Did you use Worldview Software for your son? I was wondering what you thought?

Every now and then I read an article that really leaves me stunned by what is going on in our world. Today my husband sent me a link for another one. http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/08/private_school_vs_public_school_only_bad_people_send_their_kids_to_private.html This one just makes me utterly grateful that we homeschool. Do not read if you have blood pressure issues. It could easily raise your blood pressure to dangerous levels. If parents sending their kids to private schools are morally bad, then homeschoolers must be down right EVIL. :willy_nilly: :eek: :banghead:

I'd be willing to try this. Heck, I'd be willing to try just about anything. My son has NO focus. It drives him crazy and me too. I'm beginning to think about medicating him. He is constantly off in la-la-land. We have resisted meds, it was one of the main reasons we chose to HS because we knew he would be lost in school. He doesn't jump up or run around, he just instantly goes off into another world.

I will definitely be able to implement that next year. Thanks for posting.

I don't know if this will be helpful to anyone or not at this point, but I wanted to explain why I chose this over IEW and how it has been working out so far. The verdict is still out on the whole curriculum, but if it helps someone's writing phobic child, then it will be worth the effort. I think most are familiar with IEW now, so I won't go into to much detail about it except to contrast the differences with WITS as I see it. IEW was going to have my son create a key word outline of a fairly large-sized paragraph. He would know from the start that he would be expected to write a paragraph about this passage. I was concerned that he would balk at the size of the paragraph when he went to read it and then it would go down hill from there. I was afraid he would be intimidated by the program from the get go. This is where WITS seemed to have an advantage for my child. It starts very small and builds from there. (It is also flexible enough that you could start at a more challenging level if that was more appropriate for your child.) How does it work??? Picture a domino tile. This is the size of a WITS tile. The tiles are full of symbols for your child to use as an aid for what they need to remember when writing. The edges of each tile are grooved to remind the child to indent each paragraph. The tile has pictures of lightbulbs on it which represents a sentence--a sentence is an idea and your chid's sentence is his/her "bright idea." Each lightbulb has 6 rays coming off the top of the lightbulb to represent the six kinds of sentences (who, what, where, when, why and how). The wide, top part of the light bulb represents the need to CAPITALIZE the first letter of each sentence. The black base of each lightbulb represents the need for punctuation at the end of each sentence. The lightbulbs are raised pictures so the child has a textile sensation when he fondles the tile. The lightbulbs are colored to represent the types of sentences. For example, "who" sentences are represented by purple lightbulbs. The logic being "Who" most often refers to people, people/purple, "p." So to use the tiles: The first tile has 2 purple lightbulbs and 1 yellow on it. The theme of the tile is crating a "Who" paragraph. The child begins by brainstorming "Who" words for a person. You can choose anything of interest to your child for the topic. They typically brainstorm about 10 nouns that show "who" their "person" is or key characteristics of them. They they use their list to create 5 simple sentences that tell who their person is. Typically these sentences will use linking verbs. The next step is that the child constructs a 3 sentence paragraph using the ideas from their sentences and/or from their word list. The third sentence is supposed to be a "what" sentence that also illustrates "who" the person is. It will often use an action verb to convey this. After they have worked on the first paragraph, they edit their paragraph. This is the time in which we discuss order of ideas, varying sentence type and structure, adding adjectives etc. From the beginning of WITS, it is emphasized that editing is an integral part of the writing process. We discuss, but the child is responsible for creating the edited content. For reference, this is taken verbatim from my son's writing notebook--minus the atrocious handwriting and spelling mistakes. :001_smile: This is the 5th paragraph he has written using WITS. He remembered without my telling him, to capitalize and use punctuation. That in itself is a MIRACLE. He is in 3rd grade and just turned 9 a few days ago. Very bright child who is writing phobic--just shy of breaking out in hives when required to hold a pencil. EXAMPLE: Who--Avengers Brainstorming Nouns: Hulk, Bruce Banner, haymaker, superhero, Avenger, comic book character, brute, scientist, protector, gamma radiation Sentence Forming: 1-Hulk's real name is Bruce Banner. 2- He is a super hero. 3- He is a haymaker. 4-He is an Avenger. 5- Bruce is a scientist. First Paragraph: The Hulk's name is Bruce Banner. He is a haymaker. Bruce is a scientist. Final Paragraph: Bruce Banner, a scientist is the Hulk. He is a haymaker. The Incredible Hulk smashes everything.

Shannon--I did not go to the workshop because I spent over an hour with the woman who created the curriculum. She walked me through it step by step. I asked her about the seminar and she said that she wouldn't be able to go into as much depth as she had done with me, so I skipped it. I too was very impressed with the curriculum and purchased it. My son gives new meaning to the phrase "reluctant writer" so I knew that I needed to try something "different" from a traditional approach to writing instruction. I went to the conference fully intending on purchasing IEW and went home with this instead. I have been using it with my son since we came home and thus far, it is EXTREMELY promising. He enjoys it (Alleluia!) and seems to be making steady progress.

Has anyone out there seen and/or used the Wits writing idea tiles manipulatives by Write Minded Education, Inc? I'm currently at the Greenville HS Conference and the product seems like it would be an excellent step for my extremely reluctant writer. I'm hoping to tap into a little of the hive's collective wisdom. I would greatly appreciate any thoughts or comments which you could offer on this product. Thanks!

I've been wanting to take a look at it for months, but have never been able to find a copy. Thanks for the link. I got the last one from a Prime seller so I didn't even have to pay for shipping. I figure that for less than $20, we can't go wrong. I'm sure we'll get something out of it even if it doesn't prove to be a good fit for us. I appreciate the "heads up."

I have to agree with Jaz, Times Tales is AWESOME!!!!!! I have written a review of the program that explains their concept better than I could here. I was shocked by how quickly and effectively TT worked for my son. I didn't know if he would ever learn his multiplication facts until we tried TT. Worked like a charm! http://neweducationexplorers.blogspot.com/

My daughter (11) is also an avid reader and excellent writer (except for her atrocious spelling). Like her mother, she couldn't spell her way out of a paper bag. We tried SS last year. It seemed really promising since she was clearly NOT a naturally gifted speller. It did not go very well and she really did not like the program. For whatever reason, she was not able to retain the patterns that she was supposed to be absorbing. She did like the fact that the daily lessons were quick. But I found that she needed to be "tested" much more frequently then the program recommended. She had way too many "gaps" in what she had learned otherwise. Much to her chagrin I also continued to test her on words she continuously misspelled from week to week. It would take FOREVER before there would be improvement on the ones she kept missing. But the whole point is to actually learn how to spell, so it was not an overall success for us. This year we tried Spelling Workout Level G. It has been a much better fit for us. She works on 20 words a week that have some sort of a logical connection whether it be a Latin/Greek root or a suffix etc. This allows her to be a little more consistent in her spelling and more successful. I give her a pre-test for each group of words. If she knows them, we skip the lesson and move on to the next. I plan on using the next book next year. Good Luck! (As an aside, I am a horrific speller and an attorney. Thanks to the beauty of spell check, I can avoid looking like a complete moron USUALLY, but not always. Thank goodness for technology. I do, however, avoid handwriting anything at all costs. Try not to let your daughter get too discouraged. It can be extremely frustrating for an intelligent person to struggle with spelling.)

I would definitely tell you to go to the High if your daughter is into art. A large portion of it is modern art. They have an audio headset tour for kids which is extremely helpful to explain the exhibits. Depending on your child, the adult audio tour may well be appropriate as well. I listened to the adult and had my DD listen to specific ones when I thought she would like it. You have already been given a list of the really good ones: Fernbank, Atlanta History Center, Coke, Carlos Museum, CNN, Cyclorama and Stone Mountain. They are all good choices, especially given the age of your daughter. The only thing that no one seems to have mentioned yet is the Lake Lanier Christmas Lights that starts on November 16th. I would definitely avoid the Kids Museum, your daughter is too old for this one. Unless there is a show she is really interested in, I would also avoid the Center for Puppetry Arts, given her age. As for the zoo, we are members. We go all the time. That being said, if you live in a big city and go to the zoo all the time. Skip it. There are other things which would give you a more unique experience that you may want to do first.

Here is a link to a national map which shows the state by state voter identification requirements. http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections/voter-id.aspx I think the map has some very interesting patterns. Obviously from the heated responses on this issue, it can become quite political. The voter ID requirements map reflects some of the same patterns that the political pundits have been projecting for election results, etc. It is kind of interesting.

Think of how much more laundry we would have to do if we had more than two kids. As it is, I wish we would have a "Naked Day," so that for once when the last article was clean, folded and put away the laundry bin would stay empty for more than an hour. :tongue_smilie: I have always wondered how much milk, cereal and other staples large families go through. I imagine it is mind-blowing--especially once they have teenaged boys who could easily eat a horse.

Voted!

Voted. Good Luck!

I sometimes long for more babies, but the risk of mine having no mother at all was too great to take. So we will be blessed with two. However, when I see a baby in a carrier at the grocery store etc., it always produces a sigh of longing for the new baby small etc. However, once you no longer have to wipe someone's butt, it is a refreshing (pun intended) stage of life. If there were any more individuals living in this house, I cannot imagine the mess and chaos we would endure. I have my hands full trying to figure out how to be personally responsible for the education of two. So, I guess it was all part of the THE PLAN. But still the longing persists...

It's a shame you didn't make friends that day, but then again, with friends like that... who would need enemies? You sure don't want to go out of your way to cultivate nosy, busy-bodies that don't know enough to respect you and your boundaries. But of course, you wouldn't want a woman like that going around and gossiping about you and your family. Grr!

Well wasn't this a cheery answer! I have this problem as well. Nice to know I'm old and maybe fat too. Just Kidding! I assumed it was another bonus of hitting my 40s. Oh Joy!

I am clearly not a doctor, but I have had more experience with this virus than I wish. The coxsackie virus is a HUGE family of viruses. True hand foot and mouth disease is just one branch of this particularly nasty family of viruses. Coxsackie viruses are characterized by the canker sores all in the mouth and throat, fever etc. True hand foot and mouth disease is typically more severe and has the tell-tale rash and the hands and feet. AVOID EXPOSURE TO THIS AT ALL COSTS! My dd had H,F & M when she was a toddler. She was sick as a dog for 10 days. We had to go to the ER to ensure that her throat was still open because she would not swallow. She was on Tylenol 3 with Codeine for a week because the pain was that bad. My husband then got it and was out of work for a week. He was beyond miserable. He lost 10 pounds with this virus. (To me that would be the only silver lining. :lol:) Luckily I had H,F & M when I was a teen, so I didn't get it. My son has had several variations of the coxsackie, but he has never had true H, F & M so at least it wasn't as severe. My dd has had several other coxsackie illnesses, but never as severe as when it was H, F & M. I personally feel that as parents, we inadvertently infect other people's children enough as it is. To knowingly expose someone is the height of rudeness and thoughtlessness. I would be furious if someone did this to our family.

I am so sorry! I cannot even imagine how difficult things have been and are for your family. I have never forgotten the anguish of a mother who begged the court and the psychologists for help for her child. For the her own safety, she slept behind a dead-bolted door with a cell phone in her hand-- her child was that dangerous. If only there was a magic fix...

I think you may misunderstand my point. Judges try to be very careful not to put kids who have brain farts with the thuglette criminals. They bend over backwards and try to be creative to avoid doing just that. (I may be generalizing, but I find it hard to imagine that our county is the only one with conscientious judges.) They even try to keep them segregated in holding cells while waiting for court if they can. Our judges do tended to lock up brain fart, bad-attitude kids in holding cells at the courthouse in the morning and then hold the kid's hearing after lunch. It was amazing the transformation. It was like a mini-courthouse version of "Scared Straight." These kids were the vast MINORITY. The MAJORITY of kids in the Juvenile system are on the fast track to nowhere, except prison. The girl in the other post who was cutting a 3 year olds hair, also was making terroristic threats and it also sounded like she was stalking another child. That is not a simply case of kids pulling pranks. That kind of behavior should be waving a red flag---manipulative, controlling, lack of empathy, sadism perhaps... That kid is majorly headed in the wrong direction and clearly will not be straightened out with her mother's guidance (based on her comments).

I must respectfully disagree with you. In my experience the arbitrary label of "kids" does not distinguish whether or not one is a "criminal." As a prosecutor in both Juvenile Court and Superior Court, I had 20 year old "felons" who were really just kids who had a brain fart and 14 year old "kids" were were hard-core, cold, seriously dangerous criminals. The vast majority of kids that I saw in Juvenile Court were just biding time until they were 17 and hit Superior Court (for criminal law in GA, you are considered an "adult" at 17). I am not talking about "pranks" or typical "bullying." I am talking about Aggravated Assault, Rape, Robbery, Child Molestation, Arson, Felony Cruelty to Animals-- truly bad stuff. These "children" would laugh at the judge because they knew the worst thing they could be sentenced to was 90 days in Boot Camp. They had been there, done that and were not afraid to go back. I'm not trying to pick apart your statement, but you can't "put them with criminals" unless you acknowledge that they are indeed "criminals." Kids are held in detention with kids--Thuglettes among thuglettes. We had genuine serial-killer-in-the-making sociopaths in Juvenile Court. They would have mental evaluations by psychologists. The psychologists would explain when questioned that the child met every criteria for the diagnostic label of "sociopath" but was not old enough under their criteria to be labeled a "sociopath." So did that make the kid any less dangerous? Would there be a magic transformation on his birthday that would turn him into a "sociopath" now that he was old enough to be officially labeled one? Obviously this is just my opinion, but I firmly believe that there are indeed "kids" who get in trouble. They are the ones that juvenile court was originally set up to help. But there are also "criminals" who just happen to still be juveniles. For them, the system is wholly inadequate.

Our Girl Scout troop was earning its Bronze Award this spring by doing community service at the SPCA. I quickly realized that this was a problem because apparently the SPCA is on the state approved community service list for state court. (At least the girls were only around drunks, druggies and wife beaters as opposed to worse. Eeh gads!) My co-leader and I watched our girls like hawks while we were volunteering. Luckily we had no problems and the girls were unaware of why other people were "volunteering." As a prosecutor, I always included CS as part of my sentences. But I often targeted the CS to picking up trash on the highway etc. My philosophy was that whether they liked it or not, they would be forced to give of themselves to their community for a change. For those brief hours, they were no longer parasites living off their community. I think Community Service needs a name change when it refers to punishment or recompense. Perhaps, Required Community Reparation... That way we could distinguish true Community Service where one willing volunteers their time for the benefit of others because they want to contribute to the betterment of the world and their own community.

Juvenile Court is set up for exactly this type of case. The original intent behind JC was to get kids back on track before they became adults and the consequences became life-altering. Unfortunately Juvenile Court is handling cases that are true adult felonies: Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Battery, Vehicular Homicide, Burglary, Robbery etc. The available punishments in JC do not fit the heinous nature of many of the felonies that are being perpetrated by juveniles. The goal of JC is the rehabilitation of the child and the court looks at the whole child, family circumstances etc. in deciding what is in the child's best interest. Punishment while often a factor, is not the purpose of JC, rehabilitation is the goal. (As opposed to Superior Court where an adult felon's sentence is determined by the facts of the case, prior criminal history and victim impact statements. Punishment is the focus and Rehabilitation, if any were to occur, would be an added bonus.) I was a prosecutor in Juvenile Court for six months in an Atlanta Metro county. Six months was the average rotation because burn-out was so high. These "families" are so unbelievably messed up that it is demoralizing. In GA, parents are required to be present for a delinquency hearing or the child has a guardian ad litem appointed for them. Often the state will be paying for a defense attorney and a guardian for the child because the parents can't be bothered to deal with their own children. Within minutes of the parent speaking regarding the incidents for which the children were before the court it was glaringly obvious what was so screwed up in the home that would lead the child down this delinquent path. The deficiencies always fell into at least one of three categories: 1) Love; 2) Nurturing or 3) Discipline. Often it would be a combination of these three things. It was so very rare to have a kid from a good home who just had a brain fart and gave into peer pressure to shoplift or break into a car etc. On average, we had 60 delinquent children four days a week. (The last day was reserved for trials.) We averaged about 1 good kid from a decent family a month. Due the math on that... 1 good family out of 960 losers! Usually they were well on their way with their chosen path of being life-long criminals. I recognized many 17-19 year old felons as kids I had prosecuted in JC. This is why it was so utterly draining. It sucked your soul dry. Amen. Judges are extremely limited in available consequences for juveniles if they want to use incarceration. In GA JC, the maximum available punishment is 90 days in Boot Camp. That covers every offense including Murder (when the offender is younger than 13 which unfortunately does occur). When you have a thuglet in front of you and you know the child will be coming back again and again, judges need to get creative to get the kid's attention. Locking a kid up for 90 days for cutting a child's hair is not proportional to any available punishment for the the kid who stabbed another, committed armed robbery, committed child molestation etc. JC is a system in great need of reform because unfortunately the offenses being committed by juveniles are truly horrific. Their crimes are just as depraved as any adult felon. Sometimes they are even worse because kids have not matured enough to deal with their anger, rages and sexual impulses. They also have the "superman" complex where they believe nothing bad will ever happen to them so of course, they won't ever get caught. They lack the maturity to see the foreseeable results of their actions. Congratulations for choosing the harder path of not bailing out your children. You are allowing them to understand the consequences of their behavior before they have utterly destroyed their future. You are allowing them the opportunity to "get it" so that they can become law-abiding adults. I think one of the reasons why our society is so messed up is that no one accepts responsibility for their conduct. Covering up for your child and "getting them off" does not serve their best interests in the long run. IMO.

So, sweet!!!! But now I want to get another cat which won't work for our family right now. (Big Sigh!) Can't even imagine how they can sleep piled up on one another.