At twelve I planned to go to college (check), then become a truck driver (uh, nope) to see the world (B. J. and the Bear was popular, and I thought Greg Evigan was pretty cute). Then I would go to grad school (nope). Then I assumed I'd probably get married and have kids (check), because that's what people do, but I didn't see the appeal.

Would a large print bible be too unwieldy for him? I only recently learned DD10 is dyslexic, but for both of older kids (DS12 is not dyslexic), if I knew what they would be reading aloud, I printed it out for them in extra large font. That seemed to help. For the music, if you could locate recordings of the hymns and play them often, that would provide familiarity. In our faith, there is a traditional once a year service where the children sing the whole program. They choose that music months in advance and often provide a CD with all the songs they will be singing. When they don't, I make one. I put it in the car's CD player so that it is the default music whenever we are in the car.

The text used for the class is called "Latin for Americans." I've never heard of it. Anyone familiar with it?

or whole-to-parts?

That's got to be it, right? The bad lighting put all those extra rolls there.

I'd own a class B motorhome, or possibly two (one parked in the U.S. and one parked in Europe), a passport, a few dozen really good books, a few changes of clothes, my.smart phone,.and very little else.

.... for your brutal reminder that an extra 50+ pounds really does show. :(

DD5 came into my room to get Daddy to help her change her shirt. "Daddy, you do my bottom button, and I'll do the top button. You do two, and I'll do two. That's symmetry!"

I took the Neuro-psych report in. For DD, I had the "official" one. DS's official report hasn't arrived yet, so I took the parent report, which also has the doctor's signature, but isn't on the fancy paper. The website also said they might want to see birth certificates, but my local agency didn't ask.

https://store.usgs.gov/pass/access.html I heard about it on a local parent advocate FB page yesterday, looked it up, and grabbed our documentation and took it in to the local ranger office today. They are free, and for life. I used the ASD diagnosis to apply, but the advocate page said LD's count, too. Totally excited, because I was going to buy an annual pass later this week in preparation for a family trip!

I'm going to do US History with DS12 and DD10 this summer, and don't really have a good plan yet. So I was digging around online and saw this: http://www.ushistory.org/textbooks.htm Anybody familiar with it? I like "free," but it doesn't necessarily mean it's good, kwim?

Wow! Thanks for linking this, it looks really cool.

If the parents are decreased, they could be on findagrave.com, or might have obituaries in whatever paper was local. For living people, try Google, whitepages.com, http://www.zabasearch.com/ You could also run an ad in their local paper

I wish mine would play Minecraft more. Instead, they are addicted to spending hours watching YouTube videos of other people playing Minecraft.

28. "As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust" by Alan Bradley. You all already talked about it, but the wait list at my library was really long!! If I can boost her reading skills a little, I think I'm going to introduce DD10 to Flavia. I think she'd relate to the morbid interest in poisons and death! 27. "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan. I can't remember where I learned about this book, other than it was on a list of books with gifted protagonists. I really enjoyed it, staying up way past bedtime to finish. 26. "Temple Theology: An Introduction" by Margaret Barker. 25. "Walking With the Women of the New Testament" by Heather Farrell (LDS). 24. "Cub Scout BEAR Handbook." 23. "How to Read Literature Like a Professor for Kids" by Thomas C. Foster. 22. "Women and the Priesthood" by Sheri Dew (LDS). 21. "No More Meltdowns" by Jed Baker, Ph.D. 20. "Amazed by Grace" by Sheri Dew (LDS). 19. "Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace" by Sarah Mackenzie. 18. "How to Become a Straight-A Student" by Cal Newport. 17. "Eight Plus One" by Robert Cormier. 16. "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. 15. "How to Train Your Dragon" by Cressida Cowell. 14. "As You Wish" by Cary Elwes. 13. "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. 12. "My Louisiana Sky" by Kimberly Willis Holt. 11. "Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself" by Alan Alda. 10. "When I Was Your Age" edited by Amy Ehrlich. 9. "Freak the Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick. 8. “Broken Things to Mend†by Jeffrey R. Holland (LDS) 7. “When You Can't Do It Alone†by Brent Top. (LDS) 6. “What to Do When You Worry Too Much†and “What to Do When Your Temper Flares†by Dawn Huebner, Ph.D.†5. “Tales of a Female Nomad†by Rita Golden Gelman. 4. “Heaven is for Real†by Todd Burpo. 3. "Your Happily Ever After" and "The Remarkable Soul of a Woman" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. (LDS) 2. "Cliff-Hanger" by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson. 1. "Rage of Fire" by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson.

Something like the Cornerstones of Freedom series? I tried to put together a chronicle list several years ago, which I posted here on the board. I'm posting from my phone right now, or I'd try to link it. Scholastic's website gives different volumes different reading levels, but they seem to range from 4th-8th grade.

I don't really play piano, but I started there as a little kid and moved to clarinet in Jr. High and played all the way through college, and graduated with a degree (non-teaching) in music. What I learned in the two-ish years I took piano lessons was invaluable to my music "career," and that despite the fact that my piano teacher didn't understand theory, so she didn't teach it. (It is built in to most contemporary piano courses.) Unlike most of my fellow beginners, I could read both bass and treble clef; I had a strong grasp of 'higher' and 'lower'; I knew the relationship of sharps and flats to the main note; I had a basic concept of chords; etc. Those are all easier to visualize on the piano. I started each of my kids on piano at age five. They were just beginning to read. Our teacher uses Faber's "My Piano Adventures." It starts with a pre-reader level, but she and I agree even for that level, a child needs to be close enough to reading that he or she is beginning to decode, because the child needs to grasp that the marks on the page represent something concrete and specific. Music lessons are absolutely worth it. When we had to dump everything for a financial crisis, piano lessons were the first thing I added back in. So many studies showing the brain benefits from music lessons. They proved a Math/music connection years ago, when I was still in college. I just read one that shows one-on-one music lessons can help ADHD or Autistic kids with Executive Function skills. My oldest two have dysgraphia and the biggest improvement I ever saw in my son's handwriting came when he started piano lessons. Having said that, I don't believe a trained, certified teacher is necessary, unless your kid is super talented and you are aiming for Carnegie Hall. You want a teacher who plays well, knows theory well, and is patient with kids. Our teacher, who happens to be my sister-in-law, is a fantastic pianist who considers her main instrument to be saxophone, and her college degree was as a special ed teacher. She was never trained as a piano teacher and isn't certified. If, and only if, my kids make it all the way through the basic Faber course without quitting, I will start looking for a certified piano teacher. Ask around. Other moms; the church organist; the high school band director; etc. I'm in Utah, where everyone is underpaid, but I pay $50 per month, per kid, for 4 lessons. The older two have half hour lessons; the little gets 15 minutes. (Well, she gives me a "family" discount, so I pay $40, but she usually charges $50.) That is the going rate here, unless you hunt out a certified teacher. Faber is really well laid out, and starts really basic. If you or your DH knows where middle C is on the piano, you can probably start your child at home yourself. The only disadvantage would be that you couldn't play the optional student/teacher duets.

I played both in college, my last two years. Bass in the Wind Symphony, Bb in Marching Band/Pep Band. The bass clarinet takes more airflow, but your throat is more open, too. Kinda like the difference between blowing on cold hands to warm them up vs. blowing on a bite of food to cool it down. I loved bass, sitting in the back, playin' with the boys, wearing slacks instead of a dress! But also it did not aggravate the over-use injuries in wrists and jaw that I was starting to experience with the Bb. I never owned my own bass. I used two different university owned instruments. Different brands. The nicer one was actually a tiny bit too big for me. (I'm 5'2".) I slipped my shoes off once I was seated, so I could anchor the peg between my toes. I wouldn't completely switch. Make it the primary instrument, but keep up with the Bb. I had more opportunities that way.

Spiritual abuse doesn't have to involve clergy at all. It can be anyone who uses religion to control another person. Clergy are often in that position, but it can also be parents or spouses, etc. Since many religions have traditionally been patriarchal, it's more often fathers/husbands, but it certainly can be mothers. I know he's fictional, but think Norman Bates and his mother. ETA: typo

26. "Temple Theology: An Introduction" by Margaret Barker. Ms. Barker is a Method Preacher from England and a biblical scholar. She makes my head ache, in a good way. Really difficult to describe her works. Wholly inadequate description, but she compares early Christianity to early Judaism, using surviving fragments of manuscripts. 25. "Walking With the Women of the New Testament" by Heather Farrell (LDS). Not a profoundly deep book, but impressive in its own right, because she has attempted -- as far as I can tell, successfully -- to list every woman mentioned in the New Testament, whether named or not. I was surprised by how many there were. 24. "Cub Scout BEAR Handbook." Yes, I really did read it cover to cover. I've been a Bear Den Leader for long enough to know the old book, and I'm trying to wrap my head around the new program, so I took the book with me to wait for my son's all day neuropsych evaluation. 23. "How to Read Literature Like a Professor for Kids" by Thomas C. Foster. 22. "Women and the Priesthood" by Sheri Dew (LDS). 21. "No More Meltdowns" by Jed Baker, Ph.D. 20. "Amazed by Grace" by Sheri Dew (LDS). 19. "Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace" by Sarah Mackenzie. 18. "How to Become a Straight-A Student" by Cal Newport. 17. "Eight Plus One" by Robert Cormier. 16. "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. 15. "How to Train Your Dragon" by Cressida Cowell. 14. "As You Wish" by Cary Elwes. 13. "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. 12. "My Louisiana Sky" by Kimberly Willis Holt. 11. "Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself" by Alan Alda. 10. "When I Was Your Age" edited by Amy Ehrlich. 9. "Freak the Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick. 8. “Broken Things to Mend†by Jeffrey R. Holland (LDS) 7. “When You Can't Do It Alone†by Brent Top. (LDS) 6. “What to Do When You Worry Too Much†and “What to Do When Your Temper Flares†by Dawn Huebner, Ph.D.†5. “Tales of a Female Nomad†by Rita Golden Gelman. 4. “Heaven is for Real†by Todd Burpo. 3. "Your Happily Ever After" and "The Remarkable Soul of a Woman" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. (LDS) 2. "Cliff-Hanger" by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson. 1. "Rage of Fire" by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson.

There is a "Listening to Music" course at Yale Open University: http://oyc.yale.edu/music/musi-112

http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/homeschool-freedownloads/curriculum_updates.php How about the video & art based anatomy class Ellen McHenry is working on? It's still in progress, so it's free for now. My 12 year old son and I were taking a look at it, and he's willing to give it a try. (He's probably dysgraphic, too. I get his neuro-psych results back this week.)

:lurk5: :grouphug: I don't have any advice. I also have one child whose mental health issues are derailing her educational progress. She's younger, only 10, but I'm already facing so many options that are one or the other. I, too, believe her mental health has to come first, but surely there is an option somewhere that will also let her succeed academically (and socially).

I'd probably work from the present backwards, too. It is more real, I think, to say, "the year you were born," "when Mom was a girl." Newspaper archives could help, especially if you can find each person's "local" paper, and find mention of important historical events. "Look! Grandma's parents would have read about the stock market crash. Do you think they would have worried about it?"

Okay, cool! How about these: http://www.quia.com/pages/shshistory.html http://em014.k12.sd.us/ Different spine, sorry. But some topics may match.