At the risk of starting the whole language vs. phonics war again, I have a question. :tongue_smilie: I started this week with OPGTR with my 4.5 year old. So far we've done short a, e and i. He's loving doing it. HOWEVER, when he repeats the vowels--either after me or on his own--they all sound alike. He doesn't seem to hear the differences between the vowels. He has no delays that we are aware of, other than some immaturity. This doesn't come as a great shock to us since my dad's family also has issues with hearing the small differences in sounds. Many also are tone deaf. My question is what do I do now??? I didn't learn to read. In my memory, I have always read. My 7 year old is the same. I barely remember her not reading. She started around 18 months. I really don't know where to go from here. Does anyone have any suggestions? We are going to continue with OPGTR for now. He's enjoying it so far. But I have a feeling that phonics just isn't going to work for him and would like to have a plan in place. Thanks in advance, Aimee

That would be great. Thank you so much for the offer!!

Thank you for your quick responses! Yes, I'm leaning in that direction myself. Up until this point, we've been a glorified playgroup. But as we pick up new members, it's becoming clear that we need to do something in this general direction. I'll discuss it with my partner in crime and we'll craft something this weekend. Thanks so much!

I assist another mom in a very small, fledgling homeschool group. We have few members and are always looking for more. Recently we had a new member join us for a field trip and a park day. On the field trip day (a tour of a local donut shop), the new children were rather wild. They were running about, knocking into other people, being very loud in a place of business. The mother did very little to stop her children from behaving in such a manner. My own children wanted to leave because they were tired of getting run over by this woman's daughter. Myself and two other mothers attempted to correct these two kids--each without knowing someone else had tried. The mother would call out an ineffectual "no" and go back to sitting. Thinking it was just the excitement and sugar of a donut shop, we were all looking forward to a park day. My own children had fever and ended up not going. But when the leader of our group messaged me, it was with unwelcome news. Apparently at park day, these children were throwing mud at people, throwing mulch at people (so much so that several children were covered in it), hitting other children, running in and out of the gym gates (which we are not supposed to be in), and running in/out of the gates to the street/parking lot area. When I asked what her mother did about these things, I was told that "she said 'no' a lot, but didn't back it up with anything." We would like to handle this sort of behavior before they run off our existing members. We are unsure if we should make a group-wide statement, try to speak with the mother individually, leave it alone, or what. We want to be polite and tactful, while still making ourselves understood that this sort behavior is NOT acceptable from anyone. We've never had a situation like this in our group before and we are unsure as to the best way to handle it. Please give your suggestions. We truly are at a loss. rowan

This is what we've been doing as well.

YIPPEE, the 'burbs are nice! LOL Welcome from my own little suburbs of NOLA.

I'm hoping for one for my birthday on Wednesday! Fill me with ideas, guys!!:D

So it sounds like ProClick is the binder of choice. I'll be looking into this.

Anyone else have any ideas/opinions on these binding machines?

I haven't read anyone else's posts, but here goes..... You just described me in high school. The only social activity I had for the first two years of high school was the actual act of going to school. The last two years I joined the chorale and the drama club, so I did those activities and an occasional social activity with those groups. But for the vast majority of the time, I was exactly how you described your daughter. I ended up going to college, working as a teacher for 7 years, meeting my husband and getting my master's with very little difficulty. I'm still happiest around my family. They understand me in ways that the outside world never did. I have one best friend (outside of my mother and husband). We met in college and have been best friends for 20 years. I've never been the type to have a multitude of friends. I'm not at ease in most social situations because I don't share the same interests as most people. I can fake it if I have to, but mostly I don't want to. I'm content at home with my own family. I agree with your husband. Offer opportunities and when she's ready, she'll accept. Though I understand and, to a degree, share your concern. I see my 7 year old following in a similar path and I do worry. Maybe it's just part of being a mom. I wish you luck and peace with whatever decisions you come to. :)

How do you teach/explain this to a 7 year old? For the most part, she is parroting. However she does have a tendency to put pauses in or draw notes out that aren't written. She says it feels right to do that. Is she intuitively doing this? Is this something that can even be explicitly taught?

Yes, I really hate those comb bindings. I much prefer the spiral bindings. I'll check into the ProClicks. Any votes for others? Any links to any reviews of any? :tongue_smilie:

I would like to get my own personal spiral binding machine. Does anyone have any recommendations or preferences? Right now I'm running to Office Depot every time I need something bound. It's getting pretty expensive!! TIA, rowan

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That's not a bad idea. My brother was the classic absent minded professor, excellent at math, and just as talented in other academic areas. My daughter and I both would be considered gifted readers, among other "non" academic talents for myself and probably her as well. But I was not well rounded at all, thus I was told my scores suffered accordingly. Thanks for the googling tip. I'm off to learn! :D

You know, I've heard this a lot as well. It wasn't true in my own situation. My brother tested at 160+, however I only tested at 136. He qualified as gifted; I did not. I suppose that's what I have a hard time seeing my daughter as possibly gifted, even though she fits MANY of the characteristics. I would also agree with the others who suggested detailed auditory screenings. Along with some research into visual-spatial learners, maybe. Good luck, OP!

That looks really nice. Thank you for the link!

Thanks guys! I just got my Children's Book of the Month club in the mail and it actually has the Egermeier book in it! I may pick that up. Thanks so much!!

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I'm looking for a good book, similar to A Child's History of the World, for Bible reading. I've tried the Vos book, but I didn't care for it overly much. Is there a story bible that reads similiarly to CHOW? Thanks in advance.

LOL Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Ok, I've got it narrowed down to: The Rainbow Book of American History First Book in American History Stories of Great Americans all of Betsy Maestro's books. sigh. I can't decide tonight. :lol:

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Thank you everyone!! :hurray: What a wonderful list to sort through!! Off to read reviews and price books. :D