Tiger Mother Parenting Can Lead to Problems

What’s your parenting style? Many parents use the same parenting style that they were raised in. It is comfortable, familiar, and fits their cultural background. Parents also strive to raise their children in a way that will teach them to become successful, self-sufficient, adults. Sometimes, it turns out that a particular parenting style is not as advantageous as people might assume. A study found that the “Tiger Mother” type of parenting is not helpful (and might do more harm than good). What is a “Tiger Mother”? The Macmillian Dictionary defines it as: a very strict mother who makes her children … Continue reading

Time Again for the Homeschool Portfolio

  What is a Homeschool Portfolio? A homeschool portfolio is a window into your child’s homeschool experience, achievements, and academic progress, throughout the school year. There are more then on way to keep a portfolio but I will list the core items you will need. However, always check your state laws, homeschool co-ops, and with the evaluator, on what materials are required. The Basic Supplies 3 ring binder {3 inches or more thick} dividers page protectors Sharpies computer paper to print out basic forms samples of your child’s work photos {optional} Forms to Provide Attendance Form: List of Curriculum and … Continue reading

Navigating Alone Time

How well do you do on your own without your spouse?  I certainly don’t need Jonathan to look after me, and I could support myself without him, but that’s not what I’m talking about.  What I mean is: if there are times that your spouse is away from home from an extended period of time, how do you feel about it? I’ve never liked living alone.  If I wasn’t married, I would prefer having a roommate to living by myself.  I spent the summer before I got married living on my own, and it was unpleasant.  So when Jon goes … Continue reading

The Bath Time Circus

Giving my kids baths has always been a fun experience when they are babies. They love to splash and kick, the warm water soothes them, and my babies have all loved bath time. But, recently my little guy has become Trouble with a capital “T” at bath time. It is driving me a little crazy. Gone are the days when he would just lay in the water, kick his legs and smile up at me happily. Now, he is a crazy man all over the place. He wants toys to entertain him (understandable since he sees his older siblings with them) … Continue reading

Dinner Time Talk

It can be difficult to find the “right” time to talk about an issue. No one wants to start off their day having a serious discussion. Most of us don’t want to get into a heavy topic right when we walk in the door after work. And we might not be interested in conversing later on in the evening, when we finally get a chance to relax. So when does a couple find the time to talk? I think one of those is dinner time. Of course, if you have children and you need to discuss a marital issue, that … Continue reading

Rich Parent Problems

“My other car is a Lamborghini. Just like this one.” That’s one bumper sticker you’ll never see on my vehicle. After all, it’d look pretty silly on the back of my bike. Just as I don’t have time to turn turkey bones into chandeliers, I simply don’t have the income to drop $50,000 to have my kid attend a fancy schmancy kindergarten. However, this is not a problem for some of the world’s most affluent parents. Forking over 50 grand so their child can be surrounded by other rich kids and learn Mandarin in a highly-integrated community equipped with the … Continue reading

Cats and Their Glands: A Very Stinky Problem

A secret stink bomb Those of us with dogs know that some aspects of canine ownership can be really gross. One of the worst has to do with scooting: when our dogs do this, it means they’ve got a build-up in their anal glands that they’re looking to relieve. Ew. We can either let our dogs slowly relieve themselves over time, give them a hand (more ew…), or have a veterinarian or groomer do it. My husband always handles this for our dog; he says it’s not so bad, and I’m happy to let him do it. I’ve made it … Continue reading

Cameras, Airline Problems, and Medication Issues

This week, the Special Needs Blog included topics such as cameras in classrooms, airlines behaving badly, unaccepted apologies, and many issues with different kinds of medications. Here is a quick review of the blogs that went up between September 3, 2012, and September 8, 2012. Thalidomide Maker’s Apology Not Enough Gruenenthal, the maker of a drug called thalidomide (and Contergan and Distaval), issued an apology for the harm caused to those affected by their drug. Many are seeing this apology as insufficient, and believe that there should be financial compensation coming to the thalidomide victims. Harvard Newspaper Website Runs Ad … Continue reading

Ending Healthy Families Program Will Not Solve Budget Problems

California Governor Jerry Brown has decided to end the Healthy Families insurance program in 2013. Children covered by that program will be shifted into the Medi-Cal program. The purpose of this change is so the state can save money. Legislators see problems with this plan, and want Healthy Families reinstated. To understand this story, you will need a little bit of background. Healthy Families is a low cost public health insurance program in California that covers children and teenagers. It provides health, dental, and vision coverage. It is for kids who come from families who do not qualify for Medi-Cal, … Continue reading

More Bussing, More Problems

When things work perfectly, no one has much to say about it. When things go wrong, this makes the news! This is probably why we are hearing so many stories about school bussing situations that didn’t go as expected. Sometimes, it takes a bit of negative publicity for a school to improve aspects of their bussing system that are failing. Every school year, there are stories in the news about situations where the drivers of school busses that were intended to pick up and drop off students who have special needs have failed preform this task in a safe and … Continue reading