My chocolate addict sympathies! :svengo: When I was breast feeding, one of my children had several sensitivities to various foods I ate, including chocolate. I gave up chocolate while nursing that child. I've also given it up temporarily during Advent and Lent some years. Chocolate is normally such a regular part of my diet, but during the times that I've given it up, I learned greater appreciation for other flavors. Lemon stands out to me as a flavor I learned to enjoyed more when going through periods without chocolate.

Various things mentioned bring down the property value. At some point, the price of the property becomes low enough to offset the negative aspect of the neighboring properties so that you're left only having to ask yourself if you want it or not. If you want the house, then negotiate with them with the knowledge that it's not worth what a brick house would be worth in a neighborhood of other brick houses. Buying or not buying that house aside, the other thing you describe--like renting the house and traveling in an RV for years--aren't things that I'd want to do. But that's what you say you and your husband want to do. Do you really want to deal with the renters in the future while traveling? If you buy this house and renters don't work out, will you still be able to afford both this house and the RV travels? Since you say you want to buy an RV and travel, I'd look closely at the financial situation to see if we'd be able to afford both.

That could be an indication that some of these ideas for sleeping through the night work for us, or at least they sometimes work. ;)

That book is so good!!! I don't remember if it addressed the compound word component of which the op writes, but it certainly might. It helped explain what was going on with my son's brain when he called "strawberries" "raspberries" and vice-versa (we grow both--and they must have been categorized in the "small, red, summer fruits we pick in our garden" category of his brain.) BUT...shortly after I read that book, I started to notice more and more that I struggled with word retrieval. Maybe I did it all along and just didn't realize it--but I don't think so. It seemed like I developed sympathetic word retrieval issues for a period of time after having read about them! In any case, that book is really interesting, but I'm curious to know if it anyone else notices their own word retrieval troubles increase after reading it.

The mistakes look mostly phonetic, albeit somewhat advanced phonetics. Spelling purely phonetically can result is spelling like "funetikly". Let's look at the examples you gave: in French influence words, "ch" makes the /sh/ sound. How can a child familiar only with early phonics suppose to know that the word "chef" isn't spelled "sheff" or "Chicago" doesn't start with Sh? (And then they can start to confuse which one is suppose to do which--because one does both.) Then there's schwa. When the letter "a" makes a schwa sound, (which it does in many common words like "above" or "America"--twice there! ) a often sounds like the short u sound. A vibrating "th" is similar to the vibrating sound heard from the letter v. Do you need to worry? No. Do you need to teach some words as sight words and explain the advanced rules so that your child knows why "ch" says /sh/ sometimes and why "a" makes a sound similar to a short u? Yes. While working with her on the spelling of the sight word "the", point to your mouth and tongue to help distinguish where its placed when making a /th/ vs. a /v/ sound. Some children need to taught things more explicitly than others. Reading and spelling abilities don't always match each other.

(Sung to the tune from Handle's Messiah Alleluia Chorus) Melatonin! Melatonin, melatonin, me-la-ah-to-nin. ____ On a more scientific note, our bodies produce less of this naturally occurring substances as we age. Some studies seem to link that rather than reduced melatonin being a result of menopause, menopause may be triggered by the reduction of melatonin.

I'm arriving late to the planning party because I've spent most of my computer time scanning through older posts and finalizing our curriculum choices. Boxes of books have now arrived, and we're now surrounded by various stacks of really great materials! I'll have three in high school this year, including my ds with dyslexia who finished Barton 10 last year. None of my kids are starting the year with plans to use any special education materials, (although I'll pull from my large supply of special ed. materials on an "as needed" basis.) Last year we pulled one child from a b&m high school, and this year we'll start the year with homeschooling everyone. I am so excited! Except for a few accommodations and modifications, I'm hoping all the regular materials we've selected to use will be fine. One thing I did this year that I've never done before but always wanted to do was I bought a large number dvds on sale from "The Great Courses". I showed my 3 high schoolers the sale catalog and bought just about everything that they found interesting, covering all kinds of subjects from writing to math and science. This week we started with watching the study skills dvd on being a "Super Star Student". So far, so good! Next week we'll continue with still more dvds in other subjects, and then crack open our new math books. We'll add more subjects bit by bit, with the goal of working our full course loads by mid September. The hope of a new school year dawns! :cheers2:

(((hugs))) I'd like to say I pray more, but really I eat more chocolate and mentally retreat for a bit.

(((hugs))) You already started with a great response to their concerns when you said and did this: "I remained calm, told them I was only informing them of our decision, not asking for permission or approval. And that I've heard their opinion and am not interested in discussing it again." :thumbup: Time will help. Success will help build your confidence and deflect their criticism. My MIL has come around completely on homeschooling, from criticism to praise. Realize that just because their first comments were negative, that doesn't mean they'll always think negative things about your homeschooling. When taken by surprise, people don't always come up with the best wording to express themselves and they may not always "self-edit" comments that they might otherwise keep to themselves. In the meantime, realize that they love their grandchildren and this criticism and worry about your educational decision is their way of communicating that they care. If they didn't care, they wouldn't care how you decide to educate their grandchildren. Grandparents are entitled to have opinions--but wise grandparents will learn when to express them and when to keep quiet. When you brought up homeschooling at a topic, they discussed their opinion with you. If you don't bring up homeschooling again, you are less likely to continue to hear their criticism. And if they bring it up, you don't have to engage in the conversation. You've already said that you won't, so stick with that plan. Realize that some of their fears and worries be a result of their great involvement in their grandchildren's lives. They may feel (rightly or wrongly) that this decision will have direct impact on them since they watch the children on days that you work. This decision takes them out of their comfort zone. They didn't sign up for homeschooling. Now that you have, they are the involved grandparents of two homeschooled children. Face it--homeschooling is likely to affect on their lives at least on some level. Brick and Mortar schools usually have concerts, plays, Grandparents' Day, and other things that your parents may have liked attending. Maybe you can get excited about music lessons or plays or find something else that will give your parents a chance to see their grandchildren perform. It sounds like they really love their grandchildren--and if you accept that they were motivated by love, it may be easier to take. If they bring up your homeschooling again in a negative way, besides tell them the topic isn't up for discussion, you can also tell them that you're thankful that they are involved in your children's lives. I will also add, that if the option of private high school is only off the table due to finances, many grandparents fund their grandchildren's private high school. (Some pay for music lessons, or other things too.) As high school draws closer, perhaps your parents want to have a say in how your child is educated to the point that may be willing to pay for private high school. I'm not saying that to discourage you from homeschooling!

With Barton, we use tiles for the lesson befote attempting to spell on paper.The longer words use prefix and suffix tiles in later levels. The suffix "able" wouldn't get split into syllables--it's just on one tile at that point. We also use fingers and such to count syllables. There are several tricks taught to the tutors to help teach the student. If you are thinking about Barton, start with the screening. There was a part on the screening relating to syllables. If your dd can't pass that part, Susan Barton recommends something else first. If your dd can pass the screen and you want to try Barton, call them to discuss placement testing if you've used O G materials.

As a mom with numerous children who frequently try to interupt, I want to add there's a difference between scolding and correcting. When someone interrupts, calming saying, "You're interrupting," acknowledges the person has said something. Then, when there's a more natural break in the conversation, you can go back to that person and ask, "Now, what was it that you wanted to talk about?" Also, if you attempt "diplomatic" correction with lots of superfluous niceties, that may be contributing to your frustration. Blunt is not always rude or mean. My BIL who is on the spectrum needs blunt and direct. Lots of words can get in the way and just add to the confusion. Maybe even work out a simply gesture with him, like the finger over lips "sh" sign, to us as a reminder when he's iinterrupting someone, singing or speaking out of turn. I also really liked the suggestion to join in with his singing sometimes. Learn the next lines to the song--maybe it will help get the line he's stuck on out of his head. Or maybe it will just be fun to sing with him. And I hope you are all feeling better. I also agree that maybe you should have him checked out by a doctor if the several others in the house are sick. Illness is an additional stress that could make it harder for your guest to control his aspie - behaviors.

This thread inspired me to go tubing! I'm usually the "watcher" who tells the driver if someone fell. (Driving the boat is outside my comfort zone but occasionally I do it anyway so my DHcan water ski.) Anyway, today I took a turn on the water tube. I didn't fall off even when it got bumpy. I can now check this item off my list for this decade. :D

Comfort is biggest difference between the really cheap life jackets and more expensive ones. And comfort can make the difference in a child to wear the life jacket willingly vs. one who tries to take it off and/or who struggles when you put it on him or her. We've found some nice life jackets at reasonable prices Sam's Club.

Hello Ariel and welcome to the dyslexia party! :party: I used Barton all the way through for one child, but only part of the way for some others. The child who I took all the way through initially failed the Barton screen and he showed signs of severe dyslexia. I held off on getting a formal diagnosis, but we did have an old speech evaluations that made it possible for a doctor to go back and diagnose dyslexia after we'd remediated it quite a bit. (Without that speech evaluation, diagnosing dyslexia would have been much harder to obtain as we remediated to the point where he could pass dyslexia screens.) I started to write more but decided wait to make sure that Ariel actually finds her ways here.

Hi Ariel, as this is an old thread, Oh Elizabeth was kind enough to start a new thread with your question. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/559932-bringing-over-thread-on-choosing-barton-for-ariel/

:willy_nilly: Aaauuugggghhhh!!!! May I join you in your panic? Originally, "Time to Panic" was blocked in on my schedule for the weekend before Labor Day, where it usually happens at the formal start of our new homeschool year. However, as I finalize this year's selection books and classes, I find that having three in high school this fall requires a greater amount of panic time. Staying up late and getting up early is the only way we can manage to fit in all the necessary panic before the start of the new school year. Let's get to work, ladies!!! The panic continues.... :willy_nilly:

Not hostile, more like, "Trust but verify" combined with a "Do it Yourself" (or more like myself) attitude. As far as professionals, I believe professionals general have altruistic intentions rather than merely their own best interest. However, good intentions only go so far. Altruism is not the same as competence, nor does it mean they are without bias based on their own background and experience. In the area of education, I believe most who go into the teaching profession have an interest in children and teaching. I know a lot of public school teachers, and most are great people. However, I don't want them all educating my children 24/7 (or even 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, nine months a year.) We consult professionals when needed. It's kinda like seeing the dentist--we can brush and floss our own teeth but need a professional dentist for things we can't do for ourselves, yet if a dentist recommends something I'm not comfortable with I will do some of my own research and may seek a second dentist's opinion. Professionals don't even always agree with each other, so just because someone is a professional doesn't mean I'm going to automatically accept their "professional opinion" as fact or as what's best for me or my family personally. It's not so much "mistrust" as much as it is trusting myself and others who aren't necessarily professionals. It is my opinion that one does not need a professional degree in order to have a valid opinion.

First, I'd look over my state's requirements for high school graduation. I'd determine what courses (beyond electives) he needed to graduate , then attempt to teach those on an accelerated schedule--using materials custom selected to match his learning style with accomodations for any learning disabilties (and if not already diagnosed, I'd be on the lookout for hidden learning disorders.) If he got the Irish dance job, what I'd do would depend on how far he'd gotten through the required courses. I'd try to figure out if he'd met at least the minimum to give him a passing grade for those required subjects. His job would qualify for some type of elective credit in art or technology or something his transcript. Any incomplete required course work could be completed while he works in his time-off, with help from technology and me as his teacher. I'd make sure he had a computer, a scanner, email and skype. Depending on circumstances, I would consider traveling with him--or frequent visits to his locations-- help him complete his high school coursework. Anything that you'd consider as an on-line class, I'd do now, with the hopes of getting significantly through it so that most of our work would be done together in person and whatever wasn't completed we'd do via distance learning with me as teacher. Before granting him his homeschool high school diploma, if I had any doubt that he was getting a "good enough" high school education, I'd look at practice GED tests and compare how his knowledge compares to their requirements. Even if he didn't ever take the GED, I'd work with him to make sure he was capable of passing it. Besides meeting whatever state requirements there may be for high school graduation, I'd want both of us to feel confident that his homeschool high-school education adequately prepared him with enough knowledge to pass the GED (And I'd pray for him a lot.)

My oldest child didn't like reading when he was younger. I remember finding a book at our local library with suggestions on how to encourage a child to read who dislikes reading. It helped to discover what types of literature my son enjoyed--and it reminded me that my own love for reading started with magazines and not books. Knowing what I know now about dyslexia and spelling, my oldest son may have had stealth dyslexia, or maybe not. Spelling his poorest subject and test score, yet it was above average. He didn't like writing either. He's never been evaluated. My youngest son had dyslexia that wasn't hard to miss, and that's how I clued into the fact that most of my children's tests score being lower in spelling could relate to dyslexia. However, all my children now enjoy reading--even the first one who didn't like reading initially and his younger brother who's diagnosed dyslexia and other younger brother with a diagnosis of CAPD (which relates to dyslexia and processing sounds in words). Maybe there's a diagnosable problem with your child, or maybe, she just hasn't learned what types of reading she enjoys. Sometimes in school aged children, there is so much assigned reading that the child doesn't enjoy that they never explore further to find out what kinds of reading they do enjoy. We pulled one child out of a private high school last year, and he'd had so much time on homework and other activities that he'd stopped reading for pleasure. Ask yourself about how much reading you are requiring of her of things that weren't of her choosing? Is she already reading things she doesn't enjoy for hours each day? You might try historical fiction if she liked the Little House series. You might even try magazines and comic books.

Yes, we did a writing program while working Barton. My ds started Barton in 3rd-ish grade and finished level 10 in eighth grade. In the earliest levels, we did Callirobics, (which works on shapes with proportion found in writing rather than letters.) Another thing we used was a Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars book--which is another special needs reading program, but the workbooks we involved writing simple, common words, (many were either covered through phonics or as sight words in Barton's early levels too.) We later did more advanced levels of Callirobics and some copy-work handwriting books using a handwriting style of my son's choosing. After level 4, Barton suggests using Excellence in Writing. I delayed that, using instead a "Brave Writer" approach with some of BW's online classes. Last year we used Excellence in Writing--and I wish I hadn't waited so long before using it. As far as the physical act of writing with Barton, the writing doesn't have to be on paper. In the earlier levels 2 and 3, I sometimes pulled out a salt tray to write in instead of paper. (Not exactly a salt tray--we used corn meal in a big pan instead but same idea.) Sometimes when the weather was nice, we went outside for that section and wrote with chalk on the sidewalk. We often used a small white board with colored markers. We tried other writing tools too. In the sections that call for writing, the writing doesn't have to be limited to pen and paper. Various other tools of writing (beyond pencils and pens) may help involve other senses and/or larger muscles make both write and learning letter shapes easier. Plus, they add a bit of fun.

This thread caught my interest because my brother-in-law was diagnosed with Asperger's a year after his father (my father-in-law) died. I'm watching from the sidelines, but the diagnosis has helped me make sense of some family dynamics and given me better insight towards my mother-in-law. It's helped my relationships with her as things that didn't make sense now make more sense. One other thing not yet mentioned-many people on the spectrum have other health issues and may respond differently to meds--and it's in their best interest that doctors who treat them to know what's all going on with them. Normal doses of medication may be too high for them and bring on negative side effects. Before his Asperger's diagnosis, my BIL had one of those weird flip-out, violent responses to a medication that put him (and others) at risk of harm. He's also had a long history of gastro-intestinal problems--and doctors weren't clued into what the problem was. Apart from getting treatment and help for "Asperger's" per se, it could be helpful in the overall medical care of your child.

(((Hugs!))) As already suggested, please check out the learning challenges and special needs boards! I relate to what you're going to a little bit, but not entirely. I've dealt with invisible learning disabilties, (dyslexia and auditory processing disorder) . Before I realized what was going on in the way of special needs, I didn't think I could homeschool all of mine either. We have 8 children, and I feared teaching high school. The two oldest attended high school, graduated and grew-up. This past school year, I brought my high schooler back home. The challenges we face aren't down syndrome, but I sympathize with you. Do what you believe best for your son regarding his education, but realize there may be some service available to you if you decided to try homeschooling him.

(((Hugs))) My condolences and prayers on the loss of your FIL. Besides all the processing he may be doing related to his grandfather, if your DS was being cared for by others for the past several weeks, they may have been entertaining him and introducing him to novelty. Now you're settling back into "normal" life. Except it's not normal because his grandfather is no longer there and it's summer so your homeschooling probably isn't like usual either. And summer might be another reason for his c/o boredom. When I was a kid, towards the end of summer, my little life started to feel a bit boring. In fact, right now even though we're still doing some school it's not intense and I'm feeling (almost) ready to get back to more intense work. You're going through a time of transition, recovery and rest.

Can you use a strapless bra? They work great to keep my bra straps from showing, (but I'm not well endowed.)

(((Hugs))) Even if her eyes and vision were 100% perfect, she still might not enjoy writing.Take heart in the fact that she expresses herself well verbally. It's a good start. This summer, we're taking it easier but still working on things like writing. My husband just told me yesterday he never had to do the kind of writing I'm asking of our children when he was in school-- including at college. He's an engineer, and his job now involves lots of technical writing. He may not "enjoy" writing and he didn't seem get particularly good writing instruction, but now other things motivate him to write. Somewhere in heaven I suspect one of his old English teacher must be laughing with joy.