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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 7:45 am
The Differences Between Bright and Gifted Janice Robbins, PhD The Bright Child, Gifted Child Continuum This worksheet will help you see where your child might fit on the scale between "bright" to truly "gifted." Whatever your child's place on this continuum, celebrate her enthusiasm, curiosity, and talents! The Bright Child..............................................................The Gifted Child Knows the answers.........................................................Asks the questions Is interested........................................................................Is highly curious Is attentive................................................Is mentally and physically involved Works hard........................................................Plays around, yet tests well Answers the questions....................................Discusses in detail, elaborates Is in the top group...........................................................Is beyond the group Listens with interest.................................Shows strong feelings and opinions Learns with ease...................................................................Already knows Needs 6-8 repetitions for mastery..................................Needs 1-2 repetitions Understands ideas...................................................Constructs abstractions Enjoys peers..........................................................................Prefers adults Grasps the meaning...........................................................Draws inferences Completes assignments.......................................................Initiates projects Is receptive...................................................................................Is intense Copies accurately........................................................Creates a new design
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 7:53 am
A Reading Checklist: Birth Through Age Six There are many ways to encourage your child to become involved in reading. Here are some questions to ask yourself to help stay on track: For Babies (Six Weeks to One Year) Do I provide a comfortable place for our story time? Is my child happy to be here? Am I showing her the pictures in the book? Am I changing the tone of my voice as I read to show emotion and excitement? Am I paying attention to how my child responds? What does she especially like? Is she tired and ready to stop? For Toddlers (One to Three Years) All of the questions above, plus: Does my child enjoy the book we are reading? Do I encourage her to "pretend read," joining in where she has memorized a word or phrase? When I ask questions, am I giving my child enough time to think and answer? Do I tie ideas in the book to things familiar to my child? Do I notice if she does this on her own? Do I let my child know how much I like her ideas and encourage her to tell me more? Do I point out letters, such as the first letter of her name? Remember: Children learn step-by-step in a process that takes time and patience. They vary a great deal in the rate they make progress and in what holds their interest. For Preschoolers (Three and Four years) All of the questions above, plus: Do I find ways to help my child begin to identify letters and make the letter-sound matches? For Kindergartners (Five Years) All of the questions above, plus: Do I find ways to help my child begin to identify some printed words? Do I let my child retell favorite stories to show she knows how the story goes and what's in it? For Beginning First-Graders (Six Years) All of the questions above, plus: Do I give my child the chance to read a story to me using the text, picture clues, her memory -- or any combination of these ways that help her make sense of the story? Source: Helping Your Child Become a Reader, U.S. Department of Education
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Danas15146
Member
03-31-2004
| Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 10:26 am
Does anyone know the recommended classroom size for early elementary for No Child Left Behind? Our district is trying to allow 26 kids k-3 and 28 kids 4-5. We are preparing to organize a protest in front of the school board and wanted to have some specifics.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 10:44 am
I am not a teacher, but my dad is a principal of an elementary school and my mom is a middle school teacher, so is my brother. Anyways, my mom says those class sizes are not unusual. She said you can call other districts in your area and compare them. She thinks there is a limit of 25 in kindergarten without an aide. Many classrooms have aides when a class gets to a certain size. Do your research and find out the facts and ramifications if there were smaller class sizes (like what would get cut.) Schools only get so much money. That is the bottom line. Make sure you do your homework first before you protest. Good luck!!
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 10:49 am
In Texas, classrooms are limited by law to 22 kids till 5th grade.
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Danas15146
Member
03-31-2004
| Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 11:54 am
Thanks guys. The problem that we see here is that the majority of our funding is going to high school sports. We have just spent $350,000 on a concession stand and $500,000 on a press box at the high school field. Meanwhile, the dishwasher is broken at our elementary school and they say there is not money in the budget to have it repaired. It is just very frustrating for us. Our super just retired last year -- he would not allow more than 20 kids per class without getting another teacher. Our district is not lacking of funds -- our school taxes are pretty high. When we pointed out to the new super that all studies say that kids benefit greatly from smaller classroom sizes in their early years. He informed us that studies can be skewed to get the answer you want. We are definately not getting another teacher. They did give us one aide for three teachers to share. Same with the other elementary that is over crowded. This meeting is to not allow that policy to go into force (and maybe get the $200 we need for the dishwasher). It is Monday evening so I'll let you know how it goes.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 12:09 pm
That kinda makes ya sick! All that money on sports extras!!! Good luck!!!! Where do ya live anyways?
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Danas15146
Member
03-31-2004
| Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 1:45 pm
We are in Monroeville, a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA. Our first stop is the board meeting and we have gotten our state representative involved because he goes out of his way to get our kids what they need. If that doesn't work, we are planning on having a bake sale to raise money to get the dishwasher fixed and calling the local news to cover it. It is disgusting the money spent on sports. I know that they are important and do bring $$ into the district, but I still think that academics should come first. As far as arts & music -- our teachers end up spending tons of their own money on supplies, etc. so that they kids have a good program.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 5:10 pm
Public schools in NYC run about 26-35 in a class which is why I opted for a parochial school education. The largest class size my son ever had was 22 in the grade school level. I think if you can find the small class size then go for it. If you have large class sizes, go see the teacher, make up a story that he has attention issues and make sure your kid is in the first row. I always made sure my son was placed in the first row and I believe it makes a huge difference.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 1:35 pm
In West Michigan, NCLB limits elementary classes k-3 to 22...but they jump up to 27 in 4th grade. We try to limit our English classes to 26, but that frequently doesn't work. I don't gripe...I know many schools in the Grand Rapids area have 35 - 40 regularly in both elementary AND high school classes! I'm lucky to teach in a small, rural area where we aren't so crowded. About the sports --- while I agree that many times sports seem to take priority, is there a possibility that sports boosters or an outside agency is footing much of the bill? When we built our new HS and renovated all the other buildings, Coke and one of the local businesses paid for over 1/2 of the cost of the new scoreboards. Their "contribution" wasn't always reported when the cost was advertised, but less than half came out of the school funds. Might be something to look into.
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Hippyt
Member
06-15-2001
| Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 1:29 pm
A mother is on trial for failure to send her young son to school. She blames the school and says it has done little to help her son, who suffers from severe attention deficit. Instead of being in school today, a six-year-old is in court Wednesday, fighting truancy charges with his parents. Krista Rakestraw says she is not guilty of truancy, but she did keep her son out of school to protect him. KHOU-TV He has ADD and his mother claims he was harshly disciplined and not given the special attention he needs in school. According to Rakestraw, her son has severe Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and needs special education. She says that is something the school refuses to provide. She says the school is disciplining him too harshly, and claims that her son was kept in a room, by himself, for three hours. "These kids are not processing things like everybody else is. They're not. You can't take a kid who's not processing it, and expect them to process it, then punish them because they don't. If a mother won't stand up for them, who will?" says Rakestraw. The trial is currently underway. So far the school principal, the attendance clerk and a truant officer have testified. Rakestraw is representing herself because she says she couldn't afford an attorney, and that presented some interesting moments in court Wednesday. If found guilty by the judge, she could face a $500 fine or even some time in jail. The school district would not comment on the case specifically, but says it has done everything possible to comply with Rakestraw's request and to educate her son. --------------------------- Ok,I got this from my local news. The thing I wonder about is if the boy has been diagnosed,and is he being treated. I know when I was dealing with getting my son diagnosed they did the same thing to him. Everytime he would act up they would send him to in school suspension,or sit him in a hallway by himself. I feel for this mother,having been through the same thing. Schools still have no idea how to handle ADD or AHDH.
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 2:26 pm
i'm crying for this child. schools have no clue sometimes have no idea on how to deal with these children. i remember when holly was in kindergarten, she had just started medication (she was diagnosed with severe ADHD when she was 4). her meds would only work from about 8-12 after that she was in daycare. the daycare provider would put holly in timeout for whatever she thought was inappropriate behavior (getting up without asking, talking when she wasn't supposed to, not taking a nap, etc. etc.) i was informed after this teacher was fired (for something else) about this. sometimes she would be in timeout for HOURS! holly never said a word about it. when i asked her, when i found out, she told me "mrs. abc told me i was bad, and i didn't want you to think i was bad." my daughter's inabilities were due to a medical condition, and the one place that should have understood, was punishing her for it! let's just say, this school was very happy i did not proceed with a lawsuit. we worked on reforming it. these children need extra attention and care, not discipline.
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Zachsmom
Moderator
07-13-2000
| Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 2:35 pm
A six year old alone in a room for 3 hours? Oh...I am angry now! My son is supposed to started school next week, this terrifies me.
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Hippyt
Member
06-15-2001
| Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 3:41 pm
Zmom,you need to be prepared to fight for him. At the time we were going through getting Griffin diagnosed,the school was threatening to send him to alternative school! For a FIRST grader!!!! I was up there all the time,my mom went,my husband went. I had to explain to these people that you can't just zap! give him a pill and everything is perfect. He had to go through the physical to make sure it wasn't due to something physical,then wait for the counselor's appointment. Deal with getting the meds in order and seeing how they affect him. We finally did get it worked out,and now he is an excellent student,and doing much better. Update: the judge ruled the school did nothing wrong,but he has not handed down a verdict. He wants the school and the mother to work together. I think he is probably not gonna fine the mother. I think this is probably the best thing. After all,once you enroll your child in a school,you are bound by law to follow the attendance policies. You can't just yank a kid out,you have to work with the school.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 3:55 pm
I wonder why she didn't just tell the school that she was going to home school him?
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 8:31 pm
I feel the need to say that not ALL schools are like this. We work VERY hard w/ our ADD and ADHD students. We try to teach them coping skills that they can use in the "real world" -- but it is IMPERATIVE that the parents not only keep the teacher informed of the process/ medication/ "peak times," etc. but it's also important that they follow the doctor's recommendations! I had a mother who told me (proudly) that she had replaced her son's medication with aspirin -- so it wasn't really important WHAT medicine it was. The second most important thing is to make sure there is an IEP on file that specifies what accomodations need to be made. As a teacher, I have to be extremely careful about giving extra accomodations to a student if that student is not "officially" labeled w/ a diagnosis. While I may want to help the child, I have to be fair to the other kids -- so if parents aren't willing to have their child "labeled," then I'm not legally able to "change the rules" just for their student. Sorry -- just had to stand up for those of us who work our rear ends off to help ALL students! I've never heard of a student w/ any kinds of special need (be it ADD, ADHD, Tourettes, ED, etc) being "punished" for their behavior that results from the condition. Removing them from the class may be necessary at times for the safety and education of all -- but we NEVER leave any student alone in a room or make them sit in the hall as we would with a "bad" kid. If they need to leave, we send them to one of two supervised rooms where there is a teacher to help them out or to let them have their "chill" time to get calmed back down and able to return to the classroom. One final note - -remember, regular ed. teachers and ESPECIALLY day care workers do not have as much specialized training as other "special ed." teachers might have -- nor are we doctors who know automatically how to deal with the myriad of problems our students have. This year alone, I'm dealing with a fetal alcohol syndrome child, mutliple ADD/ADHD students, juvenile diabetes, depression, etc. yet I'm still expected to "leave no child behind" and educate all of them to the exact same level. Would someone hand me my superman cape??? I think I need the superpowers now! LOL Good luck in working with the teacher to help her understand your son's needs. Explaining where he's at in the diagnosis process should help as well -- if she knows there's a light at the end of the tunnel, it may make it easier for her.
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 9:07 pm
thank you teachmichigan. you are the kind of teacher that i applaud! holly has had some wonderful teachers in her lifetime. holly has a 504/IEP in place, for her modifications. they're not extensive. just placing her in the front of the class, giving her extra time for testing, using a "binder reminder" for her homework, checking that she wrote it down correctly, etc. the people i've had a problem with are people who either don't believe in ADHD or they are misinformed and unknowledgeable.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 9:07 pm
Don't even get me started on "no child left behind" (also known as "no teacher left standing")
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 9:31 pm
LOL @ Julie -- That's one of the nicer things I've heard it called! Landi -- I am so glad to hear that you've taken all the proper steps. The modifications sound easy enough -- if a teacher isn't upholding them, let 'em have it!
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 3:47 pm
got this in email today: Subject: SOMBODY SAID... Somebody said that a child is carried in its mother's womb for nine months. Somebody does not know that a child is carried in its mother's heart forever. Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby. Somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, normal is history. Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct. Somebody never took a three-year-old shopping. Somebody said being a mother is boring. Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit. Somebody said if you're a "good" mother, your child will "turn out good." Somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee. Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their voices. Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through the neighbor's kitchen window. Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother. Somebody never helped a fourth grader with his math. Somebody said you can't love the fifth child as much as you love the first. Somebody doesn't have five children. Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books. Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose. Somebody said it is ok to take your anger out on your mother she will understand. Somebody needs to understand that mother will not live forever and should not have to understand. Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery. Somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten. Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back. Somebody never organized seven giggling Brownies to sell cookies. Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married. Somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother's heartstrings. Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home. Somebody never had grandchildren. Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her. Somebody isn't a mother. Somebody said you don't need to visit your mother more than once a year, she knows you still love her and understand why. Somebody never looked into the eyes of that mother to her soul.
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Reader234
Member
08-13-2000
| Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 8:30 pm
Thanks LadyT, that'n needs kleenex!! *sniff!
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Hippyt
Member
06-15-2001
| Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 9:20 pm
Yeah,thanks a lot,the kindergarten bus thing got me crying like a four year old.
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Ddr
Member
08-19-2001
| Friday, January 07, 2005 - 4:06 am
LadyT, I laughed while I had tears in my eyes through the whole thing. Thanks for posting it.
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Hippyt
Member
06-15-2001
| Friday, January 14, 2005 - 11:14 pm
I'm just worn out,tired. The meds,the meds... he is brilliant. It's just so difficult. Ya never know if you are doing the right thing. I taught him how to play Uno today. That was such fun. Anytime his sister is involved though,it turns into war.
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Saturday, January 15, 2005 - 7:56 am
Thank you, LadyT, for posting "Somebody Said." It's going on the nurses' station wall in the maternity ward where my sis works because she loved it that much!
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Lancecrossfire
Moderator
07-13-2000
| Thursday, February 03, 2005 - 12:10 pm
A message every adult should read, because children are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator and I immediately wanted to paint another one. When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life. When you thought I wasn't looking I heard you say a prayer, and I knew there is a God I could always talk to and I learned to trust in God. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don't. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it and I learned we have to take care of what we are given. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't feel good and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's alright to cry. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that you cared and I wanted to be everything that I could be. When you thought I wasn't looking, I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up. When you thought I wasn't looking, I looked at you and wanted to say, "Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking." LITTLE EYES SEE A LOT.
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Skootz
Member
07-23-2003
| Thursday, February 03, 2005 - 12:25 pm
how true lance..thanks for sharing.
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Danas15146
Member
03-31-2004
| Friday, February 04, 2005 - 6:55 am
Lance -- that was so beautiful.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Friday, February 04, 2005 - 8:50 am
Thanks Lance. That is so sweet.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Thursday, February 17, 2005 - 9:58 pm
Why Parents Drink: The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers, dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper. "Hello." "Is your daddy home?" he asked. "Yes," whispered the small voice. "May I talk with him?" The child whispered, "No." Surprised, and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mommy there?" "Yes." "May I talk with her?" Again the small voice whispered, "No." Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, "Is anybody else there?" "Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman." Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman?" "No, he's busy", whispered the child. "Busy doing what?" "Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer. Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a Helicopter through the earpiece on the phone the boss asked, "What is that noise?" "A hello-copper" answered the whispering voice. "What is going on there?" asked the boss, now truly alarmed. In an awed whispering voice the child answered, "The search team just landed the hello-copper." Alarmed, concerned, and even more then just a little frustrated the boss asked, "What are they searching for?" Still whispering, the young voice replied along with a muffled giggle: "ME."
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