Saturday, June 20, 2009

Deaf school & Mainstream school for my kids

Sharing my experiences with my 3 children who went to Deaf school & Mainstream school. For the parents who are trying to make the decision for their deaf/hard of hearing child, I strongly encourage you to visit both schools, talk with the staff, alumnis, deaf people in the community and lastly, not at least, follow your child's lead.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

What happened BEFORE 1880 Milan Deaf Education Congress?



ASL Translated from an article in www.everything2.com (1880 Milan deaf education) along with my kiddo's skits in the between.

www.milan1880.com/milan1880history/thecongress.html is much better than I mentioned on my Vlog. Thanks, Kim

Thursday, January 22, 2009

We are Deaf: One and Many

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Chores & Allowances

When you are a mother you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.

-Sophia Loren



My children have chores that they must do each day, as well as our special cleaning brigade on Saturdays. Daily tasks include washing and putting away the dishes, laundry, making the beds, and picking up their bedroom. Saturday chores can include anything that needs to be done, from cleaning the bathroom to scrubbing the woodwork.

I know there are a lot of differing opinions on this subject.
First of all, I think a child needs to learn how to do basic cleaning tasks and the only way to learn how is to do it. The chores I have my children do are things they will have to know and do in order to be self-sufficient as adults. I know how to do these things because my mother showed me and that's how my children will learn the things they have to do, as well. And no, I don't give my daughters just "girl" jobs and my son just "boy" jobs. They share the tasks as equally as possible considering the age differences.

Another reason my children have household tasks to complete is to teach them responsibility. Everyone in a family has a certain amount of responsibility to the household. We all need to contribute to the maintenance of our surroundings. Chances are they won't have maids when they grow up, so they need to be taught this responsibility now.

When it comes to the topic of payment, I look at it this way: I don't get paid to do the dishes or laundry and why is that? Because it is my dirty laundry, my dirty dishes, my unmade bed...you get the idea. I will give my kids money for doing special things, such as going to the store. Then they are getting paid for doing a job, just like I do when I go to work.
*Got this from www.associatedcontent.com/article/313924/

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I'm learning about children and allowance as I go. There are a lot of people that pay money for chores for children, others require their children work outside the home to earn money and another parenting style is to provide allowance for no return in responsibilities at all. I don't pass judgment on any one because I believe what works for one family may not work for another. We have chosen the allowance tied to chores approach and through some bumps and bruises it seems to be working. Here are my tips if you decide to go this route.

1)Identify chores with clear deliverables. Chores should not consist of making beds and cleaning up after themselves. Chores are responsibilities above and beyond the day to day such as laundry, picking up after the dog, taking out the trash, cleaning up the kitchen.

2)Have your child "own" their chores. With 3 kids we like to avoid as much conflict as possible. Therefore it's one person to a chore and that chore is consistent from week to week. They each might have more than one chore but there's no sharing. At some point they may want to rotate, but as my husband says, "let's leave well enough alone."

3)Set a regular payment schedule. Our kids get paid every Sunday. This forces them to budget their money for the week so they have something left for next weekend. Make sure you pay the promised amount and you pay on time. Responsibility works both ways.

4)Teach them to budget their expenses. Our children put aside money for savings and spending (bus fare, lunch, ice cream, snacks, etc.). Our 14 year old enjoys going out on the weekend and parses out his money into 3 envelopes labeled, "Savings", "Spending", "Weekend". This has been working well and gives him ownership of his finances. In fact, this week, the ice cream truck stopped at our house and instinctively my kids ran outside expecting me to give them money. They looked at me, I looked back at them and they said, "oh right, our allowance." Let's just say 2 ran back for their wallets and the 14 year old decided he wasn't really in the mood for ice cream after all. Priorities are very interesting when it comes from their own wallets.

5)If they don't do their chores, don't pay them. This is pretty simple but some think I'm nuts. Bottom line is do your chores and you get paid. You don't do your chores and you don't get paid. Learning involves consequences. My kids all learned by having their allowance deducted for chores not done. There was one situation when twin A did twin B's chores. Well....twin A received twin B's allowance and twin B got nothing. Now twin B is working his little butt off. Develop good habits now and they will be good employees later.

6)Open up bank accounts. Take them to the bank to make deposits. My kids love watching their savings grow. This week each of them took their piggy banks to Commerce Bank and cashed in all of their coins. Between all 3 they saved up over $200. I allowed them to spend $10 each and the rest went back into savings. This is one of the best lessons in showing kids how saving even as little as pennies a day adds up.

7)Don't leave home without it! It took a while but they finally know they must always carry a wallet. We do wallet checks before we leave the house. They're finally figuring it out.

8)Be flexible. Don't forget they're kids and learn best when having fun and taking ownership. So be flexible, if your child absolutely despises taking out the trash give him something else to do...it's just not worth it...don't lose site of the overall message you want to achieve. There are so many ways a child can help out...we have one son that likes to clean up the dog poop!

Like I said, this approach seems to be working for us right now, but we're certainly open to suggestions and hearing about your ideas for teaching your children about financial responsibility.

http://www.creditmomblog.com/kids-and-money/kids-a...

Monday, November 10, 2008

Artworks from kids.. What do you do with it?

Question of the Day: What do you do with the artwork from your kids?

Qoute of the Day: "Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing." ~ Marc Chagall

Yep, my kids love the art! I enjoy them very much.. however, I need to get a control of the growing mountain of their artwork in the house! Smile..
Hope you can share your ideas. Thanks!