We don't have TVLand with our cable package. Is there any way to watch online? I loved this show as a child and I know my kids would enjoy it. :)

My son is 8 and is a struggling reader. He is also on level 2 of AAR (lesson 30), but right now we are using Abeka 1st grader readers. They are a confidence builder and great extra practice for concepts he has already learned but not mastered.

I was actually just checking out Math Mammoth last night. Right now we are using a combo of MUS, Abeka, and some Right Start games every now and then. I know.....it's very smorgasbord-ish. :unsure:

I'm going to concur with Little Pear. We didn't even finish that one!

My 2nd grade son's major challenge has been reading. Therefore, we've spent a lot of time on it - using different techniques, books, websites, etc. trying to find what will help it click for him. My focus has been almost entirely on reading because in order to learn you have to know how to read, KWIM? Now we are nearing the beginning of the end of the year and I'm really seeing major holes in his math abilities. Not because he isn't smart in math, but because I haven't challenged him enough and honestly, put math on the back burner always thinking we can come back to it and he's still young he'll have no problem catching up. I'm thinking that was a mistake now. He knows his basic addition and subtraction facts and basic measurement, time, and money skills. What would you do to catch up your son if you were in my position? I'm looking for a fast, no frills way to get him up to speed. Thanks for any suggestions!

Thank you to all for your suggestions and input. It's been very helpful sitting here in the quiet of the house reading through this post and thinking everything through some more. I'm wondering about the comment above and others like it. Can someone point me in the direction of where I would go to get some kind of 'evaluation' done? I really have no idea how to go about this. My son as been wearing glasses for one year. He's just been back to get his prescription adjusted recently and he'll be going back within 2 months for a follow up appt. I will bring these issues up to the optometrist and see what he says about going to a specialist. He really does flummox me, to say the least. Some days his reading seems to be quite improved and I heave a sigh of relief and think that we're on the right track and that soon he'll be reading smoothly and then we have days like today when everything that he's ever learned seems to be chucked right out the window. *sigh* I'll be talking this over with my husband tomorrow as well.

We started with Abeka in Kindergarten which is what I used to teach my daughter how to read. But he is nothing like my daughter! We tried to stick with Abeka for his first full year mostly because I was convinced it was the best way to learn how to read. After a while, though, it was apparent that Abeka was just not working for him. There was so many different "special sounds" and it was going too fast for him. Last year (1st grade) we started with Explode the Code which he did enjoy, but I felt like we needed something more substantial so we moved to All About Reading Level 1. He finished the first level and we moved to Level 2 at the beginning of this year. I hope that extra info helps. Today I sat with him and had him form letters with clay because I read that was one way to see if a child has a dyslexia issue. He was able to form all the letters on his own without any issues except for the 'c' which he formed backwards. A few weeks ago he did write his entire name backwards and when we pointed it out to him he response was a shrug and, "what's wrong? it looks good to me." That was the first and only time I have seen him do that. It was mystifying. It was just such a frustrating day and I felt the need to vent. I'm not sure if anyone can help me, but I am very open to suggestions or stories of similar situations that worked out well in the end. :)

Hello, I'm mostly a lurker here at WTM and have gained many good tips and tricks from reading threads. This time, I have to be the one posting. I'm sure if I did a search I would come up with ideas, but I guess I would just like some thoughts specific to my child. I have a son who turned eight at the end of Dec. He is still struggling to read. He has good days and bad, but is not anywhere close to a 2nd grade reading level. We are working through All About Reading right now. We did move on to level 2 and we've started covering splitting up syllables (the short and closed syllable), and the silent e. However, reading one page in the Level 1 reader takes a long time. I've never timed it but I would guess 8 min. (at least) for one page. His reading is slow and halting. He has to sound out almost every word - even short one syllable words. When we do work on the board he can split words up and figure them out pretty quickly but when he looks at a whole page of words, it's like everything he has learned evaporates. Today he had the word "Kate" in a story and he looked at it and said, "J...J....J....J....J...." I just let him go hoping that eventually he would figure it out but finally I had to tell him to look at the first letter and tell me what it was. Then he said, "K". And I asked him why he was saying "J". He just shrugged and said that's what it looked like to him. I was soooo frustrated! Any tips for motivating and helping a struggling reader. I'm just about at my wit's end today. In my experience, that means tomorrow will be good, but right now I'm feeling like a pretty terrible teacher. :(

Thanks so much for replying, with links even! :) I'm going to check them out and consider doing our own class.

This is my first post on the WTM although I've read and lurked for quite a while. Your American Girl class drew me out of lurkdom! :001_smile: I'm quite intrigued by the idea. As the mom of a 10 year old daughter who would love a class like this as well as many of her friends, would you mind telling me what 'curriculum' you are using or where you are getting the ideas for your class? We also do a co-op and this might be a great class to consider offering next semester. Thanks!