We used it for 8-9 months, one hour a day - 5 days a week. I saw improvements in lots of areas (short term memory, long term memory, read comprehension).

I would also suggest the Teaching Company Videos on High School Chemistry. He really explains the concepts well and walks through the math in logical steps. It made "abstract" concepts more concrete for my son.

We did Math U See - it took us a full year but we did get done. There is plenty of review of Alg. 1 material in the exercises also.

I made it to Boot Camp class 3 times and did treadmill 2 other days. Not weighing till end of month (Bob Greene plan). Did "soso" on the not eating after 7:00 - need to work on that more this week and need to work on drinking more water.

Need to lose at least 25 - I am doing the Bob Greene plan - first working on adding daily exercise and no night time eating after 7:00.

We used it along with Holt Chemistry Book. It is not a standalone program but it was very useful in explaining the "math" of chemistry and some of the more complicated concepts. I would recommend it - but you will need a regular chemistry text as a base and the videos would supplement that.

We are doing sign language as our foreign lang. DS also has language issues. It is going pretty well - sentence grammer is different than English but so are most other languages.

I agree with all the previous posts. My sons iq is 84 - very slow processing speed is a major component. He tested at grade level (11th grade) in math and reading on the achievement tests but did score way below average in writing (which i expected). My son does have cognitive issues and it reqiures ALOT of repetition for him to learn things - but he has been successful - its juat alot harder for him than it is for someone with a higher iq.

It doesn't look like she is reading anything "fun". Without spending a lot of money, I would go to the library and talk to the librarian (no need to give lots of details just say you have daughter with reading issues) and ask her to recommend fiction books that are geared for pre-teens that are written at the 3rd grade level. Then the mom can pre-read them and have chapter discussions to see if there is a reading comprehension issue. Another option is to get a book she wants to read that is at too high a level on audio and also get the book. Have her follow along.

For Science you might look at Plato (formerly CyberScience) - it is computer based. It is very visual, has lots of examples, interactive exercises, quizes and tests. You can look at demos and purchase the subscription through Homeschool Buyers COOP. There are courses at middle school and high school level - http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/index.php?option=com_quickbase&Itemid=268

I get pants and jeans on ebay (you can search by waist/inseam size). The "slimest" pants or jeans I have found are by Wranglers - but the khakis definitely have a western look - but at least they fit. At lot of times the items are new.

I think sometimes we have a tendency to swing the pendulum to far when we are facing an issue and in my experience that doesn't work. So start changing things slowly and realize it may take some time to develop the new skills. My son is also not very social and so I require some social "experiences" every week. Make sure to start slow - just think if someone told you that the one thing you don't like to do will be the focus now. For example, give her a few choices to choose from (once a week library teen program, church youth group, community recreation class for teens) and have her do that for a while and then add to it. My son is still awkward in these situations but things have gotten better and he even found some things he liked to go to. Same on chores - I do think it helps build responsiblity. I don't know how you feel about allowance but it works well in my house. They only get the allowance if they do the chores without me asking - if I have to nag them then they don't get it and they have to the chore anyway. Again start small and then add tasks (and increase allowance). I know you are feeling down right now and so it is important to find the positive things going on in your daughters life and hang on to them. We all make parenting mistakes (I am too controlling) but kids are resilient. 15 is a hard age for any parent of a teenage girl - it does get better (my dd is now 20), but I do think if you start addressing the issues you have identified in small steps you will see progress.

I am doing ASL for son. He will do 1st year at home and then do classes at community college. There are a lot of resources: videos at library, internet online classes, computer software. You can also practice it anywhere - when my daughter was taking it - she use to sign the lyrics to songs while we were driving.

I am just starting training and I live in Texas. I find it is much harder to run outside (because of the heat and humidity) than the treadmill so I run outside once a week, so I will get a feel for how well I am doing outside, but then I do rest on treadmill where I can control the environment. Since I am just starting I am definitely not an authority - just making comment on my own observations.

Great job. I am just starting to train (4th week) and needed some encouragement - running in this Texas heat, regardless if it is dawn and dusk, is not fun.

Been there - done that. I hate those angle cuts - my mind just can't figure it out. I always cut a piece of scrap first and put it up in the corner to make sure its the correct angle. Give it a couple days and save your scrap - practice each cut on the scrap before you do the new piece. Remember - we learn better from our failures :001_smile:

A great book with an awesome ending. Also lots of opportunity to discuss deep issues such as prejudice, war, military intelligence vs actual facts, bullying, etc.

I am 48 and also am having a horrible time getting the weight to come off. I am exercising alot - in fact I think I am in the best shape that I have ever been in, even though I am 25 lbs over my goal weight. Still nothing. I am not "bird" eating but I do eat healthy. A friend of mine, went to the doctor for a similar problem - he told her to cut way back on food intake. She exercises every day and eats no more than 1,000 calories (most of the time 800). She is losing a little. I know if I do that I will gain it all back because there is no way I could eat that little amount the rest of my life. So I have set a goal of running a 1/2 marathon in March and trying to be content with being healthy and plump.

I have tried framing my own cross-stitch and while it turns out okay it never looks as good as when I get it done professionally. That being said - here is my technique. Get sticky board - it is in framing section. Stretch the fabric as much as possible while not distorting the stitches. Press down on board. Another option is to staple onto a board or inside frame - but I don't like putting staples into the fabric. I have found just taping the outside of the fabric to the cardboard doesn't keep fabric taut. A mat makes any work look better - so try and find a matting to go around your piece that makes it fit into a standard frame size. I personnally don't like to put glass in front of stitching - I like the texture to show. That cuts down on cost too - especially if you have it professionally done. Good luck.

We used it this year as a supplement to Holt Visualizing Matter. I really like the Cyber-Ed products - this is the second one we have used. Most of the material in the book was covered in the Cyber-Ed product although the book had harder calculation problems. I don't think the Cyber-Ed product has enough quanitative chemistry problems to be a stand-alone curriculum but it is a good add-on to a base curriculum. I would definitely recommend it especially if you buy it through Homeschool Buyer's Group Discount website -

There are certain ages to "compete" But our local group allowed my son to participate (go to practices) before he met that age. That works with non-team sports like gymnastics and swimming. I don't know the exact age - I think it is around 11 or 12.

I have a high schooler with language processing disorder and muscle myopathy as well as some cognitive processing delays. We have done lots of therapy programs for language, reading, and writing. He has done Fast ForWord and Visualization and Verbalization as well as private speech (since the age of 3). His articulation is now clear. His receptive language skills are normal range but his expressive skills are still low. His social skills are below normal - I attribute this to his expressive language skills. On the positive side - his reading comprehension and math are at grade level. He does a standard curriculum - although it takes longer than most to complete, but since he is homeschooled it doesn't really matter. He has friends and is generally a happy teenager. As to the questions of homeschooling or school - he went to public school through elementary. I was generally pleased with the school, but I did alot of "afterschooling" to keep him at grade level - especially in reading where he struggled. He did get special education services for reading, speech, writing but I don't think they really helped. His real advances came from what we did privately. I pulled him out at middle school because of the amount of teasing had grown to where he hated school, the amount of time reteaching material had become excessive, and the middle school was not very accomodating to less severe special need kids. He has enjoyed homeschooling and we have made good progress. If you put your child in public school, don't only look at the academics. Kids can be pretty mean - be a room mom or volunteer so you can see how other kids are treating your child.

In Texas ( I assume it is the same other places) , Special Olympics is locally run - to sign up you have to get in touch with the local branch. Since it is run by volunteers it is sometimes hard to find the person in charge. Most states have a state website (google special olympics + "your state") and then you should be able to find an email or phone contact where you can find the name of your area director.

I used this program a few years ago (old version) to specifically address the processing speed and working memory. We did see improvements in processing speed, although it is still not a normal rate. We saw big improvements in working memory. I am probably going to do the program again this summer - if we have the funds I might try the online version. I also think that games like Brain Age for the Ninendo DS and Wii help with processing speed too. They won't do the same as a concentrated program but I do think they help to keep skills sharpened.

We used Audioblox first because my son had very significant delays in working memory, processing speed and some cognitive delays. In my opinion it is a more fundamental program than Brainskills (the exercises in Brainskills are more challenging). Audiblox did significantly help working memory and some cognitive issues, reading comprehension improved (my son does not have dyslexia so we did not do this part of the program). There is a yahoo group for audiblox users - you could probably read about some other people's experiences there. There is a computer component but it is just one part of the program - most of the exercises are done without computer. http://www.audiblox2000.com/ Brainskills is the home version of PACE (which is done in a therapists office only). For a while you couldn't purchase it. The version I have is not computerized, but it looks like the one they sell now is computerized - that would have been lots better for my son. It really helped us with the processing speed because all exercises are done to a metrodome (very challenging and frustrating for my son). But it really did produce some good results. My son is still slower than average in things like reading and writing but no where near what he was before. I am thinking of doing it again this summer - just as refresher. http://www.brainskills.com/html/about_us.html