I've always thought Nordic Naturals was a better brand than Carlson's, but I have no idea why I came to that conclusion. I know our naturapath recommended Nordic Naturals and it is what they sell at the Wellness Center in our area. For what it's worth- we use the Nordic Naturals Lemon liquid in shot glasses. The liquid gives you so much more nutrition for your dollar. It tastes like lemon lollipops. It's the only flavor my daughter will drink. I do NOT recommend the strawberry flavor and we didn't really love orange either but we didn't hate it. But I did see someone else said they love the orange so that might just be personal preference sort of thing.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: Congratulations!!!!

Oh my goodness! I had never opened that page on your website because I assumed it was about why we don't want to use sight words (which I already agree on that point). What a wealth of information! Thank you so much! I am printing it out to study it- I think it might take some time to absorb it all.

I think Spycar could help. He certainly couldn't hurt.

The link to the Step by step guide to using blend phonics with webster's syllables included does not seem to be working...

I don't have an answer for you, but I just wanted to say that I feel your pain. The Webster's Speller program has really shown me each individual sound my child is unable to make in her mouth, LOL. I had to look up a language chart online to make sure she doesn't need speech therapy. According to the charts there's no need to worry yet, but I'll be paying particular attention to see when she's able to pick them up...

Does anyone know why words like mind, find and bold, hold have a long vowel sound even though there are letters after them? I got stuck on how to explain that to Grace. I looked all through the directions in the front of the speller but nothing seemed to address that... Thanks! Hailey

I've had really good luck with the Sonoma brand at Kohls. You can get them for 20.00 on a sale day (10 if you have Kohl's Cash), and they are modern looking cut without being too young. I can't stand the junior's section- why do all the junior jeans feel like they are sliding down your backside? I wear grandma underwear and I'm sure that everyone does NOT want to see it, LOL!

Do the Walgreens, etc. have children's vaccines or do you have to go to your pediatrician for that? Also, how old does your child need to be in order to receive the adult vaccine? Just trying to avoid getting my child sick while trying to vaccinate her, LOL.

Spycar, somehow you always end up coming up with the most important information, LOL: which math program is best, Ipad apps that will help my kid read free children's books... It's good to have you around.

My goal is to use it as a teaching tool for my daughter. There are so many cute children's books out there on PDF that just won't fit on the computer screen we have so that she can see the whole page at one time. That issue makes it very difficult to read my child a book on the laptop. Also, I have been thinking things like "well, if I had a kindle or an Ipad I wouldn't have to print such and thus worksheet/map/handy helper because she could just use the screen. They can TOUCH those screens but I'm always telling her not to touch the laptop screen. AND I keep hearing everyone talk about these cute apps they use to teach all sorts of things. So that's what I'm trying to decide- my eyes do get strained on the laptop though, so I'm wondering if an antiglare cover would eliminate that problem on an Ipad. Hmmm....

Has anyone tried putting an antiglare cover on their IPAD and did that help with the eye strain? We're trying to decide now too... Did someone mention the Kindle does not have color? Only black and white if you download a children's book?

That is so beautiful!

I don't know why they don't do our pants like they do men's pants: waist size by inseam. Then we'll all get a good reality check with our shopping.

She can't have the IgA antibody test because she hasn't eaten wheat in years, but I was thinking of getting her tested for the Celiac gene. There's two genes associated with celiacs- if she didn't have either gene we'd know it's not celiac.... I think, LOL. I never really know what I think I know, so take that with a grain of salt.

That's really strange because my father has a disorder of that nature. I don't remember exactly, I'll have to call him, but he has terrible acid reflux and chokes on his food a lot. He had to have surgery on his esophagus as a child because of it. But Grace has never choked on her food. Ever. Only one time has she ever choked and it was when she was a baby and got into the dog food bowl. She also does not complain of any regular stomach pains (unless she just ate corn). Her main issue involves very loose stools and sometimes, rarely, hives. I've suspected celiac for a long time, but why would she show up as clear on the wheat allergy if she had celiac? Wouldn't she still show up as allergic? Thank you guys SOOOO much for helping me try to puzzle this out. It's so comforting just to know that other people have been through this and have information to share... My husband and I were just talking about getting her DNA tested for the Celiac gene. It would at least tell us if that disease is even a possibility. Has anyone here done a celiac DNA test?

So feed one food item only once in four days? Even the bread? I could alternate types of bread but then she wouldn't have any starches to eat at dinner.

I am hoping someone on this board has BTDT and can help me understand what is happening to my daughter. At the age of 2 she was diagnosed with a large number of food allergies. Too many to completely avoid them all- there would have been nothing to feed her. Prior to her allergy testing she had frequent loose stools, hives at times, eczema, frequent colds and did not grow at the proper rate, which is what brought us in for testing. The eczema improved in the first year. The hives were eliminated and she began to grow and stopped being sick all the time. The stools have been loose for much of her life- probably because there's no way to eliminate all the allergens. So the next time we had her tested for her allergies, many of them were gone. She got chicken, egg, and a number of other good staple foods back. She never tested positive for milk until this year, although she's clearly unable to digest lactose properly (whole different thing I know, but it's a strange puzzle). HOWEVER, everything we had leaned on that year for nutrition was now out. She became allergic to corn, soy and some other things that year I guess because we let her eat a lot of those because she's not allergic to them. This past Friday we got her tested again. She's still allergic to corn, barley, rye, almonds and cashews at the same level. BUT now she's ALSO allergic to ALL nuts, OATS, milk and tomatoes (we eat a lot of spaghetti/salads/bruschetta type stuff), pineapple, coconut (I had begun making her coconut bread since she is allergic to so many grains) and I don't know what else... The list is too long to remember. But the doctor says don't lean too much on beans because legumes are related to peanuts, etc. Seems everything is related in a way that means you shouldn't eat too much of anything. But she got wheat back (which I am somewhat distrusting about because she sure seems like she has a lot of celiac symptoms the way she reacts to wheat- again, another issue but somehow it seems related). I just don't understand why this is happening to her and how to make it stop. Will this ever go away? Is she going to continue to become allergic to everything she eats on a regular basis, and why does that happen? Why do people end up being allergic to so many foods and why do the allergies change every year like hers do? Sorry if I sound whiney. I know we're lucky and it could be so much worse, like she could have a life threatening allergy or something, but right now I just feel so overwhelmed. She doesn't like meat. I can't figure out a good protein source and I know once I do find one I'll lean on it for meals and she'll be allergic to it next year. Is this just the norm for food allergies? :confused: I appreciate any advice that anyone has regarding the subject. I just want to understand it better. Thanks!!!

:lol::lol::lol:

My daughter will complain of a tummy ache depending on how much she actually ingested. She will have gas in the next few hours and she will have loose stools the next day. The more ice cream, the more loose they would be...

THANKS!!!!

I don't mean to spin this off but it seems there's some knowledgeable people reading this: if you get DNA tested for the BRAC gene and you end up deciding to do a preventative masectomy will insurance usually pay for the masectomy and/or the reconstructive surgery? Thanks!!!

Good! I thought it couldn't be that big a deal, but I have been burned a couple times now when I "thought" something wasn't important. My little "oh, that's no big deal I think I'll do it this way instead" moments have not served Grace well thus far, LOL.

Can someone explain to me whether the kids should be completely discouraged from finger counting in Rightstart or if the parent should just avoid encouraging it? I'm not exactly sure how to phrase my question, but my daughter told me the other day that she was secretly counting in her head rather than grouping into five and one, etc. She just isn't using her fingers so I won't know she's doing it. Most of the time I think she is doing it the "six is five and one" way, etc., but I think when she gets to 8/9/10 sometimes she is counting them out from five. I don't know how she could get the answer so fast if she wasn't at least starting at five on the abacus, and I kind of wonder if there's anything even wrong with that. Won't she be able to visualize it eventually even if she's counting up from five now? Any tips? I'm pretty sure this is not a big issue but if it is I'd like to make sure to guide her in the right direction now rather than later. Thanks!

THANK YOU so much for posting your update. It does help!