Thank you! Needing some inspiration...

Yep! I have the Kindle app on my iPad and use it there. I have been tempted by an actual Kindle because of portability, size, and not having a back-lit screen, so less hard on the eyes. But with the app, I haven't taken the plunge yet.

Oh perfect! I think dd needs some vocab work so I've been looking for something. This will be perfect for now.

Could you tell me where you managed to find these as ebooks? Thanks!

I caved to their wish for Princess Diaries. Not my favourite. We've seen A Little Princess, Arrietty, Kit, Frozen, Tangled, Enchanted (although it's worth another view!), etc. I forgot all about Ever After!!! That will be next time for sure. As I long for the age to introduce Mr. Darcy ;)

I have the night alone with my two daughters, ages 8 and 10. I'd like to find a good movie to watch with them...maybe something that wouldn't be enjoyed by or wouldn't be appropriate for their 6yo bro since we have the chance to watch without him. It would be even better if I could find it on Netflix!

Thank you very much for your encouragement, OneStep and OhE. It's nice to be in good company with people who have been here before and understand. As much as he tries, dh doesn't ;P He is very much of the opinion that "it is what it is, it'll all be fine" and doesn't worry about it. We did have a good chat last night wherein he pointed out that he too struggles with reading comprehension and expressing himself clearly and succinctly and yet, he's led a successful and happy life. Once he started drawing the connections between himself and dd I could see it. It was encouraging. I did feel like I lost a year off my life! Wowzers. The reality is that I just don't want dd to have any problems....right? I don't want her to have a diagnosis, I don't want to make accomodations or do therapies. She has always been very, very bright and so this is difficult to accept. Her younger sister is nowhere near as academic and I feel like it would be an easier pill to swallow if it were her. I hope that doesn't sound awful. Instead, I see the little sister surpassing the older in matters of comprehension. She just finished a book and I asked her a bunch of questions and she could remember everything, even down to little details, and give me the exact answers I was looking for. The other night we watched a movie (What Katy Did) and older dd totally missed some of the undercurrents that little dd completely understood. I will definitely post an update...

We had the first part of dd's assessment today. The SLP is using the CELF-5 and we got through about an hour's worth and then decided that dd was tiring and we'd be better to come back next week to finish up. The suspense is killing me....she wouldn't comment on anything at the end of today's appointment, other than telling dd she has a great vocabulary and keep reading. Once dd left to get her coat I asked if she was seeing some of the issues I had talked to her about and all she would say is that she has to wait to score it. The first portion of the test was looking at a group of pictures or hearing a group of words and being able to identify which belong together. She did very, very well there, getting up above age 15 (the SLP told her because it was the first part of the test and dd seemed nervous so she wanted to boost her self-confidence). Next came listening to instructions and following directions and she excelled there as well. She then had to look at pictures and create sentences based on the picture with a given word or set of words. To begin with something like a family reading and playing games and the word was "reading", so she said, "Dad is reading the newspaper." Moving on to a picture of a boy doing his homework while his friends play outside and having to use the words "unless, able", so she said, "Unless the boy finishes his homework, he won't be able to go outside to play". There were a couple near the end that she just skipped and said she couldn't construct a sentence. In some that she did manage to come up with a sentence she'd start, stop, continue, change her mind, etc. Or just pause a really long time before being able to come up with something. But I have no idea if at that point she was working at, below, or above grade level. Following that she had to repeat sentences after the SLP. She did quite well - thank goodness for dictation!! Near the end of that section she started to struggle. She was able to repeat the sentences but sometimes substituted other words. They retained the meaning of the sentence but weren't verbatim. She had to define vocabulary...she struggled. She was given a word and then a sentence containing the word, like: "Little. Dad said there is little left in the bag." She had to say 2 things about the word. For that one she said, "Not much, a small amount," or something like that. As it went further she began to struggle. For example, pedestrian she defined as an old person, negotiation as a group of people. Committee as a group of people or a sponsor. Finally, the SLP read 4 small paragraphs and asked her to answer questions. This is another area I saw a lot of struggle and it's exactly what I saw at home that has been concerning me for the past 2 years. 4 years of WWE and I still don't feel like I've been able to teach her how to identify the important elements of a narrative!!! Or how to read between the lines and kind of connect the dots or synthesize information. Some questions she answered adequately, some were just downright wrong, and there was a lot of struggle to put words to her thoughts. We go back in a week to complete the test and then the SLP will score it and let me know the results. I admit that tonight I am feeling pretty down about it. Affirmed in that there are struggles exactly where I knew there were but realizing that I was really, really hoping I would find that I was wrong and was just expecting more from her than is appropriate at 10 years old. I don't know...I guess I have a shred of hope that the SLP will say she was within grade range. In each section she started strong and then in some started to struggle the further on it went...and I don't know how the test is structured. Although with listening to a paragraph and answering questions I think we're screwed lol Unfortunately right now my reaction is to feel like I should have picked up on it sooner, sought outside help sooner, etc. I also am wondering if this is somehow caused by our homeschooling situation...Is there something I didn't do enough of? Would she have been better to be in school and surrounded by language and conversations all day long? She reads a lot and listens to a lot of audiobooks but that doesn't require interaction. She doesn't have to understand the book and converse with it. If she misses some sort of undertone she just keeps reading and gets what she gets. She doesn't have to respond to the book and try to put her thoughts into words. All things that she would have done more of naturally at school, simply in conversing with friends. I really wish we could have gotten our results today. I am a big ball of stress waiting for the final verdict.

My fifth grader is using it and loves it. It's really helping her develop as a writer. She resisted a bit at first, mostly due to the length of the assignments and creative, fictional writing not being her strong suit. Now, however, it's something she looks forward to and she's particularly enjoying writing poetry, both in the curriculum and in her spare time. We will definitely use level 2 next year (at her request).

There's a poetry unit in The Creative Writer.

Okay. I dont even know where I would find that. This SLP used to work for our school board (she now has a private practice) and she said usually the resource teachers would do the testing because the SLPs are too busy. I guess I'll see what I get from this and DORA and go from there. I honestly don't even know what labels we might be facing.

Why a psych eval? I am seeing learning challenges but not anxiety/ocd/depression or anything like that.

I would really like to use this program but I checked it out yesterday and it would cost $40 to ship to Canada!!!! Their ebooks are a different format as well, not PDF, so I don't think I want to go that route either.

Thank you for your encouragement. Could you elaborate on what you did to address the weakness? I have, as I mentioned, had dd working through CLE Reading (which is very good!). I've also stopped more frequently when reading aloud to ask questions and have her make predictions. Further, I used 2 Glencoe lit guides so far this year alongside a read aloud. I am seeing small improvements but still don't feel confident that she is as skilled as she should be by grade 5.

I have finally made an appointment to have dd 10yo tested for comprehension issues. I have felt for a couple of years now that there are issues, but assumed they were exposing weaknesses in our homeschool and tried to handle them internally. For example, I started dd with CLE Reading in 4th grade because I felt she could use more practice with reading comprehension. Now we're nearing the end of 5th grade and I'm still seeing the same recurring issues. Dh thinks she's fine, but my gut says otherwise. Now, she's my oldest, so I'm inexperienced and could be wrong, but there are things I think she should "get" that she doesn't. She's always been very, very bright but things are starting to fall apart a bit. I see her struggling with synthesizing information, making inferences, finding specific details in a passage of reading, understanding what is being asked of her in math word problems. Occasionally I will give her a verbal direction and be left scratching my head by what she thinks I meant. Her writing is decent but sometimes she struggles to get her thoughts on paper in an organized, logical way that will be clear to her reader. We are going to see a speech and language pathologist in the next couple of weeks. I don't know what test she will be using specifically but it should test auditory, reading, and writing comprehension. I'm also considering administering the DORA at home. I'm nervous. Honestly, what I want to hear is that I'm off base and she's totally fine for this stage of development. Or even that she's just a late bloomer and is switching into logic-stage thinking a little later than her peers. I don't want a "diagnosis". I'm afraid I won't trust it if I get one and that it will overwhelm me. I don't know what it would mean for us going forward. This parenting and teaching gig is hard.

I'm sure you're right, but I needed a bit more hand-holding. We are doing the narrations, but not the outlining or writing about a book a week....maybe I need to give that lecture a re-listen!

I found myself in a similar predicament. We stuck it out with WWE 1-4 even though it was a struggle. Well, truthfully, we canned level 4 at week 20 or something. Anyhow, as much as I love SWB's philosophy of writing instruction, I was starting to feel uneasy that dd hadn't done more writing and that her peers at public school were turning out "reports" and "essays". All that to say that I opted with Essentials in Writing, Level 5. It goes over paragraph construction, pre-writing exercises, mechanics and grammar, as well as exposing the student to narrative, persuasive, descriptive, and compare and contrast writing. There is also a section on writing a research report. It's definitely a more traditional approach to writing but dd has enjoyed it, and as an added bonus for me, there are DVD lessons! It's given me a break and her an exercise in independence as well as exposure to another teacher and teaching style. Additionally, we have LOVED The Creative Writer, and I've already purchased level 2 for next year. And I do intend to begin WWS 1 with dd next year, for sixth grade.

I would wait. My gr 1 student isn't retaining near the amount of information as my grade 3 and grade 5 students.

I used the 40L quick screen, which someone here had linked in another thread: http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/readinggradeleve.html Your responses are part of the reason I'm confused....I feel like I'm doing everything to provide them with what they need to be very successful readers! All of the kids use All About Spelling, which I think gives them a solid understanding of phonics. We are using Level 2, 4, and 7. We also use ETC, at least through Level 6. My 6yo just finished level 3 and my 8yo just finished level 6. Every day during our circle time I read our Bible reading and poetry selection. I often read a missionary story as well. We do a read aloud at lunch time (things like Winnie the Pooh, Caddie Woodlawn, Folk Tales from Around the World), and read alouds at bedtime. Often at bedtime each child is read to separately; occasionally 2 children share a bedtime read aloud. Right now my youngest is listening to Peter Rabbit read by Dad and I am reading the girls Cheaper by the Dozen. Everyone does their own reading, every day, unprompted. We use the SL readers and my 6yo is using the grade 2 intermediate level and my 8yo is using the grade 4-5 pack. My oldest is reading the readers with Core E. I ask the comprehension questions with some regularity. My oldest is also using CLE Reading, grade 5. She is on a waiting list for a comprehension assessment - it is supposed to cover reading, writing, and auditory comprehension. Again, I'm not as concerned about their reading levels, as they aren't behind, but I am surprised that with all that we are doing they are not ahead with reading level. Make sense?

Seriously, it really is that good. I despise doing experiments but I have faithfully done the ones in this book and don't dread them. They are simple and effective - they stick with my kids and actually aid their understanding of the concept at hand.

Ok, I think we'll go with AG. Interesting to know that the video is merely the instructors reading from the textbook! I may have to reconsider buying the DVDs.

I did a quick reading level screen on my kids today and was a little bit surprised by the results. My youngest, 6yo, scored level 2.6, so I'm pleased there. My middle, 8yo, scored 3.8 - pretty much right where she should be. Eldest, 10yo, scored 5.9 - again, pretty much right where she should be. I was surprised because I would have guessed that they would score well above their grade levels. So, what can I do to continue working on and improving reading level? Eldest struggles with reading comprehension as well - I'm looking into getting an evaluation for her.

I'm looking at grammar resources for next year - sixth grade. We finished FLL 4 partway through this year and haven't done any other grammar. I intended to get GWG but after looking at samples I couldn't put dd through that ;) Looking at my options for next year, I like the look of Analytical Grammar. What I'm not clear on is whether or not Jr. is necessary after FLL 4 or if we can jump right into AG. I've also looked at R&S but for whatever reason it's not "clicking" with me...I can't quite put my finger on what I don't like but the appeal definitely isn't there. I could be convinced that it's worth pushing past a negative first impression.

Does this mean you school year round? I like the idea.

Are you watching the cartoon, Scholastic version? We've been watching those on Netflix and I haven't been sure if the others would be ok for my 6yo.