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Brooke3193

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Everything posted by Brooke3193

  1. My dd's ped officially diagnosed her, but said there is no test that can be done to confirm it. His diagnosis was based on her symptoms: major mood swing if she has eaten at all or has not had any protein. So, I guess it's a medical diagnosis based on how I have seen her react to food (or lack of it).
  2. Mrs. Freshley's makes a dairy-free honey bun...not a homemade cinnamon roll, but a heckuvalot easier. :)
  3. My 6 & 8 year old have been using http://www.ForeignLanguageFriends.com for almost a year. It's fun for them.
  4. I have no idea if this is widely accepted or one teacher's opinion. But, I found it interesting: http://http://tremont.il.schoolwebpages.com/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=4303&sc_id=1205352091#pitem1780
  5. I haven't used that program (but am thinking about ordering it). I would say that if she figured it out all on her own, then she gets the early problems and wouldn't need the manipulatives unless......she needs to know how to use them really well so she can use the manipulatives to figure out the harder problems. OTOH, if you showed her how to do it on paper and you are just saying that she caught quickly, then I would question whether she *completely* understands the connection between the manipulatives and the paperwork or if she is simply able to solve the problem in either manner.
  6. We use http://www.ForeignLanguageFriends.com
  7. I didn't read all of the posts. But, your early ones seem to indicate that you want to drop the social co-op but guilt is getting in the way. May I suggest you take a look at the book "Hold Onto Your Kids?" I will admit that I bought it and haven't had time to read it yet. However, it was recommended by many moms that I respect (most of them hsers). From what they have told me, I think it will help you relax about your kids degree of friendships and ease your guilt about the social coop.
  8. It seems to me that a lot of people assume that kids who are screaming/rude/disruptive/poorly behaved belong to parents who don't spank because they don't see them disciplining the child right then on the spot. If we aren't witnessing any discipline at all, then how do we know if/how the child is disciplined? Perhaps the child who is screaming/disruptive does belong to parents who spank? Maybe they just don't know spank in public. Maybe they are on their way to the restroom. A poorly behaving child does not mean the parents don't spank. Seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me to make that assumption. I have not/ do not/ will not spank my children (and yes, they are very well behaved, but no more perfect than anyone else's child). However, if someone were to hit *me*, even on my bottom, I would throw a fit. I'd expect no less from my children.
  9. I've never studied that with my kids so I don't have any *good* ideas, but what about Oregon Trail...free 1980s version here: http://www.virtualapple.org/oregontraildisk.html
  10. Maybe try the logic that he *is* a first grader *in* a 3rd grade curriculum to explain it to your son? We used to have a public gifted school. Those kids were undoubtedly working above the grade level of their same-age peers, but they still referred to themselves as being *in* whatever grade they were in. i.e. I don't see it as your son being a 3rd grader or in 3rd grade. He is a first grader with an individualized curriculum. Maybe think about kids who are 8 years old working on Algebra but also using 1st grade phonics books. It's just individualized, but they are still 3rd graders.
  11. DDs ps has the kids read 15 minutes a day, 20 days a month to earn a Book-It in 2nd grade. They are not allowed to count 30 minutes in one day as 2 days (but are, of course, allowed to read 30 minutes a day). The time approach allows them to read long or short books. Disclaimer: offering this tidbit of info in no way indicates my support of Book-It.:thumbdown:
  12. I love RS. I'm using level B with my 6 year old. I don't think it is time-consuming, but maybe I don't understand what people are referring to, or maybe I don't have anything to compare it to, or maybe it's because I have a math background. I look at the "materials needed" list the day before...which are pretty much all in a small plastic tote, then I gather them. Most of what I need is already gathered from the day before. I don't think I've needed to retrieve a new manipulative all week. Anyway, I gather the materials, skim the lesson and am ready to go. It takes 5 minutes at the most. Now, if people are talking about the lesson itself, then I guess it just depends on the kid. I'd also like to add that I am a former (and future) high school math teacher and I strongly believe in the Right Start way of doing math.....wish all my students had been taught that way.
  13. Haven't read all of the replies. We've fought major eczema in dd here too. I tried a gazillion different topical lotions and potions. The only thing those would do is clear it up after about a week and then if I quit putting it on her, the eczema would flare up in a day or two. I wasn't willing to put any of the meds on her *every* day for the rest of her life. We also tried Zyrtec somewhere around age 2 (maybe 3). It turned her into a little monster. This was not listed as a side effect but I have heard other people say the same thing. We have cleared up her eczema in these 3 ways: I eliminated dairy from my diet when she was an infant and her head eczema went away. We eliminated potatoes and eliminated her eczema from her wrists, elbows, ankles and feet. That left the eczema behind her knees....pretty much have that under control with Claritin BUT the key is that we give her half the daily dose in the morning and half at night (this was her allergist's recommendation...says it controls the itch better that way). When we started the Claritin about 1 year ago, it was the first time she (and, therefore, I) had slept through the night since she was born 5 years before that. I do not take lightly the decision to give a daily med to my child. But, I do believe that she is healthier and stronger on the Claritin simply because she can get enough rest that her growing body needs. Good luck. I know it is frustrating. Oh--the only eczema solutions I have heard of and not tried, (so I guess I can't say I've tried everything before coming up with our solution) is applying emu oil and having them sleep in soaking wet cotton pjs. (and, I don't think the 2nd one cured the eczema so much as it provided relief while sleeping)
  14. I have 2 ideas... 1) If it is that easy for him to do the math in his head, then maybe he would be better off learning to show his work with more challenging math. For example, maybe asking him to show his algebra II work would be like asking me to show my work on taking half of 46. My response would be "Good grief, there's no *work.* It just *is.*" Granted, there is work....long division would be one way, a picture would be another, but creating the work would be a whole lot harder than getting the answer....more of a learning experience perhaps, but not necessarily the best place to start if what I am trying to learn is how to show my work. 2) You say he can't tell you how he got the answer. But, I assume you are asking him *after* he has done the problem. Maybe a starting point to him being able to write down his work would be for him to talk out loud while he is doing the problem and you write it down for him. Then, together, you can look back over it and he can see how his thoughts turned into verbal words and then into the written word. Gradually turn that into him writing it for himself. Maybe a step in the process would be for you to record him saying what he is doing and then having him listen to the tape and write down the steps. I would also add to the above idea that it might be worth discussing with him whether he can *see* the problem in his head as he is doing it. I see math problems when I'm doing them, just as I see the spelling of words when I say them. It's like a big chalkboard (ok, I'm old, these days it would be a big whiteboard) inside my forehead. The best I can describe it is that when I am talking to someone and say their name, I would not think that "Jon" and "John" have the same name. Math is a little harder to explain, but I can definitely see a problem as though it is being written across the sky by an airplane or whatever. If he does that, maybe he could "copy" what he sees onto paper.....although when I see a problem, I don't always see my scratchwork so maybe this whole paragraph was a waste of my time and yours. :glare:
  15. OK, apparently I have a bad memory....no surprise there. She actually took this comprehension placement test: The Pathway readers placement test which put her half way through their 2nd grade program: http://www.pathwayreaders.com/ there's a placement link on the left side. Then, if I can remember correctly (big if), I decided to go with Jane Ervin's series instead of the Pathway readers (because she didn't like the Pathway stories and *I* wanted her to have more variety). So, I used her reading levels, the RR lady's advice, the Pathway result, and the samples at the link below to choose Book A which is classified as 2nd-3rd grade. We've only done 2 stories, but I think it is on the verge of being too hard. But, I want her to be challenged and I *think* much of its difficulty for her comes from it being a whole new experience. She's never really done comprehension in the written form before. http://www.epsbooks.com/dynamic/catalog/series.asp?subject=64S&subjectdesc=Comprehension&series=600M&seriesparent=rc_level0&seriesparentdescription=Early%20Reading%20Comprehension%20in%20Varied%20Subject%20Matter HTH
  16. It was just the placement test for Jane Ervin's "Early Reading Comprehension" series. I'll look for a link. The best I could tell was that they had her do the first story from each book until she missed a certain percentage and then recommended that she start at that book. The only other comprehension feedback I received was from the RR lady who said comprehension takes on a whole new level at 3rd grade. She didn't explain, she was just cautioning me that my kindergartner reading at a 3rd grade level may have a much more difficult time comprehending 3rd grade material than 2nd grade material. The Jane Ervin site confirmed that.
  17. My dds have taken the AR test (STAR). Here's my thoughts on its accuracy: dd1 took it in 1st and 2nd grade and it put her 2-3 grade levels above. She could read books at the level it suggested, but the content had to be "younger" for her to enjoy them. dd2 took the test in K. It put her 3 grade levels above. She could read books at the 3rd grade level if the print was big enough. But, she preferred books at about the 1-2 level. The level the AR test placed her at seemed to match the reading levels she tested at on the various tests I have found online. BUUUUUTTTTT....when I say that they could read at the level suggested, the reading level of the books was also being determined by AR so really all that means is that the test was matching them up to an arbitrarily assigned number, KWIM (except that they seemed to match the online tests) ANNNNDDDD, as the lady at Rainbow Resources pointed out to me, reading level is not the same as comprehension level. dd2 took an online test for comprehension placement and was at the middle of 2nd grade.
  18. I recommend www.foreignlanguagefriends.com. It's online, not a CD, but that's kind of nice for people who travel because they can log on from anywhere. My 6 & 8 year old use it, but they started using it when they were 5 & 7. It's all games, songs, skits, but they are learning too. It's $99 a year (or $10 a month), but that covers as many users in your family that you want it to. It's geared towards younger kids (maybe 3-10 yrs?). There's a free trial week if you want to see what it is like.
  19. I recommend http://www.foreignlanguagefriends.com. It's online, not a CD, but that's kind of nice for people who travel because they can log on from anywhere. My 6 & 8 year old use it, but they started using it when they were 5 & 7. It's all games, songs, skits, but they are learning too. It's $99 a year (or $10 a month), but that covers as many users in your family that you want it to. It's geared towards younger kids (maybe 3-10 yrs?). There's a free trial week if you want to see what it is like.
  20. I took a look at this list and didn't see http://www.spellingcity.com My dds ps is using it this year. I've only browsed it so far, but it looks like they have a few premade lists (colors, Dolch, etc) but you can also type in your own list and then it creates games, tests, etc.
  21. Yep, what they said. My mom died 16 years ago and those types of cards/notes were so meaningful that I write a similar note any time I possibly can. Sometimes I just didn't know the person well enough. But, even if I don't know themI will go so far as to say something like "They must have been a very special person to have meant so much to you." Or, "It's obvious looking at his kind and considerate children that he was a very devoted father." But, yes, a personal note about the person is best if you can come up with something.
  22. I have gone through varied levels of acceptance of homeschoolers. I am trying to think back to my different POVs. When I thought hsers were all unqualified to teach their kids, I wouldn't have asked such quiz questions because I "knew" that they didn't know the answer anyway. Then, I doubted that hsing was a *good* idea but saw that some "normal" people do indeed hs. This was the stage at which I am probably guilty of asking quiz questions. I wasn't testing the kids expecting wrong answers. It was more like I was exploring their world....trying to understand it. I'm not sure I was conciously trying to understand it. But, I do think that somewhere inside me I believed that if these normal people were hsing, then I must have been wrong back in stage 1 and that I asked these questions as a way to begin to understand their community....as a way to reframe the hs idea in my mind. Then, I thought that hsing was a great idea and was a wannabe. I wanted to ask kids questions and I wanted them to get them right. I wanted to be amazed at what hsing could do and was pretty sure that quizzing them would prove to me that hs is often at least as good as ps. But, I knew enough hsers well enough to know that it would not be appreciated so I didn't ask. Now I am a hser. I don't have any interest in quizzing kids. I have a good enough grip on what hs is about that it just never even occurs to me. Quizzing a kid now would be feigning interest. But, I might find myself asking another mom about curriculum or activities. Just my perspective. Any questions I would have EVER asked would not have been out of spite. But, that just me.
  23. I say either box it up and store it for a year or two until you are less attached to it. Or, sell it knowing that it is going to a loving home to be used by more enthusiastic hands that will create their own precious memories. Or, maybe donate it to an organization that will use it with kids with special needs so you will know it will continue to change lives.
  24. This is my 1st year homeschooling my 1st grader and I want to do lapbooks with her. I have gathered all kinds of examples and read some articles. But, I can't figure out *when* you do the different minibooks and such. Do you do them as you go or do you wait until the end and then decide what you want to include in the lapbook? If you do them as you go, how do you decide what to include and in what format to include it? Thanks!
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