HA! On the Sand Spurs. I posted here b/c I had a feeling it would be a TRASHY SB location! LOL. You guys have confirmed what hubs and I already thought. ;) Based on surplus of Hub's vacation time and my public schooler's schedule we are kind of stuck. We will be VERY mindful to do stuff earlier in the day to avoid the trashy college crowd.

PCB is on the list b/c I have family that lives there that I've never met. I'm not too worried about eating out. Our ASD son is on a strict diet and we will be packing all our freezer meals in with us. We will likely only eat out once or twice the entire week we are there. So not too worried about that traffic. I just checked and the house we are renting is about 3-5 miles from Laguna beach, so that sounds better. From reading all the comments we will be renting the house as opposed to some of the condos that were on my list.

Thanks. I'm not worried about sharks. And as far as the rip currents my almost 16 year old is a lifegaurd. He did all his training at the beach :) And I'm a really good swimmer. Good to be reminded though. We love the beach, just we are normally in NC or SC.

WHOA!!! Sounds like it will be thoroughly trashy during SB! I feel we are kind of stuck. :( For some reason my husband has ended up with a LOT of vacation time. He has nearly 4 weeks to use up by the end of May. It seems he has had some vacation time that has been rolling over for some time. He only gets 3 weeks a year and his year resets each "year" in June. We are really stuck going over SB b/c our autistic son is in public school. We went to the beach for a week in September-- NC where we live. then we took 2 days off in December for Great Wolf Lodge. He has been sick a few times so maybe missed 3-5 days. I just don't think he can miss anymore school, so I can't justify going any other time. So along with not feeling OK taking my 6.5 yr old out of school, my husband can't take any vacation time during the month of April. LOL! So basically we have a month of vacation to use up by May 31, but can't take off April other than the 2 days he had already requested. You guys have given me some good tips though. I guess we will just go and be hyper aware. I think hubby will need to read up on his conceal carry rights and see if his CCP is good for Fla.

We are planning to vacation at Panama City Beach, Fl at the end of March. We will be renting a house or condo very close to the beach. We are a family of 8, but have kids ages almost 16, almost 15, 11, 6.5 (w/ ASD), 4.5 --all boys and one 2.5 yr old girl. We want to do a few things while there, but we can't do big expensive day trips every day we are there. What must we see or do while there??? If free or low cost even better. ;) Thanks

Hello, I will be using SOTW 3 audio with my severely dyslexic 14 year old and dyslexic 10 year old. I have the audio set downloaded to their computer and plan to keep the CDs in my van. How do you keep up with what you kids read? I also have the SOTW 3 spine for my personal reference. I have the activity book and the test/review book. Are there more detailed lesson plans floating around? I have been using Sonlight for years and LOVE the IGs. I find them easy to use and keep track of our days. Any help would be appreciated.

I wasn't forcing him to read outside of tutoring and his controlled homework. We have always used Sonlight for most subjects and I read it all! His math was TEachibg textbooks- so limited reading there. We were my doing any sort of LA, just Barton. I think the issue just came from being an 11, 12, 13 yr old boy who is surrounded by print! He was feeling somewhat confident and tried carrying it over. Like I said somewhere above ps has pushed him in many ways. One thing has been good is seeing home advocate for himself be reminding/ expecting teachers to follow his IEP. He also has learned to use technology somewhat to his advantage. I am not sold on Barton, but all of you ladies have put a new fresh light on it. I was so burnt out from it and so was my son, I really wasn't even entertaining it. Still need to find an audio science program for him to do and feel he is more independent. Thanks for the input and encouragement.

I have definitely been wondering if we would have gotten more out of tutoring if I had sat in with him. I just couldn't do that with the littles and other kids with me. WOW OhElizabeth--- you asked a slew of questions I'm not fully sure of! As far as APD-- that came from the psychologist and then again from the SLP. It sounds like that isn't' an official diagnosis maybe b/c it wasn't don't by an audiologist in the booth. I've never thought about motor planning issues b/c once he finished ST just before he turned 6 he was speaking quite clearly. Our Barton tutor never mentioned needing LIPS training with him. (She did with my now 10 yr old.) You have really inspired me to give it some more thought. I think I've made Barton out to be this really hard and difficult process. Maybe it just seemed that way b/c life was such a struggle at the time. I always felt at a loss with doing his homework. I knew the pages, but I wasn't actively in the loop. I think his breakdown came from feeling very accomplished with Barton, to then trying to read other stuff, b/c well that is life, but he couldn't! I've talked to him a lot about it. He says he felt I was doing better last year while still seeing his tutor. :( I do think he has lost ground, but not a lot. I find he goes in spurts with his willingness to go with the flow and do the work. His handwriting is better from public school.. I guess just knowing it has to get done. I feel like PS has pushed him to try and read more--- I know that has pros & cons. As far as math-- that is a tricky question. He is slow at math. He is going into 8th and I'd say he might be 2 years behind. His real issue is he hasn't memorized his math facts, so it is painfully slow. He has to use his fingers or manipulatives or even just refer to his math fact sheets. The dr said we should just hand over the calculator b/c the goal is learning the process not the getting stuck on the the math facts! I am contemplating putting my 4 yr old in preschool, but I think it might be too late for the next year. I do like the idea though of being more flexible when we do his reading work. My house is fairly quiet in the afternoon. I could probably work an hour in there, if we were done with the rest.

REading all these responses really makes me think I missed the boat with Barton. Not, entirely, but I am a box checker. If our tutor sent home homework…which she did, we got it done! We saw her twice a week and the other 3 days we would average 30-60 minutes working through all the stuff she sent home. I was BORED out of my mind. He was bored too. He wasn't bored with her. I am so wishing I had been able to buy the sets or at least the tiles for more hands on work at home. Oh well…hindsight is 20/20. Are there any parents on here who are not OG trained or Barton trained? That has been my biggest worry that I would screw him up even more. I am terrified at branching out and really taking over doing this. But it is clear the PS with a room full of Wilson material isn't going to provide the services, so i need to get serious. And get husband on bored! Since we haven't done any formal reading in a year, and I HAVE LoE already, should we just dive in now? Or should I wait and make a real plan? If I go back to Barton, does he need to start at the beginning again? I know level 4 wouldn't be a good place to dive in! But do we start over since there has been a year gap?

Sorry-- missed this question initially. The biggest hurdle for homeschoolers claiming it is our kids have to have been in public school for the previous semester. Honestly, I was so burnt out from my 14 yr old & his high needs AND my son was deep into ASD (think ATEC score 130- non verbal, poo smearing, flight risk…it was a bad 2 years between Barton tutoring and balancing public school for my ASD son.) I was also BROKE. I mean I had spent $10,000 on Barton tutoring, diagnosis testing, gas, testing for my ASD son. We were broke!!! We figured we could suck it up for the semester and get everything lined up. In the end we left my 14 yr old in the entire school year, b/c I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. I needed time. So this past school year 3 or my 6 kids were in public school. I got to enjoy being with my 2 littles and not worry that the older kids were losing a day of school b/c I took them to the museum or park. It was a much needed mental break! The website for the grant is CRAZY. There is so much double talk. I have talked to the staff in the office and they seem nice and knowledgable. From the staff it really sounds quite straightforward. I buy my supplies and turn in receipts with explanation of what it was used for. I have a max of $3,000 per semester. The grant also covers electronic devices every 36 months. They do have a form for pre approval for larger ticket items, to cut down on issues later. I have only applied and been approved. I haven't turned in any receipts yet as I will be claiming it for the next school year for at least my 10 yr. If my husband consents, I will also be claiming for my 14 yr old. http://www.ncseaa.edu/CDSG.htm

I think he was frustrated b/c he could read the Barton material, but it was never moving over to real life. I think that is part of the Executive Memory Function. He would work hard and do great, and then the next day we would literally start over from what we did the day before. There was very little forward moving…well at least with any great pace. He did both evels 1 & 2 in about 8 months and then levels 3 & 4 took 8 mo each and he never really mastered the last few lessons on level 4. I already bought LoE for my 10 yr old that we are pulling out of public school also. My 10 yr old is making a lot of progress and his local school has been using Wilson & Success for all (don't remember exact name, it seemed very OG based. I really liked the lay out of it.) My son has had NO direct reading instruction this school year. PS was just too much and there wasn't enough time or energy left after homework was done to do more. :(

Sorry--- I was trying not to use names of my kids. My 14 yr old DOES NOT have ASD. I do think he has undiagnosed SPD, and I say that b/c my 6 yr old spent a lot of time dealing with SPD before he fully slipped into ASD. Anyway. My 14 yr old has visual & auditory dyslexia, auditory processing disorder, AD/HD, Irlen's syndrom (but that is a recent diagnosis), dysgraphia, dyscalculia…and I think that is everything! (And based on some recent genetic testing he has a slew of genetic issues that are likely contributing on a very deep cellular level. He also has 99% of the symptoms for Lyme disease, but need money to pursue testing!) How far did he get? He struggled the entire time with our tutor. I think the tutor was FABULOUS. She kept him very much engaged and moving forward. She had some issues with the AD/HD, but in general the behavior issues I see at home, never popped up there. I think I really got hard at about level 3. But honestly, Barton wasn't the first OG program we were using. It was just the first one I was paying a tutor to implement. I think by mid level 3 when all the blends showed up is when his Auditory Processing Disorder really kicked in. I think he truly can't hear the difference in many of the phonemes. He was in speech therapy until he was 5. He was a late talker-- 3.5 almost 4. When he did start talking he was very garbled. Looking back now I can see so many of the early warning signs. We left him in preschool an extra year b/c of his speech issues and his late birthday. So he was 6 when we really got to work homeschooling for K. I was using Sonlight LA, now I think it is too loose for LD kids. I was also using 100 Easy lessons. His older brother responded well to it, so I just assumed it would work again. We got to about lesson 60 and it was obvious he wasn't retaining anything. So we would start over. We started over 3 times before I gave up! (no flames please!) By that time he was 8 and I knew something was off. I asked around in my circles and no one knew anything. I just spun my wheels puttering and trying over and over again. I kept changing programs. By the time he was 10 I knew we weren't making any tangible progress. I was asking anyone I knew of any tutors. My bff saw a posting in the homeschool email loop for the lady that would become our tutor. My son started with her & Barton right before he turned 11. (I really wonder if he has just missed the window…to master reading.) I am just at a loss. I already have the LoE b/c i bought it for my 10 yr old. So I have already spent the money. I do have options of course with the special ed grant. I can buy what I want-- max $3,000 per semester. Honestly, going back to our previous tutor (who I do not think is the issue) isn't an option. She lives 30 minutes from my house. I end up driving an hour twice a week with several of my little kids in tow. It was such a disruption out our school those 2 years we did it. I mentally can't go back to that much driving. I am already driving my ASD 6 yr old to and from school everyday. Her price was $40 an hour. So even though I can get reimbursed for materials, I have to pay upfront for everything. I really need to buy whatever I'm buying with my husband's next quarterly bonus in August. Then I'll likely hold off ordering more for the winter semester until I get reimbursed from the state in December or January. I looked into a SLP working with him for his EF and APD, but our insurance won't cover it. At all. Nothing. We applied for Medicaid as secondary insurance. In my state if my primary doesn't cover it, medicaid doesn't have to cover it. So still…NOTHING. The 30 min session were going to be $80 with a cash discount. :( I can't afford that, even with being reimbursed later.

I didn't read all the comments so just sharing my experience. My then 3rd grader showed up at public school in November of his 3rd grade year. (Long extenuating family circumstances and LD issues, I couldn't deal with!) Anyway, when I dropped him off, I left a note for the teacher. I then followed it up with a more official letter OFFICIALLY requesting RTI and testing to determine LD needs and possibly IEP. At our school, once that is submitted in writing the teacher and necessary staff had 30 to acknowledge my request. They had 90 days to have all testing done and final IEP determination meeting. During that time, my son's teacher was AWESOME and was making a slew of "goodwill accommodations" but of course they weren't' legally binding. I also have a rising 8th grader, who was put in PS last year for 7th grade. We went to the public school and enrolled him in May before the school year was done. We walked in, with a very detailed and very new diagnosis-- less than 3 months old! I laid the groundwork that based on my son's medical & educational diagnosis, he needed an IEP in place or nearly in place by the time school started. BOOM-- we showed up several times during the summer to fill in a few tests that the PS needed. We had his final IEP determination meeting within 2 weeks of school officially starting in the fall! Teachers are legally bound by federal mandates to be looking for LD needs (sorry can't remember the exact term). HOWEVER, many teachers are just too overwhelmed and understaffed and under supported to see kids who fall in the in between. Oh, my kids would stood out like a sore thumb, but kids shoe are more in the grey area will not get the services they need if parents aren't pushy. Just my 2 cents! Do everything in writing. Send emails to several people at the school, not just child's teacher-- include curricula coordinator, principal, EC teacher--- don't skip anyone who might be in a position to step in and help.

Oh-- on a side note. Many families are sensitive to PERSON FIRST LANGUAGE. Example: My son with autism versus My autistic son. So however your word things the Politically correct way is person first. Do what you can to focus on the child first instead of needs first. (FTR-- I am not too picky, but many are!)

My 6 yr old has ASD. I think this is the coolest thing. He is mainstreamed in a 4 yr old preschool class at our church. Not sure how long my church will let him stay in that class. :) I'm hoping one more year, b/c next year his 4 yr old brother will be in that class. I really love our church and plan to be there for years to come. I like the idea of him and his little brother being in the same class for the next many years. he will always need an advocate and a sad fact of our life is we are already thing ink of grooming his little brother to be that advocate (or one of them). It sounds like you are doing a great job. My top concerns I try to share are FOOD-- don't feed him anything I didn't send! My son has limited verbal skills, so I do usually give the workers a heads up about that. While it isn't an issue for us now, a year ago, I would have worried about my son trying to dart off. I also would have worried about him being overwhelmed and over stimulated and then having a meltdown. My son also had a lot of bathroom issues-- not the usual he wets himself-- but more SPD issues. If the bathroom was too loud -- loud fan, flush or hand drier-- he would flip out and end up so confused and out of sorts. I know people want to be sensitive, but I think the more info you have, the better you can care for these kids and love these families. I don't mind sharing some info so that people can better care for my son. I don't know how to word that for others, but I doubt most families are worried about you using the right term. I can say this b/c we had to drop out of church for nearly 2 years other than Sunday morning b/c church was just too hard. If I had had someone at our church reaching out and asking how they could help, it would have been a life saver. I don't have any family here to help. I have 6 kids and life was just so overwhelming everyday for several years. I can't tell you how grateful I would have been to have had real support from my church. As it is, they have come around a lot, and things are better as my son has improved more and our church has become more aware of needs of SN families.