<p>bajamm, my son’s IEP said audiobooks and his college provides readers if he asks for it or audiobooks (which are only sometimes available for textbooks and not for articles). His college also provides notetakers if he asks.</p>
<p>Re: FL, S2 had a pretty worthless Spanish teacher in middle school. He forgot just about any words he’d learned in her classes except her unique way of saying: “Trader’s Joe.” He had to retake Spanish from level 1 in HS and only stayed with it until Spanish 3. He placed out of the first 2 (of 3) req’d semester of Spanish in college --amazing! But he and we all still say Trader’s Joe. Say it out loud. It’s fun!</p>
<p>On FL
Our student is taking chinese. As a kid dual diagnosed (what is the politically correct term), our student didn’t enjoy learning a new language the several times we loves overseas…
and really hated the spanish teacher at the elementary school.</p>
<p>Tried Chinese because kiddo2 thought it would be interesting and yes the graphic nature of the characters is very different from using an alphabet kiddo uses in primary language.
That said–kiddo2 could use some more time on nightly character practice–yet with all of the hw being due at the same time…it doesn’t happen.</p>
<p>Almost every school on the very early list for kiddo2 recommends 3 ys FL…we hope that some more of it “clicks” this year as math has done…</p>
<p>On missing my kiddo1…today was one of those days…the backgammon set is out from where it was left…and the bed etc is just like it was left…Room is perfect…and I was weepy.</p>
<p>Had a long day …started with a conference call, then subbing in a local private. Ah 5th grade boys… holey moley…
My new cute pumps (with a “giraffe” print) gave me terrible blisters…
Kiddo1 is stilll pretty sick and the PA at the U’s health center told kiddo to come back in 2 days for a Mono check. This kid has been feverish and sick for more than a week and is coughing up green gunk!! Puulllease…
Kiddo2 has an important medical test Friday.
Lots going on–it is just one of “those” weeks.
at least I am “down” 2 lbs…and
Thankfully this weekend kiddo2 has the winter dance …so it finishes on a happier note…</p>
<p>S2 is just now shaking that awful crud fogfog, I think it went through campus like wildfire, at least in his freshman dorm it did. </p>
<p>Poor kids, and poor moms- nothing makes you feel more helpless than not being able to take care of your ‘little one’ when he/she is sick and needs you :(. At least I nurse him over the phone “rest and fluids…rest and fluids”.</p>
<p>I’m curious as to why they said come back for a mono check: if he has it, it would show up now, right? S1 had mono senior year of high school, S2 never had it- but sometimes they say you can have had it very mildly and not known. </p>
<p>Biggest mono symptom by far though: unbearably sore throat, to the point where they don’t even want to eat. Green gunk, etc, is hopefully just the tail end of a nasty virus. Keeping fingers crossed for your kiddo. Hang in there!</p>
<p>Bajamm–I continue to think our DS’s are very similar. My DS2 (HS freshman also) is taking sign language. He’s excelling in that class! It’s very visual, and he just “gets it”. He is getting an A in the class. He would not succeed in any FL class like spanish, german, or latin. If your school offers it, I recommend you have him give it a try. A number of colleges recognize it for FL credit. Virginia recently passed a law requiring all the public colleges recognize it as a FL. Otherwise, I would suggest you look for colleges that don’t require it for admittance. I think my DS2 will also start out at a community college so we can see how he handles college. I also think other options such as a trade school might be the path for him instead of college–we’ll have to wait and see. Good luck, I know what challenges you are facing!</p>
<p>The crud at Yale is rampant. D called me last week to report that all her roommates were hacking and coughing! Told her to go out and buy hand sanitizer, vitamins and lysol spray! She laughed and I said, " I am so serious!" She did and I am happy to say (Knock Wood) that she is still healthy…psycho mom on the loose, maybe…</p>
<p>FogFog, Kids don’t have anything against “american kids” but after living overseas for over 10 years (since Kindergarden for the youngest and 5th grade for the oldest) they definitely identify a bit more with the international crowd. They sometimes don’t get what is important to US High School kids…And the styles are different. D4 the 9th grader gets compliments everyday for the stuff she wears and she is just dressing “normal” for her, what all her friends would wear overseas but in her high school she is at the height of fashion!</p>
<p>FL - one of my BIG pet peeves is that FL should start in pre-K and be an important conversational part of school espec til HS when it can be taught more formally. Many studies have determined that this is a better way for kids to learn language. It is how they learn their primary language. My six grandkids live in Israel. Their moms (my step-daughters) all speak English to their children; their Israeli dads speak Hebrew to them. All of the kids are bilingual. As each grandchild gets older and spends time in the States, it is amazing how quickly their English improves. </p>
<p>Missing DS - DS is not coming home for Spring Break so we won’t see him until May at the earliest. Do I miss him? Yes and not really. He is so happy where he is and I am so busy (in a good way). I have my moments, but life is as it should be. This is what I worked hard to achieve for 18 years. A happy, independent person.</p>
<p>VAMom, my son is actually an 8th grader getting ready to register for 9th grade classes. It is nice to know there are people that understand. Our high school doesn’t offer sign language, though there is a community college less than a mile from our house. I might see if they have it, especially in the summer time.</p>
<p>You know, I always thought my daughter was the “easy” one compared to her brother. I am now realizing they are both hard in their own ways. My S does have his academic struggles that his sister never had, but now that she is off to college we can actually breathe and have a minute at home sometimes. We also have only about half the laundry (she is an athlete that changed clothes 10 times a day) with only 25% of the family gone. I don’t have nearly the stuff written on the calendar, we are saving gas and time from driving her every where, we don’t have the drama about “OMG what happens if I get a A-!!!” Now, it is a celebration if there is an A-.</p>
<p>I sometimes wish I had a “normal” kid. Whatever that means.</p>
<p>I spoke with D1 about her RA interviews. She said that there are 44 positions, and about 80 people applied. Even current RAs need to reapply. She thought that the group interviews went well. She seemed worried about the interview with the current RA and the Res Living staff person. The RA asked her about a ‘personal challenge’ that she is dealing with this term. Her first response was that her schedule was bad on Tuesdays, since she goes from 10-5 with no break. He told her that wasn’t a personal issue, it was a scheduling issue. She then explained that the issue she thought she would have with her roommates seemed to have been resolved by having the meeting early in the term, and things have improved. She got a bad vibe from the RA interviewer, but the Res Life staffer seemed better.
At least she will not have to wait too much longer to hear if she got it.</p>
<p>bajamm- Let me know when you find a ‘normal’ kid!</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t know about that normal kid either.
</p>
<p>Anyone else have the winter antsy feeling? I’ve felt compelled to make plans for the Spring so I have something to look forward to. A few friends and I have been talking about going to NYC to see JC Superstar and this morning I booked it for April. I’m also thinking of a trip with my daughter, although she doesn’t know it yet, and I find myself looking and circling things in my Burpee seed catalog! The only thing to do here (on the days I don’t go off to work) is to clean, and I really dislike doing that. Or cook and since I can’t seem to make less then food for 6, that’s problematic too and also leads to cleaning…</p>
<p>A normal kid is a mythological being.</p>
<p>As for foreign language, I totally agree with FLMathMom. It needs to be taught immersively. The standard way we teach foreign languages in this country stinks. I grew up in Canada and had access to a “late immersion” program where half of my day was in French for grades 7 and 8. That worked!</p>
<p>I agree with immersion being the best way to be taught, and it should be started at a young age. But what language would that be? In a country like Canada where there ARE two main languages, [Languages</a> of Canada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Canada]Languages”>Languages of Canada - Wikipedia) it makes sense for French to be taught. However, if Spanish was taught here in the US as the second language, people would be up in arms.</p>
<p>Hi all…bajamm - please let me know when you find a “normal” kid !! There must be some out there somewhere, right ???</p>
<p>Foreign language - D took French in 7th and 8th grade. Teacher was very insistent on having conversations in French and D got pretty good at it. She did continue with French in 9th and 10th grades - but gave it up after that. No amount of CC wisdom that 3 years of a foreign language were absolute musts could convince her to continue. It was a pain in scheduling since French Honors was only offered during one specific block - so she reasoned she didn’t need it. Apparently, she does remember enough French to still have a conversation with her middle school teacher. S has her as a teacher now and is slowly getting comfortable having a conversation with her. I don’t know French - so S and D will use it in front of me if they want to keep what they are saying a secret :)</p>
<p>Missing D a bit - she seems to have adjusted back to the normal routine out in school fairly fast this semester. She has practice pretty much every day - so she’s exhausted by the time she gets done with that and dinner. She said she was missing home - she has to come back to the dorm to take a shower after practice, then walk over to the dining hall again for dinner. Told her to try grabbing some dinner right after practice, bring it to her dorm and eat after a shower.</p>
<p>S has been busy this past week - burning the candle at both ends. Has projects and basketball practice keeping him up late at night. Another tech project at school needs to be completed by the end of the week - so he’s going in early each morning. And this is a kid who loves to sleep!! Last weekend, he was so tired, he curled up on the couch with a blanket and slept for three straight hours in the afternoon!</p>
<p>I know this seems selfish, but can I direct some of you to my thread:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1280774-new-hot-water-heater.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1280774-new-hot-water-heater.html</a></p>
<p>I probably should have titled it something a little more exciting, like “Hot water or tuition???”</p>
<p>
It could be an optional program that parents could choose for their children. The language(s) offered could depend on what languages were prevalent in the region or of interest to families. I’d be in favor of every kid being “forced” to learn Spanish, but if that isn’t politically viable, so be it.</p>
<p>++++ to all the kids feeling poorly. </p>
<p>Boychild has never been sick, not even a cold, except for a very , very, very mild case of chicken pox in second grade. He had two pox on his palm and I kept putting on a band-aid and sending him to school where it would fall off and I’d get a call from nurses office to come pick him up. </p>
<p>Bates has no language requirement and that made boychild a very happy camper.</p>
<p>OK…just received an email from S’s coach that almost had me in tears…</p>
<p>S plays basketball - they had a game a while ago against a team which was very chippy, very tense. Couple of technical fouls called against the other team. Our team won and apparently, several kids on our team were going to trash-talk after. S for some bizarre reason didn’t get to play in the second half and was very very upset about this. But I found out from the coach today, that S was instrumental in stopping the other kids from trash talking, from calming everyone down. Coach was very impressed with him - plans on nominating him for a sportsmanship award. I know S was very upset after that game - but hearing that he did this even while being so upset personally, made me very very proud of him. It’s so easy to lose sight of these things when you are focused on nagging him about his homework, constantly forgetting something at school … :)</p>
<p>Wow, arisamp, that’s really awesome. You have every right to be proud!</p>
<p>Yes I agree-very proud indeed! :)</p>
<p>^What a nice thing to hear arisamp! Kudos to your son, that’s something to be really proud of!</p>
<p>Following up on sickness and mono, etc. This morning S2 calls and says he has a rash on his arms, knees and torso. He’s been battling ‘the crud’ but I thought he was mostly over it.</p>
<p>I was concerned that the rash might be Strep related so I told him to go to the Yale health clinic. He tested negative in the rapid strep test so they gave him cortisone cream for the rash…and…then they tested him for mono! Kind of out of the blue- just thought that was interesting seeing as they told fogfog’s kiddo to come back in two days when my guy went in with only a rash. </p>
<p>I am nearly positive he doesn’t have mono, would love to have been there asking the questions as to why they ordered this test?!? Unfortunately a college freshman is probably less likely to ask those kinds of questions to a doctor. Funny thing was he called me afterwards totally traumatized because he thought a mono test was a throat swab, when in fact they came at him with a syringe for a blood draw, kind of a surprise :eek: !</p>