Please come back to Florida....I need you! :D The best God-given gift I have is my passion for the modern day orphan. I am truly committed to doing everything I can to end the foster care crisis here in Broward county, FL for starters and then hopefully branching out nationally. God has given me a servant's heart....that is my greatest gift. :001_smile:

This is my son. He has been in private school since PreK and has always gotten A's in spelling. He is good at memorizing lists but a week later, it is out the window. He is doing fairly well in English (we are using Rod & Staff 5). He does NOT enjoy reading much to my dismay. It is hard for me to fathom since it is one of my favorite things to do. He doesn't mind being read to but to read silently or aloud is a big chore for him. Should I assign him a certain amount of time/pages a day to read? Thoughts?

Thank you so far for the replies. A lot of the problem is probably an over anxious mother that is not confident in her teaching skills. I have learned from this board not to compare him to others and am trying to just relax a bit. We will continue to work on the narration/copywork/dictation and also light writing assignments. I would love a co-op but have not found one yet. Also, any suggestions for a spelling program that teaches the spelling rules or should I just stick with Sequential Spelling for now? Please keep the suggestions coming and thank you!

Hi all: I am here to ask, yet again, for some advice. I am still homeschooling my son (this is our first year, 5th grade) although I have to admit I am struggling and definitely second guessing my decision even though I feel it is in my son's best interest to continue on and there really aren't many other options. I am sure a lot has to do with my state of mind and surroundings (lazy husband, (2) 2-year olds that are constantly arguing and one that is extremely high spirited, a house that is in a constant state of disarray, etc., etc.) As a result of all of this, I am becoming extremely short and this is not how I want to be. I am trying to pray through it but my Christian witness is severly lacking these days and as I am the spiritual torchbearer in my home, I need to get it together. The area of most concern currently is my son's inability to write much of anything at all and his spelling. We just finished Writing with Ease Level 1 and I am not quite sure where to go from here (he did OK with it, not great). I have been trying to get him to write summaries on short subjects (we are working on a summary of the Earth today) and this is what he has managed to crank out in the course of 45 minutes: God put us in a perfect distance from the sun. Were not to hot or cold. God also gave us good mass, too. It keeps us from floting in the air. Are rotation is good, too. It It was faster there would be more storms. Also, are atmosphere keep objects (like space rocks) out of earth. Earth has one moon. For spelling, we are using Sequential Spelling and I am not sure it is effective or working for us. I don't see an improvement at all and I find it very boring although he doesn't seem to care either way. He is not enthusiastic about much when it comes to learning unless it encompasses Star Wars, video games or the sort. :sad: So, what do you suggest we do or go from here? I do have IEW WWSS and IEW-B. What would you do for writing and/or spelling if you were encountering the above? I am looking forward to your replies. This board is always so supportive and I am greatly appreciated. Frazzled in Florida, Lisa

Although it is not for the faint of heart and not always a sure thing, fostering is a wonderful way to add to your family. We will be completing our second adoption on Nov. 15. We have had our son since he was six days old and our daughter came to us at 4 weeks old and we adopted her on July 17th of this year. Both are now two. The cost to adopt for us has been zero. We are completely reimbursed by the state (Florida). Also, our children will be provided with a 4 year FL state college education, a monthly stipend until they are 18 and Medicaid until they are 18. We never intended to adopt but we fell in love with our two and when the opportunity presented itself, we eagerly accepted. If you have any questions about fostering, please feel free to pm me. Best of luck to you in your quest to add to your family through adoption.

We are still finding our groove but are very happy with our decision to come home after 5 years of private schooling. My son definitely has a learning style that is not suited for the typical classroom. With the help of this board, we are definitely finding our way. :001_smile:

WOW, that is lovely. What a talented young lady you have. I hope you have success finding an avenue to have her work showcased. She has a gift. Blessings, Lisa

:iagree:, especially the part about the small businesses. That one left my mouth wide open.

My son is ADHD as well. According to a highly recommended book that I am reading, "Right Brained Child in a Left Brained World", oral reading is very difficult for children with ADD/ADHD, most of whom are right brained. A child with ADD/ADHD has trouble focusing on one word at a time and tends to jump ahead or behind. It goes on to state that, in essence, it is silent reading that is most important in the long term and mastering those skills is what is essential (silent reading and comprehension). It also suggests that you have an ADD/ADHD (right brained) child spend no more than 5-10 minutes a day reading orally. Have the child read slowly and use your finger to follow the words for him so you can control the speed. Ask him to try to visualize the words he is reading. There is a lot more information in the chapter that I have found particularly helpful. One thing that stands out is that I have found my son comprehends much better when he reads himself vs. reading aloud (even if the reader is me). I know your son is a little young yet but this is something to think about for the future. Hope this helps! Blessings, Lisa (very thankful to Tami for recommending this book!)

I started using it over the Summer with my 10 year old son but soon after abandoned it because, for him, it was too advanced. However, I do plan on implementing it when he gets older and more mature. Blessings, Lisa

I am dealing with the same issue with my son, age 10. He has a very hard time getting his thoughts out of his head. Based on many recommendations here, I purchased WWE and I just ordered the WWE 1 workbook. I want him to learn from the very beginning so he gets a good grasp on things. He is not one of those kids that will be offended about things being too babyish and I really want to lay a good foundation for him. I also love the example by EKS and think this would be a great place to start. I plan to use it as well. Thanks for the thread and best of luck! Lisa

We do the Monday fun day as well. My son has a PE group in the afternoon and in the am we work on science and history projects and experiments. We also implemented a digit sum checking technique that I found on Tami's blog for checking our multiplication problems. It is not really out of the box, but I can tell you since I found it a few days ago my son is excited about doing 3 and 4 digits multiplication problems which works for me! I look forward to reading the rest of this thread. Blessings, Lisa

When I posed this question last year, I was told to look into Sequential Spelling. We purchased the 1st book and are working through it. My son is definitely a rote speller. He has always received A's in spelling on his report card but that is only because he had been memorizing the lists. SS seems to be working well so far. Here is the link to the AVKO site with samples. Good luck! http://www.avko.org/sequentialspelling.html Blessings, Lisa

Thanks again to all of you. I have made the decision, based on all your suggestions, to back off and slow down for now. Our day yesterday consisted of reading one chapter very slowly from Adam and His Kin (just to finish the book, we are almost done - I realize now that this is probably not the best choice for him), doing a science lesson on the sun outside (he really enjoyed this) watching a lesson on the sun on DiscoveryStreaming and going over math facts, again outside. The rest of the day was spent cuddling and praising. I realize that more worrisome than any academic issues that we may be encountering is the fact that my frustration has begun to wear on my son's self-esteem. The next week will be spent building his confidence and cuddling. I have purchased WRTR and also WWE. I am going to start with WWE next week at level one. I plan on continuing with Saxon 7/6 after our math facts are solidified and Apologia Astronomy is a hit with him. With regard to hitory, we are doing MOH I. I am wondering if I should've started him with American History. Any thoughts here? I probably won't delve into anything structured until after the Christmas break but want to get him excited about learning as best I can in the meantime by reading some fun books to him. He has not had any history to speak of, except the very basics, up until now. To answer a few questions, yes, I am an adoptive mom but my 10 year old is homegrown. We have just adopted a 2 year old girl and are getting ready to adopt another 2 year old boy. They are 18 days apart and we have been fostering them since birth. I had a normal pregnancy with my ds but my dh is definitely ADD. Having said that, one doctor that my dh and I took our son to did mention that he may also have auditory processing issues but we were unable to continue with testing because of finances (the fee was in excess of $3,000). Our insurance does not cover any testing other than ADHD. I am unfamiliar with any testing offered by the public school system and see that I need to research it. Have any of you had your children tested through the public school system? I know that there is a very lengthy wait. That is the extent of my knowledge. If you are still with me, thank you for reading my ramblings and again for all your support and encouragement. Blessings, Lisa BTW, Tami, the lesson you posted on your blog regarding checking multiplication by doing digit sums is a HUGE hit this morning. Thank you!

I also run across words that I am either unsure of the meaning or just cannot comprise a sentence at that particular moment. I write it on the whiteboard and my son and I look it up after we are done with the lesson. Some of them are quite odd but we make a game of it and he has even started getting out his dictionary when we start our spelling lesson. :)

Uugghh! I have been such a shrew to my DH the past couple of days. Although I wish this post was not a reality, it has definitely opened my eyes. My prayers to you and your friend and her family! Blessings, Lisa

I really cannot begin to express my gratitude to all of you. Your encouragement and support is truly beyond measure. The past few weeks have been really stressful and I feel that at least this is one area of my life that I will be able to get under control. Now, if any of you have a solution to the incessant whining, crying and fighting that goes on in my household between my (2) two-year olds and how to get out from under the massive loads of laundry that need to be done I will really be on the road to sanity! Thank you again, and if anyone has any other suggestions, they are more than welcome. Blessings, Lisa

Thank you all so much for all of the advice thus far. With regard to the ADHD, in the past, we have tried the medication route. All this did was completely kill his appetite. We do supplements and try to stay away from as many processed foods as we can. We even did the Feingold diet for six months to no avail. I think part of what I am also trying to determine is what is sheer laziness versus ADHD and/or some other disorder. For instance, he just did an English lesson on diagramming skeleton sentences. He copied many of the words incorrectly even though the words were right there in front of him. I told him that unless it was done over, quickly, neatly and completely he would not be going to PE group today. He did it and did it well. I am having a really hard time deciphering what is work ethic and what is academic. For what it is worth, he scores well on the SAT. Last year, he scored in the 50th percentile among his private school peers and 60-70 percentile in total. I will try to implement some of the above suggestions and see how it goes. In closing, are there any books that you can recommend that would be exciting for him (he likes all things boy) that would be on his level and would get him interested in reading. So far, it is all but a chore for him. *sigh* Thank you again, ladies. You are the best! Blessings, Lisa

Hi all: Thank you for your gracious help thus far. In a nutshell, I am in the first year of homeschooling my 10 year old, 5th grade son. He has been private schooled since PK. He has a diagnosis of ADHD. We are REALLY struggling. First off, I have noticed that his reading is really lacking. He cannot read a sentence correctly. He does not utilize punctuation correctly (pausing at periods, etc.), skips lines, misses words, changes words, etc. As a result, when he reads aloud or silently from text and then has to answer comprehension questions, he is unable to do so. This morning, I had him read from a R&S Grade 4 reader and we did the discussion questions. He could not answer ANY correctly. I find that I am constantly giving him the answers. He also could not recognize many of the words (physician, emptied, supplication). Now that I think of it, he really doesn't do much better when I read to him. He often times seems to zone out as well. His spelling is terrible. We are doing Sequential Spelling right now. He has always received A's on his report card in spelling but I realize now that it is because of rote memory. Math is probably his best subject. He is working in Saxon 7/6 and although he knows the concepts, he frequently gets problems wrong because he does not have his facts down. He is still a finger counter and struggles with multiplication facts. So, if my ds were your ds, where would you go from here? Our current daily schedule looks like this: Bible Math (Saxon 7/6) Reading (PP guide with Island of the Blue Dolphin) Science (Apologia Astronomy - he does pretty well with this but I read to him) History (MOH - same as science) English - (R&S 5 - he is doing pretty well) Writing - nothing so far but I just received WWE and it looks like I need to start at level 1) Where do I need to modify? What should I drop, keep? Is LCC for us? Should I incorporate Latin? Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I really appreciate any bit of information that you can provide us with. Blessings, Struggling mom in FL

My soon-to-be adopted foster son who is now 2 had terrible reflux. He vomited a lot and it was very unpredictable. He ended up being medicated which did help a bit. A few tips I utilized were always keeping him upright - we used a sleeping wedge and when he was awake, he either sat him in a swing or in a bouncy chair and we burped him after each oz. - 2 ozs. max. We always kept a bib on him even though when he did vomit it was more often than not projectile and put waterproof pads on everything. We never really found a solution w/formula. He eventually (and thankfully) out grew it. Congratulations on your new placement and good luck!! Blessings, Lisa

Thank you again. I am so excited to get this book. I am so thankful to have this board to glean knowledge from. Exciting as it is, beginning homeschooling is a bit daunting. It is great to have so many come alongside and offer encouragement. Blessings, Lisa

Colleen: Thank you so much for the R&S suggestion for Bible. I really am enjoying their English 5 program and so is my son. Overall, I really like R&S and it is so inexpensive which is another positive. I am going to check it our more thoroughly. It sounds like exactly what we are looking for. Blessings, Lisa (and yes, I have read the WTM. Amazing book and source of information that I hope to be able to implement more down the road.)

Alana: You are a wealth of information. Thank you for being so generous with your time and response. I really appreciate the support. I am going to slow down as you have suggested and concentrate on getting him to narrate. I can tell you that these past two weeks have been an eye opener and have really confirmed my decision to homeschool. It goes to show you that grades (even from a wonderful private school) are not always a true level of academic success. I have found many areas of weakness that I never knew were so prominent. I have ordered Writing with Ease and hopefully it will arrive soon. Where do you suggest I start? At the third grade level? With regard to narration, do I write down what he says verbatim? Should I hold off completely on CW Aesop and just start him off with Writing with Ease for all his writing? He wrote a personal story that is all over the place. It was part of our R&S Lesson. Should I just ditch all other writing for now for WWE? Thank you, Alana, and all the others for the hand-holding. Overall, I am loving homeschooling so far. I have just adopted (2) 2 year olds and I realize that he has been getting the short end of the stick for some time now. I am enjoying our time together. Thank you for all the wonderful support. Lisa

Christina, your advice is very well received and comforting. You are right, I need to go back to basics in so many areas. Thank you for all your input. I am going to check out Writing with Ease. As for handwriting, we are not using a formal program. He writes cursive but his form is incorrect. With some letters he starts from the bottom up. He can be neat when he really applies himself. Anybody else?

Hi all: I am new to homeschooling this year. My son is a 5th grader and has attended private school since PK. He has been diagnosed with ADHD and it seems that aside from video games, cartoons and playing with his friends, he is not interested in much else. I want him to get excited about learning and I am not sure if it is my delivery, the curricula, learning deficits or just a blase attitude that I am dealing with. He is not non-compliant, just not engaged. Here is what we are doing daily: Bible: The Narrow Way (character training) is a bit boring in my opinion - any suggestions? Math: Saxon 7/6 w/Dive (He likes doing the problem sets on the whiteboard and does well) English - R&S5 (this is fine so far) Reading - PP Guide Island of the Blue Dolphins (he seems to like the book but really dislikes and has a terrible time answering any questions or with narration. It's as if it is not sinking in. He has a hard time getting his thoughts both out of his head and onto paper. We are also using Figuratively Speaking and it seems to be a bit over his head. History - Mystery of History (okay for him, he isn't overly thrilled). Memory cards are a bust as he simply cannot pull out key facts from the lessons. We are also reading Adam & His Kin to go along with this. He is not into it and I have to force him to read. I also have the DW tapes - again, not thrilled Science - Apologia Astronomy (this is fine so far) - we are only reading, not writing at all as, once again, he really struggles with writing. Spelling - Sequential Spelling (fine so far) We are also doing Art/Music one day a week and poetry memorization. I think in my quest for a well-rounded education, I lost sight of what is most important - meeting him where he is. I was under the impression that he was a lot farther along academically than where he actually is based on his prior grades (A/B student although last year he started to struggle more). From what I can see so far, he definitely has some sort of comprehension issue. He does not enjoy reading or being read to. Writing is also a very weak area (I have both IEW TWSS and SWI-B and Classical Writing Aesop but have yet to start either). I know I am all over the place with this post (tired and a bit stressed) but any pointers, advice and/or suggestions you have to offer would be greatly appreciated. Blessings!