Both are getting beach towels, bubbles and Crocs with a chocolate bunny.

Great idea!!!!

We have the index cards, cd and book. The cd isn't vital and you can make your own cards but I think they're only 5-6 bucks from PHP.

DS is obsessed with letters and numbers. He cries because he can't read. It's becoming ridiculous. He use to be content making up stories to fit the page but anymore he cries/whines. Leap Frog videos and the book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is an everyday thing around here. These have taught him to recognize letters but not phonetics. I wasn't planning on starting a formal reading program until he was 4 but I think we're going to start with 5-10 minutes a day of OPG next week (I bought for dd but we never used it.) If he's not ready, we'll shelf it. No pressure.

I thought it was okay, nothing great. DD8 liked it but didn't rave too much. Had I known about the playboy seen, I would have passed on it completely. I'm not a prude but thought it was totally inappropriate. DD3 fell asleep halfway through, but he's not much of a movie/tv kid. We thought the bunny pooping jelly beans was pretty cute. I guess we are a little crude. :D

We quickly realized the tiles were too time consuming, so we ditched them and dd writes the words on the white board instead. I'll use the tiles to introduce new words/rules but I don't require dd to use them. I know of other's who don't use the tiles.

$25 for 1 on 1, 1x wk, 30 min. session. She's the only violin teacher within a 50 miles of us.

This is what we've done this year for my 2nd grader... First Language Lessons 2 All About Spelling 2 Explode the Code 4 Writing With Ease 1 Math Mammoth 2A/B Memory Work 30 min. free reading (to herself) 30 min. structured reading (to me) Lots of read alouds. Every once in a great while we will throw in a little Latin, History and Science. But for the most part, we've focussed on the 3 R's since this was our first year homeschooling and I needed to build a good foundation for dd after coming home from PS. It's been a HUGE success and has worked out better than I could have imagined. We're going to stick with the same curriculum for 3rd grade.

Yes! This is what I worry about. DD is a social butterfly but the 'experts' warn that this changes as they get older. There are many other NVLD signs that dd does not exhibit....yet. Sigh.

I don't have a clue about your cat. I love my kitties and it's so hard when they get sick. :grouphug: I'm sorry. ETA: For me, I've put my kitties down when I know they are in pain, not eating, sleeping more than usual, etc. I often think I allowed my diabetic cat to suffer for too long. I was giving him injections 3 times a day and cooking him food.

Prayer, prayer and more prayer. DH was given a chance of a life time job opportunity 5 wks ago. Our income doubled and we were able to catch up on 5 months of mortgage payments. He got laid off yesterday. There was no warning. We feel blessed to be caught up on our mortgage and we continue to look at the positives. He was gone too much and we missed terribly. We know God has a plan and He always delivers. DH and I pray the prayers of Paul.

I'm not a math teacher and grew up disliking any form of math. DD was in PS last year and used EM, ick! I'm convinced this is why we are still playing catch up. We started with RSB and loved it until we got to the middle. RS was too teacher intensive for me. We switched to MM and so far so good for both mom and dd. :)

Thank you for all the advice. After my phone converstion today with the 'boss', I kindly turned down services. She had a BIG problem with me wanting to attend sessions with DD. She said it was protocal for parent's to drop off their children. Plus, they were going to be doing a batter of tests (gentle and fun, I'm sure) and requested that I not be present because it would cause dd 'pressure to perform.' :glare: I will be buying the book and trying it out at home.

Very nice lady, but........... A little history. DD qualifies for Brain Gym through her private service plan through the public school (I pulled her last year from PS and she was on an IEP.) We had our first appointment last week. DD has visual processing issues, crossing midline, clumbsiness, and a possible math disibility, etc. Brain Gym seemed perfect for this. So we go to our first appointment... Lady offered dd a soda pop. ACK! DD doesn't handle sugar well. I politely diclined the offer. Lady was not prepared, she hadn't read dd's IEP, paperwork, etc. She thought DD was in 4th grade. Sigh. Since this is our first appointment she gave dd some 'tests'. One being "Write a paragraph about your favorite toy". ACK! She said she was looking for proper spelling, punctuation and creativity. DD is 8 and we do it TWTM way. She could only write 1 sentence with lots of errors and was very nervous (wants to please everyone.) They then do fun excercises, great. Dd enjoyed this part. We go to set up our next appointment and she informs me we will need to meet at her school since the Brain Gym office is in the process of moving (we met at the lady's house). She explains she's a 6th grade middle school teacher at the public school. ACK! She says I can just 'drop dd off' for future sessions. ACK! I explain I would like to sit in on them in order to learn how to do the brain gym excercises with dd at home as well as see how she tutors dd in math. She says she totally understands and this would not be a problem. So today, I receive a long, drawn out email from this lady's boss defending Brain Gym's sucess and why I can trust them with dd and a list of supportive links. She also offers to give me the names of other parent's in the area who could "share testimonials and who have trusted us with their children." Whoa! Where did this all come from???? Unknowingly I must have offended this other lady since the boss felt the need to defend Brain Gym. I hate to throw in the towel because I could really use the 3rd party help in the math department and the exercises seem perfect for dd (plus the cost is covered.) I just can't help but feel it's not going to work out. Am I being to judgmental, it's only the 1st appt.? Would these things turn you away? I just want to do what is best for dd.

It is so easy to get overwhelmed by all the curriculums. I'm so glad you're picking up a copy of TWTM! :) Homeschoolreviews.com was helpful when people were throwing curriculum ideas at me. I'd jump on over there and read up on the reviews and determine if that program would work for us. I also checked out curriculum from the library, I needed to feel and touch it. I was able to do that with Writing With Ease and Story of The World. I knew what I wanted in a program (after I read TWTM), what my kids needed in a program, my philosophy and teaching style (required scripted and tons of hand holding -- I'm not a natural teacher and lacked the confidence). You're on the right path. :)

I started homeschooling my 2nd grader this year after 3 years in the public school system. It was a huge adjustment for both of us. Take it slow, keep expectations at a minimum and be sure to read TWTM. I decided not to do a phonics program because dd is a strong reader, plus she gets phonics from our spelling program, All About Spelling. I strongly recommend AAS especially if you do not have natural spellers. (I do not make money from AAS, I just really like their program.) :) OPGTR is great for phonics if you feel there's been no foundation put in place. I'd also recommend Explode The Code as a supplement, it's done wonders for dd's reading and decoding and it's a workbook. If you don't know your children's learning style, be prepared to make changes as see fit. Thankfully I knew dd's learning style (auditory) and was able to make good curriculum decisions from the beginning (minus math, ugh!) Sounds like you have a good idea though. I would definitely do science, geography and history together. Less work for you. I've found that curriculum choices for my dd's learning style are important but it's equally important for those curriculums to work for me as well. Have you looked into Latin? Just read TWTM, it's a breath of fresh air and reassuring during those "what the heck was I thinking" moments. :) Congratulations on the journey into homeschooling and welcome!

:grouphug: I can sympathize. We are going through the same thing with MM. Those math facts are hard for my dd to get down but we are going to stick with it (plus, we are 1 yr. behind.) Sigh.

Thanks, I was unclear about this but this makes total sense to me.

I do lots of meals for families since I'm in the ' hospital meals' department at our church. Enchiladas Roast with potatoes, carrots, onions... Pulled Pork Hashbrown green bean bake Tator Tot Bake http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tater-Tot-Bake/Detail.aspx Creamy Chicken http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Creamy-Chicken/Detail.aspx I also take a dessert and side salad.

For my second grader it takes us less than 2 hrs. to finish LA. We use WWE, FLL, AAS and ETC. If dd didn't poke around and daydream, we'd be done a lot sooner. :glare:

Puts my list to shame.:lol: Thanks for all the ideas!

I've seen this posted recently but for those of you who don't know, Netflix now has The Amazing Alphabet, Math Adventures to the Moon and Numbers Ahoy. DS loves them, especially Math Adventures to the Moon.

DD loves them and it's introduced her to chapter books. She also enjoys "The Littles". They've helped dd become more fluent in her reading. They drive me nuts because of the choppy sentences and 'she said, he said' dialog but I love seeing my dd sit down and read a chapter book willingly. :)

Dear Susan, I am forever grateful to you for writing TWTM and for this board. You are a gem and the reason I am homeschooling my kids. Thank you, Michelle

Same here! :iagree: I like to check in with dd every 2-3 pages to make sure she hasn't checked out, but we don't do much more than that. I thought my dd8 would have a hard time listening to good books after attending PS for 3 years (and before my discovery of TWTM and CM) but she loves great books!!! I introduced it slowly and didn't make a big deal about her reading twaddle to herself. Eventually she started grabbing non-twaddle books and I slowly got rid of all our twaddle books from our shelves. I'm still okay with DD checking out from the library a little Junie B, Scooby Doo, Star Wars, etc. for her free reading (rarely grabs for it anymore) but I'm not reading that 'stuff' to her. :D