Thanks so much for all the information. It's alot to think about and try to figure out. He does have major sensitivities to many things, so maybe he has additional allergies that we haven't figured out yet. Ive thought of some things that I forgot to mention which may or may not matter, but I find unusual. He is a very clumsy boy; always has been. He used to constantly bite his tongue or inside of his cheek while chewing, and I mean numerous times a day. He has broken his finger twice by shutting it in a door. He used to stub his toe out of nowhere. It's like he has no depth perception or something like that. We've had his vision checked. I don't know maybe I'm just being silly because he crawled and walked at a normal age. He can even ride a bike without training wheels now, so he does have some coordination. I just find those things a little different. Well thanks again everyone

I need help with my 4 year old ds. I've always known he wasn't like my older two, but I don't know what it is. I'll give as much background as I can, so maybe someone can help me figure him out. He had ear infections non stop from the time he was a couple of months until the ENT finally decided to put tubes in at 10 months. He was on so many different antibiotics, and reacted to almost all of them. Finally they had to give him antibiotic shots because of all the different allergy problems. Well after tubes, he hasn't had anymore ear infections!!!! He talks very, very loud. I've had his hearing tested by an audiologist, and she said he has negative pressure in both ears. She said maybe allergies, so he has been allergy tested, and put on zertec, but with that he was having night terrors. It was scarey for us. So now i put him on some natural allergy medicine. He is doing fine with it, but still talks extremely loud. I'm not sure it works. For the first 3 years of his life I didn't know how to control him. It was like he had ADD/ADHD, then I read somewhere that added food coloring could cause those behaviors. So, bye-bye anything with added dyes. That has helped tremendously. He like like a completely different child. No more running around uncontrollable, not listening, etc... Poor kid, he was awful on color, so I'm sure it felt terrible for him. Anyway, we still have issues. He will be fine, but when daddy comes home, he goes all crazy on us. Or like at church a few weeks ago, they had a 35th anniversary celebration and there wasn't Sunday school only childrens church service, and he kicked, screamed, and threw a fit because he didn't want to go. Now this is the same class he goes to after Sunday school just fine every other Sunday. He will yell at his siblings as if they have to do what he says. He's really mean about it too. It's almost like he has anger issues at 4. One minute he will be fine, then thenext he's not. Then there will be times he will make a mountain out of a mole hill, and literally be on the floor kicking and screaming, throwing toys and arguing with me. It's like he two different kids in one because he can also be the sweetest most compliant child around. It's not a discipline issue because we do discipline, but sometimes I just don't know what to do to make him better. We just had one of those fits tonight. We just came home from grandma and grandpa, and the moment we got home, he had a melt down. Needless to say, I'm stressed right now. Once he was calm, he wanted me to wrap him tightly in his blanket and rock him. Well, if anyone has read all the way through this and can offer any help, I would greatly appreciate it!!

I need some help picking out the best curriculum to use with my ds that's 10. He is a hands on learner, left-handed writer, but throws balls and hits right-handed. He has mild dyslexia and major dysgraphia. For math- he likes manipulatives. he can't stand page after page of the same problems, once he gets something it usually sticks, however as we are learning multiplication facts, he has 4x6 but can't automatically get that 6x4 is the same thing. he doesn't like constant repetition. Based on all that, does anybody have any recommendations for us? For language arts/grammar- he just doesn't get it. he is finally reading well now, and even though he isn't spelling at grade level, there has been much improvement over last year. he is practicing cursive everyday without too much complaining, using the book cheerful cursive. grammar is a whole mother story. this is a huge problem for him. there is just so much to keep straight. you have nouns (proper, common, pronouns), verbs (action, being, helping) subjects, capitalization, punctuation, and the list goes on... he can't keep it all straight in his head. with math there are manipulatives to help, but grammar doesn't have any of that. So, does anyone know of what I could use to help him learn grammar? thanks so much!!

Wow. It's nice to see that I'm not the only one who doesn't like to teach RS math!! We are in level B, and I'll do what most of you are telling me- which is to keep at it because of the benefits for my son. I'll get it done and over with before we tackle anything else just so that I don't put it off till later (or never)!! I will look into MM as well. Thanks so much!

I am having a hard time teaching right start math to my son. he can't stand workbook type math, and that is what I personally thrive with. The non traditional approach of RS is driving me nuts. He is a hands on learner and He enjoys it, but I am having a hard time with the concepts and with how teacher intensive it is. So, what do I do?? Keep plugging along or is there any other non text book type math that isn't too teacher intensive. I don't mind playing the games, but getting through each lesson is a chore for me. Needless to say, since I don't enjoy it, it gets put on the back burner, which is terrible since he needs math. Well, thanks for any help offered.

Thanks for the help. I'm going to trust you ladies!!

I just purchased A World of Adventure for my going to be 4th and 6th graders. I've never done a unit study before, but since I also have a 4 year old and a 1 year old, I thought I'd combine and simplify as much as possible. So anyway, I've read good things about AWOA, so I purchased it. I've been looking through it, and I can't help but wonder if it's really enough. it claims to be all included except math, so since I've never done a unit study, any thoughts and advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Has anyone used A World of Adventure and Christian Cottage unit studies? Could you do a compare/contrast for me? I have a 5th grade dd and a 3rd grade ds along with a 4 and 1 year old, so next year I'd like something easy and open and go . I'd like to be able to combine them in everything except math and language. Please help if you can.

Wow. Thanks for the info. I'll look into the montissori language arts, and go from there.

Hi I'm new here. I posted this in the special needs board, but I wanted to post it here too, just in case someone could help me out. Anyway, I have a 9 year old ds that has dyslexia and disgraphia. He learns best with hands on curriculum, so I did a google search for hands on english/grammar programs. This web sight came up www.linkingblocks.com It looks like he could do well with it, but I wanted to know if anyone has ever heard of it or have any experience with it. From what I saw, there isn't any instruction for punctuation, capitalization, etc.. So if any one can help, please feel free to add your comments or direct me to something for my sons grammar. Thanks

Has anyone ever heard of this program? I have a 9 year old ds who has dyslexia/disgraphia. I did a google hunt for hands on english/grammar programs and this linking blocks program popped up. It looks like something he could relate too, but it also doesnt look like it covers things like punctuation, capitalization, etc.. So does anyone have any knowledge of this program? www.linkingblocks.com Thanks!

I have 3rd and 5th graders who haven't had much geography. I want to teach them together as much as possible to simplify life somewhat. I like the looks of AWOA, and want to use that, but Im not sure if I should do a year with MFW ECC first, just to get their geography down. Any suggestions or alternative thoughts? Thanks!!