Not a full schedule, but my kids drive me nuts when they get bored and are unscheduled. Unless my dd gets a full-time job, this is what their schedule will look like: 15yo: Composition class online through Write@Home MUS Algebra Typing 6yo: OPGTR Rod and Staff Math 1 or MUS Alpha (He's really liking Rod and Staff but as an Aspie may have to switch to MUS)

I second Covenant Home. We have used both Calvert and Covenant Home. The teacher's manual's are similar. However, there just is nothing like Calvert. Covenant Home uses a lot of Bob Jones University which turned me off. I did like it for the K year that we used it and it was a very intense year of phonics and reading. I also liked their religious studies even in the primary years. Very solid. If you don't mind Bob Jones for Science and History, then this might just be what you are looking for!

I'm with the poster who said that they would say nothing. It doesn't sound like she was really asking for an opinion. It sounds more like she's made up her mind. I have kids on all ends of the socialization spectrum. One is so social that she would never get her school work done and we have to threaten her outings just to keep her off the phone, computer, etc... On the other end is my introverted daughter and we make sure she attends every opportunity we can get her to in order to make new friends and hang out with her old friends. We do have an aspie and plan on bringing him home next year and will have planned socialized outings because of his disability. However, it will be with children of all ages. Again, homeschoolers with more than one have the opportunity of allowing their children to become friends with each other. There are many opportunities to get out and do things with others and the positive being that they don't have to be the same age, not in a forced setting and we know the people and usually the parents that they are socializing with.

Thank you everyone for your replies. I went to the Cincy conventions last weekend and picked up the OPGTR. While I do like PP, this has the audio component which I think my son needs. He LOVES workbooks (which is odd for an ASD child) but I will add ETC to help reinfoce the lessons. This way the information is coming in through all modalities. He can print all of his letters at this point. We are going to spend the summer working on the phonics program so that he can just focus on this. I will have to determine where he is closer to fall to assess his first grade skills, but I am still thinking of MFW 1st and just moving through the lessons at a quicker pace. Or we will do more of a regular Classical approach. I do know now that we will have to approach this with a visual, audio, and movement (coloring, drawing, activity) for each subject in order to cement the information. Thank you again for all of your help. Oh, and I did get a copy of Brain Integration Therapy by Dianne Craft. All of her materials are wonderful.

Thanks to the economy, my truck driving husband went from working full time+ to part-time. I also work part-time. However, my husband never knows when he will be called-in to work. So, I can't count on him to be home to fill-in for me when I am at work. Luckily, I only have set hours of Wed. 2-6. The rest of my work is done at home via the computer. I do pick up more work hours during Oct-Jan. but we schedule that into our school year schedule.

I picked this up at the Cincy Convention, so I'm interested in comments too! :lurk5:

If at all possible, I'd also like to be added to the list. My husband went from working 6-7 days to working 3-4 days since October. He's a truck driver and while you see all these signs looking for road drivers, these companies are going out of business. His company is solid, but they are spreading the hours amongst the men and have laid everyone else off. I was on medical leave for two months, but things are slow where I am at too. I'm working between 4-8 hours a week. That pays for 1-2 of my 6 prescriptions. We have 2 medically fragile children plus me, which means a ton of medical debt and barely any income for the past 7 months. We tucked away our tax refund, thinking it would hold us through the rough spot, but it's gone already. Just with living expenses. So we are hanging onto God's Word, but yet finding ourselves still anxious as we ought not be. Wondering when it will change, how? Thank you in advance.

Just a suggestion, could you allow him to write his report, but make him cite a Christian resource as to show both sides of the alien debate? There are plenty of Christian books written on the topic.

I'll preface this with saying that this is just my opinion. I have a child graduating, and one that will be starting MFW 1st grade this year. So, we've pretty much seen it all. We skipped Adventures and I wish that we hadn't, but we came into the cycle late. I also believe that the geograpy program in MFW was very important. My kids got more from that than they got from their high-school geography programs. It was fun, memorable and hands-on. I think it helps to give a broader view of the world before moving on to the various cycles. Your children are still very young. I would hesitate to give them the work in 1850's at this time. If you want to do American History, then I would do Adventures since it is more age appropriate for your gang. If your oldest needs it beefed-up, you can do that with the book-basket. If you must do SOTW, then I would do it as a read-aloud during book-basket time, but you'd be duplicating the book in the cycle. I think someone mentioned a CLP history reader. Those are all good books for history in the primary grades and would be a good addition as long as you just used it for the reading and not the tests, etc. As suggested by another poster, I would also have your husband either listen to the tape or class regarding the teaching of geography. Then, perphaps, your husband would be on board for you to teach it next year,after Adventures. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Well, good literature, of course. But we have been using SATI Vocabulary Cartoons. It gives a picture to help remember what the word means. My daughter is finishing up 9th. We are going to continue with SATII next year. We buy ours from Rainbow Resources.

There is Starfall Phonics too that is free for online phonics practice. I also suggest the shorter sessions for your sons. I have an LD daughter and a 6yo son. Both would go bonkers if they had to go through an entire hour of reading instruction at a time. My dd would have cried the entire time and my son would be hanging upside down in his chair after 20 minutes. I also second the Maxwell's planner for time management. While I don't completely back all of their philosphies, this book has been a lifesaver for our family many times over. Good luck finding a schedule that works for you. :001_smile:

Have her be careful! We took oldest to one years ago and spent many many more dollars than I care to divulge here. He was a quack. We drove 3 hours each way twice a week for two years! However, that is not to say that this doctor is not legit. Just make sure that he is a qualified doctor in his own right. Make sure that he has OT, Speech and PT people working for him that will work with the child. That they will not just be working with HIM! Beware if the insurance is being billed to ANYTHING other than what is on his card/his name. I would also have them call Better Business Bureau. Can't be too cautious when it comes to something like this. Ask to see qualifications and actually look at them. :glare:

I didn't get a chance to read through all of the posts, but my son is on the autism spectrum (high-functioning) and also has ADHD and tourettes. We had him on Adderall for a time, but it made the tourettes impossible and he literally ate next to nothing. We have him on a medication that is used for psyciatric patients, but has also been found to be very helpful for children on the spectrum. It's Risperdal. He gets .5mg in the am and one in the pm. It has done wonders for him as far as behavior, learning and attention. When he went on it, he was five and not potty trained, he sat on the potty the next day and that was that. He has come really far in his education this past year and his meltdowns are down to a couple a day compared to a few an hour. You need a doctor or psychologist that is used to working with kids on the Autism spectrum. You don't want to just treat the ADHD. Your dealing with all sorts of issues with an Aspie. Generally Autism and ADHD go together and need to be treated together. We found a great M.D. for our son, but went through a M.D. and child Psychologist to get there. Just make sure that the one you pick treats a lot of these children. JMO

I have homeschooled since 1994 and I have truly enjoyed being with my children. I've enjoyed learning with them, watching them learn, grow, and grow in their faith. They are remarkable young women and I am so proud of them. There are many choices that we made that were good, some not so good. Some regrets; I wish that I would not have had to work many of the years that I did. It interfered with the time we had together and we missed out on many disscussions that we could have. I wish we would have started Classically educating sooner than we did. I also wish that we would have started a family earlier because we could have had more children before my needing a hysterectomy. I am starting out on a new homeschooling journey with our 1st grader and plan to do it a bit differently this time. ;) More nature walks, more classically minded, more discussions and more just plain fun.

Awww...that's the best!! :D CONGRATULATIONS!! I remember the day we made our oldest daughter "legal". We had a big party for her. She was four. You will forever remember that day! Enjoy it!:party:

Well, to give you some hope, I had something show up on my last MRI and they said it could be a lesion (cancer). It turned out to be something completely different ( I can't remember the name) but it was just a very small lesion (pin point size) that had ruptured and dissolved by the time that they did the second test. There are so many things that it could be/couldn't be. From a shadow (yes, one showed up on one of our son's CT scans and they said his brain was bleeding), to something completely benign. Totally hand it over to God and forget what you have read on google. ALWAYS the worst scenarios show up there. Even if it is something, you still don't know what you are dealing with. Praying with you and for you and your family. He knows your fears as a mother, He will give you peace if you give it to Him and leave it with Him. :grouphug:

I believe a lot of places were also protesting local taxes as well (am I correct?) I know that where we live, we are running a local million dollar deficit and the mayor is still paying for his pet projects while planning on cutting police and fireman's pay 10% AND possibly laying off at least 50 of them next month. He is adding taxes to everything because unemployment is the highest it's been since the 70's. So not only are we dealing with the national level, but we have big government at the state and local level as well. And we are one of the hardest hit by the auto industry. :confused: So I think that there were many reasons for the Tea Tax Parties today. Correct me if I am wrong.

This is too funny! My dd knows to brew a fresh pot of coffee when the Levenger catalog arrives. I usually cant afford anything, but I sure do love perusing all the new and lovely products. Mmm.... And I too remember the scented markers..ahhh... Pencils and Sharpies and pens, oh my! :auto:

I've been working part-time for the past six years. It's hard, but can be done. What are the ages/grades of your children? Are any in school or do you homeschool all of them? I was lucky in that I only have to go in two days a week except during the holidays and then was able to work from home the rest of my hours. It's a bit trickier when I had to work in the office every day. You will need to have a set schedule so that they know exactly what is expected from them while you are at work. They will need to understand the homework that you are giving them to be done while with their dad since they are on their own. Give them a sheet to check-off what they have done as they finish. Make sure that they get everything done that they need to with you when you are home for the subjects that are more difficult for them to do on their own. Give them reading assignments to do if they finish their work early so they aren't wasting time or have them move on to the next math or science or whatever lesson might be easy for them that you feel comfortable letting them work ahead on. Another option is a critical thinking book. That's what we do here. Writing assignments are difficult for my girls, so I always do those with them, I also get them started on their math lessons for the week, but most of their work is done on their own (but they are now in highschool) When they were younger, there was a lot I did with them and then gave them a page of homework for each subject, a book to read and a critical thinking book.

Yep. Even grown ups have sensory issues! Nobody was diagnosing them when we were young. We just learned to adjust to them. We have very lucky husbands because we aren't asking for jewelry every holdiday! :D I wear a watch, earrings ONLY when I go to work or an outing and rarely a necklace. My jewelry is ALWAYS nickle free. That seems to help me a lot. My necklaces are always thin or made of a smooth surface and my earrings don't touch my ears. My watches are thin and small. The only ring I wear is my wedding ring. I have most luck with nickle free jewelry at Kohl's or Target. You can also get slides to put on your current earrings at both places as well. Like a lot of you, I go jewelry free as much as possible.

I believe there is a line and at some point we all know where it is. It's that point where we all become uncomfortable. I also believe that some people just push that line too far one way or the other. The PC culture has taken this too far (IMO). For instance, my son is mentally retarded, and sometimes, even I don't know how to reply when asked his condition. He IS mentally retarded. BUT, it is crossing the line when another child will call him "retard" in a derogative way. I am offended when people go around using the word "retard" for a person that did sometihing not so smart. And if done over and over again, I will say something and why. But mental retardation is a physical disability and to put a different label on it doesn't make it different from what it is. We need to make sure that we aren't hurting the feelings of others, but I don't think that we need to change every term and name of everything to make it "feel good". Things are what they are. :001_huh:

I don't know that I would wait. And if you are asking on the board, it usually means that you think you should go. A mother knows best. Go with your gut. If there is a speech problem, there may be an underlying language problem as well. I would have it checked now and if it needs fixed, start the therapy now. If not, you can rest in the fact that you have had it checked-out.

I too have a son on the spectrum and is mild. When you look at him, he seems perfectly normal, but sometimes, he does something that just isn't "right" and the kids his age will notice but don't understand why. If this little guy just can't play the games (which is normal) I wouldn't say anything either. However, eventually, there may be a day when he could have a meltdown. He might be trying to avoid that by bypassing the games. Or, that might not be one of his "things", but generally, kids on the spectrum will have meltdowns or a particular movement for comfort or frustration at some point. It would be then that you might want to consider discussing this friend's "difference". You don't want him to be afraid of him or lose the friendship. My son does great holding these in while with others and just lets lose when he gets home...so it may not even happen while at your house.

I really feel bad for the OP. She was reaching out and made it clear that this was a Christian post. She had an honest question and while she may not have chosen the "perfect" words, she was showing a pure love of wanting to save souls. That's it. Finding a way for her ministry in life with small children under foot and many,many activities keeping her busy. This has turned into a huge debate on the terms and beliefs and very few have actually tried to answer her question. It's like anyone with different beliefs saw this post and just started jumping on it. As Christians, we know what the Great Commission is. We know the conviction we know the desire, the tears for those who are ___________. (Fill in the word since I don't want to start a debate there). But we also are filled with the Holy Spirit and are indwelled with a certain knowledge when reading Scripture that those who have not accepted Christ just don't understand. Quoting scripture to someone that doesn't "know" Christ, well, you can do it until you are blue in the face. This debate could go on forever. To the original OP, I truly am sorry that you weren't able to get more heartfelt answers from those who understood what you were trying to ask.:grouphug:

I think it depends on the type of person you are. I also think as other posters have mentioned that you may be thinking scheduling instead of lesson planning. I have found over the years if I didn't make schedules, it didn't get done. Too much came up and it threw us way off. Personally, I like the Charlotte Mason type planners. I like the way that you can plan for a week and it has places for memorization, nature, artists, composers, etc. That way you get a glimpse of what you want to cover for a week and it's not strictly day by day. This helped us stay on track through the grammar stage.