I would highly recommend getting the Feingold program materials. It involves more than just cutting out dyes. You also eliminate certain preservatives, which aren't always listed with the ingredients. For example, some products might have a preservative sprayed on the packaging, and that would not be listed as an ingredient. There's also the salicylate aspect to the program. In Stage One, you eliminate them entirely. In Stage Two, you can slowly start adding them back in and watch for a reaction. We've tried many things over the years including GFCF, but the Feingold program is the only thing we've done where we've seen a very clear-cut improvement. We suspected DS was having absence seizures, and he was definitely exhibiting some OCD behavior. When we started Feingold, both of those things disappeared as though we had flipped a switch. We already avoided food dyes, and ate mostly natural and/or organic foods, but we still saw a big change. Another good thing about Feingold is that if you do decide to eat non-approved things, kids often seem to tolerate the foods better if they've been away from it for a while.

I've had good luck using baking soda in the wash, then vinegar as a fabric softener. That works most of the time for me, but recently, I had a load that was really bad. I put everything out in the sun for a full day, and like magic, the smell totally disappeared.

Some of it you could make yourself if you really wanted to- the cards, and the place value cards, for example, but those pieces are pretty reasonably priced and sturdy, so for the amount of work it would take to recreate them, I'd probably just buy them. The clock is nice to have. The min hand turns the hour hand too, and the mins are all numbered. You can get the tally sticks at Dollar Tree, but you do need those. You could probably use something else instead of the tiles, but you'll use them a lot, so they are nice to have also. You could skip the reflector, and probably the geoboards too if you absolutely had to, but the latter are used a couple of times in A and B. You can definitely skip the CD. You can use a different calculator. The balance is not essential (but it is fun). The card games book- meh. A lot of people seem to like it, but I think the games in the text are enough. I used real coins instead of the plastic ones. The appendix pages are nice to have- they save a lot of work, but you don't have to have them.

Sounds like a potential dairy allergy to me. Any eczema? That's another classic sign. Babies who are allergic to dairy are frequently allergic to soy as well.

The recycling thing is wild! What's to stop people from buying the $1 binder just to get the $2 off? Do poly binders count? I stock up on those every year, but would love to trade them for Better Binders. I too was a skeptic about the price difference, but they really are nice, and one of those areas where it's worth it to splurge, imo. I'm going to re-use several from last year and use some of the cheapy ones for storage.

The pre-order price is only $56.85!

I would go with a water birth, doula, and classes. My OB offers something called a paracervical block. Not many doctors do it, and it's short acting, but can get you over the hump towards the end. Might be worth asking about.

For me it was the castile soap and pierogies.

You said you tried coconut milk, but have you tried So Delicious coconut creamer? I like the original version, but it also comes flavored. I actually prefer it to dairy 1/2 and 1/2.

We're in the process of switching from Suntrust to USAA right now b/c of this issue.

I have a SN 6 year old. We've been doing 1st grade work for 3 weeks. Narration is tough, but I've noticed that if I read a few sentences, then ask a question, it helps a ton. Sometimes I'll pause and draw a picture of what's going on, or give him some type of hands-on explanation. For example, we were reading chapter 2 in SOTW today, and I could tell it was going right over his head. I brought him into the kitchen and flooded a little bowl inside of a baking dish, and made a spoon a house, then asked him if he would like to build a house on the banks of the Nile. He loooved that. He can usually tell me at least one thing from the story, but it's not always the main idea. A lot of times he'll tell me he can't think of anything, but if I just pause for about 30 seconds, he'll come up with all sorts of stuff. He's doing well with reading. Today he read a chapter from Frog and Toad Are Friends, and he did well with that. Math- math is tricky for us. His delays affect his math abilities. We're doing RightStart B, (did A last year), and we're doing all of the review just for reinforcement. He has a hard time with anything that does not have a visual representation, but he is adding a bit, and seems to really get the concept. He does well with part/whole type stuff. He has some minor fine motor issues, and his handwriting reflects that. He still frequently reverses a few letters and numbers. He has a hard time keeping letters a consistent size, and tends to place them all over the place. He actually enjoys doing a certain amount of writing though, so I'm hoping he'll improve a lot this year.

Another choked up SN mom here. Give your daughter a big hug from me. She did an awesome thing! Kudos to you too, Mom!

Wow! It's beautiful!

Oh wow, yes, I was talking about Skedtrack. Sorry! The acronyms around here still throw me. I was wondering if I was losing my mind for a minute! :lol: Well, think about Skedtrack in that case. :)

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but I disagree with the other posters. Today we skipped spelling. We should have done lesson 4 today, and lesson 5 tomorrow. I will not check off spelling today, so tomorrow's plan will show lesson 4, and Monday's will show lesson 5. I believe there is a box you can check that says "always on schedule" so that it won't do that, but that feature is what I really like about the program. I had a really hard time figuring out all of the quirks, but the videos helped a lot. I think it will work perfectly for you. :)

One other thing- keep in mind that providing this type of input regularly, as opposed to doing it after he's starting to lose it, will probably go a lot further. Easier said than done some days!

I'm going to throw a lot of stuff out there. Take what works and ignore the rest. :) -lots of playdough -stress ball -vibrating toothbrush/teethers/chewy toys (they make ones for people- don't use dog ones b/c they have higher levels of something bad (I want to say lead) -gum, chewy foods, applesauce through a straw, milkshakes through a straw -weighted blanket (if you can sew, you can make your own for much less $) -weighted vests or lap pads can be good as well -mini trampoline -wheelbarrow walks, bear walks, crab walks -swimming -make DS sandwiches with pillows- push gently and as evenly as possible -lots of long baths (adding epsom salt may help) -picture schedules -5 min, 1 min, countdown from 10 warning before transitions -timers- I especially like the Time Timer- Amazon has a good price -get a big plastic bin and dump a huge bag of rice in it. You could also use dried beans instead. Fun for digging in, playing cars in, etc. It will get on the floor, so keep that in mind. I just ignore it, sweep it up, and dump it back in. It's totally worth it. -Swinging might be good as well. If you don't have a swingset, consider just putting up 1 swing. If you can do that and a tire swing that spins, that would be even better. -Consider allowing jumping/crashing on the bed -Consider trying some dietary interventions. The Feingold diet has made a big difference here. We also do gluten/caesin free, but haven't seen the same improvement from that. -Consider an eval by a good developmental pediatrician -Try Googling Wilbarger Brushing Protocol. Usually taught by OTs, but it's not that complicated. - check out http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/ Hope this helps a little. Let me know if you want me to clarify anything. It can all be so overwhelming at first, especially when you already have your hands full with a spirited kid!

What type of input is he seeking? Bumping and crashing type stuff, auditory, tactile, something else?

Thank you for sharing! :)

This thread is making me feel incredibly grateful that the next town over has an amazing ILL program. If I had to pay a fee for each book I get through it, I'd probably need a second mortgage! Our county library is pretty pathetic, and this other town's is just so-so, but GA has a system called PINES that allows any GA resident to check out books from any participating library, and they all loan to each other. I believe we're allowed to have 30 titles out per card at one time, so we could get over 100 if we wanted to. It's also computerized, so I sit at home and order all of my books, and they email me as they arrive. I can only think of 1 or 2 titles I haven't been able to get. We can also renew online, which makes it easier to plan ahead.

I don't know where it was posted, but here is my old one.

Smart idea! Mine tip over at times.

I switch out the buckets for holidays. :) I've also done the dowel on the wall with these, but this works better with our current set-up.

I was surprised when our dentist told us she was fine with DS1 not using toothpaste. She said dry-brushing can be just as effective, if not more so.

Thank you so much for sharing these. You did a beautiful job on them! I've been looking around a little on your blog, and I'm very excited to have found it because you have a ton of great ideas. Thanks again! :)