As I've been working on a plan for our ill son, I discovered that William Bennett's America The Last Best Hope in audio version is online for free. Here are the links for volumes 1 & 2. http://www.roadmaptolastbesthope.com/premium/volumeI/audio-recordings http://www.roadmaptolastbesthope.com/premium/volumeII/audio-recordings

I don't think the school district is trying to shirk their responsibilities. They know we have homeschooled and we have been open that we are willing to do that again if it is needed. They have been most kind and concerned for our son. We also live in a small district in an economically depressed area. Funds are an issue for our district. Even though it may be their responsibility to make the necessary accomodations for an ill student, I would feel bad requesting they spend money when I can do basically the same thing for free through the public library or online. The district also has a homelink program that we would be welcome to participate in if we so choose that would help pay for what is needed. Again, thank you for your input. All help has been appreciated.

Thank you for all the suggestions on how to help our son through. Yes, I have talked to the school district. They are very homeschool friendly, so I do have some latitude on how we meet his physical and educational needs. I am talking with the Algebra teacher. He is planning to provide a syllabus for us to follow. The other classes I listed are two trimester classes. We plan to do those at home so he doesn't have to try to enter mid-stream. If he is well enough to return to school in the spring, he can take other one trimester classes accept for Algebra which is all year. Cindy

We homeschooled until last fall when our youngest went to the local high school. We had planned that he would finish his schooling there. For the past two months he has been very sick including three emergency room visits and four days hospitalization. The conclusion so far is he has had a virus that has wreaked havoc in his body. Some of the ongoing symptoms are extreme fatigue (sleeping 12-14 hours per night), difficulty processing information, short-term memory difficulties and headaches. There is no prognosis of when the symptoms will lift, could be weeks or months. The local school recommended that we withdraw him so his transcript wouldn't be adversely affected. Until he is physically well enough to return to school, we are homeschooling again. Because of the ongoing physical symptoms, I need to devise a program that will cover needed material without a lot of physical output. He has about 1.5 hours a day that he has some brain power. I don't expect that we can do everything in that hour and a half, but wonder how to adjust the method to meet his physical/mental abilities. This student is not an AP-type of student. He works hard, but is definately an average student. These are the subjects that we need to cover for now: English (lit & comp), US History, Biology, and Algebra. I sold most of our homeschool materials because we thought we were done. I do have ABeka's Biology book, disecting materials, and the Elegant Essay. I'd prefer not to spend a lot of money as the goal is still to have him return to high school when he is well enough. We are suspicioning that he will be home for at least the winter trimester. Any input, ideas, and creativity would be most welcome. Thank you, Cindy

"No, he hasn't had Saxon since 2nd grade. He had Horizons 3rd-6th, then Chalk Dust Pre-Algebra. With Math U See, I have no idea what the true issue is if it isn't carelessness. There is no pattern to his mistakes, and every so often he pulls off a lesson flawlessly (just to give me a little bit of hope, I think). " Our daughter did a different math program through the elementary and junior high years, then we switched to MUS for Algebra. I found that because she hadn't grown up with MUS some of the concepts for Algebra were assumed rather than taught in the MUS Algebra book. Once we changed to a different program where no assumptions were made, she did just fine. In my opinion, MUS builds on itself and should not be jumped into at the Algebra level. HTH Cindy

I'm not aware of a dvd course like you mention, but I can say that secular textbooks also carry their own slant. I have yet to find an unbiased, just the facts book. That would be a nice thing to have, wouldn't it? Cindy

When my daughter failed her first science test, I took the test and went through the chapter with her question by question. What we found was some of the questions were not based on what was highlighted or reviewed in the chapter. Seemed like they purposely took little snippets of information that did not appear important in the text, yet tested on it. Apologia is not the only company that does this. It's my personal opinion that this sets up students to fail. How can a student figure out what is the body of knowledge that is important to know when the tests are random compared to the text. I find this to be very frustrating. Sorry for the rant. Cindy

I hesitate to suggest another writing program, because I've been much like you trying to get a child to write anything beyond the most BASIC of paragraphs with extremely simple sentences. He also has struggled with the physical aspect of writing and probably is dyslexic/dysgraphic. In an attempt to jump start him, I pulled out the Elegant Essay book from IEW that I used with his older sister. He doesn't love it, but it makes sense. The author does a good job of giving clear instruction with solid examples. Hope this helps. Hang in there, Mom. Cindy

Did you check with his rehab? Maybe they've heard of scholarships for young people coming from a substance abuse background. Seems like I have heard of this somewhere. HTH Cindy

For my non-science student, we haven't done official labs with this course. I plan to save that for biology, mostly because he dislikes science so much. I did get him an electronics kit for "fun". Didn't tell him that electronics is science. Also, we've done chemistry-type kits for "fun". He does much better with non-assigned hands-on science stuff than officially assigned labs. Maybe let your daughter pick some things from the Home Science Tools catalog. I wouldn't even stress about "grade level." If she is doing hands-on science, she still will have experienced it even if it isn't technically a formal high school lab. I have found for non-science students that they absorb more this way than being forced into a mold they don't fit. HTH Cindy

I understand your concern and frustration. My children do not love school. They tolerate it at best and sometimes that is a very generous statement. We now have two graduated and one more to go. They want to get on with life not remain in high school any longer than necessary. The older they get, the more they want this. There work output, however, did not always mirror their desires. Honestly, to hold her back a year will probably increase frustration, discouragement, and lack of motivation not encourage her to do her school work. My children also have been extremely sensitive to "not being behind". Even with lots of explanation that it had nothing to do with her academic ability, I would suspicion that your daughter would to some degree feel that you felt she needed to be "flunked". Do you have consequences in place if she doesn't finish (or start!) her schoolwork? You should not be her only motivation. We moms, trust me I've done this, just sound like nag machines when we don't allow the consequences to take their course. Maybe a few times of missing a favorite activity will encourage her to accomplish her schoolwork in a timely manner. HTH Cindy

if the diagnosis is fibromyalgia, "From Fatigued to Fantastic". I have found it to be helpful in trying to figure out this illness. HTH, Cindy Link to book at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Fatigued-Fantastic-Jacob-Teitelbaum/dp/1583332898/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256737052&sr=8-1 Link to Author's website: http://endfatigue.com/

For our son, who has learning struggles, we are using Integrated Physics and Chemistry by Paradigm. It is helping him learn how to retain information. Apologia and ABeka were nothing but a frustration for him. He doesn't love the science curriculum from Paradigm, but he is understanding it, passing the tests, and telling me things he has learned, plus he is learning how to study. I know it is not as "advanced" as some curriculums, but it is working well for him, that's what is important to us. It has been written to meet state standards. Here is their website: http://www.pacworks.com/ And the curriculum at Christian Book: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=760918&item_code=WW&netp_id=428981&event=ESRCN&view=covers HTH Cindy

For the occassional pick up and go book, you could use a Write Source handbook. They do a pretty good job of teaching how to do different types of papers and give examples of student writing for each type. Jump In from Apologia is good at this level, too. It is more of an every day curriculum though. HTH Cindy

Chuck Swindoll's book on Job is excellent. He is a very approachable writer with lots of illustrations to make the subject matter come to life. HTH Cindy