That is what prompted my post on the topic in prek which might be one of the ones mentioned that sparked this. My youngest has had lots of exposure in a gentle way not quizzing while sitting at a table and still isn't picking it up at the moment.

This was just the quickest one I could find by googling. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43345259/ns/health-childrens_health/t/low-income-kids-who-go-preschool-do-better-adults/#.U1XDVvldWSo

Yes I have seen that as well. A lot of kids struggle all the way through because there isn't reading instruction after grade 3. I toured schools around here and even the schools with title 1 funding really don't have good intervention. They don't have dyslexia friendly intervention they just spend more time with the method that didn't teach them to read. With the expectations on a kindergartner and how much they start working on their own pretty fast a lot of kids will fall behind. Places with preschool programs where all kids have access to high quality preschool are successful in the achievement of those kids later in school and even later in life.

I am possibly one the reasons this thread was sparked. I was worrying about my 3 year old. ;) I am a gifted worrier raising non precocious I am guessing average intelligence children (they never been tested) who actually struggle to learn some things. I do worry especially when I spend time on forums where there are more gifted kids then normal and I have lots of friends who have very gifted children. Nothing is probably wrong besides some minor learning differences but it can feel that something is wrong to me. I was a lazy student but nothing really was hard for me to learn. I did gently early learning with my youngest but it didn't really pay off. I was on an early learning forum briefly where I recognize a few people from where lots of parents had success but had to leave because it worried me too much. I actually don't think anything is wrong with gentle early learning still. I might be flamed for admitting this but it can be hard for me sometimes that my kids don't have what I do. At the moment I am an afterschooler. For my kids the minimum I would want to send them to school knowing is all the letters and letter sounds, basic blending, basic addition and counting to 20 and for my kids picking up those skills happened at various ages. If they can learn it early in a gentle manner then there is actual less pressure as they get older.

I do get a little annoyed by all the paleo primal stuff out there that say it is THE WAY TO EAT and wheat and grains are the devil. I see a lot of stuff in the articles that isn't true and I always feel a need to correct false information. There is a lot of fear mongering out there about grains and tofu that isn't true and the same with the information on what we are evolved to eat and what is good for the environment. We have all evolved from very different parts of the earth and we all are very unique. There are lots of people out there who can't do gluten or dairy and do good on paleo, primal, Weston Price etc etc type of diets (yes I know some of those diets are okay with raw dairy and they have differences). If you do good on the diet and feel good and eat healthy and eating gluten makes you feel bad then it sounds like that is a good diet for you. I know people who react terribly to even traces of gluten and get very sick from it. My family is luckily not in that category.

Doh! I didn't realize that either! Those books did sound like his style of writing. I should have realized it was him.

I think the list is slightly off but not too off. I found the scholastic book wizard to be a good source when dd was still working through reading levels as a way to see what she if a book was something she capable of reading. The list was usually a little off on the grade levels from the few I looked up. I guess they are taking things like length in account but once my ds starts reading books I would like one literally arranged by reading level because it was helpful when dd went through that stage even if the book length is too long. I rather know the actual reading levels not someones opinion on what grade they are good for but I am sure it is helpful for some people.

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I wouldn't worry about the history and science. In my state history like that isn't even covered in elementary school period. The vast majority of kids here would not be able to carry on a conversation about ancient Egypt or know anything about it. Science is also barely touched. I don't agree with it but there are lots of kids out there that only talk about the media and don't have much of a science or history education. My kids go to a school at the moment that has high standards and does more than the typical schools and Ancient times is not discussed. I know my dd does science but it is so minimal I don't even know what they are doing. I try to read lots of science and history with them and squeeze in SOTW when I can. My oldest struggles with the narrating exercises and listening to stuff when I read. She wouldn't be able to have a detailed conversation on Ancient Egypt. I am guessing there is more to it then you can share in a post and you might be right but I don't know there is anything you can do.

That totally did peg me! I really wish I used my strengths and went for a different major.

Another INTJ here. I am very strong in the I and N and weakest in the J.I think we tend to end up on forums like this. ;)

The website is not anything like mercola but it certainly isn't a source I would use for a research paper either. It is only a blog. To really study the issue you need to look at actual studies using an account where you can do that. I can't offer that so I linked a site that there is another side out there to look into as well.

I agree with this. People don't really go by fashion magazines for the ideal weight. I am naturally skinny and I went through hell in school because of it. No one envied my weight. They called me disgusting and anorexic while I was eating my fatty lunch. I had people tell me that being skinny is so disgusting and no guy will ever want to be with a stick figure. Every day I heard comments like you are so skinny the wind will blow you over. Are you anorexic or bulimic? Whenever those memes go around with the skinny model and then marilyn monroe there are always comments on how disgusting and unnatural the skinny model is. It isn't right to make comments on people's size period but some people think there is nothing wrong with making comments about being too skinny when they know it is wrong to make comments in the other direction. I know it happens both ways and that the media perspective is way off. I know that people have trouble with interviews and that people definitely judge people who are over a certain bmi but lots of people do make comments when you are very skinny too. I think we should show models in all shapes and sizes.

Here is other opinions on the candida stuff from science based medicine. I tend to agree with them for the most part with small difference although I don't think it is a money thing and they are a little off on trends. The candida thing isn't being replaced it is part of the "natural" nutrition hype that includes a lot of other claims about "the right way" humans should eat. Here is the other side. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/candida-and-fake-illnesses/ http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/is-gluten-the-new-candida/

It can be real but it has become one of those natural cures to everything and is overdiagnosed like gluten issues. People really do have issues with gluten and some have it so severe they can't even have traces of it but everyone out there doesn't need to avoid it. I think it is similar with overgrowth of yeast. It isn't the cure all for all. Everybody out there doesn't need to go on yeast overgrowth diets but there are people out there who are having issues and do.

It is clear here and not even too late. I tried to wake my kids briefly but the glanced quickly and went back to bed.

There are elementary schools with climbing walls in them but I don't know if they all do. I'm not sure about middle and high schools. The elementary schools all have really nice big playground structures and equipment here. The high schools have a pool. The elementary schools where I grew up didn't have playgrounds. They just had a blacktop. They also didn't have pools. I wish the schools here weren't cutting teachers and giving science and history a short chaff while having fancy playgrounds. Where I grew up we didn't have the fancy playground but we had a good science curriculum and better overall scores.

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I have been doing books from five in a row and the top 100 picture book list. The five in a row books have been good and the top 100 list has been mixed. I really like Patricia Polacco and Virginia Lee Burton so far. If I find an author I like I get more of their books. I will look at the Babies need books lists now to see what the recommend.

Once they get to a certain age as long as they fit in the booster properly and can sit in it without shifting out of position a high back booster is just as safe as a 5 point harness seat. My dd is tiny for her age but I have her in a high back booster because the booster seat fits her and she sits in it without wiggling out of position. As long as the lap belt goes across the lap and not the belly and the shoulder strap is in the right spot I am comfortable with boosters from age 5 on if they can sit correctly. There is a definite safety difference between rear and forward facing but it isn't as clear between a booster and a 5 point harness. Some say there is no difference and there are even people who argue that boosters are safer because in an accident the whole body moves a little rather than the head.

Forums like this always skew my perspective and make me worried. I have seen a stat like that before but it is hard to believe it when so many people talk about their kids doing things so much earlier like it was nothing.

A teacher should be able to handle 8 children and maintain control without every parent participating which I actually think makes it harder to maintain control with too many parents there. I would not expect a parent to be actively participating in a class especially every week. If volunteers were that necessary then it could be done on a rotating basis with one at a time. It would need to be brought up directly not by dropping hints. I wouldn't blame these homeschooling parents who are with their kids all the time and who do teach them to be in the hall talking to each other and not all over the kids who are in a class. The teacher needs to set clear boundaries such as no snacks in the classroom and on the expectations for behavior. If the youngest kids in the class are not doing well then maybe it isn't a great class for kids that age and the age should be bumped. Maybe it is too much sitting and not enough active time for the age group.

Reading hasn't quite clicked for ds yet. He can sound out words but he isn't fluent at all when reading a sentence and he really loses focus fast when reading. I switched from AAR and now I am having him spell the words in Phonics Pathways with letter tiles and he has been enjoying it much more. I think he gets overwhelmed with a lot of text on one page and small letters. He doesn't have a vision problem. He had an appointment with a COVD more for fine motor concerns but he checked out fine. Are there any phonics readers that have big print and only one sentence per page? He doesn't like Bob books and the AAR readers print is too small. Also I am hoping it is something that a typical library would carry.

When we first owned our own condo we painted it a darker color rather then a neutral and it was a little dark then when we were selling it we had to repaint. I haven't regretted a paint color since then. I stick to more neutral colors.

I took a library break for years. I am very forgetful and kept getting fines for being late. Then I lost a book. When I went my kids just wanted to pull stuff off the shelves. I just started going again recently and do much better now. I go once a week and return the books we finished. If we haven't quite finished something in 3 weeks I just renew it. I now regret not going sooner. Our library has a decent selection and we can get books that would otherwise be pretty expensive. I take out quite a bit at once. I really hope with a regular routine I can keep the fines away and I think I will but I worry about a fire or something where all the books would be lost or damaged at once. I hope insurance would cover that. During the library break I relied on thrift stores and garage sales to get books and every once in a while the used book store but the prices were higher there. As my kids get older and away from picture books I might not use it as much but a lot of the non fiction picture books are harder reads so it will probably be a while still.