Thank you both. It's very helpful to hear someone else's perspective on this. I think we'll give it a try this summer, as kind of a fun little project. If things aren't working like I hope, I can quietly drop it from the schedule next fall. Wapiti, thanks for that link. It looks like a fun program!

He just turned 6. He's in that odd place where he's ready for more writing intellectually but not physically. I had planned to wait 2 years for cursive and do keyboarding after that. But based on what I heard today (and have to agree with), I wonder if teaching keyboarding sooner will allow ds to advance at a more natural pace for him. But that would make him pretty proficient in keyboarding before trying cursive. I just wonder if that would cause him more frustration with cursive. In some ways, it feels like doing keyboarding now would save frustration in the near future and cause it later. But not doing keyboarding now would cause the current frustrations to continue and maybe save some later. :confused:

was that a big help or a big mistake? We just got the results from a very comprehensive psycho-educational assessment of ds. The one area where there were huge discrepancies between ability and performance was writing. The tester brought up his scores indicate that not only is ds not functioning at his potential in this area but that he is likely to have frustrations with his ability to express himself. We've definitely seen that played out in real life. Would it make sense to 1)teach him keyboarding or 2)wait until his fine motor skills to catch up and just do more oral exercises in the meantime? (I'm a little concerned that he won't go back to working on his handwriting if keyboarding becomes easier, but it might save some frustration in the short-term.) Anyone BTDT? Advice?

My ds was the same way. He could read about anything but had a very difficult time listening/retaining info. I noticed it especially with memory work. If he read a verse or list, he pretty much had it down cold after one reading. If I got right down on his level and had him look me in the eye and pay attention, I had to repeat it about 10 times before he could get the first few words. I think he developed as a visual learner much earlier than he developed his auditory learning abilities. That said, the auditory stuff seemed to really "click" with him this year (he just turned 6). I've seen his ability to learn what he hears grow by leaps and bounds. Actually, we just did some educational testing with him and the scores showed that his visual and auditory learning abilities are about equivalent. I know that would not have been true 1-2 years ago.

Thank you both!

How would I do this? I'd like to somehow flag/report two users who posted their first posts in the middle of a long thread. Both posts are spam and the comments were just copied from someone else earlier in the thread.

Ds taught himself to read and gained proficiency very quickly without any instruction at all. He had figured out phonetic patterns on his own and does read phonetically. I chose to forego a reading program and use AAS for spelling. The spelling words are really too easy for him, but he's learning the rules and applying them well in the rest of his studies. This allows me to make sure he doesn't have gaps in his knowledge of phonics.

Yes, I think it's narrations that I'm most concerned about. I'm not confident in my ability to know when it's adequate or how to guide him to it. The WWE workbook and SOTW would help a lot. I do have SWB's writing lectures, but I haven't listened to them in a very long time. I had forgotten about them actually, but I'll be listening to them again soon.

I've just about decided to stop the WWE workbook for next year. Instead I'd like to use our history (and possibly some science selections occasionally) for copywork and narration. I have the WWE textbook as a guide. Any other advice or sources of guidance you recommend? I am not very familiar with copywork and narration. My fear in doing this is that we will spend next year doing this while he's not really gaining any skills--just filling a binder and wasting time. ETA: I'm also considering waiting another year to try this. The plan by then is to be using SOTW, and I know the activity guides have sample narrations. That kind of guidance is soooo helpful to me. Would that be a better plan?

Thank you all! I think we'll start regularly doing the English to Latin translations from a few lessons back.

We are slowly working our way through GSWL, and ds really loves it. (I don't know if we'll ever finish SSL because he has such a strong preference for GSWL.) I would like to give him extra translation exercises. There are some in the book with each lesson, but I think he would retain better if he had more practice. Does anyone know if something like this exists?

Last year was our first year in CC, and it was a fantastic experience. As far as supplies, we use the Foundations guide and audio CDs. I bought the VP cards but don't really use them. I'm planning to just do an overview of American history next year at home so there will be some tie-in with the history sentences from class. Best wishes to you this year! CC has been a huge blessing for our family, and I hope it is for you as well!:) ETA: Oh, and the tin whistle is definitely a "must have."

Oh, I didn't realize that Singapore had forums. I'll ask about it there. Thanks!

I was thinking about getting a couple of blueberry bushes for our yard. I've read that highbush blueberries are the best for our zone, and that they do better if they can cross-pollinate. My biggest concern are birds. If you have a blueberry bush or two, do the birds just eat them up? (If so, I sadly won't bother.) Any tips or advice about this venture?

I know a lot of us have used the Prufrock Press logic books. I just discovered that they are also the publishers of Challenge Math, and I've heard great reviews about that. What else from Prufrock Press do you really like?

I'm very intrigued by Singapore's HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills). Is this something that can be used separate from the MPH Science curriculum? I'd like to use it to supplement what we are already doing in science.

I've had a puzzling experience this week. When ds was 4 (about 1 1/2 yrs ago), I discovered by accident that he could naturally skip count. I started skip counting by 3's and asked him whether he could continue. He did--skipped counted to 100 and then backward right through zero and into the negatives. He did the same thing skip counting 4's and 6's. (He had more hesitation and sticking points on 7's and 8's.) He had no prior exposure to this and couldn't do the addition to figure out the answers. He didn't even pause between numbers--just rattled them off. It wasn't just that day, he could do it any time. When I asked him how he knew what # came next, he said, "I could see a pattern in the numbers." Fast forward to now--We've been working on Singapore Math, and his addition/subtraction skills have improved by leaps and bounds. He's almost learned his basic multiplication facts. This week I asked him to skip count by 3's---long pauses, hesitation, a couple of wrong numbers, and he finally told me that it was too hard and he didn't want to continue. :confused: What has happened? I thought his math skills were improving, but now I'm not sure what's happening. Maybe he's trying to think in terms of multiplication instead of just number patterns? Why would he lose his intuitive sense for number patterns? Am I doing something wrong? Should we consider switching curriculum? (If so, what would we switch to?)

A little bump----Just in case :D

A little bump---just in case :D

Oh wow! I didn't realize that the LDS did something similar. I will try searching some of their blogs to see what I can find. Thanks! :thumbup: If you have other suggestions, please let me know.

I'm going to be giving a workshop and hosting an activity this fall about the Family Night strategy for passing on the faith to our children/grandchildren (e.g., Heritage Builders Family Nights Tool Chest or Family Time by Kirk Weaver). I am in need of photos of families who do these kinds of faith-based object lessons or activities with their children. I've been searching for blogs (thinking I could contact the blogger to request permission to use photos), but I haven't found any.:001_huh: Surely there are some out there! Does anyone know of a blog along these lines? Or does someone here do this with their family (or know of a family that does) who might be willing to share some photos? I'd like to intersperse them on the screen during my presentation.

I'm going to be giving a workshop and hosting an activity this fall about the Family Night strategy for passing on the faith to our children/grandchildren (e.g., Heritage Builders Family Nights Tool Chest or Family Time by Kirk Weaver). I am in need of photos of families who do these kinds of faith-based object lessons or activities with their children. I've been searching for blogs (thinking I could contact the blogger to request permission to use photos), but I haven't found any.:001_huh: Surely there are some out there! Does anyone know of a blog along these lines? Or does someone here do this with their family (or know of a family that does) who might be willing to share some photos? I'd like to intersperse them on the screen during my presentation.

:bigear: We've been considering Bite Size Physics also. (Although I do thinK Elemental Science looks interesting too.)

:bigear: We're going through the audio book now, and I'd love to find a movie that remains fairly close to the book if possible.

We still listen to the audio CD about once/week. I'm sure he won't retain everything, but I think he will retain most of it this way.