Wow, thank you for all the feedback. To clarify some things I didn't mention before -- She'll be 7 in Oct.; we're about half-way through first grade. She can read the sentences well. (She's finished OPTGR and reads at about 2nd-3rd grade level). She has learned to form all the letters with a writing program (D'Naelian). She does make implusive mistakes forming the letters now that she doesn't have to think about them; sometimes crossing an "l", making an "a" instead of an "o", etc. but she always catches herself right away. Her vision has been checked by a reg. test and is OK. From a personal opinion, I don't think it's a problem. Yesterday, we were doing Highlight's Top Secret Adventure. She had to find the suspects on a page full of tiny people and found them extremely quickly before I was even done reading the instructions. But this is something I would have to follow up on the recommendations to be eval. by a developmental optometrist before I could rule this out. We're doing the latest vs. of WWE1 and FFL2 (just started). We don't do more than one copywork per day which is 1-2 sentences. I always sit next to her and try to guide/encourage her along. At one point, I told her not to worry about her penmanship and just go as fast as she could. This worked that day and I've seen her say this to herself to self-motivate a few times. But anxiety over forming neat letters didn't seem to be the reason holding her back. I've tried offering small rewards for completing it in two, five or ten minutes, but this hasn't yielded consistent success either. We took a two week break. This didn't help either. I am really wanting to understand why she's having trouble with this as I don't see a reason for it, more so than wanting to cut back because whatever the issue is, I want to see if there's something I can do to help her. She does get very distracted when she's about to do copywork, with her nose itching, her seat, she has to take a potty break, she gets hungry, she suddenly hates pencils, anything. It's just hard to understand why she doesn't have these issues when I dictate sentences to her for spelling! (She also does quite well in spelling). If she had problems writing in both these areas, that would make more sense. Today, she did WWE1 W25 D1 Copywork. She was about to pick the short sentence and said she was just going to write fast and not worry about the letters. I told her, that was OK, but if she picked the short sentence, she should try to make nice letters and if she picked the longer sentence she could just go fast. She picked the long one so she could go fast and she did OK. But it's just not very consistent. Tomorrow she might just outright refuse to do any copywork like earlier this week. So, I've picked up that I need to get her vision tested. In the mean time, should I just dictate the words to her when she can't get going? And I just read that last msg. Yes, I'm having her eval for ADHD next week.

It takes DD way too long to do copywork in WWE1 and FLL2. On avg. around 30 min. On FLL, she's copying a couple of poem lines from The Year and it's become like an insurmountable object now. I'm not sure if it would be ok to just dictate (and in some cases, spell out) the sentence(s) for her? When doing AAS2 spelling with dictated sentences, she doesn't have a problem. Any ideas? Does anyone else have a similar issue? :confused: Should I consider a diff. curriculum that doesn't make use of copywork.

Ooh, I just ordered another book that looks very good A Child's Introduction to the World: Geography, Cultures, and People - From the Grand Canyon to the Great Wall of China Heather Alexander, Meredith Hamilton

Thank you for all the feedback. In the past couple of days, I have been starting to realize that first grade could be a better fit for her after all. I will probably still ask to have the testing, but I guess I don't need to feel like she's loosing a year as long as they can place her at her level in individual subjects which it appears that they can do. Also, it might not go so well, demonstrating that she's mature enough being that SPD issues may make her seem even more immature than she is for her age. Thank you for the advise to tackle one issue at a time. Testing first and then SPD/ADHD issues. I also need to figure out what the min. required in school time is for dual enrollment so I can still do some homeschooling with her. I've gotten some mixed responses from the school. I plan to have her evaluated for ADHD in the next couple of weeks so we'll be better prepared for next year, both for school and homeschool as the work becomes a little more demanding. We visited the school a couple of days ago when I went to turn in the registration papers. After a while, DD was not feeling too great about it. I could tell things like the crowds of kids and noise in the gym were bothering her. On the one hand, I feel like I'd be doing her a disservice by sheltering her from this type of environment as it will never give her the opportunity to aclimate to it or similar situations. On the other hand, it may be too much for her deal with and hinder her learning. It's such a fine line to achieve a good balance -challenging her but not having school be too hard for her, giving her exposure to things that may be hard to deal with but not make it overwhelming, giving her the opportunity to socialize with peers but not having her be socialized by them.

I only recently got the letter that she had been picked for a spot. When I called, I mentioned our situation and they said they'd have an administrator call me back to discuss the possibility of testing her into the next grade. It sounded like they weren't too rigid about it as they would be at the regular PS. But I'm just concerned about trying to impose all my other conditions/issues on them. Also, I have no clue how well she would do on a test like this. I imagine, she'd have to demonstrate a high degree of competency to be moved up, more so than what would be required, say on testing at the end of 1st grade to make sure the child is ready to begin 2nd grade the next year. Because she has SPD, sometimes she manages to concentrate really well and amazes me, but most of the time, it's a struggle to help her execute what she knows even if she knows it well.

Hi, I'm new to the Afterschooling Board. I started HSing DD last summer with K. We are now half-way through 1st grade. Earlier in the year, I applied to a charter school whose philosophy sounded appealing mainly as a plan B in case there was a reason I couldn't homeschool later on. I would prefer that she had the option to go to this charter school than the PS. Well, she made the lottery and got a spot for 1st grade, following the PS calendar with a birthdate in Oct. I started considering sending her there to give her more social opportunites for one, as she has no neighborhood friends and also because I feel more confident about the foundation I've laid down for her HSing. Other reasons are a preschooler that is ready to start reading and requiring more attention if I don't want to send him to preschool next year, and a toddler requiring more attention too. The problem is or problems are, I should say - she got a spot into 1st grade but due to my irregular HSing year, she will theoretically be ready for 2nd grade in the fall. She's not a super achiever or anything, it's just due to our schedule. (1) How to convince them to consider her for the next grade up especially when they are a charter school and all their spots are taken so to speak. I don't know if she can wow them on a placement test well enough to convince them to put her in 2nd grade. (2) She has attention issues. I think most are due to SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) but I believe she has mild to moderate ADHD. She hasn't been officially diagnosed. She may need to be medicated in order to keep up in a class environment. She may need special accomodations. This may make it harder to convince them to put her in 2nd grade. (3) I may want to do dual enrollement so I can still cover some subjects at home and ensure she doesn't fall behind. Again -asking for more accomodations. After all this, I feel like things are getting too complicated. But at the same time, I feel like I need more time for myself and other kids while she would get exposure to things I can't offer like music, dance. They also have Spanish (which I would love for her to do), gardening, and some progressive teaching approaches integrating concepts throughout different subjects, etc. What to do? Is it worth persuing this complicated set up? Opinions? Feedback?

Is anyone having trouble getting the Redemption Form from this page http://www.scholastic.com/kumon/learnandearn/ ? There's no actual link there.

I've been wanting a secular moral character type of curriculum too so I'm so glad I ran across this thread. This one looks interesting especially with the recommended books. Does anyone know of any others like this for the sake of comparison. Thank you.

No, it' been like that for weeks

I had just started using them and then wasn't able to access the website anymore. wondering how to find them again.

I don't claim to know the answer. But I've read THE book and my DH also does not like to read (he worked with the CFRs on OSHA's website as a programmer) and if I may, he's not a very good reader. However, I told him he was just going to have to get over it and read aloud to the kids. Since we started when the kids were born, there wasn't too much pressure with baby picture books and and a non-critical audience. He reads at night to the 1 and 3 yo. and sometimes fills in for me for the chapter book read alouds to the 6 yo. The main thing is that they see him reading. If your kids are older, I guess it might be tougher. But maybe you could encourage DH to find something, anything of interest to read or pretend to read. I actually got my husband interested in the Twilight books (which took quite a bit for me to even get interested to read them). You never know.

I know, it's ironic I couldn't come across any snails when there are those that just want to get rid of them. I was tired of putting this lab off and skipping around it though. My DD needs LOTS of motivation to get into things so I didn't want to do the unit without them. I need all the help I can get.

OK. I think the Usborne Encyclopedia includes an atlas. At least that's what I've gathered from the title. Yeah, I saw this on Amazon and it looked really cute and interesting. Yeah, I kind of think they might be too detailed for her too. She's not great at coloring. It's more the kind of thing I would love to do if I was being homeschooled ;) but I'll try it out. There might be some pages that will motivate her and give her more practice in coloring. This or these (there are 3 of them) are the ones I'm not sure about. I might get A New Trip Around The World as it is newer (I like new stuff) and it has Chile which I think is a present day, relevant country and is usually not included in many studies I've seen. Instead, they tend to favore Peru which is maybe more historically interesting. I guess, then I'll see if the other two books are worth it. But I'd still love to see more of what's in these if anyone has used them. Thanks for all the great info. That's great to know I propably don't need the other book then. Thank you!

Thanks for the info. I just went and got two fresh water "mistery snails" which we will keep in a Critter Keeper until we're done with the mollusk unit and then I'll give them to a friend with an aquarium. I bet I'll find a garden snail tomorrow!

Cool. My DD(6.5) just started reading these after just completing OPTGR (I got the 1-28 set) and I didn't notice they had the RL on the back. Thanks.

I decided to get Expedition Earth. I'm trying to decide what additional books I'm going to get. I've put these in the shopping cart so far: The Usborne Geography Encyclopedia: With Complete World Atlas Geography from A to Z: A Picture Glossary (Trophy Picture Books) Wonders of the World Coloring Book - Dover Sticker Dolly Dressing Around the World Around the World in 80 Tales Peoples of the World - Usborne (not sure if I'll like this but I looked at the more popular Children Just Like me at the library and it felt kind of outdated. If anyone has any opinions on these or other suggestions... Also considering A Life Like Mine) The other ones I'm not sure about are A Trip Around the World. Are these really worth the price? I can't see what's in them. Any feedback/suggestions appreciated.

Has anyone done the mollusk unit in R.E.A.L. Life Science? I can't find any garden snails. I'm thinking of just getting a fresh water snail from Petsmart. Feedback ? :bigear: I'm not sure what their lifespan is though and what would be the best thing to do with it later. (We don't have a permanent aquarium).

Cool thanks

Ditto

OK, I decided to just get Expedition Earth to make my life easier. I have a preschooler starting phonics and a 1 yo that may stop napping in the mornings at any time. And I'll be using some of the resources suggested to me here. So, now I'm trying to decide what additional books I'm going to get. I've put these in the shopping cart so far: The Usborne Geography Encyclopedia: With Complete World Atlas Geography from A to Z: A Picture Glossary (Trophy Picture Books) Wonders of the World Coloring Book - Dover Sticker Dolly Dressing Around the World Around the World in 80 Tales Peoples of the World - Usborne (not sure if I'll like this but I looked at the more popular Children Just Like me at the library and it felt kind of outdated. If anyone has any opinions on these or other suggestions... Also considering A Life Like Mine) The other ones I'm not sure about are A Trip Around the World. Are these really worth the price? I can't see what's in them.

We'll have completed our first year at the end of May. I started DD in Kinder last year as soon as she was done with Preschool. We started 1st grade on January and I just realized we're about half way through! I can't believe how fast it's gone and how much progress she's made. She finished the OPGTR book today in fact. I plan to start 2nd grade in the fall after a small break provided she's ready of course. And I have a 3.5 yo in preschool now that is interested in starting reading. I'm a little nervous about doing two kids especially when the 1 yo stops napping in the morning. But I'm hoping to figure it out.

We just finished RSM Level B. I considered switching but decided to stick with RSM. Because DD is 6.5 I'm going to review/supplement with Singapore Math 1B. (There's things she can do but I'm not sure she really gets). I thought I only needed the Textbook and Workbook but ended up buying the HIG. It's not worth the effort without going through the whole lesson plan with the HIG. I also got Math Mammoth to supplement with worksheets in weaker areas. After this, we'll be starting RSM Level C when she's closer to 7 and 2nd grade. I think RS still lays a better foundation than the others. The other methods help solidify it and make sure they can apply it in different contexts.

Not sure where to post this but I've been trying to access the Salsa videos on GPB's archive database website for the past few days and now I get nothing. http://dl.gpb.org/vsx/GPBPro/diglib_search/search ???

Did anyone listen to the free light & laser e-class from Supercharged Science today? (It's just finishing up now) Does anyone use this program and what do you think about it?

Also did the Insect Lore kit. Probably didn't need to get this large of one. It had ten larvae. They're in the adult butterfly stage now. It's been really neat.