Rose: I don't know how to praise you. I am reading all your posts today and was surprise how well you have taken care off. I mean, you have under going this big change from so many days. I really hope the very very best turns to you and your loving son. I am sure he would be back to his mama soon. A big teddy hug to you :grouphug: ..I will definitely pray for you and your family

Thank you so much...you made me feel better. 2_girls_mommy : Dr was not the person, I had talk to Dr about their under weight long time ago and she told me the are healthy...As long as they don't show tiredness early (like soon after school etc)..and play well. It means they are fine. Mandylubug: I generally ignore this comment if it was some outsider(since I get them very very often from outside people, not only for my kids but for my self too) Since this came from a family person, who know the history and everything...it was hard to digest. SKL : Thank you, I think I better rub that guilt from me and enjoy :) Once again thank you all for your support.

Oh my GOD, truthly there are these kind of people. I never thought this was true. My mom(aged 64) has her mom(aged 90)My mom's and grani's relation was not very great when my mom grew up. But later, after my mom got married things got better to some extent and was good(my mom told us) past few years maybe from 15 yrs things are not so good again. Past 2 yrs my mom and grani don't speak. Since I have a very very great relation with my mom, it was so hard to digest about their relation as I am close to my grani too. I always looked for ways to make sure that my mom would talk to my grani and in fact once they stopped talking and because I asked my mom not to be so stubborn. My mom spoke to my grani only because of me(how nice of her) and went well for few months. Again things got bad and they have completely stopped talking. Till now I was wishing her that she would talk or put some effort. I did indirectly mention to her but hats off to my mom where she didn't get mad at me or felt bad that I was still doing it. Since I din't have that relation with my mom, it was so difficult to understand her and I feel very bad now. Thanks to you all for making me realize there are people like my grani too. My grani is the same as what you all have discussed. I should apologize for my mom for asking her to do things against her wish even at this age. I am so sorry amma. I shall call her soon. Thank you for waking me up and a big hug :grouphug: to you all who had/have been with these kind of people.

Hard work does pay you off . Great job for you to bringing up such a lovely DS. And Hearty Congrats to both of you. I shall pray for you...

My kids are under weight for their respective ages and height is OK (since we both are not very tall) I was told that I am stressing my kids a lot and hence they are so under weight. I never give time or allow them to play.I felt bad and was shocked to hear from someone so close(is a family member) My kids are not into many activities, they just have music class 2 times a week and soccer (from Sept to Nov)once a week for DD,twice a week for DS. DS also goes to abacus class weekly once for 2 hrs. Rest of the time they play, do their school hw and I do call them for music practice, where I would be successful maybe 2 times a week. As I mentioned earlier in my post, my kids don't sit for reading books with me(thankfully now they are getting better. My DD is way much better to DS) Literally this is all they do...Weekends they play or we go out with them and try to keep the reading intact almost daily, except a few here and there where I would skip if they are not really interested. Sometimes we solve few puzzles, other few activities which are not very organised(totally depends on their mood and mine too) Basically my kids play well and don't show tiredness as Dr suggested its one way to know. I mean, I couldn't digest this as even I believe kids should be allow to play. That person thinks that music,abacus is not required at this age..they might learn if they are interested in future. I feel if they are not exposed to any, how would they know if they like it or not?? and all play and no work...is it good??? A brief history: I was always an under weight kid when I grew up and now also even after 2 kids and I eat good health food too. My DH was also the same when he grew up and has put on weight recently. My FIL is also under weight. So as Dr suggested is it in their genes or is it because I am stressing them. Or maybe at times I am not able see what I doing and need someone else to point out my mistake. Please help me with this, from yesterday evening...I am feeling very bad and low. Thank you.

I left my parents nest at the age 24 when I was married. I loved each and every moment (except a very few) I stayed with them. How I wish I could still go back to that life :) I keep visiting now, but its still not the same as before, as now I am a mom and no more a carefree bird...

All of us have hobbies, but taking time for our own selves and doing it ( after running around with kids and their chores)...which is the one you would do...what may come??? Mine are reading and keeping things organised and clean.

Lucky u all that you have thick hair. I am on the other end lossing my hair a lot. Any suggestions as how to make it thick without visiting a salon or using a costly product??

Thank you so so much StartingOver. You made things so easy and now I can go ahead and place an order. Thanks for your patience.

Thank you StartingOver.. I see that in AAS for level1 there is a student book and a teacher's manual along with the kit. So I should be buying all the three(student book,teacher book and kit)?? Also I found this on amazon for FLL. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0971412928/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller= Is this fine for level 1 and 2?? For SM, there are so many books for KG and grade 2 http://www.singaporemath.com/Earlybird_Math_Standards_Ed_s/135.htm grade2 : http://www.singaporemath.com/Primary_Mathematics_Stds_Ed_s/134.htm Can anyone of you please suggest me wich books to be brought to start off with, I know I am kind of expecting to be spoonfed but this is so confusing... Appreciate your help.

mathmarm : Thanks for your encouragement too. I think I should enforce that no speaking Eng in home, hopefully I get it there. deanna1ynne : I can understand what you tell. When I grew up we had 2 languages apart from English in our curriculum and I was always wondering why we need so many languages. I never realized its important but just started doing since it was part of curriculum(there were many times I wished we didn't have so many) But the best part was, the languages helped me later after I was done with my studies. This is only one reason which is driving me to teach them. And I shall not give up. Thank you.

Thank you StartingOver. Can anyone give more details what I can expect in AAS level1, I mean what does the packet contain? Do you buy from their site or any other?? For FLL is it just one book for level 1?? How about for SM??

Hello, After reading many threads, I just wanted to know what would be the best start off with my kids at home fro thier grammar,spelling and SM. My kids attend a private school which follows http://adventisteducation.org/ My younger one is 5 yrs old in KG and knows her numbers from 1 to 500..does single digit addition(with help) know the alphabets and sounds...trying to read 3 letter words like pat, hot, mad... For my son who is 7 yrs old in grade2...since he goes to abacus class, he is pretty good at addition and subtraction, recently started with multiplication and division too(2 digit)..Knows about coins, time reading. Coming to English, he was in Kumon earlier and he knows his sounds, consonants..He reads at AR level 2.6. He is good at finding the faults in the sentences(like upper cases, period,commas...basic grammar) Based on these, can you please suggest me where to start off for both of them. Or any other books you would suggest based on your experience. I did visit their respective websites but was unable to know where to start off. And to try them, what if those levels are too easy or too hard...They are pretty expensive. For SM we are yet to take the placement test. Appreciate any suggestion.

Thanks to each one of you... It is good to know there are people sailing in the same boat. Maybe I was feeling low and most of the time it happens such that when your are low, things make you feel so bad or irresponsible etc... I am very much better (after reading all ur messages) and I had stopped my son from taking few extra classes only because I didn't want him to pressurised and had decided let them be KIDS... Something went wrong and I was in chaos... Thanks for all your support and sharing your lifestyle and I am glad :)

Mabelen : Yes, we do have a Telugu association and its far from where we stay and can't afford to travel for 1 hr class. My kids speak better...(my younger one is much better and is more fluent when compared to the elder one) I shall look for few apps. Thanks for your reply. Arcadia : Thank you for giving me hope. This is one reason I am still motivated and not giving up so easily. I hope they do learn well. mom2bee: Thank you so much...I make sure they don't talk in English with me.. After they started with school, they are so used to talk in English and at times when I am busy, I reply to them in Telugu(but the question was in English from them) These days I am reminding myself not to answer them until they ask the same question in Telugu and at times I need to remind them of the same. As said earlier, my daughter is much better maybe because of her recent vacation trip to India..Her Telugu and Tamil has improved much much better. But the moment she is with her brother, she talks in English while they are playing...A constant reminder is required for both of them to talk in Telugu. I was reading to them books in Telugu, but recently I stopped as they were not showing any interest...I would start back soon and get grade1,2 books from India...Maybe I need to make sure daily reading of these languages is also a must along with their English books. Hopefully this would help.But it requires so much of effort...I shall try to the very best.

Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. HIndi we don't speak much...but watch shows,movies.. Telugu is the one which I am concerned for them to learn to read and write...

I know most of the parents here are full time, part time working. My wonders of the wonder is how do you all manage your work, kids,hw and their extra classes and the practice of those extra classes(piano, dance, chess etc) and things at home(cooking,packing, cleaning) I work full time and gone from home from 7 to 5...Evening while I am back form work, I pick kids(age 7 and 5) and go home. My kids hardly do any extra classes(expect a few)...I am very new here and when I was going through most of the threads I find parents and kids doing so much stuff and wonder where you get time... When do you cook, get things ready for the next day?? after those extra classes when do you get time to make sure kids practice it along with their regular school home work..reading a loud to them for about 15 min or more the least?? Don't your kids rebel...I add one extra stuff, my kids complaint they don't get time to play (which they do most of the time) At what time, do your kids go to sleep and get up in the morning?? Do they cry if you wake them?? My younger one always cries asking us to allow her to sleep for few extra mins....She even takes a short nap in the afternoon at school. I have tried many things to get them motivated, like stickers, points..taking them to their favourite play area etc..Almost everything is very good within week's time...later even if I ask them, they tell they are not interested going to that place or buying that toy. With great difficult I make them to sit for their music practice, they start off with one or other reason on each other and keep fighting about it. Most of the time is wasted only to convince them, and by the end they feel like they have done their practice for long time(which is nothing when the time taken off for calming them down) Hence I just stopped them in few extra classes as it was more pressure for me. My DS was going to chess classes but never wanted to practise..(what is the use of sending to classes when they are not interested to practice?) Its now only 2 extra classes(music and soccer)soccer would be done soon by mid Nov. Any suggestions as how to handle and motivate them basically...and make sure they practice them. Any other help is most welcome... Sorry if this post doesn't fit here. I just couldn't go back and refer to each thread...instead thought of putting all my concerns here.

Arcadia : Thank you so much for the links. Jean in Newcastle : its good to know that your kids have it in their curriculum. HejKatt: Yes, they do watch shows and other stuff in those languages...but getting them to learn and read(writing is way too far for me) is something I am more concerned. I shall try to look for the camps as suggested. Thank you maize: I know grandparents have a big role in this, since my kids grandparents visit us once in 2 to 3 yrs...its little hard..but I am glad at least they are able to talk to them in our language. Mabelen : Sad to know about your efforts. I dont know what I would do...but for now since they are young and have no much hw or other stuff..I will try... After certain time, maybe I would also give up and hope they learn by then :)

Thank you all for your inputs, I shall start off with both my kids and refer to the sites mentioned. Thank you once again.

Arcadia: Thank you for giving so much info. But I am from LA area..I know Bay area has all those activites. I shall try to get mroe info from these sites.. Thank you once again I am sorry to ask you..but may I please know what you meant by "ETA: You might want to PM Quark"

Hi, My kids are age 5 and 7. I haven't started with cursive writing for them(I know younger is too young for this) but 2 days before my son was interested to learn... I wanted to know if his age 7 is fine to start off and where can I get a good start up work sheets online for beginning?? Any other inputs are welcome. Thanks,

Jean In Newcastle: Thank you, I think I have to do the same..get their grade level books from India and help them to read. But my kids are not at all interested. They just do it for the sake of me...I feel bad to push them but I know the important of learning 3 extra languges and I want them to learn atleast 2 extra... How do you make your kids sit and read?? Maybe I have to start a new thread for more inputs :) Thank you once again.

SKL : Thank you.. The consistency in reading has been from 8 months...but earlier reading was no that consistency. As you said I would keep reading them without giving up. He does read but very rarely...The problem I find he refuses to read is when he comes across a word where he can't spell, he just swallows the word and goes ahead. I ask him to break or in fact help him to break and sound the letters and finally help him to say the complete word. I think he doesn't like this and he doesn't come forward to read. This weekend, I am taking him to library to check out books of his choice along with few audio books and comics too. Hopefully this should help him :)