She saw a neurologist at 9 months and had an MRI done. She had benign external hydrocephalus as a baby and toddler. It's excess fluid in the space between the frontal part of the brain and skull. As opposed to the threatening form of hydrospalus that has fluid inside of the brain. But that was the only time she saw neurology. The hydrocephalus resolves on its own and she followed up with her pedi.

That's something to look into. She's pretty cautious physically. She is in ballet class once a week and does well with it. She's definitely on par with her peers. Is she slow with non-physical things? Dd does normal pace for everything else, but is just slow physically. Even her running isn't fast.

We're actually about to start doing dry brushing at home for some sensory things. I'm trying to get an OT eval for some sensory things, but it's been a bit difficult. Getting it for the physical slowness may be a bit easier and a good way to get in.

That's good to know. Her vision is pretty good. She can read signs that are a good distance away and reads closely as well.

This was a pretty reputable doctor at our children's hospital. But I was thinking about asking for another referral at her 5year physical which will be in January (she turns five in December).

Dd is going to be 5 soon. She's hit all of the physical milestones on normal time (balances, kicks a ball, throws overhand, starting to pump herself on the swing, etc.) but she's overall pretty slow. Mainly with walking and running. I'd call her running more of a jog and she is definitely slower at running and walking than her peers. She's physically cautious. Won't do slides, climb rock walls at playgrounds, etc. she occasionally branches out and will do these and can. As an infant she had minor torticollis (sp?) and somewhat flat feet. She saw PT for an eval and they said she didn't need therapy. Gave us some exercises to do at home. They didn't even recommend getting arch inserts for her shoes. Is being slow something we should bring up? Her 2.5yo brother is significantly faster than she is. She struggles to keep up with our normal walking pace unless we slow it down significantly and we aren't fast walkers.

For my soon to be 5 year old we are making her an at home science kit. I have a book of experiments that uses normal everyday items and plan to give her the book and basic supplies. She is also getting a squishy human body that you can take the organs out of. I'm pretty excited.

We are hoping to get Dd into an immersion Spanish school for Kindergarten in 2017. It's a full immersion program with 100% of academic classes taught in Spanish. Music/art/PE are taught in English. They use Singapore for math which is great. They don't teach reading/writing in English until 3rd grade when it drops to an 80/20 Spanish/English model. Dd is half way through OPGTR and I believe we will finish it this spring or early summer. She writes well (form is good, size varies) and is starting to phonetically spell some words. What would you afterschool for a kid in an immersion language school? We will continue read alouds in English. I plan to have her read to me in English daily and provide books in both languages (library has an abundance of Spanish reading material). I was thinking of adding a spelling program. I know I could use OPG, but I would prefer something seperate and probably not AAS since I'd prefer something more cost effective. She has brainpop, science kits, and learning toys. I mainly don't want her to lose the English language art skills she's already gained.

I would look on Pinterest or PreK/k blogs for some oral blending ideas. We've done racecar blending and games. Dd loves ziggy from AAR-pre level and the free printable A are great.

My Dd is in preschool, but we afterschool math and reading. I'm thinking of adding in Spanish though since she may go to a full immersion school for K. That means 100% of instruction would be in Spanish except for specials such as art and music. Math: we do living math books such as Greg Tangs Math Fables. I'm using the educationunboxed.com videos and we go through the concepts together. She also loves Usbornes First Illustrated Math Dictionary. We also have board games that have math concepts such as Sum Swamp and Zingo 123 Spanish: I'm going to look and see what audio our library offers. we have a large Spanish population and our libraries offer a ton of Spanish books on all levels. I plan to check some out. Our church is bilingual as well. Spanish music and sermon. I plan to keep her in the service with us when I can for the worship time.

It is an option. I will probably list it as our second choice. We have a choice system here and list our top 5 schools. I'm more hesitant with it since it's a brand new this year program.

Yes, we have dual immersion as well. DDs current school that she attends for PreK has dual immersion. So native Spanish speakers and English speakers alongside one another.

m It is not dual immersion, it's full immersion in whatever the target language is. So English speaking kids may do a full immersion in Spanish or mandarin. We'd do Spanish. Dd would have all of her primary subjects in 100% Spanish for K-2 and 80% Spanish for 3rd. Specials such as art and music are in English. Kids talk to one another in Spanish. Native Spanish speakers do English immersion. They're not in the same class as the native English speaking kids. Dd is on track to finish her phonics program before K. So we'd keep up reading and English comprehension and literacy. And probably math if it's an issue.

Here, in Denver, Spanish is spoken by a large amount of the population. It greatly improves your job prospects if you're fluent in Spanish. Our church is multilingual and sings in Spanish, Swahili, and English and offers a Spanish sermon alongside of the English one. She'd have a lot of opportunity for Spanish outside of school if we go that track.

HW is definitely something I plan to ask about. I plan to continue English instruction at home in literacy. Mainly because she's started reading and writing already.

That's a great point. Many of our immersion schools won't let them start past 3rd grade. I haven't looked at high schools, but don't think we'd do an immersion highschool. Those are great questions. I have a tour scheduled and will definitely write those down to ask. We aren't 100% settled. She may not get in and we'd end up pursuing classical ed.

Yes this would be a commitment through at least 5th grade, if not 8th. The school is pretty clear about the academic lag behind their English only peers in literacy. They make it clear that if you leave the program your child will most likely struggle academically for at least the 1st year and that they will appear behind their peers. DD is already reading on a mid 1st grade level and I plan to continue our phonics program until it is complete. We have about 120 lessons left in OPG and should finish by the summer, but it may take longer. I don't plan to stop that. I have a friend who's son goes to the school and she's taught him to read in English as well. It hasn't hindered his ability to do the full immersion program. She simply has him read daily to her in Spanish and English. I plan to do the same if DD attends. That being said, I wouldn't want to leave the program if we are happy with it. The goal would be bilingualism and this is the best way to achieve it if we really desire that for DD. It is also A LOT harder to enter the program in 1st grade and they will not admit new students past 2nd. So overall it seems to have an excellent student retention level.

We may not be planning on having another pregnancy. It's not 100% off the table, but it is until I'm done with grad school. I didn't do the 2 day rule previously. I extended it out further. I think to 5 days? Is there another natural program you'd recommend?

A friends kids go there and I plan to have coffee with her soon to chat. I also scheduled a tour. I imagine it's hard to get into. Immersions are highly sought after here and they only have 2 Kindergarten classes per language. So maybe 60 spots if that? We shall see. DDs school also has a brand new immersion program, but it's not full. I believe that they have a little more English instruction than a full program. I plan to talk to parents about it tomorrow.

This school goes through 8th grade. I believe that by then their instruction in Spanish and English is more evenly split, but they promote an environment that allows the second language to really cement in.

This is a charter school and is full immersion, not ESL. All academic instruction is taught in the second language (Spanish or mandarin) and specials (art, PE, music, etc.) are taught in English. The students are only allowed to speak in the target language. Starting in 3rd grade their instruction is in 80% Spanish 20% English. Before that it's 100%. Their test scores show that they are behind on English literacy skills at 3rd grade, but on or above average by 5th. The goal is fluency in the second language. The academic goal of K-3 is conversational fluency and relies heavily on family involvement.

Our immersion schools seem to aim to teach English speaking kids Spanish or mandarin. A few offer French. But they do also have native Spanish speakers as well.

The classical seems pretty varied in course offerings and a decent amount of electives for older kids. Also they seem to differentiate well for advanced kids. It's a pretty solid school from what I can tell. The immersion starts at 90% Spanish 10%english I believe? I forget the name of the model. We have several Immersion schools in our district. I believe it's to be conversational by 3rd and reading on level in both languages. Most of the academic instruction is in the immersion language.

I posted this in the afterschool board Our school system is a choice system. In January you fill out a choice form that allows you to choose your top 5 school choices in the district. This includes charters and magnet schools Dd is in a public half day preschool program. She does well there and generally loves school (especially math, art, and science). My husband and I both had classical educations and really loved it. We've been set on a classical charter for a few years now. It's the sister school DHs alma marter. However. We have several Spanish immersion programs. They're true immersion and the students day in K is primarily in Spanish. They learn to read and write in Spanish before moving into English. The goal is to have them reading and writing on grade level in both languages by 3rd grade. I know a second language is a great choice and fantastic for them developmentally, but it would mean giving up the classical model. The immersion schools tend to be less diverse than the other schools including the classical charter. They also tend to attract a more affluent crowd than other schools. I'm not worried about Dd academically. She's half way through OPGTR and will be reading well by the time K starts. She is somewhat prone to anxiety and I'm not sure how she'd react to the teacher not speaking the same language. Is immersion really all that it's cracked up to be? They are harder to get into for us, but she still stands a chance.

We have this book and it is FANTASTIC. My 2.5yo and 4.5yo both love it and it has a ton of info and great pictures. https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Little-First-Books/dp/1426317239 We tend to love National Geographic readers and books. Also, the cat and the hat knows a lot about that books has a bugs one. Also great!