Hi. I'm late weighing in on this, but community colleges do not generally require SAT scores. My oldest ds did not take the SAT; however, he did attend a local community college for two years. He was accepted at two different universities in state without any problems when he was ready to transfer. Gina

I pay dd $5 per week to vacuum the entire house, and mop the kitchen and family room. If she wants to earn more, she can earn .50 for emptying, cleaning, and refilling the litter pans, $2 for a car wash and vacuum, and $5 for mowing and weed eating. Occasionally I give her $2 for weeding the flower beds. Anymore than that, and we'd be eating bread and water. :-) Gina

We take a much lighter schedule during the summer and only do math and grammar 2-3 days per week. Dd has learning issues, so if we stop completely for 10-12 weeks, she loses much of what she has learned. It is easier for me to do a little during each summer than to try and reteach in the fall. This also allows our winter schedule to be a little lighter. We will do grammar and math 4 days per week rather than 5. BTW, we're using Homeschool Plus for dd to earn her diploma, and they require a student to complete all books to receive a high school credit in that particular subject. Gina

Hi Kiara, I never thought about turning off the visual while she listens to the audio. I will try that. At the very least that would let me know if the problem may be related to too much going on at one time for her to process everything. I have asked her, and she said she didn't know. Unfortunately, she is diagnosed with PTSD and reactive attachment disorder along with sensory deficits. Every doctor/therapist she sees gives her something different.

We also added in Destinos the 2nd year, but I think that was the last semester.

Thanks for the input. I have the 1st version of RS, and I used it years ago with my youngest ds. He graduated in '05, and I'm having a hard time remembering exactly what we did. I do remember RS is weak on grammar and I plan to use other books in conjunction with it. With ds I used Schaum's Spanish Grammar and Practical Spanish Grammar by Marcial Prado. We also used Barron's Spanish Made Easy. The only reason I remember that is I still have those books. Ds enjoyed the program and learned a lot of vocbulary. We practiced what we both learned. I know I learned more with him on RS than I did in my high school Spanish classes, and he was more conversant than I ever was in high school. Gina

Hi, How many high school credits does Level 1 of Rosetta Stone equal? Thanks, Gina

I just thought of something, but it's at a much slower space and requires the student to pause the video and work problems, She's used MUS and normally tests in the 90s each week. We rarely watch videos too. Occasionally we have a fun video as a special treat. Dd is adopted and does have a lot of issues, so I have felt she needed lots of hands-on physical activity and reasoning to calm and heal her brain rather. She can't do much of that in front of a TV set.

It was either 8th or 9th grade - too long ago for me to remember exactly. It requires a lot of research on the internet and books from the library. I needed a curriculum with at your fingertips info. It became frustrating for him just doing research and answering questions. Towards the end I just started feeding him the answers from the teacher's books, watching some videos and letting it go. If I remember correctly there was no testing, so we probably used it for 8th grade as I would have needed grades for high school courses. Here is a link for an indepth review. http://www.homeschoolreviews.com/reviews/curriculum/reviews.aspx?id=4 You can try googling ATW in 180 Days reviews and see if you can learn more about what other homeschooling parents think about the curriculum.

Thank you for the responses. She does do the reading/written work first, and I have tried using videos to supplement and enrich. For example, after studying Egypt for World History, I tried to add in videos on pyramids and pharoahs. She is mainly a kinisthetic learner, but I thought seeing some of the places she has studied and read about would add to her understanding of these places. Yes, she does remember things she hears - especially things you really don't want her to hear. :-) She can hear a phone number or an address one time and remember it. She is doing an online lecture for Apologia physical science through VHSG and is doing well with that. Most times she seems to bring more away from the slides and lectures than she does the textbook. I was wondering if perhaps the moving video is over-stimulating and much of the info in slipping by.

Hi, I used this with my youngest son about 10 years ago. It was very time consuming and rquired a lot of input and oversight on my part. If you are able to spend daily time with your dc, then it might work for you. I would never use it again. JMHO. Gina

Hi, I have a high schooler who cannot follow educational videos. We even tried some Bill Nye videos today, and she could not answer simple questions if I paused the video for question and answer time. Any suggestions what could be going on and how to remediate this? At this point spending time on videos is a waste of time for her, and she is missing so much enrichment that a good video can bring. Pictures in books does not begin to bring the scope of learning that an action video brings about far away places and exotic animals. Thanks, Gina

instead of in chronological order? If so, do you have a schedule you are willing to share? My high school age dd is LD and I am afraid she will have difficulty jumping from area to area. Thank you so much. Gina

Thank you to everyone for your input. I am unable to change curriculum because dd is enrolled in Christian Light Education Homeschool Plus. She has to complete their requirements in order to receive a diploma. I know many teens can be obnoxious at times, but this goes beyond just being obnoxious. This is meanness with a vengeance. I am familar with Diane Craft and have used her materials with this child. We have done every therapy imaginable for the past 6 years. We've done vision therapy, occupational therapy, attachment therapy, interactive metronome, physical therapy, neurofeedback, Audioblox, and a number of compter based programs. Probably the most productive intervention was neurofeedback. She will be having a mentor starting tomorrow, and we have been in contact with the Dept of Rehabilative Services. They will be evaluating her in late November for services needed to transition to adulthood and job training possibilities. We don't even know whether she will be able to live independently due to her consistent poor choices and bad decisions. This certainly has not been the life I envisioned when we started this journey.

who is 17 years old. She is rude, disrespectful, disobedient, and at times I believe she actually hates me. I have to practically stand over her for her to accomplish anything. She has a lovely room with a desk However, if I allow her to work there, she is reading, playing her DS, coloring - - just anything and everything but her schoolwork. I finally had her put everything into bins and she is only allowed to open the bins with my approval. I don't feel like a parent - I feel like a warden. I would put her back in public school, but she is unable to learn anything there. When we adopted her and removed her from ps 6 years ago, she was in the 6th grade and could not even read anything beyond easy picture books. She was unable to regroup in math to add or subtract. This year she is doing pre-algebra with MUS and 9th grade Christian Light Education literature and English I. So for her, homeschool is working. OTOH, I feel like it is destroying me. She's been diagnosed with a plethora of disorders, but I think the bottom line is PTSD and reactive attachment disorder. We've tried numerous therapies but none of them helped much. I am at a loss as to where to go from here.

Hi, We have an adopted dd who was diagnosed with NVLD. We found Handwriting Without Tears to be the only penmanship program that worked for her. She will be 17 next week and still struggles with various aspects of her life. She's also a non-stop talker to the point of actually chattering. However, her IQ is low and her chatter is more indicative of a much younger child - like a 10 year old. Her auditory memory is a strength and we have found audio books to listen to as she reads is helpful. Good luck with your child. Gina

I found this on the website. Maybe this will help someone else who has the same question. Course Options Option 1- Composition Course: Based on hours alone, WriteShop (Books 1 and 2) qualifies as a one-year, stand-alone composition class, separate from English or language arts. Each book qualifies for one semester of credit. With two hours of class time and a minimum of three hours of homework time per week, students will spend at least 150 hours on WriteShop during the school year, exceeding the requirements of 125 hours for a one-year credit course. (Note: WriteShop by itself cannot qualify as a complete language arts class, since it does not include literature or vocabulary and does not specifically teach grammar.) Option 2 - Language Arts Course: WriteShop assignments may be figured into a student’s total language arts or English grade (along with literature, grammar, and vocabulary). The parent must decide on the proportion she will give to composition. Because writing is a priority this year, it is recommended that she give it at least 50% weight when determining grading proportions.

Hello, I am using WriteShop I with my 10th grader and I don't know how to count it as a high school credit. We are also using CLE English I and Lit. I. She is enrolled with Homeschool Plus, so I have to report English and Lit as 2 separate grades to them. Is WriteShop I and WriteShop II worth a credit each? Please advise. Thanks. Gina

Thank you so much for sharing these. I am planning on using MOH 1 with our dd next year, and this has made my life so much easier. Sorry you had problems with Bright Ideas Press.

Faithfulmama, Have you received the results yet, and if so, what were the recommendations. Also, I need to correct saying Audiblox was the only cognitive training we have done. We also did BrainSkills and Brainware Safari. I do not see where they helped. Gina

Hi, Is anyone familiar with this software program? it is an online subscription program costing $25 per month. It is supposed to address memory issues along with a plethora of other problems. I have been looking at this for our adopted dd16 who struggles significantly across the board. The only thing we have used so far for cognitive training is Audiblox. I do recommend it as it helped dd16 but in no way was a cure-all. http://www.challenging-our-minds.com/ Gina

Hi, I have currently looking at BJUs reading program for 6th grade. I have found a good deal on the 1st edition for the student text and workbook and TE for the workbook, but am not sure if that is what I should get. Should I pay more for the 2nd edition. Was a lot changed or just the name and look? Thank you. Gina

Hi, Can someone tell me where I can find Lexia Cross-Trainer? I have googled it but come up with zilch. Thanks, Gina

It's a small book, but it's got some really good information. We used this with our adopted dd for about a year. When we took dd to vision therapy, they were amazed we were already doing many of the exercises that dd would be doing in VT. She was able to make quicker progress because we had already built a foundation with Dianne's book.