recommending it, especially at the younger grades as I haven't looked at the 4th grade and higher books. I really really like it. I wouldn't hesitate to move down a level or two if you needed to as you can move through the books pretty quickly. I do find though that the overall review within the program is pretty good and you might find it okay to get maybe one level lower rather than two and move through it a little slower. I actually had the opposite problem and have been very successful in moving my daughter up in grades (she's in K and currently doing Grade 2). We started in Grade 1 in both math and reading comprehension and the approach has been fantastic. Dd5 likes the graphics, stories and I like the way it teaches. I was actually considering recommending to a friend that she use Singapore Math and Flashbook kids math together as she has concerns about using the SM all by itself and possibly putting her child back in school in a year or so. I do wish I could give you recommendations for placement in the other subjects. I think that the books are cheap enough though that if you make a mistake in placement it won't be too painful to get the correct book -- that was my philosophy.

which I bought from Barnes and Nobles for about $8 or so. I really like it. I like their reading comprehension books, too.

I hope you don't mind me hijacking the thread: A friend of mine was interested in A Beka math for her third grader until she saw that it jumped around too much for her and I was thinking maybe R&S might be more of a mastery program than A Beka. I have used R&S grammar but not math. I used Singapore and really like it but I'm not sure it will be a good fit for her. What type of approach does R&S take?

my latest phrase to my dd7 is "am I talking to you???" She has to know everything and like you said she wants to help/solve the problem. She has been known to interfere when I'm dealing with her brothers and sisters, too. If she's been in the room while I've been on the phone and she's heard something she's been known to comment or ask about it. I've told her that if she can't stay away from me when I'm on the phone (or I can't from her) she'll stay in her room until I'm done talking. So far, I've been pretty consistent and it seems to be taking hold. I'm hopeful for the moment.

them from Freecyle and seen them at the local consignment shop. I was about to purchase one from that shop when my daughter's coach gave us some used ones they had in the gym that other parents had turned in. I have since given them the ones that we had that are now too small. Interesting about the bike leo thing. About 1/2 the girls in my daughter's class on the competitive track use the bike style.

Here's the original article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/03/18/scisyn118.xml Yes, some of it is normal and even can benefit learning if a teacher knows a student has it they can teach to their color or whatever while it can also be a problem if a teacher, for example, might use color coded flash cards for teaching numbers and the color is "wrong" for a couple of students which might cause them to tune out to learning. Anyway, it was interesting as I hadn't heard much about it before.

I found it doing research for my blog. Synaesthetes are people who experience a blending of senses, for example, the number six may have a person seeing the color blue, or the word table might taste like tuna. A couple of my friends have family members with it -- one's child gave gender to numbers while another sees colors for names. (The U.S. spelling is Synesthesia).

has had some very crazy tantrums in her lifetime and what I have had to do was to isolate her in her room so she could "let it out" there where she wasn't disturbing anyone else (except for the screaming she was doing in her room <sigh>) because if I tried to engage her in talking to her, hugging or other physical comfort, guidance in how to act, ignoring her, etc. it made it worse, much worse. So, she goes in her room and stays there until she is done and then she comes back and we get back with our day. (She could last kicking and screaming for over an hour at ages 3 and 4. She started tantrumming at 12 months and has for the most part stopped now that she's 7.5. It sounds like you might have some medical concerns that need to be addressed, though. I just wanted to share this to let you know that each parent and child finds their own way through tantrums and this is what worked here, although it certainly didn't feel like it at the time.

I pulled a bunch of the main recommendations. It is in my sig. http://issuesofeducation.com/final-2008-national-math-advisory-panel-report-released/ I don't want to repost here because it was pretty long.

DAvid Hernandez.

and it all worked out in the end. For our first couple years of science we basically just read a variety of science books when I remembered to get them out from the library. At 7th grade I finally got around to doing Apologia (and I'm not even religious) just to have older dss exposed to some kind of science that I didn't have to teach:eek:. I just wanted to share that your "friend" isn't the only one who is a science delinquent and that it will work out in the end.

might be to see if you can set aside an "allowance" for the seller to have a certain amount of money to replace the oven. Something along the lines of "buyers acknowledge that the oven doesn't operate and is authorizing $400 toward the contribution of a new one after settlement." Of course, youd' have to check the legality of it but it would allow the buyers to purchase something they would prefer and you would be able to hopefully limit your negoitiation point by acknowledging ahead of time that a problem exists.

>>> DIY-Dy gave me good advice about using diatomaceous earth, which is nontoxic, so I'm planning to flood the rock beds and the foundation with DE and see if that reduces the numbers and keeps them from crossing in.>>>> I had GREAT luck with DE in killing fleas and ants inside my house. I wasn't even trying to kill the ants as I had pretty much ever given up on them but as I was killing fleas like crazy all of the ants started dying. that reminds me I need to put the flea stuff on my animals before the fleas start coming out as it is getting warmer. So, I highly recommend this stuff. It's is cheap, non-toxic albeit a bit messy in the house but it worked for me. I hope it works for you.

>>>>One of the many reasons we think this year (8th grade) is a great year to try school, is that if it's an unmitigated disaster, we can always pull the plug and do high school at home.>>>> I know this is a scary decision for you and will be stressful as you work your way through it emotionally but if it is kept as a positive step rather than a negative one it will go a long way toward keeping the whole thing positive. Throughout my homeschooling career I always had one child in school because that's where he belonged :) and it worked out very well for us. When it was time for my homeschooled one to move to school we decided that 8th grade was the right time to "experiment". In our area we had to either decide to homeschool high school or public school high school we couldn't decide to put him in school after 9th grade because he would not have kept any of his credits. So, in my experience and in my area, trying this with 8th grade is a great time. If it doesn't work for next year you really haven't lost much. Good luck.

>>> Edited to add: The Pacific Justice Institute appears to be representing the Sunland Christian School... not the family in question. I could be wrong; I just don't see any info other than the PJI representing the school. (There was some confusion about that elsewhere.) In any case, I'm very interested to see how this goes at the CA Supreme Court Level. >>>> Yes, PJI is representing the private school rather than the family as the case has moved beyond what was originally a family issue and now a question of private and homeschooling throughout the state. Obviously people are really worried. I have the latest worldnetdaily article linked in my blog California Homeschool Ruling as I've added a few more posts since and it is no longer at the top.

>>>> Mine refused to train and she was 5.5 and she had still never even peed in the potty. Would you have waited then? I guess my question is do you have a limit. Mine apparently was 5.5. Her younger sister partially trained at 2 years old and except for some constipation issues she was nothing like her older sister. Naked time didn't work for older dd because she could dress herself at 13 months. She put her own diaper on before 18 months. We chose not to wait any longer and kind of forced the issue (BTW, I tend toward attachment parenting so it took a lot for me to do it) and she still has NEVER had an accident. I don't regret forcing it but I do wonder what would have happened if we had waited longer. BTW, with her still in diapers at that point I would have had 3 in diapers and I just wasn't going there.

runs this website for party favors. Maybe you can get some ideas from her. http://www.favorstoday.com/servlet/StoreFront

First, read The Bipolar Child as a starting point. A lot of doctors aren't very good at diagnosing this in children. If there is a family history of bi-polar it, bipolar needs to be carefully eliminated as a possibility. The evaluation my one friend just went (family history of bipolar) through consisted of * blood tests to make sure there wasn't anything obviously physical going on * a couple hours of interviews with parents and grandparents who are close to the child. * Interview of teacher * additional written assessments to be filled out by above people -- not just one or two. * additional interviews of additional teachers * another 6+ hours of talking to child plus additional assessments and evaluation filled out by dr. * final wrap up session to explain findings. My friend said that it was very clear at the final wrap up that they understood her daughter and weren't just saying something to start trying drugs right away. Good luck.

had her now 9 year old diagnosed with bi-polar a few years ago. He is currently on meds and doing VERY well. He had some earlier diagnosis as ADHD but it was later changed to bi-polar. He has always been EXTREMELy challenging and there is good parenting going on in that household. Anyway, I'll see what I can find out for you. I have to edit this because I JUST had another friend e-mail me whose daughter was just diagnosed after an EXTENSIVE evaluation. I'll see what I can find out. They are still in early stages of getting info.

>>>I still have one child at home. The biggest problem is that we have to be sure to get his work done before his siblings come home, because then I have to supervise them to make sure they do all their homework, studying, and other required activities. >>> I forgot about that. Some days were rough for me because it seemed like school work was never done. All day homeschooling (particularly on difficult homeschool days) and then another batch up time getting through homework and projects. Ugh! But it was best for the kids so I did it.

oldest into public school 8th grade and it went pretty well. I made sure that he was more or less comfortable with taking notes and organization and such. He did fine and continues to do fine in now private school after a year in public school which he did fine also. Is there anyway your dd can meet any students that already attend the school, particularly if you are planning on using the bus? In our situation, my dss was already good friends with a student and they went to school together, sitting in the same bus seat the first day or so. Just make sure you know what your school schedule is and make sure you are home when you need to be. Make sure you keep a cell phone handy in case the school calls for a problem or if it closes due to inclement weather. The entire time I homeschooled my oldest dss, my youngest dss was always in public school. It very occasionally interferred with social activities for oldest dss but other than that it really wasn't a problem. Only rarely did younger dss complain because his brother didn't have homework but that was very rare. If you have any specific questions let me know.

You are welcome. I really needed that fairy dust today :p

I just did a search on blogs and found it :). http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1257&highlight=blogs Of course, you can also read messages and look at signatures to find more.