I volunteer in a library in a children's hospital, and just today I saw there a copy of the book Teaching Reading to Children With Down Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Teachers. Maybe it will be helpful for you?

If you are looking for German textbooks, you should probably take a look at www.continentalbook.com. They have a pretty extensive collection.

Jen-- Since your children have been in Jewish Day School, a good source of Jewish law, Bible, and Hebrew language materials (that your school may have been using!) is www.shypub.com. They will sell to individuals (unlike Tal Am, suggested by Ester Maria, who usually will not). But you really can only use the books from Shy Publishing or Tal Am if your understanding of written Hebrew is good.

I have never been to France, but hope to go sometime, so I am clearly not an expert. However, on a recent trip to Amsterdam, I found Rick Steves book invaluable. He highlights many issues that Americans want to know on their first trip; so you may want to check out Rick Steves' Provence and the French Riviera. There is a book from a British publisher called Take the Kids: South of France and also from the same publisher South of France. I have the Take the Kids version, and it is very informative. An older book, but full of interesting essays and background information is Provence: The Collected Traveler by Barrie Kerper.

I have used Oak Meadow's recorder syllabus, but it is probably not what you are looking for, since it encourages parents not to teach their children musical notation for the first couple of years that they play recorder (ie. the children learn songs by rote at first). However, Oak Meadow's recorder syllabus is very good, if you want to go that route. For teaching musical notation, there is Yamaha Recorder Student by Sandy Feldstein or It's Recorder Time by Alfred d'Auberge and Morton Manus, both of which are very good (and not too expensive). If you want something more colorful (and some kids really need that) then Progressive Recorder Method for Young Beginners is good too, if pricy. There are 2 volumes to the Progressive Recorder Methodl for Young Beginners. After finishing one of these books, some nice tune books are My First Patriotic Recorder Book or My First Classical Recorder Book both by L.C. Harnsberger.

Alfred Publishing has a program Music for Little Mozarts that is meant for 4-6 year old children; maybe someone in your area teaches it. If not, I have heard of parents using it to teach their children (but you would need to have had some piano background). It's a little pricy for all the components, but cheaper than one month's worth of piano lessons. If your local music store does not carry it, Rainbow Resource does. Since you are in Canada, have you considered Music for Young Children? It is a preschool piano program. You can look up teachers on their website www.myc.com. I have heard some people complain, though, that it is intense for some children--an hour long lesson once a week. Can your daughter sit through that (and wait her turn at the keyboard--they are group lessons)? Also, a parent will be expected to attend. Can you spend the time? Others in this forum have used www.kinderbach.com. And I'm sure that some will mention Suzuki piano lessons....

When my husband and I could just not afford a acoustic piano, we went ahead and bought a Yamaha digital piano(ARIUS YDP-140 DIGITAL PIANO), on sale at Music & Arts for about US$900 (November, 2008). It has weighted keys and a full keyboard (and it's not as heavy as an acoustic piano--we were able, with difficulty, to move it from our minivan into our first floor living room ourselves). We have been very pleased with it, so if you decide to buy a piano, you may want to consider it. But a Yamaha recorder or fife is also a good introduction to flute.

I got married at 20, and my husband was 23. We are still married 20 years later. Many of the suggestions that you have are Christian oriented, and I can't help you there because I am Jewish. But the best communication book I have read is How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk. By reading it, I learned how to communicate effectively and kindly, which is so important in marriage. I would have to agree that the more your children can live independently--cooking skills, fixing cars, career skills, etc.--the less bumps the marriage will have (hopefully). The financial pressures today are much greater than in the 1960s, when most people did not have a college degree. Careers that today require a college degree then only needed a high school diploma.

Both Lisa and Sebastian have good points; if your child takes a standardized test like the SAT subject test in a foreign language, a CLEP or AP test, or a language test sponsered by a foreign country (like the Goethe Institute tests mentioned by Sebastian; in French there are DELF exams offered by Alliance Francaise) and scores well then the college should accept the credits. The scoring well can be a sticking point. The SAT subject tests in some languages can be very difficult. For instance, I understand that the Hebrew subject test, if you miss even one question, you are down into the 600s. For more exotic languages that do not have a SAT subject test, CLEP or AP Test, NYU has foreign language proficiency tests that may offer college credits if you score well. www.scps.nyu.edu/areas-of-study/foreign-languages/continuing-education/proficiency.html

I am wondering if you guys looked at www.continentalbook.com for German curricula. They have many choices for German textbooks.

I'm not sure if you are looking for examples of nature journals or if you are looking for actual notebooks to make nature journals. If you are looking for examples of nature journals, Clare Walker Leslie has a book called Nature All Year Long which is an example of her nature journal entries for a whole year (with information about natural phenomena). It is meant for elementary school children (and is mostly based on the seasons as seen in New England). Clare Walker Leslie also has other nature journal titles that may be helpful: Keeping a Nature Journal, Drawn to Nature, and The Art of Field Sketching.

The Complete Book of Spanish published by School Specialty Publishing is meant for grades 1-3 (or if that is too difficult, The Complete Book of Starter Spanish is meant for preschool through first grade). Usborne has some nice titles too. I have personally used Spanish for Beginners, but you can only go 1-2 pages at a time (it's not a book you'll complete in a week). There are also title like Everyday Words in Spanish, and Usborne Farmyard Tales First Spanish Word Book. But for a text or guide, I would stick with The Complete Book of Spanish and use the Usborne books as supplements.

www.in-printforchildren.com produces several posters. They are sold by www.montessoriservices.com/inprint

www.asiaforkids.com has lots of learning Chinese resources.

Michael Olaf and other Montessori catalogs had Cursive Connections Traditional Style which is not childish in any way. It is also sold on amazon.com.

Lisa-- I know that you wrote this some time ago, but I wanted to add some things. Israel can be very expensive, but the guidebooks geared towards students like Lonely Planet or Let's Go have lists of cheaper accomodations. If your daughter still wants the Kibbutz experience Kibbutz Volunteer by Victoria Pybus (while very dated) is still a great source of information. From the same publisher and updated more frequently is Work Your Way Around the World by Susan Griffith, which also has information about Israel. If she wants to learn Hebrew, some Ulpans (Hebrew language classes geared towards new immigrants) will allow tourists to join for a US$100 per month fee (that classes from 8am to about 12 noon for 5 days a week--a real bargain!). You would have to find her accomodations, though. I know that Gerard Behar Center in Jerusalem (11 Bezalel St., tel. 02-625-4156, fax 02-623-4654) allows tourists, for example.

Just to let you know that Michaels (the craft store) now has American Girl craft kits and stickers. If you have a store near you, you can probably pick up some crafts.

Well, if you are going to Colonial Williamsburg, then you will definately want Mary Geddy's Day: A Colonial Girl in Williamsburg by Kate Waters. Kate Waters also wrote The Story of the White House, if you go to Washington, D.C.

Cindy-- My husband is a principal of an elementary school (and we have a child who's diagnosed with ADHD), and while I am no expert, my husband specifically said that he would never put a child on ADHD medication if all that it took to diagnose the child was a survey. I agree with the others in the forum, that if I were you, I would probably pursue further testing (preferably with a pediatric neuropsychologist, pediatric psychiatrist or developmental pediatrician) before medicating your son. My son's testing took about 4 hours, just to give you reference.

This is at the end of modern history, but you may want to try The Century for Young People by Peter Jennings. While not completely accurate, I also found Understanding September 11th: Answering Questions about the Attacks on America by Mitch Frank easy to read. Mitch Frank also wrote Understanding the Holy Land, which is a balanced history of the Middle East for children.

My son is a lot younger than the children you are all talking of, but we decided to medicate him this year because while he was not too active as far as ADHD children are concerned, his impulsivity was a real problem. We were worried about safety of him, his peers, and our windows.

Thanks, Catherine for your report. We have two tickets to see Itzhak Perlman on Thursday. I will keep it in mind not to clap between movements!:lol:

Well, if you want anthologies of great literature, there's www.greatbooks.org. If you would like an "official" summer program, where your kids would be reading great books with other kids (and thus have the peer group support), there's www.greatbookssummer.com, which has "camps" in Amherst College and Stanford University. Of course, you could just do a family "book group" like others in this forum suggested and read great books over the summer as a family and discuss them. If you need plans, then Reading Lists for College Bound Students has some suggestions. What High Schools Don't Tell You (And Other Parents Don't Want You to Know) does too; this book also gives you (and your children!) reasons why it is good to read the classics, especially beyond British and American literature.

After reading several books on college acceptance (you know the ones--how to get into the Ivy League :lol:), I think that you need to add some specific examples and stories to your letter. Are there any written assignments that you felt were exemplerary? Any specific points she brought up in class that were noteworthy? Books like What Colleges Don't Tell You (And Other Parents Don't Want You to Know) or Rock Hard Apps have good examples of what college recommendations don't do well in the admission offices.

I would like to add to Karen's list The Islamic Year: Surahs, Stories and Celebrations by Noorah Al-Gailani and Chris Smith (ISBN: 9781903458143).