For those who have struggling writers in 2nd grade, how many still flip some numbers and letters? Also, do you find it common for your 2nd grader to have trouble getting his letters and numbers to rest properly on the line? My son doesn't put consistent spaces between letters and numbers so it's hard to tell where one word stops and the next starts, then the letters/numbers seem to bounce up and down on the page. I'm concerned that maybe there is something visual going on here but not sure how much others have seen this?

I agree that the Primer selections are *way* too long. For his copywork I either choose one sentence or line of the selection for his copywork, print off the Aesop "moral" (free download for these http://www.lulu.com/hannahw) and have him do that instead, or use the copywork from FLL such as the poem we are memorizing. That much writing is more than enough for him. He does one section of copywork a day, he writes his name and full date on the Primer page and has to write the spelling/phonics section in Primer. Along with math (he still is flipping numbers like 3, 6, 9) that is alot of writing for him. I also have him do some coloring or drawing with other things like history and bible. After a writing session he really needs his "recess" break and goes out for a 15 minutes or so on the swingset. I agree with other posters that reading skills are of greater importance than grammar. My biggest chunks of time go to the three R's - then lots of hearing other things read (books, bible stories, history stories, etc...)

:grouphug: My oldest son is turning 11 this month and just want to send hugs your way - he was just like your son at 9! The good news is that through reasonable consistency, reasonable consequences and some good old maturity he is doing much better these days. I rest in the fact that he would be much more mouthy if he was going to ps and around those kids all day. We pulled him out of ps at age 9 because I couldn't stand the attitudes he was developing (not to mention some nasty teasing) - but I'm starting to think the attitude is part of the age. It will get better but only if you are consistent and start expecting more mature behavior of him. He wants to grow up and is showing some "rebellion" so let him start making a few more choices but at the same time having more responsibilities. We explained to our son many many times how the two go hand in hand and I'm seeing alot less *pushing* from him these days. At age 9 my oldest started being responsible for emptying the kitchen garbage pretty much daily and taking the big cans out to the street and back in. He also started helping more and more with his laundry and personal needs. At the same time I gave a little more leeway in exactly when we do certain things and gave him a little more reading in bed time after his younger brothers have lights out. Just some thoughts. :)

Daily we do a bible story, math, Classical Writing Primer (for copywork, narration and spelling), First Language Lessons (memory work, grammar), and are alternating history/geography/science, we just started our third week of Latin so daily chants and a little copy or peice of a worksheet of that too. I toss in some art and music appreciation occasionally. My main focus is reading as well - he doesn't like to read on his own so it's little books for him and then read alouds. My son has poor fine motor skills and we do work on handwriting and home therapy so not alot of writing - and he's usually done with school within three hours (including a 15-30 minute outside play break in the middle).

Both my 7 and 10 year olds love it.

:iagree: I am an introvert and recharge my batteries by time alone, whether it's on the computer (not as good), reading, watching tv, working around the house...whatever I can get! With three boys 10, 7 and 3 time alone is impossible to get during the day - I can't even go to the bathroom with any expectation of not being interrupted by a booboo or just curious 3 year old who wants to be close. I sometimes stay up until 2am but it make getting up at 8am pretty tough, especially if I do it too many days in a row. I'm working on finding balance here.

After trying Prima Latina (I'm southern and even I agree about the tangy cd!) we switched to Latin for Children Primer A for older son and Songschool Latin for younger son. So far both are big hits!! There may be more religious content to come (only on Ch 5) but I haven't seen anything that was overwhelming. I chose Prima Latina becuase I liked the idea of learning the prayers but didn't care for the format. We use the cd (both classical and ecclesiastical pronunciation is provided) and the DVD which also offers lessons in both styles of pronunciation. I find these to be very high quality and enjoy the activity book as well. Good luck with making your choice!

Just wanted to share, My 10 year old (will be 11 this month!) Aspie boy is another with the fine motor problems and gets very overwhelmed with writing assignments. They are usually like pulling teeth. I'm using a combination of writing programs and switch them out every other or two weeks just to keep things fresh and his complaints to a minimum. We are using: -FLL 4 and Winston Grammar for Grammar and Language Arts -IEW Ancient History Based Writing /or WWE 3 Also we used the free website at BBC called Dance Mat Typing to start learning keyboarding skills, he really likes it though he still needs lots of practice. A typical day includes a section from the grammar/LA category and either IEW or WWE. We tried Classical Writing and it was a bust! Neither WWE or IEW require a large amount of writing and for IEW rough and final drafts we are doing those on the wordprocessing program. I let him narrate his rough draft (from the KWO we did together) to me while I typed it, then printed it out and let him work on it with my suggestions. Then he sat down at the computer and made all the corrections and changes. While I expected the writing to be hours of agony we did a whole paragraph rewrite in under 30 minutes! A major win at my house. Don't give up! I highly recommend the IEW smaller workbooks. We chose Ancient History Based writing because that is the history section we are working on. I'm planning to use Fun and Fabulous (?) when we are done with AHBW. They are also very reasonably priced.

FLL!:)

I just discovered LCC/WTM this year and have started my 5th grader on Latin. He is doing great with it - however my 2nd grader seems to really struggle with the concepts though we are using an age appropriate program. I think 5th grade is a great age to start. :)

I'm not sure exactly what is going on vs what your expectations are but as a recent graduate of a college of education having spent many hours in alot of classrooms in different schools and grades I can tell you that most kids *aren't* learning in a fun way - even in Kindergarten! Most of the classrooms I was in the teachers were tired, overworked, resentful and not having a fun, creative classroom. Please don't think that she would necessarily be having more "fun" in school. One other thing to consider is whether learning is going to be fun for everyone. Some people are natural students and enjoy the process but for many, many others learning the things we all *have* to learn (basic reading, writing, arithmetic, history, science) can be a struggle. Because you are at home you can focus on the areas she needs to learn and then integrate times for fun activities, crafts, outdoor play, etc...whatever is a stress reliever and fun childhood activity. But please don't think that you are depriving your child of fun by schooling her at home! :D

Yes that's the one. I think both must be good programs but it all depends on your and your kids learning style. My almost 11 year old loves the kids doing the chants, we both like the professor who teaches each lesson and he eagerly looks forward to the next installment of "How the West was Unus". For us LfC is a really cute, interesting way to learn Latin. We play the cd's daily for our chant review and my hardly talking almost 4 year old will chant along with us, as will the 7 year old. The chants are just very well done and that makes the whole thing work for us.

LOL thanks Rhonda - too funny! I don't think he has a physical problem. He has been dry through the night for probably over a year now. He can hold it when in underwear all day (not healthy I know). He just can't seem to put elimination and a toilet or potty together. One issue may be that he is really too big for the little potties - he is larger on the bottom and his stuff kinda hangs over on the little potties but I think he is intimidated by using the toilet even though we have step stools and potty seats galore. I'm just trying to be patient and but I don't want to "give up" either. This is one of those areas where I just feel like a failure as a mom, I don't know anyone irl who hasn't had their child potty trained before age 3 or so. :/ But then I don't really have many friends or other moms that I talk to other than online. :P

I've been through this successfully twice before. My oldest potty trained before he was 3 years old even though he is a high functioning Asperger's kid with sensory issues. My middle son was trained for #1 by three and had accidents with #2 until he was 3.5 yrs old... Now my third son comes along and I am at my wits end. He will be 4 years old in late December and I can't get him to even consider potty. I've been working with him on and off since around age 2. Some of that time I was in college part-time and teaching fulltime for a short bit so my mother was in charge. She and I have both tried everything. Sticker charts, rewards, punishment :blush:, taking it easy, being naked fulltime, wearing underwear fulltime...I can't think of anything we haven't tried. I bought him an anatomically correct boy doll with a potty - he wasn't at all interested. Tried "Potty Training in a Day" with chips, juice, candy rewards - not interested. This child is very bright, however he is a late talker - still only speaks a little and some days pretends he can't speak and only imitates animal sounds and grunts. He also has a high sensory threshold, much like my eldest son. When asked if he is dirty (and you know he is from the odor) he *always* denies. When asked if he wants to sit, or just being told matter of factly it's time to go sit on the potty he will outright fight you, kicking, screaming, no no no. I don't feel like there is anything to be gained in physically restraining him and carrying him (all 40+ lbs stocky, large boned child) to the bathroom. There are just some things you can't force someone else to do. He gets very involved in his pretend play, playing with brothers, or whatever he is doing and just doesn't want to be bothered. I have considered having some kind of evaluation for him (been there before with older son) but honestly, I know my boys are all late talkers (can't get them to be quiet when they get a bit older), have sensory issues and attention issues - there is nothing a doctor is likely to tell me that I am not aware of. I thought that by now with me being home fulltime since the beginning of summer and now homeschooling his older brothers that we would have made some progress but we seem to be back at zero. About three times over the past year he has accidentally or successfully peed on the training potty. But I can't get him to repeat. He has some issues but his biggest one seems to be that he is extremely strong-willed. He tries to push his much older (7 and 11 year old) brothers around and sometimes succeeds. He's not all bad, Jamie is very cute, can be sweet, gives lots of hugs, says "Pweese" and "Fank you". In general he just isn't interested in being pleasing, he is alpha male in the extreme! There are so many wise mommas who have trained many children I thought that maybe someone would have some ideas or just wisdom that I haven't tried? Desperately,

I bought Book 1 for my 5th and 2nd graders, then went and bought all of the suggested supplies at Hobby Lobby. After that trip (it took a long time figuring out which items to get and cost more than the supply pack listed) I wished I had just ordered the supply pack. We have a hard time getting around to art so we've only used it a bit but from my art background I really like the program. :thumbup:

:iagree: We started out with Prima Latina but only did one lesson before I decided to switch to Latin for Children. All three of my boys (even the ones not learning latin!) enjoy the chants and songs and go around singing them. I haven't tried LL but I didn't like having to rely on the internet for everything - we get plenty of screen time around here already.

For my 10 year old we are using Latin for Children, I started out with Prima Latina but it was just so dry we really enjoy LfC (have the dvd's, cd's and activity book). It doesn't take much time at all. My 7 year old is starting out with Song School Latin (from the same company) and so far seems to be liking it reasonably well. He really wanted to do latin with his older brother but I felt the LfC Primer A was a bit beyond his ability. (Average student with fine motor issues). You have a very busy schedule and I don't think you *have* to have Latin as well, at least this year, but I do think that even just a small introduction of memorizing some conjugations and declensions and other vocab is valuable. Both of my kids are seeing the derivatives every where they look from their other lessons to even Pokemon games! It's great to see the connections they are making.

Cor-Omega? My pediatrician several years ago recommended these for ds but our local natural foods store told me the company was going out of business. I just did a quick internet search and found them with no problem, ordering some now!! http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=JT-1001

Science. :blush: Both of my sons have alot of struggles with their fine motor skills so one more narration/dictation, summary type thing just doesn't work for them. I'm going to have to find some simple workbook program and make it happen. We are loving Latin for Children and play the chants CD's and do a little worksheet/activity daily with no fuss. We do logic twice a week using Logic Safari/Orbiting with Logic workbooks that the boys seem to enjoy. Now if I can just get the darned science in there!!

I was shopping for my WWE 3 workbook and noticed this. Has anyone heard or used it? I don't see any samples at Peacehill Press. Thanks!

How is this different from FIAR? The concept appears to be similar.

My 10 year old likes reading these same kind of books. There are several sequels to Diary of a Wimpy Kid, I second Percy Jackson because it is a fast moving adventure story and have to love the Greek mythology references! I had to buy our own set one by one as he devoured the books and my 10 year says he wants to learn Greek now! We read Captain Underpants series about a year or two ago but they are the same genre as Diary.

:blush: I read "7th grader" and thought "7 year old" sorry - disregard my comments entirely!

I started logic with my 7 year old, we are using Logic Safari Book 1 (Grades 2-3). He only does one or two pages a week and I plan to be right there to help him work through the puzzles. We have to remember our 7 year olds are still in the grammar stage, logic is a stretch for them. For us I keep it on the light and fun "puzzle" side and have been pleasantly surprised when he does well. Good luck - I'm not as familiar with BTS.

This is my first year doing homeschooling with both of my older sons, my oldest used a boxed curriculum last year that I wasn't happy with at all. Because of the "experimentation" factor in schooling both of them I don't have everything scheduled out in far advance. Over each weekend I print up a page for each boy dividing their assignments by subject and day, print it out and put them into their binders. This allows me to review what will be studied that week and make plans and adjustments as needed. I bought curriculums that are planned to be done in one school year. Initially I tried to make semester plans but very quickly realized that sometimes I would be able to do two or more sections in one week and other times I would need to stretch things out another week to make sure the material was understood. I don't have a time frame that I'm planning for us to be done with school, If we need to I am willing to go to a lite year round schooling plan - we will just have to see how we get through everything. d Maybe next year I will be able to schedule and plan things a bit more but when I tried that before schooling started this fall I felt myself going crazy!! :D