Better Chinese has an online component that my children enjoy.

It's near the pancake syrup in our store. Personally I would have put it with the baking supplies. Do people eat molasses on pancakes?

I would like to find something like this as well. I've heard about the Childhood of Famous Americans series--maybe those would work?

Hi Reya, I had a chance to look over the first Sassmannshaus violin book today and was thought about you. I actually do think this book would work with a motivated four year old, especially if your dd is reading already (I think she is?) The book has large notes, which I like, and the pages are not too busy. The first several pages are just open strings, with half notes and quarter notes introduced. Other notes are introduced a few at a time, starting with the "cuckoo's third" (open E down to C# on the A, for example). By the end of the first book all of the first position notes have been introduced on G-E strings, as well as 8th notes and dotted halfs, several rests, and slurs. If I were using this exclusively for teaching I would want the student to memorize some (but not all) of the exercises and songs so they could really focus on tone, intonation, bowing, etc. The book doesn't give much guidance on these, but leaves the teaching to the teacher; if you can guide your dd in those areas, you could probably make this program work.

I would actually interpret this behavior not as an "I don't care" attitude, but as a sign of stress. When I am stressed about something my mind automatically tries to avoid thinking about the stressful thing--so I think about everything else. It's a sort of unconscious avoidance behavior, and I personally think it underlies a lot of what we call ADHD in kids. My personal guess is that your son is overwhelmed by the whole school academics situation, and so his brain has been avoiding thinking/doing anything about it as a self defense mechanism against stress. As the situation has deteriorated--bad grades, behind in studying, etc., the defense mechanism is activated more and more. I would treat it not as a character issue but as a sign that he needs much more scaffolding at this point to help him find more productive ways of tackling academic work and stress. Help with planning, time management, study skills like reading the chapter before attending class lectures. Be grateful he is still young and you have time to help him gain these skills. I've BTDT, not yet as a parent but as a student. I really didn't want to fail--but I felt like I had been thrown into a pool and told to swim when I didn't know how. But you wouldn't have guessed that was how I felt from my outward demeanor. You would have thought I just didn't care. I did learn eventually and managed college much better than high school, but it would have helped a lot to have someone holding my hand along the way and teaching me the skills I needed, instead of just yelling at me from the sidelines to get my act together and swim.

I love Moroni's awareness of and humility concerning his own human imperfection and weakness. He both encourages us that our weakness can be made strong through Christ, and reminds us not to judge others for their weakness. Ether 12:27 was my first favorite scripture as a teenager--I always felt like I was failing in so many ways, and was comforted by the thought that we are meant to have weaknesses and if we continue in faith those weaknesses could become strengths. I used to think that meant we would not be weak in those areas anymore, more recently I am thinking that the weaknesses themselves are our strengths, that the Lord will use them for our good.

:grouphug: Elizabeth, I'm sorry you were so let down today. Those talks would have had me raising my eyebrows for sure--and thanking heaven that not all LDS men are so shallow in their thinking about what makes a good wife! Actually, the first inkling I had that my future dh might have some real interest in me was when I told him I had received my mission call and he said enthusiastically "I've always wanted to marry a returned missionary--they seem so much more serious about life!" Honestly, when church members say or do things that make me cringe I think of Moroni's advice in Mormon 9:31 " Condemn me not because of mine aimperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been."

Hey Bill, your baptismal service is all planned. My niece is being baptized next Sunday in a hotel swimming pool, and just so happens there's a hot tub right next to the pool--water jets and all. Come on over, we'll get you set up with some white clothes and you're good to go :D :D

The LDS church teaches that marriages performed under proper authority in a sacred temple are valid not only for this life but for eternity. Members of the church are strongly encouraged to have their marriage sealed in the temple, and that was what both dh and I planned on so the only real question was which temple to choose. I chose this temple in the tiny town of Manti, Utah because that was where my parents were married. We were both living in Utah at the time. My parents had recently moved to Virginia after being overseas, dh's parents had just moved from Ohio where he grew up to Texas. Since neither dh nor I knew anyone in those locations it didn't make sense to get married out there. We got married around Christmas so everyone in school or with kids in school would be able to travel. The wedding ceremony was just immediate family; that is pretty standard for LDS weddings, it is quiet and very intimate. Everyone else gets invited to the reception, which is where all the celebrating happens. We actually broke tradition by holding our reception the night before the wedding, because I felt the wedding day would be less stressful that way.

I think under those circumstances I would at least try for the exception. I would probably explain to the organizers that the children your dd is closest to will be in the older group, and since you participate largely for the social experience it only makes sense if she is with the group she enjoys and you're not interested in participating if they insist on putting her in the lower group. Good luck!

Thanks. Off to check this out.

OK, my memory is faulty--sorry. I tend to be a "take what I like and leave the rest person"--so it makes sense to me to take what works from Suzuki and not worry about what doesn't work for my family or my students. Honestly, I doubt more than a tiny minority of American Suzuki students spend hours every day practicing and listening to recordings as beginning students. I think I really haven't understood what you are looking for though. If you're not interested in teaching fingering yet, I'm not sure what you were looking for in a reading based program. Or you want a program that really focuses on position and bowing and then adds note reading and fingering? Or you plan to teach the position and bowing yourself, then transition to a program? There just isn't that much out there in the way of programs designed with a young learner in mind. The Violin Book that someone mentioned does teach posture and bowing rather explicitly in the first book--I don't think left hand is addressed until the second book. That may or may not be helpful depending on whether you want an outside source for exercises. The books progress slowly, so in that sense they could work for a young student. I don't feel like they have a ton of meat, though. The Sassmannshause (did I get that name right?) series looks interesting, I haven't seen it before--it might possibly have what you are looking for. For teaching note reading to a student who can play a bit I like the I Can Read Music books by Joanne Martin together with Evelyn Avsharian's Songs for Little Players books. I hope you find something that works for you. Maybe a few more people will chime in--I'm always looking for new ideas and programs. The G'DAE program someone referenced looks intriguing, I'm off to look into it more.

This is what I would do as well.

Yet another vote for Math Mammoth. We tried at least 4 other math programs before we settled on this as our core, and we haven't looked back.

Thanks for posting this! We love putting memory work to music.

I'm a big advocate of foreign language study in general, but it can be really hard to tackle alone. In this case, I'm inclined to agree with Miss Marple--if he doesn't need it to attend CC, it can wait. Have him use the time that was going towards the foreign language for his other studies--where he might get a better return on his investment.

Reya, have you read Dr. Suzuki's books? It's been awhile but I don't remember him recommending more than 10-15 minutes for a young child. I certainly wouldn't expect more than that from a 4 year old. The things I like about Suzuki are 1) it gets children playing quickly; 2) music is memorized so they can focus on tone, intonation, posture, etc.; 3) Once a song is learned it is continuously reviewed, giving the child a repertoire of songs they can play well. Those are all elements I try to use in teaching my own children and others, whether we use Suzuki repertoire or not. Actually, my favorite way to start a student out is to teach them to play a song they already know well and enjoy singing--Christmas Carols are perfect for this. If you're tired of the Suzuki CD's and repertoire and you have enough background to teach you dd yourself, and she's dying to play, why not just choose a couple of simple songs and teach them to her?

Another thought Reya--if Suzuki is a possibility in the not-too-distant future, you could start by getting her the CD for violin book 1 and having her listen to that every day. Then when she does start she would be prepared to progress more quickly. That's probably your best bet if you're trying to make this less time/parental involvement intensive--just have her as well prepared as possible before she starts. Beginning violin is just not something a 4 year old--or a 7 year old--is going to be able to do without a lot of hand holding.

:iagree: The learning curve on string instruments is really steep at the outset--the student needs to think about intonation, bow hold, bowing, violin hold and general posture. Adding in note reading right at the beginning will only make those things harder, and a student that young will need help practicing anyway. I like the suggestion to try something like kindermusik or maybe piano lessons, as preparation for later doing violin. Piano is a bit easier to get started on, and she could learn music reading skills that could later transfer to violin.

We don't do birthday presents (because I don't like to accumulate things). Instead, the birthday child gets to go out to dinner at their restaurant of choice with dad or mom. We also have cake and ice-cream with the entire family.

Those look fun!

:iagree: Many excellent programs don't even introduce long division in 3rd grade. We use Math Mammoth and it doesn't teach long division until the second half of 4th grade.

We do something very similar to the OP, reading passages and discussing, along with some memorization. We went through the Golden Children's Bible last year, and are reading the KJV New Testament this year. The kids know the stories so the language isn't a problem. Well, mostly it isn't. We're reading Paul's Epistles right now and sometimes even I can't figure out what he is getting at. Occasionally I look for commentary on a passage, but mostly we just discuss what we can and move on. I figure studying this way is closer to what I expect my children to do for the rest of their lives, so it's a good habit to get into. I would like to do some topical studies at some point as well--again, the kind of study I do on my own and want to model for them. In my mind using a standard curriculum could turn Bible study into just another school topic. That's not how I want my children to experience it.

The underlying concept is good, but implementing it in a classroom as a required activity takes most of the creativity and all the joy--and therefor much of the benefit--out of it.

:grouphug: :grouphug: Infertility is rough. I felt so bad when I got pregnant with my first, knowing that my sister had been trying unsuccessfully for years.