I'm not sure where to place my son in BW. He's in 1st, and we've been doing WWE1. He hates it. I love where it's leading, and the skills it's developing, but it's so boring and monotonous. I think combining WWE and BW might be a great combo for us. I'm just not sure where to place him. He's a very advanced reader, so I'm thinking The Wand may be too basic for him. But he's also a reluctant writer, so I'm wondering if The Arrow would be too much? Maybe we would be better off easing in with Jot it Down? Thoughts?

They are VERY quick lessons. We have the K and 1 levels, and really.....they don't get done here. They're just so simple and short and I don't see where anything is being accomplished. It's pretty much...play a track, tap along or sing along or dance along.....do a craft and sway to the music. Done. Maybe the higher levels get into some more actual teaching, but this just seemed to me to be something you'd see in a preschool classroom. We'll be using something else in the future. BUT, with that said, your youngest may like it in a year or so. My four year old loves it. Sometimes I pull it out to have "school" with her.

It's not fun and flashy, but we moved to OPG. HOP left a TON of gaps, and I didn't notice it until we had been done for awhile and my son had trouble sounding out long words. We didn't do the entire OPG book, but started where there were things HOP hadn't covered. Then we moved on until we finished the book. I was really impressed at how much more he retained compared to HOP. It was a HUGE difference.

My son's narrations are super long. I'm talking entire paragraphs sometimes. Everything seems to ask for one or two sentences of narration, but he just goes on and on as I feverishly try to write every word. Is there any reason I should try to get him to condense his thoughts? He isn't rambling either; his narrations are always on point and in his own words.

I tried Safari and Chrome and couldn't get it. But it opened in IE. Thanks for brainstorming with me!

Hm. I get a 404 error on that link.

I'm trying to access the document that lines up the VP cards with SOTW, but Paula's Archives seems to be down. Anyone have a new link or know where else this info is posted?

We did the Elemental Science PreK science for our PreK and K years. (It kind of overlapped....and I missed several weeks in a row...several times ;-) so it shouldn't typically take that long to cover!). It was a great jumping off point. It had enough on its own, but I could beef up topics if I wanted to, or skate by with a bare minimum if the interest wasn't there. It has a fair mix of "experiments", crafts, and tons of book selections to choose from. I think it kept science fun and light while still exposing the kids to real scientific ideas. It was great for the K year!

This was a real flop in our house. I bought the cards, and we would read them and discuss them twice a week. My son would choose one card to be his focus each week. But it got monotonous and boring and eventually the cards just never came back out. There weren't any activities or anything....I think she came out with lesson plans or something eventually, so that may be better.

My son is LOVING the Dinosaur Cove series.

Was it Classical House of Learning? http://www.classicalhouseoflearning.com/grammar-stage-literature.html

All the above! The curriculum has each week's reading right in the text. There are extra reading suggestions, but the curriculum itself is your spine.

No, you won't miss anything. The RAs are nice, but the meat of the program is what's written in the teacher guide. We've actually gotten more out of the other suggested books for each week than the RAs.

We got that one the last time it was at HSBC. It's a LOT of Legos for the money, although I was disappointed that it didn't come with...I don't know....more instruction? It's basically a huge box of Legos with a few cardboard photos, and maybe handful of step by step directions. I just assumed since it was an "educational" kit that it would come with something a little more...well...educational ;-) But regardless, it's been a hit here.

I chose A Joyful Path for my sensitive little man. It says ages 6 - 10, but I think it can easily be beefed up or scaled back. And Year 2 should be out soon, which is for older kids. I love it because it manages to get the message through without all the specifics that tend to send our sensitive spectrum kiddos into anxiety! I also love that it incorporates other beliefs and faiths into the lessons. I think they have samples on their website. http://progressivechristianity.org/childrens-curriculum/

I placed an order with backordered items, and it kept getting pushed back for MONTHS. I finally just cancelled it because I was so aggravated with them and their lack of communication or concern about the delay. Then several months later I placed the same order, leaving off the backordered items, and shipping was super fast. So just don't order anything that's backordered and you should be fine!

Would you explain this? I'm genuinely curious.

Just the states. I made up my own Around the World study last year and it was a lot of fun! But ES only covers the states, and very little at that. It's definitely focused more on history and tall tales than states.

There is one "project" per week. Some are super simple (like drawing a picture and poking holes to make a constellation). Some are a little more involved (like drawing a map of the New World, painting it, then tracing Columbus' route). For us, it's perfect. My son is just now getting interested in crafts, and the coloring sheets in Elemental History are the first ones he showed any interest in doing. I'd say if you want more beefed up projects you could definitely supplement. Just remember the target age is Kinder, so the projects really are more like crafts you might imagine a Kindergarten class would do. If you're using this with older kids then I would definitely supplement.

I had the "spine" for a long time, and it just wasn't getting done. So I appreciate Exploring Science for giving me direction, in that regard. BUT...it still isn't getting done as often as I'd like. Isn't that always the way with science, though?! As for ages, I think it's supposed to be PreK. We started in PreK and are still plugging away in Kinder. It's really easy to beef up or scale back as your interest/time changes. I try to get all the suggested books each week, and do the experiments. They're all hands on, and great for the intended age. The weekly crafts are sometimes really great...like painting with sand. Good age appropriate exploration. And so far nothing has been required that I couldn't get at a grocery store or Wal-Mart. There's also a Nature Study each week, to go along with the lessons. The week you study leaves you go out and collect leaves. So it's very simple, but gives you something to actually DO or LOOK FOR when you're outside. I think for the money, you can't go wrong. Especially if you're really looking for something to guide you and get you moving in the right direction.

Anyone have any experience using the Feingold Program? We used to eliminate food dye and definitely saw improvements in behavior. I got slack with it though, after our recent move. Now we're facing an eval where four different diagnoses are being tossed around, and meds are being mentioned. I'm just not convinced we need to go there yet. I'm thinking that instead of just eliminating dyes, I might go crazy :lol: and do the Feingold Program.

CHOLL is Classical House of Learning Literature http://www.classicalhouseoflearning.com/

I haven't read the other responses, so excuse me if I'm repeating anyone :tongue_smilie: Shurley starts in first grade, if that program appeals to you. I'm still trying to decide between it and FLL. I own both, and Shurley looks a lot more thorough. But FLL looks a lot more....gentle? That seems to be the word most used to describe it. For vocab we use Wordly Wise and my son LOVES it. It's the first thing he asks to do each day. We're using the Kinder level, so it may be more "fun" than other levels, but I intend to keep using it. We also adore Handwriting Without Tears, Well, ok...I adore it. My son is not a fan of handwriting :lol: For the other subjects.....we use AAS for spelling but I'm not sure I'll stick with it. It's still early, but I'm just not really feeling it. For composition I plan to use WWE. For Lit study, I guess you could say we do FIAR for now, but it's at a very gentle pace/depth. Next year I'll start using CHOLL to go along with our SOTW studies.

I read my earlier response and thought I kind of came across short. Not my intention! I'm typing on an iPad, which is infuriating, and my in-laws are here, and my son is running around like he mainlined 30 red bulls ;-) We did the Stanford-Binet, Vineland-II, BASC-II, NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale, SPAS, ADOS, GADS, and SCQ. Everything was elevated (indicating probable presence of a spectrum disorder) except the ADOS. But who knows. I just want to make sure that the professionals working with him see HIM and focus their work on the things HE needs. And I really do feel confident his current therapist will do that. I'm just not sure why so much weight was given to the ADOS unless it really is "that" good.

I'm not really "looking for" anything from an eval. I just want to gain a better picture of what's going on with my son. I spent so long thinking we were dealing with an Asperger's diagnosis, and I read all I could and tried to figure out what things may help. Then I was totally blindsided when the eval came back saying no. So then I started reading up on childhood anxiety and resources for that. His current therapist and I agree that it doesn't matter what it's called, or what the official diagnosis is. The important thing is to figure out what he needs and what will best help meet those needs. So I feel good about this therapist, like we're on the same page. My main question here is about the ADOS, since the first therapist said its the "gold standard" for autism diagnosis. So I'm just wondering if it's really all that, or if others have had experiences with it missing a true spectrum diagnosis. I doubt we'll go through another round of testing regardless.