I'm a lefty too and I also don't see the big deal here. Outside of my teachers attempting to force me to change hands as a child, I had no problem learning to write left handed. Only had a problem with smudging when I was very young. I learned quickly to slant my paper (yes, about 60-75 degrees) so that my hand was under the lines I had already written. I don't slant my letters (aside from cursive writing lessons in 3rd grade). I have very readable, small penmanship. If your boy is having trouble with the slanting, just work on that as a separate penmanship issue. Give him a couple lines of copy work to practice with slanted paper (60-75 degrees with top of the paper heading to the right. Don't correct his writing. Just let him get used to the new paper position. In time, his penmanship will adjust to the slanted paper. As for the pens, I love the zebras but I love gel pens even more. I never have a problem with them skipping.

Mine are 11 and 9 and every year, I make a "skills list" for each child, much like you explain. And as we cover the topics throughout the year, I check them off. Math is the only subject where we use a set text. For all other subjects, we use a variety of books, real life, research, internet, resources, field trips, etc. I typically use our school district's skills list as a reference for grade level skills and adjust it to fit my kiddos needs/wants as well as what I feel is important for them to learn.

dd is in a leotard for several hours a day, up close to other gymnasts and coaches so she started shaving underarms as soon as any hair began to grow (10-ish?) and asked to do her legs when she was almost 11. She doesn't shave them though - too afraid of the razor. We use the Nair stuff a couple times a month - just enough to keep the heavy growth at bay. She has light hair, but a lot of it. So when it grows long, it's really noticeable. Makeup - her friends wear it but as of yet, she still thinks it's dumb. I think this stems from how ridiculous some of the girls look because they wear too much. I go through phases of wearing a bit of makeup but in general, I don't so it's not something she is around a lot.

And I guess this gets to the heart of my original question - does it really need to be taught? Do natural readers eventually get this on their own? And if not, is it even really that important for them to learn it? Yes, I know the high schoolers in PS learn it but they learn lots that I don't qualify as being worthy of the time spent... Will they do OK in their college courses without the in depth analysis background?

Wow! Thanks everyone! your input is wonderful. We do quite a bit of discussion with each book but I have been weary about delving too deep, in fear of killing their love of reading. I guess one of my dilemmas is that they are now beginning to read the works that high schoolers traditionally analyze and I torn between "teaching" these books as I would to a high schooler or continue to guide them as I have been and allow them to just enjoy these works of art without the stress and burden of fully tearing it apart. And if I choose the latter, will they eventually gain the analysis skills on their own through maturity. I fully realize they have 6 years before college bound so we have plenty of time and we can certainly revisit many of these books later in the high school years. thank again! You all have given me some affirmation that what I am doing is fine for their age.

I go through this debate in my mind every year but as my children go up in the grades, it seems more difficult to resolve. The two that concern me most right now are my 11yr olds. They are advanced 3-4 yrs in reading. Most of their readings from this past year consisted of works from 9-10th grade reading lists. They both love to read and they seem to comprehend not only the surface material but deeper characteristics of the stories, though at their age, I have to introduce the discussion and then they are able to bring forth the details. I guess my internal debate comes from remembering my public schooling, sitting in lit class and painstakingly tearing the stories apart for every little piece of meaning. (honors and AP level classes). I loved to read. It wasn't something I really minded and I found it relatively easy, but looking back I question whether it was necessary... Do I have a better understanding of lit today because of those courses? Do I read books differently now than if I didn't have that background? So, for those who have already been there or are going through it now - how much do we need to "teach" in literature? Is this something that natural readers will just develop in their own time or is it something that truly has to be taught? Do I need to begin setting lesson plans for specific story analysis (guided or independent) or will the simple discussions we have about the meaning, history, setting of the texts be enough to guide them in their own development? And how much of this is needed in terms of college preparation?

thanks Everyone. I had no intention of going to the meeting. I was not about to waste my time on that. I just wasn't sure if that decision would definitely result in a home visit. And I was a little concerned that if I didn't respond to the invitation (even to say "no"), that our school might be closed for no response. Thanks again. I feel better. I will just throw the letter away.

Hi all... We just received an invitation for the voluntary records meeting at the local library and I want to know what my obligations are. We have been filing since my older children turn 7 in 2007 and have never received one of these notices. The first line says that this meeting is voluntary. OK. So if I choose not to schedule an appt. (or not respond to the notice), should I expect a visit at my home? We have always chosen to not participate in the inspection by mail and have never had a follow-up so I don't know what to expect here. Also, am I correct in believing that the only documents that I am REQUIRED present are the attendance record and documentation of testing? Am I required to allow them to copy these documents? And am I required to provide the test results? I have read in the past that we are only required to prove we tested, not to provide the scores. Just to clarify, I have nothing to hide. My children are all above grade level. We homeschool year-round using a classical curriculum. I just am philosophically opposed to the government having any oversight in my right to parent and educate my children so I prefer to provide the DNPE the bare minimal that keeps me in compliance. Thanks for your experiences and insight.

We have used the Woodcock-Johnson for the past 4 years and really like it. I know where we are, there are a couple people who give special pricing for homeschool families for this test. I am qualified to administer it myself, so I just bought it several years ago and test them myself. Of course, I couldn't use it for any official testing scores (since people would be suspicious of whether it is a true reading). But I love it because it offers SO much information about where they are lacking. It goes across grades and is very accurate in terms of true achievement scores. Unfortunately, at only 11, my twins are beginning to top out on some of the subjects, so it's less useful at this point but still meets the state requirements for testing. Last year, we also did Cat5 because we thought we might put them in PS this year and wanted to make sure we had something that showed they were wel above grade level (we were looking to advance the twins to the next higher grade and knew we would have a fight with the school). So we did grade specific testing for the first time. As it turned out - we decided to continue homeschool and I was not happy with Cat5 because it basically told us nothing (like you experienced). They all got only 0-1 item wrong in each topic. But what I found was that the standardized scores really mean nothing when you are getting so many questions right. For instance - the twins got 0 wrong on several topics but received only 85th percentile on any of them. that tells me that the test really isn't testing what it should, if 15 percent of the kids taking it got no questions wrong. Anyway - try to talk with some HS families to see if they have heard of anyone doing the WJ at discounted rates for HS families.

This is very good to know! I look forward to it! There are definitely chapters they will likely breeze through like the fractions and decimal sections. I had been trying to get through a lesson a day but after reaching exponents, I realize that won't happen. We are back to working 1hr a day, regardless of how much they finish - as long as they are working hard on the lesson.

We had been having trouble with LOF Algebra not explaining enough and I questioned whether starting AOPS would be a good choice. Then debated pre-algebra vs algebra. We chose pre-algebra, thinking the twins could use a basic review. We would go through it quickly Well, 3 wks into it, I definitely made the right choice about going with pre-algebra. While they have the basics of what is in the book, I realized very quickly that they didn't have in depth understanding that the book pushes for. they were getting confused on negatives, which laws are in effect to solve problems (distributive, associative, etc), and looking for the "easy way" to do a problem. They got so used to using the calculator over the past year that they have trouble finding patterns to solve high value numbers quickly. And because there is so much information inbedded in the chapters, it's tough to skim through and review. So - we chose to just use this year to polish off their fundamentals with the pre-a book and let them get used to the presentation of the book and then do the algebra book next year as 7th graders. This will also give ds's brain another year to wrap his head around the abstractness of algebra. dd is already there. so - thanks everyone for your help!

Personally, I think people are too oversensitive on a lot of topics. And I think people need to think about more about other people's joys as opposed to our own miseries. Infertility - we struggled for 3 yrs with this, both with getting pregnant and with losing several late 1st trimester pregnancies. I had family and friends who were getting pregnant easily. I wasn't bitter or sad. I was happy for THEM. Yes, I was sad for myself, but why would that change how I felt for another person? In terms of when something becomes bragging - I think it crosses the line when there is a clear implication that the person is saying "I'm better than you". There is a big difference in "I got an A on the test" and "I beat everyone in the class"

Also, Dr. Rusczyk noted that he is working on the videos and Alcamus sections on the site for both Pre-A and A so that will give us more resources. It's sort of daunting paying so much for a book (we have only ever spent as high as about $30 for our math books) but it does look like a complete and in depth program and the site resources are a bonus.

They know everything on the pre-test for Algebra but as I have seen others mention who have gone through the course, the pre-test is overly simplistic and does not cover everything it should. I definitely am glad I looked at the post test for the pre-algebra. As for the table of contents, it's hard to see how much review is really in it because these topics build on each other year to year. For instance - exponents. There could be a review of basic exponents or it could start at a more advanced level. Dr. Rusczyk has emailed me several times in the past few hours to help me decide and I am leaning toward the Pre-Algebra book at an accelerated pace. He recommended that the kids just do the problems at the end of each section to "show" they know the material. If they are getting stuck, then they need to review that section. We definitely have plenty of time. Even if we take the rest of this school year to complete this book, they would be entering Algebra in 7th grade, which still gives plenty of time in high school for all of the advanced courses. But I am thinking they will speed through the pre-a book in 2-3 months and we will start the A book then. We will be working during the summer but at a much slower pace. Thanks for the links to the videos. I am going to look at them.

My experience with children on the spectrum has shown that parents with AS were often diagnosed after seeking a diagnosis for their children. Most had no clue that there is such a thing as Aspergers. We grew up in a time when autism looked very different (it was very different - a very narrow diagnosis which basically only included the most socially impaired children). Same is true for older AS siblings of kiddos on the spectrum. They often go undiagnosed until the younger one is labeled with autism. Then the parents begin to question older ones behaviors (or their spouse's behaviors)