(taken from a forum I frequent)
The kind of "success" I'm hoping for my children includes:
The ability to pursue a life in which you feel able to meet all the challenges put before you. If you feel connected to a community and have the drive to contribute and are ABLE to contribute in a manner that fits your skill set then I believe happiness will follow.
To this ends what DH and I want for our children via their formal education:
Relationships with teachers and students that are based on the values of respect, encouragement and community spirit. Teachers that acknowledge that they are co-learners too and not unquestionable over-layers of knowledge. A learning environment that supports each individual childs' level of development and incorporates their interests into the curriculum not a pre-destined education-board chosen one. Eg. At the start of term the children are consulted about topics that are of interest to THEM and then a program tailored in that direction. NOT: "Ok kids this term we are going to talk about dinosaurs!" Class sighs and gets on with it despite the fact that nearly all the kids are really into the urban farm animals they all saw over the holidays. (And this is not as hard as you would think... I have regularly witnessed classes of children have circle discussions about the Topic of the Term... MUCH easier than asking the BB community about their preferences on a forum change! LOL)
If you show a child the courtesy of allowing them to guide the direction of their own learning this really engages them in the learning process. DH and I want our children to simply LOVE learning new skills and building on the ones they have. We dread the day that they feel that they are just going through the motions to please the teacher like we did at school.
If you love learning, I believe, this is the first step toward success. Once you have that then: "The ability to pursue a life in which you feel able to meet all the challenges put before you. If you feel connected to a community and have the drive to contribute and are ABLE to contribute in a manner that fits your skill set then I believe happiness will follow."
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things...
The table with glass covered cross stitch made by my Nana.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Grave's Disease
I have been diagnosed with this autoimmune thyroid condition for a little over 2 years now. Will link to a good site which covers the basics of having Graves but just want to start a bit of a record of my symptoms.
Today I am feeling quite bloated and fat :( I don't own scales but weighed in at about 73 kilos last week at the doctors. This is about 10 kilos more than I was when my condition was at it's worst (hyperthyroid, too fast metabolism) 2 years ago. I now suspect I am hypothyroid, meaning my metabolism has slowed right down. I am feeling so sluggish and am feeling the cold for the first time in years. Ugh! Blood test this weekend... Endocrinologist appointment next week. I hope my medication (anti-thyroid tablets) are reduced.
13 February 2011
Good news! Since my last post I have had a blood test and my thyroid levels were very good. I am almost euthyroid! which means my thyroid is functioning normally. I say "almost" because I was still on the medication (about 1 tablet a day) at the time of testing and you are not really euthyroid until you are off the medication.
However at this stage I am only taking the occasional tablet... less than 1 a week. I'm feeling great and my weight has gone back down to a healthy 68 kilos. My skin has also settled down. It's great to know that my liver is getting a break too as it can suffer when on medication for too long. I have yet to find a local specialist to help me monitor my Graves and this could be tricky.
I'm wondering how much all this good news is due to finally reaching my long term goal of moving back to my hometown to where I have more support. Maybe my body is producing less stress hormones like cortisol which is reducing all the symtoms? I have also made small improvements to my diet... avoiding too much bread/yeast especially. I have read that bread isn't good if you have inflamation type conditions.
Anyhow so far so good! I hope my next specialist, when find one, agrees with my choice of treatment which is essentially very unconventional! if i had listened to my Endo my thyroid would probably have been destroyed by now!
3 May 2012
Well a lot has happened since the last update over a year ago!
I continued to lose weight after reducing my tablet intake. Around the same time that my husband had a nervous breakdown I felt that my symptoms were starting to increase (probably the stress again) so I saw the doctor, had a blood test and yes, sure enough my thyroid levels were 'up' again. Not dangerously high... but enough to warrant returning to 3 tablets a day.
I also have recommenced tertiary study... and live on campus up at Armidale Mon - Fri. The workload is very demanding and until recently, with the return of some very good results (a HD amongst them!) I have been quite stressed by it all. But the peace and quiet of my room, I think, has helped to keep me centered enough to be calm and therefore mentally healthy.
I have been eating very differently to what I am used to. Much plainer food, more salads and less sweets. The dining hall doesn't 'do' very good desserts so I usually don't have them. I have put more salads on my plate than I probably would at home because I've been conscious that I don't have the time to be sick! I also generally don't eat after about 7pm, that's when the dining hall closes and recently I have stopped keeping food in my room (initially I kept chocolate, fruit and trail mix). I often go to bed on an empty tummy because due to socialising/study I am staying up much later then I used to... midnight is now the common time I go to sleep (as opposed to 9.30pm - 10pm a few years ago) however I am also getting less 'broken' sleep because children aren't here to wake me... nor is my husband's tossing and turning waking me up.
Hopefully it's due to healthy eating habits that is the reason for my continued loss of weight. I am now down to 59.6 kilos. Most of the clothes that I wore back when I started this blog don't fit me anymore, especially the jeans/pants. My skin (except for around my eyes which has dark shadows with too much computer use) is breaking out less. I am feeling pretty good about my health in general. Despite the weight loss I feel that this is actually pretty close to my skeleton's ideal weight. I worry about the loss of muscle tone, especially in my legs from lack of exercise... but occasionally I'll spend a night dancing on social event nights (like last night) so I hope this helps.
Today I am feeling quite bloated and fat :( I don't own scales but weighed in at about 73 kilos last week at the doctors. This is about 10 kilos more than I was when my condition was at it's worst (hyperthyroid, too fast metabolism) 2 years ago. I now suspect I am hypothyroid, meaning my metabolism has slowed right down. I am feeling so sluggish and am feeling the cold for the first time in years. Ugh! Blood test this weekend... Endocrinologist appointment next week. I hope my medication (anti-thyroid tablets) are reduced.
13 February 2011
Good news! Since my last post I have had a blood test and my thyroid levels were very good. I am almost euthyroid! which means my thyroid is functioning normally. I say "almost" because I was still on the medication (about 1 tablet a day) at the time of testing and you are not really euthyroid until you are off the medication.
However at this stage I am only taking the occasional tablet... less than 1 a week. I'm feeling great and my weight has gone back down to a healthy 68 kilos. My skin has also settled down. It's great to know that my liver is getting a break too as it can suffer when on medication for too long. I have yet to find a local specialist to help me monitor my Graves and this could be tricky.
I'm wondering how much all this good news is due to finally reaching my long term goal of moving back to my hometown to where I have more support. Maybe my body is producing less stress hormones like cortisol which is reducing all the symtoms? I have also made small improvements to my diet... avoiding too much bread/yeast especially. I have read that bread isn't good if you have inflamation type conditions.
Anyhow so far so good! I hope my next specialist, when find one, agrees with my choice of treatment which is essentially very unconventional! if i had listened to my Endo my thyroid would probably have been destroyed by now!
3 May 2012
Well a lot has happened since the last update over a year ago!
I continued to lose weight after reducing my tablet intake. Around the same time that my husband had a nervous breakdown I felt that my symptoms were starting to increase (probably the stress again) so I saw the doctor, had a blood test and yes, sure enough my thyroid levels were 'up' again. Not dangerously high... but enough to warrant returning to 3 tablets a day.
I also have recommenced tertiary study... and live on campus up at Armidale Mon - Fri. The workload is very demanding and until recently, with the return of some very good results (a HD amongst them!) I have been quite stressed by it all. But the peace and quiet of my room, I think, has helped to keep me centered enough to be calm and therefore mentally healthy.
I have been eating very differently to what I am used to. Much plainer food, more salads and less sweets. The dining hall doesn't 'do' very good desserts so I usually don't have them. I have put more salads on my plate than I probably would at home because I've been conscious that I don't have the time to be sick! I also generally don't eat after about 7pm, that's when the dining hall closes and recently I have stopped keeping food in my room (initially I kept chocolate, fruit and trail mix). I often go to bed on an empty tummy because due to socialising/study I am staying up much later then I used to... midnight is now the common time I go to sleep (as opposed to 9.30pm - 10pm a few years ago) however I am also getting less 'broken' sleep because children aren't here to wake me... nor is my husband's tossing and turning waking me up.
Hopefully it's due to healthy eating habits that is the reason for my continued loss of weight. I am now down to 59.6 kilos. Most of the clothes that I wore back when I started this blog don't fit me anymore, especially the jeans/pants. My skin (except for around my eyes which has dark shadows with too much computer use) is breaking out less. I am feeling pretty good about my health in general. Despite the weight loss I feel that this is actually pretty close to my skeleton's ideal weight. I worry about the loss of muscle tone, especially in my legs from lack of exercise... but occasionally I'll spend a night dancing on social event nights (like last night) so I hope this helps.
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- Bathsheba Smith
- Full-time Student and Mum of three who oscillates between perfectionism and slovenliness. Never wastes a good crisis!
