Sorry double post

An 8 year old melting down to the extent he is slamming doors, screaming at his mother, throwing stuff, shoving furniture and hitting people is not typical behavior. I am sorry but it just isn't. The entire family is being hurt by the actions of this child and they all need help. We aren't able to diagnose or guess if the child has an actual issue or if the family dynamics are off track and dysfunctional behavior has become the norm, but either way professional help is warranted.

I chose to use TC without a formal grammar program since we have done such in depth grammar with diagramming in the past. One of the things I really like about TC is how it integrates grammar and writing.

I echo the advice to get a professional involved. Without some help it will only get worse and the longer his behavior continues the harder it will be to change. It is hard to admit to needing help but imagine his behavior at 16 when he is much larger and possibly dangerous to others. Waiting does him and your family a disservice. I am not.judging you at all. We needed help with our oldest son, got it, and after a tough couple of years things got back on track. Now he is a wonderful successful adult, happy in both his professional life and his relationships.

We LOVE the Key to Series. We started with the Key to Fraction because my son needed some remediation in Fractions and we liked and learned so much that I ordered all of them. Even now we are using CLE math and if he gets stuck on something I pull out the corresponding Key to books and we go over it. They are simple, to the point, and work. They are also inexpensive. I can't rave enough about them

Interesting because we all only have experiences with what we know of course. I am in the it depends camp. The Co-op we attend is a mixture and depends on the class. I think more depends on the person teaching the class and the subject than anything. I teach 10 boys and 2 girls a class on inventing and I am pretty strict. But I am also the mother of 4 boys and 1 girl and have years as a youth coach. I don't have any hesitation in keeping discipline in my class and it is sometimes hard because we fluctuate between times of hands on controlled chaos and lecture all within the same class. My son takes a couple of other classes and I have made it clear he is responsible for writing down his homework requirements and setting up a schedule for getting it done during the week. I notice that a lot of Moms do what I consider is way too much for their kids in that area. If you want them to be more like BM schools then I would imagine you would look for classes with more content and make it the child's responsibility?

I have gotten better about this but still have a ways to go. My son turned to me last year and said something along the line of everything we do doesn't have to be school. I realized that instead of just enjoying some down time I was trying to tie every experience into a learning opportunity. It sucked the fun out of the room. Instead of proof or pressure I am doing better at just talking and listening. This changes with age too. My son is 11 now and is more curious about the world around him and if we are just talking and he asks a question he listens to the answer more and offers up his own opinions. He is naturally tying things together because he is mature enough to do so. That is the differences in the 3 stages of the trivium. At 7 I would trust that the child is still soaking learning up like a sponge even if there wasn't proof.

My Mom also thought it was okay to come by or call anytime. Not because she disapproved, but because our family has always just popped by. I had a bit of a hard time telling her she couldn't stop by or call. But for me a schedule is important and when she came by it threw our whole day off. Finally I had to be honest and upfront and have a conversation with her, that as much as I enjoyed her company she could no longer come by during the school day. Part of being an adult is speaking our reality and not apologizing for setting boundaries. But because I do love and enjoy her, I do make a point to invite her to some of our field trips and let her know I am available if she really does need me.

The Key To math series.....key to Fractions, Decimals, Percentages.

I throw it away. The only thing we keep is his journal which he writes in as he likes, and rotating art work. I bought a picture frame from target that will hold about 10-15 pieces with the newest always being on top.

I somewhat agree because by homeschooling we are free to choose materials based on skill versus grade level. But once kids get to high school choices are often different. PSAT's are taken in 10th grade. Other standard tests in other grades. Then grade level does become important. Even thinking about dual enrollment with a community college and being 15 versus 16. My son has a late August birthday and was slower to read. We held him back a grade and so far no regrets. Even outside activities often are based on grade level and require certain knowledge and maturity.

Cursive. It is important to be able to read cursive and I believe teaching kids to write cursive teaches them to read it, but my adult and teen kids never use it. I would have dropped it a lot quicker since everything is typed now other than a signature.

This is interesting and important. I firmly agree and support non bullying and zero tolerance. One of the things I love about the kids in our homeschool community is that there are less walls to play, like age, boys separating from girls and such. But they do tend to group together based on personalities and interests. Really athletic, high energy kids play basketball, soccer, or football during free time. The more introverted sit at picnic tables and chat about the toy they made from a toothbrush and battery for example. These kids would rarely come together and interact until they are partnered in a co-op class and realize they have a sense of humour in common or a love of a certain video game. Once kids reach a certain age, parents can't force them to play or like other kids. Their interests and personalities determine their peers. Unless we as parents organize the activity and then it isn't free play.

In my experience it is because we are notoriously unreliable. The same way homeschool families repeatedly back out of field trips they back out of park days. Especially if you live in a town or rural area. When I began homeschooling there was one support group and half the time we were the only family that showed up or there might be one or two other families. Now I belong to a co-op and we meet once a week. My son take art and geography and I teach an invention class. In between classes the kids play on the playground, shoot hoops, or hang out in the pavilion. We all eat lunch together and it is easier to organize field trips and collect money ahead of time for those field trips. I would love a more open and free park experience, but people just don't show up if they aren't paying for it. They get busy and it isn't a priority.

Hello all I love CLE math and tried their reading program, but even I find the stories boring. I am hoping there is another reading program with the same style but with interesting stories. My son is reading on a 4-5th grade level and struggles. We read aloud every day and he also reads to me every day. We are also working with a reading fluency program. I want to require independent reading where he has the follow up afterwards in written form to answer the questions on whether he read and understood what he was reading and CLE does that. It also has stories that are on average 10 pages or so which is a doable chunk in one setting. Those are the things I like. But again, I can't blame him for not liking to read the book. I read a few of them and I get it. Some are okay, but others are just horrible. We are basically secular, but we are Christian as long as it isn't fundamentalist I am even wondering about the public school materials since I remember reading some wonderful stories and then answering questions about each story? Any suggestions?

I probably would do it. I think most districts are trying to come up with a way to enroll more kids to keep federal education matching funds and allocating $600 to my child still leaves them with a couple thousand to the good for their budget. I also know that I can withdraw at anytime by filing another notice of intent. The same thing happened in Virginia with K-12 materials. They made it seem attractive, a lot of people signed up, and then once they began using the materials they decided they were not right for their family. But for some it works. I also like the idea of change to education policy in America from the inside. What we are doing is not working and I would like to see real change for all students. This program might not do it, but I am always interested in evaluating different ideas.

I was concerned about that this year since my son is 11. One thing that is working for us, is that I am giving him homework every night. He likes feeling like the other kids in the neighborhood since he knows that they have homework. Usually it is a reading comprehension worksheet, or math practice from Key to Fractions. I make sure it is something he can easily do alone. Sometimes he will ask me a question and I tell him to reread the directions or look at the examples and if he still can't get it then we will go over it the next day. His perfectionist tendencies make it difficult, but I think this is making it easier. I am hoping that it translates into more independence. Another thing we do since he gets distracted easily and wants to stop in the middle of a lesson or work to discuss anything and everything, is to keep a spiral notebook beside him so he can write any questions that pop into his mind. That makes him consider how important it really is to talk about it right that minute.

We had a similar laugh when we began homeschooling. We sent in out notice of intent and then we were required to prove guardianship to make education decisions for our oldest at home. He went to this districts schools for 2 years prior and we had provided a copy when we enrolled him, but somehow they lost it and were not sure we were allowed to decide to homeschool. We of course wondered how we were able to enroll him in school at all if that was the case. No biggie but an extra hoop. Then a year later after we sent in out Notice of Intent, all homeschoolers in our district received a letter giving them permission to homeschool for the year. I sent mine back, stating we were informing them we were homeschooling as required by law, but we did not require, nor need their permission.

I took my son out in the middle of the year and I liked his teachers. So I sent his teachers and email thanking them for their hard work and telling them that we had made a decision to homeschool our son. I told them which day would be his last day(the day after they received his email) and asked them if they would help him gather his things and that I was returning his books to the office. I CC.'d his principal and that was it. Then I submitted my notice of intent to homeschool to the superintendent as required by our State law.

Which level book because I don't remember learning this and want to make sure we go over it in detail.

My oldest son had what my be a non typical response. He had zero problems with Ritalin. The medicine turned his life around and made a wonderful difference and his dose was just right the very first time. He used the Ritalin from 3rd grade until 10th grade when he decided to wean himself off because he wanted a military career and his rate required 2 years free of medications. He did fine using the skills he had learned while on the medicine although a few of his grade slipped a little. He is now living his dream and in the words of his boss, "Walks on water, in a sea full of superstars" As an adult he is the person I always hoped and prayed he would become. My son I am worried about now is the one that had a horrible reaction coming off Ritalin and no, I did not know it was a possibility or maybe something that would normalize in a week. I thought he must not really have adhd. At that point things were not bad, and I thought homeschooling alone would he enough and allow us to make accommodations to help him. But instead we have hit a wall.

I am hesitant to involve the school system and would do that only as a last resort. (And maybe not even then) My adult daughter is dyslexic and getting testing and follow up help was a nightmare and I wound up getting her independently tested and having to bring in an attorney. I wish I knew about homeschooling back then and she is a big reason why we are homeschooling now. We after schooled and put together so many resources on our own that I wasn't fearful of homeschooling the younger two. I am going to make some contacts this week and do some telephone interviews this week to gather more info. I did reach out through our co-op to see if I can get recommendations.

For 3rd-4th look at TimetoInvent (dot)org. I am teaching this now and the kids love it! Each week is laid out for you an the activities take about an hour. I think this is the most fun learning we have had in a long time.

Killagon. I can't remember which book it is but very similar to breaking down the sentences like TC, but a bit more complicated. I decided to do TC first.

I just went and looked. Very nice. You don't have to worry about the neighborhood since it is so rural which is great. It looks like it has new windows and that the paint is all after 1980 so I wouldn't worry about lead paint unless you planned on doing some serious sanding. The only toxin concern might be Asbestos in the insulation. But even that is only a possibility. I wouldn't let it stop me from buying it though. Beautiful wood floors and woodwork! But that pink tile in the bathroom is going to be fun........but you can handle it.