I take and teach taekwondo classes, read now that the kids are old enough to not need me constantly and are involved in activities that require me to sit for a long time watching, and go to church on Sundays. I also chat with other homeschooling moms. I work 2 days a week to get my baby-fix--I do physical therapy on kids under 3. Now that the weather has started to warm, I have been running with my oldest son in the mornings as well.

I take and teach taekwondo classes, read now that the kids are old enough to not need me constantly and are involved in activities that require me to sit for a long time watching, and go to church on Sundays. I work 2 days a week to get my baby-fix--I do physical therapy on kids under 3. Now that the weather has started to warm, I have been running with my oldest son in the mornings as well.

especially when I can find Baby Lulu in their catalog. The prices are competitive and usually lower than boutiques.

My kids are all like this and they can talk to anyone about anything. My 5yo dd is the most talkative though...if she's not talking, she's singing made-up songs, humming classical or fiddle songs, pop songs, is doesn't matter. Her mouth does not stop running until she falls asleep. She used to even sing herself to sleep when she was a baby. There are times when I would love to have a few moments of quiet but with my oldest hitting the teen years in the next year, I just keep telling myself to enjoy the noise because before I realize it has happened, they will all be grown and gone and I will wish for those chatty days again.

I am a physical therapist and work in Early Intervention in NJ. A couple years ago the state began using a standardized test for all children entering and leaving the system as a way to track the effectiveness of the program as well as the child's individual progress. The test used in NJ is age appropriate and can be used for children birth to 6 so allows progress to be tracked as the child moves into the school system following their 3rd birthday. Prior to the use of this test, every individual EI program and provider used a different set of tests so results could not be compared easily and progress/effectiveness of the program/therapy provided was more difficult to track. That is probably what they are doing now in your state...trying to come up with a way to track effectiveness of their programming to become more efficient as a system. I do not know exactly how the data is used on a state level in our state except that the child's individual results are kept and with a parent's consent can be shared with the school system if the child needs therapies after their 3rd birthday. Because of national HIPPA regulations, no personally identifying data can be shared without parental consent.

CherylCO, What is the name of that computer program, if you don't mind sharing? I have a dd who would simply love it.

My oldest is pretty globally accelerated. He met all his developmental milestones early with a strength in language. He read at 3yo and enjoying Harry Potter by 4.5yo. He, now at 12yo, enjoys reading adult level books, classics. He is doing high school geometry and will start Alg 2 in a few months. He is a great athlete- black belt in taekwondo and is a competitive wrestler. His drum teacher is using the same materials he uses with his adult students and though he rarely practices, he always learns what he is taught and improves. He is a natural born leader and has always been very mature for his age. My middle son (10yo) is the most generous, thoughtful kid. He would give the shirt off his back to anyone in need. He met his gross motor skills very early (sat at 4m. crawled at 5 mo, walked at 9mo) and spoke in sentences by 12months like his brother. He rode his bike without training wheels at 2.5yo and tied his own shoes before his 3rd birthday. He is a very creative kid, constantly coming up with new inventions for this or that. He is accelerated in math and though he is ahead of grade level in reading by 2years, he hates to read. He is doing really well with guitar and also has his black belt in taekwondo. My 5yo dd met her developmental milestones, except gross motor, faster than both her brothers. She was using sentences at 10 months. She began reading spontaneously, without formal phonics instruction at 3.5 yo and could read anything. By 4yo she was reading Little House type books and anything else she could get her hands on. She learns math by taking whatever I teach her and extrapolating on it by asking questions and experimenting. She completed 1st grade math in 4 months and 2nd grade will be done in 5 months. She is extremely talented on violin and can play anything she has heard once or twice plus can name the note for almost any sound she hears musical or environmental. She has figured out numerous violin techniques on her own like slurs, fiddle ornaments, and bow sharing through experimentation and trying to make her songs sound just like what she has heard.

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I am looking for a writing curriculum for my 6th grader (12yo). He qualifies for CTY but theirs are so expensive. I have used Writing Strands, Writing Power, and Wordsmith but am not getting the results I would like with him. He is lazy about writing and will do the minimum just to get finished. I would like something possibly online where his work could be evaluated by someone other than me and discussed with him to help him improve. Criticism from Mom is not taken well no matter how constructive since he turned into a slightly moody pre-teen. I know he is capable of much more than he does at this point. He started his own book a few months back and the first few chapters weren't bad for a kid his age but he lost interest. Any ideas? Also, someone once directed me to a website with writing samples by grade and since I had to reboot my computer, I cannot find it again. Thanks.

I posted over there as Donna as well. I am homeschooling 3 accelerated children... 12yo ds who loves wrestling and martial arts and also plays drums. 10yo ds also loves martial arts-taekwondo and Judo and also plays guitar. 5yo dd who is very talented in violin and Celtic fiddling. I work 2 days a week as a physical therapist in Early Intervention for children under 3yo and teach taekwondo.