My 4th grader: MUS & Singapore's CWP for extra word problem practice. I'm making him sit on on younger bro's RightStart lessons as well, as he could use work on conceptual math. He had taken a break from MUS to do TT5, but after the first 28 lessons became confused and asked to do MUS again. He does best with clear explanations & plenty of practice before moving on to a new concept. RS alone wouldn't have worked for him, but doing it a few levels below grade level (we're using Level C) is really reinforcing some familiar concepts in new ways. My 3rd grader: RightStart with Singapore's CWP. He asked to do TT5 for fun, too, and is really enjoying it so far. I hadn't planned on adding TT for him, though. I figure it can't hurt. :D My preK dd: RightStart A & Singapore Early Bird 1A. We don't do this every day. She really wants to do lessons & both of these programs are pretty gentle. Kelsy

We're taking a break, and I was reading the boards for a bit of relaxation, when all of my kids started shouting "Oh no!!!!! Mommy, quick!!!" Turns out my 2yo ds had put his foot in the toilet and was flushing. :001_huh: They're all safely playing out back where I can see them now. :D Kelsy

I remember having this "problem" in early grade school. All 3rd & 4th graders played the recorder, and I remember looking at the music only because that was expected. After moving between 4th & 5th grades, I was in music class at my new school, and the teacher was explaining something about reading music (rhythms, I think) and all of a sudden everything I hadn't learned over the past several years clicked into place and I thought "I already know all this!" Really weird. So it may not be a total loss. Maybe a different approach to reading music at just the right time will help your dd. :) I do hope it "clicks" soon. :) Kelsy

Similarly, the Mirena works by thickening cervical fluid, hindering sp*rm motility. It's also theorized that the IUD itsself acts as a barrier to the fallopian tubes. The hostile uterine environment is also present, but it's not the primary means of birth control. (I did not want to use a bc method that relied primarily on preventing implantation, as that would bother my conscience. If that's a third line of defense, however, I feel OK about it. I did a lot of reading before deciding on getting the Mirena for this very reason. I'd heard the earlier info on IUDs as well, which caused me concern.) When I was reading up on the copper IUD recently, I read that it causes the body to produce more progesterone, so I imagine you'd have some of the same effects with it as with the Mirena. Kelsy

Well, I'm pretty sure sp*rm can live longer than that. Even longer than mentioned in TCOYF, too. I was charting when my last ds was conceived and, um, yeah. I'm pretty sure. :D Kelsy

We've used Spell to Write and Read in the past, so I had ds use the same method in his first CW Aesop lesson. I have him read the word, then say how many syllables it has, then say the syllables one at a time, breaking them up into their individual sounds as he writes them. I clarify any of the phongrams that might be ambiguous. Then, he dictates the sounds back to me as I write them up on the board. We go over any markings (for example, underlining a long vowel at the end of a syllable or marking a small 2 over a phonogram that makes its second sound) and we're done. You'd really have to be familiar with the phonograms & spelling rules/markings of this system to use the spelling analysis section this way. You could just work on spelling words your own way, though, if you'd rather not get that involved. :) Kelsy

:grouphug: Sorry you're having to deal with that. I used to be one of those people (before my own dc were "school age".) I know in my case, dh and I had already decided to hs and we were curious to see how other hsed kids felt about it. I really isn't a useful question, though, is it? Hope you recover from allergy rot & don't have to deal with stupid questions for a while. Kelsy (who remembers being asked "do you like school?" many times by well-meaning adults when she was younger!)

I'm about to have my Mirena removed. I've had it for about 6 mos, and have gained 5-10 lb. :glare: Also, my body composition has changed. :glare::glare: So it's back to NFP and Diaphragm (during fertile times). I gained a bunch of weight when I tried the minipill in the past as well. I guess my body doesn't like progesterone or something. :D I'd really hoped that Mirena would be different since it's such a low dose, but no luck. After dealing with 4 mos of spotting on the thing, I now have no monthly anything, so that part is nice. Not worth the weight gain, though; it doesn't feel healthy for me. The Ladycomp thing looks intersting; I'll have to check that out.:) (Sorry if this is TMI) Kelsy

:iagree: I'm reading this book right now, but it's helping me already. (I have a 10yo ds who is taking Suzuki violin lessons; his teacher highly recommended this book to me.) Kelsy

Thanks! I've bookmarked this. Dh will especially enjoy these. :) Kelsy

Singapore's Earlybird 1A does. In MUS, they start out by counting, but then transition to using colored "rods". At first they count the bumps on the rods, but eventually they memorize which colored rod is which number. That's where I am right now. :) Once we get to level B (which I anticipate will be in 1 1/2 - 2 years) we'll camp out on the topic until she gets it (as Siloam did) if needed. Kelsy

I'm using RS A with my to-be-5-in-October dd as well. :) She, too, counts the objects (most of the time.) At first I was worried about it, as the TM so clearly states that they should be able to "see" the quantity w/o counting. Looking at other math programs, though, I see that many of them encourage counting early on. (For example, I recently looked at an old copy of Ray's on Google books. Also MUS primer, which I used with ds8 when he was 5 has them count at the beginning.) So I'm choosing to continue and not stress about it. Ds8 started out by counting (using other programs), but when I started him in RS B, he did absolutely fine. I figure if dd counts groups of 4 enough times, she'll recognize that that particular arrangement is always 4, and will not need to count anymore. (She does see 1 and 2 w/o counting. Lately she hasn't felt the need to count quantities of 3 either.) Also, RS B repeats everything that RS A covers, so we'll have a chance to do this again. We are going through this quite slowly, only 1/2 a lesson at a time, and not even a lesson every day. She loves workbooks (:confused:) and so we alternate with Singapores EarlyBird 1A. (Oh, and I'm not doing the taps. Maybe that's a mistake, but after reading how many kids didn't get it, and the author's note that it isn't absolutely essential to the program, I decided to drop it after it was quickly leading to dd's frustration.) So, that's my approach. Who knows, maybe I should push for mastery and this will come back to haunt me, but based on my other dc's experiences with numbers/math, I think she'll be fine. :D ~Kelsy

Perhaps you are a "Crunchy Con" like me? ;) http://books.google.com/books?id=jHbKAAAACAAJ&dq=inauthor:Rod+inauthor:Dreher Kelsy

A Longaberger basket (I used to be a consultant) and a Trader Joe's canvas bag. Kelsy

Last year I took a course on the History of the English Language through the U of Wisc Independent Learning program. It was interesting, but demanding, and I had to take an extension to finish. I'd love to take their Latin courses, but don't have the $$$ right now, and probably not the time, either. (Dh is finishing up his degree right now.) I did enroll in the Master Knitter level 1 program through The Knitting Guild of America, but haven't actually done much work on it recently. :) Kelsy

My 2nd ds didn't "get" reading until I used Spell to Write and Read. By having to work backwards (saying the sounds in a word & then writing the sounds in order) he eventually figured out how to decode words. We had previously tried 100 EZ lessons (which worked well for my oldest ds) and Phonics Pathways with no success. I'm currently using All About Spelling level 1 to teach my dd how to read. (We're still working on phonogram sounds.) I tried 100 EZ lessons with her, and it didn't connect at all. Kelsy

Here's a site with free music theory instruction: http://www.gmajormusictheory.org//Fundamentals/workbooks.html This might be helpful, too (free music theory worksheets): http://www.musictechteacher.com/musicquizzes.htm :) Kelsy

Hopefully at age 13 you'd be able to get a good ways into the program. Especially since you already have the program, I don't see any reason NOT to use it. (BTW, I think the author has used it with adults learning English as a second language.) :) Kelsy

I, too, struggle with fatigue. Here are some of the things I take: TrueFocus by NOW (two amino acids that help with energy, plus certain vitamins & minerals, Ginko Biloba & CoQ10)-this helps me to "get going" in the morning I also take Cod Liver Oil (Nordic Naturals) and drink Matcha tea (1/8 tsp. "Go" Matcha w/ some hot water, honey & milk). I intend to take these daily, but don't. :) Around the afternoon I start to slump again, and I've just started taking a sub-lingual vitamin B supplement. It seems to be helping. In the winter, I use a sun lamp (not regularly, though I need to). Lately, I've also started swimming/using the tread mill at the gym. I started by running for 10 minutes on the treadmill at a moderate pace. I add 1 minute every time I go. I only make it to the gym 1-2 times a week, though. Getting excercise in with school, kids' lessons, and dh working is not easy! Amazon (& other places) sell some power nap resources. I bought a 20-minute power nap CD. Sometimes I'm still exhausted by afternoon/early evening, and this really helps rejuvinate me. (Mostly when I really haven't had adequate sleep the night before.) All of the above make a small difference. Combined, I finally feel "normal" most days. It seems ridiculous to have to do all of this just to get through the day without being exhausted, but at least I've found some things that do help.:tongue_smilie: (I don't have an auto immune disease that I know of (though my mom does have MS) but I've struggled with Winter Blues/general fatigue for the last 14 years or so.) I hope you find something that helps, Kelsy

We also use the RightStart abacus. It has two sides. On side 1, the beads alternate color every 5 beads, making it really easy to "see" numbers up to 100. On side 2, the abacus is to be used horizontally, with two bars for units, two bars for 10s, two bars for 100s and 2 bars for 1000s. Ds8 used this last year to add four-digit numbers with ease. He can visually some things on this abacus, too. I am not at all familiar with the Chinese or Japanese abacus. I used a regular 10-bar, 10 all-one-color beads per bar abacus in elementary school in Germany, but IMO the RS abacus it much better. :) Kelsy

I just started RightStart level A with my almost 5 yo dd. We don't do it every day, and when we do, it's usually only 1/2 of a lesson. It's pretty gentle, no writing so far, just fun mommy time for her. :) Kelsy

My oldest ds has a September birthday just after the cutoff. (Everywhere we've lived so far has had a late August or Sept. 1st cutoff.) I started him in K right before he turned 5 because he was ready. Around 3rd grade things started getting too tough for him. He seemed to hit a plateau, and we had a stressful year where I was trying to get him to fit my "mold" of a 3rd grader, especially since we'd "fallen behind" in math. (He was still reading way above grade level, but that was all he was "ahead" on.) Dh & I discussed this, and we decided that if relabeling him a 3rd grader the following year meant that I'd be able to relax and let him learn at his pace, then it would be a positive move. I'm glad we did this. I know not everyone needs to do this in order to do what's best for their child. Even though I knew that the whole grade level designation is pretty arbitrary, it did affect the way I approached my ds. So, if you're anything like me, I'd recommend you call your ds a preschooler, but work at whatever level he's at. You can always re-evaluate around 7th or 8th grade (so you know when to start counting stuff for high school). Kelsy

Sounds YUMMY! Wish I could try it here...dd has a corn sensitivity, so corn chowder & corn bread would not be advised here! We, too, are having breakfast for dinner tonight. Kelsy

Here's the one I plan on using with my dc in a couple of years: http://www.opentexture.com/ I don't have personal experience with it, though. (I've had 3 semesters of college Greek, but wouldn't recommend the text we used for children, or even for self-study. :)) Kelsy

Another über-planner here. :) (Admission: I often enjoy planning even more than the implementation of my plans. :D) The older dc have had more of the formal preschool time, mainly because I was eager to get started with some academic-type stuff. We did Saxon K, the ETC primers, and 100 EZ lessons. My dd, who will be 5 in October, has been begging to do schoolwork like her brothers. I bought some HWT materials, and we've been building letters & slooowly working through the preschool workbook. We also started the ETC primers, and I recently started RightStart A with her. She has a few other workbooks (R&S preschool series, and Singapore Earlybird 1A as well as some cutting/coloring books.) I'm not as crazy about these, but she loves doing workbooks, and is always asking to do them. I also have AAS1 and we're slowly learning phonogram sounds in conjunction with ETC. I know that she could learn all of the phonograms in a matter of days rather than months if we waited, but there it is. :) We also read aloud regularly. Other things she just picks up on from being around her brothers' schooling. She memorized a poem they were working on, and knows some Latin vocabulary. This was totally unprompted by me. :) As far as readiness goes, there is no way she'd be ready for ps K at this stage. Her fine motor skills are developing, but she can't copy the letters in ETC, for example. (I write them, and she traces over them.) She's still pretty wild and wiggly, and that's fine. I don't think that any one "lesson" we do takes longer than 10 minutes. I used to feel guilty when I read about other moms who "just" talk about concepts in everyday life, discussing math while cooking or grocery shopping together, etc. For me, it takes such an effort to remember to do all of those "natural learning" or "teachable moment" things. I do better with a plan. A book I recently read (http://www.amazon.com/MotherStyles-Personality-Discover-Parenting-Strengths/dp/0738210455/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220546208&sr=8-1) uses Myers-Briggs typology to discuss how mothers differ in their approaches, and that each type has her own strengths and weaknesses. It's helped me accept my style, and not feel guilty for being what I'm not. (Not that I'm a finished product or don't need to improve myself!) Oh my, this turned into quite a ramble. Hope there's something helpful in there. Gotta go feed the kids! Kelsy