[2E therapist recommendation for scheduled time]

My sons therapist is discussing emotional regulation and frustration tolerance with me and specifically recommended a fully scheduled day so that he knows what is expected of him all the time (the way he described it sounded like a public school schedule). Other suggestions included fine motor  tasks that he likes that  push his frustration tolerance , practicing a stop, breathe, think when he gets mad, using Minecraft (his current obsession) to teach perseverance, and realize that he needs specific goals and the ability to see progress towards those goals to address dopamine requirements to keep him motivated.

My homeschool management tends to run on routine rather than schedule and I value taking lots of “good weather” breaks with extra outside time, etc. I also will often put off “book work” to later in the day or the next day if I see the kids playing a game of value - a board game with money or getting involved in a pile of books, or cooperatively putting together a complicated and involved role-playing game. the son in question is the youngest of 4 and is turning 9 soon. He has always done well academically with this method.

So anyway, if this suggestion for a schedule were to be implemented, it will require major lifestyle change…seeking advice on the idea of a schedule from others who may have been in a similar situation?

[Need to decide on a computer science course]

6 hours ago, jplain said:

Does she have to wait until she is enrolled to take it?  Can she take it more than once?  

My older daughter had to take a computer competency test before she could start community college classes. She took it without preparing. It was aimed more at adults who may not be familiar with computers, and might struggle with simple things like email or word processing, not at teens who have been using computers since preK.

 

Good question, but we are 4 hours away from them so it would not be easy to take it ahead of time. 

[Need to decide on a computer science course]

The college my daughter wants to go to has an entry requirement that students either take a computer course or pass a computer competency exam. My daughter would much rather pass the test and has asked for a computer science class next year (her senior year) that will ensure she knows everything she needs to know. Upon inquiry, I’ve been told that the test will cover:

computer hardware, system software, application software, social impact, technology and the web, networks and security and privacy.
 

Dual enrollment isn’t an option for us for a number of reasons.
Would AP Computer Science Principles cover those things sufficiently? I realize it would cover more too, just wanted to know if it would at least cover the minimum she needs too. 
My other thought was to use materials on edu.gcfglobal.org to piece together a course.

or is there another option you would recommend?

[Physics question]

3 hours ago, Malam said:

Which browser are you using?

I figured out I was looking at a random broken link - I found the tab of all the sample lectures!

[Physics question]

13 hours ago, cintinative said:

When we watch videos on his site, they are in HTML5 but we also have the option of WindowsMedia or QuickTime.  JavaScript is a programming language. I would message them about the error.  

Yeah ok, I mean it’s saying to enable JavaScript and download Flash Player… I sent them a message to see what they say.

Edited to add: I missed the link to sample lecture videos entirely so whatever random sample video link I did find that didn’t work is irrelevant!

[Physics question]

Ok I’m trying to figure out Derek ownens but when I try to watch the sample video it’s saying I need to enable Javascript…are his videos updated to another video type since JavaScript is old technology? Am I missing something there?

 

 

nevermind! I must have found an old link somewhere that didn’t work and missed the link for sample lecture videos entirely! 

[Physics question]

I have slowly realized that our plan for dad to teach physics isn’t going to work. So I am looking for a self-paced option that has video instruction because I simply can’t take the time to learn and teach it. 

Options I’m considering:

1. Physics-Prep physics 1 and call it Honors Physics since I’m not paying to do it through PAH.

2. AOPS physics 1 (don’t really want to pay for this, and it’s not self-paced, but she’s doing well with a private tutor with AOPS math so maybe this would work?)

Opinions? I really want option 1 to work but I can’t wrap my head around the AP course without the AP designation on the transcript - can I really just call it honors and be done with it? 

[Post University?]

14 hours ago, MagistraKennedy said:

Do you think it might be a better idea to continue her hours at the therapy barn and begin taking gen ed classes while living at home, with an eye toward in-person classes at some point in the future? 

That's basically what we are leaning towards. I'm thinking a gap year is a good possibility too, giving her more time to see how things shake out.

[Post University?]

We are dealing with some mental health issues that will make living on campus very difficult... She wants to work with therapy riding and spends hours at a therapy barn each week already. I agree that an online degree is a poor option for equine related studies, but barn access is not an issue, and I was trying to think of options that we could work towards given the "living away from home in a community setting" will likely not work. Who knows, maybe in the next year or so mental health will improve and it'll be a non-issue. 

[what does this sound like?]

Fair point over negative consequences. 

This type of response also happens when asked to complete a chore outside of her routine (autism) and sometimes over no discernable reason. There are times when she'll appear irritated and grumpy and it'll build to extreme anger over 1-2 days without an outside of routine trigger. 

Regarding self-awareness and self-advocacy - she is seeing a therapist, and she is asking me for appointments sooner than scheduled each time this cycle repeats. She is actively involved in medication choices, and this behavior/issue is new in the past 7-8 months. she can both tell me when she noticed it starting and has told me it's getting worse. 

Tracking her mood daily shows me a grumpy/irritable day prior to each angry day, and following each angry day. There are usually a couple good stable happy days in-between. 

 

[what does this sound like?]

Can someone help me know what I could be looking at here? my 14 year old is already diagnosed ASD, OCD, anxiety and ADHD.  We are having issues with anger/depression outbursts. example: A small trigger (I picked up her sweatshirt from the floor - an issue I've addressed a thousand times, and matter of factly told her she owed me a chore for leaving it on the floor again) this caused an over reaction, she scratched her shoulders to make them burn, screamed, cried, inconsolable, uncooperative, we had to give her two hydroxyzines to calm her down. she was hitting her legs and pinching the backs of her hands saying she was a terrible person and deserved to hit herself.  About an hour after taking the second hydroxyzine she was totally calm, wanted reassurance that we didn't hate her and was emotionally worn out for the rest of the evening.

Psychiatrist suggested trying lamectol at the last apt., but agreed to try upping the flovoxamine first to see if it's just "depression".

What do I research? What does this sound like? it's always a "little" thing that sets her off, and in the past 2 weeks has had 3 such outbursts. sometimes she's angry with herself (like this one), other times she yells and screams at us saying we are unfair and hate her, etc. with no capability of listening or thinking logically. she seems depressed a lot, but as I have been tracking moods more closely the past couple weeks, she's either "normal/stable/engaged/happy" or "depressed/irritated/angry". but the depressed/irritated/angry days/periods of time are really impactful on the family and her ability to function.

[Post University?]

I'm looking for an online degree option for equine studies - Post University is 1 of 2 options I've found (the other is an associates degree at Ohio University). But I'm not seeing many people talk about them.

Has anyone used them for duel enrollment? undergrad? High enrollment rates with abysmal low graduation rates makes me concerned.

[brainstorming ideas for a writing activity]

I'm working with a 7 year old boy who is adhd inattentive type who needs to increase confidence in writing. I saw a thing with reading where they had to spend (pick age appropriate time - K was 10 minutes) to read in all these fun locations (under the table, to a stuffy, under the covers, etc.) to earn a hot chocolate party. Can you help me brainstorm a similar idea for writing? I am thinking a bunch of "easy" tasks that involve movement, creative thinking, and make the writing part of the adventure instead of an undesired task, to help increase writing stamina and let the need for 'perfection' fall away in light of a fun goal. The idea would be to have a "goal sheet" with each task on it. Color in the tasks as he completes them, and when all are completed, have a party or some other reward.

some of my ideas so far:

-cave writing - tape paper under table and draw a picture and label it.

-raindrop search - have words written on raindrops put around a room and find each and write them on a paper with raindrops

-spy writing - hide behind a chair and write a sentence about what is happening in the room

-detective writing - a secret message is missing the rest of its words, fill in what you think the words should be.

 

Help! I need more ideas!

[Holocaust studies - total number of resources?]

One thought I had was to take a half credit's worth and spread it over a year to make it less intense, or to just do half a year and something else the other half. The other thought was to start at the top of a book list and read down until she is mentally done, and let that be how far we get and assign credit based on how far we get. 

My DD is not sensitive, widely read on a variety of topics (I have used books to introduce her to stuff so we can discuss things she will encounter with peers), autistic - black and white and a deep thinker. I haven't exposed her to much on the tv because of younger siblings. She's been exposed to some of the ideology by studying slavery in context of American history, but I've so far avoided the holocaust beyond a really broad discussion and reading Anne Frank's Diary. I really want her to study this while she's at home so I can help her process it. I realize it will be a difficult topic/course, that's why I'm starting to think through it now. 

[Holocaust studies - total number of resources?]

I have a list of books/movies/documentaries that I've collected over the past few years on the holocaust and I want to put it all together into a holocaust studies course for my 11th grader next year. The thing I'm struggling with is how to know how much is too much? Has anyone does this before and have a suggestion on number of resources that is sufficient but not overwhelming? 

[Latin 1 question]

1 hour ago, HomeAgain said:

I have Cambridge 1 and 2.  Given that they are usually combined for a Latin 1 course, that's what I would call it.  I look at it this way, I wouldn't use Saxon Algebra 1 and then Jacob's Elementary Algebra and call Jacob's Algebra 2.  Cambridge starts right back at the beginning.  It's fun, and I hope you guys have a great year with it. 🙂  I would just call it a redo year.

That's what I needed to know, thanks for the clarification! 

[Latin 1 question]

My daughter did most of Second Form Latin in 9th grade...she finished 3/4 of the book, but the drill and methodology was killing her love of latin.  When we stopped, she had an 85% overall in the course. She won't finish it - dad actually put his foot down and said she had to quit that and start with something else. 

We are going to switch to Cambridge latin for 10th grade. I am going to have her start from the beginning, with the plan of doing unit 1 and 2 in a year.

For her transcript, would you just ignore Second Form Latin and make Cambridge latin count as Latin 1? Or would you count Second Form Latin as Latin 1 and Cambridge as Latin 2? 

[nm]

.

[Any dancers here?]

1 hour ago, Storygirl said:

You can read a lot -- A LOT -- about this on the ballet forum that I linked in my previous post. When DD was 9ish, I found that forum, and I learned a ton by reading through all of the threads, old and new. You can read without joining, but if you create a username and join the forum, you can access more things on there.

Also, I would echo Lori D.'s advice about some telling things to look for when visiting studios.

thanks for that link, I've got a lot to think about and that sounds like a good place to start learning!

[Any dancers here?]

1 hour ago, Lori D. said:

For ballet:
- ask about the instructors' own training and credentials -- a good instructor should have come out of a reputable dance company or gone through quality training with an emphasis on proper form, and have good credentials
- is there discipline, in the form of encouraging students to take dance seriously, starting with uniform requirements -- requiring hair in a bun, no jewelry, pink tights, black leotard
- what does the studio look like -- are there mirrors for students to see themselves to correct form? is there a sprung wood floor (essential to preventing injury -- working on a vinyl-tiled floor in a studio that is in a strip-mall is not going to be the best for the student's body)
- sit in on a class; do the instructors correct the students' form -- at the barre, and out on the floor
- do the instructors make sure that students are not going on pointe before feet have fully developed -- you can permanently damage foot bones by going on pointe too young
- is there more emphasis on proper form and true understanding of dance -- or is it more about  "put cute kids in a costume on a stage for parents to enjoy"

Important proper form corrections are things like:
- turn out comes from the hips, not the feet (some people think turn out is about having the feet pointing sideways from the body -- that leads to twisting knees and injury)
- also, keep knees in line with toes (i.e. -- don't try and turn the feet out farther than the hips & knees, as that causes knee damage)
- bending backwards comes from the upper back, not lower back (which can lead to damage to lower back)
- use core muscles (abdomen) to hold in stomach but also to pull up out of your hips

Etc.

 

ETA -- PS
Just to be clear, when I say "on pointe", I mean in the special pointe shoes that look like the dancer is balancing on one toe. I DON'T mean when the dancer is balancing on the balls of the feet and the toes, with the heels lifted. That second move is perfectly fine for all ages. 😉 

So I don't know how to interpret the ballet school that her teacher went to, but it's super local and probably not what qualifies as a big name, but everything else you mention here is happening in her classes. The dress code, studio, proper form, etc. When I sit in on the class I'm hearing lots of form corrections exactly like what you're describing, plus a lot of straight legs, pointed toes, etc. 

 

[Any dancers here?]

How do you identify good or poor training if you have no training of your own?

[Any dancers here?]

My 8 year old has been involved in a ballet ministry this year and we are starting to work on our budget for next school year and I had a question for those who are familiar with dance. 

We have two options: continue with the ballet ministry or join a christian dance company. 

The dance company would be classes once per week 45 min. (with larger classes) and the ministry would be twice per week 45 min. per (small class - probably 2 girls total).

I don't know enough about dance to know which is better from a learning dancing perspective.

[nm]

nevermind, I figured out a direction to go! 

[nevermind]

I am sorry for the drama. I'm taking a break for a while. Thanks for the advice ladies. 

[nevermind]

11 hours ago, happysmileylady said:

As the parent of a child with an ASD diagnosis, I don't find "autism" to be useful as an explanation.  The cliche' "if you have met one person with autism, you have met one person with autism" applies.  My DDs are now in the same GS troop and in that troop, one leader has a girl in the troop with a diagnosis, the other leader has a boy in a boy scout troop with a diagnosis.  These children are ALL very different and ALL have very different struggles.  I have posted here about my struggles babysitting the one boy, he presents entirely differently than my own DD. 

 

So my suggestion, don't ask your pastor to explain "autism"  Try to explain the actual struggles your child deals with.  If she has sensory issues, have the pastor explain that some people find X and Y and Z to be really painful even if the DD doesn't, it's how their brain works.  If she had language issues, have the pastor explain, maybe likening it to a foreign language.  If she struggles with feeding issues, explain from that standpoint.  

 

There are a very large number of adults who hear "autism" and think it means Dustin Hoffman in Rainman.  But, that's not what it means and I have struggled with the idea that "autism" explains the struggles my kids have or what they need (which is what I dealt with in public school.....ASD must mean they need XYZ accomodation.  But, it doesn't)

This is helpful.