Can we only use one Loyalty discount coupon per order?  That might be counter-productive for me since shipping ends up being more than the price of the item, if I can only order one item at a time.

Thanks, Korrale and Mandab for answering!  It has been going pretty well for beginners    At least we are both having fun!  Still no jumping, but she'll get it when she gets it!  She has known the difference between jump, hop, and leap, for quite a while--thanks to LR!  We will keep at it. 

mybabyian:  we would love to incorporate swimming into our routine, but we don't live close enough to a pool.  Your son sounds very advanced for his age!  Keep up the good work!  Catching a basketball!  Wow!!!

This is something that I have wondered about too.  I know that I expect more out of my DD than other parents seem to of children the same age, at least with everyday activities.  I can see how that has paid off whenever we are around other kids.  I see other 2 year old's who can't pull their own pants up, let alone get them on frontwards; and my daughter has been completely dressing herself (unless a shirt has snaps/buttons in the back) for several months.  Other kids can't finish what is on their plate--and then expect a snack a few minutes after they eat.  We have always given logical portions and expected her to eat it all, then she can ask for more if she wants it.

But, what about school work???  When we started LM, my DD didn't always want to sit through the whole lesson.  She had barely turned 2 at the time, but I would just have her finish the short lesson we were on and then minimize it and do a short time of LR (which she always LOVED!!).  Then we would go back and do another short lesson in LM.  I guess that I didn't want her to just assume that if something isn't fun, you can quit.  We always made a big deal out of finishing each short lesson-- Lots of clapping, cheering, etc.  Now she sits through the whole session with no problem.  She even points out the numbers that she knows and seems quite proud of herself each time she knows the answers.

I know with early learning, it is only supposed to be done if the child is having fun.  I try to make it as enjoyable as possible.  And, of course, if she is tired/ hungry I expect much less out of her.  Sometimes now when we go over cards, she says she doesn't want to do them.  So I set most of them down and show her a small stack, and say, "Let's do these.  Then you can go play."  We get through the small stack and quite often she will ask for more    Silly children, they just often don't know what they want!!!

Obviously, since she is only 2, I wouldn't expect her to write something.  But she plays a lot with writing things, and I encourage her along.   If you keep their expected learning to things that you know they can handle, is it really asking too much of a child small amounts at a time?    She still loves to do anything that has to do with school work.  She thinks it is playing, so I don't think that I am being too hard on her.

If I expect her to do tasks in her everyday life, why not do the same in learning??  For example, we just started walking on a 2x4 as a balance beam.  I do not expect her to do it perfectly yet, but I do expect her to give it a try.  We make it lots of fun!!!  Both of us end up in gales of laughter at her attempts (and mine ) But she needs to try for a reasonable amount of time.  A child of any age is much more proud of their achievements if they had to work at it.  She seems quite pleased with her accomplishments, so does that mean I'm not asking too much of her?

The last thing I want to do, is ruin her joy of learning , so I would like to hear others' opinions on this subject.

Yeah!! That is wonderful.  Shows that you have been doing great work with her!  Thanks for all your input on the forums too.  Hearing that another LO is reading encourages others to keep at it!

Thanks for all the great ideas!!  I, too, do not have most of the Doman books, and my hubby says "no more early learning books!"  So, I am very grateful for all of the specifics that other people can post.  (I love this forum )

My 2 year old is quite active, but I need ways to direct all of her motion into more productive activity.  Plus, she is very independent (OK, Ok, she is stubborn!  ), so I need to convince her that new ideas are her ideas and then she just flies with them!

We don't live anywhere close to parks and quite a bit of our outdoors is unsuitable for playing.  We do go for walks and she can usually walk close to 2 and a half miles on her own.  Actually, it ends up being more than that for her, as she takes so many side trips after the dog, or flowers, etc!  We don't have hills close and most of the rocks are also home to rattlesnakes, so I'm a bit leery of letting her climb on the rock piles!

She already loves trying to turn somersaults, but so far she ends up just going over sideways.  I guess I always just chalked that up to being "ungraceful".  Something I assumed that she inherited from me.  We will continue to work on that and add rolling sideways also. 

We are in the process of adding on to our house, so there are generally ladders around.  She loves to climb them, but we have always been careful to set them down so she can't go climbing when we aren't around.  I should probably set the short one up just for her to practice a couple times a day.  We could find a 2x4 to walk on also.  Should I not hold her hand while she starts doing that? 

How do you get a child to learn to jump??  She knows what jumping is, just can't get more than one heel off the ground at a time    Quite hilarious to watch actually!!  I would love a trampoline, but...too expensive!!

Anyway, thanks again for all the ideas!!  Keep them coming!! 

Great job to all of you!  I love showing videos of other kids reading to my daughter.  It always inspires her to read more!  It is especially impressive to see kids reading in multiple languages!    

10 months of pregnancy    And being sick for all of it

Here is an article that might have a few suggestions: http://www.bulkherbstore.com/articles/herbs-during-pregnancy?s=morning%20sickness 

I know the red raspberry tea has helped several people, but it sounds like you have tried lots of other things without success.

I'm so sorry that you have to go through this!  Hope it gets better soon!

It was well written!  It is great to see more science stuff that kids will be interested in!  Thanks!!  It was great to see all the other things you have for teaching kids about atoms too.

I will try to give you a subject by subject overview of my experience (My mom home schooled my siblings and myself using some Abeka, and I taught in schools that used it for 14 years.)

The Abeka Language arts program includes their language, phonics, handwriting, reading, and spelling books, I believe.  Depending on how she does with phonics already, you may want to skip the Letters and Sounds books since this teaches phonics.  I do think it is a thorough phonics program, and some kids who read well still need phonics practice. 

In first grade, their Language book does not deal so much with grammar, but mainly writing sentences.  By 3/4 of the way through the book, she would be writing whole page stories. That may be asking a lot for a 3 year old, but as her parent you would know best if she could handle it. 

By 3rd and 4th grade the Language books begin a very advanced grammar program.   In my opinion   it is the best as far as grammar is concerned, but it seems rather weak in the writing area.  That can very easily be added on your own though.  I plan on using it for grammar when my daughter is older.

Handwriting:  should be no problem for most 3 year olds.  Reading:  In my experience, most first graders find the stories boring, but they still struggle with reading the words, so they must forge on!!  As an advanced three year old, she may find the stories more interesting, but too easy to read.  They start with simple CVC word stories  and progress through all their "special sounds" that the Letters and Sounds book covers.  She probably wouldn't struggle with the special sounds even without the L&S book since she reads well already.

Spelling:  might be pretty advanced for a 3yo, depending on her vocabulary.  It might be a great way to broaden her vocabulary if that is what you want.  Most kids who don't have the early learning advantage really struggle with Abeka spelling. 

The Math book is great IMO.  It does keep kids' attention with bright colors.  If she already does well with math, the first grade book might be a good place to start.  I plan on using it with my daughter in between other things (Jones Genius, Right Start, Saxon, etc)  in a year or two.

As far as the History, Science, and Health books are concerned, I think the first grade might be good for a 3yo, but use your discretion on that.  In my opinion again, they don't push a kid to learn much actual subject matter until later years.  I know there are other parents on here that have 3yo kids that are way beyond what is covered even in the third grade books in these subjects.  These books might seem more like a simple story book that vaguely cover the subject matter.

One great thing about home schooling is that you can pick and choose what books fit your own kids the best.  You can also start something and then decide to put it away for a year or so and get out later.

Hope this helps!

Congratulations!!!  Enjoy her!   

Were you thinking of using the whole curriculum?  Or just one or two subjects?  It would also depend on the the 3 year old's  ability.  I have quite a bit of experience with the Abeka curriculum, so if you told a little more about the child's ability, what your goals are, which subject you are interested in, etc; I might have a better idea of how to answer this question.

By the way,  welcome to the forum!!!

Ha!    I love the funny things kids say that embarrass us parents!  Btw, my daughter also loves Reading Bear!  Thanks, DadDude for all your work on it! 

Very impressive, TMT!  Great job!

Hi!  Sometimes it is just a matter of flashing the cards a bit faster to keep her interest.  Other times it could be the size of the font.  I would guess that if it was the size of the font, she would just look away.  My daughter often just watched the cards with no expression on her face, but after continuing anyway, she demonstrated that she was learning the info! 

Maybe just try flashing the cards more quickly, and speaking with a very excited tone of voice.  Also, she may be more interested in LR by now.  You almost can't go wrong with LR (my opinion ) !!!!!  It is a great program, and there are so many ways to change it to your child's interests.

4 months is a great age to start!  Don't give up!!  Welcome to the early learning journey--it's a lot of fun for parents and children. 

Sometimes kids prefer learning from the computer.  One really good site is Reading Bear.org.  Another is Star Fall.com.  Both of these are lots of fun and simple to learn from.  Hope these help!!  It is a lot of fun to help a child learn anything, so enjoy yourself!!!