I taught MTW for 6 years, was trained and then trained other teachers. It's a wonderful program, but in a traditional school setting, most kids are beyond that level by the end of first grade. It is a great supplemental tool for older kids who have poor number sense. My favorite thing about the program was how they taught place value. I'll never teach place value another way! It is pricey, especially when you buy the kit. I'd try some of the newsletter activities first and see if it's your style. Also, in my opinion, you must, must, must use the assessment tools. It will help you understand the goals of the program, as well as where to place your child. This isn't a chapter-test type program. Students move on in each area when they are ready, so frequent assessment is crucial. We had an amazing fourth grade teacher pilot Mathematics as a Way of Thinking and she didn't like it. She felt it was outdated and that there are better resources available now, like the Marilyn Burns books. If you are just looking for supplemental, hands-on, MTW style activities, I'd suggest just buying the Work Jobs books. FWIW, even being trained in the program and loving it, I would not choose MTW as a stand alone math program. It's a great supplement though.

http://www.theetiquettefactory.com/ This is our favorite.

CLE Reading, 3rd grade.

Haha. This thread makes me think of the difference between my two twins. Twin #1 tells me everything about everything, whether I ask or not. She just wrote an 8 page narration from The Magic Faraway Tree (we obviously need to work on summarizing). Twin #2 can't understand why I want her to tell me about something we've just read. One day we she came out of therapy and her therapist said, "Do you want to tell your mom what we learned today?" My dd looked at her and said, "Why? You were there." (My dd has some severe delays, so this wasn't intended to be snotty. We all had a good laugh.) She's very concrete. Just had to share. I'm following this thread with much interest.

My daughter has dysgraphia and vision issues. I always use the paper with the dotted line in the middle. She's had a really hard time writing her letters with the right proportions and staying with the lined paper has helped a LOT. I spent all of last year (our first year hsing) working really hard on this. We did very little writing that wasn't copywork or supervised dictation. I had to undo a LOT of bad habits from school. I wanted everything she did to be correct (correct, not perfect) so she'd retrain her brain. It helped sooooo much. This year, in 4th grade, she is able to do a lot more writing. We haven't even touched cursive yet and that's just fine with me. We'll start in the next few months. She's asking to do it. She still has trouble with b/d and s/z, but she catches herself a lot more now. I'm so grateful I slowed down last year. It really paid off. Good luck. For us the trick was not letting her make mistakes without correcting them immediately. (FWIW, if it is dysgraphia, it's recommended you don't make them copy things over again. Just be there to offer support for the first draft. It's like making the slow kid run his laps again and expecting a faster time. It's just painful and humiliating. This has been hard for me to learn because I like to push her, but I'm finally accepting it.)

Until this year (4th grade), bedtime was 7:30. It may seem early, but my girls are 11 hour sleepers. Now they go to bed at 8:30. We usually get up at 7. If they were in school, their bedtime would still be 7:30 because they'd be getting up at 6.

First, I just wanted to share how much we are enjoying FLL 3. We did 1/2 last year and I wasn't super excited to start 3 because I felt like we needed more meat. Well, it's meaty! I love it. Now a question... We used WWE 2 last year and I really liked it. However, we do a LOT of narrations and writing in other subjects. Do you think this is enough for 4th grade? Is WWE 3 something that you absolutely would purchase? Why? I'd love your thoughts! Thanks!

Well, what's his plan?? College? A job? Why is he living at home? When I lived at home, it was under the agreement that I would maintain a full college (city college) load and work part time. I didn't have to pay rent or anything at home, but I did pay for all of my own things (car, insurance, spending money). It was a good transition for me before going away to school. However, if I wasn't in school or working, my mom would have told me to pack my bags. I think it's your house and he's an adult, so it doesn't matter if you are being too hard. Your rules. :) Having to pay for your own things is good motivation to get a job, so maybe he needs his own place?

I think you will be shocked at how much geography they learn during history, especially if your program uses map work, like SOTW. I also think you can easily fit in South America studies on top of Ancients. They will be LIVING South American studies. That's my opinion. I'm shocked at how much more we learn than we ever plan. In fact, it's usually the "planned" stuff that we always seem to be trying to finish... :)

It comes from the idea that the workshop approach allows kids to develop ideas and language. What most teachers don't realize, though, is that young children develop rich language through oral language, not writing! Writing comes later. TWTM and homeschooling my own children (one advanced, one with LDs), has given me a WHOLE new outlook. Honestly, I really think the push toward all these "workshop-type" programs comes from the push for more academics. The reality, though, is that these are young children who need time to play. But, instead of "just" playing, teachers have to squeeze in more academics while trying to balance the students' ages and limitations- centers, reader's workshop, math workshop, writing workshop, etc. What kids really need is solid instruction, adequate practice, and then time to experiment, explore, play, color, etc. We also don't read to our students enough. I remember being read to all the time in elementary school. I guess now we are using that time for test prep. Blah. I'm going to open my own school... Anyhow, it's no wonder our students are lacking in both language and skills. They are, however, awfully good at filling in bubbles and using Google.

I might be missing something, but I thought from TWTM that SOTW was meant to be repeated in 5th grade, along with additional reading/writing at the logic level. So, with the proper supplements, it most certainly could be used. We love SOTW. If this is just a one year thing, though, and you are putting him back in school, I'd just suggest focusing on American History. That's what 5th grade (in most states) focuses on. There is SO much to do!!

Wait, wait, wait. This is the END of fourth grade??? Wow, I feel much better about my dd's writing, then. FWIW, I taught in a school where writer's workshop was the norm. I used to be a big fan of phonetic spelling in first grade and almost nothing in writer's workshop was edited for spelling or grammar in our school. The result was that we had 5th graders who didn't capitalize the word "i." I mean, a LOT of kids were missing basic skills like this. It makes me sick to think about all that wasted time in writer's workshop that could have been spent in other areas. Don't be fooled by quantity unless the quality is up to par.

So many places!!! LB Aquarium is a favorite. CA Science Center. Spend the WHOLE day. It is amazing. My girls could spend a week there!

We will be there Sunday, Monday and Tuesday! Williamsburg Sunday and Monday, then Jamestown all day Tuesday. Now I need to check out this DC thing...

We had a really hard morning, too! Maybe it's the moon... DD couldn't even spell her NAME correctly today!!! She had two melt downs and we were at the park by lunch. I couldn't take it any longer. I'm sorry you had a rough day too. I did watch some Duggars tonight. I like to try to channel my inner Michelle, even though I know it doesn't exist in me.

FLL and CLE math work for us! She loves Story of the World, which is her favorite subject. Writing with Ease was a life saver for us, as was All About Spelling.

If she's self-correcting, it sounds like she's on her way out of the habit. It's very common. When I taught first grade, I taught the kids that b is "baby bear, then his belly" and I'd make a big deal of drawing his fat belly. For d, we say "doorknob, then the door." It helps my dd and I still catch her saying, "doorknob..." under her breath.

I've found the same thing with my dd! FLL and WWE have worked amazingly well! At first it didn't seem like enough writing, but now I've realized that she was able to retain so much because the writing was so short and precise. I'm shocked at how much her writing has improved. She's 9.

Hi! I hope I'm not too late, but I wanted to throw out one more possibility. Your dd sounds a lot like my dd and what stood out the most were the physical problems you pointed out. Google dyspraxia and see what you think. It can affect handwriting, spelling, language, gross and fine motor, as well as vision (not sight, but the eyes working together). My dd was assessed twice for auditory processing disorder and she didn't even show up as a red flag. I was shocked. The more I learn about dyspraxia, the more I learn the root of her issues and how to help her. To the person who thinks we assign labels to get rid of the blame- many times you can only access therapy with a label. This isn't about kids just being quirky, it can be about kids failing and needing a specific approach to learning. My dd will need intense, frequent language instruction because she didn't learn what she should have in the first year of life, due to neglect, when it was the most optimal time for that part of her brain to grow. So, while this will come easily to most kids, for her, it's like having a limb she's never used. She's going to need years of "physical therapy." My child knows what she struggles with and what strategies to use to improve, rather than having low self-esteem about not being able to do things as well as other kids her age. Plus, my kid has to work harder than neurotypical kids to achieve the same things, so I think she's extra cool. :)

Yeah, that shocks me, too. I was a leader about 10 years ago and I don't remember being asked about religion at ALL.

The death total is right there at the bottom of the CDC page.

They are just a little slow. Harrisonburg actually was fine during the hurricane (other than the random tree branch here or there), but a lot of things were shut down out this way. UPS, trains, planes, etc. It may be adding a few extra days, but really, I just think CLE is a bit on the slow side compared to other companies.

:iagree:I only have girls, but this is also one of two reasons we wouldn't do boy scouts. My girls do Girl Scouts, but I don't find these kinds of issues, at least at this level.

It was the only thing that ever worked for my sister. I just use Cetaphil and I love it. FYI- Cetaphil leaves a "bleached" stain on a lot of towels, so be careful when you first start to use it.

Well, I don't know what your relationship with your husband is like, but perhaps it would help if you were just very direct with him. "We need to do xyz because it is very important to me."