TVCH FORUMS HOME . JOIN . FAN CLUBS . DONATE . CONTACT . CHAT  
                  Quick Links   TOPICS . TREE-VIEW . SEARCH . HELP! . NEWS . PROFILE
Archive through September 15, 2010

Reality TVClubHouse Discussions: General Discussions ARCHIVES: September 2010 ~ December 2010: Free Expression: The return of The Return of the Gripe Thread: Archive through September 15, 2010 users admin

Author Message
Naja
Member

06-28-2003

Sunday, September 12, 2010 - 11:10 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Naja a private message Print Post    
Ha! Thanks Kitt! I never even thought to look at hardcover since they are generally higher priced than paperback. Thank you!

Biscottiii
Member

05-29-2004

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 1:43 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Biscottiii a private message Print Post    
"My Side of the Mountain" (Disney later made a movie, but it didn't hold a candle to the book). I LOVED that book and read it so many times as a youngster about 4-5th grade, really hit the imagination! Bought paperback copies for each of the nieces and nephews.

Julieboo, maybe you've seen this but want to make sure. I think in the past you have mentioned Aspergers syndrom or autism. There was an OUTSTANDING movie not long ago about Temple Grandin. Recently it took a bunch of awards, surprised many people at the number of awards it captured. Last night in another blog someone mentioned this interview with the real Dr. Grandin. I was able to watch the first hr of 3hrs before my adobe plugins crashed. Totally interesting, she keeps moving around on many subjects but makes such sense as to how they tie together. I will definitely watch the rest even if I have to rewatch the first hour.

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/214625

In Depth with Temple Grandin, Nov 1, 2009

C-SPAN | BookTV
Author, autism advocate, and animal scientist Temple Grandin talked about her life, career, and body of work. Topics included autism, how she thinks in pictures, and her work with animals. She responded to telephone calls and electronic communications. Temple Grandin is an animal science professor.

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 8:06 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Escapee a private message Print Post    
Julie, my DD reads at a 5th grade level as well. The Hardee Boys series are great, even though they are old fashioned, they are still good Also, the Indian in the cupboard series is right about at a 5th grade level.

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 8:27 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
Biscotti, thanks!! I have been wanting to see that like crazy. We don't have HBO, where I think it was first aired... THANKS again!!

Escapee, what kind of testing and what kind of accommodations is the school giving her? Is she in first grade?

Personally I think he is well above a 5th grade level, since he has read so much, like Jules Verne, 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Moby Dick. ANd yes, he comprehends it all. He also has taught my sister how to play chess...

My sister is looking to keep him enthused about school and is very interested in what other accommodations are in place for other kids like him. (My bil is also hugely intelligent and really had a hard time in school as he was bored silly and got yelled at a lot.) They are hoping for a better school experience for him.

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 9:16 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Escapee a private message Print Post    
Gah, my dd is in 2nd grade. She goes to another class for reading and language arts. It's a small school. We read with her a lot.

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 9:25 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
Actually, I bet that is the best accommodation that there is. Do they send her to 5th grade, or just give her individual work within a small group?

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 9:28 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Escapee a private message Print Post    
I think she goes into the 4th grade classroom because they have some advanced readers. We had her reading before kindergarten, just two and three letter words. Dang, it really made a huge difference in her reading and comprehension skills.

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 10:45 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Escapee, that's how they did me and sis throughout elementary school. Then when I went to 5th grade and there was no where else to send me for reading, they sent me to the library. Spent reading class for 5th and 6th grade learning the dewey decimal system, reading through the library, and having discussions with the librarian. Still have a very deep respect for librarians.

Happymom
Member

01-20-2003

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 11:22 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Happymom a private message Print Post    
My three kids were early readers. They did not go to different classes for reading though. Their teachers all had them in small groups for reading in grades 1-3. Two of the kids had the same teacher for 1st grade. That teacher and another 1st grade teacher combined classes for reading to better accommodate the students. They were with other advanced readers. For SSR (Sustained silent reading, I think is what SSR is), they had their own more advanced books. Each teacher had a wide ranging library in their classroom with books of all different levels. They could also bring a book from home. If they were not making appropriate choices (as in, too easy) their teachers would encourage/suggest/give them other books to read. The gifted program in our district starts in 4th grade. It wasn't too much of a concern after that. Until 4th grade, I did work with my kids some re reading and comprehension, vocabulary etc. I provided a lot of reading material for them.

The challenge was providing more advanced books as they progressed, but still age appropriate content as well as interesting material. (and the book covers had to look appealing/not scary, or whatever, too, especially when the kids were younger) Our public library had lists for each grade. I'm sure something like that is available on the internet too.

Middle daughter was extremely shy and self conscious. In first grade she refused to read anything else until the new Harry Potter book came out. Even though we explained that it would be a long time, she was adamant. So, she began reading lots of science books. Eventually she did start a chapter book for SSR, but she didn't want to be different than the other kids in class...the bookmark would make her different. Her teacher smiled and told her just to remember the page number! That hadn't occurred to my DD.

Merrysea
Moderator

08-13-2004

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 11:32 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Merrysea a private message Print Post    
When my youngest son was in 6th grade, in English they had to write a fan letter to a person of their choice. Most kids were writing to actors or sports figures. My son chose to write to Michael Crichton, because that was his favorite author. He was thrilled when he got a response!

Jimmer
Moderator

08-30-2000

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 11:46 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jimmer a private message Print Post    
That is awesome, Merry.

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 12:02 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
That's funny, Merry!

Have to agree with Happymom, that was a problem that popped up for us as Caleb got older. It was hard to find books advanced enough for his reading level that were also age appropriate. It's not so much a problem now that he's older, though we do still read everything he reads so we can discuss it with him.

LOL Happymom, in 2nd or 3rd grade, Caleb purposely tanked his math grade. Wasn't because he was shy, but because he didn't want the other kids to think he was as smart as he was. He'd sit here and do his homework and then show it to us...then would go to school and tell his teacher he didn't do it. Wouldn't raise his hand during math and spent half of test time drawing doodles and making up answers. Come to find out, for the first couple months of school, he'd be the first one finished with math work and once she checked his paper she'd ask him to go help kids who were having problems and he was getting teased about it. I'd been volunteering (on a regular basis) in his class and this had been going on for a while. We had no clue anything was up, because he was doing the math homework and it was between progress reports and report cards. Finally, she said, "Sandy, if Caleb's having problems with math, I can help him." I said, "Huh?" She explained what had been going on and we called him over, took a while but he eventually told us why he'd been doing it. And then he starts to pull out crumpled up sheets of math homework from his desk and we set there staring at this little mountain of work he'd done but hadn't turned in, lol.

Pippin04
Member

10-26-2007

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 12:29 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Pippin04 a private message Print Post    
In regards to the amount of lit that is in the schools, my daughters school handled it this way.

At the start of the year the librarian would pick out a ton of books for the library. The parents would visit the library on parents night and choose a book for thier daughter as suggested by the librarian. You had to pay for the book you chose and it stayed in the library with your daughters name as the person who donated it. Every year the girls would seek out the book with thier name and read it first then share it with others. The pride in seeing ones name in the book was amazing. The girls loved it and they were exposed to all kinds of lit.

Happymom
Member

01-20-2003

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 6:39 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Happymom a private message Print Post    
Pippin, that is a great idea! I love it!

War... that's kids for you! lol! (When my oldest was in first grade, her teacher found out pretty quickly that she was not into helping the other kids.)

Merry, that is cool. That reminds me that in 7th and 8th my kids had to research a historical figure from a certain time period, do a paper, and play the part for a presentation. My oldest chose a mathematician that wrote a book her teacher had given her to supplement math since she was bored with math.

Julie, I would say he is reading beyond 5th grade...I had to read Moby Dick in advanced English in HIGH school! (I thought it was very boring, did your son like it?)

I guess that will be my gripe (trying to stay On Topic, lol)...some of the books assigned in school are so boring.

Christy358
Member

07-10-2007

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 12:16 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Christy358 a private message Print Post    
My gripe is that I can't remember the teachers name.

It had to be sophmore high school year. We had to pick a book and read it. Not a book off of a list, but any book. We told her what book we had picked and then we had individual meetings with her as we read it. She asked questions, talked about perceptions and meanings and symbolism. Suggested short stories/other books that might offer insight.

I did not realize until much later that she had to read the books we picked, and work up an additional study idea for each student.

Teachers can be so amazing.

Rissa
Member

03-19-2006

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 2:58 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Rissa a private message Print Post    
Happymom, I have had that same gripe about my kids reading lists. When I was in school it seemed we were assigned a wider range of books styles and genres but my girls seem to get the same 4 books for each grade level. For example with Shakespeare it has been Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth for all three girls (different teachers) and surprise none of them particularly like him, not enough to read anything else by him voluntarily anyway. My first Shakespeare was Taming of the Shrew in grade 7 and we all thought it was so dirty and funny, we loved picking out all the sly humour and couldn't believe we were allowed to read something so risque. It was the perfect book for that age group and made me want to read more Shakespeare.

LOL at the teacher having the read the books Christy.... reminds me of an assignment my youngest had to do, a report on an animal, (any animal) and she picked the pink dolphin. Might have helped had the teacher also done research on the chosen animals because I had to convince her the pink dolphin was real and not mythological. :-)

Tishala
Member

08-01-2000

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 12:40 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tishala a private message Print Post    
I'm amazed that your kids have read three Shakespeare plays, Rissa. Most of my students have only read one by the time they reach college--two at the most--and it's always Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. They've read precious little American literature and, what they have read tends to be of pretty dubious aesthetic quality. I've known more and more students recently who haven't even read The Scarlet Letter. Sure, it's not an amazing work like Moby Dick, but it's a classic, for Pete's sake. And what they read instead of stuff like The House on Mango Street. I understand the rationale behind it, but I don't particularly like it.

Then again, I've never read anything by Dickens and I'm about to have my Ph.D. so I might not be the best one to complain.

Happymom
Member

01-20-2003

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 2:23 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Happymom a private message Print Post    
Dr. Tishala! Congrats! What a lot of hard work! That is one of my unfulfilled dreams, to have a Ph.D.

Tishala
Member

08-01-2000

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 2:45 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tishala a private message Print Post    
Oh Happymom, don't congratulate me yet. I still have a chapter and a half to go. LOL.

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 4:30 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
OMG I want to gripe about corporate taxes. What a bite in the a**. My neck is cricked from hanging over accounts all day, and it's my own fault because I'm such a procrastinator.

So I guess I want to gripe about myself. And corporate taxes.

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 4:47 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
Oh, and a counter-gripe. Thank GOD for accountants. A good one is worth every cent.

Teachmichigan
Member

07-22-2001

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 7:54 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Teachmichigan a private message Print Post    
They all read the same things because NCLB has demanded accountability which leads to common assessments which means more similar assignments. Our fear (and our gripe) is that one day we'll have a day-by-day national curriculum that will totally take away the ability to tailor a class for the students in it.

Another Gripe - no nap time at the high school today or yesterday and none planned for the foreseeable future. Boo! Hiss!

Prisonerno6
Member

08-31-2002

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 - 7:10 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Prisonerno6 a private message Print Post    
I despise Bank of America, who holds my mortgage.

I pay my own property taxes and insurance, no escrow account. This has worked fine for several years and through several mortgage companies has my account as been passed around (why should they earn interest on the money when I can). I paid my county taxes in June. I have the canceled check. My school taxes aren't due until November. I'm all set to pay them then.

Yesterday, I get a notice from Bank of America saying they set up an escrow account to pay my deliquent taxes as well as the taxes that aren't due for two more months. I immediately call them, since I have no deliquent taxes and I don't want to pay my taxes out of an escrow account. I spend an hour on the phone with them, first trying to get through their automated system and then trying to get to the right department. I finally succeed, give this person all of the information, she tells me she will contact my local tax office to straighten everything out.

I get a message from her this morning. She gives me her name and a number to call -- the general customer service number. However, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get connected to a specific person through the customer service number. So I end up explaining the entire situation to not one, not two, but three more people trying to find someone who can tell me why the original person called me this morning...and I STILL DON'T KNOW WHY!!!

I despise Bank of America.

Happymom
Member

01-20-2003

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 - 7:17 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Happymom a private message Print Post    
GAL, I agree about taxes and accountants! I just turned over all our stuff to our CPA the other day. I don't mean to procrastinate, it just seems to have happened that way the last few years. I went into the office with chocolate and lots of apologies that I was so late in the year. I didn't dare wait any longer, life pretty much stopped around here until I had everything ready for the accountant. There is no way I want to take a chance with a CPA I don't know.

Hukdonreality
Member

09-29-2003

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 - 8:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Hukdonreality a private message Print Post    
Prisoner, I hate BOA too. I only had a credit card through them, but they would try and charge a late fee on a bill I paid the very same day I got the bill, claiming the payment was received late. This happened more than once and it took forever for them to rectify it.

I wound up going into the local BOA and told them to cancel my card. I got such a runaround and I fumed slowly, but eventually exploded because they were basically refusing to cancel my card! I literally took the scissors off of this guys desk and cut the card up, told him to shove the card up his ass. It's totally not like me, but omg, they are absolutely impossible to deal with.