Thanks, silly me I hadn't thought about that! :)

Thanks for the phone number! :)

I sure hope someone has the answer for me! :D Can a 2002 print year teacher key be used with a 1995 print year workbook? If it makes a difference this is for Letters and Sounds 1.

I am super jealous!!! :) Enjoy it!

Same with mine, I don't get this at all.

:lol: I'm sorry to laugh but your post cracked me up!! I have the 30-Day Shred myself, I bought it after borrowing it from a friend and decided that I liked it. Weeeell, I still haven't opened my own copy yet.;) I keep telling myself I need to lose a bit more weight so I don't die trying to do the workouts. :D

I feel exactly the same, lol!! Only difference is we did choose to have the 2 oldest close together. I have a 10, almost 9 and almost 2 (their birthdays are in August a week apart). And I'm the exact opposite, 2 boys then a girl. :001_smile: Dh and I definately felt like we were starting over again, but we wouldn't trade it for anything. Katie was a long time coming (4 years of trying with 2 miscarriages) but she is so worth it and her brothers adore her. It has been an adjustment, but I love it so much. :D

I have a 10yo son with down syndrome. The standard of care for kids with down syndrome is pretty darn good. The best type of pediatrician is a developmental pediatrician, but even a ped with lots of experience caring for children with down syndrome is great. For every dr/specialist we work with, my first question is "how much experience has the dr had treating children with down syndrome". If the response is "we work with many children with down syndrome and enjoy having them as patients" then I'm happy. :) The heart and lungs are the main issues to be watchful for (although many babies with DS have heart issues, not all of them do, my son doesn't). Other things that are common are vision issues, hearing issues, digestive issues, thyroid issues. These are all easily monitored and treated. Something else for them to do is to get in touch with infant/toddler services in their state. This will put them in contact with occupational/physical/speech therapy services that will help make a huge difference in your nephew's life. The sooner that therapy starts, the more effective it will be for him. Depending on their income, they may quailify for SSI benefits. Also check with what benefits he may qualify for in the state they live in. Making contact with a local support group will be extremely helpful, especially to get in touch with a veteran family. They will be the best resource for doctors/services/advice/suggestions/etc. Go to these sites as well, lots of wonderful info! http://www.nads.org/ http://www.ndsccenter.org/ This book was recommended to me when ds was a baby, the best book by far that I ever read. It's a must-have for all parents new to DS. http://www.amazon.com/Babies-Down-Syndrome-Special-Needs-Collection/dp/0933149646/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275706058&sr=8-1 This book has the exact same title but is newer so will probably have more up-to-date information. http://www.amazon.com/Babies-Down-Syndrome-Parents-Guide/dp/1890627550/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275706058&sr=8-4 This video series is beautiful, wonderful, and very informative. I highly recommend it! http://www.amazon.com/Down-Syndrome-First-18-Months/dp/B0001I54PM/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1275706058&sr=8-11 Above all, they are to expect a wonderful and amazing life! We were scared to death when our ds was born (we didn't know, either) but can't imagine life without him. He is by far our greatest accomplishment in life, only matched by his brother and sister. :) Congratulations to your family, enjoy your precious new nephew!

I agree with you, lol! We need a "Curriculum Junkies Anonymous" support group. :)

:iagree: Congratulations!

I had no interest in reading it but went ahead and got it at the library one day when I didn't have a lot of time and wanted something to read, it was the first thing I saw so I grabbed it. I got the rest of the books and read them all. They were okay, I didn't think they were well written. Kind of boring. Nothing I want to own or even read again. I don't get the "obsession" people have with the books/movies, but everyone has their own vice. If you don't want to read them, then don't. I really don't think you'll be missing out on anything if you never read them. If you want to just go ahead and get it over with, go for it. :)

Hi there! I'm in WA, too, and I believe you are only allowed to homeschool your own child. I just double checked back through all the info I have on home-based education laws in WA and everything I see says "a parent who is instructing his or her child only".

Both our boys have the DS, one of my boys has down syndrome the other has high-functioning autism. The one with HFA reads some but not much and my other son doesn't read at all. The Lego games have been a hit with our kids. We have Lego Star Wars, Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones 2. They can both play them very easily. Like a pp said, some violence but it's all slapstick (no blood or gore or bad words at all, in fact the characters don't really talk, lol, they mumble). My son with down syndrome really enjoys the driving games like MariKart and Madagascar (pretty much the exact same games), no reading at all and he can control it pretty well. Gamestop is a great store to look for games and gear. I highly recommend the backpack holder you are planning to get, each of the boys have one for their systems. Make sure if you get a used system that you get a wall charger and a car charger, even when the internal battery dies, you can just plug them in and keep playing while they charge. :) Also check Walmart and Target for low-priced DS games. The DS also plays GameBoy games, so there are more options to look for, too.

We use deer a lot and butcher it ourselves. When my dad and dh make up the ground, they mix it with ground beef. And I know they process it correctly, but I still can taste the "gamey" flavor, it's just me as nobody else in the family can tell (my boys gobble it up, lol). I guess I'm just more sensitive to it. Something I use that helps is at Costco they sell Sweet Mesquite Seasoning and for me it really cuts out the "gamey" taste. So when I make spaghetti I mix some of the mesquite in and it makes it perfect for me.

Thanks so much for this information, dh and I are going to try it with our boys and see if it helps them. :)

A friend recommended the WTM book to me so I started researching it. Found the website for the book and discovered the forums. What got my attention the most was the special needs board (I have 2 boys with special needs) and decided to join up!

I found this book at our local homeschool bookstore today The IEP Manual: The “How To” Guide for Developing Homeschool IEP’s by Jim and Debby Mills It's pricey but really good, I wish I had the money to get it. It's available here: http://nathhan.com/ (under the resource room section)

Congratulations!!! When we had the 20wk u/s with our little girl, I was so certain it would be a boy that I asked the tech to look again and make sure, lol! She was a long time coming (7 yr age gap between our younger son and our girl) and a total suprise, we honestly thought we couldn't have anymore children. The boys adore their little sister and are super protective of her and spoil her rotten. ;) Dh says he's not worried about boys when she's older, he says he'll just let them try to get past her big brothers, lol!

Thanks for the link Laurie!

I tried HOD with my 10yo w/down sydrome and we had to give it up, too. His delay is about the same as your dd's and he would get pretty mad when I pulled out the books. He would prefer to watch tv more than anything if I gave him the choice, lol! For assessments/goal setting, we are currently going by the last IEP that was set for him at public school before we withdrew him. Since all the goals were done with our input and approval, I have no problem using them. His therapists told us to look at his strengths and weaknesses and set his goals accordingly. For example, he has goals such as identifying his letters and numbers, identifying his colors, rote counting to 20, writing his last name independantly, learning sight words, etc. We also looked at the "big picture" goals we wanted for him, what we'd like to see him capable of doing in the future. We'd really like to see him be able to take some community college courses some day, so we know we need to focus his academic goals on getting him where that would be something he can do. Look to set some goals she can achieve pretty easily and some goals that she will have to work harder at. And set goals according to her learning level, not her age. I'm sure you know this, but it's something I do have to remind myself about all the time. If you aren't comfortable setting goals on your own, you can look into working with a special education consultant. If your dd is working with any OT, SLP, PT therapists, they should be able to also help you set some goals for her. Others here on the board may have other ideas, too. If anything I have learned with my son, it's to be very flexible. He learns songs and movies quickly, so I am always on the lookout for music and movies that are educational. I bought a Rock N' Learn Phonics dvd and the Math U See songbook and cd, he wanted them put in right away when they arrived and is already just glued to the phonics dvd, lol! Since switching from HOD to a mixed curriculum, ds and I are both much happier and he's making a lot of progress. Good luck and I hope others can give you more/better advice, I'm still very new to hschooling myself. :)

Another gamer family here! We've got 2 Xbox 360s, 1 PS3, 1 original Xbox, 1 PS2, 1 Wii, 1 original Nintendo, 3 Nintendo DS, 2 PSPs, I think we still have a Sega Dreamcast buried in the basement lol, and the gaming computer. I will also count in the boys Leapster games they have, they play the Leapster more than their DS systems lately. We are total Halo junkies (thus my username). Dh, ds #2 and I will play it against each other between the 2 systems, we have a blast! Dh and I also are major Castlevania junkies. Dh is also into Fallout and Gears of War (he is foaming at the mouth waiting for the new ones to release, lol!) Dh will play games I will navigate with the walkthrough books. I need to get back into Oblivion and Twilight: Legend of Zelda.:tongue_smilie:

I had no idea, thank you for that info! I've been really drawn to MUS lately and now I know why it appealed to me. :001_smile:

Hi! I have a 10yo ds with down syndrome, we just started homeschooling him this past November so I don't have a ton of experience but will share what we are using with him. My son is at a kindergarten learning level. We are using the Rod & Staff preschool series with him and he's doing really well with it. For handwriting, we use Handwriting Without Tears, he used it in public school and did very well with it so we just continued it at home. For reading, we are just working on sight words as he doesn't understand phonics yet and doesn't know his letter completely yet. I got him some Dick & Jane books and he's almost reading them independantly (again, just learning by sight rather than by phonics/decoding). I'm currently reading through Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome, has a lot of great ideas and insight as to how kids w/ds learn reading and what to use with them, great resource list. We do additional stuff with flash cards and games. It's trial and error for our ds. We intially started with Heart of Dakota, it just went over his head and he wasn't enjoying it. Since the change, he's coming right along and doing really well now. Good luck making your choices, there are a lot of great resources out there for teaching our precious kids.:001_smile:

Better late than never, right? LOL!:D Dh and I will be married 13 years in August, together 15 years in November. We have 3 wonderful kids, 2 very special boys (10yo down syndrome and 8.5yo high-functioning autism) and 1 precious girl (21 mos, our little suprise). We withdrew our oldest from public school Nov. 2009. Our younger son is still in public school, he'll start this summer. We always wanted to homeschool but didn't think we could when the boys were diagnosed with their conditions. We have since learned how wrong we were.:001_smile: Dh works as a support staff (NAR, nurse assistant registered) for developmentally disabled adults and is pursing his degree to get his minister's license. I am a full-time mom and part-time work from home as a product packager for a local baby product company. We're Pentecostal christians and "met" during a youth group event, although we'd known each other for many years before that (he was in the same class as my brother, I was in the same class with his brother). I don't post very often, still finding my way in the homeschool community. We're pretty much doing a mix of classical and Charlotte Mason. We're an outdoors family, love to be out in the woods more than anywhere else. We just don't get the time to get out there as much as we would like. I like to crochet, sew and cross-stich, sometimes scrapbook. I love to read! My Mother's Day gift was a gift card to my favorite bookstore, lol! I will also admit that I enjoy playing video games, too. My username is a tribute to our favorite game. ;)

My brother and his wife became youth pastors for the first time last summer. The church did an incredible welcome job for them. The house they rented really needed some work done to it, they got permission to paint and do some other work but didn't have the time. Their church did all the cleaning and painting for them, mowed the lawn and trimmed the landscaping and filled their fridge. All my brother and sil had to do was move in and enjoy their nice clean house.