Yep, sounds exactly like my husband who is against EVERYTHING but exposing our daughter to violent/foul language TV shows and video games. 3 years later, he is still against it although he has seen some great results in our daughter, he still lacks interest in anything EL.

Honestly, it's not hindering the child in anyway. Like experts say, children's brains are like sponges and if they don't learn now, you may regret it later. It's easier for children to absorb all this new information. They can learn as many as 4 languages at a time, if not more. It's normal for children to mix languages at first but once they establish their roles, it get's easier. This makes parents panic as well.

The worse thing to do is read up about this on the internet. The internet will always give you misleading information and each expert doesn't always agree on the same topics and will cause further confusion. There will be some information out there that will give him more reasons to doubt it.The key is to never give up hope that he will believe in you one day. It's what I hope in my husband.

Speaking from experience, I grew up in a multilingual family and I've turned out alright, well, I think so any way. I grew up around 5 languages and I've never been confused nor has it had any negative affect on my academic performance. Apparently being at least bilingual makes you ahead academically compared to your monolingual peers, so I've read. The worse it could do possibly is have the child language delayed but my daughter has proven that this is not always the case (?)

My daughter (3) isn't formally learning any language at the moment but I speak to her in 4 languages (mostly in 2) and my husband in 2 but mostly in his native language. She is very bright and has a large vocabulary compared to her monolingual peers. She is very sociable and has a strong personality.

She switches languages depending on the speaker, since aged 2, but she seems to talk to my mother in French even though she knows she only speaks to her in English. She has sometimes mixed languages in a word like 'what' (English) and 'quoi' (what in French) she was about to say quoi to me but she realised I speak to her in English and she said 'quat' instead. I thought that was funny.

I'm sure he will come around one day but it's better to have this settled before the baby is born because it's better to start from birth, IMO.

I really do agree with your husband. You won't know until you give it a try. They have a gifted program and are flexible with other children's different learning needs, that's a rarity isn't it? I went to a public school during all my school years and I absolutely hated it. Many students and teachers called me stupid and a loser. I wasn't stupid or a loser but I was a struggling student and I did very bad in school until I decided to leave in Grade 9 and decided to complete my studies via Distance Education.

Doing that proved the major cause of my failing grades: I didn't have the support I needed and my peers were a massive influence on my poor grades. I went to a bad school and the teachers didn't care about the student's. I went from being a failure to a high achiever. I was bad too fit in school and I regret it. Everybody was telling me 'why study/bother when you will never use the things you learnt in school after you finish?'. I took this advice, especially after hearing that it was 'true' from my eldest sister who is 4 years older.

The most important thing is knowing that you're there to support your daughter if she is struggling 'being different'. After-schooling is a great idea and you can make it seem more fun and it will show her that learning isn't all that bad. My parents never had any interests in my schooling and never seemed to care whether or not I had completed my homework. You can be your daughter's best teachers by always being there for her if nobody else is (i.e. her school).

My daughter will start Kindergarten at our local private International school as soon as she is toilet trained. School starts next week but she can't attend until she is having no more accidents and is out of nappies. I live in France and French private schools are relatively cheap. Students attend 4 days a week, 8 hours a day. I will be after-schooling her on Wednesday's and any other chance we get, if she won't be too tired.

I would strongly suggest not-opting for private school if you really can't afford it. It will cause you a large amount of stress, especially if the fees are high. The disadvantage of attending private is that if you can barely afford it, then you won't be able to afford any sporting activities etc or tutoring if she would need it. The last thing you would want is to struggle paying off her tuition fees and end up struggling in all other financial aspects. Also, private doesn't always mean better IMHO.

another fantastic math find. Grades Reception (equiv' K?) - 6. Fabulous lesson plans!

http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm

I came across 2 Saxon Math books and thought I'd share my findings. I think they are for grades from 4-6

http://www.cascadeheights.org/sites/default/files/gradelevel_files/SaxonMath6-5.pdf

http://www.cascadeheights.org/sites/default/files/gradelevel_files/SaxonMathStuden54_fourth_grade.pdf

My 3 year old was fully potty trained at 2 but sort of recently, totally regressed. For my daughter's case, she got sick and that's what caused her to regress. I didn't 're-train' her, I just waited for her to be ready again and now she is back to being potty trained. It took 2 months to get her back on track. She was quite sick so I didn't want to feel like she was pressured, I never said anything or showed any stress when there was many accidents, I just cleaned up the mess. Like the other poster mentioned, ask the childcare of any 'changes', if none, ask yourself if there has been any family related stress in his environment whether it's you or between you and your husband or any other family members. Your son could be picking up on someone's stress. It could be one of many things.

I'm looking for FREE play/theatre scripts for preschoolers online.

As a family, we a trying to strengthen and continuously provide a strong support network for my child's love for 'acting'. She is three years old and really loves to be the center of attention. We are thinking of enrolling her in an acting school if money isn't an issue but whilst we look into those options, we want to start early at home to see if she wants to pursue that path.

I haven't found any sites that caters for smaller aged/graded children so if anybody knows of a great site, please let me know.

Thank you

I have the same thoughts cokers4life. Where I'm from in Australia, it was very rare to see anyone associate with their neighbours, they really kept to themselves. I didn't even go past to saying more than just hello to my neighbour of 22 years. In France, people are overly friendly with the neighbours or even strangers on the street and it really bothers me. I'm not very trusting of people and I'm really observant so I realised that I've become quite the snob myself. You can't trust just anybody.

FYI. I talked with the child's mother last night about this incident since I finally saw them for the first time. She did break down when I told her because she told me that at her daughter's old school she was frequently sexually harassed by 5 boys at her school who would show her their penis and would make her pull her pants down.

They relocated 2 hours away for their work after wanting to have a fresh start but she said she didn't realise it was going to become an issue and it has really made her realise that something has to be done. I told her that relocating away from the problem is not enough. This girl obviously is going to become a problem and she hasn't started at her new school yet. Now my daughter is a victim of a victim and I told her under no circumstances is her daughter allowed to set foot in my house again. She won't be associating with her unless it's on the balcony and just walking past.

I'm going to admit that I don't believe her when she says that she is going to take her to counselling. I was at their house last night (alone) and I was shocked at how they behaved with their friends in front of their children. If this was my daughter, I would have gotten counselling for her the minute I learned about these incidences or as soon as I could find the next available time slot. She says she has never been sexually abused but how is she to know that? I even cried myself and thanking myself everyday for always being extra vigilant and observant towards my daughters associates and her needs because it could have been worse if I never observed her behaviour 'suspiciously' from the start.

The family thanked me for letting them know because If I never said anything, she could have done something very serious and now they know to be careful with her and know this needs to stop.

Well for now I hope it's settled. Obviously the talk my husband had with the parents must have helped or she's just really busy with her new friends who are a bit older than her.

My relationship with my husband is great and I've never been bothered by what others think of me. I've never had any child visit my home before. What a great first experience! My daughter did have an incident with an old neighbours 2 older children where the father didn't like the look of me and acted strange towards me and pulled his kids away from us but they have since moved.

The last time I yelled out shut up to somebody, I got a slap in the face! (by my SIL). Saying 'Shut up' isn't taken lightly in France generally. Unluckily for me, even when I ban someone from visiting, my husband still invites them over without telling me! but we are working on that.

I told her she is not welcome anymore and she seems to listen now. She doesn't make herself welcome. When I'm rude, I'm extremely rude and can throw in a few profanities and sometimes I can't stop.

Thanks

I had been teaching her about her private parts but it hadn't been taught frequently. I really didn't think she was grasping that properly yet. I would ask her who can touch your vagina and she'd say something totally unrelated so I didn't know to continue or to leave it be for a while.I thought Maybe I should wait a bit. I did start telling her again after this happened. I ask her and she repeats 'Mummy, daddy and doctor can touch vagina'. I told her that these are people who can touch her when she needs to be wiped after going to the toilet and during medical check-ups so long as one of us is there. I'm going to start teaching her the different types of touching (appropriate/inappropriate).

Since this incident we have not had any of the neighbours in our house, the parents have asked to pick them up a few times, but we are not their taxi service, but my husband has ignored the calls/texts and the children are busy with new friends they've made. The girl has spoken to and played with my daughter on the balcony once but it was kept very short.

We won't be able to move because it was the only place we could find to live. We are really happy here and we've noticed that the parents must have said something because she declines to come into the house if my daughter asks for her to come in. Very unlike her to decline or unless she had been taking the hints I was giving her.

Fingers crossed it will be OK.

It's not normal either way so that answers my question. That's what I wanted to make sure of, that it's not normal. I immediately thought 'could it be sexual exploration? or something more serious?' Since my daughter was standing against the wall where the door touches when you open it fully and was kind of behind the door but still not directly behind it, like she wanted to hide her or something, with with her undies down and the girl positioned strangely. I really haven't been able to sleep very good seeing how all that family is and all the times I've let them in my house and turned my back. Thanks everyone

Yes, you are right and I know. I don't want them associating at all. It would be even harder to have them listen when it's a shared balcony and it could cause problems like it has before. I would rather be honest and say why so I don't have to keep using excuses but my mother seems to think I shouldn't just in case she takes it all the wrong way and since I don't really know her, she could become really violent or problematic, because it's like I'm accusing her daughter of being a sexual predator and criticizing her lack of parenting, well I would be thinking it, because she is hopeless, and since even the mother isn't there to see it, she believes I shouldn't say anything at all. That's what I'm afraid of, she is quite a large woman compared to me and I don't know her. I will have a talk with the father, that might be safer (?),, but he doesn't seem concerned about his children. Thanks for all the answers, I didn't know if I was just over reacting or if it's a normal stage an 8 year old goes through, maybe her head was else where but it's better to be safe than sorry.

He does buy her books (like Disney) but only on special occasions. He buys her toys I tell him she has no interest in the ones he buys and she has never touched them except for a plastic animal set, she loves them, because we use that in our EL.

I told him he should invest in EL but never listens. I need his approval for everything and he never wants to buy anything, says, ask your mother. He is very selfish with money and he has the money, just is selfish. He never even left a cent aside in the past for emergency necessities like nappies and milk. I had to call him to tell him to buy them and he'd forget!

I sometimes think of just clicking send on our amazon account and act like I forgot to cancel it but I don't want problems so I haven't no matter how tempted I am. My mum won't buy frequently if it's too much but she said she will see what she can do. I really hope I can rely on her instead of my husband. She is so advanced compared to her peers, shouldn't that be enough proof?!

I asked him to purchase the curriculum off confessions of a homeschooler, it was like 5-6 euro, he wouldn't even do that! I really want a job when she starts K but it's soo hard to find a job in France and job agencies are useless for Foreigners. It's frustrating.

I might as well marry my computer. It listens.

My husband told me that the mother said, when you go over to people's houses, you ask before you go upstairs and go and apologise to the neighbour (me). Well, she never apologised.He says he told her about going through the rooms and all the cupboards but knowing my husband, I doubt he really did.

We had a bbq with them on our shared balcony. It was 10pm and the 9 year old asked his father if he could go to his friends house to play and he did, didn't at`least ask who's house and where, just let the kid go. I was like ohh great father. So I know they know no boundaries.

The day they played with the playdoh was the first day they came to my house. I gave them one colour, purple, and said that's all they can play with, not to touch the others and to only play on the plastic mat, not directly on the table surface. I went upstairs since my husband was around with them playing with the 15 year old on the Xbox. I come down not long later and every single colour is mixed, they are all playing directly on the wooden table, playdoh stuck in between the woods on the table and playdoh everywhere in my living room. My 3 yr old never even spills a drop of playdoh on the floor and look at these kids who are 5-6 years older!

I don't allow my daughter to mix the colours because I have 36 pots of different colours that's for early learning purposes only. Because I had two of the same shades of purple, I let them play with the purple. They refused to clean up their mess and just shoved the playdoh in the container with all the playdoh equipment, not the tub, even my kid doesn't behave like that and puts them back in the tub so they don't dry out, she even cleans the playdoh tools. I refused to let them play with the playdoh again. I went and bought 6 new tubs to replace the ones that got mixed together, that's why I hid the unopened packet from the kids as I didn't want my daughter to have the new playdoh yet nor wanted them to see it. Little girl opens my office and pleases herself and rips off the plastic, rips off the lids, didn't even ask if it was OK to play with it, let alone open it. What if it was a gift for someone.

They've had rules since day one and the girl has never respected them and the 9 year old is no better at times. Once she was in her room and I put all the toys away, cleaned her room up and prepared her bed, I told the girl to leave as she is going to have a shower and sleep, she pulls out ALL the toys and starts playing and I told her 3 times to leave! She'll show that she listens but not long later she does it all again trying to do it all when she thinks I'm not watching and then blames my kid. Undies incident happened 3 separate occasions but I saw her undies off multiple times.

I have had enough of this kid and I don't understand why she'd close the door and then when I opened it, she is pulling away from my kid from towards her vagina region, her head was pulling up from being in a low position. I became suspicious. I won't be needing to give her any rules since we won't be associating with her and no kids on the block seem to want to hang around JUST this sibling, I wonder why.

I never would have thought cereal boxes were good for anything besides from building houses and stuff. Thanks for all these wonderful suggestions.

When I get money for groceries, I do buy groceries but If I have extra left over, I go and buy some stuff at the everything 2 euro shop where I find wonderful EL bargains like marbles, playing dice etc but they don't have too much.

Thanks for all the websites.

I totally agree with you that it takes time and more money doesn't equal more learning. My husband complains about how much time I spend on the computer, hence why I want to purchase stuff so he can stop trying to make me feel guilty. I put some cleaning on hold to make time for EL, he complains, everything I do, he complains.

I spend time trying to gather all my resources online and arranging everything, printing them and creating a curriculum on my own instead of buying one yet he complains 1 hour or more hour on the computer, I'm made to feel like a bad mum/house wife.

I resorted doing it all at 2am onwards yet still manages to keep track of what time I go to bed even when I think he's sleeping and I'm so exhausted from all the late nights!. It's a no-win situation with my husband.  He monitors my time online literally. I was suppose to have a curriculum finished 1 year ago but the guilt trips seriously slowed me down and I've barely started building the curriculum.

I don't care about the time I have to put into it but if my husband complains about my computer usage, why not buy all the things instead of me having to do it all by hand or online, I wouldn't need to be on the computer then would I? It's why I want to find free/buy things.

I was thinking it may be something small as to try and get my daughter into trouble but then I saw the serious red flag when she closed the door and her pants were off and her head was not to far away from her vagina actually, not too close but not too far if you know what I mean.

I didn't think anything the first since she started doing it in front of me first and thought maybe that was normal behaviour for an 8 year old but then moving on to doing it behind closed doors, my alarm bells went off and I'm glad I caught her in the act and very early on. I unfortunately thought, what if she wants to abuse my daughter sexually? So don't worry, I thought these things straight away.

I keep everything locked and the shutters down all day during a week day. If they ring the door bell, I don't answer it but when I see them next, I make out like I was in the shower or had my headphones on since they can hear my daughter. I pull my daughter away if she/they approach and brush them off quickly if I bump into them leaving my house. The mother invites us out when my husband is not around but I wouldn't go without him even if this never happened. We did say no to her many times so this time I told her to leave and mentioned her intrusion in my home to her parents but not the undies incident.