Ellen McHenry would meet that criteria. Really fabulous resource. Most of the units are fairly short, so you can either add to them (with living books, lapbooking, etc) to stretch them or fit them in along with another curriculum.

Each year we do a standardized achievement test as a form of evaluation. My son is extremely asynchronous (ranging 7 grade levels depending on the subject), and I have found that the information from Stanford and ITBS isn't very useful. Is there an assessment that would provide more meaningful data? Any of them will meet our requirement, but I'd like to have meaningful results if possible. (We haven't ever used EXPLORE because we can't do Saturday testing, and the closest Sunday location would require travel and and an overnight stay.)

I would recommend asking on Davidson's gifted forum's testing board: http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ . There are some people there who are *extremely* knowledgeable about WISC scores. My son's WISC scores spanned more than 40 points, but he does not have a LD. I think the GAI is typically considered a more accurate measure of IQ in children than FSIQ because FSIQ can be skewed by fine motor skills. Since that may not be an issue with a 16 year old, I'm not sure whether GAI or FSIQ would be considered more accurate.

We have Usborne. Some of the self-teaching guides may be useful as well. I just got this one from Paperbackswap and will request others--http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Concepts-Problems-Self-Teaching-Guide/dp/0471121207/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403882321&sr=1-1&keywords=self+teaching+guide+to+chemistry

When we started our journey, I found a few blogs, searched Pinterest, etc to get some inspiration. Gluten Free Goddess makes amazing dishes. I use her recipes a lot. We don't really substitute except on rare occasion. We've just changed the way we eat. At first, it was very hard. Now it's no big deal. It's become routine. I would recommend looking at some GF blogs and making a list of a several recipes you want to try, a few quick meals for hectic days, snacks, and some on-the-go options when you're away from home. Make sure you have the ingredients, and go for it. Having a go-to list or game plan helps so much. It saves the hassle of lots of planning (which often happens when first starting GF) and saves you from the I'm-starving-and-don't-know-what-to-eat problem.

We collect science encyclopedias around here. We have Kingfisher, Usborne, the one SparklyUnicorn linked (Definitive Visual Guide), and Illustrated Dictionary of Science. Usborne is the least useful IMHO--at least for this age. Kingfisher is a nice, topic-based encyclopedia. The Definitive Visual Guide has wonderful information but is chronological rather than topical. Ds told me that the most detailed information is in the Illustrated Dictionary of Science. (This is also his most recent acquisition, so that may be why it's a current favorite.) It is arranged topically, and he says it goes into more depth than Kingfisher.

I've always considered ds a natural speller. His ITBS scores came back yesterday and show this as an area of weakness. I have several theories--perhaps the multiple choice made him doubt himself, perhaps we should spend more time working on spelling, having only 4 spelling questions on the test could have skewed his score, etc. I'd like to find a free online spelling assessment that can give me a measure of his spelling ability. Does such a thing exist?

Can anyone tell me about this program? The website looks great, and the price is good too. I would like to hear from homeschoolers who have experience with Victus Study Skills Curriculum. TIA!

Chicken marbella! One of my all-time favorite dishes! :)

There are some Facebook groups if you are a FB user. I've used Homeschool Curriculum Marketplace successfully both to buy and sell.

Does anyone have experience with the online Good Science, Good Faith course through Reasons to Believe? I can't find reviews and am interested in hearing about it. TIA!

I just started watching TED Talks a few weeks ago. Susan Cain has a fabulous one about introverts.

Another vote for Mysterious Benedict Society Also -- Chronicles of Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time

Education Unboxed is a great way to explore early math concepts in a playful, interactive way. The link has videos with a mom and her daughter (age 4, I think?), so I would watch them to understand how to teach the concepts to my son.

My son was getting frequent nosebleeds that became more-than-once a day and hard to stop. He would wake up out of a dead sleep and have blood pouring from his nose. I did some online research and decided to try high doses of vitamin C. He took 3-4 grams of vitamin C every day for several weeks. We noticed a difference on day 2. Vitamin C strengthens blood vessels and low levels are linked with frequent nosebleeds. Ds already took vitamin C daily, but apparently it wasn't as much as his body was needing. It's a simple and easy thing to try. If that doesn't help, you may want to mention it to the dr just in case it is a symptom of something else. ETA: For stopping a nosebleed, I recommend packing it instead of pinching. It's more effective and doesn't interfere with activities. That's generally what the ER does when a stubborn nosebleed won't clot, but you can do it at home also.

Since he loves the rods, you may try Education Unboxed. It's fun, interactive, and FREE! I used it by introducing the activity, playing with him for a while, and then allowing him to continue independent play.

We used some free lesson plans from Practical Pages and a Faithbooking resource from Currclick. Learning the stories behind how the hymns were developed and biographies of those involved led to powerful lessons and insights I had not anticipated. The hymns became more meaningful, and my children's enthusiasm for worship increased. We tried doing hymn study on a whim, and it's been one of the greatest homeschooling experiments for us.

Phantom Tollbooth is a current favorite.

I don't know how low carb this is. It's grain-free and starch-free. *Really* delicious! I love this blog for good meal ideas. http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/09/karinas-favorite-baked-chicken.html

My son is very STEM-y and probably needs remedial help in writing. I would guesstimate that his writing skills are at a 3rd grade level. It's far below every other academic subject. No LD, and his verbal ability is extremely high. But there is a serious lack of motivation for him and has been poor instruction from me (who didn't want to "push" and hoped everything would come up roses one day with little effort). It's really becoming an issue with placement in other subjects, and I regret not addressing it sooner. We may try tutoring next year to try to get him up to speed.

My experience with the public school system was that they needed to see test scores before they were willing to make accommodations or explore ways to meet my son's needs. Typically, our district doesn't identify gifted students until 3rd grade. We requested a whole grade acceleration which required testing according to the school's policies. They were rather nasty on the phone, and I had difficulty getting the appts scheduled. After the testing, they did a 180. They typically don't provide differentiation before 3rd grade, but they were willing to discuss whole grade acceleration, subject acceleration, or other possible solutions. They bent over backwards for us and encouraged us to contact them if something wasn't working. But they had to meet my son and test him before they became flexible and concerned about meeting needs. (He was accepted for whole grade acceleration, which we did. But even if it was approved, we could have decided against it. Going through that review process got him on the radar of the teacher, the psychologist, the gifted coordinator, and the principal. We all met together to discuss possible solutions and potential problems. It was very productive but wouldn't have happened if we hadn't requested the acceleration.)

Meaningful Composition might be a good choice. My son is doing it independently, and I just look over his assignments to give feedback. All the instruction is in the student book, and it's broken down into small bites.

I found the audio presentation "yrotsiH: Do we have it backwards?" to be *incredibly helpful for me personally. It's definitely worth the time to listen. http://www.truthquesthistory.com/audio/index.php

I think it's very possible, but it really depends on the child. Some children can teach themselves to read, naturally "get" math, are natural spellers, pick up on rules of correct grammar through reading, or have ingrained music ability. Every child has things that come more easily to them than others, and it's possible that your daughter will learn to read fairly independently. For children who naturally sense common patterns, I don't know that learning to memorize and articulate those patterns in formal rules is helpful. If she learns to read on her own, I would recommend a solid phonics-based spelling program when the time is right for starting spelling. That way you can feel confident that there aren't gaps in her understanding of phonetic patterns.

Our old inkjet doesn't work more than it does work these days. It's time to replace it. The ink cartridges for it were expensive ($40 each), and we do a lot of printing. I've heard that the cost-per-copy for laser printers is less because the ink is less expensive. Is this true? If you have a laser printer-copier-scanner that you love, please tell me about it! Thank you!