DS goes to football academy every Saturday morning. We also go swimming when the weather allows it. We have tried to get ds on a bicycle but he hates pedaling. Other than this we are not stressing over PE.:mellow:

YES! And also... I write what we did on the day on an apoointment book (it was a freebie from dh's company) and whenever I get the chance I enter the data on HST+. This way I can keep a record of what we have done in case in need it and it is portable (good if you live overseas).

I get asked if I'm a teacher A LOT! The fact that I don't have any degree makes people nervous. "How do know what to teach, then?" is usually the next question I get.

I'm a bit farther away than Hawaii so every time I order something it better be good, not to mention it may take anywhere between 2-8 weeks to arrive. Grrr.... Lately I am going with tried and true for this reason.

(sigh) Guilty here too.

I learned a bit with my mum. Then I never did anything again and I am re-teaching myself again. I am using youtube videos! At the moment I am working on a baby blanket.

First of all :grouphug: We have been in pretty much the same boat. Moving jobs, houses, countries, gone back and forth, lost everything a couple of times in the process, etc. We have come to accept the only thing normal is what we call "our little family". We strive (sometimes quite successfully) to maintain a certain consistency in our daily routines. We try to be kind to one another. Even when we are grouchy and morose we hold each other (literally) and wait for the storm to pass. Yes, many times I have felt like exploding and a few times I have. Our ds went through a phase when he was out of control and it took months to get him back to normal. It was mostly trhough consistency and lots of patience. Not like I'm an expert or anything but I hope this helps.

I am using these along with Word Mastery. DS has made really good progress with both. After using another phonics programme which did not work the primer is doing the trick The look is old-fashioned but very charming. My copy of the primer has a charming set of cursive writing and many of the lesson have both printed and cursve writing sentences. I use these to get ds used to reading cursive.

I love the post. Thank you for the link. Languages are an important part in our household. My mother language is Spanish and Latin was one of my strongest subjects. Later on in life Latin helped me learn English. To me it is not about speaking in Latin (unless you are a priest you are not likely to practice your verbal Latin very often), it is about providing a foundation for many other languages. Same goes for Greek. Of course we will have to wait and see how everything works. I'm reading the comments about LL here with great interest. At the moment ds says he wants to learn German. :tongue_smilie: I feel streamlining is good. It leaves room for other things. Don't get me wrong. I love WTM. It introduced me to classical education. LCC I feel is providing the focus we need to make the classical approach work.

I am reading the book because I like the idea of "Multum Non Multa". I know these days we are supposed to teach a thousand things but it doesn't work for us. DS likes doing things in depth so I find this book's approach perfect for us.

:iagree: Not only we do this but if and when we travel back to the UK I order all kinds of things online and have them delivered to a friend's house so we can pick the stuff up while we are there and bring it back with us. BTW we are not using a boxed curriculum because we haven't found one with all the choices we like together in one place.:tongue_smilie:

Praying for Jean.

There are a few threads about this: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=345672&highlight=penny+gardner http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=273927&highlight=penny+gardner We are using Penny Gardner's book. It was easier for us because it is an ebook and we live overseas. I find I can make as many prints of the exercise pages as I need. The author using the first 14 lessons to teach basic italic print and then the second half of the book is dedicated to cursive. The book is a text and workbook in one, giving a step by step lessons from letter formation to joins. The last bit offers some copywork both in print and cursive. The italic font used in the book is almost exactly the same as Getty-Dubay. I have not used GD but I have starwrite so I make additional copywork. For what's worth, ds is doing much better now that we have switched to italic handwriting.

Got a few things. Map skills and Spanish short readers. Thank you!

I make backward checkmarks too! I only use them for my notes but then write "right" checkmark on ds's reward chart because I caught him doing my weird ones, so... I write with my left, but I use right handed scissors (when I grew up there were not any others). I crochet with my right, but knit continental style (holding the yarn in my left hand). I use knives,screwdrivers,and tools with my left but throw and catch ball with my right. The only two times in my life I've slapped someone (you would do it too if someone pinched your...) I used my right hand! :tongue_smilie:

My ds is 5yo. We have been doing reading for about 4 months too and he does many of the things you say your son is doing. I was told by another mum that this is fairly common at this age. Also I notice that ds tends to make these mistakes if the reading lesson gets a bit long, or when he struggles with a word and we overdrill -in other words when he is growing a bit tired, or a bit bored.

Our ds has speech issues too. A few months before his 5th birthday he couldn't do so many things. Last year we did "Reception" (light K) and this year we are doing a CM kind of K. We are focusing on the 3 R's. All kids mature at a different rate...but they all get "there" in the end. I found ds has made huge improvements in a few months. Some kids mature in fits and starts.

I would definitely go for a second opinion. Even a third. If it is the reading glasses thing, yes, it happens (it's happening to me already!). :glare:

Uhmm. besides this one: A Little Bit of Structure (UK hs forum), mumsnet.net (they have a subforum dedicated to hs in the UK). Ravelry.com is my other big forum fav. 3rd place goes to the long hair care community forum. I'm a hair product junkie!

I'm going to introduce Star Wars to ds from 1 to 6. Why? Because I think he may enjoy watching Anakin as a sweet little boy. DS is a young boy and the back to front will only confuse him (well, he's only little). Also, watching the first movie after seeing the last three I can see that it is a bit like watching Titanic where you already know what it is going to happen. It takes a lot of the suspense away if you know Anakin is going to survive pretty much everything he encounters and then turn into a baddie. Why care for him in the first place, right? Well, this is MY theory anyway (I know there is a couple of holes in this theory but WTH).

I'm arriving a bit late to this discussion but this is what I do: I write and cross everything but left to right. However, I "hook" my hand over the page. I keep my paper turned 45 degrees anti-clockwise (so it looks like I'm writing up the page, is this makes any sense). Because of the hook hand I drag the pen, I don't push it. Sometimes, especially if I am using very wet ink there will be some smudging as I make my way down the page. When I write birthday cards I usually start writing from the bottom up to avoid smudging -so yes, I write the kisses and the signature first and the text above starting with the last line and work my way up. I write this way because my teacher didn't know what to do with a leftie and I was left to figure it out on my own (shrugs). p.s. How come we haven't got a smilie for "shrugging" in the forum?

I thought the eye thing you get with age is that you have to hold the book you are book farther and farther away -literally at arm's length -hence the term "reading glasses". Is this what your doctor is talking about??

:iagree: Same boat here.

:iagree: I was using a cursive programme from the UK and my child was in tears. After making good progress with handwiting prep exercises ds totally regressed. I switched to italic handwriting, beginning with basic italic printing. My chid is regaining his confidence and we are making slow but steady progress. As for the "won't be able to read traditional cursive" -not worried at all. DS can read MY traditional loopy writing just fine. I just keep exposing him to all kind of handwritten documents so he gets uses to all diferent cursive styles.

Very interesting. Ta.