Thank you! It really helps to hear it was a hard and long process for other kids and very frustrating and frazzling too. I am beginning to see how it is going to really pay off.

I have been doing writing 8 but for a few letters it is not transferring yet and there is a lot of complaining too. I actually really like your idea to focus on the letters they reverse or form wrong. I thought of adding tricky numbers too. They do not do numbers but I feel like that would help too. Maybe just focusing on those for a little bit will help. Or I can do the whole alphabet some days and the tricky letters other days. I also can add some of the tactile tips like air writing and sand paper letters to it.

I went with Signapore over Math in Focus mainly because getting the HIG was cheaper then the teacher's manual. I am considering switch once we finish 3A based on the description of just using it with the textbook and workbook. My HiG took a while to come in so I had to start without it and now I glance at it but I just typically bust out manipulatives for things that need it and show it and then see if he can do them without them. It did come in handy to see some explanations for how they explained money but I think I would be fine to use just the textbook and workbook for MIF. So my questions are would it work to go from 3A in Signapore to 3B in Math in Focus. Is there more problems in Math in Focus in the textbook and workbook? It sounded like Signapore was thinner and had less which is another reason I would maybe hesitate.

I think you handled it fine. You did not tell the kid he could never come over again and you said you liked both of them. You told him that your yard is a safe place where you do not tolerate name calling and to try again on a different day. He may or may not have heard it occurring but I bet he will be more aware of sticking up when other kids are not being nice.

I met with dd's teacher recently and she said she sees big differences in her ability to track from the board and coloring. She said even her writing is improving a little. We are still have a ways to go with some of the exercises but there is small progress with them. It is good to hear it is leading to functional changes though so I guess we will keep trucking on.

One of my kids had trouble telling back plot and with comprehension type stuff. I heard good things about SRA's corrective reading comprehension so I will be giving that a try this summer. We have done Reading Detective and I think it does ok with test prep but I feel like we need a little more then just that.

I have a child who had teeth removed with local anesthetic though. She was fine afterwards and did not even have pain and could eat normally afterwards once the numbing wore off. It was baby teeth though and that probably is an easier recovery.

I saw it was nmoira's birthday today and it made me think of her. I wish she was still here to celebrate it.

I never used them. When we potty train they start with just wearing underwear. They have accidents and feel it happening and then catch on and no longer need them. I used the 3 day method where you ask them to tell you when they have to use the bathroom. I thought pull-ups were too much like a diaper so it would take longer to train in them. Plus I used cloth diapers and I did not want to use all those disposable diapers. Potty training was pretty easy. The first time I did it I was worried it was not working but it finally did.

This girl is pretty behind. She might benefit from something like Ronit Bird. I also like Addition Facts That Stick and Subtraction Facts that Stick since she is still finger counting. I do like miquon a lot but she might need more then just that.

I am considering MEP for my dd who I also will use Gattegno with. It is free for printing.

Is it a coloring book or a how to draw book or both? It was hard to tell from the online listing.

From what I seen with friend's kids it is more sight word heavy with some phonics thrown in. The word whole language was used from one of the schools I toured. When they start reading they send kids home with these very predictable books with the first few words the same and the last word is different with a picture. It seems to be a mix of predicting based on context clues and pictures at first, sight words with some phonics thrown in but not much. There was a few that used an OG method for classrooms for kids with learning challenges but it got the axe.

We are doing Latin and Greek roots using the English from the Roots Up cards as flash cards. How much should they know before beggining Ceaser's English?

I got the grammar portion of the island level but we are working through it pretty fast and I am going to have to get more components. I am not impressed with what you get for the money but ds actually asks to do grammar every day and he never cared for it before so that makes me want to get the other stuff too. I will get sentence island and practice island but I am undecided about the poetry book. I just got the teachers guide for the grammar portion and plan to do that for the sentence part but can you just get the student workbook for the practice portion? I think I will wait for the town level to get the vocabulary book. He wants to get the next level next year but I want something specifically for composition. Does it pair well with Treasured Conversations or Writing and Rhethoric?

Yes I do like that Cornell Bird Coloring book and that website looks good too. Reading a biography of John J. Audo on is a good idea too.

I was looking on Pinterest for things to do while reading the Burgess Bird book. I do not have a color printer and some of things like copy work pages I would not use. I was thinking of just getting the Peterson Field guide book and coloring book but I was not sure if that would match up pretty well with the birds in the book. I did find some feeder birds coloring pages I liked too where you color them and fill in some info. There is also the Audubon Field Guide or the Stokes Field guide too and some Dover coloring books. Which field guide or coloring book would match up pretty well?

My thoughts are that scores are a snapshot of that day. If he was unfocused then he may not have performed his best. One thing I would maybe get looked into is one of those COVD eye exams if possible. It seems that could be causing some of what you saw in the scores. I do think fine motor delays can ask really effect scores for some of the tasks. I am glad you found something that was a game changer for the emotional and mood issues.

We are doing exercises for retained reflexes. He did have some. He will be screened to see if he needs a full COVD evaluation. He had one few years ago and they said he was ok but they test more for older kids I think. He could have a weak core I guess. He does not seem weak overall but I just read a signs of a weak core and he does have stuff from the list. We just signed up for martial arts and they do a lot of exercises that seem to work those muscles so maybe that will help. Maybe I can add some YouTube exercise videos for the days they do not have it.

I know there is no perfect curriculum but I am trying to plan for next year and I may pull dd who will be in 5th next year to homeschool. She has used Saxon all the way through and some hodge podge I do in the summer. Saxon is a very poor fit. The issues with it are that she was doing the motions and not really always understanding the concept. It also does not give enough practice at first to really get something. It not that it is a spiral that is a problem just how there are so few problems of each concept and how each lesson has so many problem types. She is behind in math but I do not think it is quite dyscalculia and what I have seen of Ronit Bird I am not sure she needs to go that far back. I do not think Signapore will remediate her and I she will place even more below grade level then she would in other programs. I do think she needs something conceptual with some concrete examples between something like Signapore and Ronit Bird. Do not quote

Lately ds has been slumping over on his side on the table or laying on me while doing some of his writing. Is this something that has happen to others with dysgraphia? It seems like he actually having difficulty writing and staying up when he is doing this. He does not have strength or stamina issues in other areas.

I have getting into more of a grove now with the schedule and adding things in as the curriculum comes in. Things still take longer then I like but we are getting most of what I want done. I rotate with grammar, reading detective and science. He is listening to a few history audio CDs on his own and I am calling that good for now. The challenge will be next year when I may have all 3 kids home and I want to add typing in. Right now it is just 2 I work with.

I finally got the teachers notes. It was hard to read over the writing and find my place every day. I started at the lesson he placed in and now we are at lessons that are 3 pages. I have to break a lesson up in 3 days now and the last day takes a while. I have not been doing bingo when there is a lesson with that because it adds too much writing. It really takes him a while to do all the writing even breaking it up.

Saxon is definitely more procedural. It does not explain concepts in the way a more conceptual program does. It explains a little of course but not in a very concrete way that you think about what actually is happening to the numbers. It has some explanations of course. It is not working for my dc because it is so procedural and because the way the spiral is set up. It just has too few problems at first. I can see it working if a child has a really good base already. If it is working when other things did not then it sounds like it is a good fit for your dc.

I am a worrier and I have second guessed myself like you have before but you are doing good. If you pick something that is not perfect it is fine. It is ok to switch things up or not have the perfect curriculum. Your ds is doing well with what you are using. He has made lots of progress and he is learning well. You are not messing him up for life if he does not have something they teach in a 2nd grade public school social studies class or if you do not have a science curriculum you love for kindergarten. You read aloud a ton, he is reading really well for his age and he is progressing in math. That is all you need. You are doing more then fine and what you are using is working. There are lots of kids in public school not having curriculum that fits them or the educational needs met so if he goes to school down the road being at home even with curriculum that is not perfect will not have ruined him. Do not let your worry about chosing or what he is missing steal your joy. Thing are going good even if it does not feel like it to you.