So, my kiddos are both under 2...obviously I've got plenty of time to look at materials and such, but has anyone followed TWTM suggestions for preschool and kindergarten more or less exactly or does everybody make adjustments from the beginning? At this point I'm planning on following the recommendations pretty much exactly for the first year and then adjust as I learn. Is that pretty typical? Also--does anyone actually do all of the Slow and Steady book's activities with their toddlers? My ds isn't remotely interested in paying attention to anything I try to do with him no matter how informally. Plus, I don't feel like he's ready for the activities suggested for his age. My dd is 6 mos and she does seem more engaged when I try things, but she's really interested in everything regardless. If I don't do all of the activities with her, will she end up seeming to be behind as he does or can I pick and choose based on when I've got time to put things together?

Plymouth is a great area...there's also the Plymouth (pebble) Rock and Mayflower II. The rock is free, the Mayflower is usually included with entrance to the plantation. In my experience, a reasonably full day is all you need for the whole shebang. I drove in from my (then) home in MA, so I don't know about staying there or anything, but since it's coastal, there'll be lots of places and other things to do--not to mention the cape is right there with all of the lighthouses and other things to see/do. It's really wonderful--very interactive. I haven't been to Colonial Williamsburg, but I think it's MUCH bigger. Hope that helps!

The danger with picking your own is that you'll have no way to know the strength of the leaves and, therefore, the dose you're taking. Look for a tea (or capsules) that are certified potency. I second googling this, as well. I know the Hypnobabies website has some information about natural remedies, etc related to pregnancy and that RRL Tea is one of them. I used the capsules personally and had no ill effects, but, of course, it's always hard to know whether or not they actually did anything. Also, I would look specifically at when in the pregnancy it's appropriate to use RRL. I think it's one that is good at the end, but at the beginning can be an abortive...or maybe that's something else...I dunno--look it up! Speaking as the daughter of a chiropractor, I'd say ask more questions and talk to a certified naturalist in addition. Happy baby-cooking!

He makes it clear that he understands everything and we do talk to him and around him all the time. Taking that straight from TWTM--I talk about everything we do together and sometimes he babbles back. Thank you all for your quick feedback! I think I'll talk to my dh about maybe setting a date that we'll stop therapy unless something changes (like end of the month or something). I've pulled up our state's Early Intervention program, too, to see if it seems like a second opinion could be helpful.

He's picked signs up really quickly, actually and does sometimes use them out of the blue and without prompting to show us he wants food/milk/water/diaper, etc. That right there should probably say that he's just taking his time vocalizing, shouldn't it?

That's kind of my feeling--since he's not interested in the learning activities she does with him, maybe he's just not ready. He loves to learn things, but likes to figure it out himself rather than being pushed.

I'm not suspicious about her diagnosis--we had already noted that he's really not interested in interaction. That said, it does appear to be more than just typical parallel play. He's fine with playing regardless of the number of children around and does so pretty typically. The issue is that another kid can come up and throw him down but he won't even acknowledge he's been touched. Or, we'll sit on the floor with him and play with his toys next to him, but we can talk to him, say his name, offer him a toy, etc and he won't even acknowledge our existence. I have to shout his name in a very loud, shocking voice to get him to even glance at me (and yes, his hearing is fine--if he hears a plane or a car outside, he runs to the window from the other side of the room and if he's in the mood, he'll babble back and forth matching sounds I whisper without him looking at my mouth). He just refuses to do anything that he hasn't initiated.

I agree with previous posters--I'm lefty, my dh is lefty and we both cut lefty. It's just about practicing and experimenting with righty scissors. I do, however, remember using lefty scissors initially (back in the plastic scissors ages) and then I just naturally transitioned to regulars. Lefties have to be flexible and practice is what brings that ability.

I know a toddler doesn't really fall under homeschool, per se, but I consider you all better parenting experts than the average. So here's my situation: My son wasn't using any words besides Mama, Dadda, and Yah (and that often incorrectly) at 18 mos, so the pediatrician recommended a speech pathologist. She came to our home to assess him and determined that he was delayed not only verbally but also socially. He spends the majority of his time playing happily on his own and becomes frustrated if we try to play with him (unless he initiates it, which he does periodically for 5-10 minutes). So we're a couple months in to 2x/week home visits in which the pathologist brings different toys to try and encourage him to interact. We're also upping our sign language use and making a very concerted effort to provide over-the-top encouragement and feedback when he uses words, or even babbles. Is this just my ds taking his time starting to talk and being an independent soul or have others used very early intervention speech pathology with success? As long as it's worthwhile, we'll keep doing it, but after this many weeks, I don't feel like he's responding to her at all and I'm not sure I'm learning anything new about working with him myself. Thanks for suggestions/experiences!