I want my kids to have some knowledge of the many, many different world religions and customs. I was thinking along the lines of the links below, but not sure which would be a good start. Without offending anyone, hope I can word this... I'm looking for something relating to history, but something that talks about each belief openly, without a focus on one over the other, or one being "right" or "truth". http://www.amazon.com/One-World-Many-Religions-Worship/dp/0679839305/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1297691538&sr=1-3 http://www.amazon.com/Usborne-Encyclopedia-World-Religions-Internet-Linked/dp/0794510590/ref=pd_sim_b_2 http://www.amazon.com/World-Religions-Faiths-Explored-Explained/dp/0756617723/ref=pd_sim_b_2

I was going to link to this, but wasn't sure of linking rules here!

You should find out if the respiratory therapist you're working with uses CPAP. I've found that if they have never needed one, they're clueless. I've never used nasal pillows since I'm a mouth breather. What exactly do you have? I can look to see if there is a common problem with that particular one. As for not getting enough air, that's a pressure issue. How well do you know your machine? Do you know your pressure? Starting pressure? Do you have/use the ramp feature?

I have to say that I am amazed at the support on this board, and love it! Thanks sooooo much. This is going to be kept a "secret" until the kids are registered, this way there is no decision debate. Just that the kids ARE attending connections academy, already registered, and school starts on x day. I've been working with dd on some responses to people, especially family. This is also one of the times I'm thankful for ds's language delay! LOL. His standard response to all questions is "I don't know" or "I forgot". Getting my father involved with some field trips sounds like a great idea! As for the SM; she has her school to run, I have kids to raise.

I'm single, which is of course a whole 'nother issue with my family!

I have and LOVE my CPAP! I use a full face mask. It took a few months to past the pain on the bridge of my nose, but it's all wonderful now! ETA: I have to go food shopping, so I'll add more when we get home.

And yes, you're right that this isn't about HSing. It's about every decision I make being wrong. This is one of the reasons I chose to move 3 hours away when the opportunity arose.

I've managed to become a pretty decent advocate with regards to schools and Drs, so I guess it's time to stand up to my family. Thankfully, we live 3 hours apart, but when he visits it's an overnight affair! It may also be time to toss ds's behavior therapist who doesn't like to accept parent opinions. Thank you for all the wonderful responses! I'm gonna need a LOT of dip! LOL

Thank you for your response. Should I teach my kids to do the same? My father visits about every 3 weeks, and usually manages to throw comments around about everything. When he leaves, it takes at least a week to get dd over her attitude and start listening to ME again. I've tried having "conversations" about how he steps on my toes and to please not say things to or in front of my kids, but it doesn't even make it in his ears... it just bounces off! LOL

I am going to pull my kids next year from regular PS to start cyber PS. I hope it will be a jumping off point to HSing them, but if cyber works, that's fine too. Family dynamics will add some serious emotional stress to all of this. So I'm wondering if everyone can give me some responses to spit out when the time comes? I'm dealing with my father who has literally said "why don't you just get over yourself?" when the topic of HSing came up. I'm also dealing with a high school principal step mother who is a great debater. When you walk away from a debate (or conversation as she would call it), you realize she made no sense, had no idea what she was talking about, yet somehow still won! Why can't I just leave them in normal school? Why do I think I can do a better job than the trained teachers? (keep in mind that I did not teach my ds to talk, he needed speech, he has some behavioral problems, and he gets title I reading in school, so I have yet to do a "perfect" job with him) Why can't anything with the kids be normal? (they both have some special needs, so they've seen their share of Drs) If I can't keep my home in perfect shape, how can I expect to teach the kids? I'll probably have some more as I think, if that's okay! *I do realize that they can't physically get in the way of my choice with my children, but I'd sure like to have some good answers for them to think about! Thanks!

I have two children, both currently in regular PS. I've been trying to get some after/before school/weekend things done, but it never seems to work. I'm looking for some advice. My dd (10, 4th grade) is pretty easy right now. I make sure we always have books around, and she tends to read 2-3 books per week. I'm also doing HWT cursive with her, but it's very slow going as well as some basic math facts. My ds (6, 1st grade) is my bigger concern. He is developmentally delayed, but borderline everything, so he doesn't get too much help in school. He's in a regular class. I've been trying to get him to work on singapore math, but we're at the Kindergarten A level, so he's falling behind more in school. In school they're using Everyday Math, but even if I spent all our time focusing on that, it still moves waaaay too fast for him. He also needs more reading help, so we use HOP. It's also slow going because every time he runs across a difficult page, he bails on me and will not touch it for a week or more. He has no patience, no tolerance for frustration, and doesn't like to try. Our last area is HWT. It is very likely that he has a physical reason for not being able to write, but until we figure out what it is, I push just a little for him to practice. They are out of the house from 8am-3pm. DS gets up at 6am, but goes to bed at 6:30-7pm. Between the afterschool meltdown transition time, the need for dinner, baths, HW, etc., and only being 1 adult I can't figure out where to squeeze things in! DD gets up with just enough time to shower and get ready for school, and usually reads in bed from bedtime (8) until about 10pm, so I can't justify getting her up earlier for anything. Any advice on how to get these subjects into our lives consistently?

How about the guy from LA Idol auditions! I'm off to find his name ...

Total 80. So 80/2=40, so 4.0, 4th grade

Sorry to hijack! I just tested both of my children with this link, and was wondering what to do now? LOL. What do these numbers tell me? My 10y/o 4th grader tested at 8.7 :D. What books should she read? My 6y/o 1st grader, who has had title I reading since September tested at 0.9. He may have been able to get only slightly higher had he been willing to try, but it only would have gotten him a few words from the second list. What should I get him for reading?!?! I read to him all the time, as does my daughter, but we have no books that he can read alone :blushing:.

I completely forgot this! We recently moved, so all my SpEd experience has been in a different state. I will have to look into this.

I only use the workbook and the teacher's book. The teacher's book will give other ideas, like writing in sand or shaving cream.

All numbers are written in the uppercase boxes. If you go back to the earlier HWT book, Letters and Number for me (orange I think) and reteach in the order written, you may be able to toss the reversals.

I truly meant to include some curriculum questions! LOL. To cross-post, do I just retype and mention that it is here as well? On to the questions; Does anyone do/use cyber school? I'm considering Commonwealth Connections Academy. It's public school, so no tuition. I know that HSing my son would take quite some time to get into, and I honestly do not know where he stands academically or even cognitively. I hate that I've spent his 6 years focusing and pointing out his weaknesses and begging "systems" (early intervention, schools, etc) for help. I don't know what he's good at. I don't know what his strengths are. :crying:. I think this is partly because evaluations will state his strengths in a testing way as opposed to his "how he learns" strengths. I feel I "need" the services he qualifies for through PS, especially speech and language therapy. Does anyone teach different religions? Is there a multi-belief curriculum? I try to expose my kids to all belief systems. I do not have spiritual beliefs, and am trying to teach my kids to think and question everything, in a respectful way. Can anyone recommend a language arts curriculum for a language delayed boy? He was non-verbal until 2, and did not have functional lagnuage until about 3.5. He is now verbal, can have a conversation, etc., but it still very delayed when compared to boys 5-7 years old.

I'm new to this forum, but I hope my response is still "accepted". I could probably go on for many pages about HWT. HWT teaches the letters in a developmentally appropriate way. Uppercase, simple stroke through lowercase, more complex letters. When there are words to practice, the words ONLY include letters already taught, which is a problem I had run into with other programs. The box format for uppercase nearly eliminates reversals, and makes number writing "easier". Every graphic in the book is printed left to right which is (obviously) how we read and write. The graphics are black and white, not distracting. It encourages quality over quantity. There is ample space for copying. My 6yo hates any kind of writing. He didn't even color until he was 5! He will usually, willingly complete 2 pages of HWT at a time. He'll write neat, use the lines, and not have a tantrum about it.

I have no idea how I found this forum (probably searching for math help), but I love it! I have 2 amazing kids ages 10 and 6, currently in regular public school. My 10 year old daughter is in 4th grade. I've known that she has "issues" with reading comprehension, but I've just noticed that her spelling and grammar skills are that of a PS 4th grader :rolleyes:. My 6 year old has a joke of an IEP and is in 1st grade. He is in a regular class with a billion other kids, has speech therapy one time per week if the SLP decides to see him, has occupational therapy once per week, and no academic goals. He also qualified for Title I reading. It is now quite obvious that regular PS is not for him. He recently had a math (they use Everyday Math) test and got 2 right out of 12! I refer to PS as "regular" PS, because I'm strongly considering using a cyber school that is PS in our state. I'm not sure if this will be a jumping off point for homeschooling, or if it will work for us long term. At home, I (very seldom) use singapore math, HOP, and handwriting without tears (HWT) with the 6yo. I have to find more I like for my daughter, but I aslo encourage HWT cursive, lots of choice reading, and basic math facts practice as often as possible. Unfortunately with them being out of the house for 7 hours, and my little one only being awake for 12 hours, it makes supplementing very difficult. I would love to just pull them out and homeschool, but some family dynamics make that close to impossible. I look forward to "meeting" everyone here!