I have no experience in this area to answer your questions, but I did want to say that I find the spelling examples you gave to be perfectly normal spelling for an 8 year old.

Well, it's a little late in the year, but she could actually raise some different species and chart differences in how long they are in the chrysalis stage, or the times of day they are likely to emerge (in my experience, which is dozens of butterflies, they seem to often come out in the morning... not sure why). Maybe she could photograph all the stages and note the differences in the butterfly life cycle and the moth life cycle. I have some great photos of a monarch emerging from its chrysalis if she needs it. :D Maybe for monarch migration, she could access data gathered by one of those monarch-watching groups that tag the butterflies (I think maybe Monarch Watch and Journey North or something like that). She could determine the migration/number trend over many years and make a projection.

Hahaha! Me too!!:tongue_smilie:

I feel your pain deeply. I am considering starting Grammar Island and a couple of the others. It's beyond ridiculous that it should cost us THAT much more than an American would pay, when 1) our dollars are about the same and 2) sometimes shipping across America is actually MUCH farther than shipping to Canada, depending where it's coming from. Grrrrrrrr! :mad:

As long as there are no nut allergies, you might find marzipan easier to model than fondant. Bonus--marzipan is yummy almond flavour, while fondant is kinda ick. Treat either of them like playdough. Roll out, model, even paint with food colouring after modeling, or add bits of food colouring to the "dough" before you model different parts.

Here are some things I would try: - Allow him to write with a very smooth, high-quality ink pen--the kind that has thin marker style ink and a little ball. The reasons are twofold. First, it can reduce muscle fatigue and feel so pleasant that the quality increases. Second, you might be able to make a deal with him--"As long as you are writing carefully and leaving spaces between words, I think you're grown up enough to use a pen now." The novelty and responsibility can help. :) - When practicing letter or words alone (ie. cursive practice, not other assignments), let him use things other than paper. White board, salt tray (my dd LOVES this), shaving foam with food colour on a tray. The last two are so enjoyable, plus the form of the letter enters the brain through at least three senses: sight, touch, smell. - I have a Scholastic e-book called "Cursive Writing Made Easy and Fun", and it has lots of great ideas. For example, there's a "handwriting hospital" section where kids work on diagnosing problems that poorly written words and letters have. There is a mini book to make that contains the very best sample of your child's handwriting for each letter (cuter than it sounds here!) They also teach the letters in groups that make sense, such as the "mountain climbers" for letters that start with an upswing. Very visual, hand-on, fun! Good luck. :)

Some suggestions: Get manipulatives to really *show* her what's going on when you find a percent of a number (try a "hundred board/chart") or when you relate fractions to decimals, or find a fraction of a number or add fractions (try cuisinaire rods or fraction overlays). These don't have to be used while she is doing her work, but they give her a visual reference point if she understands more concretely what's going on, rather than just massaging numbers. I would absolutely go back and solidify these areas before moving on. Math Mammoth has the individual downloadable books for areas like fractions and decimals. They're cheap, conceptual, and really good. I would also insist that she gives you, either orally or on paper, a logical estimate for each and every question of this type before she sets to solving it. First of all, it will orient her thinking to "what it all means". It will encourage very useful mental math skills. And it will reduce mistakes. If the question is 25% of 205, she should be able to say, "Well, half of approximately 200 is 100. Half of that again would be 50. So around 50 or 51 will be my estimate." Then, and only then, solve. If the numbers are coming out way off, they're forced to realize they're on a wrong track and will try again.

I hear you--I'm in Canada, too. :) As for your question, you never know... your main reading program may be just the thing for her after she has a little more time, experience, and blending under her belt. I like Explode the Code, too. Also certain elements of Reading Reflex. BTW, Between the Lions should be accessible on the PBS website.

You're probably not going to like this answer, but at age 5, I'd probably just continue with "fridge phonics" :D for a number of months. You can do variations of it, like hide-and-seek phonics, where you give the child an index card with a simple word ending (like "at" or "og" and so on) and then hide other index cards around the room with single consonants on them. Make it a game. For every card she finds that actually makes a word with the original ending, give her a point on the white board. I'd spend time on blending games, too. You can probably find lots of examples by googling. Try watching episodes of Between the Lions, which is supportive of the reading process and very appropriate, and try their website where you'll find blending games, among others. After a few months of this casual reading fun, try again with a program. One more suggestion: Peggy Kaye's Games for Reading. (book)

Well, I haven't done that particular program, but these are all pronounced exactly the same way: er as in term, ir as in bird, ur as in unfurl, wor as in work/word/world, ear as in early. Of course, ear can also be as in earache, but the list you gave is (I presume) trying to teach the single sound /er/. The reason the group wor is given, is because there is a pattern that "or" right after a "w" is usually pronounced the same as /er/ instead of /or/.

I get my beeswax candles from the health food store and from the honey sellers at my local farmer's market.

Two: the Discovery toys one with the additional pack and the suction cup window marble run (also from DT).

lemon chocolate hazelnut anise

We use and enjoy Sylvan for spelling, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. You can get the books separately or in one volume together. The spelling/vocab works pretty much the way you're asking for.

Magnesium. Magnesium saved me, truly. I used to suffer from the most intense, realistic nightmares. I thought there was something wrong with me. I started taking a tsp. of magnesium citrate (in a form that dissolves readily in hot water and is absorbed much more easily and thoroughly--brand name is Peter Gillham and the product is called Natural Calm). This truly got rid of my nightmares, or at least brought them down to a normal level of the occasional "bad dream"--nothing like I used to have. I've tried the capsules and they don't work for me. I highly recommend this particular product, because that is what stopped my restless legs, nightmares, and insomnia. Take it each night right before bed. I also cut out coffee and believe that helped with falling asleep. If you need an extra boost, I'd also take a capsule of melatonin about 2 hours before bedtime for a week or so to really get the sleep happening.

I'll save you from being a thread killer! I think that's my job. :tongue_smilie:

She's gorgeous! Reminds me of my old cat, Comet (had those same markings, just shorter fur). Does she have a little Siamese/Burmese in her? My cat would be SO ticked off if I brought a kitten home. I tried simply fostering one for a few days, but it did not go well. :(

:D

I would do poetry forms around grade 6 or 7, although some of the simpler ones can be started earlier. I probably would require a simplified bibliography (just a list of books and authors) around that same grade. Formal bibliographies by around grade 8 or 9. I wouldn't have a grade 4 doing a speech longer than a few minutes. I'd stick more to narration, personally.

:grouphug: Thanks! I, for one, definitely wasn't upset, but I really did want to make a few points about looking at more than post count alone. I do feel like us regular newbies need a little defending on this board. :)

Awesome! I'm so glad someone else gets the steampunk thing. My poor daughter has been so excited about us putting together this costume. But then every time she says "I'm doing a steampunk costume" to anyone, they just look at her with huge question marks in their eyes. Literally not ONE person we've said it to has had any idea what we're talking about. Best of luck with your costume! Let's start a halloween pics thread around the 31st to show off what we've all come up with!

You're missing a major part of the formula. Post count alone can't possibly mean anything. We all had to join sometime... you happen to have joined well over 3 years ago. I joined about a month ago. You might look at my post count around 150 and think it's low, but if I keep up this rate of posting, by the time I've been around as long as you have (over 3 1/2 years), I'll be at over 5000 posts. Why can't people here just accept that it takes awhile to build up a post count? I'd look more to the *quality* of the history of a person's posts than anything else. If they've stirred the pot a number of times, now that might be a reason to think anything other than "newbie".

I agree with all of the suggestions so far, but I would add this: be absolutely sure to always give kids *sharp*, high-quality scissors that have a good, smooth motion and don't have any "dead spots" that don't cut. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to do a good job with crappy scissors. I gave good scissors to my dd even when she first stared cutting around age 1 or 2. It requires training and supervision, but it's worth it.

For sure, some people are much more in tune with beauty than others, and can be moved in a way that most people wouldn't understand. For my part, my eyes well up at many things that other people miss entirely. I do think you're right--there may or may not have been drugs involved. I don't think it should be an automatic conclusion.

Lucky you! I hope the universe pats me on the back soon, too. :D