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GrassTiger

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Everything posted by GrassTiger

  1. I'd call around to local counseling offices and ask them if they have someone who works with ADHD kids. You want someone who has a lot of experience assessing kids because many things can look like ADHD, but not be it and many kids with ADHD also have something else, so you need someone experienced to be sure you get not only the proper diagnosis, but also a suitable treatment plan. You will need a psychiatrist if medication is something that would be useful in your situation. They will be much more aware of what needs to be done than a general practice or family physician who might just prescribe medicine, but not do a thorough assessment. If you are still lost as to who to go to, you might ask your pediatrician who he/she refers kids to for evaluation for ADHD...they might know someone really good. Be aware that if your kid is diagnosed and ever goes into the public school system that the public school system will probably want to do their own evaluation to determine which services they think your kid needs and their results may differ from the private evaluation you received.
  2. On rereading your question, I had a thought... Of course, you child may be in different levels in different subjects. If he's not writing, then he's probably not ready for first grade language lessons--unless you use verbal ones. Most of the ones I've seen have a lot of copy work. Boys can many times take an extra year than girls to be ready for that kind of fine motor skill. History will probably depend on what level of understanding he has for discussion, linking ideas and events...it depends on the curriculum. For instance, my daughter is turning five this week. She's doing first grade spelling and reading. But she's doing Sonlight's P4/5 literature/history because she isn't ready for their K level literature or history. She just isn't there in terms of understanding. We'll probably be doing the K work next year when she's six. That's ok...different kids use different levels. She's doing K math. So, feel free to go with what you think your son is ready for and if you aren't sure you might want to consult the publisher of the curriculum you are using to see where they think he should be placed. Too easy will bore him, too advanced will make him frustrated. Sometimes, it can take some trial and error to find the right level. We bought P4/5 last year when she finished P3/4...I just thought she'd be ready and she wasn't, only now is she really ready to handle those books. May you have wisdom in your choosing and have a wonderful year! Leah
  3. I too would say Kindergarten because of the level of reading and writing if nothing else. 1st grade work requires moving pretty quickly in reading and math and requires a good bit of writing. And, as others have said, he can skip a grade later if need be.
  4. Does anyone else like playing games on Facebook here and there? I know many of us don't have much time for it, especially with many (most?) of us starting lessons for the fall. But sometimes it's a nice break. And I know at least I like to limit my facebook friends to others whom I already know or who also homeschool, but those games want more neighbors (annoyingly!) LOL!, so I thought I'd ask if any of you would also like some facebook friends to game with or to simply be a facebook friend without playing games. Post here if you would like other facebook friends and whether you play the games or not (and which ones?), so we can find each other. Thanks! I'll start. I play FrontierVille, Cafe World and Treasure Island, but have played other games in the past and could allow them access long enough to give you a new neighbor. :) I'll also take Facebook friends who don't want to game.
  5. That's basically where my heart is. I went through public school and really don't want my daughter to ever have to go through all that. We have more fun and move faster at home anyway. :)
  6. I do! Sometimes it's just good to have a break and play a little. :) I'll message you privately. If anyone else needs one, please message me too (frontierville, treasure island and cafe world). Thanks. :)
  7. Hi, We're in Wadsworth, which is near gurnee--in the far north suburbs of Chicago. We'd love to meet people nearby! Leah
  8. Hi, we are in the far northern suburbs of Chicago--near Gurnee. We'd love to meet others in our area too!
  9. I was looking at "Our Island Story". Is it really appropriate for a five year old? It seems a bit involved. I'm not sure she'd follow it yet. And what I'm reading of the other suggestions is that the stories might be a little graphic for a kid this young. My daughter is pretty sensitive. Yep, I downloaded the free version of "American History for Little Folks". :) BTW, I seem to have found "Our Island Story" online: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/marshall/england/england.html It's called "An Island Story", but looks like the same book. Also, any brief intro's to Britain/England/London you'd suggest? She's going there for her grandma's wedding in the fall, and it'd be great if she can recognize things like Big Ben and all. Thanks so much everyone! I appreciate the suggestions and am bookmarking them for later. :) That's exactly what I'm doing. I'm planning on either TOG or HO both of which use SOTW. So, I'm just looking for something for this year to give her a sense of what history is and all before we start that in first grade. Thanks, I'd appreciate your sharing if you find it! :)
  10. Hi, I'm working on Kindergarten curriculum for my (to be) five year old. In most American schools kids learn basic American history to understand American holidays (4th of July, Thanksgiving) and such. I'm thinking of using "American History for Little Folks" for this. But, my husband is British and would love for her to learn basic British history so she could learn things about British holidays and such that her grandparents celebrate (and her father did as a kid). Any ideas of books or anything I could use for that? The problem is that I don't know much British history, so I'd probably be learning along with her. I would just like a light introduction as I don't want to overload in Kindergarten! :) Ideas? Thanks!! Leah
  11. Well, apparently we can't delete posts. Sorry!
  12. I'm not sure this is something you'd consider, but this is what I'm planning on for Kindergarten this fall: http://www.nurtureminds.com/aboutus.htm It isn't a full curriculum, it only teaches how to use the Japanese abacus (not the kid's toy kind). I think it's going to be fun, but she should also learn addition and subtraction and how to do it mentally (using an imagined abacus). We just plan on doing it nice and slowly with a little practice daily. It should be a great foundation for understanding quantities too. I've considered using RightStart A, which I own, but I think I'll wait and do this first. We've also used Math Mastermind Kindergarten, which is ok. She loves it. It teaches patterns using beads and cubes, using spinners, making things with shapes (kind of like mighty mind, but with foam shapes). It's very light. It doesn't get into anything like sums, telling time, measurement or anything like that. It's purely preparatory and each "lesson" is very short, we'd usually do two to four lessons in a sitting. Let us know what you decide! :) Opps...decided to combine my posts...don't mean to spam... Then she might enjoy learning the abacus! :) Especially, since it would make worksheets go a lot faster when she gets to them! :) Sorry! Can you tell I'm excited to get started with it??? :lol: We LOVE Mighty Mind!
  13. Thank you for your graciousness, Tonia! Yes, I'm leaning towards doing the same. I ordered the Living Memory book already and put the poetry memorization from IEW on my list of things to consider. This conversation has been really helpful for me too. I had originally considered CC as a social venue for my child--some place she could make friends and study similar things and all, but after contacting our local coordinator, I found that they can't accommodate me, so that's not possible. :( But I'm glad I considered it because now I think I'll make more of an effort to add memory work. I still enjoy the poetry I had to memorize in high school. Thanks, everyone!
  14. I chose other. In this specific instance, I might consider selling it since she said you could sell it. But, really, I've kind of developed a "freecycle" mentality--which is if you got it for free it should be given for free. I think I'd try to find someone who wanted to use it first. I don't think I'd pay shipping to give it to them (unless it was a friend of mine whom I KNEW would actually use it or seriously intended to) nor do I think I'd just offer it on freecycle to a stranger (depending on what it was), but I'd probably only sell it if I couldn't find someone who wanted to use it. If you really need the money and your friend knows that, I wouldn't feel bad about selling it.
  15. Thank you, everyone, for your comments! They were all very helpful. My apologies to Tonia--I don't mean to hijack your thread!! You asked a wonderful question!
  16. So, if you bought the materials from the CC website, could you do the memory work on your own? Are the VP cards on their website? Is there anything else you would need? I must admit, it looks expensive! Would you need everything to do the memory work or is something optional?
  17. Well, I don't know really know what all my child has picked up yet, but in my own experience, Rosetta Stone has not helped me be conversant in Hebrew (the language I was studying) per se, but I must say that the vocabulary I learned there was so deeply engrained that I didn't forget it and it proved very useful as I tried to converse. I'm not sure any program is going to get a child conversing--I think, perhaps, only immersion really does that. But I think using something in addition to Rosetta Stone is wise. In my experience, it is always the vocabulary that stumbles me when I try to speak in another language. Language Stars is where my daughter goes for learning French, Chinese and sometimes Spanish. They say that when a child learns a new language they start by repeating words, then repeating phrases, then spontaneously producing words, then speaking spontaneous phrases. And that is in an immersion environment. It is much like how they learned English. And just like that it takes a while to get grammar and forms down. So the vocabulary is rather important early on.
  18. I'm curious about this too, but don't know enough. May I ask what VP is? I loved the idea of CC, but I wouldn't be able to take my daughter due to disability, so that's out. But I'd LOVE if she could do the memory work. Is there any place any of you know of that explains how someone could use CC materials without attending a community? And does this work only start in 1st grade or is there anything for Kindergarten? Thanks! Leah
  19. I'm thinking I'll use nurtureminds.com's "Learning Mathematics with the Abacus", then RightStart B (to get all the other stuff like geometry, measurement, and telling time), then switch to Singapore math.
  20. I encourage you to keep trying! :) You both have encouraged me to try. Unfortunately, the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) exempts "religious entities" incl. places of worship. So, legally, no one has to do anything for us. But here are ideas for what reasonable accommodations might look like---if they are willing. http://askjan.org/media/mcs.html BTW, Mariann, is MCS part of why you homeschool? I'm curious. It's part of why we do. I really don't want to send my daughter to public school for many reasons, but sending her to a private school presents its own set of difficulties for us--her hair gets scented and I can't get the smell out so it is hard to be near her when she is home. I'm not up to driving her everyday and, because we have to live way out from the city, my husband has a five our commute each way every day (2 1/2 hours each way), so he couldn't take her. Then there are all the things we must get for her and events they expect you to attend. I really don't think I could do it. I think I can give my daughter a far better education and avoid all that nonsense. The only problem is getting her around other kids. She goes to swim, French and Chinese classes, but my husband doesn't think that's enough. I'm not sure I could handle any more! We don't have local family or friends (because I can't get out regularly enough to make any), so finding friends for her is a real problem.
  21. Tamara, that's an interesting quote. I can go to restaurants, places like starbucks, etc. Stores and storefronts are required to have a certain amount of air exchange, but places of worship and homes are not. I've never found a place of worship I can go to for even an hour without getting sick for days, and it is rare for me to find someone's home I can for even that long. But I can go to one movie theater in the area for a couple hours--I still get sick, but not nearly as badly. There are a bunch of places online that give ideas for making a building accessible to someone with chemical sensitivities (like removing carpeting, removing air fresheners, warning the person when painting has been done, etc.). Different people would require different levels of adjustments, for example, one person might be fine with just staying near a special air filter, another might use a mask (though you have to remove it to talk and so it kind of defeats the purpose), and some can't tolerate forced air gas heating (I'm extremely allergic to that!). Some think that sitting in a separate room and listening to the service from there is a good accommodation. I beg to differ. If I just want to listen to a service I can do that at home. The reason why I'd be going is for the community--and I can't be part of a community if I'm shut away in some room. I found that the Methodist church actually has official guidelines for accommodating the Chemically Sensitive. Studies have found that up to 30% of the US population have some level of chemical sensitivities (ex. getting a headache around perfumes). That's almost 1 in 3 people! And that 8% is disabled by chemical sensitivities. These are the people like me that can't go out any where. That's a LOT of people. But people don't hear about it because we can't go out much. It's a really hard and isolated life. I tried a new church last week and they seemed interested in making it possible for me to attend until they found out I was already a believer! Then the interest just seemed to fade. *shakes head* It is a good thing my relationship with G-d is not dependent on how others behave. :) Leah
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