Has your daughter been thoroughly evaluated for food allergies and intolerances? My ds sleeps much better since dx'd w/celiac and being on his GF diet, I also sleep better now that I'm on the GF diet. On top of it though, I cannot take chamomile as a tea or topically. Anyone with a ragweed (hayfever) allergy should be aware of this: they might react to other members of the same family including chamomile and echinacea. So both of those, while helpful for some, just made me more miserable. My husband and I used melatonin around here for a while off and on but had similar concerns about long term usage. I would keep up on the info if you find you have keep using it with her. It may affect auto-immune disorders but not necessarily for ill. Is that thing about wearing blue-filtering glasses to help your melatonin production correct? maybe those would help. We use a fan as white noise in ds's room and removed all night-lights. both of those things help though diet was the biggie.

Another vote for Nordic Naturals. I take these in the morning since that's the worst time for me for these - flavored... I'd have to go look to see which one. Then I take a big honkin' omega-3 gelcap (1000mg) at lunch and I don't have the same problem that I would have if I took it in the AM.

:lol: I think the USDA already messed with us. We have been part of a big, loose, accidental experiment just because they basically prescribed a one-size-fits-all diet for everyone. fortunately they have stepped back on that somewhat. I ran my pyramid a while ago and it was MUCH more in line for me than the old one was. For those that despair, check the epigenome.eu link in my previous post. or the "Tale of Two Mice" on the NOVA site. Your children can do a lot for themselves in their lifetime to take care of themselves and their issues. Coming from a genetic line laden with auto-immune disease, I feel empowered by this kind of info.

This is one of my favorite subjects. :) Great stuff to watch here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3411/02.html Only book I read got a bit too metaphysical but the basic explanations were good and of course I don't remember the title or author. it wasn't "Genie In Your Genes." oh, Here it is: http://www.amazon.com/Biology-Belief-Unleashing-Consciousness-Miracles/dp/1401923119/ref=pd_sim_b_4 I think a good chunk of the book is the author trying excuse himself from bad behaviour leading to his divorce, etc... but he's a scientist and is good at explaining the basics of epigenetics. Great site brought to you by The Epigenome Network of Excellence, a european research network dedicated to supporting high calibre science in the rapidly expanding field of epigenetics: http://epigenome.eu/en/2,48,875 Article partially related: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/microbes-r-us/ I find it to be very POSITIVE information, as in, there is a lot we can do to help ourselves just by eating right and reducing other environmental stressors. It's a very positive thing for me and refreshing that I am not absolutely destined by my genome but can help steer it through the epigenome.

Thank you very much! I was getting nothing on the General Board - probably too many specifics= secular, dysgraphic, etc... In fact, I should be looking at some of these for my own student who struggles with handwriting. thank you thank you thank you thank you.. 8^) What does "Visual perceptual exercises with a DO" mean? specifically "DO"? optometrist? It would probably help if my friend would come in and converse on her own and I suspect if she chooses to homeschool, she may well do just that. She is also looking at hiring a tutor who her kids worked with in private school already and liked. again, many thanks, we are all helping relieve a heavy burden for her since she had no idea where to start...

um, ok... was I overly specific? probably, I have that problem. too much detail. Any ideas in very general terms about 6th to 8th for a newbie secular homeschooler? Or at least stuff that wouldn't offend a Jewish/humanist household?

Dear Hive-Mind, A dear friend of mine is considering homeschooling her children in the coming year(s) but lacks confidence and doesn't know where to start. Simply looking at a variety of curriculum available would help her decide if this is a path for her. Additionally the children have some learning or processing issues that make it necessary to use different teaching and learning strategies and that concerns her too of course. They will be in California so while they will check the law there, any CA specific info is also welcome. About them: above average ability, average to above average achievement, and deficits of visual-motor integration, visual memory, and processing speed contributing to dysgraphia, spelling problems, and general performance inefficiencies. Both kids’ strength lies in verbal arena, Working memory is weak. One is a good learner who needs to use a keyboard for most written work. This way she can fix spelling errors and revise her work quickly. She is slow at doing math and in general needs one example to get her going, but understands the reasoning. Likes to know WHY. Rote memorizing very hard. Is organized. The other is similar but a bit lower in memory scores. Has a very hard time with spelling, doesn’t copy words correctly from one place to the next. Rambles when writing. argumentative. Doesn’t have a good memory. Rote memorizing even harder. NOT organized. But works hard. They both learn wonderfully if the work is put to song! Depending on the subjects, they'll need materials in the 6th to 8th grade range. A correspondence writing course suggestion or two is something we're looking for in particular and some computer-game type programs like Descartes Cove for math and maybe other subjects. Please throw suggestions and links to me and I will forward them to her - I'm sure we can help her figure this out. Thank you so much - Jill p.s. I'm going to cross-post this in Curriculum too because of the strong dysgraphia, so I apologize for the duplication.

Dear Hive-Mind, A dear friend of mine is considering homeschooling her children in the coming year(s) but lacks confidence and doesn't know where to start. Simply looking at a variety of curriculum available would help her decide if this is a path for her. Additionally the children have some learning or processing issues that make it necessary to use different teaching and learning strategies and that concerns her too of course. They will be in California so while they will check the law there, any CA specific info is also welcome. About them: above average ability, average to above average achievement, and deficits of visual-motor integration, visual memory, and processing speed contributing to dysgraphia, spelling problems, and general performance inefficiencies. Both kids’ strength lies in verbal arena, Working memory is weak. They both learn wonderfully if the work is put to song! Depending on the subjects, they'll need materials in the 6th to 8th grade range. A correspondence writing course suggestion or two is something we're looking for in particular and some computer-game type programs like Descartes Cove for math and maybe other subjects. Please throw suggestions and links to me and I will forward them to her - I'm sure we can help her figure this out. Thank you so much - Jill p.s. I'm going to cross-post this in Special Needs too because of strong dysgraphia, so I apologize for the duplication.

As Mabelen has outlined, there are probably a few contributing factors. Our unjustified fear of dietary fats, overconsumption of sugar, lack of fermented foods (a la sourdough, yogurt, sauerkraut) giving us lack of probiotics, less exercise, over processed foods, and probably a couple other things not mentioned yet that are other environmental contributors. (BPAs anyone? see mice made fat from bpa here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3411/02-tale-flash.html ) Just as with diet in general, I don't think one size fits all and for different people a different balance of these things probably means different things.

A friend of mine was just praising the support she has been getting from Davidson. Since there seems to be questions regarding their standards, here's the link: http://www.davidsongifted.org/youngscholars/Article/Davidson_Young_Scholars___Qualification_Criteria_384.aspx the following page seems to indicate that tests are AND/OR qulaifications, this could be worth reviewing before paying for a bunch of tests: http://www.davidsongifted.org/youngscholars/Article/Davidson_Young_Scholars____Application_Process_380.aspx I've also downloaded the application form to look over which also includes info as to what is regarded as "Evidence of Extreme Intellectual Abilities" and it might be useful to look at that too.

ok, I will be the one to say I didn't find using Singapore all that necessary. All the color and pretty pictures were not helpful for ds. We did not do any intensive practice books or the supplementary materials so I cannot comment on those. here's my list from when he was 6yrs and a couple months: 1 - I gave my son a set of flashcards for the car (we have 10 to 20 minute drives to town for shopping and library and errands several days a week) and he could quiz me - similar effect to having the child read through the whole equation. I would get some "wrong" so that he had a chance to read them all the way through. 2 - BlackJack. I forget which educational game site it is but we play BlackJack for addition. for free... or play with real cards. 3 - Learning Resources Board Games. They sell a pack with 4 or 6 games in it including spinners and markers, etc... addition, subtraction, and choice of either... 4 - Monopoly. Our son had to be the banker. 5 - Made up games with dice rolls where the dice get added together. 6 - Hooked on Phonics - Multiplication. 7 - Schoolhouse Rocks Multiplication Rocks songs. 8 - Skip counting on a number line where he draws the "skips" (imagine inverted ocean waves.) 9 - Computer games: Funbrain math arcade at funbrain.com (a little advertising there from pearson publishing); Path O Math puzzles at enchanted learning.com (some pages were free); Math Blaster computer game; Jumpstart computer games. 10 - Quiddler. Yes, you have to spell words but you also have to add up points for 3,4,5,6,7, and 8 card hands. 11 - cuisinaire rods or a manipulative set (or cereal) for exploring grouping and multiplication. Later in his sixth year, we signed up for EPGY (expensive at the time). We used Aleks (less expensive) too for a bit for the same reason: to minimize frustration with handwriting while being able to advance thru concepts. That was fine for a while but he was having medical issues (celiac disease) so we stopped till we figured out what was wrong. Now (from age 7.5 to 8) he is doing EPGY, we skip through saxon 5/4 for written exercises so he keeps doing more pencil work (I got a set of Saxon books for free...) and we supplement with logic puzzles and exploring whatever concepts he wishes or needs help with Papa in the AM before regular schoolwork starts. almost forgot I also printed out the MEP stuff and we used it somewhat: http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm

Though we are not as far along, my current sense of this is something like Nan's. DS has to have enough exposure to things he does not excel at to at least pass the tests he will be taking at various grades in our state. (homeschooling laws) But since adults are not exactly expected to be very well-rounded in their jobs and many who excel in a field are rather focused on it, even in their "hobbies", we are comfortable with ds being somewhat lopsided too. Note the qualifier "somewhat."

I'm not sure how much this will apply at SM1A, I just don't remember but now that we are getting into multiplying a two-digit number with a two-digit number and long division we ask ds to "do the dance." My dh came up with this analogy. If you're going to do a dance, you start at point A, take a few steps this way, a few that way, maybe backwards, forwards, then sidestep and spin and you arrive at point B. It wouldn't be a dance if you just go from point A to point B. To really do the dance you need to do all the steps in between. So in our case, showing your work is the dance. If ds gets complainy and says he just wants to do it in his head or "his way" (which is interesting btw, the multiplication is right but he does it upside down), we just ask him to "do the dance." It works 99 percent of the time now. That might work for the SM methods - each is a little dance to do.

We're using Logic Safari 2 as a daily fun sheet. It has some overlap with the Connections series - I'm holding off on the Connections book we have in hand (level 2 maybe?) since those logic puzzles get larger and funner and tougher! I would not get both if I was to buy any of these again - I would just get whatever their current logic series is. Ds finished Logic Safari 1 a while ago. When I bought 2 I also bought #3 just in case they were to drop or change the series. Logic Countdown has the same types of puzzles so that might be the current series. He also did Analogies for Beginners which he enjoyed but I don't think it was great and moved onto Thinking through Analogies. We have stopped with that one as it ends up being more of a vocabulary book for ds. It is kind of fun to explain to him what an LP record is of course and other words he's unfamiliar with but we didn't feel like it was giving him much at this time. I have not tried other titles of theirs.

:::squeal!::: Thank you!

We just set a shorter goal for the regular Risk set - usually whoever takes and holds 2 continents for two turns wins. You can just create your own variations on this as you wish.

Totally. I've known far more gay couples who are committed to each other and are still together than hetero- marriages. Some heteros get married and divorced like they change the style of their clothes from decade to decade. And the just because people now divorce like mad doesn't mean this wasn't going on for the whole of humanity's existence. don't fool yourself, it's a human condition. no kidding. Shall we get started? How about in govts hallowed halls? Naw, that's like shooting fish in a barrel. Those of us who are in strong, loving ad committed relationships will not be hurt by a homosexual couple's ability to legalize and document their commitment in the same way.

The free Life Science book here is working very well for us (and sorry if this is a duplicate, I didn't see it, but...): http://www.eequalsmcq.com/ We are doing the first level but I expect to move on to the next. Scott McQuerry's even going to be doing online classes it looks like, so I will have to see what that is about. We did try RS4K and it was just mediocre in my opinion. It didn't go quite in depth enough and I had to prep more for the experiments or couldn't even get the materials due to seasonal timing. So far with Classic Life Science, we have been able to do most of the experiments without excess prep (like a run to a hobby store or something) and my son enjoys them and can usually write all his own observations. The text is somewhat humorous which goes over VERY well here. He is almost 8 yrs old and somewhat accelerated. Whether these would work with your older children, I wouldn't know but at least the first book, the Life Science book, if free so you could try it out.

I am going around and around on this myself. again. DS is almost 8, is finishing up EPGY level 3, restarted LOF now that he has long division down, and does Logic puzzles as schoolwork. But he is doing functions and graphing lines from these functions (y=mx+b) for fun. He is quite good with abstract math it seems to me. I have Zacarro's Challenge Math in my amazon shopping cart. I need for him to engage in problem solving that is more applicable rather than abstract.

You're more than welcome. I have found so much help on the web and I'm happy to share. Bacon-Bits, btw, might be one of those hidden gluten items especially if they are the fake bacon kind. I am a fan of bacon and am glad to say that most have gotten rid of the added nitrate. Applegate Sunday Bacon is a "natural" kind and is really good without the bad preservatives. but sometimes I get a regular brand. Both Hormel and Oscar Meyer are good about listing allergens so if it's one of their products, you should be ok. Nothing like a little bacon on a big pile of greens!

OK, you posted this as I was posting my HUGE response. That sounds like classic celiac zinc deficiency to me. You might want to check around on that or even get the blood work. Some celiacs have to be monitored and even get shots to get certain vitamin and mineral levels up to normal. It's very typical to have that aversion to meat in that case. Patience - Oh if I could only have more sometimes!

Well, Congratulations for having some definite info to work with. Truly. That's a good start. I found it kind of a relief because even though changing diet and cooking is big, it's just food in the end but your child's health is paramount! Have Drs checked other levels such as iron, folate, B12, zinc? ADEK? "Celiac Disease involves the small intestine, where iron, folic acid, calcium, fat soluble vitamins (Vitamins K, A, D, and E) and zinc are absorbed. These nutrients should be measured in the initial assessment and also during the course of the illness." (from Dr. Peter Green: http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/medcare.html) At the least, they should do a CBC and check ferrin levels. Also, Zinc deficiency alters taste perception so until someone's who's been deficient for a while gets their zinc levels back up, foods will still taste bad or weird to them. It is a real problem for some celiacs. With my ds, zinc itself is hard to take because of its taste so it's a slow journey to get the tastebuds to change. He's been GF 6.5 months now with some zinc supplementation and we are only JUST starting to see some willingness to taste new things that are somewhat familiar - raisins, peanuts, cashews, a nibble of celery. It requires a LOT of patience from the part of me that wants him to eat a more varied diet! Also, celiacs can be fatty acid deficient so omega-3 supplementation can be a real help with many things. I found it cleared up most of my joint issues. If she really won't eat anything else (and some celiacs have a really hard time changing foods since foods have been hurting them for so long and possibly addicting them), try to get some Udi's bread. It holds up pretty well as sandwich bread for GF. If there's a local or regional GF bakery, you might do well with their bread too instead of a frozen one from market. My son will eat Garrett County Gluten-Free Chicken Bites. They are pricey but for now, he eats a lot and we are going along with it to let his iron levels build up. We also supplement iron in juice about once a day. There's a frozen mac-n-cheese he really likes - Amy'? - I also by the dried packs - Annie's I think? - but add cheddar to it as the sauce is mediocre. But I stick by my zinc level comment, it may take a while for her tastebuds to adjust, grow, heal. It was over a month before my ds started sleeping in more. He still gets up VERY early sometimes. Sometimes it's an indicator of having been glutened and sometimes not. But overall he sleeps a lot more than he was. At about 3 or 4 weeks GF we actually saw a worsening of some things - echolalia! - and after about a week those passed too. I like the TNT Bread/wraps recipe here: http://forums.glutenfree.com/breads-amp-rolls-f30.html East Texas GIG info, has pdfs of safe and unsafe ingredients, handy: http://www.easttexasgig.org/detail.php?id=38 Pamela's Pancake and Baking Mix fan here too! It's good. amazon.com subscribe & save for that one! Gluten-Free Pantry French Bread mix gets a lot of good reviews and we like it but it's not great for sandwiches. Feel free to PM me with any questions! I don't usually check the General Board and just happened across your post while searching for something else the other day. :001_smile:

My ds and I are both celiacs. My dh also eats GF now as he's outnumbered but he feels better GF too so he is motivated to avoid gluten. Working up the learning curve has been totally worth it. Both ds and I have so many health improvements we are not at all inclined to cheat and symptoms are bad enough that when we discover we've been "contaminated" we stay away from the contaminated food readily. I was unsure about pursuing a dx myself last spring but we did for ds. and while my bloodwork was negative due to being GF for a long time, my small intestine still showed damage after a year GF so I have the dx too. For 2010 we will set up a medical reimbursement account to help offset the higher cost of GF foods. Since the official dx gives you a "prescription" to eat GF, the difference between regular foods and specialty GF foods can be deducted from taxes or, in this case, reimbursed to us. It is rather tedious to track I have found so far but once I have all the data it shouldn't be as bad. So that and the fact my son is now ineligible for the draft are about the only upsides I can come up with for the dx. With kids, the Drs say that doing the scope and having that experience of being in hospital, if briefly, helps them take the dx seriously. I don't think my son would have given me a hard time but they say it may play out in the teenage years - you know, eating gluten as a form of rebellion I guess. I also think it helps extended family take it seriously and learn NOT to feed my ds a gluten-cookie thinking "just a little bit won't hurt, will it?" yes it will. Some people as little as 10 milligrams keeps the damage going - max tolerance is estimated at 100 milligrams. (See University of Chicago's excellent celiac center info) Celiac disease is often concurrent with other autoimmune diseases which may account for joint issues, see: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/ but, even if tests come up negative, that doesn't mean your child doesn't have budding celiac disease. The Drs just don't have much way of testing except if it's full bore. so that may be where "gluten sensitivity" without the dx comes in and I encourage eating GF for that too - why trigger it and get the full-on small intestine damage? makes no sense. If a strict GF diet does not help with the joint issues, by all means follow up with other suggestions, but it may help. our pediatric GI told us he had cleared up rheumatoid arthritis by dx'ing and "treating" a girl's celiac disease that had gone undiscovered for years. "What symptoms did your child have?" He had a tendency toward loose stools and diarrhea but not constant; irritability; insomnia; ADHD-asperger-like symptoms. "How difficult is it to follow a gluten free diet?" Lots of foods are naturally gluten-free so it's not that bad - think potatoes and rice; EnviroKidz has great GF cereals but sugary! and cupcakes cakes and cookies are available for special occassions, even betty crocker has GF mixes now. I also advise just avoiding the bread and cracker substitutes for a few months though, after some time away, the GF counterparts taste great. K-Toos btw are better than Oreos in our book! "Do you shop somewhere specific for gluten free food?" Somewhat. Our local grocery stores have some specialty items in a pinch. amazon's Subscribe & Save" is excellent for things you use a lot of. That's where I get our cereals, mac-n-cheese and some flours. Asian markets are good for tapioca flour and rice flour just be sure to get Asian not Indian brands. Indian brands tend to be cross-contaminated with wheat. We like glutino pretzels and glutino cheddar crackers too. "Any other resources or suggestions?" The blog-world is RIFE with GF recipes and stories. http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/ I also like the Bette Hagman bread recipe book I have. There is no shortage of advice out there on the celiac and GI forums. Good luck!

We're using Prufrock Press materials with ds. He is only 7 though so working their puzzles and analogies. In their Logic catalog, "Orbiting with Logic" still looks pretty good to me for cutting teeth into formal logic of which I only had one course myself: http://www.prufrock.com/showproducts.cfm?FullCat=97&step=2 The materials all seem to be secular. The progression is pretty gradual, not big leaps. ds has been able to work the books by himself and enjoys them. I think the workbook format is part of that.

Ok, so I'm not the only one who feels this way. I do read retellings to ds but there is PLENTY of scifi I would gladly profer up before rereading the version of Three Musketeers we read. bleah... Yet the reductions of Shakespeare by Bruce Coville were fine (imho) as were some of the others recommended in TWTM. The retelling of Oliver Twist we read...:glare: arg, I looked at four different retellings before picking one that I figured we would just read so the story was somewhat under ds's belt. uck. I think the actual Christmas Carol will come up soon and I don't think I shall mess about with a retelling. Perhaps I should double check for this in the curriculum thread or do a spin-off but any suggestions of decent retellings are welcome, as I fall into Reya's camp so far...