Thanks! I'm glad now that I did go ahead and order, well, everything... :lol:

She might be excited to know there are two other books in the series - Wayside School is Falling Down and Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger. ​My oldest loved this series, I'll have to ask her whether she can remember any other favorites from around that time. Has she read any Roald Dahl yet?

In college, a few of my friends and I worked for a professor who ran a small tutoring business. She trained us, scheduled the clients, provided the space and materials, handled payments, etc. The clients were charged $60, and I was paid $20/hour for the first year and $25/hour for the second. In grad school, I found a few students of my own and charged $40-50. I've paid a high school-aged "tutor" $15/hour to help my kids with their homework (I also pay our teenage babysitter $15/hour), so that sounds quite low to me. But, if this is an established company, it may not be negotiable. The tutoring company I looked into working for in grad school, before deciding to find students on my own, had a very rigid system. Clients paid $40/hour for a tutor with a bachelor's degree, and the tutor was paid $22.

My son is quite a bit younger, so I'm not sure that I'll be able to provide any insight into how to handle defiance in a 12-year-old, but feel free to PM me or ask questions here if there's anything I can do! Is your Dd in school now and you're considering homeschooling, or is it the other way around? We've adopted four boys, including Ds7 who joined our family through the foster care system a little over two years ago. He attended half-day public pre-K and K, and we eventually pulled him out to homeschool last year, in December of 1st grade. Ds always struggled emotionally/behaviorally at school, but his anger and defiance had escalated to the point that it was recommended he be transferred to a different elementary school and placed in a multi-grade behavioral support classroom. After one meeting at the other school, it was clear that it was not an option, and we began homeschooling right away. Things aren't perfect at home, but they are so much better. For us, one of the keys in dealing with Ds's anger and defiance is to always consider the root (for my kid - anxiety/fear, impulsivity, cognitive inflexibility) before dealing with the actual behavior. We aren't dealing with RAD or any other attachment problems, so if that was the case we would have very different factors to consider.

We overload on vitamin C (no supplements, just oranges and juice), throw out our toothbrushes, and get extra rest.

Hello everyone! I've been reading the forum off and on for the last few months, and have already gotten a warm welcome and some great advice from the ladies on the Learning Challenges Board. I thought I'd briefly introduce myself here before jumping in on the rest of the forum. My name is Caroline, and my husband and I have five children - ages 12, 8½, 8, 7, and almost 3. They're about as different as five children could possibly be, which keeps life interesting! We're new to homeschooling, and I suppose we're still in the honeymoon phase because we love everything about it! Our 7-year-old had a rough time in public school, so I left my job to begin homeschooling him last December. Our 8-year-old will be joining us this year, and I'm really looking forward to having him home with us! The two oldest will continue attending school, and our youngest will split his days between part-time preschool, Grandpa's house, and hanging out at home with us. I look forward to learning from you all and becoming a part of this awesome community! ​Caroline

Thanks so much for all of your recommendations, OhElizabeth! I've just spent an hour organizing my bookmarks and putting together an Excel file so that I don't lose track of any of the great resources I learn about here on the forum! I realize that neither Dynamo Maths or Ronit Bird's materials cover all of the topics that a typical/full curriculum does, but I think they're the best place for us to start. I'll add in some review of the K/1st grade topics he knows (geometry, money, measurement, etc.), and then look at adding a full curriculum to our mix, or covering the full range of math topics another way, later in the year. And yes, now that I'm starting to understand Ronit Bird's methods (my younger son and I played around with it today), I do wish I'd used her materials to "afterschool" math last year. Caroline

Okay, thanks! We are definitely not ready for cell phones, and even watches don't last long around here yet. I'll have get thinking about some of this stuff soon! Oh my gosh, Ds was a late bloomer when it came to finding pages in a book! It was almost the end of first grade before we realized that the little girls in his class had been opening his books to the right page for him. :wub: He'd never had to do it at home, but was able to learn it pretty quickly when my husband sat down and explained that the pages go in order... Thanks for these ideas! My husband just read this thread and told me that he was already planning to teach Ds what it feels like to skate as hard as you can for 60 seconds. We'll have to play around with these a bit! Unfortunately, getting Ds the level of support he needs in math has been a struggle. Our school district takes the "inclusion" philosophy very literally, so all of his extra help was given by a "learning support teacher" in this regular classroom (or, sitting at a table in the hallway when his classroom was too loud). Depending on the topic his class was covering, Ds either participated with the class and completed the regular assignments with support, participated with the class and completed modified assignments, or worked in a small group doing remedial work. Ensuring that Ds gets a decent education in math is on our list of reasons for homeschooling this year (as is my lack of interest in battling with school administrators). I really like your idea of meeting goals/milestones rather than using a curriculum to gauge progress. And I think you're right that we might not see much progress with understanding time until his number sense bumps up a bit. Oh, I love these ideas! Our family is the type that never stops talking, asking questions, singing, playing games, quizzing each other, etc., in the car and on our walks, I just never think to play around with math like this unless one of my kids has been assigned to memorize the multiplication tables. I can definitely work these ideas in! Thank you! Caroline

Thank you all for the welcome and quick, thoughtful replies! I managed to mess up my multi-quote, so I'll figure out that feature later.: ) Heathermomster - Thank you for the book recommendation! I've done a lot of reading on FASD and LDs, and this book looks like the bridge between what I know and what I need to know. I'm using Singapore Math with my younger son, and we love it, so I'm glad to see that you're able to incorporate some of the Singapore style. Thanks for mentioning how you use Ronit Bird's methods and the "whatever works" strategy - I think I'm a little hung up on finding the perfect "program" right now and need to be more open to figuring some of this out as I go and learning what works best for Ds. I'll have to pick up a big, colorful calendar and some other reference posters. I'd already decided that I couldn't put myself through daily "calendar time" (and Ds managed to sit through three years of calendar time in public school without learning which days of the week are weekends), so having a calendar available for him will be our solution. Heathermomster and OneStepAtATime - We are definitely not expecting any magical "catching up" to happen here. :tongue_smilie: I actually felt awkward writing my original post, because I wanted to make it clear how much support Ds needs in math, but my husband and I always consider him to be doing wonderfully in school, even in math. His work ethic and attitude make it impossible to think that he's doing "badly" or to think that he could somehow be doing better. I do think we'll see a little jump in progress with the shift from small-group to one-on-one teaching and with the change in program, but beyond that I don't have any expectations. None of the professionals we've seen seem to have any idea (or want to make any predictions) about Ds's potential in math. I'm pretty curious myself, to be honest. When it comes to time, I'm not worried about his ability to tell time on an analog clock, but just to understand and manage time in general. He's 8 now, and it's just beginning to become noticeable to others. He on the way home from summer camp one day because a counsellor had teased him for not understanding what "quarter to" meant. When he and his friends go bike riding, I have to ask his best friend to make sure they come home on time. This fall, Ds will move up a level in ice hockey, and will be expected to know when it's time to go off the ice (by glancing up at the clock, while playing the game). I'm not sure that I feel right about just letting this go, but I really have no idea how much can be done to help in this area. Are there tools and supports that you help your kids learn to use, or do you just continue to manage your child's time for them into the teen years? OneStepAtATime - Thank you so much for your encouragement, and for sharing about your daughter's experience. And you don't have to worry, I can guarantee I will be asking plenty of questions in the future. :001_smile: Thanks, also, for your description of how Dynamo Math works, how the components work together, and how it can be paired with the Ronit Bird materials! It does sound like it'll give me the structure I'm looking for, and I think I'm sold. I've been trying to avoid online programs (we are screen-free until age 4/5, and try to keep it to 1-2 hours/week after that), but this seems like it will be well worth it. I think we'll hold off on CLE for now, or I might pick up one or two units to have some simple fact practice on hand. Pen - Thank you! Yes, if you asked him, "what is one more/less than 7?" he would know almost automatically. With numbers higher than 12 or 13, he would take his time and figure it out. But, he would likely be stumped by something like, "what is one less than 70?" OhElizabeth - Thank you so much for all the recommendations! I'll have to take some time tonight to go through each of them. A few questions I have about the ebooks - I'm not sure I quite understand how these are used. Are the videos intended for the child and parent to watch together? Or just the parent? Is there anything besides the videos that are unique to the ebooks? We don't have an iPad, and have access to a copy of The Dyscalculia Toolkit, so I am inclined to use that. But, if there is something I would be missing without the ebooks I need to know lol. Ds doesn't have any real difficulty with language - his language scores are average and mostly reflect his wonky memory. And his memory is wonky in that he is great (above average) at remembering things that have meaning to him (faces, names, pictures), but very low in remember things that don't mean much to him (random words, symbols, and unfortunately numbers...). Sequencing used to be a major issue, but it's gotten much better within the last couple years. At 6, he would come to me crying about how his brother had pushed him. Brother would explain that he'd pushed Ds because Ds had jumped on him. I'd ask Ds why he'd jumped on his brother and he'd say, "Because he pushed me off!" Now, he has no trouble retelling a simple narrative, giving basic instructions, or putting pictures/steps/events in order. Answering questions about the sequence, especially if he has to go backward, is still tough unless it's very simple or he has the pictures/steps in front of him. Oh, and Ds is the king of dot-to-dots. He can do the ones that go up by 2s, 5s, and 10s, even though he skip counts by rote and has no idea what it means. He's been in a mainstream classroom in public school for three years, so he can work independently, I'm just not sure how much he gets out of it. Thanks again! Caroline

Hello everyone! I am new to the WTM forum, but have been reading/lurking for several months now. I have already learned so much from those here on the Learning Challenges board, and wanted to thank you for all of the help you have given to me and so many others! Reading this forum has helped me to feel confident in our decision to homeschool the two of our children who don’t fit the public/private school mold. Thank you! Now, I could really use a little help finishing off my planning for this year, which starts in two weeks! My husband and I have very recently made final the decision to homeschool our 8-year-old son this year for 3rd grade. I have been homeschooling our younger son since last December, and feel pretty comfortable with most of our plans for both boys. However, I am still struggling with math for the 8-year-old, who has FASD. Ds’s FASD diagnosis (specifically, alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder/ARND) was confirmed in 2015, shortly after he joined our family through the foster care system. He is a bright kid (average IQ), with lots of strengths and some real athletic and creative talent. But, like most kids with FASD, he has always struggled with math. Last November, he was diagnosed with a Specific Learning Disorder in mathematics, in the areas of number sense, memorization of arithmetic facts, and accurate or fluent calculation. He is now going into 3rd grade and working at an early/mid 1st grade level in math. He has had no trouble with 1st/2nd grade geometry concepts, but all other areas of math have been a struggle. We have tests scores coming out of our ears, so if they would be helpful at all please let me know and I can post them. I have been researching various math programs, and the three that appeal to me are: 1. The Dyscalculia Toolkit, by Ronit Bird. I managed to get my hands on a copy of this, and am really impressed with what I see! It seems to start out at the perfect level, and I think ds will really enjoy and engage with the games and activities. 2. Dynamo Maths. I don’t love that every lesson includes an online component. Otherwise, this looks like it will be a good fit and reasonably easy to implement. 3. CLE Math. My only concern with this program is the length of the lessons. Ds works very slowly in math (because of damage to areas of the brain typically used for math, kids with FASD recruit alternate, less efficient areas). I can’t imagine that he’ll be able to get through a full lesson every day, and it’s hard to tell from the samples whether problems, sections, or lessons can easily be skipped. My questions: - Do these programs sound like they will be a good fit for us? I would love to hear experiences/thoughts/advice about any of these programs! - Are there any other math programs that you would recommend for us? Am I completely off base with these programs? Should I be looking at programs designed for children who are generally lower functioning (Semple Math, TouchMath, etc.)? - If I do decide to go with these three programs, should we begin all three concurrently? If not, which program or combination would you recommend we start with? - Roughly how much time each day should we be spending on math? How many sessions? How intense should those sessions be? Knowing our personalities, we are much more likely to go overboard than to slack off. Ds knows that he is “behind†in math and is motivated to work extra hard in this area. One other area of concern: Ds has not yet had any success learning to tell or understand time. He really doesn’t seem to have any sense of time beyond now vs. later and today vs. not today. He used to mix up last week/yesterday, yesterday/tomorrow, tomorrow/next week, etc., but I think he got tired of being corrected and has learned to avoid referencing time at all. He knows the “months of the year†and “days of the week†songs, but can not tell you which day comes before Friday or which month comes after September. - Is there a program that specifically targets telling time and other temporal concepts? Or any resources we could use to work on these concepts in everyday life? Any general thoughts/comments/advice about our math plans (or anything at all!) are very much appreciated! Thank you so much! Caroline