Yes, I think most young men play video games. I think most young men play violent video games. However, there are limits. Yes, I know a lot of them who play even morally horrific video games, but not all do. And it is CERTAINLY within your rights to say that they can't play it at your home. I see a huge difference between Halo and Manhunt. I would definitely talk to him about what in particular bothers you about a specific video game. I'd definitely try to him if one specific video game bothers you. But even some of the ones where you get points for killing or blowing someone in half are not necessarily morally evil. A lot of them are killing bad guys or people who are trying to hurt you. I've never personally seen one where you raped for fun. That doesn't mean anything, but my dh, who is an avid gamer, also doesn't know of any. In Grand Theft Auto you can pick up or shoot hookers. I really dislike Grand Theft Auto, and probably would ask that it wasn't played in my house, and would have a discussion, nor would I let my younger kid/ teen play it (under 15 or 16), but I know a lot of great men who play it.

I had one that was sort of like that. Slept a ton. By six months or so, I didn't worry, as long as she gained weight, continued to develop, and had enough wet diapers. Anna ate a lot at night. Both of mine were night owls. Baby should still be nursing six times a day or so. Maybe having solids once, but pretty much up to him. I think I would be inclined to get him up after 2-3 hours. Let him have a morning nap and an afternoon nap. But would try to encourage more interaction with family. But as long as he's developing and growing/ gaining weight, I probably wouldn't worry too much. Does he do this all the time? Sometimes mine would sleep a ton when going through a growth spurt, or just before. He sounds like a WONDERFUL baby, though! What a blessing, to have such a happy baby!

While I think there are a lot of benefits to sharing a room, I think it is more of a "silver lining" than the ideal. Especially with that kind of an age spread, I think I would try very hard for them to each have their own space. Even more so if there is not a "play space" for other toys. (We had pretty spartan rooms, but toys spread all over the rest of the house (in an organized way) in our old house, and we have a play room in the current house. My 3.5 and 5 yr olds share a room, but they are only 17 months, and wind up in our bed as often as not. Sometimes it will be both kids and Dad (he goes to bed first) in our bed, and I'll wind up sleeping in their room. But, as they get older, we'll transform the play room or the guest room into one of their bedrooms. They are downstairs, and we didn't want them sleeping on a different floor yet. (Nor did they want to.)

I think so. I saw it when I was about that age. I don't remember anything inappropriate, but it HAS been a long time. I was also a very sheltered kid and was easily scared by things, but I remember loving it.

Honestly, I've had the real Spalding training workshop (from when I was teaching at a private Spalding school), and I may start with AAS for my kiddos. I LOVE Spalding. I think it is awesome. But it IS complicated. It requires kids to keep a lot of different things in their memories simultaneously. If I had an older child who was beginning a spelling program, or even a six or seven yr old beginner, I would probably start with Spalding, but I have a five year old, and an almost four year old coming right behind. My daughter was ready to learn to read, but NOT to write. I know the importance of writing the phonograms. I believe in it. But, I also know the amount of frustration that handwriting engenders, and I hate to keep reading from progressing because of handwriting difficulties, nor do I want my child to associate spelling with frustration and start hating it. So far I've just been doing phonics instruction. I have taught her most of the phonograms, from the time she was itty bitty. (I remember sitting with my kids in the bathtub, playing with the tub letters, when they were about 18 months. They'd pick up a letter and I'd say, "/a/ /ay/ /ah/." Or sometimes, "That's an A. It says, "/a/ and some times /ay/ or /ah/." As I've taught phonics, I've stated the spelling rules as we've come across them. (When a word ends with an s, f, or l, we double it. When a syllable ends with an a, e, o, or u, it says it's second sound.) We're doing Explode the Code right now, using a moveable alphabet in lieu of writing the words. We still do handwriting instruction, and as she writes, I have her say the sounds, but the focus is so much on formation that concentration on sounds is difficult. Plus, keeping all the silent e rules in mind is just a LOT for a little kid to remember. What I like about AAS is 1) It's open and go. 2) It doesn't require handwriting, esp at the earliest levels. 3) It teaches the rules one at a time. It does slow down the spelling instruction way down, and so it's not ideal for an older kid to whom spelling comes easily, I don't think, especially if he/ she has a good memory. But if a child has some learning disabilities, or for a younger child, I think the focus on one rule at a time could be beneficial. Spalding throws a lot at a kid all at once. My plan right now is to start with AAS next year (kindergarten) and work on that. I don't know if we'll go all the way through all six levels or not. I definitely want to go faster than one level a year. I'm hoping to do at least two a year. And then either after hopefully completing AAS or around fourth grade or so, switch over to Spalding and make a notebook with the rules written out in an orderly fashion and some word analysis, from wherever in the Ayers list we test into. (Or if she tests out of the Ayers list, then do some other word analysis.)

I moved FROM San Antonio a year ago, and I wound up attending or at least visiting a LOT of churches there at various times. Any particular denomination or style of worship you are looking for?

http://www.covd.org/ http://www.oepf.org/

BrainSkills is the online, at home version of PACE/ Learning Rx. The PACE program is driven by trainers, and is really expensive. However, it does yield results. It's a very good, proven program. However, if you can't afford or if there is not a PACE provider in your area, BrainSkills is the at home version of the program. It is also very good.

Not to hijack either, but can anyone compare Themes to Remember with Beethoven's Wig?

What if you dropped the cursive bit? But, I think the way she's writing, hooking the arm and all, are going to make it tough no matter what. That'd be my first priority.

Daily life. It's amazing what they can learn. But it's silly to compartmentalize. You point out colors. You count the ducks in the tub. You read books with animals and make noises. (I love, love, love Signing Time, by the way.) Do baby yoga. Sing lots and lots of little songs and bouncing rhymes and finger plays. Get some good alphabet books. (I'm a big fan of Alphabet of Animals by Wormell and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.) Get some of those DK books that have lots of photos and name them. Life is integrated. I mean, heck, being a toddler is the ultimate unit study! But, on the other hand, while I'm a huge believer in talking a lot to kids, I think sometimes we go too much the other way. When my oldest was in speech therapy, the most important thing I learned (and was wonderful with my second, who was speaking in five word sentences by 11 months), is that frequently we talk too much. When there is too much verbal background noise, kids learning the language can't focus on anything. It can actually delay verbal and concept development. So I strive for a balance. On the one hand, I frequently used rich, normal, descriptive language. But I tried once or twice a day to have sort of "focused sessions," in which I conversed specifically with HER, and I used far fewer words then. "Look!" (point excitedly at red sippy cup). "Cup! Red cup! That's your cup. It's red. See?" (point out red sock) "Sock! Red sock." (point at cup and then sock and look very excited). "Red!" It feels stupid, like you are the narrator in a Dick and Jane book, but you can see dawning recognition so quickly. It's really nice when teaching vocabulary or concepts, or when they are really mad or upset. (Child screaming in car seat. "Mad! Catherine mad! Out! Want out! Catherine wants out! But no...... Mommy says no no. Not safe. Wait." ) When emotions short circuit the brain, can help gain some processing capacity.

Not only does Anna love Go to the Dump, but *I* like it too!!!! :lol: I can't tell you how nice that is, after playing those awful games I've hated for so long. (I just really don't enjoy playing Candyland or Chutes and Ladders or even Hi Ho Cheerio. Nothing wrong with the games. I just really don't enjoy them. Sorta like I don't like playing house....) It's so refreshing to have a game we both think is fun, and any math fact fluency that develops is sheer gravy. Though it's being very effective at that too.

1) Airborne 2) Emergen-C (LOTS!) Take to bowel tolerance. You want something like 6-8 of these a day when you're getting sick. 3) elderberry extract 4) zinc lozenges 5) echinacea 6) rest 7) steam

Perfect opportunity to explain. Honestly, this is a great age. My 3.5 year old follows me to the bathroom and sees me changing menstrual products every month. She always asks and I always explain. "This is something to catch the blood from Mommy's period. Every month, a woman's body builds a nest to grow a baby in. But if there is not a baby growing, her body does not need a nest, so it comes out of her vagina. The tampons absorb it so it does not make a mess.

Well, everyone has gaps in their knowledge. There is not a soul who knows everything, and every list of what each kid should know at what age is rather arbitrary and varies from school to school and even class to class. Ability to read, write, and do math is important, but the mastery of content stuff varies. That said, I do like the Core Knowledge books. It reminds me of some things I've forgotten. I just read them a little bit a few times a week. The sayings are particularly good. I hadn't thought about teaching them myself, and they aren't included in a science/ social studies I'd done. It's nice reinforcement of science/ ss stuff we'd covered, and enrichment for what we haven't.

I signed up to do it with my five year old for next year. She desperately wants to go to a "school place" with other kids, and I thought this might be a nice compromise. What I'm wondering is what materials we need. Do I need all the Veritas Press cards?

I think the issue is that there are several different tests that correspond to where she would be in school. I believe she is trying to choose which of the applicable tests, not which would give her the best score.

I LOVE ABeCeDarian. I think it is a wonderful program. However, it's not what I would consider "fun." Not sure about your thoughts on computer, but you might look into Headsprout and/ or Read Write Type. They are decent phonics programs, but have fun in the graphics, etc. The Jolly Phonics handbook has a lot of fun stuff. The CD Rom for Zoophonics really might not be a bad thing. Would be a good introduction and pretty fun. I haven't used Sing, Spell, Read, Write, but I've heard some kids like it a lot. He's only three, though, right?

Well, if he can read Mixed Up Files and Harriet the Spy, he's way beyond these in terms of reading level. The ones I mentioned are simple, short, younger kid oriented.

Well, to be fair, what I've seen is the preschool program. So, you've probably seen more than I have! I teach music part time at a preschool that just began using it. My concern is the multiletter phonograms and teaching the "rules" to decoding. But, I'm a fan of more thorough programs like Ordinary Parent's Guide or Spalding. You could use this to get him up and reading and then teach a more systematic spelling program when he's older. I did that with my daughter: after she knew the sounds, we went through Headsprout to get her reading pretty quickly and are now going back and doing more thorough decoding with ETC and Dancing Bears. Later we'll go into even more depth with Spalding spelling. What I've seen in the preschool program is tons of great multisensory stuff for teaching the sounds, and then sort of an expectation that kids will more or less spontaneously take their knowledge of sounds and use them to build words. In my experience, while some kids do this well, a lot of kids need a lot more explicit instruction in blending and segmenting. Which are really more phonemic awareness/ oral activities than phonics, per se. But it's a big developmental gap from identifying the sounds in the word cat to sounding it out. And it becomes even more challenging when you get into things like the long o sound being spelled with o at the end of a syllable, with o consonant e, or oa. Etc. I haven't seen that level of sophistication, even though there is a lot of what there is. Does that make any sense? But, I've only examined the preschool package in depth. The first grade program does look more elaborate, but it still does not look like a complete phonics program to me. Doesn't look like it addresses the third sound of a (like in father), for instance. I think it would be fun, but I think it might make learning to read both unnecessarily cumbersome in terms of activities and manipulatives, but not quite thorough enough for it to really be cemented. I think what I might do, prior to ordering the entire set, would be to get the Read and Spell with Zoophonics cdrom for the computer. I think that might do a good job teaching the sounds and signals, and it sounds like it teaches blending and early reading skills. If that's a success, then I might talk to a representative and see what the full kit adds.

ack! double post

Yeah, when I taught third grade, they were popular at the beginning of the school years. Some other series that were popular were The Boxcar Children, Capital Mysteries, Bailey School Kids, Secrets of Droon, the younger Matt Christopher books (Peach Street Mudders or something like that), Horrible Harry, dragon books by someone named Koller, and the Magic School Bus chapter books. None of these are difficult reads, but they were a nice bridge. Good second to early third grade books.

I think it might be worth it to get the phonogram cards, although you can make them yourself and get by without them. But you use them a lot, so the thicker card stock, and nice font/ lamination, etc are really nice. You don't need the phonogram cd if you are confident with them yourself. You don't need the pencils. They are nice in that they encourage the use of short pencils (like golf pencils, but with erasers), which help promote the tripod grasp. But totally NOT necessary. The notebook is not necessary. It's a sewn notebook, but you can use any notebook, even a spiral one.

My only concern is that while it does a pretty good job of teaching the sounds of the letters, from what I've seen, I haven't seen a full fledged phonics program. IThe teaching of the letter sounds seems to be its strength. t doesn't seem to do a ton with multi-letter phonograms or rules/ decoding. But, I've only seen the preschool/ kindergarten program. I'd be hesitant to use it as a full phonics program. Introduction, sure. But not as the whole program.

It's a decent program. It's fun, and kids like it. It's very multisensory, using hand/ body motions, and animals that start with the letters. It's a good program for little kids. It's a little expensive, and I don't know that I'd find it worth it, but it could be a good program for a three year old that is interested in letters/ sounds. Although you could just get a copy of Leap Pad Letter Factory, or you could come up with your own chant/ action/ animal for a letter. But, that would also be a bit of work.