At least it was clean. Hey, it was all my dH could do today not to get his intertube out of the barn and go rafting down the creek (that is currently flooded). *sigh*

We definitely need something like that!!!

He is not having trouble with the letter sounds, but he will still break each letter into sounds to blend most of the time (if he doesn't know the word). I think going back to the two letter combos and cementing those for him is the place to start. Once he has those, the three and four letter words are a piece of cake. He already knows a lot of them just because he reads them regularly. I just want to make sure he knows everything he needs to know before moving on. PP looks like a great program and I want us to get ALL of the benefits of using it. Thanks for all your replies. :)

WOW! Our doctor's wife homeschools, so he is totally on board. I can't really imagine going to him if he wasn't, at least, supportive.

Yeah...I sold it. LOL

I received Phonics Pathways recently for my 5 year old and I am having a tough time determining where to start him. Currently, he is reading sentences really well - and has just finished learning long vowel sounds, double consonant sounds, and is beginning to learn about consonant diagraphs (starting with sh). He does really well and I want to supplement ETC with PP since we are stopping LLATL once he finished Blue. My issue is that I have no idea where to place him. I looked through the book and he would star on pg. 68 with the "y" suffix if we started where he is right now. However...he did not learn to read the PP way. He does sometimes still sound out words letter by letter (even though he will often recognize the ending and say it as a whole). PP teaches them to memorize and become fluent with all the consonants with a vowel next to it (i.e. ca, ce, co, ci). Then, they add another letter and may 3 letter basic words. It recommends fluency with all of those words before moving on...but ds KNOWS most of those words. However, when he does come to one he doesn't know right off, he will sound it out letter by letter. Can I just go ahead and start him where he is or should I really go all the way back and try to have him re-learn blending in a different way? I have a call in to the author of the book (the publisher told me to call her directly with my question :001_huh:) and will definitely let you all know if/when I hear back from her. But...in the meantime...what says the hive?

On the opposite side...this describes my dh to a T. He is very quiet, very introverted. Sometimes, people meet him and think he doesn't like them just because of how quiet and to himself he is. He is difficult to talk to on the phone becuase he thinks for a LONG TIME before he responds to a simple question. He is very...slow. However, mentally, my dh is anything but slow. He is just a very thoughtful, inverted person. He will think for 10 minutes to say a sentence sometimes because he wants to make sure the sentence is going to come out right. Drives me bonkers sometimes...and I even had a woman when we bought our house in GA that asked me if dh was on medicine. LOL That is actually what made me think of him in regard to this.

This is exactly how my son with ADD was in school. He has ADHD, but your dd may just have ADD. ds9 has a hard time focusing unless the material is EXTREMELY engaging. For example: he will often get to the middle of his math page and stop to just stare out the window and chew his pencil. If he is working and something distracts him, he immediately turns his attention from what he is doing and engages with the distraction. It is absolutely the most irritating thing to deal with/watch! As a side note, my son is still very smart. He never made below an A in public school and was at the top of his class in academics (won lots of awards at the end of the year in public school). When he was about 7, he sat in his room for 2 hours and put together a double sided 1000 piece puzzle (Star Wars) with pieces about the size of a dime. When he was finished, he tore it up and spent another hour REBUILDING it from the other side perspective! His focus can be totally intense as long as he is interested in what he is doing. Ds9's basketball coach made the same remark about thinking ds was not listening to her and then, when she called on him to repeat what she said, he just nailed it...word for word. But his brain can do that. He will watch TV, listen to music, and play ds at the same time and still listen to me, know what is happening in the game, know what is going on in the show, and rarely miss the words to the music. It is mindblowing to watch sometimes.

Sadly, I could see my ADHD son doing about the same thing. The other day, the were in the garden and I drove my car around on the wet grass to tell dh something before I left. My older son walked right in front of my car and stood. It was all I could do to not hit him when the tires slid a bit on the grass. We gave him LOTS of reasons that was the most ignorant thing EVER. He also has no impulse control and when he was 5, he stabbed another child in the head with a pencil. He wasn't trying to hurt the child...he was trying to be the "mom" and he was telling the child it was circle time. He just happened to have a pencil in his hand at the time. He is still not a mean kid and he doesn't do things purposefully to hurt people...he just does things without THOUGHT of what it may or may not mean/represent/do to himself or others. Someone once described it as "he doesn't have that 'UH-OH' button. And it was true...he doesn't. :(

Our ADHD test took DAYS. We had to go 4 different times and have an eval by at least 4 different people in different areas of expertise. In the end, they did diagnose and recommend meds...which I declined. Now....meds are looking better and better. A psychiatrist is always going to give you meds. They actually figure that is why you are there. If you aren't interested in meds, you will want to get in with a therapist or counselor who can help him deal with life (and help you deal with him, if he is anything like my ADHD son).

What type of office/business do you all have? I am so glad things are coming together for you! God has a way of taking you places you never thought you'd go...and for reasons you could never imagine. To this day, I have no idea how or why dh and I ended up in tiny little Ringgold for 3 MISERABLE years, but apparently we learned what we needed to learn, because He finally brought us back here where we wanted to be and opened more doors than we could have ever dreamed. :) Hang in there. He has a plan...

They already are. My ds9 had to have the cp booster this past year because he had only had the vaccine once. Aubrey, Would you please send your dh over here to give my kids chicken pox. I really don't want to have to give ds5 more boosters. :D

In your first few posts, I didn't take it that axe-boy was one and the same as hatchet to the throat boy. I am guessing now that it was the same kid? The whole "while he was asleep" thing bothers me. Was someone else watching? Were they playing around? I mean, if there were other kids there and such, then it may have been a joke (an ignorant and horribly distasteful/dangerous joke..) However, if it was just your son and the other kid, then that is just...well....psycho. I am not sure I would get the cops involved. It is your son's word against the other child's. There is really no way to "prove" anything unless others saw the incident. I had an incident at my son's school last year (when he was in ps). He had a bully all year and that child was a total LIAR. All year long, my son would tell the teacher something the other boy did and he would lie his way out of it...to the point the teacher thought he was a freakin' saint! Well, on the last day of school, I was in the hall waiting on my son and the bully came out first. He slowed his pace, waited on my son and punched him...with me WATCHING. Of course, I should have said nothing and gone straight to the principal, but I didn't. I grabbed my son's hand, glared at the other kid, and said, "DO NOT TOUCH MY SON AGAIN! I AM TIRED OF THE BULLYING! THE NEXT TIME, WE ARE GOING TO TALK TO THE PRINCIPAL." I was in a hall full of adults and other kids. Lots of people heard me. However, this little liar went and told his grandmother (with whom he lives) that I said...and I quote here, "Get out of my way you little fat bastard or I will smack you." (SORRY, I now find it amusing since 1. I would never say that to a child and 2. that was probably more along the lines of what I was thinking at the time than what I ACTUALLY said. LOL) Anyway, the child was brought into the office for intensive questioning. He never "cracked." And remember, this lie was about an ADULT - with witnesses who were also adults! It came down to the principal of the school finally determining that I obviously did not say that...and telling the child she did not believe him. He still never told the truth. To this day, he swears I said that to him. Talk about wishing I could smack him.....

Schoolwise, we are doing school every day that we are here - two subjects per child per day. They have their schedules. Ds5 will be continuing Phonics Pathways, ETC, Math, Language Arts, Cursive Handwriting, and finishing up LLATL Blue. Ds9 will be doing Math, LA, ETC, Handwriting, and WWE over the summer. Activity wise, my older son visits his dad at least 2 weeks in the summer. Then he has various camps - basketball, Christian overnight camp, etc. We all do Summer Reading Program at our library. DH is taking a week off at the end of May and we are going to Alabama sometime in June or July for time on the lake and visit with family. During the time we spend at home during the summer, we spend a great deal of time gardening, playing at the park, running through the sprinklers, wading in the creek, hiking and camping in our little forest acreage, and so on. Summers here are wonderful!

LOL - for us, the workbook was USELESS. *I* filled it in the entire year - mostly because ds9 could never figure out the answers from the way the questions were worded and often times, he could not even spell the words. I wish wish wish I had had him write a summary instead of using the workbook. And no, he didn't learn anything at all about outlining from the CHOW workbook....other than that outlines can be frustrating and confusing when you weren't the one writing them! LOL The activities in the back and the timeline were pretty neat, though. But honestly, you could make up your own crossword puzzles, recipes, and basic games and probably come out a lot better.

I know this sort of thing all too well. My best friend is a nurse for a dermatologist. The stories she tells me about melanoma are just frightening! The last patient they had that died of melanoma was a 29 year old mother of two. She had what she thought was a blood blister on her heel for almost a year. Finally, she went to a podiatrist because it was starting to get larger. The podiatrist immediately biopsied it and it was stage 4 melanoma with metastasis to the brain, liver, and lungs. She lived 3 months after the diagnosis.

This was so sweet, I just had to share. :) A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in Target. She must have been about 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence. It was pouring down rain outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Target. We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day. The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in "Mom let's run through the rain," she said. "What?" Mom asked. "Lets run through the rain!" She repeated. "No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied. This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mom, let's run through the rain," "We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said. "No, we won't, Mom.. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm. This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet? "Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!" The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith. "Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain! If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said. Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing. Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories... So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven... I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN. They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them. Send this to the people you'll never forget. It's a short message to let them know that you'll never forget them. Take the time to live!!! Keep in touch with your friends, you never know when you'll need each other -- and don't forget to run in the rain! God Bless :o)

I can see it in my mind right now! LOL Looks great!

No worse than the NORMAL flu. Would you have dh wear a mask an gloves to travel any time from October through May? If no, then try not to worry. Rebecca (whose dh flies more than he drives)

I don't have a Google account, so I can't see. :(

I do. I got mine for $20 off e-bay about 6 years ago and it has served me so well. The post master always tells me I must have a good scale because my packages are always spot on. :)

But...what about Mr. Spelt?

Thanks for your input. My son will be taking a beginning Spanish class as well, so maybe that will help some. I intend to go slowly through the book - maybe even taking 2 weeks a lesson. I haven't decided just yet. I hope the DVD helps me figure out how to teach the darn thing! Anyone else?

I have had a paypal account that I use regularly for the last 6 years with no problems at all. I have gotten some of the spoof e-mails, but I know that paypal will NEVER send me anything asking for me to click a link and enter information. When I get those, I send them on to spoof@paypal.com for investigation. I have only gotten 2 such e-mails in the last 6 years. I have a premier account, so I can accept credit card payments (which is a plus when you deal with e-bay). It takes a "fee" each time I receive a payment, though, which is the only downside. I also have a paypal debit card so I have instant access to my money in that account. :)

Dh is a Engineering manager and he works anywhere from 45-60 hours on any given week. Just depends mostly on what is going on... If I add in his travel time to and from work as well as his travel for the company on Saturdays, Sundays, etc. and his time spent in meetings when he travels or on conference calls during that travel, we could really get up there in the 80 or so hour per week range at times.