I need help, but not sure where to post. My daughter was in GT and special education at school and we now homeschool. She is gifted and has Asperger's syndrome. Her issues are complex, and I need help and guidance. She's way ahead academically in some ways and way behind in others. I considered posting in the general education forum but that seems wrong, too. Right now, as always, the issues cannot be teased apart. Thank you.

I suggest you look for something with a drop in bobbin. Unless you can't resist the adorable, fun Janome sewing machines (like hello kitty).

Has she contacted the school to ask if her family can be eligible for financial assistance?

Meghan's Mom, that was my experience with co-ops as well, and I am so sorry that it happened to you. I hope your sweet daughter is feeling better, it sounds like some scary medical stuff the two of you had to go through. I won't do a co-op again. It was hard on my family and hard on my marriage (because the workload was so huge that my husband was dragged into it). Looking back, it was an unpleasant ordeal that went on for two years. It was a huge mistake that lead to my homeschool burnout that lead to my decision to enroll the kids in public school. On the bright side, I have a few connections from the coop (not friends, connections, except for one). But those connections are not enough to justify the pain we went through. I found comfort in reading the lists above about things that can kill a co-op. I feel there is still a lot of healing to do around the issue of homeschooling. This helps.

I am sorry to hear your sweet dd is going through that. I have one more thought. If the choking happened to start after a procedure where a NG tube was inserted, consider the possibility of a NG tube puncture. Sadly our younger dd had a NG puncture when she had surgery as an infant. The symptoms you are describing sound similar. However, she did not have CP so it was pretty clear what the problem was (though the first doctors claimed it was something else entirely). A swallow study was performed to identify the problem. I hope your daughter's issue is resolved.

Hi, all. I am going to condense a long story to a few short paragraphs. I was a lurker on these boards years ago when I used to homeschool, and at that time, we did SOTW for pleasure and finished all of the first book and about 1/2 of the second book. Later, our kids went to public school for three years. I quit my job in late August 2014 to homeshool and moved. I thought it would take a week or two to choose curriculum and get back in the swing of things. Right after I quit, we went into a whirlwind of medical problems. Finally, just now, everyone is healthy. We will not be able to follow a traditional school calendar, which does not matter. Truly, I am just so glad we are all alive, together and healthy. I will be asking for your help and advice on curriculum, because next Monday we plan to start again. We have barely done anything during the time of illness. Thank you.

Me too.

Where do you live? Because I want to move there! Ok, never mind, just saw it, Alaska.

Thank you.

I'm taking notes on all of your ideas and checking each one. What is elemental science's perspective on evolution? What do you think about these? http://www.academyofscienceforkids.com I will admit that one of the selling points is this language in the description for their products: "Absolutely everything needed for the activities is in the box, and each activity is individually bagged and tagged. No "common household items" to gather—all you add is water..."

What young scholar program are you talking about? I know that a few school programs make attempts to consider a child's background and non-academic giftedness. Our daughter's scores would have met the criteria for GT at one of her schools, and the school warned me that the scores alone were just a starting place. The Cogat is a simple inexpensive pencil and paper test that considers achievement as well as cognitive abilities. Your daughters scores are good but if admission is based on her score alone, it is unlikely that she would qualify for most GT programs. However, if other factors are considered, then she might qualify. It really depends on the criteria.

Good point, Redsquirrel. I did look at Supercharged Science and it looks promising. The supply lists look daunting unless I spend for the huge packages.

Thank you, these are great ideas. I should have mentioned that demonstrations will be OK too, not just experiments. I don't mind working with the kids once the materials are gathered. I wish SOTW activity guides had supply kits, too. I would prefer to just open the kit -- my husband works long hours and if supplies require several different kinds of supplies, it can be a major endeavor. I appreciate all of your help and am off to check out those ideas.

Hi, will you more experienced moms please help me? I just ordered Joy Hakim's Story of Science, but looking at the materials, this appears to be something geared for our older daughter and focuses more on the history of science. We will still use it, but it's not what I thought it would be. I have two daughters, ages 11 and 13. My younger daughter would be in 5th grade and she is requesting lots of science experiments. DD has auditory sensory processing issues. She is 2e, Asperger's, high IQ and she is very gifted. She watches all videos with the audio turned off and subtitles. I can find lots of science experiments but I have requirements too. 1. Secular, or at least not pushing Young Earth; 2. Supply gathering that is easy for me, preferably with a kit that will not require me to hunt for dozens of difficult to find items, or, for that matter, even easy to find items. I do not wish to be taking two kids to various stores looking for things like "6 inches of PVC pipe". It's too hard on them with their sensory issues. 3. Fun and engaging, with an actual curriculum instead of just a bunch of random science experiments. 4. Interesting enough that her older 13 year old sister will want to join in on her own. So -- what do you think? Does a curriculum product like that exist? I looked at Supercharged Science and wrote Aurora about whether the videos have a subtitle option. it does not appear that they do. I also noticed that the only kits for Supercharged Science come when you buy the very expensive packages, not the month to month. I saw several kits that go with curriculum at Home Science Tools, but I can't tell if those curricula are secular. Thank you so much for your help.

Yes! Plus, for me, sometimes it's more fun to buy it and prepare than to actually work with our kids on the materials. :)