I am so excited we are going to get to go to Disney but it is sooo overwhelming!!!!!! We are on a budget and there are so many blogs and websites dedicated to getting the best deals but it is just making my head spin. We are completely open to when we go but hoping to find a time that is less crowded and not blazing hot. Should we stay on site or off? Should we pay for the dining plan? Anybody have tips they wouldn't mind sharing??

We had a pretty good day back. We fit everything in except for IEW and there was a few times I had to remind them to get back on track but that is pretty much every school day for us.

A good quality lavender oil on the bottom of the feet and a drop on the pillow work for my oldest when she is having trouble sleeping. Magnesium also really helps us like some of the previous posters. Good luck!

Thanks for all of the info. To answer an above question...she reads very fluently and her comprehension is great but when she is reading out loud she leaves off the last word and when i say something she has no idea what i am taking about because she thinks she said it. when i ask her to read the last word she can do it no problem and if i dont mention it she can still tell me what she read so she is reading the last word silently and doesnt realize it. I also called the ot to ask a few more questions. I asked her if she thought dd showed signs of dyspraxia and she said she can't diagnose but she did not think she had it at all. She said she felt very confident that they would get her up to speed with her peers. I also asked if they tested her retained primitive reflexes and she said no that they didn't find it helpful at her age. She said that she also didn't consider dd a toe walker that her just strikes toe to heel sometimes so that wasn't a concern. So should I go ahead and set up another ot evaluation to get a 2nd opinion? Should that be my next plan of action? Sorry for all of the typos. I am on my iPad and I stink at typing on it:)

Thanks so much everyone for sharing your stories and your knowledge! It has been incredibly helpful!!! I called the therapist back and left a message so I could ask for further detail and I have compiled a list based off your posts :thumbup1: I also am going to make an appt. with the developmental optometrist. I was so happy to find that we have one about 10 min. from our house! I am wondering if I should just cancel our appt. with the pediatrician. Sounds like it might be a waste of time. Also, I checked the DSM and could not find the code but and when I googled it I still couldn't find anything I could understand.

I posted this in General Education My dd is 8. I have just recently noticed when she was running that she was landing toe to heel and she is leaning really far forward. When she is just walking at reg speed it is not as noticeable but when fast walking or running it is very clear that her toe hits first. I don't know how I have never noticed this. She is very very tall for her age and is somewhat clumsy. She is developmentally behind in large motor skills but I just thought that she would outgrow it but now I feel like she should be evaluated but not sure where to start. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Update: Our dr. sent us to an OT for an evaluation and we met with her today to discuss what they found. They said that my dd is behind mainly in gross motor skills but also a little in fine motor skills. With the testing they did she was at 4% compared with her peers. The main things they noted were that she doesn't seem to have an awareness of where she is in space, her balance was off, weak upper body and core. With fine motor skills she has weak hand muscles and her pencil grip was off. They recommended that we start doing therapy 1 x/week for an hour and they are also giving us at home things to work on. It is a play based facility and she absolutely loved it. They were so nice and helpful but I don't know anything about OT so I don't really have anything to compare it too. They did not mention dyspraxia but I couldn't think of the name of it to specifically ask. Thanks again everyone for the great advice!! I just wanted to switch which board I was posting on:) and ask a question. The OT said that she did not detect any visual tracking problems and my dd is a great reader but her spelling is way behind!!! She tested on an early first grade level while at the end 2nd grade and the tester said that is was nothing to be worried about especially since she tested at or above on everything else but it just does not seem to be getting better. Could this somehow be related to the above issues? If so, should we take her to the eye dr.? She has been before but everything was fine but it has been 2 years.

More great advice!! They did give us a formal write up yesterday but under diagnosis it just has a number and Lack of Coordination. I reread over the report (3 pages)and it doesn't mention low tone anywhere. We did ask about the cause of the delays and she didn't really give an answer for that. I already have an appt. set up in early Jan. to go back to the ped. but it looks like I also need to ask more questions from the OT. I found out about this particular OT after posting on a local message board and this is the place almost everyone recommended. Also, what is the psych eval. for? Is that something the ped. will let me know if we need? Trying not to feel overwhelmed by it all!!!

Update in original post:)

Just downloaded it. Thanks so much!

She recently started taking gymnastics but I noticed this right before she started. I said she was behind in gross motor skills but how do you know for sure? I am basing it off of watching her around other kids her age. For example in the homeschool gymnastics class they split the class into older and younger and she gets put with the 5-6 year olds because of her skill level. She is very weak in her upper body. For example she was the only one in her class who couldn't do the crab walk but she is also very tall and solid as a rock so she weighs more than most kids her age. Any sport or physical activity she has ever done even as a little one she comes in last. She has trouble tying her shoe too. I am totally fine if she isn't athletic but I just want to make sure nothing is wrong!

How old was your ds when diagnosed?

Thanks everyone so much. Made an appt. with her ped. for next wed. so we can get a referral.

Thanks! All good info. It's weird though because she doesn't walk on her toes they just hit the floor before her heel and only noticeably so when she walks with speed. She is never on her toes for any length of time. Does that make sense? Not sure if I am explaining this very well. When I asked her if she could walk heel to toe she was able to do it on the first step but couldn't do it without stopping to think about it on the next step.

My dd is 8. I have just recently noticed when she was running that she was landing toe to heel and she is leaning really far forward. When she is just walking at reg speed it is not as noticeable but when fast walking or running it is very clear that her toe hits first. I don't know how I have never noticed this. She is very very tall for her age and is somewhat clumsy. She is developmentally behind in large motor skills but I just thought that she would outgrow it but now I feel like she should be evaluated but not sure where to start. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Update: Our dr. sent us to an OT for an evaluation and we met with her today to discuss what they found. They said that my dd is behind mainly in gross motor skills but also a little in fine motor skills. With the testing they did she was at 4% compared with her peers. The main things they noted were that she doesn't seem to have an awareness of where she is in space, her balance was off, weak upper body and core. With fine motor skills she has weak hand muscles and her pencil grip was off. They recommended that we start doing therapy 1 x/week for an hour and they are also giving us at home things to work on. It is a play based facility and she absolutely loved it. They were so nice and helpful but I don't know anything about OT so I don't really have anything to compare it too. They did not mention dyspraxia but I couldn't think of the name of it to specifically ask. Thanks again everyone for the great advice!!

We just started last week and my third grader is doing: Math: Math Mammoth and Beast Academy Bible: BSGAA Writing: IEW Grammar: MCT Spelling and Writing: Spalding History: SOTW Art: Atlier Foreign Lang: Getting Started With Latin Piano Lessons

What about some art DVD's like Home School Art Studio or Atlier Art? Both are a big hit at our house.

We love the games here too! Great supplement for us. Thanks AprilMay for posting the link to the videos!!!

We went on a nature walk because the weather was so nice out today and I just let the girls take the lead. We checked out a dead snake, dead praying mantis and picked up different rocks and leaves that the I will probably find in the dryer next time I do laundry:) We always take our notebooks, a little hand held microscope and a few nature guides with us but I let them decide what to use when. I might make a suggestion but they usually have their own ideas:) We also stopped by our nature center today because we have a pass and we were procrastinating doing our reg. school work. Nobody was there so one of the workers got out some animals for us to pet. He got out a rabbit, skunk, snake and hissing cockroach. Pretty fun nature day but not a typical one!

We have really enjoyed the Discovering Nature Series from Queen Homeschool Supply. My girls always ask for it when I try to skip it because we are short on time. It is quick and gentle.

:bigear:

Thanks for the great ideas! I will be checking into all of these:)

We use Math Mammoth also. We started off with Math U See but my dd hated it so we started Singapore but that didn't click either. Math was her least favorite subject. So half way through 1st grade we switched to MM and 2 years later we haven't looked back. Great fit for my DD and now she loves math:)

I have two precious DD's ages 8 and 5 but lately I have been ready to pull my hair out. There has been to much sassy talk, arguing, whinning, expecting, scowling, complaining at chore time, and half done right chores (which I make them complete correctly). I have always been so consistant with discipline and expectations that I am just not sure what I am doing wrong or what is going on. I have read on here several times about people taking a few weeks off to work on character training but what does that mean/look like at your house. What are you actually taking time off to do? Just looking for ideas on how to handle this so we can enjoy our summer together and start school in the fall with happy hearts:) Thanks!

Looks great! Thanks for sharing.

If my 8yr old DD wrote this I would be turning cartwheels!! We are really struggling in the narration department.