Thanks for the advice. I think maybe I'll get the hardback book and go back and see what we missed. I think I'll skip the workbook (actually I have level one for my 6 year old) and just try using other reading material we have--I'm thinking maybe the McGuffey Readers might work well. Thanks for the advice, Lindsey

I needs some advice on making WWE work for my 4th grader. I haven't done much dictation with her (she has done some copywork) so I went with level 3. She is doing great with the reading and comprehension and the narrations but is really struggling with the dictation exercises. They are long and there are lots of big spelling words. Her spelling is not great and we are wrking on it with All About Spelling. WWE says to correct any errors immediatly, which I do but then she can't remember the rest of the passage and gets so upset. She misses a lot of the punctuation because she is so upset by the difficulty of the spelling. I really want to make this work but how? Should I just let her write the whole thing and then worry about spelling (not sure this would help as she knows when she has misspelled a word and would still fret about it)? Should I pick other sentences from the reading that aren't so hard? Should I have her copy instead of doing them as dictation? Other ideas?? :confused: Lindsey

"Take that leash off your brother." "The dog doesn't need a leash right now, we are inside" "cats don't like leashes" "if you put that leash on another thing I'm going to loose it!" Said to 3 year old in a public bathroom during "that time of the month" : "no mommy didn't poop in her pants" And of course: "Why are your hands in your pants.... again"

Spent the first year trying to force everyone to have fun! It was no fun! We gave up the illusion of fun 3 years ago and school is much more enjoyable now (and much quicker too) Occasionally we have fun, but mostly it's just get it done! Lindsey

anyone else sudenly realizing that they have way too much curriculum for the next year. Like multiple curriculums for the same subject, same grade level. Argg. For my 4th grader I have: 4 Language arts programs 3 science programs 2 art programs 2 history programs (but only 1 math--finally figured that out!) For my 1st grader I have 4 learning to read programs (some hand-me-downs from big sis) 3 math (again some hand-me-downs) 2 history 2 science How does that happen? And then when it does, do you pick one a stick with it for the year or do you end up flipping between them through the year? Just wonderin' Lindsey

Thanks for all the great suggestions. That ought to keep them busy for a while! They just started the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe last night. I read it to DD several years ago but it was when DS was tiny (and who can read too much Narnia?) Lindsey

Hi Ladies, I've managed to pass bed-time chapter books off to hubby (so I can do picture books with the 3 year old) The problem is dad is picky and has to enjoy the book himself. So... does any one have any suggestions for good read-alouds for my 6 and 9 year olds and hubby? Family interests: Airplanes Adventure Animals (but need adventure) Books that have been a hit with all three: Born to Fly http://www.amazon.com/Born-Fly-Michael-Ferrari/dp/0385737157/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283727125&sr=8-1 Hard, Cold http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Gold-Colorado-Rush-Witness/dp/1423105206/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283727189&sr=1-1'>http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Gold-Colorado-Rush-Witness/dp/1423105206/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283727189&sr=1-1'>http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Gold-Colorado-Rush-Witness/dp/1423105206/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283727189&sr=1-1'>http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Gold-Colorado-Rush-Witness/dp/1423105206/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283727189&sr=1-1 21 balloons http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Gold-Colorado-Rush-Witness/dp/1423105206/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283727189&sr=1-1 Flops: The Moffets (kids loved it hubby did not) 5 little peppers (no one liked it) swiss family robbinson (hubby thought it was slow) Thanks, Lindsey

No, but I am 33! : ) My kidos are 9,6, and 3 so I have a while before grandparenthood but I hear it's wonderful! Congratulations! Lindsey:001_smile:

Thanks! I'll try not to give up hope yet. Actually my spelling has improved since starting Spell to read and Write so I guess the effort is not lost regardless (and if I can improve surly she can too : )

Has anyone ever actually had success with taking a horrible speller and making them a great speller? My oldest (starting 4th grade) is very good at school-- except for spelling. She took the IOWAs this last year and was above grade level for every thing except spelling which she scored 2 grade levels below! We are trying! (and will keep trying!) but it doesn't seem to be taking. We are working on Phonograms using Spell to Read and write which I like but sometimes she tries to apply the phongrams in the strangest ways (Otion--could you guess that was ocean?-- tion says sh-on). I too am a horrible speller! Is it genetic, is there ANY hope? Are you born a good speller or made a good speller (is speller even a word?.....) Help! Lindsey

:iagree: I'm currently reading Sacajawea-- if the Indians could eat the same thing every day for every meal why can't we just eat cereal for every meal?

reread my post and decided it was not helpful. She there a way to delete?:tongue_smilie:

It looks, to me, like pedagogy at it's best at it's best~:glare: I always say, the only part of teaching you need a teaching degree for is figuring out the stupid teachers manuals (and state standards!)

WOW $3,100! Did you totally trash the place? As a landlord myself, I'd say they are totally out of line! You ask for a deposit to cover damages and of course most of the little things are to be expected as normal ware and tear (which is why landlords get a nice tax benefit). If they didn't ask for a large enough deposit that was there mistake (I know because I've made this mistake).

my big black BSD (looks like a long haired Shepherd) always answers the door with me.

PIZZA! Friday night is Pizza and movie night around our house! (course I can't eat it because I don't eat wheat but still I don't have to cook and I don't mind salad so it works) Lindsey

sounds like a "puppy broker" I say run the other way. Why does this lady have the puppies, where IS the mom? Sounds a little odd. Lindsey developmentally puppies need to be with mom and little mates for the first 8 weeks. Issues of fear, lack of an dog play behavior, lack of bite inhibition are likely. Also without seeing the mom and dad you don't know the health/ temperament/ treatment of the parents.

Alright my advice is going to be very different from everyone else.... 1. call the breeder and find out more about the housing situation when they were there. It can make a big difference. Where they in a situation where they were in cage at lot of the time, were they paper trained, litterbox trained? 2. Work on crate training. Make it a wonderful place to be. Throw treats in, leave the door open, let the puppy CHOOSE to go in and have it be a wonderful choice, tie a peanut butter stuffed kong in the back so he has to go in the crate to get the good stuff, very short periods of time in the crate. Go SLOW. It sounds to me like you have already picked a small crate so I'm not thinking the problem is too big a crate (haven't seen the pup or the crate so can't be sure...) Feed all meals in the crate, usually dogs don't like to poop where they ate (usually....) 3. So now what do you do with the puppy until she likes the crate? I'd get a ex-pen (like a doggy play pen) and put her in there with toys, and paper or a litterbox and a bed. She will still bark and fuss but have room to potty. Keep the pen in the middle of everything so she still gets lots of attention, and of course take her out and play with her often. We have a 7 month old mini poodle and one of the best things I did was litter box train her. She had easy access to her potty area (even in the snow this winter), I could leave her for a few hours and not worry. (if you want more info on litterbox training let me know). BTW eventually our puppy did decided she likes to sleep in the cozy crate more then the bed in the pen (which she ripped up sigh) and she like pottying outside more then in the litter box, but it's still there for if we are gone for 3 hours or more. CHECK OUT IAN DUNBARS BOOK "BEFORE AND AFTER YOU GET A PUPPY" Good Luck! Lindsey

I agree you would benefit from seeking family counseling. Also, the ages that your kids are can be difficult for fathers. They are very demanding, they take a lot of the moms time and energy that used to go to dad, and dad is probably gone most of the day so he likely feels distant from a tightly knitt little group of you and the kids. In my experience men bond more with the kids as they grow up. My husband now does lots with our kids and the FIL and my father are much better at the grandparent thing then they were at the father thing. It might also help if your husband has friends who also have kids the same age as yours and friends with kids who are involved in similar activities. My husband flys general aviation planes and gave it up when we got married because we couldn't afford it. Then we had kids etc. and even though he missed it he felt he couldn't fly now that we had a family. Then he met a co-worker who also flies small planes and has a family. We are good friends with them now and he realized he could still do what he loves and involve the family (especially the 6 yo ds love loves getting to fly and work on the airplane). Good luck! And again I suggest finding counseling! Lindsey

My guess is that something (maybe the fire alarm beeping) set him off and now it's a fun trick. I'd go back to step one of crate training. Make it a wonderful place to be (stuffed kongs, dinner etc.) leave the door open and reward for choosing to stay in there. I'd also consider getting a different kind of crate because he will never really "unlearn" a new trick like that!

:iagree: Both of the shelters I've worked for had gov. money because they did contract work as animal control, the money was specifically and exclusively for that purpose. Lindsey

Unfixed Cats: There are SOOOO many cats in this world! SOOOO many litters of unwanted kittens (we personally have fostered 4 litters so far this summer!) If you want the experience of kittens there are others ways to get it! Outside Dogs: Dogs outside learn to have doggy hobbies, very few of which are generally appreciated by humans. An outside dog will be board, and find his own entertainment: barking, digging, chasing and killing farm animals (yours or possibly your neighbors). If you have a truly active farm and are outside 90% of the day then an outside dog will be a happy, happy, happy dog. If you are outside 60% of the time or less expect problems. Dogs are like kids, left to their own devises they come up with BAD ideas! Lindsey (former humane society dog trainer, former service dog trainer, obedience competitor and obedience instructor)

Thanks for all the advice. I think the health issue is definitely a big one. It's really the foster animals that cause the problem. And the wet food that the animal shelter has us feed them because a lot of them are supper skinny little things and sometimes the sick ones have to be syringe feed . I try to remove the food as soon as I see them stop eating. We usually take kittens so teeth are not so much an issue. I'll have to think about the carpet issue. We have almost wall to wall carpet here (even in the bathroom!! That defiantly needs to come out!). Sounds like mostly it's just clean, clean, clean. We do enjoy fostering and I think the kids get a lot out of helping and taking care of the animals so it's worth the inconvenience. Lindsey

Somewhat up for debate. None the less a choice I am certain must have been very painful to make