OP here.... I forgot to add...I prefer texting to talking on the phone. :) I'm just having a hard time imagining how someone could send an average of 6 texts/hour during their waking hours. If you assume these teens are not texting during class it's maybe more like 10/hour during waking, non-school hours. If you then add in time for homework (2-4 hours/day?), afternoon activities, breakfast, shower, and dinner, then maybe 15/hour when they have an hour free? I think I'm not wired for this. Sometimes I need to focus on what I'm doing for an extended period of time. :)

This sounds completely crazy to me. http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-15/tech/teen.texting.mashable_1_texts-teenagers-age-teen-males?_s=PM:TECH When I was in that age range I was on the phone for an hour a day or so, but in one big chunk. (And I laugh because I really dislike talking on the phone now.) Maybe they only spend an hour total, but the constant distraction...yikes. How can these teens focus and get anything done? Maybe they're wired differently? :confused: Any parents of teens who text this much? Does it seem like less than what I'm imagining this looks like? My kiddos are still very young.

Yes, call the office and let them know what's going on. As an alternative health practitioner I'm used to talking to the family to get another angle on the situation and appreciate it when others clue me into the situation. Doctors have such limited time with patients these days so it's good if the doctor can spend less time trying to suss out the situation and can focus on how to move forward. OTOH, I'm sure the weight loss will come up if they compare to the record from last time he was weighed.

Just do what you can. Even 5 minutes would help, or even standing for a bit if you don't want to walk. Good luck!

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm still not clear on how to move forward, especially because he's reluctant to read anything out of a book. I tried again last night to have him read a paragraph and he wouldn't do it. As far as sticking with phonics, I've seen threads on these forums about kids who speed ahead in reading and then plateau after a few years because of lack of phonics. OTOH, the best reader I know is DH, who can read about 100 pages/hour with excellent comprehension and retention and he and MIL (who's a librarian) both say he never really learned phonics. He's gifted and started reading books spontaneously at age 3 when his baby brother was born and his mother no longer had as much time to read to him. :) Dinsfamily, I think what you're saying resonates with me. The idea of letting him move ahead with reading instead of holding him back while we do phonics rules sounds good, as does teaching phonics anyway, but differently. I'm not sure how to do that, though. What spelling program do you use for this? I was going to order AAS when he got about halfway through OPGTR. Or is there a different phonics program for kids who are beyond the basics but you still want them to learn the rules anyway?

There's definitely a difference in chiropractic care vs. osteopathic care. They seem similar when you're being treated, but for the practitioner there's a lot of difference. Tip: You may not think the DO is doing much as the movements can be very gentle and subtle. A lot of people fall asleep during treatments because they can be very relaxing. I have a friend who's a world-class osteopath and he always has his clients do 2 things after treatment: 1) Drink a glass of water 2) Walk for 15 minutes. The treatment will be less effective if you just go plop in your car for the drive home. Walking around helps the body acclimate to the changes.

I have had great success with the ayurvedic tradition of oil pulling. A good quality oil is all you need. It works really well.

I'm not even sure how to explain this situation. I can already tell it's going to be disjointed, but here goes.... Background: DS6 is slightly special needs. He was mildly on the spectrum and we've been working to recover him for the past couple of years. While he still has quirks, I doubt he would be considered to be on the spectrum today. He is a perfectionist and also has a certain passivity, especially about trying new things. [Just background, I don't want to have a discussion about his recovery. :)] As far as speaking, he has an excellent vocabulary and uses many advanced words for his age. DH and I are both gifted so we seem to be missing some context about what a typical kid does at a certain age. Our own memories of what we learned when are skewed. DS never showed any interest in reading, although he greatly enjoys being read to and. Our house is filled with books and DH and I both read extensively. We go to the library weekly. Still, I've never seen DS sit down and even try to read a book on his own. So after I became worried I got OPGTR and we're on lesson 50-something. When he reads the lessons he does a good job and it seems like he's doing okay, with some words coming easily and him having to sound out others. He makes an occasional mistake. He has slowly been doing some Bob books, sticking to CVC words. All sounds typical for first grade, right? Today I was thinking I would try and get him interested in reading by having him read a paragraph from a book I've been reading to him. At first he wouldn't do it but I repeatedly assured him if he got stuck I would simply supply the word. So he sat down and read a paragraph from a book listed for 10-12 years of age, with almost no help from me. He's reluctant to do it again though. My thoughts: Have I wasted a lot of time with a program he doesn't like and that has made him think he can't read? Is it possible he's accelerated in reading and we missed it due to his reluctance and his former special needs status? (If he's gifted, I think it would be mildly.) Has his perfectionism kept him from trying to read books on his own? I feel phonics are important and I want to move ahead with the OPG. But doing the 2 review and 1 new takes about 30 minutes and DS is irritated by the end, so I'm not sure I want to double up lessons. Should I get a different curriculum? Or slog through? And should I encourage him to read more advanced books and simply supply the words he doesn't know so he doesn't get as frustrated? Or should I stick with books that are at the level he's at in phonics and try to get him to read those even if they are not actually a challenge? Do other people only give their kids books to read if those books cover the phonics they've already learned? I think I'm doing something wrong. I shouldn't be as shocked as I am. How did we work on this every day and I didn't know?

Cranio-sacral is different from osteopathy. Osteopathy is amazing. I've gone to osteopaths since I was born in an osteopathic hospital. They have helped me after car accidents and they've done amazing work on the rest of my family. My DS's autistic traits even reduced after treatment. One time my dad's back got stuck and he was in a lot of pain. One treatment corrected the problem. I am also wary of any doctor who says you have to come regularly for a long time. That tells me they're not really fixing the problem if someone else can get it done in 1-2 sessions. :)

OK, a nice story... Today DS6 and I were working on counting by 5's, which is something he's struggled with a bit. While we were working he noticed we are nearing the end of the workbook and he said, "You can give me a trophy when I've finished all the books! That will be time for college!" (Who told him about college? :confused:) A minute later he started crying and I decided to try some of the techniques in this thread. So I said, "You sound like you're frustrated." I gave him a big hug. He looked at me with exasperation and said, "I'm not frustrated, I'm sad." I asked, "Why are you sad?" He said, "I'm sad because I just realized when I go to college we won't be homeschooling anymore!" Awww. And here I thought the problem was counting by 5's. :001_smile:

Thanks. I think I'll get this for DS in the spring. I don't like the formality of standardized testing but sometimes I need reassurance, especially because he used to be special needs. This seems like a good solution.

You're welcome. I love that review site because it breaks down the ratings by subject and gives concrete examples. Also it has talking points for the parents to discuss with the kids.

What's an appropriate time of year to take these tests? For DS6, who's in first grade, would I have him take the first grade test in the spring? Or at the beginning of first grade? Thanks.

We're in the same boat with all of it for DS6. He's a perfectionist and he also becomes frustrated really easily and the first sign is tears. He says he needs to take a break and "remove himself from the group." (He learned this technique in a social therapy setting.) He's not a reader yet, both in terms of skill and desire, so he plays with Lego while he calms down. This often works but what's difficult for me is that after getting everything set up often the crying will start in the first minute of the work, before I even get a chance to explain everything in a way he might understand. And I do think it's the frustration and not the materials because he loves the materials when he's getting them. No real advice, just commiseration. I have to remind myself he's really just very young. :grouphug:

May be this? http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/karate-kid

Homeopathic Bryonia is what I gave my mom for the exact same thing this morning. (I'm a homeopath.) She still has some pain but is up and about. I just asked her and her pain is now a 2 on a scale of 10. Before the remedy it was a 9. (FYI, using the 1-10 scale each time you try something is more effective than asking if it feels better. If people are somewhat better they tend to forget how they felt before.) Bryonia is good for physical problems in which any movement makes it worse.

He should go to the doctor ASAP. Unexplained weight loss of this magnitude can indicate a serious illness even w/o other symptoms. Please update and let us know what happens....

Depends how much cheese you put into the dinners. :tongue_smilie: I think it's a wonderful idea. Very thoughtful and tailored to the recipient.

Just throwing this out there... At a fundamental level it seems like these problems could be remedied by making the test broader (include art, more history, science, etc.) and by not telling the schools specifically what will be on the test (ie "essays" not "compare/contrast essays"). Is the problem really testing, or is it telling everyone pretty much what's going to be on the test that year? :confused:

Not TIP, but I took the SAT in 7th grade and enrolled in a chemistry program at CTY (Johns Hopkins). It was a wonderful summer with advanced college-level labs and I loved being around other advanced students. Don't know if that helps? :confused:

I don't see where the OP was talking about a really long emergency. :confused: That said, some emergencies could last a really long time. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lawrence-e-joseph/the-solar-katrina-storm-t_b_641354.html We haven't done very much to be self-sufficient yet, mostly because we need to sell our house first and it's not selling in the current market. After it sells we plan to move into a cooperative housing situation in which we'll be gardening, have some chickens, and use solar power. We'd like to be more self-sufficient in general, not just for emergencies. I'd like to learn how to sew or knit when my 2 yo is older. Right now she's a huge handful. We don't have a lot of skills but we have some and our plan is to team up with others so the group is more self-sufficient. :)

:D Love it!

I'm a classical homeopath so I keep the majority in my office in the closet. For home use I also keep kits in the closets, on the top shelf. The bathroom gets too damp, I think. Electrical devices, strong odors, keeping them near TVs, microwaves, etc. inactivate remedies. So do temps over 120F. Nobody really knows why, except that at potencies over 6c you're basically talking about energetic medicines and having energetic fields interfere with them is not helpful. It's not the end all and be all, though. I've taken remedies through x-rays at the airport (in a foreign country) and had them work at the other end. In the US I usually ask for a hand inspection.

Not to be nosy, but I wouldn't keep them on top of any electrical device. :)

You can buy bullet boxes at sporting goods stores and place the tubes in there. If you have a lot, buy a cabinet with lots of little drawers and label them alphabetically. A cheaper alternative it to take a box, cut some styrofoam to fit in it, and then cut holes for the tubes and insert them. Leave some space between the current holes for new ones if you want alphabetical order. You can also buy round labels, add the remedies' abbreviations to them and stick them on top of the tubes so you don't have to pull them out of the styro to see what they are.