What are your favorite resources for reading comprehension? My two middle kids ages 10 and 13 struggle greatly with reading comp! The younger one has serious memory deficiency issues with dyslexic tendencies (but the dyslexic tendencies are an underlying issue). I have not had the 13 year old tested, however he does similar things as his sister so I think it's the same. Both struggled to learn to read. The 13 year old enjoys reading now, but can't adequately answer questions about what he has read. Anyway, regardless of whatever label someone would give them; I still feel they need help in this area. I've just recently found readtheory.org so we're trying that out. Any other suggestions? Thank you.

Thank you. This was so enlightening to me and encouraging. Bella is a beautiful spirited girl and I want her to be confident in who she is. Rebuilding that will be our focus to start. She reads well now after a lot of hard work last year, but yes, she still requires fluency work.

Fascinating, but once I discover how she reads what is the next step?

I have not heard of the Critical Thinking Co., but looking now and impressed. Thank you, and sadly I think you're right about Shurley and apologia being too wordy for her. I enjoy them so much, but each child is different.

Her math facts are adequate and handwriting beautiful....better than the older kids in fact. You nailed it. Test taking is the worst for her. Her reading is improving (indicating to me that she's finally had the 'click' moment), but her test scores for comprehension low.

Her reading level is almost an average 3rd grader. At the beginning of the year they said she was preK level (I cannot trust that initial eval from the public school teacher though since she tested her on the first day of school and her first day in a traditional school environment not to mention we had just moved half way across the country). Her major issue right now is with comprehension. She does much better if things are read to her; indicating she's an auditory learner. She loves math, but tested low despite her IEP allowing for the word problems to be read to her. I'm so confused about that one. She's gotten great math grades all yr. She was a public school honor roll student who failed their test. Her handwriting is definitely a strength. Overall she's so stressed though that it's causing wait gain and constant thumb sucking. Ugh. Her IQ was average from her psych eval. No other subtests at this time.

Thank you! I like your "onesteopatatime" user name :) Definitely been our motto, but forgotten from time to time when the proverbial 'waves' crash around us. I will look at those books. Life is full here so I'm trying my hardest to get organized and gear up for having everyone home again.

Here we go again.... I'm not a new homeschooler. We pulling our oldest daughter out of public after she completed Kindergarten 10 years ago, so I'm not new to the rodeo. I AM new to the learning disability one though. We made the choice to enroll our 3rd child into a charter school last year for her 3rd grade year. After much frustration with reading we knew their would be some issues with milestones from the school. Sure enough they told us she was behind in reading. Pretty drastically. Not a shock. I had been hoping that her struggle with reading was just a delay in having the "click" moment. After having her evaluated by an independant psych we learned that she did have a pretty significant memory deficiency that was less than helpful in her ability to read. So... fast forward to the end of 3rd grade.... She had improved her reading so greatly that everyone was excited about it, but her comprehension was low and she failed the FCAT (state test that must be passed in 3rd grade for promotion). She's been going to Summer school as a last effort to be promoted, but I am less than pleased with the public schools right now and my heart is pulling me back to home education. So... do you have a student with LD in reading and writing? What are your best suggestions? Websites? Blogs to follow? My #1 goal is to rebuild her self confidence! She's gained a significant amount of weight which I truly believe is a result of stress, so I want to help her relax and enjoy learning again. I would best describe our homeschool as eclectic. My oldest is going to early college next year, but our 2nd child is doing similiar work as she...saxon, shurley english, apologia, books for history. I have no idea how these things that I'm accustom with will work with an LD child. Thoughts are greatly appreciated. Beth

What is a covd doctor?

Ok. We've homeschooled for years. Our oldest is in 10th and is in all Honors/AP courses. I'm thinking I missed some very crucial clues along the way with our 2 middle children. The 8 year old begged us to try traditional school after moving from Ohio to Florida. We found a charter school we are comfortable with. She has always struggled with reading but I chalked it up to delayed clicking with reading (same with my now 11 yr old who reads well now but struggled). Well, the teacher was dramatic about how far behind she is so at first I was frustrated because I felt she had a bias with homeschooling. Now that things have chilled though I'm paying closer attention to "how" Bella reads. She still not only writes letters like d and b backward but she reads them that way. Same with in vs on etc. I'm wanting testing, but fighting an internal battle of the labels that might be attached to her. Is this normal? Why am I fighting this? Anyone else experience this :( I feel quite guilty. Did I give my first child so much focus that the other developed bad habits!?!? If I do opt for testing. Do I allow the school to conduct the tests? Please throw all cautions etc at me. I am so uneducated in ESE teachers and IEPs...which are terms that are being used by her teacher.

Thank you!

Oh my I should have clarified FLORIDA not Russia. I'm running from the cold not toward it lol.

We are moving there on the 27th. Currently, our oldest (entering 10th) has been attending a college prep style co-op here (Ohio) that is excellent. Is there anything like that in the area? What are our options with her? 6th grade son I'm thinking would do best continuing homeschooling as usual with a co-op group for friends to connect. 3rd grade girl wants to give public a try. Do I just need to have CAT testing results plus her bc and immunization record to enroll? I would love to know what options are available to her though, as her reading is not up to a classroom "standard" (that will be what annoys me about public I think) Thank you!!

What if your 4th grade boy HATES writing? What if he is the most sweet tender hearted boy who desires to please you, but the thought of writing makes him practically develop an ulcer! It is truly not a rebellion issue or behavior. It really is just something that pains him. I want writing to be exciting for him. Here are some ideas I'm having (I'd love to hear what's worked for other people too though): -rewarding him for writing success -rewarding for neat handwriting -allowing him to type some of his sentences as opposed to writing (I think boys are so technology driven that this works) -taking a typing course -changing the writing lessons to relate more to what he enjoys (although let's just be honest here...I have four other children so the thought of this pains me a bit ;) However... one success (and to me this is huge) is that he has finally decided reading is amazing! He has read 10 chapter books in the past 3 weeks and enjoyed every minute of it. They aren't easy peasy either! LOVING the excitement I'm seeing when he talks about them too! I'm trying very hard to say that our goals for the year are met just in the reading portion alone, but I can't get this nagging feeling out of my mind that somehow we are missing the boat when it comes to writing. :001_huh:

Ordered it from the library. Thank you!! Wow, thank you! That gives me a lot to start with. What do recommend for exercise in the mornings when it gets too cold to walk outside?

I do not have a formal diagnosis on my 6yr old dd, but I'm fairly certain I don't need one. It's quite obvious the differences between her and my other children. I'm truly not saying they are better than her at all...I'm just very aware that she is easily distracted...impulsive etc.. etc.. I could go on and on with examples. Anyway... my dh is vehemently opposed to medication. I'm more on the fence. She is 1000% creative! She is wonderfully artistic! I want so badly to help her with the impulsiveness and hyperactivity just so that she can focus, and quite honestly it is very frustrating to watch my in laws get irritated easily with her. :( Examples are unnecessary here...I think you moms can get the picture. I want my child to be embraced for the beautiful person she IS, and not pushed away. Does this make sense to any of you? Are there any great places for me to start in my research on treating without meds... maybe with diet etc.?? websites? online support groups? books? Thanks.

Sending this up the list one last time since it's the weekend. Maybe one of you have used this. Thanks.

No. I don't do much dictation. Next year I will have a lot more one on one with ds, so hopefully we can do that. The oldest dd will be going to a homeschool school type program so I will have less time with her, but we will definitely continue working on spelling ;) I'm glad to hear my kids aren't the only ones to struggle with this. I've been told several times that good readers are great spellers, but um no that is not the case here! I've never heard of Apples and Pears but since I already have Spelling Power I think we will try that and stick with it. As much as I'd love to throw spelling out ;) All her I assure you. DD is the typical 1st child over achiever ;) lol

Ya, the scores were really low for ds and average for dd. Both though decreased and I have noticed that all of a sudden she is spelling things wrong that should be easy to her BIG SIGH. We've used Sequential Spelling, Spelling Workout and Spelling by Rod & Staff. I own Spelling Power so I'm thinking I will just buckle down and do it next year.

Bump....

Ok, so in all fairness I HATE to teach spelling. That being said I have one GREAT above average reader (she's been reading extensively since the first grade and hasn't put books down yet) yet her spelling scores dropped this year after spending a year in what I thought was an adequate spelling program. The rest of her scores were off the charts! Literally! Spelling she still scores fine, but not comparatively to where she is in everything else. Same with ds! I have tried several spelling programs. Big sigh! I'm half tempted to spend less time on spelling instruction and more time on how to use spell check properly on the computer ;) jk, kinda ;) UGH... that is all. It's just my rant for the day. Carry on :lol:

I'm considering this for next year, but primarily would like to know what the difficulty of teaching multiple grades with this curriculum would be. I will be using it with a 1st and 4th grader. Thanks!

I have a 5 year old with what sounds like the exact same personality. They could quite possibly be BFF's. ;) Sometimes it just takes a while for them to be ready for all you're asking her to do. Yes, I do pack it away when it is just too much to keep her focus and we do something else. This was harder for me to do with my first than it is doing now with the third, but I assure you it will work out. Even if you have to repeat much of the "Kindergarten" principles in the 1st grade she will be better off than if you force her to do what she physically cannot do. Bella cannot sit still for 10-15 minute periods, but yet she has progressed this year. Just this morning SHE brought her Bob books to me and started to read them out of enjoyment. That is my desire for her. I am often praying that I don't break her sweet spirit, b/c it is hard sometimes to deal with!!! Trust me, I KNOW! You don't need another person telling you to "relax, she's 5", so I won't say that...I'm just saying relax for your own sanity ;) It will get easier. :hug:

Physical Science - 8th Grade Biology - 9th Grade Chemistry - 10 Grade Physics - 11 Grade or 12th Grade Her Choice for the other year of Marine Biology/Advanced Biology/Advanced Chem or Advanced Physics

Does she enjoy Science? My dd is just finishing up 6th grade, and she has been working through Apologia General Science independently. She does enjoy Science. This particular book is recommended for 7th grade, however if it's too tough she can always take 2 years to work through. DD thought the first chapter was difficult, but it was not reflective of the rest of the book. HTH.