What do I do with my grouchy 7 yo daughter? I need suggestions on how to approach and discipline this type of behavior. The best way to describe it, is to imagine the way a moody teenager acts. Whenever asked to do something, she moans and protests. She acts as though all things scholastic are difficult (even if obviously not hard). If she doesn't understand or acccomplish something right the first time, she throws a fit or pouts. Last year we had a good routine and schoolwork was done by lunch time and she only had to do it 4 days a week, but she hated every second of it. We have games and read-alouds mixed into to the day and that helps, but not much. Even the subjects she likes (science and history), she just tolerates during school time so she can get the whole ordeal over with. I need someone to tell me what to do or say to turn her attitude around. In general, she is just grouchy and pessimistic. If she can't get the kickstand on her bike up, instead of nicely asking for help, she whines and cries. If her house of blocks falls, she cries and sometimes flings herself to the ground. Please offer me some help. I would love to start this year off right. I hate that she hates school so much. All of you that have kids that love school, what are you doing to achieve this? Are some kids just moody and will always hate things that are not of their own choosing? Thanks, Gwen

Anyone else?

I'm not scheduling the artist/composer/poet study into the day, but instead I have a check-off list on the side of that week's planner. We do a lot of read alouds anyway, so I'm just going to mix these into those. As I read one, I check it off the list. Near the end of the week, I look to see if I need to read one the books. I figure if I read some books each week about each of these subjects, we will at least be a little familiar with their work. The composers we will listen to on our drive to piano and at bedtime. I fear that if I make it a "subject" to be studied, my daughter will come to hate it as she does all school. This way, it's just slipped it there without notice. This is what I put on the side of the planner: Artist-Cassat Poet-Longfellow Composer-Bach I just put a check mark beside it when I've read/listened about them. When my daughter was in K, we did this with artists and it worked well. Last year I failed to plan who to study and when, and never got around to doing it. Gwen

My son holds a pencil (and eating utensils) in an overhand grip. The length of the pencil is against the palm. I'm having a hard time correcting this and I don't want to let it go any longer as he spends a good deal of time every day scribbling with his sister. I have the HWOT teachers manual and have tried the suggestions in there to fix the grip, but no such luck yet. Of course I realize that this will time to correct and we have only just started. When he holds it pinched between the fingers in the proper position, the pencil will flop forward. I've done the rubber band around the wrist to help hold it in place, but the grip is still unnatural. I've also tried a couple different pencil grips, but even with those, the pencil will still fall forward. Also, even when holding bits of crayon or chalk, he holds them in the same overhand way (which is supposed to be impossible to do, according to HWOT) Any suggestions, or websites that offer help? Thanks, Gwen

I just found that my library has a bunch of these! I'll just pick the 9 I have heard of the most and go from there. I love the library! Gwen

Thanks for all the great replies and links! I've now got my artists picked out. I went to the library website and picked out the artists that had the Getting To Know books and videos to go with them. I'll do the same for composers next and possibly get the CD's someone linked. I'm finding it hardest to find books about poets. Langston Hughes is the only one so far that I have found a children's book about. Though I still have a bit a research to do. There also don't seem to be a lot of books of only one poet's poetry. I'll have to pick them out of several books. Gwen

I'm planning on studying a different composer, artist, and poet every four weeks this year. Nothing too in depth, but just reading poetry by that poet, listening to that composer, and looking at art by a certain artist. My problem is that I'm not sure who to study. Who would you consider important people in these fields? Beyond Bach, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Degas, I really don't know who to study. All this has to be appropriate for a 7 yo. Thanks, Gwen

I'm looking for a pen pal for my 7 yo dd (turned 7 at the end of May). She loves to write letters but her local friends rarely respond to her letters. She is interested in writing, drawing, adores sewing and crafts of all kind, and loves reading. She is a very "outdoor" kind of girl - loves bike riding, scooters, and playing outside. We live in Virginia Beach, VA, and would like someone from a bit further away. She has an odd fascination with California but that certainly isn't a requirement. Let me know if you have a daughter that might be interested. Gwen

What chapters do you combine to condense SOTW 2 into 36 weeks? I'm hoping someone else has already done this for me. Gwen

I need to find affordable health insurance for my two little kids. My husband changed jobs recently and COBRA is WAY too expensive. I don't need a wonderful insurance, but something to tide us over 2 more months. I just fear someone will break an arm or need to see the doctor before my husband's insurance starts. Neither have had any reason to see a doctor in the past 12 months, but you know how luck goes. Gwen

Yes, they are chewable, but not like I expected. I bought them today and my husband did a test chew for me. He said the gel caps "pop" when you bite them, but you then have to chew on the plastic-like gel cap. He said it didn't taste bad, but chewing on the gel cap (like a vitamin-E capsule) was disturbing.

Verbal apraxia is exactly what I think it is. Videos on youtube (not a diagnostic tool, I know) of kids with verbal apraxia sound exactly like my son. One and two word phrases can sometimes be understood, but anything longer sounds like a foreign language. We did Signing Time almost since birth (great success with his sister and signing when she was little) and he knows over 100 signs. He has been phasing them out as his speech improves. Our problem is now he has more to say than basic sign language can express. He is a surprisingly happy kid considering how little of what he says can be understood. Thankfully, I am great at figuring out what he is saying! I found the Nordic Naturals at the Vitamin Shoppe down the street so I've already given him the first dose. Thanks for telling me about the name change, I never would have figured it out. Gwen

I've read about OT and Sensory Integration Disorder, but they don't seem to fit. He seems great at gross motor skills (rode 2 wheeler without training wheels on 4th birthday), and fine motor seems good too (strings little beads on string with big sis). He does have a funky overhand pencil grip though. In every way, he seems completely normal, except that he can't talk. He understands everything you say. Gwen

I've been reading about how omega-3 fatty acids can sometimes help kids with speech disorders, but I'm confused about which one. I have to wait a few months to get my son (age 4) an appointment with a good speech therapist and want to at least start on fish oil. I figure it won't hurt, and maybe it will help. In the book, The Late Talker, it says to use ProEFA (ultimate omega complete omega) from Nordic Naturals, but I don't see the same one in their product list. I suspect apraxia if that helps at all. Please give me some good sources for this and if you have tried it yourself, I'd love to know if it helped or not. Gwen

Anyone else?

TandLMommy28, Your year sounds exactly like ours! We have had a worm farm, ant farm, and caterpillars as well. Right now we have tadpoles, and friends are always asking what kind of bug or animal is on the kitchen counter this time. I'm surprised that doing science this way isn't more popular. To me it's been so easy to put together. Once I find a good spine for the subject, I just pick related books from the library and read those together. At least one of them usually has an experiment to go with it that we can do after reading the books. I'm looking forward to seeing what others have used as a spine or supplements. Gwen

What are your favorites for 2nd grade science as described in TWTM? We are currently doing 1st grade science pretty much as laid out in TWTM and really like it. Give me your "can't miss" ideas, books, and other resources. Also, what about the basic texts (I have the original edition), are they good, or is there something better out there? Should I order a rock collection? If so, which one and where to buy it from? Thanks, Gwen

Thanks, mammahawk I forgot all about the workbooks and they do look simple. I wish they weren't divided up into so many books, though. They might be a good choice since they will follow along with Ray's. I've been looking back at the Math Mammoth samples for multiplication and division and I really like them. Somehow they seem simpler to understand than the first grade addition one. If only I weren't so wishy-washy when it comes to math curriculum. I'd like to pick something and stick with it. Sorry to cause so much confusion on the mastery thing. I simply meant that I wanted each topic to be thoroughly learned before moving on to the next subject. I just don't want her to move forward it she is still shaky on the basics. I want her to know the basic operations backwards and forwards first. I'm 32 and still don't know all my math facts without using fingers, but can still do higher math. I think higher math would have been much easier if I really knew and understood the basics first. I'm trying to prevent that in my kids. Hope that made some sense! Gwen

Ray, I do have the parent guide for Ray's but it really only tells you when to teach what. I need how to teach each one. Thanks, TracyR for the list of mastery programs. I knew someone here would know. Now I have to do some more research. Gwen

I know I've seen it on here before, but what math programs are mastery? I think rod and staff is, but I can't think of others. My daughter hates MEP passionately because of all the little circles and boxes to be filled out. Too many arrows on top the numbers and such. The pictures are confusing and don't help her understand the concept at all. I think we need something simple and uncluttered with great easy to understand instructions. Nothing with 2 interlocking puzzle pieces labeled A and B that you are supposed to write a math sentence about. I've looked at Math Mammoth samples and they seemed too MEPish to me. The sample featured more of the circles that are supposed to illustrate something or another. We have Ray's and are using it now and I really love the simplicity of it. It seems to missing a lot of concepts like graphs and reading charts though. For second grade, it is only multiplication and division and there don't seem to be enough explanations for me (a complete math idiot). It's almost all word problems that are solved orally and has helped her not hate math anymore. Please lead me in the right direction to research possible math programs for 2nd grade. Or possibly a book that I can use to teach me to teach the concepts in ray's (it must be written so that math idiots can understand it). Gwen

Is there a website that lists songs for skip counting? I tried youtube but had no luck with the 8's. I'd really rather not buy one. It seems like I could just sing the multiples of 8 to a familiar tune, but I can't. Gwen

Yes, I do have the hardback text. I've been hearing a lot about the lectures and guess I need to look into those more. Need to figure out this MP3 thing now, though. Gwen

Thanks for linking the sample pages, Celly B. I don't know how I missed that. So do you think the workbook is worth it just for the questions? I like how we just use whatever we are currently reading (science, history, or fun read-aloud) since it makes writing less of a separate subject, but I would like some extra hand-holding when it comes to teaching writing. Gwen

Is there somewhere that I can see what books WWE2 uses for the passages? I'm considering using the workbook next year (I just use the text and find my own now), since I thought it might help me teach summarizing easier. I'm not sure what kind of questions to ask that might lead my dd into the kind of summary needed. I want to know what books the selections come from, because I'm afraid we have already read many of these books. If we have already read them (some several times), the selections wouldn't be new and wouldn't really test comprehension. I saw in another thread, that the Misty of Chincoteague, Alice in Wonderland, Little House, and E. Nesbit books were used and we have read all of those. Thanks, Gwen

If I chose a copywork sentence from Pooh or Poppins, should I capitalize it as it was originally written? Gwen