I'm the one who originally posted this. I wouldn't stop it. I still would prefer the fingers to the pacifier, because it saved me many nights looking for hte paci. She loves it and I know that it was a God given gift to her do it. She was a really good baby. I know my sil got a special lotion from her dentist and it made my nephew stop within a week. My dentist doesn't believe in the stuff so I can't get it. I was just thinking that maybe someone else would have a bit of wisdom that would work. They did. I am going to buy the fingernail stuff this week.

For those who didn't get them to quit early on, how are their teeth and speaking doing? Are they crooked? Do they have a lisp? Jen

She does all the above. Bored, tired, watching cartoons, as she twiddles the tail on her Care Bear! When she has to have both hands, she isn't sucking. I can only entertain her for so long!

I don't think that I spelt kinesthetic right, oh well! I am wanting to scale back the spending (who isn't). Abeka is out of this world expensive! I am considering R&S instead. My concern is my son who will be using this in a few years. He is total hands on. My daughter, who will be using this next year, is fine with just about anything. I want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly. If it didn't work at all and you used it as kindling for your fire place, then tell me. If you found a way, let me know how! Thanks ahead of time! Jen

Hello! I am going to you guys again for parental advice! You got my boy to finally potty train before he turned 4, and now I have another child with another issue! LOL! My baby is 3 1/2 and we need to put a stop to her finger sucking. She has done it since birth. She sucks her pointer and middle finger all night and throughout the day. We asked our dentist if he had any lotion that we could put on it, but he didn't recommend it, and said to use positive reinforcement. What a joke! We do that all the time. It doesn't work for her. She now thinks it's a game to play! Help! Any suggestions welcome! Jen

I am trying to look at some possibilities for next year. We are REALLY struggling with our ds 6. He is VERY kinesthetic. He is doing Abeka 1st grade for phonics. We are about half way and I am starting to wonder 3things. 1) If we need a different program? 2)If we need to hold him back and do this year over for next year? (He does have a Sept birthday and could we could have delayed school by one year) 3) If we just need to slow down? I can't decide. He isn't grasping all of it. I know Abeka can be repetitive and daunting. I do love Abeka, but he seems to be getting lost in it. He is reading, but has some big struggles. I also know that he struggles, not because of all the new rules, (although this can be part of it) he just can't sit for a long period of time. I was wanting some recommendations. We do use rewards that he gets to see, and he gets them as soon as school is done. We do encourage! I feel like a cheerleader again sometimes! Also, is there a book that deals with kinesthetic learners that you would recommend? Maybe some curriculum suggestions included? Thank you, Jen

You have to remember one thing, TWTM is a guide book, not a rule book. I freaked myself out with this, but now have settled down. TWTM gives a lot choices. You are going to have to do your research based on how your daughter learns. My daughter is a great workbook child, so we use a lot of A Beka. My son is a wiggle worm so workbooks are not a good idea for him. We use Math-u-See with him along with Abeka phonics and First Lang. Lessons for grammar. Science is pretty much a free for all at the library. We are studying wildlife with books and time at the parks in the summer. History, we have used "Story of the World", but are going over to "My Father's World" next year. I am not a planner and need someone to write my lesson plans for me. MFW will tells me what to do everyday. SOTW leaves it up to you. If I were you I would do more research. If you have things that work, then keep on using them. A great way to research is by pulling up old threads on certain curriculums. I have read many comments on my next year picks like using Rod and Staff instead of Abeka. Sorry this is so ramdom. I am typing as i think of what to write, and my fingers are about to be frozen through to the bone. I am starting to hate winter! Have fun! jen

Any actual changes to the curriculum? Jen

I actually have been teaching some of these when we read our Dr Suess books. We also have great conversation with some of the Veggie Tale videos. I know a lot of the older ones have some great character stories. I love the book "Honey for a Child's Heart". It gives great lists of childrens' books that are all heart warming stories. She describes how great it is to teach through stories. Something always goes wrong in the story and kids are very perseptive on what was wrong and how to fix it. I always point out that the problems lie with their bad decision or attitude when I can. If you can find a great bible verse to go with it, then it's all the better! Jen

Actually yes, their most favorite thing with lunch or anytime of day is a veggie tray. I was just bored with our normal eating style and wanted some new ideas!

My husband calls our ranch dressing the "White Ketchup!"

Biofreeze. IT is a gel that you can get a chiropractor. You don't have to be a patient to get it. I know my parents just buy it from one that they don't actually see. It comes in a roll on (my favorite) or gel like "Icy Hot". I

Ok I want to be able to eat them too! I am wanting to find some new side dishes with veggies for my family. We are definately lacking! I would like them to be as healthy as possible. I love a broccoli casserole with velveeta and butter, but this is not my idea of healthy side dish!:lol: Or, if it has as much butter and sugar as my Christmas cookies, I probably won't make it either. I know I am picky. We just need some suggestions!;)

Honey! Put it in some decaf tea. They have lots of flavors that kids like, like all the berries or orange flavored. The honey, I believe, also promotes the sinus drainage. It really coats the throat. I drink about 3 cups of tea a day when I am sick. Jen

Call me blonde! I am just covering all my bases and making sure. Jen

This was my thought too. It was also my thought that FLL4 is full of these same aspects; therefore, we wouldn't need WWE. Or am I wrong? I have no problem doing both, but know that dd and I will not like doing the same type of work twice in one day. Jen

Wow! If all the answers to my questions could be this clear, I would be happy woman! Why do you think this? I wish there was a store in which we could sit, have coffee, and swim through all curriculums to make better decisions! Jen

It's in the teens! I am wearing 2 fleece sweaters and a long sleeve shirt, with socks and slippers. I am still cold. I live in Indianapolis, and I am from Buffalo. Believe it or not it is warmer there It's snowing, but at least it is cold and pretty! Jen

A Reason for Handwriting book A would probably be fine since they break up each lesson into small segments. Rainbow resource has pictures of the actual lesson. You would be doing a whole page front and back with very wide lines (just a tad smaller than K) in a weeks time. The last day is the bible verse that needs to be written, but they could do that in 2 days if necessary.

We have 3 out of 4 loving Abeka. It has it all including color! It is fun! Jen

Some phonics programs teach phonics and review phonics over and over through 2nd grade. Even my 3rd grader reviewed phonics rules for a while with Abeka. There is nothing wrong with going at the pace of the child! I have one child that does 15 lessons a week (Abeka) (This is obviously a gifted child, and btw he's the one that chooses how much he wants to do!) and one that can only learn about 4 a week. Different strokes for diffent folks (kids)! Jen

I am I right to assume that WWE would replace WS? This may be a lame question, but I'm a curriculum junkie trying to put next years list together before all the tax money is spent! Thanks, jen;)

Abeka's nursery curriculum is great at just doing letters. I taught one child with it, and we are currently working with another. It is so simple. All she really does is glue her "magic beans" as she calls them to the letter of the week. It keeps her occupied and gives me peace while teaching the others. It's called "Letters and Sound N". When my son did it, we started doing the beginning of OPGTR too. It was great. Jen

We did Zoology 1 last year. If you want to actually sit down and map out all the classifications, which we did not do, then you might want to start with book 1. That is the only difference. I would start any of the books. There is no reason they can't learn the classifications after learning about the animals. Jen

I see that you are using MFW too! The real reason that I want to pear down the Abeka expenses is because I want to use MFW with my kids. If I do Abeka and MFW, my husband might jump off a cliff at the sight of the curriculum amount! I did notice that R&S needs a lot of copy work since the books are non consumable. Is this ever a problem?