So very exciting and wonderful! So many of our children have incredible imaginations that are trapped behind lagging skills and inability to express themselves. Maybe time to try BIT here as well. Congrats Mama! :grouphug:

Hi, not sure what some of those Dx's stand for but based on her being a strong reader I would recommend Classical Academic Press's Art of Argument. I did it last fall with my almost 13 year old and he loved it! We proceeded forward with the Discovery of Deduction which was initially more challenging (it goes into deductive logic skills which look alot like math rather than the more fun inductive logic) but he still didn't resist it and has gotten alot out of it. I find CAP to be very friendly to my son with Asperger's - the writing is intelligent but the print is but with plenty of room to write out answers, the dvd's are well-done and the teacher's manuals are very helpful.

Reposting from Curriculum board: I'm beginning packing for our move later this summer and found Apologia Zoology 2 textbook probably bought two or three years ago and never used. I have tried allllll kinds of science and not been particularly satisfied with any. This fall I will be teaching a developmentally delayed first grader (he can't read independently, mostly seems to be lacking interest/motivation), a 5th grader (pretty on track other than fine motor issues) and an Aspie 8th grader. My current plan was to buy The Story of Science and student guides. Which of these students might the Apologia curriculum be appropriate for? I would like to combine the students but with the wide age range seems pretty much impossible. I did the older two together the past few years...maybe time to have my older son go off on his own with either Story of Science or the more challenging Apologia General Science? I'm looking at buying the student journals and lab kits so at least I won't have the excuses for not getting science done. I would really love to have a school year of fun experiments for the kids (especially younger two), growing things, ant farms, worm farms, etc... Science needs to get done around my house. Help!

:bigear: Anyone?

I'm beginning packing for our move later this summer and found this Apologia textbook probably bought two or three years ago and never used. I have tried allllll kinds of science and not been particularly satisfied with any. This fall I will be teaching a developmentally delayed first grader (he can't read independently, mostly seems to be lacking interest/motivation), a 5th grader (pretty on track other than fine motor issues) and an Aspie 8th grader. My current plan was to buy The Story of Science and student guides. Which of these students might the Apologie curriculum be appropriate for? I would like to combine the students but with the wide age range seems pretty much impossible. I did the older two together the past few years...maybe time to have my older son go off on his own with either Story of Science or Apologia General Science? I'm looking at buying the student journals and lab kits so at least I won't have the excuses for not getting science done. I would really love to have a school year of fun experiments for the kids (especially younger two), growing things, ant farms, worm farms, etc... Science needs to get done around my house. Help! :tongue_smilie:

:grouphug:

I really enjoyed reading the above discussions! I don't have an iPad (drool!) so I go a lower tech route with my 13 year old Aspie and two younger kids with some varying LD's...to add to that chaos my disabled mother lives with us, I am her personal shopper and chaffeur, also I have fibromyalgia pain/fatigue syndrome. I have to keep things managable and as low stress as possible. :001_smile: I do make a master plan for the year as mentioned by one poster - I decide what I want to focus on for each student both academically and in other terms such as strengthening hands through at home therapy, behavioral issues, etc... Then I select our curriculum. I've been most successful with not using box curriculum because of the varying exceptionalities. I use curriculum that is divided into 36-40 chapters and usually plan one chapter per week. During the year we take breaks on the holidays and occasionally a week off for a mental break or something else that we want to do like a family trip. We finish our school year approximately when we finish the curriculum. Each week I schedule a 4 day week with Friday as a half-day for the weekly tests/quizzes and any writing assignment for oldest ds that is unfinished from Thursday. Once every 4-6 weeks I take a look at what we've gotten behind on, usually science or an extracurricular like music/art and make an effort for a few weeks to focus on those subjects and put less focus on something like history. We always do our writing/language, math and latin (which really teaches grammar and logical thinking, plus is a great foundation for any romance language in the future) - the other things are more fluid and fit into our schedule as I can. Each week I type up the plans for the week (that way I can take into account any dr's appts, playdates, holidays, etc... that come up). I use a table created in MS Word that I just delete the contents and type in the new week as I go. I print out a copy of each child's weekly plan and put it into their notebook along with any printouts needed for just that week. Their notebooks hold 3-6 weeks worth of work and every month or so I transfer the finished weeks into their annual huge 3 ring binder required to keep by state law. The kids enjoy the structure and satisfaction of checking off each subject as they go through the day. It helps them to see what they have to do that week. I have tried several curriculum that plan out the year (SL, ToG...) and always feel like I can't keep up - just one kid getting sick or a crazy day of dr's apptmts and I'm playing catch up. I can't take that pressure - the weekly plan works. I know that I couldn't plan a whole year and not lose my mind. I have a teaching degree and of course a yearly plan is important for shepherding a class of 30 or 150 students of a subject for the year. I feel that a more loose and general plan work best for my class of 3. I hope that you find the right way to schedule that works for you and your daughter. :)

With us in limbo I'm nowhere close to finished planning for my three kids next "year". We are losing our house so within 4-8 weeks we are moving somewhere...to add to the mix dh has been interviewing with an out of town company so we could be moving there. At this point I'm starting to box things, see what old curriculum and toys I can sell, give away or pack... For next fall I have my Aspie's math and latin figured out, we still have some WWS to complete and I bought Lightning Lit 7...still need the books. MUS works for us and we've been happy with CAP Latin so that should be good, we will see about the writing and lit - my aspie really struggles with those. I have ideas on history and science but can't decide which way to go because I would really prefer to combine the boys but that probably isn't realistic with the wide age ranges. Mainly I have to get a good solid foundation in American History this year even if I slight the rest of the world - we need to move on if I want to start over with Ancients for my youngest any time soon! I'm still struggling getting my youngest to read - he can't get CVC words still - I know he has some kind of speech/articulation problem but needs an evaluation. Middle son needs visual processing eval and OT for his hands - but overall is the most independent and capable of my kids at this point. It's all pretty overwhelming. Right now I am glad that I homeschool because at least I don't have to worry about dealing with new schools, new IEP's, etc... I am really hoping that we will finally get good insurance coverage to help with these eval's and therapies that are needed for all three boys. Thanks for letting me dump! :P

Last November/December I went Paleo and in January I took the whole family gluten free - and I have gained, gained, gained! I do like meat and most veggies, I also like nuts and fruit and I'm guessing I have to cut those almost completely out to lose. I was eating low carb before this and over about 18 months had lost 40+lbs combined with regular varying amounts of exercise...since the paleo/gluten free diet I have regained almost all my lost weight. Yes I have insulin resistance issues and I have have a bad gall bladder so there is stuff going on. Earlier this year I saw a dr about my thyroid, he says it is fine...I'm at a loss. It appears I have to do super low carb for anything to happen but even then (last summer/fall) I got to a certain point and the weight wouldn't budge even though I was still in the overweight category - a size 10-12, not all muscle or anything like that. LOL I'm frustrated too - I figure this weight issue is my life issue, it could be worse, drug/alcohol addiction vs. food addiction/weight. I'm just going to get back to low carb and more exercise once we get done with this stressful move. Good luck with finding a food/exercise plan that works with your body. I will be checking to see which direction you go!

:iagree: Doodler you are gifted! I have a 13 year old son with a similar background and am looking at more insurance options in my near future so we could get more help. I will have to save your script! :D

Little Pilgrim's Progress has about 100 chapters, short but still deep and I didn't want to go too fast....it took us about 4 months to finish.... /sigh Now reading Roman Ransom Mystery...after dropping The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil Frankweiler - the kids just found that one too boring.

I have a 13 year old with Asperger's and can't imagine how upset I would be if this happened to him. I like the idea of the above poster that maybe the other youth leader was familiar with SN kids but why wouldn't your Youth Pastor have called you to let you know that the plan had changed? This kind of thing definitely makes me leery of sending my kids away to Youth Retreat (there is one coming up this summer and I've gotten some pressure to send him). :grouphug: I hope he bounced back once he was home. It just makes me so sad to think of how alone he was.

Thanks for the clarification! There is a meeting of our current denomination in Apopka so that was one reason we looked to see if that would work out. It still might if I look in South Apopka/Ocoee. On the other hand I believe that this is a small, starter church that may have no other children - that may not be a good fit at this time. Still so many things to figure out! :) Thanks for all the helpful replies! I will definitely be in touch with you, KTGrok, if we end up taking the job offer!

We are home, dh was so exhausted that he fell asleep right after dinner at 7pm! Everything went well and we are expecting an offer in the next week. Now to make the decision! I'm a bit overwhelmed with finding a place to rent. If we could buy looks like tons of options, rentals for a big family are a bit harder (5 of us plus my mom lives with us and her two dogs). I loved Clermont, the lakes are awesome! It was raining when we went through Apopka and I think I saw "the wrong side of the tracks" - literally! lol Dh's office would currently be just south of Dr Phillips, off of Reams Rd. But there is talk of moving to Celebration in the future. At least with a rental if they moved south and it was a problem we could move. Thanks for all the kind thoughts and suggestions. We are praying for a good salary and relocation expenses. :D

I went to the website after I printed out his itinerary. It is beautiful - I think this will probably be the nicest place we've ever stayed! We are always very thrifty and have taken very few vacations - our honeymoon was only two nights at a nearby bed and breakfast. This is very exciting. I will definitely be planning to drink coffee out on that veranda! :D

Thanks for all the replies! I have noticed several areas that are appealing. Looking at Homeschool Coops the ones I've seen so far seem to be in the Apopka area (not counting the Disney Schooling group). We leave for the interview tonight, they are putting us up in the Yacht Club hotel - I still have to print out the details so not sure if that is exactly right. I will let you all know if he gets the job, maybe someone can point me to a reasonable rental in their neighborhood. :D

How about Meadow Woods? Hunter's Creek looks to be a bit out of our price range. :bigear:

Thanks for the warning on Kissimmee/Poinciana - I wondered why housing prices are so low there. Does the same hold true for the Davenport area? One of the great things about homeschooling is not worrying about the new school issue. Tough enough finding a new church! I'm hoping to live some place that will have more outdoor living space, trees, maybe close to a lake. Continuing the online search and planning to drive around Friday during dh's interview and check out some neighborhoods. Tips on getting hired? We aren't there yet but I hear the key is knowing someone who works there and getting them to be your reference. I'll definitely update everyone once we know more. :001_smile:

:iagree: I try to have a good attitude about things but I think it's important for kids to know that all relationships require some sacrifice and parenting more than others. We are dealing with a generation of kids with entitlement issues - maybe their parents shouldn't have put on the smiling face so often.

Ok, I probably should say the name of the company - I don't think it will hurt anything, right? He is interviewing to be a castmember at WDW in IT. This is the final interview. :D So, from what I hear we would have frequent, if not unlimited, access to WDW! My kids are very excited about this idea, so much that they are ready to write off everything here. LOL Dh's friend/possible boss just bought a house in Ocoee but that looks out of our price range. I think we are looking to rent for the first year or so just to be sure things are working out. Tell me more about Apopka...what would the drive to 4600 World Drive look like? Google maps is only so helpful. :auto:

:lurk5:

DH has a final interview Friday with a *very* prominent, international company that has one base in Orlando, Fl. We are driving down Thursday night and being put up in one of their hotels, his interview is Friday. He has an old boss that he really got along with well working their who is trying to recruit him away from his current position in NE Fla. Unless dh steps on a landmine with the VP who is interviewing he is pretty much a shoe-in for the job. Dilemma: moving 2.5+ hours drive away from dh's family, our church family...dh has never lived anywhere other than our hometown so this is a tough call. Pros: We haven't had real insurance in over 5 years while dh has been a contractor in IT. We could really use insurance and I've heard that this company has the best. In his current position he is *supposed* to be hired on as a regular employee by December. We would then have health benefits. Pay is probably going to be roughly equal. However, dh has been strung along for over 5 years in another department about being hired on and I've lost faith with this company. Any tips on living in or around Orlando? What neighborhoods/counties to avoid? I would love to find a coop that meets weekly for my younger boys (elementary age) and maybe something my older son can do for science/PE. Any input appreciated!!

We have had a similar situation with my 10 and 6 year old boys and neighbor 9 and 7 year old boys. In our case we've had the 9 year old over to spend the night and my 10 year old has spent the night over with him...IMHO 6-7 is too young to spend the night except with family. 8-9 years old is the youngest any of my boys would be up for that - maybe the other mom is in the same camp? If you would be okay with having dd 7 spend the night over maybe you should call the other mom and ask if dd7 could come too - mom may have never even thought of it. Never hurts to just be honest and ask. :)

I agree with basically everything you all have said. I have always been introverted, though not shy! And most of the people in my life are extroverts and want to "fix" me. Dh is finally starting to get that I need my alone time just as much as he needs to get together with his friends at least once a week. I love homeschooling because I don't have to interact with the outside world every day - no notes to teachers, no dropping off/picking up the kids conversations, nada! I think introversion can be a strength, but like the op mentioned sometimes I get down and realize that I need a friend to talk with. The hard part is finding the right person. I push myself at times to get out and interact with others more than I would like to so that I can try to build relationships. Still, I don't feel as close to those ladies as I would like to be. :tongue_smilie:

:iagree: I am a classic introvert, dh is a classic extrovert and it takes juggling for us both to get our needs met. Yesterday I sent dh to a movie with a friend and another friend took my extrovert son with her daughter to see a different film. I took my two introvert sons home for some downtime after church and before we hosted a Father's Day dinner with grandparents and the friends from the movie. I make my introverts leave the house at least once or twice a week but being an introvert myself (though also I love performance singing and playing instruments - it's not shyness, per se) I just understand what they need. Different strokes ;)