Thank you SO much for all of your thoughts and suggestions and sharing! I have a fulltime Summer job right now, so I can barely think about planning for school coming up. But I love your advice. I'm going to look into that history curriculum, buy the first book you recommended and will definitely be joining the nld board. Thanks again!!! Sheri

Hi. I'm a homeschooling mom of two boys, 9 & 4. My oldest was just (kindof) diagnosed with NLD yesterday. We thought he had dysgraphia but wanted a professional opinion since he also struggles some with attention and executive functioning. I thought dysgraphia was tough to explain! Of course it's all that not surprising, but I'm still trying to process this new info. I hadn't come across NLD before, but after going through the description I agree it seems a fitting diagnosis. Thank goodness we started homeschooling when he was 7! Anyone else familiar with this? What have you found to be and important aspect of your schooling? Any big helpers that you've found, regarding planning or "output" of work? We have a pretty good system in place for writing (scribing, typing and a little cursive). We use Life of Fred for math (and that has been a Godsend). Just looking for any words of wisdom, really! Thanks!

That is a good point. I would agree if my response in this situation was the norm but this was just one of a few different approaches I've been trying.

Thank you, all! Your posts are helpful and reassuring. I respond a lot of those ways and I'm happy to hear that many of your children are growing out of it. My intuition is that it's a personality thing... not that that makes it "okay", of course, but I feel a little better now, since it's not something I'd ever seen before. By the way, I've been reading this great book (for DS8, actually) titled, "The Motivation Breakthrough". I just found out that "Aggression" is one of 8, main "motivational types". It definitely made me think of my 3-yr-old.

My 3.5-yr-old wants to damage things when he's upset about something unrelated. I'm not too worried yet, but I'm unfamiliar with this transference-like trait. (It's not prevalent in other family members.) For example, it started to snow this morning and he was excited. I told him if enough snow came, we would all play in it later. He told me he wanted to wear his snow boots. About an hour later, we were disappointed to see it was raining again and whatever had begun to stick was melting. He exclaimed that it needed to keep snowing and proceeded to pull a Christmas decoration down off of the door. I told him to stop - he finally did after the third time. Then I explained that I understood he was angry about the snow going away, but that it has nothing to do with the decoration. He didn't seem to be listening. Since he's been doing this a lot lately, I thought I would ask if anyone here knows the best way to respond? If personality matters, he is a very vivacious, busy, loud, sweet, strong-willed, little stuntman. He's the only extrovert in the family (poor guy). Thanks!

Thank you, everyone! When I read reviews on various brands, all I seemed to find were comments about the taste and nothing about its effectiveness. Does it help focus for grownups too? hmmmmm :tongue_smilie:

As we go through our new Brain Training Integration Therapy Manual (for DS's Dysgraphia) I've become intrigued by the possibility of a fish oil blend being helpful for attention issues. Has anyone tried Dianne Craft's supplement - or any of the others out there, and if so, have you seen an improvement in your child's focusing abilities and/or behavior? Thanks!

A few moms have referred to a book about finding out what your homeschooling (teacher) style is. Does anyone know the title? I can't remember and it's not popping up with the few words that I know. Something like "What kind of homeschooler are you?" Or "Find your homeschooling teacher style"... Thanks!

Thank you, everyone, for your extremely helpful comments! (I've been on vacation with limited internet so it's taken me a while to log back in.) It's SO reassuring to know that I'm not alone in this internal conflict - particularly with homeschooling. The Daily Schedule does seem to be the most helpful tool for me so far... and if I can shake the "rainbows & unicorns" (what my ISTJ brother calls my 'LaLa Land') out of my head long enough each morning to make my To Do List, my day is just a bit easier. Elle - I'm on that Facebook page! :) I created a Facebook group called 'MBTI parenting' a while ago, but it's not very active yet. You mentioned tying with E the first time you were typed... when I first took the test at work, I typed ENFJ (twice). I know now it's because I answered a few questions according to my values rather than according to my reality. I've also read that INFJs are the most "verbose" of all the introverts - YEP! Hahaha! I really want to get certified someday. For those who don't know their type, here's a good (free) test online: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp [Though I feel compelled to mention that there are many MBTI purists who say you can't possibly know your type for sure unless you do official testing - for a fee.] I beg to differ (especially for us "rare" types) but then I'm not certified. I'd like to mention too, that there is a special Facebook group just for INFJ moms, if any of you are interested. It's called "A Mother's Intuition". Thanks again, everyone!

...And did you find it difficult to organize the homeschooling and your SELF, when you first started? Can you describe how you found your "flow"? I read that INFJs have difficulty matching their very high ideals for organization to their ability to accomplish them (something about INF being in conflict with J)... That really struck me and I had to acknowledge that I wanted to accomplish Martha Stewart-level perfection in my household, but without the hardcore skills/focus/time/focus/discipline/focus... you get the idea. While I'm learning to "let go" of a few things regarding the fantasy of a perfectly organized and clean household, I find it still causes anxiety in homeschooling. ~LaLaMom

We supplement our history with living books from the library. I just pull up the online catalog and do subject searches in the youth categories. We've found some very interesting books that brings it to life. My son also likes to watch documentaries - many you can find on YouTube. Once, we studied the underground railroad and had a great time doing Google image searches of actual houses used for that purpose.

I don't remember whether it would be appropriate for a 13-yr-old (because it's Stephen King) but The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is about a girl who survives in the woods alone, after getting separated from her family while hiking. It's not "horror", but suspense (like Cujo?) when she is threatened by a bear. The more I type though, the more I'm thinking, "Well, maybe not". Hahaha

Hi. I'm looking to find a used copy of Dianne Craft's "Brain Integration Therapy Manual", 2010 ed. It can be purchased online for $58 (both new AND used start at that price). I'm hoping I can find someone who will be able to sell their already-used-and-loved copy for less than that. Anyone? :001_smile:

ahh... that is what I was worried about. It almost seems (and it could just be ME and my frustration) that there is almost a reluctance to make a determination. How it was explained to me, was that first, DS would have to be "observed", **in the classroom**, "over the course of time" with regards to his writing. (Observed by whom, I failed to ask.) And if he only takes drama and spanish at the school (with no writing) how is that supposed to work?! THEN, one of his teachers makes a recommendation for some interventions (such as pencil grips?!) - which are put into place... THEN there is another observation period "over the course of time" with said accommodations... and it will be noted whether those are helping... and if it's determined that they're not helping and more intervention is needed, then they will call an OT to evaluate... blah blah blah. I'm a cautious person who tries to look at things from all angles... so I haven't wanted to just make my own diagnosis. That's why I haven't jumped on the Diane Craft bandwagon yet - I'm not a psychologist! Do you think I should ditch the next OT evaluation - even if the OT strongly feels DS has a visual/sensory impairment? I don't think I can persuade the school psych to determine DS has dysgraphia (since she already told me they don't make diagnosis) so... do I demand a recount? (hahaha) Go back and tell his pediatrician, "No, I don't want an OT, I want a neuropsychologist"...? This is so confusing. :(

I'm new to all of this so bear with my lack of accurate terms and probable misunderstanding of various processes... DS has had problems with handwriting since preschool. "Poor fine motor skills" they said. Kindergarten, he did okay, but it took him a while to write his newly learned letters. First grade (same public b&m as K) was a nightmare (for time's sake, I'm just going to leave it at that). Second grade we did virtual school... better, but writing was still a major pain in the booty. Now he's in third grade and I'm homeschooling with a local co-op (which I really like). He's an advanced reader and speller, and vocabulary is incredible (all about 5th grade level). Writing is still at a first grade level. SO. Did tons of research and I'm pretty convinced it's dysgraphia. I then had a meeting w/ our school district psychologist who informed me of the (way too lengthy) process of getting an IEP. (Seriously, it sounded like we wouldn't even get to see an OT until the end of the school year!) So I went through his pediatrician instead, who referred me to an OT for an evaluation - which we did today. My goal was to get some kind of determination/diagnosis, then take that to the school and begin their process mid-way through. So after eval today, the OT called me and told me DS didn't score significantly low enough to be considered as having a "fine motor delay" but that she really thinks it has more to do with poor tracking of his eye muscles (but she says his vision is fine). She wants to do one more evaluation called a "visual perceptual" test. If what she suspects is correct, we may still qualify (according to the school district) for some kind of IEP/treatment plan under a "sensory processing" problem. Okay. I guess I'm a little frustrated... and confused. Because what I thought I discovered about dysgraphia was that it had more to do with a blocking of new information from one hemisphere of the brain into another (the newly-learned-info side, into the "automatic" side). Is this research super new... or not yet commonly accepted? Is it only a Dianne Craft thing? The OT seemed familiar with the term dysgraphia, but she didn't really use it herself, nor did she mention any brain processing functions. Maybe I'm just being a pre-emptive worrier? Maybe it's all the same thing being called by different names? (Dsygraphia = Sensory Processing Disorder?) Anyone have any thoughts to share on this? Thanks for your time!