My ds still forgets to apply his rules to spelling despite having the spell checker and the spelling rules pages right in front of him. He didn't pass the spelling portion of the post test twice. We moved on but we do review each week. I give him a list of words to spell that use the rules for level 4. We keep a note pad on the desk and I tell him he will get a tally mark everytime he checks his rules pages or uses the spell checker when he is not sure of something. Each tally mark is worth 10 cents and they add up quite quickly. Bribery works wonders for motivation. :D

Looking forward to NOT doing coop this year. We are free to explore other possibilities for science and writing. Yay!

I'm really liking the looks of Contemporary Chemistry book from Wieser Educational. It says its free of unnecessary details. He hates books that are too wordy. Just tell him what he needs to know and he's happy.

I'd never heard of marking "units" on a transcript.

Yes I want him to be a life long learner. Like most kids on the spectrum his unique set of skills and weaknesses make it anyone's guess whether he will even go to college. As he is now he will definitely not be going at 18. So we have time here. I just need him to have exposure at some point. And he always surprises me with what he can and cannot do. He did do the Apologia Physical Science and the Biology but we tweaked it a lot. He took the tests open book and we completely skipped the 2 modules on genetics because it was over his head. We did not do general science because he found it boring. If he finds something boring his mind wanders and its as if he read nothing. It's like we have to find a delicate balance of interesting and not babyish, but not as hard as Apologia Chem, with limited algebraic math. I was planning on doing the elementary Apologia Physics and Chemistry book with younger brothers and also chemistry experiments from the Chem 2000 kit. I was going to include him but it looks too "light". The Georgia PBS videos sound great, as well as Mr. Q. They may be worth combining. Also looking into Chemistry 101 videos but they also look a bit "light" ETA: I just looked at a sample of The Wonderful Life of the Elements-- Is that Chinese lettering? ds would get a kick out of that. He LOVES languages!

Is this even possible? DS1 has a lot of trouble with math. We did two pre algebra programs,plus hands on equation, then tried our hand at algebra 1 and it was a no go. We switched to MUS so we are now doing pre algebra again, but this time to fill in holes. He has such trouble with problem solving and severely impaired executive functions, I'm not even sure if he will ever get algebra. We've done Apologia physical science and biology so I'm trying to move to chemistry but we are definitely not using Apologia. It seems all HS chemistry programs have Algebra 1 as a requirement. Should we just drop the idea? Do experiments and watch videos only? He is a very strong visual learner.

Ds wants to learn German. He is dyslexic so he needs an immersion approach. Is Rosetta Stone worth it or can I use something like Instant Immersion.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: I think if possible you should get a neuropsychological evaluation. If he is on the spectrum, he needs to be officially diagnosed so that you can access the services he needs. It's proven that the earlier you can get interventions, the more progress that can be made in a shorter amount of time. It will give you and him the tools you need for how to handle these behaviors.

Most of it is going to the dependents and government officials.

We moved from NJ a couple of years ago due to the incredibly high property taxes. We miss it SO much, we talk about going back, but news like this always brings us back to our senses!

We say la grama! :)

:grouphug: No, I don't believe you are or even most people who use these methods are sociopathic monsters. I actually agree with you about a swat on the bottom. There is a difference. One of my ds was very impulsive as a toddler. He would leave the house towards a busy street when I was not looking. I could not reason with him or coax him into staying put. If I did not take action he could have been hurt or killed. The difference is the method of child rearing taught in some of these books is to provoke children to disobedience in order to teach obedience, all on the pretext of teaching godly behavior. There is something VERY wrong with that. And some of them starting before they even crawl! Yikes! It teaches children to fear and I believe it confuses them. Also if we draw a parallel about God's relationship to us and our relationship to our children (which I believe is what they are going for) it actually gives the wrong message. It portrays Him as an angry God, ready to strike us down every time we fall out of line. This is NOT God's character. Who has ever been won over to God by fear? It is love that opens our children's hearts to God, not fear. As a side note: These books always assume a neurotypically developing child. The truth is some children appear to be neurotypical when in fact they are not. A lot of defiant seeming behaviors are due to underlying causes. Sensory issues, ASD, ADHD, among other things. And sometime these are not visible until children are much older, way past the time these books say to start this type of training....shudder! one more thing: I was spanked for being naughty as I child but it was always a last resort. (outright defiance, or hitting my brother when I knew better ) I don't consider it abuse now nor am I traumatized by it BUT my parents did NOT use the methods in this book. I asked my parent about these methods and they agree that they are abusive.

Perfectly said!

I usually do skip the written drills. We do oral drills for two multiplication tables per day before the lesson using the reference table. It takes less than five minutes. I then cross off most of the repetitive addition/sub problems in the "we remember" section leaving maybe two( one addition one subtraction) and never skipping the word problems. Since they will do it again tomorrow they are not likely to forget and able to focus more intently on doing them correctly.

Stretch and stretch!

nm

Ok, disclamer here- I have not read the Godly tomatoes book. I am familiar with the Ezzo book and Pearl's . Yes most people don't take it to extremes probably but I have seen it myself. I spent some time at a friend's house( who is not abusive nor hot tempered in the least). She had read some of these books. She told her 3 yr old to not jump on the couch. The moment her dd forgot, she did not remind her, she simply took her into the bathroom and spanked her very briefly. A few moment later dd forgot again and again she took her away for a quick spank. This happened repeatedly of the coarse of a few hours. This child spent so much time in the bathroom it was ridiculous. She was not intending to abuse her child but that is exactly what she was doing. My ds with working memory deficient would have forgotten this often and it would have been something beyond his control. I can't imagine doing this to him. I don't think no training is the answer and I agree that most people reading these books DON'T fall into the scary abusive parent mold BUT the fact that someone would advocate blanket training for a 6 month old, or tripping a toddler into a pool/lake in order to teach them to swim, not feeding a hungry baby, automatically discredits them. It is stupid at best and abusive at worst. I wouldn't consider any advice they gave because these ideas are destructive. I don't think spanking in an of itself is bad. Spanking saved my child's life because I had to swat his bottom at 2yrs old when he kept trying to run into a busy street. But using it to mold Godly character defeats the purpose. Children are not machines that you can manipulate into being Godly. And worse yet I think it misinterprets who God is. He is not standing by to knock you down everytime you mess up. This is the inadvertent message this type of training provokes especially when taken to extremes.

Women would stop aging after 30!

Fermented veggies also contain good cultures. You can make your own or you can look for something like Bubbies.

I think books like this fail to take into account that sometimes children have underlying reason besides just being bratty, for crying/screaming, particularly, small children (under 5). Sensory issues come to mind. I have two with sensory processing difficulties. One of them screamed for most of his second and third years of life. If I had done what this book suggests I would have broken his spirit. My ASD child had temper tantrums as a preschooler and it was way before I knew he had ASD. He just had now way to express what he was feeling because he does not really understand his own emotions. He barely understands them now at 16. Books like these tend to portray God as someone ready to swoop down on them whenever they mess up or seem discontented in any way. I think they give the wrong message, honestly. I wish would advocate more hugging and working through emotions and trying to find out the reasons for the crying. I know that's how I like to view God. As the loving Father that his is.

Vitacost refrigerates and ships with an ice pack. I like the natures way acidophilus or jarrow formula jarodophilis. ETA: expedited shipping is probably a good idea in the summer!

Probiotics yes but you need to make sure they come from a refrigerated source and transported refrigerated as well as stored. (2doses 3x/day) Also look into nutrobiotic grapefruit seed extract(not for those with HBP) or olive leaf extract if you suspect some yeast overgrowth. Three months of both is the running time for repair.

I second the real estate attorney idea. Just FYI the seller does is privy to the bank appraisal figure. If it were to come back lower than asking price you would have to renegotiate but you don't need to give them the figure. Your are not required to disclose.

I think you're right. Once you commit to agent you have to go with them as you just signed an agreement. Also you really can't buy a FSBO because the agent does not get a commission on it unless the buyer agrees. The good thing about getting a loan however, is that even if you bid on a FSBO, the bank will do an appraisal and won't give you a loan if the asking price is higher than the appraisal price. At that point the seller would have to lower their price or loose you as a buyer. They would probably run in to the same problem with another buyer going through a loan process. They could stick to their price, but they would have to wait and hope for a cash offer. I'm not sure if this varies state to state or not. You would have to check with your bank. We had an offer on a house that wanted but were not crazy about but was in a prime location. Then, a FSBO that was exactly what we wanted in the same location came up for sale. Because we had an agent we were not technically supposed to be able to buy it. Thankfully we told our agent and she called the seller. It turned out she knew him and he agree to pay her a commission. We were SO thankful but it was one of those one in million chances!

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: