Yes it is, I forked the money and bought the whole set and ds8 is enjoying every minute of it. DS is very gifted in the language department, and we started in the 3rd grade, and I went ahead and just got "Grammar Island" to use as a prep, we flew through it and went successfully into the town series. In my opinion, if you could afford the whole thing, it would be worth the money. Also, don't spend money on the student text, buy instead the teacher's manual and save money. Good luck!!

Is 2e twice exceptional? Ds has ADHD and is gifted, is that what we're referring to? If so, definitely YES!!!!

I love this board. Thank you!! :grouphug:

I thought the PT, though late diagnosing anything, was competent. She initially advised only pt for the lower extremities, and several months later said his upper extremities and trunk tone and strength were also low, so she recommended pt for those areas as well. She was never clear enough about that being a new development or something she originally failed to see. I was on denial and now feel terrible about it. I wish I had been more aggressive and less trusting. When she said it would get better with time, I desperately wanted to believe that was the case. She refused to approve swimming when I suggested it, gave him super boring and very ineffective exercises. It wasn't until he started swimming that we started noticing a difference. I suggested a toddlers' skating class, just 4-5 students and 1 teacher to 2 students, and she said definitely no because it would be too much for him., she explained that she didn't want him to get tired, so she considers anything to be too much...I should have known better, I wasted precious time!

Does he not want her to homeschool for longer? :confused:

I want to know your success stories as well as the horror ones. I want learn as much as possible from other people's experiences so I can help my lo! I LOVE the support I feel here. Thanks for your encouragement, and please keep the advice, opinions and/or experiences coming! :grouphug:

My sister and I were both moved back because of the language barrier and we were bored to death! But, on the same token, total immersion is what had us speaking English in 6 months. After having taken only half of the first year of ESL we were moved to mainstream classes skipping ESL 2, 3, 4 and writing! If I were the mom, and having had the experience and knowledge I have, I would put them in school at the beginning, and take them out once the language skills were obtained. Learning the language will be a lot easier by total immersion simply because their teachers and classmates will not explain things to them in their native language, forcing them to learn English, mom will be more easily persuaded by her motherly nature to help them out, even if just a little. Children learn impressively fast at that age, so they'll pick it up very quickly, and will be able to be homeschooled after just a few months. I hope this helps!

When ds went for his initial assessment he had just had a very unfortunate accident (he was attached by our former dog, and needed reconstructive surgery in his face, including his right eye which he almost lost).You could see a very dry scab from the surgery, but it looked like a scratch. He was already 19 months and just beginning to walk. When the PT found out what had happened her questions had nothing to do with his condition, and everything to do with his accident. I explained to her repeatedly that his eye (which was uncovered and open) was fine and he could see clearly out of it, well, she didn't seem to understand. Her assessment said that she thought he was fine and that his problem was that he could not see out of his right eye :confused: I fought with everyone that crossed my path, and finally got him to get assessed again, once the surgery was nothing but a scar and the ophthalmologist had sent a report to his pediatrician explaining that his eyesight was intact. His doctor then sent him for another assessment, and I found out while on my way there that it was the same place and the same lady! She then focused on his motor skills and not on his face and recommended weekly physical therapy. The only reason I stuck with her is because I didn't want to waste any time getting assessed elsewhere, perhaps I should have demanded someone else. He has hyper-extension joint syndrome (Which I forgot to mention in the original post), hypotonia and poor muscle tone. The PT told us a normal development was still possible, but I now doubt EVERYTHING she has ever said. Can anyone recommend particular exercises, or is it better to do that under professional advice and supervision? Sorry for the long post, but I just need to be heard!

No, i had to fight with the doctors to refer him to physical therapy, so they don't really know much of anything. They haven't done anything other than the periodic assessments How does that affect your life, when were you diagnosed, what kind do you have, what kinds of treatments have you had? I know, he gets sooooo tired after doing any kind of physical activity, but he pushes himself unbelievably, he is such an inspiration! I try to squeeze in all kinds of things, making him squat instead of sitting flat on the floor, making him walk on his toes to the other side of the room, jump to get the gummy bear, anything extra I can, and as much as I can He will have physical therapy again next week, and a well child check the one after that. I'm planning on getting a written form from PT stating his lack of progress to take with me to the dr's visit. I know I'm going to be heard, no matter what; what I don't know is where it will take me! Can I buy those? Do they have to be by rx? I have an exclusively breastfeed 4 month old and no family close by, so getting in the pool more often is challenging, but if necessary I can make it work Thank you so much for taking the time to respond!

My almost 3 year old has hyperextension in all his joints, especially on his extremities. Due to this, he didn't learn to walk until 18 months, and when he did, did so with much difficulty. Despite doing physical therapy weekly, and wearing boot style orthotics daily, he walks like a 1 1/2-2 year old, falls constantly, has a large number of bruises and scars from different falls, cannot go up a set of steps without bending to help himself with his hands, and has VERY low muscle tone all over his little body. We were told that the main problem is his muscle tone, and that as soon as he builds that up, combined with his exercises, his balance will start improving to reach normal level. He does swimming once a week and I make him ride his tricycle often, we toss balls around and he tries to run around the house as much as he can, however, it doesn't seem to be working, his arms and legs skinny and his tone is not improving! We have had 3 digit temperatures here in NC since June, so a park is out of the equation for now. Does anyone have a similar problem and/or would like to share some ideas so I can help him? :bigear:

I went today and got some of the cheap workbooks from target, a cubby (just like big brother's), a composition notebook, and the first set of Bob books. He was really excited when I started to pull things out of the bags and into his cubby and asked if that was his school stuff! We'll see how it goes. Thank you all very much for your great ideas!

I purchased this program in July, two years ago. It sat in my dresser for a whole year, until July of last year when I got it out of the dresser and took it back to bed-bath and beyond. I didn't think I could do it. My oldest learned very differently, and I wasn't sure this was the way to go with this one. Now I wonder if I should have kept it, just to see. Does it work with all kinds of learners?

I had the same question yesterday! Here is the link of the post http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298916

Do you have either one as a subject? What book/website/cd/etc do you use? How long do you spend on it? Thanks!!

I've used all the levels up to F, which we're currently using, and the TE have NEVER been out of the shelves. Ds is a natural speller, and he does well with the program. Best of luck!

That's exactly what I'm doing, besides, of course, placing my order right now! Thank you wy_kid_wrangler04 for posting this question :lol::lol:

I posted mine 10 minutes after yours, I think it's hilarious, and I'm glad we're both getting answers. I'm actually following this thread as if I had started it :lol: so, where are you starting??

Thanks to some really good advice acquired in this forum, we're starting the MCT language arts program this year. DS will be starting at the "town" level. He has not been previously exposed to poetry, do you think he'll be ok starting with "Building Poems" or should I get "Music of the Hemispheres" and use that before "Building Poems" to make up for his lack of knowledge? Thanks! :bigear:

Some people have suggested an actual curriculum, but I'm not sure that is necessary at this age. He sits (by choice) every day at the table for at least a couple of hours going over his letters, coloring and doing other similar things, he calls it "school work" :D He also sits for long periods of time to go over his books. He seems ready for more structure, but I'm not sure because he won't turn 3 until the end of this month. What could I introduce? Did you use a curriculum? Did you do structured school? What "subjects" did you touch and how? What books did you use? What would you recommend? Thanks!!

After reading your responses I think we are going to test until the scores drop below 90%, that way I can make sure he's being challenged when we settle on a place to start, but not to the point where the material will be over his head. Since we're not taking a break right now, he really doesn't need the review. Thank you for all your responses! I love this forum!!!!:grouphug:

I checked my stuff and don't have any sheets! where can I find them, at least to look at them? :bigear:

GREAT idea! I'm starting this tomorrow!!

Here is what we're doing with 54 1) He uses lined paper, we start a new sheet for each lesson. Not sure this answers you question 2) He does EVERYTHING on paper. He writes the letter/number for mental math and writes the answer next to it 3) He MUST show his work on every problem, that way I can see where his mistakes are, if he has any 4) Saxon has soooo much facts practice that we don't need anymore I hope this helps!

We live in NC and are required to take a standardized test yearly. We use the Iowa test, which tests all subjects, because our co-op offers that one, and it's easier for me to tow my kids to the testing center, than to try to offer it at home. Ds does really well because the material it tests happens to be stuff we've already done, but some people find its results inaccurate and unfair because they haven't covered the material. I've looked at the California test, which tests only math and English, and may be suited for more people, but haven't made the change yet. I know there are others, but those are the only tests I've really looked into

I read ALL the posts about Saxon, and found out that people don't recommend skipping lessons or problems throughout the book, but nothing specifically mentioned the first chapters. We do school year round, and are almost done with Saxon 54, and while reviewing 65 noticed a lot of review chapters. I'm nervous to skip, but at the same time don't want to waste time reviewing if we just finished the material and the results are excellent. Have you skipped the first chapters, if so, how many? If you were in my shoes, would you skip any chapters? :bigear: