I am in the minority but house 3 with the pool taking up most of the yard and only able to be used part of the year. 3 has a decent kitchen and yard and is a little closer to activities to house 1.

Two of my kids names are really climbing. I knew my youngest's name was getting more popular but it has been going up more then I anticipated and is in a higher position then I thought it would get. The other name wasn't rising but seems to have really jumped this year.

I am reading the series for the first time with my son. I like it a lot more then I thought I would. My son loves the series. It is definitely affecting his behavior already with him saying spells and various sayings. :) I do think the messages are good for him though. We are halfway through book 4 so we haven't got to any of the deaths yet. I feel mixed about Snape so far.

It is a very low cost and run very efficiently overall. I hear people using usps to complain about why the government should not be in charge of anything but overall I think it is a great system. I haven't had issues with them.

I been seeing a lot on social media about the boxing fight last night that the world was following. I was ignoring it but someone posted about the one boxers was charged with domestic violence more then once and it was bad enough to send one of the women to the hospital. He did this in front of his kids. Why are people following this allowing this guy to make so much money? Why do sports organizations allow players to play after those charges? I mean it is so awesome a violent guy who hurts women homed his skill at punching people with boxing gloves. I must be on another planet. I often feel like I am.

I read my kids lots of books and discuss things that are relevant like Martin Luther King jr day. There are picture books for young kids that discuss things how the first colonists acted, civil rights, slavery, the Holocaust, and prejudice etc. I usually talk to them afterwards about it. I also make sure to get a lot of positive multi cultural picture books to balance it out and show the positive aspects of other cultures. My son loves reading about history and enjoys non fiction on those topics too. Reading about ancient and medieval world history also shows how sometimes people do not treat others well. I just discuss what happens and how it is wrong to judge people based on their race but that it has happen. It helps me to use books as a starting point for the topics.

My kid's school uses Saxon and they do ok with it but I want my dd especially to get practice on mental math rather then the traditional algorithm they use in Saxon. I do not need an entire curriculum I just want something to practice multi digit addition and subtraction mental math tricks.

Who sends a child that age home without talking to the parent and making sure they are there. The parent did not answer the phone but they send a 9 year old home to take medication without even talking to the parent?! It isn't a schools job to make medical decisions. That is maddening.

Yes I also obsessed with book lists. I look up different lists online then cross reference if the library carries them and make a list of what to get at the library.

A public school should be able to do a speech evaluation even if he is not in school right now. They can evaluate social skills too. If you have insurance to cover it private therapy would be another option. I mostly found private therapists better but usually I wasn't covered for that. Ds did get a really good speech therapist through the school who turned around his articulation issue. He went from strangers not understanding him to clear speech in a year.

OhE is talking about a high IQ not a low one. If his articulation is say low average or just below the norm with an average IQ it isn't as much of a gap but with a high IQ and articulation score below the norm it would be a much bigger gap. From what you described about your boys I doubt they are just average.

I like that idea. You do not have to dumb down the course load or the class to make it work. If a student is motivated to learn and do well and put in work then they can rise to the occasion. Also there are kids that are bright students that do not achieve well because they were never challenged. If it is hard for the kids that are not top students that is fine. Telling kids that hard work allows them to learn, grow and develop helps them develop grit which is very important. I believe more kids can rise to the challenge and that kids that have high expectations can rise to them. Kids that are over all more educated and more prepared for college is not a bad thing.

I stopped going for quite a while because of fines and a lost book. I started going again a little over a year ago and I regret not going back sooner. I brought a lot of cheap books and we read a lot before but we get out so many books and audiobooks now and have access to much more that it is worth going. I just got a system going so I am much better at avoiding fines. We go on the same day every week and I renew anything that needs to renewed online before leaving. I have a spot for library books and a way of organizing the books based on what has been read so far. Since we get so much I had two books so far not get scanned in but I was able to find them on the shelves.

October Sky Apollo 13 Stand and Deliver Brooklyn Castle Sand Lot Princess Bride Nightmare Before Christmas

He does have weak fine motor skills. That is his biggest challenge and what his teacher feels he will not be able to keep up with.

Thank you OhElizabeth that was very helpful. That is what I am worried about because his academics is very different then his other abilities. Is the WPPSI typically the test they run through a school rather then the WISC? They do not test attention or working memory?

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I give out my home number. I rarely use my cell and it does not have the best reception. I usually only make outgoing calls on my cell when I am out and need to. I much prefer using the home phone. I do not really give an explanation but I am not sure why people would care never mind be offended by it.

It shows she is average in achievement but her vocabulary and listening comprehension is stronger then her math and reading skills which fall below average. It looks like her reading fluency is especially weak. Since it is just achievement and not a cognitive test it is missing part of the puzzle.

Kids who are very precocious are usually gifted but there are lots of late bloomers out there. It is actually very common because kids can grow intelectually longer just like kids who hit puberty late grow longer. Intellect is like other areas in development that it looks different for everyone. The really short kid can end up graduating as the tallest and and intellect works the same way. No child's path looks the same. Some kids grow in big spurts and some grow more steadily. Scores can change over time. The IQ test was not originally meant to be this set in stone measurement and it isn't. Learning disabilities are more common in gifted children then in average children. Just because a kid was not a top reader in kindergarten does not mean they are one of the dullards doomed for metrocracy. In places where kids who need help at any period of time get help until they do not need it anymore without a label kids do better overall. We should not be labeling kids into groups by 5 or 6. My ds is a very intelligent child but he will be a late reader. My dd is now a really good reader. She did not learn until 6 and then jumped years in reading level in a less then 3 months. None of my kids were precocious talking toddlers and 2 were late talking but they all developed excellent verbal skills and are advanced in that area.

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So I just found out that ds could also get OT but he only gets 30 sessions of either reading tutoring (under speech services) or OT not both. I am not sure which one to do.

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I don't think there is any perfect system for knowing what fits into what. If you look up dyslexia it is trouble reading despite normal intelligence and it lists several different types. There are other reasons for struggling even if it doesn't fit the classic symptoms. My ds just got tested and they said he has dyslexia but he doesn't fit the phonological symptoms perfectly. They said that everything I have done with him and they do with him at school has been good for him and he appears partially but not fully remediated. If he went somewhere else they may have a different explanation. Something is obviously going on because his reasoning and perceptual ability is so far off from his performance. His teacher this year at least recognize what is going on and saw the huge discrepancy. My dd has a different area she struggles with that does not fit neatly into any of the learning disorders and is harder to find resources for. She does have inattentive ADHD.

I actually believe in exposing kids to early literacy and learning and that for sure can including reading and math. The two kids I did really early stuff with did not end up reading early. One just got diagnosed with mild dyslexia. The other is young but my guess is also dealing with that based on signs. I know that lots of people are successful with it because I saw lots of people who talk about being successful but the people who aren't are probably less likely to talk about it. I have no idea how many preschoolers or younger are capable of learning to read if given gentle exposure in short bursts but many kids will not be ready yet. If it is done the right way it certainly is not harmful though. I know I worry when it seems like everyone out there is successful who does it but I suspect that there are kids who just are not ready to read but with more time will be. All kids have different strengths and weaknesses and have their own timetable. There are late bloomers and precocious children. Nurture does play a part and being in a good environment which will look different for different families does help kids grow and develop.