I just looked at the samples. I really liked what I saw. I am definitely going to get the main book. I don't know whether I am going to get the workbook, though. They say that they have Year 1 and 2 available. I am assuming that is for Gr.1 and 2. My oldest will be going into gr.4, so the workbooks won't help me, at least not with her. I hope I can pull this off without the workbooks. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

Usually, we school year round and take week breaks when we need them. Last summer, though, I was so stressed about getting the yard and garden work done that we took the summer off. I think we will do that again this year but still do some lite schooling, mostly math. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

Here are some things that have worked for us. 1) math games--card games (we use RS but you can get books from RR that give you ideas for a whole slew of these kind of games) board games (Sum Swamp is one that comes to mind but that is probably too young for your child. The living math site has ideas for other games.) online games are good for drill. 2) movement games instead of flashcards. We use bean bags, tossing them back and forth while saying math facts. ex. I toss bean bag to dd and say, "3 X4" She catches bean bag and says, "12." We also use jumping games for drill. When it is warmer, I write numbers on our patio with chalk. I call out equations and she jumps on the right answer. In colder weather, I use index cards to write numbers on and then strew them on floor for dd to jump on. 3) write out math facts so she can have a visual of them. hth, Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

Jean, I missed this as well. I am so sorry about your mom. I will definitely pray for her and for you. Julia (used to be on Class Ed) mom of 3 (8,7,5)

Kathy, thank you for your advice and help. You have helped me to think this all through again but in a calmer manner. I have put my request for ST in writing to the school board and they flatly denied. I have approached our provincial homeschool association for help but they agree with the school board (go figure on that one.) My next step woud be to go to HSLDA (are those the right letters?) -- the Canadian chapter. But I don't really want to go that far. This thread spurred me to call our Public Health and ask for names of private ST's. I talked to the manager and told him my situation. He told me that he needed to think about this for a few days to see if there was any way that he could help me. Public Health offers ST for children 5 and under. He told me that they were horribly backlogged but he would see if he could do anything. If he couldn't, then he would give me names of private ST's. I am praying that this man will help us. I am so frustrated with all of the door's being shut in our faces. It would be nice to get a break with all of this. Regarding SID, I looked into that as well. I started to read Out of Sync Child but it didn't really hit home with me. I also read The Hightly Sensitive Child by Elaine Aron. This book had the bells ringing wildly for me, not just with my ds but with all of my children. I think HSC is a step down from SID. My ds does have some sensory issues but they are managable, they are not full blown, not like his sisters. I think I will get Out of Sync again and try to go farther with it to see if I am missing something. I will also post on the Special Needs boards. I just need to get my head together to post something that makes sense. :) I will also get my courage together and I will call the school board on Mon. and ask for a reading assessment. Thank you so much for your help, for talking me through this. This is what I really needed. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

I wrote my latest post before I saw your original post. I have been thnking about what you wrote ever since then. This is a long story. I will try to shorten it. My ds was getting ST when he was pre--school age. Once he was of school age, public health stopped the ST because they said ds could get it through the school. The school board, though, refuses to help us with ST as ds is homeschooled. I have been fighting this for almost a year without any success. I have written the MLA (gov't rep) for the area that the school board is in. That MLA is now our Premier (we are Canadian.) I am just getting the run around. The school board officials won't return my calls anymore because I have made a fuss in trying to get help for my boy. I could go private ST but that costs $50 an hour and we cannot afford that. Also, I don't think we should have to afford that. So right now I am working with him with his articulation, but I know this is not enough. This is why the reading assessment thing worries me. I can get an assessment through the school board but I am afraid that with all the fuss that I have made that they will just ignore my request. I am so tired of all of this hassle. I am starting to think that we should just give up and find a private speech pathologist, but my dh does not agree with this. He thinks that we should fight on principle. Principle, though, won't help my child talk and read. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

For me, what is more important is that we do history chronologically. I don't care how long it takes us as long as we are learning about it in order. We are in the last year of our first cycle through. It will take us 4 1/2 yrs. I have no idea how long it will take us the second time, but seeing that we will have three children along for the ride this time, I am thinking that it will take us longer. That's okay by me. I have enough pressure in my life. I don't need to borrow any by trying to get history done by a pre--arranged time. ;) Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

I tried to mesh SOTW and AO history together but that was a dismal failure as AO runs on a 5 yr. history cycle. Now I just use AO for the books. We read the literature, geography and science book recommendations. I had also planned on using their Shakespeare suggestions but that hasn't worked out very good either. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

This has helped me to put perspective on this. After reading your replies, I have been able to see the big picture of all of this, whereas before I had tunnel vision. Christine, your words were like a light shining through my fog. When I look back at his other developmental milestones, I feel silly that I didn't think about this before. My ds has been slow to accomplish other developmental markers. He didn't walk until he was 17 mos. old. He didn't talk until he was waaayyyy past two. He still has speech problems that make him sound like a 4 yr. old rather than a 7 yr. old. He also has difficulties with writing. He is left handed and his pencil grip is so awkward that his letters are formed in a funny way. I have tried to change his pencil grip, but he refuses to change it. This said though, there have been big changes in the last year in his speech and his writing. I just noticed this morning that, after a year of working on his 'a's he finally made them the proper way so that they actually look like 'a's. So there is progress, it's just slow. So maybe this is how it will be with reading. There will be progress but it won't be as fast as I think it should be. Also, ds could care less about reading or doing anything academic other than math. He loves math. I just have him doing the bare minimum: reading, writing and math. That is all that he can handle. He would rather be outside or playing with his cars. As far as reading curriculum, I have changed that a few times. I started out with OPGTR but that went too fast with him. Then we tried reading using the Charlotte Mason method --didn't do too well with that, WRTR--that caused angst in both ds and myself. Now we are back to OPGTR. This seems to be working better this time around. I have also started using ETC along with it. He liked doing ETC. I don't think changing again is going to help. I liked the suggestion of just reading books at the level that he is at to boost up his confidence and to help with his fluency. I think I will try that. Okay, I feel much better and I have a plan (I'm a girl who needs a plan. The plan can change, but there always needs to be a plan.) I will wait until Sept. If there has been no progress at all, then I will think about having him assessed. Thank you so much for sorting this out with me. It has helped so much. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

I have been reading the threads about kids who are not fluent in their reading. There were many responses from moms whose kids didn't start reading until later, like 9 or so. My question is how do you know if their reading difficulties are just lack of maturity (that they aren't ready to read yet) or if there truly is a problem? My ds just turned 7 last week. He is not doing well with his reading. He knows is letter sounds except for 'u' and he gets 'b' 'd' and 'p' mixed up. He can sound out cvc words but when you add a letter, it messes him up. He can sound it out but he can't blend it together to make the word. He makes up a word to go in its place. How do I know that this will work its way out or that there isn't something deeper going on here. I have been vaccilating back and forth about whether to get a reading assessment done with him or to just leave it until he is in Gr. 2. If I leave it until the fall, though, will I be messing him up more? Can someone please help me sort this out? To those moms whose kids didn't start reading until later, how did you know that there wasn't a learning difficulty? I would really appreciate some help, my brain is hurting over this. Thanks, Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

For the past few weeks, I have been getting up at 5:30 so I can have some alone time before the troops wake up. I love having all of this quiet time before my day gets going at full speed. The problem, though, is that by 1 p.m. I start to get the foggy feeling cause I am sleepy. I was able to forge my way through it today by going on the computer and exercising. But some days I give in and take a bit of a nap. That's not good. :rolleyes: Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

I play every day by ear. It varies from day to day. I try to work with my oldest first. She is starting to be able to do some work independently, so I do the things that she needs help with first, then I send her off to do the independent stuff, like spelling, cursive, copywork, etc. While I am working with her, my two youngest are usually playing. Today, though, they occupied themselves by doing a craft. Then I work with my ds, 7. We do his reading, ETC and read aloud. Then he can do his own thing. In the afternoon, we do more switching around. I help dd with piano practice while ds is looking at books. Then I help ds with piano practise and math while dd is reading a chapter book. Then I spend time with my youngest, doing pre--school activities. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

Usually we just read a book and discuss it. Ambleside Online usually has some myth books listed in their suggestions. Last year we read The Wonder Book from the AO list. I think this year the myth suggestion is Heroes by Charles Kingsley. We are also doing D'Aulaires Greek Myths. When we are finished that then we will start on Heroes. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

(((Eleni))), I know about this discouragement. My ds is 7 and is having the same problems as your ds. I, too, have been wondering if I should have my ds tested or wait. Seeing that your ds is 8, I would have him assessed, so then you would know what you are dealing with. They might be able to give you a starting point on how to help him and give you various ideas on teaching him in the way that he needs. I want to encourage you that you can, indeed, do this on your own. You are his mom. You are the best possible person in his life who can help him. If you put him in school, you might just add to your problems rather than lessen them. He needs someone in his life who can be his cheerleader. You have the best credentials for the job. You can do this! It will take time and perseverance, but you can do this! Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

We are doing 3rd grade science this year. We are doing Chemistry. We used RS4K Chemistry and Fizz, Bubble, Flash as a supplement. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

Thursday we are going to the movie theatre to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. I think it is a Christmas movie, but our local theatre is always the last to get the movies. We are just thankful that our little town of 1, 000 has a movie theatre. On Fri. we will be going to the post office with our homeschool group for a tour. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

We live in SK. Today it was 5 above Celsius. It was a heat wave. Tomorrow, though, the temps will go down. They are calling for a blizzard and temps of 42 below. Yes, I am very tired of winter. I have had enough of the frigid cold temps. We have had three snow storms in the past week and a half. I am ready to see some green. During the winter we play lots of games, read books and drink hot chocolate with marshmallows. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

I am a bit embarrassed to admit this but I think my favourite movie of all time is Pretty Woman. It was on TV again last night and I watched it. I think I have watched this movie thirty times and I still don't get tired of it. On the other side of the spectrum, my fave tv show is 24. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

My dd turned 5 last week so she won't start K until the fall. We have started using FIAR and BFIAR. Last week, we used the ideas from Homeschool Share to make a lapbook for What Will You Wear Jessie Bear? It was dd's first lapbook. She was so excited. We are also going over the letter sounds and numbers by drawing, using modelling beeswax, clay and games. We also read lots and lots of good books. This is my last time to have a pre-schooler and I want this year to be full of wonderful memories. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

I have done the reading curriculum dance with both of my children. With my dd it was more of trying to find the curriculum that fit her learning style. We tried LLATL, PP, and finally settled on 100EZ Lessons. Once we found the program that worked with her, she blossomed in her reading. When it was my ds's turn, I thought he would do better with OPGTR. I was wrong. We tried PP, 100EZ Lessons, the CM method and WRTR. Finally, after trying all of these for a year, I went back to OPGTR and we have been very slowly going through this. I think for ds it was more of a question of not being developmentally ready to learn. Plus, I am wondering if there is a learning difficulty here. I think we are going to keep on plugging away until the fall when he is in Gr. 2. If there is still a problem then I will ask for a reading assessment. I have just one more to put on the reading road. I am not looking forward to it, but at least I don't have to buy a new curriculum. I thnk I have them all. :o Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

I have been avoiding this thread because I thought it would make me feel worse than I already do about my ds's reading, or lack of it. I am glad that I sucked up my courage and opened it anyway. I have been very enouraged by the posts of moms whose chldren are not reading yet. My ds turned 7 on Thurs. He is not doing well with reading and is not interested in it at all. He can read the cvc words but if you put another letter in there it messes him up. I have been thinking about having him assessed, but after reading these posts I think I will wait until next year before I start thinking seriously about this. It is so funny to me that my ds is having difficulty with reading but is a whiz at math. My dd, on the other hand, is a beautiful reader but math is a form of torture for her. Thanks for the encouragement. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

It's the opposite for me, too. I love this new format. Before, whenever I found a post that I could contribute to, it was always buried. There was no point in my replying cause no one would see it. With this format, even though the post may be buried, when I reply to it, it pops back up to the top. That is incentive for me to post more. I have posted more in the last week than I have in the five years that I have been lurking on the old board. I think I have acquired another addiction (to add to the books and homeschooling ones I already have :D ) Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

We are reading Paddle to the Sea the second time around. We love this book. We have read Tree in the Trail. I didn't like that one as much. We have also started Seabird, so far so good. We are a hands on kind of family. We make a mini unit study out of these books so I think this makes it fun for the kids. When we first started Paddle, we made him out clay then painted him. My kids enjoy doing these kind of projects so this might be what adds to the enjoyment. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

We use RightStart. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)

My oldest is in Gr. 3. I use Teaching the Classics for me. While we are doing our read aloud, we casually talk about setting, plot, character, etc. I will do this lightly for a few more years. I will start on a more formal level in Gr. 7. For now my goal is just to make my dd familiar with these elements and what makes up a story. I keep hearing about Deconstructing Penguins but never new what it was about. From reading this thread, I am thinking that I will have to make a concerted effort to find it. Julia mom of 3 (8,7,5)