These do look like good selections. I have taught in a public school before and have found that those with short attention spans (or with ADHD) usually do really well with hands-on curriculum. The more "school-like" it is, the harder time they have focusing, from my experience. Try to steer clear of worksheets and lectures, whenever possible. I'm slowly learning NOT to imitate public school :) I have only used Horizons and Singapore for math, but from what I've seen of MUS, it looks like it would be GREAT for hands-on. AAS is also great for hands-on! SOTW is of course great -- Mystery of History is similar, but taught more from a biblical perspective. Be sure to incorporate lots of activities into this to make it fun! Here are a couple of resources for you -- Check out Cathy Duffy's "100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum" from your library. She separates curriculum depending on kids' learning styles, so it might help you narrow down your choices. Also, something like unit studies might be a good choice for him - something very hands-on. Have you looked into KONOS before? http://www.konos.com/www/index.html Charlotte Mason's methods of homeschooling include LOTS of books and nature study... he might do well with that. Also, the great thing about homeschooling is that you don't HAVE to sit in a chair to do school :) If he does better doing his work while he's standing up or laying down, let him. Let him have choices - "Do you want to do your math on the couch or on the porch?" Give him something to do with his hands when you need to read or "lecture" (play dough, coloring book, etc.). Keep each activity pretty short and move on to something else quickly. Plan out a schedule and post it so he knows what's coming next. HTH some! Lezli

I can definitely relate. My husband and I are committed to eachother 'til the end - marriage is never to be taken lightly. However, that doesn't mean it's easy (or even enjoyable!) all the time. A good marriage takes work. I think a huge factor is how women communicate vs. how men communicate. We long for them to pour out all their innermost thoughts and feelings to us so that we "know" they trust us and love us, but that is not usually how a man communicates best. A man, on the other hand, probably expects us to show HIM love through physical intimacy. It takes sacrifice on both sides - ask him what you can do to make him feel loved, and then tell him what makes YOU feel loved - then do it. I do not enjoy physical intimacy near as much as my husband, but because I know it needs to be a priority for him, I try to make it a priority, too... and it improves our relationship a lot. As far as receiving compliments from your husband, I understand... it is hard for me to receive, too. We THINK we are being modest/humble by not receiving it, but I honestly think that's a form of false humility (pride)... If your husband goes out of the way to tell you how beautiful you are, simply tell him thank you and give him a kiss. He most likely REALLY means what he says! We have got to remember that there are LOTS of women out there that WILL receive compliments from men - even our own husbands... so help your husband keep his guard up by receiving those compliments! How blessed we are to HAVE husbands that DO compliment us! :) Praying for you - I understand it all. A really good book I've found a lot of wisdom in is Love and Respect. Lezli

So glad to read all this! I have been thinking about seeing if DS could get into this... I think we'll give it a shot.

I just started teaching DS (6 yrs) typing. Well, actually, I found a free program online that I thought he'd enjoy playing with. I am hoping that this will be our "ticket" to him writing more. He hates writing by hand, but of course it's a skill he needs to know, so we practice it still. If anyone is interested, the program is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/ Nothing too fancy, but it's a good intro, I think! He's made quite a bit of progress over the past couple of days.

Thanks for the input! It sounds like it might be a good fit for us :)

So my DS (6) and I are doing Apologia right now and love the Biblical perspective of it... we're just getting a little bored of the same subject all year. I found R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey and LOVE the hands-on approach... it looks great, although maybe lacking a little in substance. We haven't actually used it yet - just been doing research on it. A hesitation for me is that it is not taught from a biblical perspective, but I know I could easily do that myself :) So what can you tell me about Answers in Genesis (AIG) Science? It looks really good... do your kids enjoy it? Can you compare it to Nancy Larson science or RSO or Apologia for me? Thanks! :) Lezli

Hi! We live in south Aurora, CO and would love to find some other homeschoolers in the area! We just moved here about a year and a half ago from Texas. I have two sons, age 6 and 3 (almost 4). Anyone up for a playdate? :) Lezli

My DS learned to read at 3, and now he's 6 and able to read pretty much anything you put in front of him. Like some pp have said, we are doing All About Spelling, just to fill in any phonics gaps and make sure he's a good speller, even though he's a very good natural speller. It's easy to zoom through parts he already knows. We live in Colorado, and the law requires us to test every other year beginning at 3rd grade. I do want to practice comprehension "quizzes" every now and then so that he won't see one of those for the first time when he takes the big test :) I think his comprehension is fine, but I do think that's one thing we need to practice some.

I'm going back and forth between RSO and Apologia for next year. We've done Apologia Astronomy and are now doing Apologia Flying Creatures. We really enjoy it, but we get... well, kind of bored of studying the same thing all year. I love the depth of information it gives, but I only have a 6 and 3 year old right now, so it's not like they need to learn it all right now :) I have seen some people suggest combining RSO with Apologia. RSO is very heavy on the labs/experiments, and Apologia is very heavy on in-depth information, so it seems like they'd be a good balance. Apologia does have some good experiments, but I haven't been too impressed overall with them. One thing I'd miss if we only did RSO is the Biblical perspective of Apologia. I can always tie that in myself, though. I really like the look of RSO and think we may try it out next year. Couldn't hurt! Lezli

Hoagies Gifted has a ton of links for strategy games (and several categories of other types of games). http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/smart_strategy_games.htm One of my son's favorites is Blokus! :)

My 6 year old son sounds a lot like yours! He can read just about anything he gets his hands on, add/subtract large numbers with carrying/borrowing, understands negative numbers, etc. He loves to learn new things and is constantly wanting a new challenge. He HAS been tested and is "highly gifted" with an IQ of 145, so I would say your son is definitely above average. If he's hungry for more, let him go at his own pace. That's the beauty of homeschooling! :) My son moves pretty quickly through his math. We are going to start Singapore Math 3A soon, and we'll move at our own pace. I don't bog him down with *too* much review, although some is obviously necessary. You know when your kid understands a concept and you can move on :) I've heard good things about the Life of Fred math series - you might look into that to give him some more challenges. Add in some logic from the Critical Thinking Co. - my son loves this. If he doesn't know how yet, I bet he'd love chess, too! http://hoagiesgifted.com/ is a great resource! Hope that helps some! Keep that love of learning going! :) Lezli

Oh, it's so good to know I'm not the only one! :) My 6 year old DS can be amazingly sensitive, intuitive, caring, and mature. Other times, he can be OVERLY sensitive, have a crazy meltdown over "nothing" (like a 2 year old), and be extremely stubborn. It's so hard to remember sometimes that he IS only 6. The whole asynchronous development thing is happening right before my eyes :) Having a gifted kid is tough -- it's not something you can explain to just anyone. "Sorry my son is having a meltdown right now over that... it's just because he's gifted." -- Yeah right! That's not gonna fly with most people! :) Perseverance will pay off :)