I just read this article called Learning Math Without Fear. It is essentially about how important math fluency is as opposed to rote understanding. It is a quick read and very encouraging. My dd has a deep conceptual understanding of math but she is a slow processor and couldn't do a math fluency drill to save her life. Here's the link: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/january/math-learning-boaler-012915.html Meanwhile, I find this to be one of the hardest parts of dealing with LDs. All of the hard work for little (no?) gain. Hugs.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Hits: Quitting math programs for the 6yo and just playing games Not trying to fit all of our school in before lunch Dyslexic dd(9) learning to type. She is not proficient yet, but is beginning to see that this will really free her to write Buying a Kindle for dd. She loves audiobooks and finds reading on the Kindle to be much easier than reading books. LOE foundations for 6yo. I cannot praise this program enough IEW for dd9. I really resisted this program because it is so counter to my own ways of learning, but my dd is getting a lot out of it. Having a spanish speaking teenager live with us for two months. Wow, did my kids get better at Spanish. More youtube for science, art and history. The kids tend to retain information when it is backed up with a video. Finding the WTM forum Misses: MBtp. I really wanted to love this program and think it is well done, it just didn't work for us. Spelling (nothing works and I wonder if it's even worth bothering at this point) Piano without a teacher Morning circle time

We LOVE our Brock Magiscope. Love it. Love it. Love it. Simple, sturdy, and quality made. My six year old can use it without adult intervention, and my nine year old takes it with her almost everywhere.

This might just add to the confusion, but I just read this article called Learning Math Without Fear. The gist of the article is that having number sense is much more important than using rote memorization. They are not advocating that you shouldn't teach math facts, only that it's as important to teach students to enjoy numbers and learn how to manipulate them intuitively. Here is the link: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/january/math-learning-boaler-012915.html

I love an orderly house, and I don't like to clean. I do, however, love the lopsided cardboard house in the middle of the living room. The stick dolls my dd is making on the dining room table. The bright, crazy artwork all over the walls. The beaded bracelets that we are all wearing after last weeks beading frenzy--though not the little beads that still stick to the bottom of my feet! The lego diorama and ever morphing story that goes along with it--but not those dang legos that I keep stepping on! There are times when I go berserk and can't understand how I live like this, but there are more times when I look around at the evidence of education and creativity and I feel HAPPY. Enjoy your sisters house, your pregnancy and the occasional moments of controlled chaos.

Out louds: Leyla: The Black Tulip Robin Hood by Howard Pyle How do Ants Know When You are Having A Picnic How to Think Like a Scientist SOtW3 dd is reading silently: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets dd is listening The Two Towers on audiobook ds is reading: Bob books level one :) I am reading: the Dovekeepers

Popcorn

Thanks for this post. It is so encouraging!

Can I recommend listening to the Hobbit on your camping trip (or on your way to your camping trip if listening isn't an option). My dd had her headphones on, deep into the second book in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and it is hard to get her to return from Middle Earth.

I am 42, or is it 43? It's gotten harder to remember once I hit forty. Seriously, my memory is going along with my sanity. I am definitely more emotional than I used to be: happier, sadder, stronger, fiercer and fatter. I am exercising more, eating well and doing my best to keep a sense of humor while I am on the menopausal precipice and my daughter edges towards puberty. :lol: :lol: :lol:

When I read the original post I thought for certain it was a joke. I am not saying this to be offensive. It's just that BA seems totally innocuous to me and have a hard time understanding how little cartoon animals and math can lead to Satanism. However, I can completely understand the OP's desire not to use a curriculum that might make her uncomfortable. Maybe there is a different forum or a subforum on the WTM site that could have been a safer place to ask this question? If she is at all uncomfortable with this, she should just skip it. Having said that....I have a six year old who has no number sense (yet) and while lurking around the (wonderful) Learning Challenges Board I saw a lot of people mentioning CLE as a great math program for kids who struggle with numbers. I popped over to their website to check out their math program, and even though it is Christian program and clearly states this in the name, I was so surprised how much God they inserted into their math curriculum. It really felt like indoctrination. I normally am good at editing programs as we go, but I had visceral reaction to what felt cult-like to me. I am bothered by what feels like blatant brainwashing. For a nanosecond I considered asking if other people felt this way and were still able to use what otherwise looks like a solid program, but then I just decided we would find another route.

If I can't sleep, I drink coffee. The only problem is that I usually have to wake up to go pee later and then can't fall back asleep...

I want to encourage you to go to the Learning Challenges Board and ask your question there. The folks on that board are extremely knowledgeable and kind. Hugs!

Wow! What a milestone for you both. Congratulations!

For a good, accessible, highly readable book about observable evolution I highly recommend The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner.

Youtube! There are some great knitting tutorials there. I really needed help because my dd is a lefty and I just couldn't wrap my head around how to teach her left handed knitting. Also, don't be afraid to take your knitting disaster to your local yarn shop. You will often get good results from the lovely knitting geeks nearby.

This is a tricky one. I think either one can work in either instance depending on what you are trying to say. Estaban would mean there were recreadores, musicos y malabaristas there. Fueron would mean they went there. Does that make sense? We would say, "There were lots of people recreating at the park." OR We would say, "Lots of people went to the park to recreate." Very similar but not exactly the same. Also, I don't know if recreadores is a real word in Spanish. I know what you are trying to say, but I am not familiar with that word. Maybe it is only in certain dialects? I am not a native speaker, but I think I am correct.

LA: LOE D Math: Miquon, Right Start, Games Spanish: Audiobooks, conversation History: Sotw 4 with older sibling Art Science: Tops with older sibling Lots and lots of books!

We have used RSO. It was a fine jumping off point, but required a lot of supplementation to be juicy enough for us. Some of the projects were fun and definitely helped illuminate the lesson. Other projects, not so much. If the project wasn't illustrative enough, we skipped it. I found myself spending a lot of time looking for books and Youtube videos (as well as supplies for the labs) to make sure we were covering the topics more thoroughly. It definitely wasn't the ideal science program. Having said that, I feel like my kids have a good sense of elementary science and think that science is the best subject ever, so we did something right.

Thank you! I have heard of all of the remedies but wanted some people with actual experience. Let's hope he is better soon. He is in a lot of pain.

Yes. Hate. All. The worst part is that my kids don't seem to hate them yet. Or maybe that's a good thing. But gosh everything just seems to drag on and on. This week I put the books down and went rogue. They don't seem to be unlearning, so I'll stick with it a wee bit longer until that nagging feeling drags me back to the books.

Does anyone have experience with oral thrush for children after the nursing ages? My son is six, and after a bout with Hand, Foot and Mouth virus has developed a nasty case of thrush. My doctor didn't seem too nervous, prescribed some anti fungal meds (Nystatin) and sent me on my way. When I came home and Googled the living daylights out of it, I discovered that it is very rare for children to have thrush. Our bodies fight it well. It usually is the result of antibiotic use, compromised immunity, or diabetes. My son has always been very healthy and our diet is also very healthy, so I am hoping that Google is to blame for my feeling that there is some other underlying cause making him so miserable. The internet is a dangerous place. I am going to go with the doctors recommendations as well as very clean diet and grapefruit seed extract, but in the meantime any other recommendations? Any ideas of what to feed him (everything hurts and it is hard to find soft foods that don't include sugar or dairy). He has become rail thin. Also, how long does it last? Thanks for any tips.

Oh I love these progress posts. Keep up the great work!

We live in the tropics, where the seasons are very subtle, and use the book all the time. Without a doubt it has enhanced our nature studies and helped us look more deeply at the world around us. My daughter and I keep nature journals, and my son just likes to observe without recording, but we all get a lot out of the book.