My mom is a hygienist and she said she's had a lot of patients who have had to get real braces after Invisalign because their back teeth were never corrected and their bite is off. Just make sure you go to someone good. Hopefully it's been around long enough now that you can find someone who has done them for a while. And tell her to always wear her retainer (at night) for the rest of her life. Seriously.

How do they do the writing portion of the SAT now? Handwritten or typed? I would think it would be important to do it hand written first because that's what really forces them to learn the process. The final draft can always be typed.

I've always used the small, white, double sided, sticky, foam squares they sell at the teacher's store. I had things on my classroom (PS) wall for four years. They stayed up and when I left, they peeled right off. Best things in the world for walls, IMHO.

Wow, just read a few of the other posts. I'm deleting mine. This is too much for me! Adios.

Oh, and we kept hearing about bad traffic, but that hasn't been our experience at all. I think it must depend on where you live. And really, it must all be relative. We used to live in L.A.

:iagree:We just moved here and we LOVE IT!!! I'm from Santa Barbara!

Another LOVE here, and I consider myself to be pretty picky about books for my 9 yr old girls. I always hated Junie B. and I'm still steering clear of books that involve boy-girl relationships.

Hopefully you'll find a way to help him recognize and control his temper. I was an angry kid "from birth," with a younger sister who was the complete opposite. I had great parents, but was always.so.angry. It's been hard to retrain myself as a wife and mother. I wish my parents had done more to help me with this as a child. I remember going to counseling for a bit, and wish that would have continued. Just wanted to give some support. Yes, people, some kids really do have an inborn temper/anger issue. It isn't always about a lack of parenting.

If you want an interesting, thought provoking book on this subject, read "Punished By Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. We don't do rewards, and come to think of it, we don't do a lot of punishments either, aside from the occasional time out. School is an expectation and chores are just part of being a family member. We show sincere appreciation and my kids get a lot of personal satisfaction from a job well done. I would use a reward for a specific behavior that I was trying to curb, like fingernail biting or something like that.

Wonderful! Thanks so much everyone. Yes, it was warm to the touch, too! (No, not oozing or anything. I can't even see the bite mark anymore. There is no sore. I don't think it was a spider- fingers crossed!) It's almost gone now. What a bizarre experience. I've never had a reaction like that to anything! At least I know what to expect now. Thanks!!!

Oh dear. We just moved from Utah to Virginia. There are SO many bugs here!!!! I have never seen most of these bugs. Two days ago we were at the pool and my leg itched. I scratched it and found what looked like a mosquito bite. I didn't think much about it because I've had lots of those bites. It was a little raised bump that was a whitish color and it itched. Well, by that night there was a red, raised rash around the area, about 2 inches in diameter. I was a little concerned and took a Benadryl. It kept getting bigger yesterday, although the redness was getting lighter. Last night it was the size of the palm of my hand. This morning it is still big, but much, much lighter and looks like it is going away. Is this pretty normal??? We don't have an established doctor out here yet, which is why I didn't just pop on in. I also feel silly for going in for a bug bite. Any advice? Does anyone else react to certain insects this way?? What could have bit me??? THANKS!

Just an FYI, research shows that most kids can only do one thing at a time- either listen, or draw/build/etc. So, if they are doing something else, they aren't listening as well as they could be if they were still. (Obviously this goes for children listening at their level. I'd of course give younger children something to do that wasn't distracting.) This was a huge debate at our school one year, so I remember our SpEd director giving a presentation, encouraging us to stop letting kids draw during read alouds. I stop a lot during read alouds to ask my girls questions, make predictions, talk about vocabulary words, etc. This keeps them very engaged. I think read alouds are a great time to teach active listening skills, as well as respect.

This is how we'll use it this year... We are only going to do 2 roots per week. My girls are only in 4th grade and have never had Latin. I want them to really learn them. Monday- Introduce the 2 roots and 3 vocabulary words for each word. Those will be their vocabulary words for the week. We'll make our cards, then they'll make a header in their vocab journal for each root and word (each on separate pages). Throughout the week- They'll work on a picture and sentence for each vocabulary word. We'll talk about these daily as they finish up their pictures and sentences. We'll use them in sentences, etc. If I remember correctly from my vocab training, kids need to practice a vocabulary word about six times, in different ways, in order for it to really stick. Hope that helps. I plan on this being a meaty part of our LA program.

Nope, we are going to do a chapter a week, then finish up in the summer. We are still trying to get through SOTW1, so if I can stick to a chapter a week this year, it will be a miracle. I need to get on the ball, seeing as how it's my dds' favorite thing in the world!!!

Oh!! I just noticed that was your other daughter. Sorry.

Grrr! My kids are right in the middle and ready for the books that aren't published yet. Sigh. I might just buy the 4 elementary ones anyway, so they are familiar with the story. One of my 4th graders would be ready for Fractions mid year.

Are you new to CLE math? We used it all last year, and will continue with it and my girls have gotten remarkably faster. My neuro typical daughter only takes about 15 minutes to do her lesson and my daughter with LDs takes about 30- a little faster if I sit on top of her. Hang in there with CLE because it will be your least teacher intensive program in the end. It does get better.

Mmm...not sure exactly what testing they are referring to. Are you trying to keep him on his IEP or take him off? If you are trying to keep him on an IEP, technically they can start from scratch if he's been out a whole year. If you want him on an IEP and they are being weird about it, just request testing again, depending on the last time he tested. If you want him off an IEP, and he's ready, that should be your call. If they are being stinkers, call a team meeting and have a parent advocate there with you (look around for a non-profit organization that provides these or call your school district). I'm not in Georgia, but a lot of the SpEd laws are federal anyway. Call and get a parent advocate though. Don't trust anything your school says. They are wrong a lot. Parents have a lot more power than they think.

Oh my! This is exactly what I'd been hoping to find!!! We LOVE WWE, but I'm always disappointed that we aren't reading the whole book and I was thinking about how much more my kids would get out of the passages if they understood the story line. For instance, the language in Ginger Pye is very advanced, but now that we are reading it together, it's very doable. Anyhow, I was thinking this morning about just doing our own thing based on the literature we are using at the time. However, it's always nice to have it already laid out for you. :) I think we're going to go ahead and purchase one of the back issues, perhaps Charlotte's Web, and see how it works. I wouldn't want to purchase the year in advance because I like to pick which books we're going to read. Some of the books on the list of back issues are not books I would read to my young girls. So glad you posted today!

Hmmm, this will be an interesting thread to follow. I'm curious to see what everyone does. I have twin girls who are turning 9 next month. One twin is an excellent reader and loves fiction. She reads anything she can get her hands on. We have a lot of books at home and we visit the library weekly. I gently guide her selections. For instance, if it's a book I'm not familiar with, I'll scan it or ask a librarian about it. I don't like her checking books out that are too mature. I will also express interest in certain books I'm dying for her to read. If she reads them, great. If not, she'll usually come back to them later int he year or I'll grab them to read aloud. The other twin struggles with fluency because of a tracking problem, but she, too, is an excellent and avid reader. She LOVES non-fiction. Books with shorter passages, larger print, or small sections on each page are easier for her to read. As soon as her eyes are ready, we'll forge ahead with some meaty fiction. In the past I haven't really required anything as far as reading because they devour books. I am going to try to be better about read alouds and narrations this year. I have a reading journal for them each and I want them to write in it daily. I will try to balance trying to be a bit more academic with their love of reading, though. If they resist, I'm not going to ruin a good thing. :) I like to keep a tentative list of books for the year and cross them off as we go, but I don't force them to read a particular book and a particular time. However, I may assign some specific books this year. I don't know! Hope that helps.

Rash guards should fit snugly. My girls swim in them all the time and they are tight, tight, tight. The more coverage from the sun, the better. I wish they had made them like they do now when I was little. I was so pale and burned so easily. Personally, I hate seeing people in the pool in their street clothes. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I just think it brings more germs into the pool. You get out and sit on something and all the dirt sticks to your wet clothes, then you track all that back into the pool. Yuck. Although, I'm also the one who cringes when I see people allowing their little ones to run back and forth between eating and swimming. Yum. Love swimming with all that gunk. Haha. Public pools apparently aren't my thing. :) To whomever commented about "adult swim time," FWIW, we just moved to VA from UT and when they blew the whistle for break time, I kept wondering why the adults were still in the pool. In Utah, everyone has to get out. It's when they check for floaters- bodies and other things. It's when they find things like poop and vomit and close the pool.

Ah! Of course. Thanks so much!!

My soon to be 4th grade twins didn't quite finish up WWE2 last year (we have several weeks left). Should I just move onto WWE 3, or plug away at WWE 2? They were doing really well in WWE 2. Any thoughts from those of you who have done it all? Thanks.

1. He's not an educator. 2. She's done well to this point, and with Singapore??? I'd say that's amazing. We are dealing with some similar learning issues, minus the CP, and Singapore is overwhelming for my dd. We do CLE and it is perfect. If Singapore gets to be too frustrating and you really want her to learn her facts, consider an approach like CLE where she'll get daily review. 3. No calculator, use the grid. I agree with that. It will at least allow her to see patterns and relationships- not just an answer out of thin air. There's always time later for calculators. 4. These professionals deal with school kids, so they are used to helping kids who are in survival mode. If she were in school, a calculator might be necessary so she could keep up with the class. 5. I used to teach and some of the neuropsych/psychologist reports we would get back were ABSURD! I had a psychologist diagnose a SIX year old, in the fall of first grade, with "math disorder" because she couldn't add or subtract (the test was paper and pencil, mind you). We hadn't even taught that yet!!!!! These reports are all good food for thought, but don't throw the baby out with the bath water. And for heaven's sake, challenge the child! Not to the point of tears, but if she is capable, she should know the feeling of accomplishment and you want her to reach her full potential. One more story and I'll stop. This just really gets under my skin. I am an adoptive parent (foster care) and I had another adoptive parent tell me that he took his FIVE year old in for a neuropsych and the psychologist told the father that the little boy will never live on his own, never get married, and will never have anything more than a basic, repetitive job (like on an assembly line, if that). I was floored!!! The child was severely abused and had only been with his new family for two years. Psychologists know some things, therapists know some things, teachers know some things, doctors know some things, but you're the mama! Take it all in and then take a good look at your daughter. You know best.

We are also Unitarian Universalists. I chose secular only, although we do use CLE for math. I choose what I feel is the best curriculum for my kids.