I have 3 kids going into 3rd grade. My twin 9 year olds have Auditory Processing Disorder and ADHD one is more severe than the other. They are both struggling with reading. Both are very visual learners. My 8 year old is an Auditory learner and reads on a 4th grade level. They ALL have phenomenal reading comprehension levels due to audiobooks since they were babies (thank the lord!) I'm currently using AAR Level 2 for reading, and attempting AAS Level 1 for spelling... my APD kids are having issues phonetically spelling words of course. I'm looking for a good solid grammar and spelling curriculum as I have neglected this area of their education focusing more on getting them to read on grade level. Thank you!

Preface: My son is 18 and severe inattentive ADD but REFUSES to take meds. I had him tested a couple of years ago and they said that he was dyslexic not ADD but turns out he isn't. He most likely has Auditory Processing disorder as well as ADD (as his younger siblings do). But since they told him that he isn't ADD he says he doesn't need meds. His regular psych was furious to say the least! He took 9th grade in public school and this year he is taking 2 classes at the high school. My son wants to take an extra year of high school but go BACK to high school full time as a senior. We just moved to a new county and he says he wants to go to PS to make friends. He hated 9th grade and wanted to come home midway through but for some reason thinks now will be different. I am trying to get him to go to community college next year as a transition year. I do not want to teach him next year. I could hardly get him to do anything this year between him sneaking off with his phone (I kept it more often than not but still got crappy work) or just not getting anything done. I am OVER it! (hopefully someone can relate) So my issue is I had him take a practice compass test yesterday. He COMPLETELY failed the reading placement test. Now this is a kid that was reading on a college level in 5th grade and his vocabulary was upper high school when tested. He made honor roll in PS BUT was on meds. He was in PS until 8th grade, Homeschooled 8th went back for 9th and home the rest of high school. Now he acts like he can't do anything. I think I am losing my mind. What in the H*** do I do with this kid?!?? Let him go to public next year? Or work on the issues I see when he took the practice test and prepare him for it like an ACT or SAT? I talked to him about CC and High school yesterday and he seems to think he can go in to the HS and take a test and automatically be a senior. I tried to explain that they didn't have to accept anything that he has done for the last 3 years if they didn't want to. I went over 2 of the reading comprehension tests yesterday with him and what he said was " And you think I am ready for this?"

Just to clarify, I wasn't saying I "can't" teach 1st grade math because I am not a math person. And I wasn't trying to classify my kids as math-minded or not just giving some information. For some people math just comes easy and they grasp the subject very quickly and easily. Others like myself have to work at it. Not an issue just a difference. I do math, reading and writing individually with my kids. We combine Science and History. I am not opposed to using different curricula for each kid. I have 2 very visual and 1 auditory learner. We did the first couple of pages for MM and they seemed to like it just as much as singapore. I use MM to remediate my teenage son who is weak in math skills from PS. I had read so much about MUS being fantastic so that is why I am wishy-washy.... I am familiar with MM but not MUS but if it is great then I will most certainly use that instead.. KWIM? I started out with Saxon for my older son and it was a bomb. I jumped curriculum a few times and settled on MM and that is working really well for him.

Yes 2 6 year olds (they will be 7 next month) and a 5 year old.

We just finished up Singapore K with my 3 littles. I heard that Singapore was much more difficult starting in 1st so I decided to change curriculum. I am not math minded at ALL and I only have 1 who might be. I own Math Mammoth 1st grade and MUS Alpha. I CAN NOT choose between the two. Can someone please help me?? If it helps I have B/G twins that will soon be 7 and a 5 year old DD who is on track with her siblings. My DS has Sensory Processing Disorder and is being tested for Auditory Processing in Nov. One DD seems to be a little math minded and my youngest just picks up everything quickly. Thanks for any help you can give me! Cindy

So I decided on something completely different that I found on a simply charlotte mason board. http://shop.peterson-handwriting.com/product.sc?productId=109&categoryId=-1 I have 2 righties and a lefty. I purchased the e-book, the guide to teaching cursive (which is absolutely fabulous) and their book about teaching leftys. :) Thanks for all your help!

My kids (3 of them) just finished up HWOT K book but now I am really wanting them to learn cursive. Is there a good cursive book out there for young kids? I know there are websites but all three of them are STUCK on having a BOOK like their HWOT book..... Thanks Cindy

I need some science suggestions for 3 first graders. We did Essential Science Intro to Science last year and would like to do Biology this year. Although I liked Essential Science I didn't love it. Their new Living books curriculum looks interesting but for $40 for 1/2 year a little more than I want to pay right now. So with that said.... Any suggestions for fun Biology??

Is there a good non-expensive curriculum out there that teaches study skills for high schoolers? I know about The Teaching Company's DVD's but they are to expensive and my library doesn't have them. Thanks in advance Cindy

Thanks everyone. I was freaking for nothing... They were still 5 on Sept 30th last year. It was the wording that got me and maybe the lateness of the night, but I was thinking if they were 6 before Sept of THIS year they had to do end of year testing. Silly, I know. Thanks so much for all your very informative and speedy responses. I knew I could count on you ladies for the answer!!

I just realized my K'ers need to be tested. For some reason I had it in my head that they didn't need to be tested until the end of 1st grade. They are finishing K this year but are 6 and by VA law they must be tested if they are 6. What the heck is tested on the CAT for K'ers? Neither of mine can read yet. One is blending the other is not. They know all their sounds and can count to 40 as well as simple addition and subtraction. They both have expressive language disorder and one also has Receptive and Sensory Processing disorder. My test scores have to be in by August 1!! I could cry!

My 3 little ones will be first grade in the fall. We will be following the WTM suggestions to do Ancients. I like the looks of Discover the Scriptures for our HS scripture study. My question is would or have you done Old Testament during your year with Ancients or would you start with the Book of Mormon study? I also have a 17 year old and next year in Seminary they are studying the BofM so I was kind of leaning towards all of us working on it together but... you know.... Decisions Decisions! :)

My DS (6, 7 in the fall) has Sensory Processing Disorder; Mild/Moderate Receptive Language Disorder;Severe Expressive Language Disorder. He is receiving speech and occupational therapy services. I have been trying to teach him to read for the past 2 years at his insistance. He cries because he can't read and his sisters can. I have tried many, many different programs (HOP, PAL, OPGTR, Blend Phonics, Reading Reflex, now we are on Barton Reading and Spelling Level 1 I bought for his older brother that is dyslexic) His problem is is short term memory can not hold a third sound, which is my best guess. He knows ALL the individual sounds inside and out but when it comes to blending them he can't get the third sound. B-A-G becomes B-A-T or some other random sound. He is a very visual learner and he can learn sight words or at least the shape of the word. I am at my wits end on how to help him. I have given breaks, different programs etc. He loves to be read to and loves books and he so wants to read! Any suggestions on how to get him to grasp that third sound? Any programs, curriculum, websites, etc that you suggest would be appreciated! I am a researcher at heart and love to learn about new things so send them on! :) When I had him tested i was told to watch for an LD so I am aware that it is possible he is dyslexic. Thanks!

Just an update: I thought about it last night and made some phone calls this morning. The initial place only had 30 min sessions and they wanted to see him twice a week (co-op of $60 each time). I called Childrens Hospital this morning and they do different billing and hour long sessions. The co-pay for services is $30 each visit and they also offer OT and that has a copay of $30 as well (we are currently doing OT at a facility at $60 a visit). That is seriously a load off my mind!

I just called my insurance company. Cole is $660 to his $2500 cap but he can only receive 30 speech visits a year. They have no help. :(