I have one kid like this. - for work that I know up front is going to be hard "now, how many tries does it take to get the hang of something?" "10." "Yep, 10 tries. Today is the FIRST try." It's always exciting to get it in 4 tries instead of the "expected" 10. I make a big point of it not counting as a try unless you really make an effort with a good attitude. - she used to complain about food. "Oh. We are having oatmeal?" "You sound like you don't want it - you don't have to eat it if you don't want to, but don't talk about it. It's disrespectful to the cook, and it ruins it for everybody else." And I would sweep the plate away. Don't like it, don't eat it, but don't talk about it. And NOTHING else until the next scheduled meal. It's amazing how much better that oatmeal looks when your realize that your choice is to eat it happily or not eat! - my kids aren't really old enough to work independently, but I would be really tempted to say "you may do it now, or later instead of swimming / bedtime story / friend bday party / other fun event - it's completely up to you to decide". I would bet if he missed a few fun things he would be more prone to work! And if he doesn't want to work during schooltime, maybe he should go lie on his bed (no books, no toys) until he feels like working WITH A SMILE?

That's awesome! There are crazy-long wait lists for hippotherapy around here, so we haven't gotten to do it. :( I have to think by sensory-seeking kid would LOVE it!

Make sure you get the right color! The last tub I bought, I thought I'd go one consistency thicker than what we had be using. That stuff is ridiculous!! *I* can't even do anything with it, and I don't have the issues my kids have!! :)

PS - I don't know why your child is in OT, but if hand strength is part of it, really focusing hard on the home exercise makes a HUGE difference. I try to stick it in every chance I get. If this is not your child's issue, ignore the rest of this post. While I read history aloud, the kids are playing with playdough or Theraputty. You really want them squeezing, pinching, rolling, molding, etc. - so don't give out tons of playdough tools. Just hands! For math, I ask for most answers in pompoms. If the number is 14, they use a clothespin to put 1 pompom in the 10s column and 4 pompoms in the 1s column. Tearing paper, using scissors, thumb wrestling, stirring the dinner, using spray bottles with a squeeze handle, etc. Improving the whole arm & core strength helps too, so lots of playground time!

YAY!!!! So happy for you!!!

I don't think grade level really matters unless you are planning to send your child back to traditional school at some point. You teach to their ability, regardless of the label, right? Here, in public school barring extenuating circumstances, a child born before 8/31/02 would be in 4th grade. A child born before 8/31/03 would be in 3rd grade.

CC stands for Classical Conversations. There are local communities that implement their program. Each community uses the standard 24 week program. Every community right now is on Cycle 3. Our group did Week 8 today. We learned: - 8 timeline cards (CC uses Veritas Press timeline cards - you learn short description timeline events like "Reign of Julius Caesar") - geography - 5 states - their locations on the US map & their capitals - math - skip counting by 14s - some Latin nouns - some English grammar - science - parts of the circulatory system - a detailed history sentence about the Missouri Compromise Each child also does a 5 minute presentation each week. We do a science experiment, and had a music lesson (theory & tin whistle (sort of like a recorder)). Then we reviewed all the memory work from prior weeks. So yes, in essence, it is a rigorous memory work program with some enrichment. You add your own reading/phonics/spelling, math, & handwriting, and you have a full homeschool program. In the upper elementary grades, they add Essentials (grammar/writing & math facts & something else?) to the Foundations program used for K4-5th. They have separate programs called Challenge for middle school & high school. (My kids are kindergarteners, so I am not very familiar with the programs for older ages.) Some people add a lot of extra learning at home related to piece of memory work, some people just focus on memorizing in isolation, and some just use it as exposure. It is really up to each family to figure out how CC fits into their homeschool. The communities often do a lot of things together. Our group has a children's theater performance to attend on Thursday, and a pumpkin patch/farm visit on Friday. We also alternate between Playball (sports skills) and handbells after a big group lunch break on CC days. While most people who say "CC" are referring to attending a weekly community, there are also people who use the CC memory work at home without a community.

That's almost worse. I have only opened the first two packs. If we are switching over halfway through the year, I would be able to return the unopened ones, right? But if we use these for the remainder of this year, I would have to use them, THEN purchase more. Grrr. I really would have just skipped the timeline and focused on everything else had I known up front that they were changing. Wouldn't be so bad except the rep at our homeschool conference went on and on and on about how they were expensive, but you would get YEARS of use out of the cards, and the Foundations Guide had just been revised so wouldn't be changed again any time soon. Surely the rep knew.

That REALLY stinks for those of us who are new this year, and who JUST invested $100 in the VP timeline cards, $50 in the Foundations Guide, etc. etc. with the assurance that these items could be used for years to come. Do you know how similar the CC timeline cards will be to the VP cards? I am hoping we can continue to use the VP ones and not replace them yet.

You won't HAVE the timeline items. The only thing in the Foundations Guide is "VP Blue 1, VP Blue 2," etc. So you won't know what is on the VP Blue 1 card without buying them. They can't list the full name b/c they don't want to violate the copyright - they want you to actually buy the cards.

My kids were born at 31 weeks, so have a lot of minor issues. Nothing huge, and it could have been SOOOO much worse, but I can tell you firsthand that the EARLIER you address any issues you need therapy for (any kind of therapy - PT, OT, VT, ST, etc.), the better. If there is ANY thought in your mind that she may have some issues, you need to aggressively pursue answers and seek treatment NOW. The longer you wait, the harder it is to get them excited about therapy, the more compensating habits they have to unlearn, and the further they get behind their peers. If vision problems turn out to NOT be the problem, I would keep looking to other specialities to try and find answers. If your instinct tells you there are some issues, there almost certainly are.

That's interesting that you say that. NONE of mine were reading when we started VT in August. The two in VT are now reading (one reading WELL, and the other reads most of the basics CVC, basic blends, etc.). The child who hasn't started VT yet has had twice the reading instruction (she gets it with the other two in the morning, then she & I do it again while waiting for the others at VT). Despite getting so much more instruction, she is not reading at this point. Not close. Maybe coincidental, but given that she has always been ahead of the others developmentally for everything else, this has been odd.

My kiddos have some fine motor delays, so we are repeating the HWOT preschool book for about the millionth time. In addition, we have a worksheet we do every day that has one line for each letter in the alphabet. I expect them to write THREE perfect examples of each letter every day. They can do it in 3 tries, or in 400 tries. Handwriting is the last thing before break time, so if they rush through and do sloppy work, they can end up losing their break. They are finally learning it is better to take your time and do it right the first time rather than rushing. One other thing that has helped - I always do a worksheet of letters at the same time I have them do one. I do one perfect letter, and then intentionally mess up the others. Either they are "jumping" (not on the bottom line) or "ate too many donuts" (fat) or "falling over" (leaning) or whatever. The kids LOVE to critique mine and let me know which ones are wrong and why. Then I ask them to check theirs and see if they have any with that error.

That's exactly what we went through. I KNEW 2 of my kids had vision problems (the 3rd was a surprise). I kept dragging them to the opthamologist and getting her to look, and she keep telling me they were fine despite all the symptoms suggesting vision problems. Turns out they can force their eyes to focus for a few minutes to pass an eye exam, but they can't hold a focus, so they are out of focus most of the day. This was supposedly the best opthomologist in our area - very well respected. She rolled her eyes when I inquired about vision therapy. I went for that eval anyway, because I had to do something. I sat in on the vision exam at the vision therapy doctor, and I could easily see that his tests were showing exactly what I was worrying about. And I was skeptical, so I didn't tell him up front what I was worried about. I let him test and give me the results, and the results matched the things I was seeing at home.

:iagree: I have two currently in vision therapy, and one on the waiting list. I was told that without this therapy, they would probably eventually be MISdiagnosed as dyslexic. My mother is diagnosed as dyslexic, and displays all the same symptoms my kids had. I have to wonder if she is *really* dyslexic vs. has vision problems.

The Foundations Guide contains the detail history sentences, Latin, English grammar, geography, math, and science facts. It also has suggested fine arts (drawing, tin whistle / music theory, art projects modeled after famous artists, and intro to the orchestra). They also have a suggested weekly science experiment (details in separate books), as well as a Bible segment that you spend the year on. The Veritas Press timeline cards are completely separate, so if you want the high-level overview timeline, you have to purchase that in addition to the guide. The Foundations audio CDs are worth their weight in gold. The have all of the facts listed in the guide. For the timeline, CC did not provide a song or hand movements, so a few groups have come up with their own, and so many CC groups use the same ones. If I was trying to do it on my own, I would buy the CC Foundations Guide & audio, as well as the VP cards.

I worked in an office once where they had these stiff plastic, um, circular, um, I have no idea how to describe them. Shaped like rubber bands, and they went through the center of the book and then around the outside of the binder to clamp them together. No clue what they would be called. I have had a few texts I needed in a binder, and I have just taken them to an office supply store and had the spine cut off and had them hole punched. Would that work? Or could you just rubber band the book and binder together so they stay together on the shelf but are easy to separate and use?

http://awana.org/awana-clubs/sparks-hangglider-outline,default,pg.html

That's exactly what I was going to say. My mom is that way. It usually will run for a day or two, and then it stops. Quality of the watch makes no difference. We joke that she has the same effect on computers, but it really can't be that much of a coincidence that anytime she uses a laptop it dies within a week.

Our rule is that my kids are not required to put away ANYTHING. But anything that is out of place after bedtime goes to Goodwill. The next day. And they have to go with me and they have to hand it to the Goodwill person. I enforce this EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. They understand that picking up and putting away anything they want to keep is part of getting ready for bed. And they don't drag their feet b/c if they did, they would miss the bedtime story. Yes, I'm mean. But I've only had to go to Goodwill a few times. MY stuff is a disaster, but my kids' is under control! ------------------------------ One other thing - my kids know & understand the organization system. Everything is labeled, so they have no question where stuff goes. Each activity has its own bag - one for dance, one for gymnastics, one for swimming, one for soccer, backpack for preschool/co-op, etc. Every single time we come back in the house, the kids are expected to clean out and repack their bags as much as possible so they are ready to go for the next time. (I add leotards and so on as they get washed, but everything they can do is to be done. There is nothing worse than finding 18 pairs of dirty socks in a dance bag!) Each kid has a locker (hooks & cube in the laundry room). Shoes go in the bottom, and they have a sticker that says "tennis shoes", "church shoes", etc. Activity bags go on each kid's middle hook, and it's labeled with a sticker. Jackets go on each kid's left hand hook, and it's labeled with a sticker. Backpacks go on the right hand hook, and it's labeled with a sticker. Overhead bins for mittens, hats, sunglasses, etc. There is NO QUESTION where anything goes. Same for the playroom. Everything has a home, that is clearly labeled with a picture and the word saying what goes there. Before everything was clearly labeled, the kids were completely overwhelmed when I asked them to clean up. After the labels, it became very easy, and dare I say, habitual to put things in the right place. And they always do it so they don't lose it. That's the key - NO WARNINGS or second chances! You tell them upfront, then you enforce vigorously every single time. If only I had taken the time to organize and LABEL my own stuff at the same time! I have GOT to get to that some day.

None of my kids yet, at ages 6 1/2 and 5. Not for lack of instruction - they just aren't there yet. We are going through the HWOT preschool book for the millionth time trying to solidify capital letters & numbers - haven't attempted the kindergarten (lowercase letters) book yet.

I'm not sure of the post you are referencing, but would love to hear more about everything you have in your calendar time!

When I was coming through school, in middle school the honors kids got diagramming in English class, but the other students did not get this instruction. A few years later in Spanish class, those of us who had had diagramming were light years ahead of those who had not.

I have 4 (trips and a singleton 17 months younger). We do all the lessons together, though they do have a little one-on-one time each evening with each child practicing reading aloud. Reading is easy for 2 and hard for two, and their abilities are flipflopped for handwriting and math. I still teach them all together. Competition is STRICTLY not allowed. STRICTLY. It is NOT about who is better, but instead it is about encouraging each other and doing our best. My slowest reader read a whole sentence by herself last week and the others were OVER THE MOON excited, hugging her and so on. It was so sweet! Worth the 400 times a day that we talk about it! I must admit to feeling a little bad about keeping them all together for my own sanity. Part of the reason they are homeschooled is so they can get an individually tailored education, and yet I still hold some back to keep them all on level. I expect that I will allow a little more variation as they become more independent.

GASP! I would die without mandatory quiet time every afternoon!!!