They are now 19 and 14. Even with changing programs and lots of practice, the one thing that worked better than anything else to improve their spelling was puberty. They both struggled horribly until puberty, then suddenly their spelling improved by leaps and bounds. They aren't the best spellers now, but much improved. Another homeschool mom shared that this was the case with her boys when our boys were young. I was thankful for her advice. This is our 12th year homeschooling and I was one of the moms who changed programs when they "didn't seem to be working". This is one of my biggest regrets. Rarely was the program the problem, but simply that child struggled with that subject and continued to struggle no matter what new resource I had. Stick with what you have. Adapt it to fit your needs. Knowing my struggling spellers, I would probably adapt it to only study say three to five words a week. I know this doesn't seem like much, but a struggling student is very easily overwhelmed. Once they hit the overwhelmed point, in my experience, learning comes to a screeching halt. Have him read and write the words often, spell them out loud, spell them in cornmeal, spell them by writing them on his leg, spell them while he jumps rope or climbs stairs. Use as many of the senses as you can to get the letter patterns in his head. And relax. I know it is hard to watch your child struggle. But the reality is some students really struggle with school work. Thankfully, you have him home. His success rate will rise as his loving mama gently teaches him. If he senses you are worried or uptight, he will respond in kind. Another piece of advice I received years ago, remember, his education is a marathon not a sprint. HTH Cindy

Teaching the Classics is a great program. The skills learned can then be used with any literature out there. HTH Cindy

Our oldest who is now 19 is much like your son, of course, with his own special flare! We never did try the medications. I don't think we really understood that he was ADD until just recently. We had received conflicting advice when he was younger. We were so concerned about the meds that I doubt it would have made a difference. I won't repeat the advice you've already received, but one thing I'd add is physical exercise. Our son seems to need to move even to this day. The physical output seems to help him focus better. He can do and needs to do a level of physical work or exercise that most people can't. When he was home, we would do one subject of school and then send him outside to move, do more school, then have him move. This helped to get through the day. He is now learning more coping strategies as a young adult. He realizes his own limitations, he's working on how to survive in the world. He definately hasn't arrived, but he can now identify how he's feeling and responding on his own. He has considered taking natural supplements, but because he lives on his own, he knows he wouldn't remember to take them. Maybe when he marries?!?! I appreciate your loving heart toward your son. I know how difficult it can be. Our son was also defiant on top of the ADD tendencies. Living with him was hard work. I know you'll figure out the best path for your young man. Oh, just a note, our son drives and actually is a pretty good driver. He loves doing it so much that he focuses on the task at hand. Hope that is encouraging to you. Cindy

I was wondering if you could please post the product number for the lab kit you purchased from Radio Shack. Does it come with the lab books or is this a separate purchase? It was hoping to do this with our son this school year. Thanks for your help. Cindy "Electronics Elective. I bought a really nice lab kit from Radio Shack and he's working his way thru the lab books. He builds various circuits according to the manual. I have him explain what he has set up and predict what will happen before he turns it on. We're keeping track of the hours he spends. It's a nice change of pace from the academics."

and will do it again this year with the 8th grade book. Our son is not a writing person, akin to torture for him. I figure he needs to write in other subjects so he learns to write, so why add math as well. When he starts algebra, we will switch to using notebook paper. Cindy

We, too, have a big picture guy. Multi-step problems like division or algebra are confusing to him. He gets lost in the process. But, like your son, mental math his own way works for him. Interestingly, our son now works in a career field that uses trig. He's never taken trig formally, but is learning and using it in the field. As he continues to mature, I truly believe that the concepts will become clearer as this is what happened for my husband. I know your son needs to learn math, but I would caution you to not try to fit a square peg in a round hole. Most likely the way he views the world and math are different than the standard. Also, please consider whether his brain has developed yet to the point where the abstractness of algebra can be conquered. Our son learns so differently than the "norm", yet he is extremely intelligent. He would often struggle with feeling stupid. I told him that he is different. Different isn't bad, it's just different. Your son may not be like ours, I just wanted to share in case he is. It is extremely frustrating to be forced into a mold that makes no sense to you. Focus on his strengths, encourage him to develop those skills in which he is strong, praise him for his accomplishments, minimize the difficulties. Cindy

We have not used it, but have a friend whose daughter used ACE for junior high and high school. She just graduated from college and did very well. I think it's like anything else, you get out of it what you put into it. Cindy

on it's level of difficulty. Some believe it is not difficult enough to prepare for college level work. From reviews I've read of others who have successfully placed into college level math, I think these concerns are unfounded. From our experience, it's very user friendly. The math complaints stopped when we started with Teaching Textbooks. HTH Cindy

I wish I had found R&S Math for my older two. They used BJU which was very good. R&S gives such a solid foundation in arithmetic. My youngest will finish the 8th grade books this year and then move to algebra. R&S has prepared him well for upper level math and for life. We use the text as a workbook. He has a spiral notebook for the problems that won't fit on the book page. That has only been an issue in the last couple of years. HTH Cindy

I found Rod & Staff and ABeka to be right on level with each other. If you want a year of review, I would recommend using grade 6. Just another thought, though I use Rod & Staff or ABeka (depending on the child) as our main grammar curriculum, I found a year of Easy Grammar to be beneficial. It seemed to give the kids a different view of grammar and helped to deepen their understanding. I'm not familiar with the new revisions of Easy Grammar, so I don't know which grade level to recommend. HTH Cindy

My husband is a missionary in the USA. One of his ministries is directing a Bible camp. Years ago a fellow missionary developed Youth Leadership. This is a ministry for teens starting in 7th grade. They participate in a local Youth Leadership group that meets 2-4 times per month. It is not a youth group as many of us know youth groups. It is an intensive discipleship program. The young people are held accountable, required to keep a Bible/prayer log, do personal devotions, and participate in a ministry. They study Scripture as a group at their meetings. For those who meet the requirements of the group (which is normally 100% of the group), some groups then take a mission trip which is usually going to a small town in a different area than where they live to do a Vacation Bible School (which the young people lead) and/or work projects. But the ultimate goal of Youth Leadership, is to have these young people work at our Bible camp in the summer. A large percentage of our summer camp staff is teens. For five weeks of camp, they serve by washing dishes, cleaning toilets, doing yard work, all forms of manual labor, and most importantly, lead cabins of younger children. These teens work hard - very hard. They are stretched beyond their personal abilities and endurance levels. But they still keep going. When the summer ministries are done, they will gather and cry because it is over. They want more. When they reach 16 years old, they may apply to be summer missionaries with our mission agency. They raise their own support and serve extra time in the summer. We've been involved with Youth Leadership ministry for nearly twenty years. I must say there is nothing like watching teens teaching the Bible to little ones. There is nothing like watching a teen lead a child to Christ. There is nothing like watching a group of teens gathered in intense prayer for a child who is spiritually lost. There is nothing like watching them encourage one another, love one another, be the body of Christ to one another. There is nothing like watching them grow into adulthood to continue to be amazing people. Some do wander and rebel, but most stand firm. Our youngest son is in his second year of Youth Leadership. Our daugther is in her fifth and her second as a summer missionary. My son and I were talking as I drove home from camp about some strangers we had seen at the grocery store. They had talked about spending the summer at a lake cabin and how much they were enjoying it. Our son mentioned how happy they looked. I jokingly remarked that anyone would be happy to spend the summer at this beautiful lake. He said, "It wouldn't be as fulfilling as working at camp." Trust me when I say that he has done very hard things this summer. I am proud of my two teens and all the other young people they work with. Teens are great people capable of far more than we expect or imagine. Cindy

As a mom of a 19yob, 17yog, and 14yob, I would not recommend this. The closer our children have gotten to 18, the more they want to move on to the next part of their lives. Young men, especially, need to move on. They are men, not boys at this stage in life. My husband and I are convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they need to do this. As moms, we want to protect them and keep them close. But our children grow up. It is our job to work ourselves out of a job. Rather than hold him back, I would focus on preparing him for what comes next. HTH Cindy

First let me say that I have not taught in a classroom setting, only in church. But I wanted to share a book that I found very inspiring and helpful as a teacher, Marva Collins Way, an autobiography about an amazing teacher in an intercity school. She talks about her methodology for reaching students others thought were unteachable. I noticed at Amazon they have another book by her called Ordinary Children, Extraordinary Teachers, though I've never read it. She attained amazing success in the classroom and cared deeply for each child. HTH Cindy

What an honor to have a soldier in your family. Thank you for your sacrifice and the sacrifice of your son so that we may live free. Cindy

Stacey, I would definately let them do separate curriculum. Speaking from experience, it is simply not worth the grief if there are conflicts. Life's too short! What if the younger did Biology (I'm assuming you already have these materials since the older one has completed it) and the older do Conceptual Physics. Curriculum that is self-teaching for science is not readily available other than Apologia. Switched on Schoolhouse, PacWorks, ACE PACES (these are actually supposed to be pretty good for science) are the ones I've heard of. HTH Cindy

We have used BJU's student text with the syllabus from Hewitt Homeschooling. I like the balance between text, research, projects, etc. Plus I don't have to come up with enrichmet activities, it's all in the syllabus. http://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/book/bsingle.asp?i=2380 HTH Cindy

Some people will never attain great speed in keyboarding. It is not their thing and due to learning style and physical capabilities may not be able to do so. I would be more concerned that they understand well how to keyboard, format, etc. so they have the skills needed for life. Cindy

Spelling Power is one of the homeschool resources that you won't find discounted new per request of the author/publisher. I purchased the previous edition used for about $25.00. It was in nearly new condition. HTH Cindy

based on our experience with our now nineteen year old son. He was in public school K-2 and homeschooled the remainder. PS did not help his behavior and contributed to an abundance of issues. Structured days are important, but that doesn't mean you serve her every perceived whim. She needs the skills for life that come from a structured day where she needs to give up her wants for the needs of others. She needs to learn to submit to all authority. We found that our son did respond pretty well in VBS, etc. but these are normally short term, short endurance kind of settings. As he aged his struggle with all authority continued. He will tell you today that he still struggles with authority. Keeping her home will not be easy. Living with a strong willed child never is. You must be consistant, even when you simply do not have the energy to do so. A strong willed child has the ability to suck the very life's breath from you. :ack2: But you can do this. Start first with prayer and then pray some more. A few suggestions from our experience. Don't try to do school as a group. She will disrupt. No matter how badly I wanted to study together it just didn't work. The other children can continue forward in those instances when you must work on the strong willed one's behavior. Choose curriculum that will give you the freedom to deal with the strong willed child's discipline needs. This may mean giving up some of your desires or your thoughts of the best way to do school so school hours are simpler for you. Remember that behavior training is even more important than academic training. She has to learn to control herself, without that she will suffer in all areas of her life. She must learn boundaries for herself and others. Be aware of her academic abilities. She may not be ready for formal studies. But that doesn't mean you can't do structured activities that she is capable of. Books on tape are excellent. She can play with legos while she listens. Usually there are activities that strong willed children will focus on, even hyper-focus on. What does she love? Remember that play is a child's work. Our son is still extremely tactile. He must touch and feel and smell to learn. Understand that her learning style may be different. She may even be self-conscious of this. I've told our son many times that different isn't bad, it's just different. When she is ready for formal academics, use short lessons. Our son still has a short attention span. His co-worker recently told him that the co-worker's young child had an attention span of twenty seconds and that was twice as long as our sons. In between the short lessons, provide some type of physical activity. The release of energy helps a lot. I didn't structure his activity time, that gave him some personal control. But I'd send him outside to play. When he was very young we would study for 15-20 minutes tops. Then at least that long in an activity that required movement. Do not feel guilty that this child requires so much time and energy that the other children don't get their fair share. I struggled with this in my heart. God convicted me that "Didn't He put our family together and didn't I understand that the other children would gain experiences He needed them to have for their own life." Be sure to have down time for yourself. A date with hubby, go grocery shopping alone, etc. This is a marathon. You will tire. You will want to quit. You can do this. Our son came to hate homeschooling, but it was another reflection of his heart. He just recently told me that he appreciates that we homeschooled him. He now understands why it was so important. Duet. 6:6-7 tells us, "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." When a child goes out to school, your ability to do this is extremely limited. This is not a good thing for any child, but maybe especially for a strong willed child. I have read and sought advice from oodles of sources on child training and behavior issues. Ultimately the only source that was consistantly helpful was prayer. Lord how do we handle this situation, that situation, how do we keep going on, etc. Yes, it's important to gain knowledge from others, but remember to keep your eyes firmly set on things above as you fight this war for your child. If you have any questions or need a place to vent, please feel free to email me. In Christ, Cindy Cindy

When we first started homeschooling it was most common to pay half of new plus shipping for used books. I still charge that for my used stuff. But I rarely find a deal like that any more, especially on more popular books. And Ebay is the worst. I just purchased Apologia Physical Science 2nd ed. textbook, test/key book and extra set of tests from Finders Keepers for $59 including shipping. Several sets of this book without the extra tests have sold for more than the new price on Ebay. On the used boards, I have rarely seen the books and the few I saw were selling for around $50. I'm amazed that this seems to be the going rate for used. I always figure there is risk involved and at least one year of wear and tear. Sorry for the rant. Cindy

I have experienced the barnyard smell before when cooking meat. Once it was an older sheep. Yuck! Makes me kind of wonder if this was an older animal. It's probably fine to eat, just not particularly appetizing. Cindy

When we traveled internationally last January, US Customs said that canned, bottled, etc. was ok in checked baggage, but not fresh. They opened the checked bag to look at what we had, but did not confiscate olive oil and date syrup. HTH Cindy

By God's gifts and grace, we've gotten to visit Israel twice. I would love to live there! Cindy

She is obviously overwhelmed and her children are very young. I would encourage her to choose a phonics program and a math program. Other than that read books, go on walks, play, do art projects, and do normal family stuff. Maybe have her read about Charlotte Mason's ideas. That might help to calm her heart. Cindy

This is my family's favorite: 1 16 oz package rotini noodles 1 12 oz package frozen California blend veges (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower) - thawed and chopped 1 can olives - chopped handful of turkey pepperoni - chopped good handful cheddar or mozzarella cheese - cubed For the dressing, we really like Bernsteins Cheese Fantastico Light. Has a great flavor. Other Italian would be fine though.