It spoke to me. She writes well and passionately. She mentions near the beginning that the message came first from a blog series, and it still reads that way. More a collection of essays on the topic than, say, a how-to book that might break it down into a sequence of steps to follow. I had not previously read her blog, but I will probably follow now.

For both books this week, my own conclusion is, it is so much easier to ask for help, divine or human, when you aren't fighting the little voice in your head that says "this is something you *should* be able to do by yourself." Whether that involves a little prayer before a writing lesson asking, "How do I reach this child?" or whether it's saying to a friend who dropped by, "You know, actually, it would make my day if you'd help me finish folding the basket of laundry that's been sitting over there all week," for some reason, that's so much harder than praying when you just hit black ice, and your car is sliding directly toward that really big truck, or asking a friend to babysit your kids while you go in for surgery, or calling 911 when the house is on fire. It's like having a broken toe and a bottle of pain meds, and hobbling around without taking any. Which I do for nearly every injury. "I can make it without any pain meds." Well, yes. Yes, you can, but you'd be sooo much happier, and you'd get more done, if you'd just take one already. 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.

Thanks!

I saw a post from Robin a couple of days ago. She is aware of the problem and has asked the moderators to fix it. I can't find her post from my phone, but it was something that happened when she posted this week's thread?

Ooooo, thank you!

This looks cool, thanks.

Bumping to follow up. I was able to connect with some parents who are using or who have used this charter school. I also remembered a former neighbor who teaches ASD kids and his email address still works. I learned that the parent school, about an hour away from us, is beginning to do good work. They've been open about four years. The parents of kids who are medium to low functioning are loving it. The parents of kids who are high functioning, and particularly high functioning 2E, are far less pleased, feeling that their children's strengths aren't being encouraged as was promised. The school close to us is in its first year. It is having all kinds of problems getting going, firing 10 teachers since they opened, violent student behavior not managed well and parents not being notified when their children were injured, etc, and some problems specifically with the social skills program. We are going to not enroll this year and watch to see if they get it together next year before we try it.

My son's speech teacher showed him videos from Model Me Kids. I've just bought a set for ourselves, but we've just started using them. I've never seen them discussed here, and the Neuro-psych had never heard of them. So, I'm mentioning them as something that's available, but the jury is still out.

Ooh, there's a new one?! I hadn't heard... ..switching tabs to put a hold on it at the library... ...queue position 6, could be worse.

18. "How to Become a Straight-A Student" by Cal Newport. Sounds great. I did a few of these things as a student. I wasn't straight-A in college, but I graduated with a respectable GPA and all. Maybe if I'd known all of them... I'll probably buy my own copy of this for the kids to use. DS may need it as soon as three years from now, as we are eyeing a dual enrollment charter high school associated with one of our local universities. 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.

I think I'll check on both possibilities: shadowing for a day, and attending part-time. Thank you all for those suggestions. And for validation of my concerns. All the selling points at the open house were based on how they feel they outshine public school, which didn't really tell us anything, so we probably do need a way to see for ourselves.

Last year, a brand new charter school opened about a mile from my house that specializes in Autism Spectrum students. DD10 and I went to their open house last week, and many things about it look great. The key selling points to me are that all students attend a social skills class every day, and she would have access to an OT. Our insurance won't pay for an OT, and she's 2E, so she managed to score one point too high to get an IEP under state guidelines, so we don't have access to services through the district. So that's tempting. This charter says they offer differentiated classes, so that she could work above grade level for math and below grade level for Spelling, etc. I know that part of the reason I'm resisting is that when I asked how well the graduates of their parent school (an hour north of us) have integrated into public school or college, they dodged the question, and I got the impression their most successful students to date have found jobs and/or found a vocational school they could attend. For DD, the most appealing thing is that she hopes she might find friends she can relate to. She hasn't found any through any of the co-ops or partnerships or extra classes we've tried so far. I'm not sure this would do that. She is very high-functioning. She still might not "fit in." But on the other hand, she has some anger issues, and working memory issues, etc. that they can address that I currently don't know how to address. Can I learn how? I can't decide if what they offer that we need outweighs what they either don't offer, or what they don't do as well as homeschooling does, kwim?

Several things coming together at just the right time: 1. We were married ten years before our first was born, and we were in the habit of traveling when tickets are cheapest -- during the school year. When our oldest was 3 1/2, we tried to plan a trip to Europe with our two kids and my then 13 year old niece. Her school didn't want to let her out three days before the end of the school year; AFTER grades had been submitted, so all the kids were just going to be watching movies and signing yearbooks. We thought that was an inane policy. 2. I happened across a book at the library called "Is Your Child Ready for School? A Parent's Guide to the Readiness Tests Required by Public and Private Primary Schools" and realized as I read it that DS could already pass the test. He was by then newly four with two full years before he could start school, because of his October birthday. One of my friends had been complaining about the rather inadequate gifted program offered in our district, and I began to worry. 3. Our district decided to adopt one of the fuzzy math programs ("Investigations", IIRC). It had already failed in California and was failing in Washington State. A large group of parents protested so the district offered their idea of a compromise: parents could vote, choosing between several other options the district would choose. The district chose three other fuzzy math programs, making sure they had bright, colorful workbooks, and one traditional math program, chosen for it's very drab looking workbooks. They put them in the lobby of a couple of carefully selected schools (NOT any of the schools where a significant number of parents had been protesting) during the days of school registration and let the parents who came through vote. They did say any parent with a child enrolled in the district could come vote, but not those whose children weren't yet enrolled. Despite the well-organized efforts of the petitioning parents to visit those schools and vote, the district easily "won." 4. DH had a co-worker who was relatively normal (they are all computer geeks ;) ), who helped homeschool his kids, so we knew it was legal and everything. So, all those things tossing around in our heads, and I'd been looking at afterschooling math, probably with Singapore, and DH came home one day and said, "If you are going to go to all the trouble of afterschooling, why don't you just homeschool?" And my brain says, "Oh. Well. Of course!" Off we went!

They are secular. We regularly use another from the series, "What to Do When Your Brain is Stuck," which is OCD specific. DS12 is the one using it most successfully, even though he is on the upper edge of the target audience.

17. "Eight Plus One" by Robert Cormier. I liked the nine short stories, and especially the author's background commentary for each. I am wondering how it will be used in a 7th grade English class. 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.

16. "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. Wow! Now I understand why my great uncle would never touch rice. I don't think he was an airman, but he was a POW in Japan. I don't know his story, and it may be too late to find out, as I think his only son died a few years ago... 15. "How to Train Your Dragon" by Cressida Cowell. Happened to see it on the shelf at the library while looking for something else, and thought I'd see how it compared to the movies my girls love. The characters are the same. The plot is not similar at all! 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.

14. "As You Wish" by Cary Elwes. This one was just for me, just for fun! It's a delightful description of his experiences being involved in filming the movie, "Princess Bride." I'm recommending it to my 14 year old nephew, as the least family/kid friendly things in it are a "Wow! Really?"! description of how much alcohol Andre could drink at dinner without getting tipsy, and a description of how Andre "passing wind" (his words) derailed several hours of filming, because it sent them all into giggle fits. (Which will probably appeal to my nephew, as I think about it! About the right level of humor for a 14 year old boy!) 13. "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. Yes, another one on the syllabus! This one will be a challenge. I had another conversation with my son last night where I bumped against his very black and white thinking. Kind of related to the book, actually, since the book talks about it being okay for adults to lie. My son thought I was asking him to lie when I asked him not to mention that I had spoken with a neighbor who is trying to watch over us a little bit, as we cope with DH's mental illness. But it triggers DH when he knows I ask for help. So we had a conversation about the difference between lying, which would be saying, "No, I did not speak to so-and-so," and just not bringing it up. I had to reassure DS, about five times, that if DH asked me outright, I would not lie and I would tell him I had spoken to the neighbor, but that didn't mean we needed to volunteer the information if not asked. If we can make it through these kinds of books, maybe it will help. Or not. He's just getting to logic stage. We've got a ways to go before rhetoric! 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.

I'll second both book recommendations. My older kids take their copies of "What to do when your brain is stuck," from the same series as "Worry too much" to every therapy session. The kid friendly explanation of anxiety (or OCD in "Brain is stuck") is done so well that our therapist, who hadn't heard of the series before we brought it in, bought a copy to loan to his adult clients to help them really grasp their own disorder.

My last was born on my 44th birthday. I figure I'll be able to use my Social Security checks to pay her college expenses... ;) (Well, not quite, but I'll be old enough to take early retirement as I'll be 62.) The statistics on birth defects are far less scary if you "reverse" them. For instance, you are three times more likely to have a baby with Down's, which sounds scary, but when you really look at that, the chance of a younger mother having a Down's baby is 1%. So an older mother has a 3% chance. Reversed, you have a 97% chance of having perfectly fine baby. Odds you'd take to Las Vegas, as my OB was quick to tell me! My older two were seven and five, so we had a gap. Not a huge one. It was a helpful gap, really. The "big kids" were just old enough to be helpful, and not old enough to have an attitude about it. The pregnancy went really well until the last month, when I began developing pre-eclampsia and was put on modified bed rest. We cut back on homeschooling some then, but still did a lot of reading. And then missed about a month as I recovered from the C-section. They were K and 1st grade, so no biggie. The bigger challenge was when the little one became mobile, because she wasn't a napper. We did a lot of school down on the living room floor, so she felt included and could be supervised. Now that she's five and ready for school herself, the older two are just shifting into semi-independent work. ("I want you to do math now. Read the textbook. Do three pages in the workbook. Bring it to me if you have questions.") It's working pretty well! She is an amazingly (and sometimes frustratingly) independent little thing herself. It doesn't occur to her that she can't make her own sandwich, because the big kids do. If she spills, she's better at cleaning it up than my ten year old is. I think it's because of the gap. And I'm actually beginning to have a life again, as my oldest is now "legal" to babysit in our state. (Though there is no specific age limit here on babysitting siblings anyway. He can now legally babysit other people's kids, for money, according to the law.) It's awesome! I can grocery shop ALL BY MYSELF (which actually saves a lot of money), or get out to exercise, or attend a lecture, or a movie with DH, or whatever I want!

I know this has been answered already. Years ago, I helped* my dyslexic husband write a paper on dyslexia for one of his college courses. One thing that stood out to me was that dyslexia is an equal opportunity learning disorder, but it's easiest to identify in bright or gifted students. That's because the major tip-off that a student might have it is that they get a reading score at least two standard deviations below their other scores, or two standard deviations below their grade level. It often takes an expert to make the diagnosis if the gap isn't that wide. *(He wrote it, but I helped him read through all the sources he'd found to weed out the stuff not relevant to his topic, to cut down how much he'd have to read. These days, I think a student can get that sort of help written into their educational accommodations plan, but I don't think they even had such plans back then.)

Isn't it? How does one find out? They say on their site that they incorporate Orton-Gillingham (http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/orton-gillingham-approach). I know anyone can say they are based on something, but I saw AAS recommended on both "Autistic Resources" and "Dyslexic Resources" type pages, and they referred to it as an OG approach, which is why I bought it for my daughter. We just found out a few months ago, though, that she has dyslexia, dysgraphia, and level 1 Autism. (And next to no working memory, though apparently great long-term memory!) So, we are quite new to the LD label, and haven't gone far in AAS yet, so I can't say how it's working.

I'm on a roll this week! :tongue_smilie: More time in a waiting room, and lots of books started weeks ago and due tomorrow! 12. "My Louisiana Sky" by Kimberly Willis Holt. Another that I'm previewing before my son tackles it. I think this will be okay. Never am sure with him. He got really worked up about "Once Upon a Mattress" when we went to see a neighbor girl as "Fred" last weekend. OCD panic about the height of the bed she had to jump around on. "Into the Woods" last summer left him bawling for the rest of the evening because of the characters that died. It would be so much easier to stick with homeschooling and continue to hand pick his reading, but he wants to attend a local STEM dual enrollment charter for High School, so he can get his associates. (Two of his cousins have done this.) So we need design Middle School so that he's prepared for that environment. We are probably going to use BYU online next year so that he's accountable to someone other than me, and is responsible for his own work. This is one of the books from their syllabus. 11. "Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself" by Alan Alda. Follow up to his memoir, which I've not read yet. I liked it. I love his suggestions that scientists need to make themselves/their work more accessible, so that non-scientists can get excited about their work, too. I would love to see "QED," his play about Richard Feynman. It sounds cool. 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.

And because the kids' had dental appointments today, I finally finished my take-along: 11. "How the States Got Their Shapes" by Mark Stein. I found this after watching an episode of the series of the same name that the kids and I have been watching on Netflix. Not quite as lively as the show, but I'm a history nut, so I liked it. 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) Small "gift books," but quick, encouraging messages. Counting them both as one, since they are only about 50 pages each! 2. "Cliff-Hanger" by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson. My ten year daughter and I are both reading these "National Park Mysteries. 1. "Rage of Fire" by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson.

Better, thanks, Stacia! DH is a lot more stable, and DS is maturing out of the worst of his issues. There's always something. It seems to be DD10's turn to shake things up, but her issues have been pretty clearly identified, so we know how to deal, mostly. I don't know why I couldn't post for a while. Every time I tried, I'd just get an error message that said, "You must enter a post." Uh, I thought I just did. And I could post from my phone; it was just too tedious. Anyway, here's two more I just finished. Both are books DS will probably be assigned in the online English class he'll be taking next year. He's both a very black and white thinker and a sensitive soul, so I thought I'd better know what we're getting into. 10. "When I Was Your Age" edited by Amy Ehrlich. I think these will be okay. 9. "Freak the Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick. Well, I liked it, but I think I'll have to give my son a spoiler and tell him the end. Otherwise, we'll probably have a meltdown about how unfair it is. I don't know. We just finished "Goblet of Fire" and he handled the death there okay, but I'd warned him that there was going to be one. 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) Small "gift books," but quick, encouraging messages. Counting them both as one, since they are only about 50 pages each! 2. "Cliff-Hanger" by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson. My ten year daughter and I are both reading these "National Park Mysteries. 1. "Rage of Fire" by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson.

Cool! About time!