:iagree:

A member on here has a blog about teaching young kids to read. I bought the LeapFrog Word Builder toy after ds#2 learned his letters AND sounds at age 26 months, based on the recommendation on this blog. I also let him play a lot of Starfall.com. That's all I did. I just let him play with the toy and the games on the website. I didn't do any sit down instruction. 3 weeks ago it all clicked for him, and he can now read over 65 CVC words. He turns 3yo next week.

:D

2 1/4 C flour 1 t salt 1 1/4 t backing soda 1 1/2 t baking powder 3 ripe bananas-mashed (I squeeze and mush it inside the peel) 3 large eggs 1 2/3 C sugar (granulated white) 2/3 C vegetable oil 2/3 C buttermilk (soured milk works as a substitute) Mix to remove lumps-but don't overbear. Pour into 2 greased & floured bread pans OR 1 9x12 in. Bake at 350* for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. In my mother's family this is known as "banana cake" because it's so moist and sweet.

I added the tag "possessed eggs" so it can be found more easily next time. :001_smile: I still LOL every time I look at it.

:lurk5:

Awww :)

I noticed you're in LA which surprised me because I thought all the CA schools were teaching whole-word reading. That is how I was taught (CA public school in the '90s) and how my friend's daughter (also in CA) is being taught. That's really great that there are some schools out there that are not ruining the kids. :001_smile:

You're right; it's a good way to see where the public school system is. It seemed to me that some of the posters were looking at the public school system as where their kids ought to be, rather than just being curious. I hope I didn't come off as judgmental. :(

They're all sight words! No phonics? This is the type of learning ds5's friend in public school is doing. Whole-word memorizing. She can read "I like the slide" but can't sound out basic CVC words. IDK about the other parents on here, but that does not seem to me to be a good standard to compare our kids to. (Yes, I know that last sentence ended in a preposition. :glare: I couldn't think of a better way to phrase it.)

We selected dh's sister and husband as our kids' godparents as soon as we found out we were pregnant (I do NOT want them raised by my family!) They were with us when we stood at the front of our church and had our sons dedicated (not the same as infant baptism.) But we found out not too long ago that sil was lying, church "really isn't [her] thing," she was only doing it because she felt "pressured" by the family. We found that out after she separated from her husband because of infidelity on her part. Dh and I were livid that she lied to us and stood up in front of our church and promised to raise our sons to love and serve God is something happened to us, when she didn't really "believe in all that." So we asked dh's other sister, who is unmarried, but who's faith we have complete confidence in, to be their godmother. We really need to make a will making it official, though. I don't think it's weird to ask, and I think it is important to have a plan in case something happens.

I have the set that goes with this teapot.

:lol::lol::smilielol5::smilielol5:

I made a Box Day song a while back, if you want to see it. :001_smile: To the tune of "Here We Come A-Caroling." Finally the day has come for your delivery. And here comes the mail man So fair to be seen! Books and toys come to you and a happy Box Day too. And God bless you and send you your package real soon! Oh, God bless you and send your package soon.

Ds5 is a kinetic learner, but is having a hard time with handwriting. I ordered him some letter stamps to help. He likes to type, but it's all very slow hunt-and-peck. Stamps should arrive today!

You are right; I definitely need to work ahead more. I will look at your suggestions. Thank you for taking the time to respond.:001_smile:

I learned to sight read only in a public school in CA in the 90's and I'm a terrible speller. I don't know all the rules (okay, I don't know ANY of the rules; I was planning on learning them along side ds5) so I'm not confident about doing things outside of OPG :(. I'm terrified of handicapping them by teaching too many sight words/out of OPG order words. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and do it, but just the thought of doing that is making me feel panicky (which is a side issue.)

Bump.

Poll to follow. Ds5 is stuck in reading right now. We are still doing two consonant blends, which we started a while ago, but now he's afraid of them :confused: :glare:. I am adamantly against introducing many sight words. He has read all the first BOB books, but the second set introduces more sight words than I'm comfortable with. Same with the HOP books. I'd like to avoid "see" and "like" until he's at those lessons in OPG. I am TERRIBLE at drawing, so my attempts at illustrating the OPG stories on paper is..... not great. I think he's bored, and if he had more, interesting books that he'd be more willing to move forward. And ds2.9 just learned to read in the last two weeks (he turns 3yo in 2 weeks.) (NOT hot housing. He figured it all out playing Starfall and his Leap Frog Word Builder toy.) Ds2 knows over 50 words, but is having trouble with the word "sat" because we don't say that most of the time, so BOB books are a bit confusing for him. I really like the look of the Flyleaf books. I love the systematic phonics approach, and the fact that they avoid sight words as much as possible. Plus, they look MUCH better than the BOB books. (I looked at them because they are mentioned in WTM.) But you can't get all the books on an individual basis, and it's $161 dollars for the first set! I only budgeted $600 for this fiscal year for homeschooling. That was before ds2.9 was reading. Our relatives are in worse financial situations than us, so it's not something they could help pitch in for. And they don't have them at the library. (Our library stinks.) Well, if you read all of that, thank you. I'm panicking :willy_nilly: over ds2.9 reading, and I'm so afraid of messing this up. The poll options should be self explanatory. Thank you in advance for responding. ETA: I did look a bit online, but I didn't see any being sold second hand/cheaper.

:iagree: I make a birthday/Christmas wish list for the kids as ideas of what they like, and only for family. If it was for a friend's kid birthday party, I would think it horribly rude.

Tell me all about external version of a baby They look like this when they come out:

I'd recommend The Dangerous Book for Boys. I've read through it and it specifically addresses boys who spend more time in front of screens than outside. (I would NOT, however, recommend the Daring Book for Girls if you have a daughter. It is not nearly as good, and it has a lot of, IMO, questionable material and messages.)

:LOL: Did you see my egg's picture thread??

I grew up in a church/cult that predicted the return of Christ a few times. My father also did once. He moved us to the beaches of Hawaii when I was 2 because we were suppose to meet Jesus there. After 6 months of living homeless, my grandparents convinced them to move near them. I left that church/cult when I was 18, but the majority of my big family still attend off shoots of that church. But I'm pretty sure even they do not believe the world is ending on 12/21/12.

:blink::svengo: