That's why I went with the developmentally appropriate Read, Write and Type. It's just a world of difference (and should be for what it costs!) over the typical typing programs Not that everyone needs to spend the $$ though just in order to get someone typing so young. For us it's critical as a dysgraphia accomodation and as phonological intervention (spelling/reading) Perhaps if our issues weren't so pressing, I'd have simply waited till they were a little older before returning to a more typical/mainstream typing program. :)

Probably spelling power or Apples and Pears (prometheantrust.org) A great root word vocab program like Megawords could also absolutely fit the bill (phonics, spelling and vocab all in one...makes sense they're all different parts of the same thing) http://www.epsbooks.com/dynamic/catalog/series.asp?seriesonly=1825M

"I am starting to research a good reading curriculum for her to use when she's in K/1st grade." oops! I misread the first post. You're looking for a reading curriculum.... I'd get abecedarian (abcdrp is the website I think) and use that, along with this database to find appropriately 'leveled' books at the library: I am starting to research a good reading curriculum for her to use when she's in K/1st grade. I haven't run into any religious content at all.... Guided Reading Level: http://registration.beavton.k12.or.us/lbdb/FMPro?-db=lbdb_&-lay=Data_Entry&-format=s_grlevel.htm&-view'>http://registration.beavton.k12.or.us/lbdb/FMPro?-db=lbdb_&-lay=Data_Entry&-format=s_grlevel.htm&-view'>http://registration.beavton.k12.or.us/lbdb/FMPro?-db=lbdb_&-lay=Data_Entry&-format=s_grlevel.htm&-view'>http://registration.beavton.k12.or.us/lbdb/FMPro?-db=lbdb_&-lay=Data_Entry&-format=s_grlevel.htm&-view the entire site (search by author, title, etc.....helpful, but not as convenient as the above which allows you to just get whole 'levels' of titles) http://registration.beavton.k12.or.us/lbdb/ I just search the Reading Level database in one window.....and have the library's website open in another level. i request books online and pick them up every so often. All the best to you.

great 'game' books/ideas: _Get Your Child Off the Refrigerator and Onto Learning_ is awesome. It's written for ADHD'ers but is great for anyone who prefers a more active/involved learning style. Peggy Kaye's books are great too. You can find all of them at the library or amazon. :) Katherine

Oh, and if you think she needs more practice/work to support the reading of regular books, I think ABeCeDarian is *fabulous* as is the Dancing Bear Series from prometheantrust.org Apples and Pears Spelling is the oft discussed spelling (encoding) accompaniment to the Dancing Bears reading (decoding) series. All the best, Katherine

she has fluency with her diagraphs (ch, wh, sh, etc ), blends (str, bl, cr, ink, unk, ung) and diphthongs (ou, oy, ai ey etc)? If so, or if she she seems to 'get it' really well when it comes to phonics, then I'd just start reading regular short books at an appropriate level. One of the easiest way to figure out what level is correct is to use the following Leveled Book Database: http://registration.beavton.k12.or.us/lbdb/ Here is the direct link for their level "A" books. I prefer this particular leveling system b/c it seems to weight phonics more significantly than some of the other systems. And it's free. And it's a massive database. "A" level books: http://registration.beavton.k12.or.us/lbdb/FMPro Based on what where your child is in terms reading, you may be a little past A, or even a lot past A. I just love the 'leveling' b/c it removes the guesswork and much frustration of picking appropriate materials and helps determine where we're progressing and where we're getting stuck. :) K

" they can't do a simple problem like 5+8 in their heads." in Singapore, it's a given that drill is done separately, every single day, for 'x' period of time. that bit of the success of Singapore math is lost in translation (so to speak) when US consumers use it. Too many assume that drill/repetition/mastery of facts isn't needed when in fact it absolutely is. Really it's not a problem with Singapore math, but a cultural difference in how the programs are used. I personally wouldn't consider a child pre-algebra ready without fact fluency. just my .02:)

"last lesson before Level C." that would be the last lesson that you do in transitions -- in other words, stop there, then go to C. go to C now and before you work with your child, go through the lessons thoroughly to see what you can skip and where you need to start. We used to need to do all of the spiraling including in RS, but over time, something started to click with my dd and we needed to move much more quickly. If she gets a concept thoroughly then the key things to *not* skip are the games/mastery of facts so that she can work problems more quickly. At the beginning of C, we did all of it, skipped some of the geometry in the middle (not most of it though), towards the second half of C I was combining lessons, skipping warmups where I could, then we went to D. But seriously, I just couldn't take another *whole* year of working on multiplication - well, my dd couldn't. D was just review review review with a few new concepts introduced later than half way through the book. So here's what we did: ~a quick multiplication memorization using _Memorize in Minutes: The Times Tables_ ~It took three days ~then i went over D with a fine toothed comb, picked out the 15 or so lessons that would be a beneficial complement to Singapore 3A/B (mostly division, some geometry, and something else.....maybe decimals or fractions? can't recall now, I can look it up if you'd like. ~Singapore is her main workbook, with those RS lessons as needed.Also some math mammoth if we need to 'mix it up' a bit for a different page layout on a given topic. All the best...

Moving Beyond the Page is a literature unit study based curriculum that is completely secular movingbeyondthepage.com Winter promise is Christian but right now we're using American Crossing 1 (4-7grades) and I've had no trouble rewording any occasional wording that's 'religious'. There is very little. I can't speak to their other curriculum. We loooooove this one though. Love love love it. K12 is totally secular. You can use them as a 'school' (ie have a teacher), you can order the curriculum *independently and use it on your own*. And some states have public school charter options using K12. The upside is that it's 'free', the downside is that you're technically considered a public schooler, not a homeschooler and have to meet all state requirements for standardized testing, report to a teacher etc etc. Calvert is an option, though I'm fairly certain it's traditional rather than 'fun':) I have multiple 'secular' friends that use Sonlight core materials (literature based) and have no problem running into religious content (there maybe a tiny bit that needs to be avoided. Someone posted a link yesterday of lots of links to secular curriculum.....but it was more of a 'peice it together' rather than a comprehensive 'open a box and go' kind of thing. Math is easy....singapore, rightstart (RS), math u see (MUS) Another good secular option....Using _Story of the World_ (SOTW) as a history spine, combined wtih classicalhomeeducation.com's History Odyssey (activity guide = AG) is fantastic. I like History Odyssey for activities instead of SOTW's AG. You wouldn't run into any religious content in any of that (except as it's used to describe other's beliefs) or in the additional reading suggestions for either of the AG's. Then you could add in math of your choice (i think Rightstart is a great option for first grade....starting with A or B depending on where she is right now......moving along as quickly as need be, then maybe going to 'C' or switching to Singapore). In "D" right start was still repeating the same things from C. There was no way we could continue it. My daughter doesn't like math so much, does need some spiraling/repetition, but she does 'get' math....and the amount of 'same material' was insane. So I'm using about 15 lessons from Rightstart (b/c they're great!) for division and some geometry type stuff, but for problems to work, she uses singapore mostly....and some Math Mammoth. Combining math programs is something I thought I'd *never* do. Too much tracking and too-ing and fro-ing for me......but here I am, 3 years into homeschooling, and doing fine with it:tongue_smilie: SWB's book series, _First language lessons for the well trained mind_:) (FLLFTWTM) , are wonderful. So is her Writing With Ease (WWE) and student workbook to accompany. Hope this is helpful. Wishing you all the best.

Exactly exactly exactly the issue we had. I couldn't do anymore drilling/games with her on the multiplication front though b/c she was starting to loose it. We'd been working on it for too long....hence the _Memorize in Minutes: The Times Tables_ 'intervention'.:tongue_smilie: It's a story/picture pneumonic devices for learning each fact through 10. They recommend doing one a day. We did them all in three. As a nice side benefit, the then 6 yo dd picked them up in three days too. That was fun;) But seriously, we're using what, 10?15? lessons from D but working out problems mostly from singapore....in the books or on the windows with glass markers. I looked at E from Rightstart and felt pretty much the same as D. I think that B(if you go quickly enough and skip as needed) and C are the rightstart highpoints....or A if starting with a v young child who hasn't yet learned numeration. transitions is good if you're trying to undo a poor math understanding and set a good foundation when switching into rightstart (like we were). The geometry sounds good as well but I really can't imagine doing D or E in their entirety. Something else that suprised me.....my math kid (dd7) hated rightstart. She was so over listening to me talk and wanted to get on with it already. She loves math mammoth (if i choose problems carefully to avoid too much repetition) and loves singapore. She can pretty much teach herself from the examples and go on to work independently. Wahhhhh! I wanted the *fun* of teaching the one who loves to do it. but nooooooo, she wants to do it *herself*. :willy_nilly: :)

Lost in Translation Good Will Hunting

I love love love our hp 3600 color laser. But I think we're in the minority based on reviews. We were looking at regular/non color lasers when my dh noticed this one. It was half price b/c it's been disco'd so the price, of course, was great (pd $250). It is a workhorse (knock on wood), the price per copy is decent. I use it heavily for printing tons of things for our homeschool group, my other dd's school, the kids Math Mammoth worksheets. My dh even did some glossy full color post cards (for his business) that came out *beautifully*. I'm not sure I'd buy it again simply b/c the reviews have scared me. But, we'd already bought it, already had set it up when I came across them. We've kept the box/receipts etc just in case. But so far so good after 3 mos of heavy, daily use. http://reviews.cnet.com/laser-printers/hp-color-laserjet-3600n/4505-3159_7-31557358.html cnet also has reviews for other color laser printers in that class. :)

ahhhh:) thanks for clarifying.

I'd think I'd head in to the neurologist. Also, I'd be getting her vitamin d tested asap and then treating it to get it up to the optimal 50-55 ng/mL (ie not just lab norms, but optimal) http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/567073 Actually since most are vitamin D deficienct, it's worth it to test anyone. Hypovitaminosis D is a true epidemic if looking at optimal levels and not just the sub optimal lab norms. vitamindcouncil.org All the best

This child needs an evaluation for dyslexia asap. A.S.A.P The intervention won't be Sylvan or Reading Recovery....he needs an evidence based daily intensive multi-sensory intervention that covers both encoding (spelling) and decoding (reading). Read, Write and Type! is a computer program that will help with some of it, thought it's not intensive or comprehensive, it is evidence based and *is* absolutely helpful for spelling, reading, phonological coding etc..... He'll need probably 45min (1:1 tutoring) to 60 min (2-4:1 tutoring) using an intensive, incremental, multisensory, approach like Recipe for Reading, Barton, Wilson, etc. I've reluctantly become my child's Wilson tutor....b/c the professional started displaying some alarmingly unprofessional anti-homeschooling bias...and at 2x/week it wasn't going fast enough (and she wouldn't help me come up with a home program for her). So I bought the materials and training videos and off we went! I'd have gone with Barton b/c it's totally scripted, but we'd already started Wilson so I figured it was easiest to stick with it. I'd check Wilson's website, barton's website for tutors in the area......also see if recipe for reading has certified people.....I don't think they do, I think that's one that one just orders and figures out how to do. I'm not sure how much support there is for it in terms of training. A friend of mine here in Atl uses is with her son, but an experienced tutor at the the Schenk School (dyslexia school here in Atl), spent a few hours with the mom setting up lesson plans and guiding her through the process. Wishing her all the best! Feel free to pass on my email if she's interested cillakat @ gmail DOT com

So true. the unfortunate thing is that some kids will never be 'developmentally' ready. And those are the kids that need early phonics intervention. Intensively. Systematically. Multi-sensory. Overlearning. Incremental. Comprehensive. It's important to identify those kids early and get started. Without that, precious time is lost and the dyslexia is harder to remediate and remediated less successfully. With early intervention the phonological weakness can actually be rewired. I wouldn't take the chance again. Dd's dyslexia symptoms were overlooked and misdiagnosed on multiple occasions. By the time is was clear (8.75), we had missed to much critical ground and her very best strategy was guessing. That goes no where good. No Where. We're still undoing the damage. The damage from 'look at the beginning of the word, look at the end of the word, then make your best guess'. Check the picture for clues, then make your best guess. Truly damaging strategies for the child lacking an internal phonological coding system. A skilled tester should generally be able to discern between a child who has a phonological coding issue, and one who doesn't (but just isn't reading yet). If regular phonics instruction isn't working....it absolutely can't hurt, and may *save* them and you much heartache later on, to be evaluated earlier rather than later by a specialist. Using the CTOPP and some other fairly sensitive measures, one can gain critical insight. And fwiw, there really is no debate at this point. Every child can learn to read using phonics. Some can learn to read using whole language (of which intrinsic phonics is a part). The truth though, is that the Whole Language approach will singnificantly hobble and damage somewhere in the range of 20% of emerging readers. Learning phonics will only benefit. It's true that some don't need phonics instruction.....some just *get* the phonological structure of the language and don't need to be taught it. Here is a link to the National Reading Panel. They investigated all of the available evidence regarding reading instruction, what worked, how, why. Phonics, done right, simply works for everyone. Whole Language, while it works some of the time for some of the people, does damage to others. Also, it has the distinct disadvantage of creating some readers who appear to be strong at reading until their ability to memorize the shape of words (perceptual reasoning/visual-spatial abilities) are outpaced by the demands of technical and/or higher level work -- sometimes in middle school but often in highschool, college or grad school. http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org/Publications/publications.htm All the best

There's actually a name for the evidence based intervention that helps fluency: shared guided reading There are a bunch of other things it's called as well....but basically: Pick something you know she can read easily. She reads it silently, carefully to herself. Then you read it aloud, modeling fluencey for her, using a pencil/pen or your finger to guide under the text at the same rate your voice goes.....you're not trying to hit each word individually as much as you're trying to 'group them' or 'scoop them'. Then she reads aloud with you, while she uses a pen/pencil/finger to guide the fluency. Do that a couple of times.....every day....each passage 4x total. Reading aloud is the answer....reading silently to herself won't fix it. Doing this work for a few minutes a couple of times per day will be helpful for a child who is already an otherwise good reader. Keep in mind that generally people who are good readers, but not fluent ones, do end up 'hitting a wall' with comprehension as text gets more technical/difficult in upper level classes. It's good to deal with it now. If you find any phonological coding errors, you can deal with that as well....how you deal with that will depend on whether those issues show up in multisound single syllable words or only with multisyllabic words. All the best to you

We used rightstart transitions (loved) rightstart C (superloved) then started D. D was still spiraling through the same things we'd been doing the last year. Enough already! Over it! She already gets the money thing, gets the subtraction thing. I skipped to lesson 100 in D without missing anything. Oh, they do a thing on large numbers (100,000's and millions) but I covered that at some separate random time and she didn't need lessons on it. Squares is something we bypassed by skipping to lesson 100, but I'm also not worried about that. I was worried b/c she was getting so so sick of doing addition, subtraction and terribly sick of not making much progress in multiplication. So did a superfast multiplication memorization using Memorize in Minutes: The Times Tables, used some math mammoth (love it but too much repetition, too many problems on the page). I'm using some lessons from D now (like 10 total) in combination with Singapore. There's a thoroughness that comes with the scripting of RS an some things are much easier to get via their methods....but Singapore moves much faster overall which is better for my dd at this point. FE, I'm using the division teaching from RS and Singapore, but only the Singapore problems for her to work. Then we'll go on to more fraction work, cover that thoroughly, decimals, percents etc.....then we'll start on a pre-algebra program, maybe doing RS Geometry at the same time or back to back. specifically, I'm using lessons 100, 105, 107, 109 (dividing by a fraction), 112, 118, 119. I may or may not use 138 (building boxes) 139 (building boxes, 141 (scaling)...but really that's it. the rest was way to repetitive in D imo. :)

Ahh, but the Lunette (finland) is so much better than the DivaCup. I used a DivaCup for a couple of years but could always feel some level of discomfort with it. I was determined, one day, to find something perfect -- if it existed. I ordered one of every currently available menstrual cup in every currently available size. In the following linked forum, the Lunette is (%wise) the fave cup. I discovered this after I fell in love with it. I also love the LadyCup but it's very soft and I have problems with slight leaking with it. http://community.livejournal.com/menstrual_cups the DivaCup is the longest of the normal size cups. this seems to be the problematic factor for so many women. Also, it's very very stiff. The Lunette is a little wider - a smidge, a little shorter. The silicone is thinner, yet perhaps slightly more ridgid so it has a great seal. I also like the UK Mooncup very very much. Fwiw, I find the sizing to be not terribly accurate. For all of the cups, I can wear the large (over 30 or after childbirth regardless of age or route of delivery) or the small. The only difference is how long it takes to fill -- and for some of them, the size affects the comfort level. Also for all of them, I completely trim the stem. Completely. I just can't say enough good things about menstrual cups. I can't believe I wasted 22 years messing around with pads (cloth and disposable) and tampons. I find it to be the easiest most comfy solution. Empty and wash twice a day (q12h) and aside from that, I don't have to think of it at all. options Lunette - 2 sizes...the 'regular' seems to be a perfect fit for just about everyone, the small is v small, good starter one for a girl/teen. MoonCup UK (i love it and can use the small or large....38, have had two kids) but I like the Lunette better Moon Cup/Keeper (US) - first is silicone, second is latex rubber Diva Cup (canada iirc).....the longest of all of them. certainly many love it, but lots have problems with it Mia Cup - South Africa....very cool looking pinkish/purplish silicone....but the most expensive LadyCup - clear or pink and maybe blue? their small is the smallest of all of the cups, perfect for a girl/teen just getting started. but the silicone is vv flexible and some have trouble getting a good seal. I get what seems to be a good seal but always have a little leaking - never enough to lead through anything, but enough to have to think about it, yk? the large has the largest volume of all of the cups, which is nice if you have a heavy flow, but may not be enough of a benefit to offset the difficulties some have with getting it to pop open/seal etc Femmecup - also from the UK and quite similar to the Mooncup UK, but not totally identical. I also like and can use both sizes of this cup.....but I still like the Lunette better:) At the above website, you can find pictures and details galore of all of the options. All the best:001_smile:

for part one of your first question, I'd encourage beginning a typing prog ram at around six if you think you'll need it as a dysgraphia accomodation, phonological coding intervention or spelling work. and whenever you want if your child is good at the above skills: 6, 7, 10...whenever. :) Katherine

Typing rec: the very best, evidence based typing program is Read, Write and Type! by talkingfingers.com It's amazing. We limped along with spongebob and mavis beacon both of which were unimpressive. Read, Write and Type is expensive :tongue_smilie:, logical, sequential, mastery based and also acts as a phonics, spelling and basic writing program. It's actually one of the evidence based dyslexia (encoding and decoding) interventions listed in Sally Shaywitz' book _Overcoming Dyslexia. LD's aside though, it is the best typing program available for elementary students. My 10 yo nephew is using it and liking it. My16 yo nephew is using it, thinks it's a bit ridiculous (ie juvenile) but it's done for his typing what Mavis Beacon and similar couldn't do -- probably b/c of it's logical language structure associations. Might want to see if you can edit the title of your post so that you'll get more responses from people who have typing/greek recommendations. if you register for the free demo at talkingfingers.com, they'll send you a $25 coupon towards your purchase.

oh! we also love mario cart.

wii sports (bowling!!) big brain academy (we all love it....even my dd who was six when we got it) outdoor adventure wii ski (we don't have it but we play it at the cousins) the girls love monkeyball but I limit it severely b/c it's addictive for them. they get whiny and difficult after playing it and when I ask them to 'wrap it up'.

We use unsweetened Almond Breeze for a milk sub. I prefer it b/c is has no added sugar and it's important to me that they not be drinking empty calories. Really they drink water most of the time though.....the unsweetened almond breeze is for oatmeal or cereal or the occasional drink. It works well in baking, making rice pudding, mashed potato etc. I avoid the potato milk b/c it's dramatically higher in carbs with no additional benefits. I'd rather them get their carb cals from good foods like quinoa, millet, sweet potato, winter squash....tons of fruit, etc Chocolate almond breeze is a huge treat once in a while. We also make almond milk quite frequently....1 c blanched almonds to 4c water. blend high speed for two min, strain through *cloth*. return to blender, turn on blender, add 1/4 tsp xanthan gum slowly, while blending, to thicken. :) k

Laurie4b wrote: I don't know that previous testimonies would help, because there is such variation in what a kid's needs are. me: your previous testimonies? mine? others? I'm not sure what you're saying... Laurie: I do believe that a placebo effect could be operative in a lot of alternate therapy. Me: definitely. and that's not always a bad thing:) any benefit is better than no benefit, even if it is placebo. Sure i'd take a real 'fix' anyday of the week, but based on what I see right now and looking back at the road we've traveled -- well, let's just say I appreciate what's good, when it's good...even if it was just placebo. Laurie:I know that with our first course of OT, one of the huge benefits was ds not thinking he was uniquely defective (he saw other kids being treated for similar things)... me: yes, that was so so helpful for Alana too. and the postive adult interaction with Nan (her OT) was fabulous for her since she'd spent the several previous years being in trouble with her teachers and dh and I so frequently. Laurie: and it was a positive way to reverse a negative cycle of mutual frustration. That may have been worth the OT bucks (we paid half and it wasn't cheap) on its own Me: Totally agree. Laurie:However, in the case of our OT, I had NO idea what effect the brushing was supposed to have the first time i did it. Frankly, I was skeptical of that, too. But literally before my eyes, I saw the arousal/attention level shift. I asked him to come with me and do some typing. A kid who couldn't type a 5 word sentence of 3 letter words without about 100 extra movements (no kidding) typed a 3 sentence email with 0 extra movements. Me: yes..brushing was initially very helpful for her. And for island of improvement, I was grateful. Does it help now in any global way. No, but like I said, I'm happy for the good when I can get it. I am happy for the islands of happiness that OT created for my dd. But in terms of overall value, just looking at the $$ and benefits over time in *all areas*, the adderall has been dramatically more helpful. We're paying her therapist (talk, play, CBT, social skills) what we paid the OT and that is also having benefits that carry over into other areas - in global ways. Intense physical exercise is also more 'globally' beneficial for her than OT. I think alot of that has to do with the fact though that she didn't have any gross or fine motor issues. And the sensory things just weren't helped overall, in any lasting way by OT. While I was happy to get the islands of goodness that she did experience from OT, I think *our* time/money/efforts would have been better spent on 1:1 therapy, meds, and intense physical outdoor activity. But of course hindsight is always 20/20.:grouphug: In retrospect, starting with the major thing first (the ADHD) would have been most helpful (for my dd's situation).....rather than starting from an OT and social skills perspective. Getting the ADHD reigned was fundamental (structure, routines, behavioral mods, intense physical exercise....and meds if needed...).