't (or maybe just didn't want to take the time to) break into words what she was doing in her head. In a recent problem, the book asked them to add two numbers that required regrouping, and explain two ways of solving the problem. But she knew the answer within a second of looking at the numbers, so having to explain in words just didn't go over well. I'll be honest, I wouldn't want to do it either...it seems so annoying, and 10 times more for a kid who's been at a desk all day. (Funny story, a couple of months ago she gave me a sheet she'd written with 20 multi-digit addition problems, she wrote out an answer key and everything so she could grade it. So I did the problems and when I was done she said, "Okay, HOW DID IT FEEL to have to sit there and have to do the problems? When you saw it, did you want to do the problems or play? Really good point.. :) .) I've gotten accommodations on homework, where she only needs to do 1 math worksheet and her spelling work rather than 2. It still takes 10 times longer than it should, because getting her to sit at her desk is a chore, and then she gets distracted after 1 or 2 problems and starts drawing pictures or hanging off her chair. Each problem goes very quickly, but with all the distracted time, the actual time at her desk takes much longer. If she could work non-stop, she'd be done with math in less than 5 minutes. I guess that's why I was hoping there was no reason to do those problems, because I'm sure she'd complain and dawdle less if she knew she could skip them. I've asked her the past couple of days if she wanted me to scribe for her, and she told me she didn't want help...which surprised me.
  18. She has ADHD, and being forced into hours of desk time during the day is already so much more tiring for her than it would be for a neurotypical kid. By the time she gets home, she needs to let off steam...and then once we've had our walk or bike ride, it's almost impossible to get her back to the desk. She's just done. Mornings are even harder for her...(She's not a morning person.) The teacher has been very understanding and accommodating, so I'm guessing she'd be okay with me scribing. It's just been painful, seeing a kid who struggles so hard to control herself throughout the day feeling like that day has to be extended. And it's only going to get worse as she gets older. But that's a stressful topic for another day...
  19. This makes a lot of sense, thanks OneStep. I think that's exactly it, she doesn't think of the problems in words, just shifts the numbers around in her head (again thanks to Singapore...) and it happens so quickly she may not even understand fully how she's getting the answers. I think asking her to explain verbally is a great idea, especially because it'll be easier to scaffold and give her prompts. I'll see if her teacher is okay with me scribing. If we continue that way, over time it all may come more naturally to her...
  20. The standardized tests ask them to do this? It seems like grading this sort of thing would be so much harder (and more subjective.)
  21. Thanks...I've been pushing back in general against the school on homework, because she's SO exhausted after she gets home. I got the teacher to agree to let her do only one worksheet instead of two per night (as long as she's proven in class that she understands the concepts) and was considering pushing back even more, asking the teacher whether she could skip these problems. It's such a struggle...One of the problems asked how she was able to figure out a previous equation and she wrote, "By knowing math." :closedeyes: Maybe I need to find a way of explaining to her why these sorts of problems are worth the time and mental energy...
  22. My daughter (2nd grade) is better than I am at mental math, thanks to Singapore which we used before we switched to public school, and now Beast Academy. Because of this, and because in general she has an aversion to writing, she groans every time she's asked to explain her process, either in words or drawings. It seems like a waste of time to her, I guess, but I can't help thinking there must be some benefit to it or they wouldn't continually ask. (Her school uses Go Math, and there are one or two of these problems at the bottom of every worksheet.) In general I see her point, it does feel like busywork. For example, if you can multiply or add numbers with carrying in your head, why do you need to draw pictures to explain how you've done it? Doesn't that negate the power of mental math? Is it just so teachers can follow their students' thinking, or is it a valuable part of their learning?
  23. At first glance, this sounds like a working memory issue more than inattention. There are ways to try to remediate working memory issues (you probably know that, and I'm sure others can help more than I can.) In the short term, I wonder if asking him to go back over each problem after completing his work, to make sure he's copied or interpreted questions correctly, might help? If they're side by side, and he doesn't have to look up from a paper and take the time to write and think how to do the problem, he won't have to hold as much information in his mind at once.
  24. Pipsqueak (Crayola) markers are great, we used them for awhile. There are also beeswax crayons (we had something called "crayon rocks," beeswax crayons that had groves in them to foster correct finger placement...I'll look to see if I can find a link. ETA: You might want to look HERE...I couldn't find the brand that we used, again it had finger grooves, which was nice, but these all look like they might work well.
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