One thing you may want to remember is that he is 12. Disrespectful behaviors are common for ALL children, not just Aspies, at that age. It is just that Aspies behavior are more severe because they don't process emotions in the same way as a typical child would. We sometimes forget that. Perhaps your DH and you should consult a developmental pediatrician or a psychologist who specializes with children on the spectrum. They may help you develop a behavior plan for your son. Also, are you part of a support group? Sometimes talking to parents with Aspies who go to PS and special schools as well as homeschoolers helps you realize that this is normal behavior for all spectrum kids and not just your child because he is homeschooled.

I have replaced reading passages for the ones in the book occasionally. Sometimes, we read through WWS and do the narration or outline together. Then later that day, he does a narration/outline for history or science. I stuck close to the text in the beginning, but as I saw what SWB was looking for I began giving other texts for him to do.

My 10 yo ds loved The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler and The Second Mrs. Gioconda by E. L. Konigsberg. Others Ideas: Sign of the Beaver Bridge to Terabitha Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH Johnny Tremian

I am starting my 10 yo son on the first week of WWS. He was in a Classical Christian school for 3 years using Vertitas. I am trying to decide if he needs WWE 4 or if we can do WWS 1 and extra outlining and narrating and outlining in other subjects to strenghten the summary skills. I am doing WWS on M-W-F and other narrations and writing on TU-TH. So these are the day one and day three narrations: Day 1: The Pepins awoke to see toads in their shoes. They checked their neighbors shoes and found toad in their shoes too. The Pepins and their neighbors did not what to do. Day 3: Peter the great set out yo conquer Azov so they could trade. The Turks refused to surrender. The Russians built a navy to fight the Turks. After a long battle on the sea and on land, the Russians won. I know I am going to back him go back and put [so Russia could trade with the West]. He hates to write and writes slowly. He tries to cut corners by adding pronouns when every possible. I am trying to break that habit. His old school had a lot of writing in Q & A worksheets and he picked up the habit of using pronouns finish on time. Besides that - do you think he needs to add more details or are these narrations a good starting point. My plan was to do the first three weeks over 4-6 weeks,add additional narrations from Writing with Ease Instructor's Text, and narrations from other subjects on off days. Does this seem plausible or should I go back to WWE this year? Jill

I am using it alone during the summer months. I am going to start Math Mammoth, grade 5 next week (when the year "officially" begins). Then he will do 2 pages of Math Mammoth (M-Th), a notebook page, and 30 minutes of Khan Academy at the end of day for "homework". When I do that I will guide the exercises toward what we are learning in textbook. If there are other areas that interest him - I'll add those in when the schedule allows.

My 10 yo son spends 30 minutes a day on the site and does a notebook page in a spiral bound notebook. I can look at the vital stats on his site and see and where he is starting and struggling. I go to those exercises and click on show the next 10 problems and write down 5-10 problems on the one notebook page. I also write down any videos I want him to watch (either with me or without me). He starts math by completing a notebook page assignment then shows me the completed worked. We review it. Then he does Khan Academy. He can answer the problems he did in the notebook and then tries the next few problems. Then he can spend the rest of the time doing anything on the site. Every few weeks I start him on a new concept on the knowledge map. He watches videos with me and then starts the problems. Once I feel he knows a concept, we will move on. Some concepts like long division and multiplying multiple digits I review once or twice a week just improve speed and mastery. Also, we sometimes review a exercise before starting the next step. For example we reviewed adding and subtracting negative numbers before starting learning the new concept absolute value.

Could any ladies answer these questions? 1 How do you pre-order Writing with Skill 1? 2. When does the pdf form come out? 3. What is the cost for the student and teacher's guide? 4. Who do you contact at PHP about it? Thanks

I have a friend who is a retired language arts specialist. He strongly encourages using cursive a lot in the lower grades and middle school. First, it is less exhausting. Writing in sweeping movements is less physically strenuous that the constantly picking up the pencil/pen for block printing. So you can write longer in cursive than in printing, which will be important when a student is doing high school and college level work. Secondly, once they have mastered cursive, which may take several years, you can write faster in cursive that standard printing. [Arch, which studies have show printing is faster? I was taught that cursive was always faster.]

So very sad. It brings homes the cost of our freedom.

Thanks for the input!

Devin hated the constant drill and review of Saxon. (I am not complaining about Saxon - I think it is a wonderful program) It just was not enough to keep my son engaged. I was wondering about Math Mammoth. I looked at the samples I was wondering if it was self teaching, because Devin loves Khan Academy for that very reason. Does Math Mammoth have tests to administer? I want to keep giving him a test in math every 2-3 weeks. Thanks Jill

Good morning all, I have a just one area (Math) left to figure out for my rising 5th grader. Here is the background-- We homeschooled my 10yo DS until second grade. I got a job (which we needed) and couldn't homeschool him anymore. He was at a classical Christian school for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade. He did very well at school (they mostly used VP's curriculum). However, he was bored much of the time. [it has nothing to do with the teachers or curriculum - I think it had to do with class dynamics and they didn't focus on the areas that he excelled in -Math and Science] Also, I was concerned with his poor writing and spelling skills. So I sat down with him and we listed what he liked and disliked at school. The one area he really disliked was the Saxon math . I think it was too repetitive for him (the drill and kill argument) and went a little to slow for him. Also, he is the kind of kid who wants to master a concept and move on. Saxon has a more learning a little bit at a time approach. He was good in math (usually A's on the report cards) but he didn't like math as he did when he was homeschooled. I want him to enjoy math again because of his strong bend towards science and he will need strong math skills for science. So-- now that you have a basic idea of the background. We need a non-Saxon math program for a quick/gifted learner and not time intensive. I would like a program that takes less than 30 minutes a day because he wants to keep doing Khan Academy online 9which he loved because he goes at his own pace). I did look at some of the computer based math curricula, but they are too expensive and I feel Khan Academy is enough computer based math. I want a book based curriculum that will cover the 5th grade level material in case we decide to send him back to another school next year. Thank you for your responses in advanced ladies - Jill

My DS is 10 years going into 5th grade. My son is transitioning from Shirley grammar at a classical Christian school. I love that he knows the parts of speech and basic diagramming of a sentence, but it doesn't translate to actual writing. The reason I picked WWS/ALL is because SWB focuses on the writing process in small step by step bites. Once DS understands a skill in WWS I can add to the literature, science, or history to help him perfect the skill. I'll try to make comments when we start WWS on the Logic Writing sub thread once we start. Jill

I plan to spend the first 5-6 weeks on part one of WWS (basic skills). After completing the first three weeks, I will work closely with him start him as he starts narrating a literature book (a chapter a day) and outlining a science or history book (probably a book from the New True series at the start). These will become a daily assignment each day to complete during during his independent time. I will pick the library books for weeks 4 - 6, but after that, I will let him choose from a list of literature books and history/science topics at the library. After that, I will alternate between the WWS and ALL for five days a week until the PDF is available for both. I am not worried about finishing WWS and ALL this year because we will probably be in the same situation next year. The books will most likely come out the fall/winter and I'll just finish off this year's books next fall then start up on the level 2 books when they come out. Jill

I teach Latin at a classical Christian School that uses Veritas. My fellow teachers modify the lessons to suit their classes' needs and abilities, but I can give a basic overview of how the lessons usually work. The student should complete a Bible card and History card each week. Each card comes with a question and answer worksheet, 1-2 extra activity sheets and a weekly test. Usually the students complete the Q & A worksheets (which are kept in a notebook) on Mondays and Tuesdays - they complete one card on Mondays (Bible for example) and one card on Tuesdays (History). A student can complete both in one day, but that is a lot of writing (4-5 pages in upper grades). If your child can complete them in one day that just means there is more time to activities during the week. Then on Wednesdays and Thursdays, they review the Q&A worksheets and the memory songs. Next, they work on an activity in each subject. They may do just one activity over two days or one each day depending on the speed and abilities of the students. Don't think you can or should complete ALL the activities for each card. Some of the activities are better for advanced or more independent learners and some are better for students who need more teacher led work. They also do projects using the nonfiction resource books. This gives the teacher a lot of flexibility about how to implement the lesson. You add the literature connections through the school year while you are studying the history. For example, my son read from d'Aulaire's Greek Myths and Black Ships before Troy while studying ancient Greece and Detectives in Togas at the start of studying ancient Rome and he will read one more before the end of the school year about Pompeii and I think one dealing with the Nicene Creed. Usually the teachers alternate a history literature book with the core literature books (Homer Price, Misty of Chincoteague, Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe) Personally, I like the variety of classic childrens' literature and history linked books. Starting in the third grade, the student's also do book reports on the history and literature books that they do not do as an entire class. I figure my son will have read 10 of the literature books and 6-7 of the history books by the end of the school year. The reading rate is usually 1-2 chapters a day. Some done during school and some assigned as homework. My son is an excellent reader and could easily do double this amount without much struggle. But a struggling reader could just read the core literature books and easy level reading books and still have an excellent base reading/ literature program. I hoped this helped to explain Veritas works Jill