Butterflies!!! Way more important than some relay race!!! :lol:

This sounds like my 8 year old ds. (PDD-NOS and OCD) He is at grade level in a lot of subjects, but doesn't ever seem to want to challenge himself. No interest at all sometimes. Bare minimum. He wants to know how many pages of math/grammar etc. He interrupts read alouds and wants to know where in the book I plan to stop reading. He absolutely will not participate in most spontaneous learning opportunities. This has always been hard for me because I'm a free spirit. I want to drop everything and play with the preying mantis in the yard and have wonderful spontaneous conversations. I want to keep going in a book if we're having a good time and not stop just because we got to the ocd directed decision that 5 pages was enough (and yes there are tantrums if I push it) I had always wanted to homeschool while pregnant with my son, but I have had to give up the dream in my head of what homeschooling would be. It's a structured and sometimes limiting routine and a battle to expand past it. I also have a 4 year old and a 16 month old that need my attention. I wish I had an answer!!

My 3rd grader can subtract pretty well---but ask him how many more or how many less and he just freezes up. Also if I ask him what two numbers have the difference of 8--it took a while for him to get to 9-1 or 18-10 etc I think this comes with having multiple exposures to the different terms in math. For instance if we're working on the subtraction operation I may use the words difference, answer, result etc while teaching the lesson. So I may say "7 minus 5 is the same as taking 5 from 7 and that gives us the difference and the answer. So the result of subtracting 7 and 5 is 2." It sounds wordy, but if you make it natural and just get all those terms in there at certain times they'll get it. So for a 2nd grader finding the difference for 26-63---she would first have to understand place value, and expanded form 26 is 20+6, 63 is 60+3 and then she would have to learn how to regroup/borrow/decompose...whatever you call it. But it sounds to me it's more a vocabulary issue than a subtraction issue. She just may need help knowing what the word problem is asking her to do. At that age it's totally appropriate to draw pictures of the word problem, or use manipulatives. Word problems are tricky!!!

We use various different math resources as well. Miquon, Kumon, Family Math, Figure It Out, Saxon, random online resources and Scholastic type books and games etc. I think my son would get terribly burned out and bored if we did one thing all the time. He likes going back and doing a fun easy Miquon page or challenging himself with some logic pages. I just like to mix it up and keep it interesting.

I understand where you're coming from too. We have a great speech therapist now, but the one we started with---yeah we had to change and find someone else. Very forceful and overbearing, scared my little guy to death. I understand the frustration.

Read as many homeschooling books as you can find---at your library, interlibrary loan, buy them, whatever. Familiarize yourself with the territory, give your son some "deschooling" time to adjust, and start gathering your materials. Almost every homeschooler tweaks and supplements in some way.

I love your blog by the way!!!

I have OM 4 and I really just consider it a nice resource! The grade levels are where I don't like it. Because it's hard to figure out which one you would want if it's ahead or behind in an area for your kid. I wanted to use OM1 when my oldest was 1st grade but looking at samples it seemed like the lang. arts were way behind where he was already at---so it can be hard to make a decision, especially since it's expensive. It's not that I think my kid is advanced or anything, but if something costs quite a bit I want to really really love it. I got OM4 at a good deal---but the lang. arts and math sections are really useless to us already (except as a review time)--but it has some great history and science activities. I want to like it too---but it just seems to be all over the place. I wouldn't think to use it as a stand alone curriculum, but as supplementary material if you can find it used to save on cost.

We've been working through the Kumon 2nd grade book here. It's our daily habit to do two word problems a day with our math lesson. I have my ds answer in complete sentences as well. We haven't had much practice with word problems and this book is actually too easy for him sometime. I haven't seen Singapore's book.

:iagree: This is exactly the image of unschooling I have in mind. Where I think the radical trend fails in in specific situations. If my son is having an attitude (which he does at times) about doing math that morning, then too bad, it has to get done. Because I feel it necessary for my kids to know how to read, and write, and "do" math. So just because he may want to spend his morning watching Spongebob doesn't mean that's okay with me. I don't believe kids are inherently lazy, and I do believe that kids naturally want to learn. But they need motivation, guidance and discipline. They need a roadmap to a destination and that's are job as parents. But they also need the time to go off the path occasionally to explore something that catches their interest. But if he has an interesting thing going on, I'll let him be. For example, he read James and the Giant Peach in one sitting and started at a time that we usually do some morning math, grammar and a few other things. But he said he really wanted to finish his book---so I let him and it took him most of the morning and early afternoon with two breaks to finish the book. I wasn't going to say "bookmark it and let's do xyz because that is what I have in a planner."

Find the homeschooling laws in your state. You probably already know them, but there's no reason that you couldn't withdraw her just as any other child. Especially sense she is so young, a lot of states don't have compulsory schooling age until 6-18. So legally she may not even be of compulsory schooling age. Some states have different laws about "enrolled children" regardless of compulsory age. You want to find out all of those. Especially since she's almost 6. You can also get therapy from other places besides ps. My son has speech and ot through the local hospital, and depending on your dd's age she is allowed early intervention help through the state regardless of homeschooling or ps. It just all depends on what she needs specifically and what you can do on your own. The workbox system is wonderful---I use it--somewhat modified for our unique likes and needs---but I say give it a try. If you can't handle a daily thing, you can fill up a drawer with weekly things and make a weekly type of workbox schedule. That's how we usually do it. I have a 4 year old--and I try to spend afternoons with him, concentrated time for a few hours. I also take two days and devote to him the majority of the day. Any way you can find to include your dd in your other children's lessons is good too. Chores--we use picture reminder cues for that. Things we need to do daily, and then other things I just ask my kiddos to help out with. make it a fun time if I can. The Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading looked good to me as far as reading. Also Explode The Code has been a big hit here. Kumon books. Sing, Read, Write, Spell (or something like that) is pretty solid. A bit pricey, but if your dd needs a lot of help in some areas like colors etc, it could be good. The Out of Sync Child Has Fun would be a good thing to work through. http://www.kinderart.com is loaded with great ideas. Maybe start her on the first books in the Handwriting Without Tears program. RightStart math or Saxon math have great math manipulatives kits. You can also use some Montessori methods for math. Just keep reading to her. Even if she's not sitting right there with you but moving about the room, just sit there while she plays and read a picture book out loud. I've done that with my 4 year old who thinks siting still while I read a little picture book is torture. But if i read while he is moving about the room, he'll amaze me later with how much he actually paid attention. It's one of my main gripes with ps--that a kid needs to be in this place at this time and still as a stone to understand something read out loud. Also just have audiobooks, or Classical Kids, or music playing during the day. Play easy board games too---that might help her "stay on task" for longer as well. And who cares what people think---it's your kiddo. You'll make the best choice you can! :grouphug:

My son has bifocals to help correct esotropia--on eye always wanders in when his glasses are off. It was a battle to get him to wear glasses when little---but we got there. It was a battle to keep little brother's and (now sister's) hands off---but we're getting there. Had to take numerous frames in for repairs. sigh. My son has some sensory issues--but his lenses darken outside and he hates sunlight more than anything so he learned to love them real fast!! :001_smile:

I also agree that this article is just silly. My ds8 has read every Captain Underpants book there is and a couple of the Wimpy Kids, he also has read Ricky Ricotta (which is also by Dav Pilky). Now I'm not overly fond of those books. My main problem is all the misspelled words. I worry that reading the books a lot, then those misspelled words will become a mental memory and kids may start having spelling problems. And so I limit those big time, and I make a point of talking about the humorous reason for the misspelling. (Even though that bothers me too---the implication that boys can't spell.) I also found the Wimpy Kid series to be a bit too mature in the sexual innuendos for an 8 year old. My son is very artsy---and so that's the appeal of those books, the art. He reads a lot of Calvin and Hobbes, Big Nate, Peanuts. Mainly for the art. One "for boys" trend that we're loving is the Guys Read books. He's reading Guys Read 1 right now. Funny Business. It's a collection of short stories by some amazing children's lit authors. We've also read Guys Write for Guys Read, which has autobiography information or other anecdotes written by some amazing male authors. I'm very much impressed with that whole program! :001_smile: Some other books that my 8 year old son has read: James and the Giant Peach and The Magic Finger Alice in Wonderland (usually considered "girly") Peter Pan Magic Tree House series Charlotte's Web and Trumpet of the Swan Coraline Tale of Despereux He also reads collections of myth and folktales and fairy tales on his own. He loves that stuff and doesn't have a sense that Cinderella or Beauty and The Beast are for girls. Saying a boy needs an alternative to American Girls is like saying that girls only like to read American Girls and not what is usually for boys---that sort of gender limiting drives me crazy. Some of the stories in Guys Read are really fun and I would think nothing of giving it to my daughter.

Another Amazon idea that I've heard about, but haven't tried yet. Getting your kid to write a review of their books. I've always wanted to see if my son would do that, but always *forget* about that particular idea. :tongue_smilie:

I think I understand what you're saying. I don't say we're unschoolers either---after all it's JUST homeschooling right? Whether you're unschooling, charlotte mason, Thomas Jefferson, classical, k12 online, Waldorf, Enki,---whatever it may be that works---it's just homeschooling. But I've noticed that if I say we're unschooling then others seem to have an attitude that makes presumptions about my family that are not true. Mainly from the radical unschooling "trend"---if you will. So using that word is becoming a term of divisiveness in some places....which is unfortunate. I stopped posting on some unschooling groups mainly because I didn't like being attacked if it was known my kids weren't allowed to do/watch/read/listen to xyz or if I expected them to do/learn/watch/read xyz. I know there are a load of people out there unschooling who feel the same---which I guess is why it's called "relaxed"---we're calm and relaxed about it all. :lol: Anything to an extreme is not healthy.

We have always unschooled. I started out very much in the unschooling camp. But I guess I am more relaxed than unschooling because I do expect certain things to get done everyday and I do pick out most of our materials. I do believe that "unschooling" means different things to different people. For me it was just finding a lot of interesting materials, books, projects and not stressing about what I call "school requirements"---grades, tests, reading levels etc. Although we have played with those concepts---my son loves a big happy face 100% to be at the top of his math pages. :tongue_smilie: Saying my son is in 3rd grade is so weird for me---it's more a way to communicate to others his age and useful for when people ask him or we do co-op and sports. But in reality the "grade level" of what we do fluctuates. He's probably behind or accelerated in different areas, maybe even in different topics among the subjects. But that's my definition of unschooling----I'm not grading him, giving him tests, or "holding him back" or anything that is a very bureaucratic ps way of thinking. We just try to learn everyday what is necessary and not an option (spelling, math, grammar etc--things I feel it would be way too risky to wait for a child to show interest in or learn on their own. What 8 year old just says "I'm ready to learn about prepositional phrases"?) and try to have fun with everything else, and not stress about the "shoulds"---that's my main gripe with ps and really structured homeschooling---the "shoulds". Radical unschooling---unlimited tv or vid games, bedtime whenever, blah blah, never appealed to me. I absolutely cannot stand Sandra Dodd (sorry but there it is). I do try to live somewhat consensually with my kiddos. I respect their ideas about what to wear and what they want to play or how they want their room etc. (As long as it does get clean lol ). But they do have chores and a bedtime etc. I'm not going to force them to read a book just because it's in the "curriculum" either---they can read what they like. As long as they are reading. I pick our read alouds and that usually leads to them expanding their reading choices. And I do censor some things---if I don't feel that a book is very good (morally, educationally, whatever---my parental alarms are going off) then it's not checked out or in the house. I do use some curriculum. I do have a structured time for math and lang. arts. and a few other things. I did pick SOTW as our history and I have picked out the science and a few other topics. I want my kids to be exposed to certain things, but where my unschooling heart comes into play is with following my children's lead. If SOTW isn't eliciting some interest (and it hasn't so much) then I shelve it and we do some Am. History (which my son likes better). If we don't do SOTW1 this year or at SWB suggested timeframe will the world end? Nope. I don't follow the homeschooling books or programs I use to the T...they're more like interesting resources I can dip into and use what I like and what I think would work or be fun. I don't like books that are scripted and tell me what to say and how to do it and when, and I don't stress about so-called grade levels. And I know that I would be jumped on in unschooling boards for having those limits. But if you read Patrick Farenga, David Albert or Mary Griffith, you'll find that a lot of unschoolers do have limits---usually tailor made to their unique family situation. I've actually been disturbed with the radical unschooling trend in past years.

Maybe Easy Grammar? I use it with my 8 year old and we love it. It's real simple---no distracting illustrations. It repeats the lesson over and over and the practices are very short. There's a lot of cumulative review as well. I'd start with the 2nd grade book. Also Schoolhouse Rock. My son learned a lot of his grammar when he was younger from those classic songs. You could also look at Writing Strands 1---it's a little booklet full of oral strategies and games to play.

Art supplies are always a hit. I'm surprised at all the building toys posters are talking about. I love building toys but my son just does not. He has a hard time manipulating legos or even planning out how to build an object. He struggles with fine motor skills. So playing with tinkertoys or lincoln logs are more like a torture therapy session than play. He craves large movement so I'd like to get him a swing for his room and a bike---his pedaling skills are finally maturing. Outdoor sports games are fun too---badminton or a tether-ball kit.

I read it out loud with my 8 year old. I'd love to have the audio. I think I would do both, read it out loud and use the audio in a more informal way....just have it playing during playtime for instance. I read out loud the supp books or just let my kids look at them on their own, depending.

I believe a good speller is a child or adult who can figure out how to spell a word they are unfamiliar with by having some of the rules internalized (not memorized). The word beginning for example. A good speller (and reader---because the two aren't separate) would understand how to divide that into its parts be/gin/ning They would hear the phonetic sounds and *know* the rule about doubling most consonants. Or they would know that to spell "stories", you add the vowel team ie to replace the y and we would do that if the letter before the y is a consonant but not if it's a vowel, as in toys. They would recognize this as pluralizing nouns. That comes with daily practice and an understanding that grammar/phonics/spelling are intertwined. I don't think a good speller has to know the grammatical terms or rules, but having a lot of practice with these concepts helps a child do it instinctively.

"I've only told our story in case to encourage you to treasure your relationship with her and be sure to keep it of first importance. We all want our kids to succeed, but at what expense? I'm sure you are doing a great job of that, but I wasn't!" I actually needed to hear something like this today. :)

LOVE IT!!! Thanks for this info! my ds8 loves The Graveyard Book and Coraline and Stardust. (I can't wait to get him into The Sandman) I wouldn't read them to my 4 year old. I'd definitely wait on the Gaiman for little kids. EDIT: Just remembered (how could i forget?)--- Gaiman for a 5 year old or smaller--- try I Traded My Dad For Two Goldfish and Prayer For A Blueberry Girl.

ds8--we just finished reading the last story in Just So Stories. We have picked this book up off and on throughout the years. Somehow it never clicked (except The Elephant's Child which even my toddler loves---I think because we have the picture book version of that). But ds8 finally started to like the stories. We're also reading Burgess Bird Book (again) and playing around with choral poetry reading with Paul Fleishman's book Joyful Noise. (My son is on the spectrum and I'm hoping choral reading will help with his prosody speech skills). ds4- I've been reading a chapter or two of the Winnie the Pooh books to him as well as some of AA Milne's poetry (he doesn't care for the poetry just yet). For bedtime we've been reading every, "Jack and Annie!!!!!" Magic Tree House book there ever was. (Momma is trying to keep her enthusiasm up to match her little man's) He is obsessed with them and actually doing spontaneous oral narrations and learning a bit of history etc. He's been asking for the research guides. So far those aren't a big hit---but my 8 year old likes them. dd15months is getting the Eric Carle treatment1 ;)

I got the intro kit to have the rods instruction booklet and then got more. You definitely want a lot of orange 10 value rods. After a child internalizes the value and has a good grip on basic operations you can play with them a little. We sometimes say our 10 rods represent a value of 100---so you can see quickly why you would want at least 10 orange rods to get to 1000. A base ten set is awesome but rods can fill in for one as well. We've also used the centimeter white 1 value rods to learn about finding the area of a square. They are useful for mult. when you lay out several red (2 value) rods and a child can quickly count 2 4 6 8 and other skip counting skills. You can divide by asking how many red rods (2 value) will go into the purple (4 value). They learn their doubles quickly by knowing things like two yellows (5 value) are orange (10) etc etc. My 4 year old makes stairs and that helps him internalize number sense. And he also makes simple patterns out of them (red, green, red, green, red, what comes next)

And just to add to the previous post. A lot of people use more than one math curriculum or supplement a main one with extra books like Kumon or a website like MEP. Whatever they find and works for them. I haven't seen any math program that I would use 100% as our only math. I've had a lot of success with Miquon, Kumon, Family Math, Saxon, Figure it Out. And some random website pdfs here and there.