The teacher's manual as they call it is just the word list. If your using the word list you have the teacher's manual. (Not much detail in it is there?..) The student workbook is actually just a bunch of pages with lines for doing the daily lists...and a few fill in sentences busy work...Truly not worth the money imo. From what I understand, if you have the manual you are supposed to say the word, give a sentence, say the word again then have student say the word as they write it. Then depending on how you want to do it, you can either *show* the word on a whiteboard after each word using different colored expo's to show the roots and how different words are formed, or you could do that for just the words missed, but always directly after each word is done by the student (immediate correction). Some other people keep a running *board list* going adding new words as they come up, or they do all the words at the end of the lesson. I just found the DVD ($30) does all that for me. It follows the formula of Say, Give Sentence, Say...then reminds the student to say it and gives a color coded immediate example for the student to check with. (student pauses the recording using the space bar after the program gives the sentence and words, then they say aloud/write and hit the space bar again to see the color-coded correct spelling and correct their own work if necessary....So simple.)

You may want to look into the Sequential Spelling Spelling DVD. It color codes the words and self corrects as it goes (Student hears word, then a sentence then the word again...they then hit the space bar and write down the word..then they hit the bar again to see the correct spelling of the word and they make any corrections if needed right then and there...the immediate correction is great for those who struggle with spelling and language. In addition the words are color coded to help in "seeing" how words build upon themselves. We tried AAS and it didn't work, my son loves Sequential Spelling. It was apparently created especially for dyslexic students. If you get the DVD you don't need the teacher manual/student workbook. In fact we started with the manual/workbook and it didn't work as well for us as the DVD did. My son was also enrolled in K12 and did the Mark 12 program. He finally tested out last year (finished) but he is still far behind the average with regards to reading/writing/grammar. He started 6th this year and I took him out of K12 due to problems with the state virtual academy not allowing his acceleration in math to continue once he entered middle school (3 grade levels ahead in Math, but 2 behind in language arts). I never did find a program exactly as you are describing. He's on a 4th-5th grade reading fluency level, but his spelling is much worse. I'm currently combining MCT (earliest level...Yeah I know its 3rd grade but its just what his dyslexic brain needs...short & sweet and engaging. Even Mark 12 couldn't get grammar into him *fingers crossed that this works*) We also do FFL 4 & WWE 4 (dictation modified) and I've ordered The Paragraph Book/Writing Skills by EPS (simplified, step by step writing instruction). We also do Brainware Safari to help with working memory which seems to have helped with his reading/writing skills. We spend alot of time on the Language Arts as you can see. But if he can't read he can't do anything else IMO. We do history/science orally to give him a break from all the reading/writing he does in language arts and because of this he is cooperative and even semi-excited about writing/reading during Grammar/Reading time. Alot of this ease also has to do with the engaging feel of MCT, the simplicity of SS, the direct 1/1 interaction with FLL and WWE and the fun of Brainware. Also FYI, after studying, trying, sampling almost every math curriculum out there when he recently hit a wall with algebra (letters in a formula mixed w/ dyslexia = sad puppy) We found a perfect fit with TT & LOF. He loves having the problems read to him online in TT and he actually find the story in LOF engaging....I never saw that one coming with his language issues...so you never know. (Forgive any grammar, spelling, run-on sentences, its very late and I should be in bed.....and I'm too tired to re-check the post...:lol:)

This is copy from the post I made on the other thread showing the confirmation: Copy/Paste From Invoice I received with the shipping confirmation number: (I ordered this on 10/18 from OUP, and received notification today) WORLD IN ANCIENT TIMES WAT 9 VOL SET OXFORD 36.95 ND/04 0.0 36.95 Each pack consists of: 9780195173918 QTY: 1 CLINE:ANCIENT EGYPTIAN WORLD WAT RLB 9780195174656 QTY: 1 FASH:ANCIENT AMERICAN WORLD WAT RLB 9780195174229 QTY: 1 KENOYER:ANC SOUTH ASIAN WORLD WAT RLB 9780195171020 QTY: 1 KLEEMAN:ANCIENT CHINESE WORLD WAT RLB 9780195153804 QTY: 1 MELLOR:ANCIENT ROMAN WORLD WAT RLB 9780195161595 QTY: 1 PODANY:ANCIENT NEAR EAST WAT RLB 9780195156966 QTY: 1 ROBERTS:ANCIENT GREEK WORLD WAT RLB 9780195161571 QTY: 1 ROBERTSHAW:EARLY HUMAN WORLD WAT RLB 9780195222203 QTY: 1 MELLOR:WORLD IN ANC TIMES PR SOURCES C

There is huge thread on this here: (like 10 plus pages worth) http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=317984 To summarize quick, I already posted this there, but it IS the full set. I ordered yesterday and my shipping confirmation I received today listed all 9 volumes by title on the invoice ($40 for me too). As long as they still fulfill the order (at that price) even though it is out of stock, you will get the whole set. HTH:)

Yeah I was doing that too....(white board/different colors) Till I realized I was spending as much time w/ SS as I was with AAS....and the time factor was a key reason we left AAS... That and my son hated it.. He absolutely loves SS, but I think that's because we switched to the DVD...he does it all independently now and the DVD shows the color coding..its saves me alot of time/frustration w/ multiple kids and gives him one more independent thing to do.......(I am All about as much independent as we can around here since he still requires so much 1/1 with Reading/Grammar/Writing. (Dyslexia/Dysgraphia) So while I'm tacking phonics and reading with the 6 year old he's doing Spelling, Math (TT), vocabulary and handwriting....I also think the simple visual and auditory combination of the DVD works really well with his exceptionalities, definately better than my sloppy white board writing did. (Cost of the DVD is almost equivalent to Teacher Manual/Student book...and you don't need those with the DVD, just notebook paper. My 6 year old was messing around with it...and even she was able to start/stop and "pretend" to do spelling with no problem so I'm sure your 3rd grader could do it. As long as she can hit the space bar she's good. An additional benefit is the DVD has sentences for each word...Before we got it I had to come up with a sentence for chinning...and no i didn't spell that wrong.....I scored a near perfect on the verbal SAT many moons ago and I could only look at my son flabbergasted with that one....seriously *chinning*...He had fun laughing at me....the verbal one, totally speechless) HTH ;)

Anyone? :bigear:

I found out by accident that all the Jim Weiss narrations/cd's are on Rhapsody. (After attempting to close our account when we realized it was overkill with all the itunes downloads we had accumulated, we were offered to keep it for $4.95 a month....since it is access to lots of music we might not download/buy otherwise we kept it...and while searching for kids music I found all the Jim Weiss CD's.) Besides the vast array of free resources already mentioned, http://www.tales2go.com/ is a monthly membership that offers over 1600 audio children's books that are "professionally" read. As the parent of a child with severe text and auditory based learning disabilities, I know first hand how bad a badly read audio book can be...KWIM? So this is a great resource as well. I also saw mention of a possible group buy upcoming at the HSBC http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/news/ You got to scroll all the way down to upcoming/recommends IMO you can't beat $10 a month for access to that many professionally done children's audio books...it sure beats audible (if all your interested in is children's stories)

I really should add in the Story of Science.... I read a chapter a week from "Aristotle Leads the Way", I didn't think to link it up with the History any further...so far just I've just been doing open/go.... TBH after linking all the others I was tired of looking at Tables of Content...:lol:

I think I may already have what your looking for.... I made this a few weeks ago in an attempt to link up SOTW, K12 Human Odyssey, History Odyssey (Level 2), Creekridge Task Cards, and The World in Ancient Times Set. (I teach a 6th/1st together so I usually mix alot of material...It seems like alot, but 2 kids x 1.5 hours 3 days a week and nightly read-alouds it tends to all get used/done) This is actually still a work in progress. I like to wing my weeks...so while the material is "vaguely" linked you may find its not exact. I tried to sort everything according to quick glances/table of contents...all I know for sure is all the egyptian stuff is with the other egyptian stuff..but the SOTW that deals with Hieroglyphics may not be exactly linked to the week of K12 that deals with Egyptian writing KWIM?....some stuff I just had to place somewhere.... It also doesn't bother me to have overlap, and continue on in one book while still covering something from the previous week in another....it tends to help my son retain the material (working memory issues) So you will find that when I say the "mash up" isn't rigidly exact I'm being kind.....(I had actually planned on doing more sorting to make it an accurate "linking" of all the material and then offer it to anyone who wanted......but then I saw the request and I wouldn't want anyone else to have the *fun* of attempting to get this material to line up.....) Everthing is linked up to following K12~Human Odyssey as the Main Text, with SOTW and The world in Ancient Times being supplemental. (I didn't have room to write Part 1, 2 ect for K12, I assumed that would be obvious as the # go back to 1...:D) We read/listen to K12~Human Odyssey, The World in Ancient Times & SOTW...then we use the Task Cards and History Odyssey for Interactive learning *We are very fortunate to have bookshare/learning ally for audio of all the textbooks* I also haven't linked in all the literature for independent/family reading to tie into the history (Black Ships Before Troy, The Bronze Bow, The Golden Goblet, and so on that I have sitting on the shelf) But I'll give you what I got...but please feel free to tell me where I need to change anything if its not accurate...(I did this over a few hours and several nights weeks ago and haven't had a real chance to check it for accuracy and we haven't gotten past the first few weeks of the schedule in practice yet) http://www.scribd.com/doc/69246489/Ancient-History-Mash-Up

:iagree: We recycle daily anything that isn't "Precious"...which is just about everything. We keep "Fine Art" level artist/writer best in a portfolio we sort at the end of the year, but most everything else is recycled or maybe sometimes photographed and recycled, but we really only keep a few key pieces . Same with any bigger projects, we take photos and toss the rest. *Do we really need to keep the 3 foot tall paper mache butterfly????* We also agressively do alot of work in pdf on an ipad to limit waste...and my son does most of his dictation/narration/writing/notes & outlining on a computer. (saves paper, space and my sanity....plus he types faster than he can write, although he still has to practice handwriting daily....) Both kids have their 3-ring notebook....which gets filled for History (Timeline/Outlines/Notebooking)...We use a Nature Journal (actual leather wrapped notebook for holding all the goodies) for Science and a small section of the History notebook to file 1 page observations/experiments on the rare chance we do one. But that's about it.

Like many on this board....Science is a love/hate in our house. (The kids love to make a mess I hate to have to clean it up.......) We currently do a mix of Excursions/Outings, Mr. Q, Task Cards, Usborne Internet Linked Reference Material, Living Books & Lapbooking. Oh yeah and we throw in some Aha! Science, The Happy Scientist, Discovery Streaming, Khan Academy & Hippocampus.... Mixing it up for 6th/1st at the same time makes it lots of fun...:lol: (Can YOU tell I'm DYING for a BOX Curriculum here???) Anyway this looks promising http://www.hmheducation.com/sciencefusion/index.php You can buy it from Saxon Homeschool (Gotta scroll to bottom of this one, and the page is acting wonky..) http://www.mcdougallittell.com/store/ProductCatalogController?cmd=Browse&subcmd=LoadDetail&imprint=sh&ID=1007500000080012&frontOrBack=F&division=M01&sortProductsBy=SEQ_TITLE&sortEntriesBy=SEQ_NAME#order I'm not looking forward to dropping a fortune on Science but I will if the PROGRAM works......:tongue_smilie: (This is based online with a year use access and workbook, so unlike lots of other pricey curriculum there is no real resale ability) But I need feedback...who's using it, how's it going? what do you like/hate??? (Tried a search..not much came up, so...........) *EDIT* Willing to take other recommendations as well if anyone knows of/has a HG science curriculum (Don't hold back if you have one)....I prefer Secular and lite on the hands on *demonstration*....we do a indepth experiment for a couple weeks every year...otherwise I try to avoid the mess.....unless its a make your own gummy candy science kit..:)

I would say it's a matter of the curriculum being either to easy or to difficult, and to change it up. But since you have already tried that the only thing left to do is have her pick the curriculum. (If you've already taken away all privileges and she's still not motivated you have to give her the ability to have some say in what she does.) Explain that school isn't a choice, but what she chooses to study can be. Step back and let her do some self-directed learning (taking a topic and running with it) or tell her you have to at least do X, Y & Z, and then let her pick a curriculum she likes and order it. (This was recommended by the TWTM author in her audio series if all else fails to motivate a student, she even recommended the rainbow resource catalog as the one to use..:) I feel for you, I've been in your shoes....Fortunately taking every single toy out of our son's room 2 years ago and bagging it all up in trash bags we stored in the garage was the motivator we needed to get him on track. (He had to earn every single toy back, one toy a day....and that was only after he started doing his schoolwork) Now we just have to say...."Would you like me to go get the black trash bags?" whenever he gets defiant about schoolwork and he buckles right back down.

We got the Pyramid & Roman Arena for the kid's B-days this year. They were allowed to open the Pyramid and all the accessories but we've made them wait on the arena/accessories till we get to the Romans in ancient studies. So far the pyramid is the most played with toy in the house. It's perfect for my 6 year old DD, but not too babyish for my 12 yos to jump in (he usually brings along his legos and creates his own world) He's been bugging me non stop for the arena....I told him as soon as we start the greeks/romans......needless to say we're flying thru egyptian studies...:lol: I can't say anyone is better...For us going Pyramid/Arena worked due to ancient studies this year. (Not to mention at the time we got all the stuff on a 50% off sale @ local Toysrus) We'll probably end up getting the Castle next year if the mini-munchkin stays as excited about playmobile as she has been. If you had to pick just one, the castle would probably be the most "universal" for imaginative purposes. Also the pyramid is kinda limited in space inside..while the Castle would be more "open"....Just my 2c.

Thanks for all the recommendations....off to do more research...:001_smile:

I've blown the budget on curriculum this month (had to replace a few things)....and I still need to find a writing program for the big monkey, so I'm waiting a month or two to purchase. (I also want to wait till he's finished with Brainware Safari, since we try to limit screen time and I think doing both would be alot each week) (I also sent an email about possibly having it as an HSBC buy, the creator of the program seemed very nice and receptive as did the peeps at HSBC so that may/may not happen in the future) Its definately on my short list of to be purchased within the next 6 months....:)

So WWE 4 is not working for us. My 12 yo son is in the 6th grade. He should be in 7th but started late due to early IEP interevention in Pre-K for language delays) He has documented/diagnosed expressive and receptive language & processing disorders, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and totally lacking any kind of mid-term memory. He was kept in a restricted classroom till 2nd grade when testing revealed he was 2E (over 50 pt difference between verbal/non-verbal IQ) and he was placed in full day Gifted school. We took him out of public school last year because they just couldn't seem to deal with the broad spread of his ability/disability. (and he couldn't write more than his name without help) We are having success with everything we are doing except for writing with WWE 4. (Other things we are doing for Language include MCT, FLL4, Vocab from the Roots and Sequential Spelling) It appears to be alot, but he started last year unable to write even a sentence. He's up to horrifically spelled, wobbly written and gramatically incorrect paragraphs. (*its progress*) I choose WWE to go along with the FLL but he just cannot do the dictation... With his memory problems he forgets the sentence after the 3rd word...and if I keep saying the sentence (instead of stopping after 3 times) he starts scrambling word order.... His narration is scattered as well. He understands what happened in the story, he just struggles to find the words/expressions to retell it to me. (Ironically he can narrate better through writing, its just filled with so many errors....) So I need ideas....take him down to WWE 3, try something else??? What is working for your kids with regard to writing??? (His 6 year old sister is finishing up WWE1 and about to start WWE2 so I'm concerned I might have a mutiny if he realizes he's only 1 lvl above her KWIM?) *We have tried AAS, he hated it. He is also relearning handwriting through italic cursive (which he loves) and he has been learning to type for the last 9 months(up to 28 wpm)....He has access to a keyboard and/or tablet when he wants to *rest* the hand, so the physical writing isn't a concern for me, its the style of WWE4 and dictation which is frustrating him and causing him to shut down (which affects the rest of the day/lessons) I know its alot of info, but if I want good recs you need to know what else we are doing and what we have tried....

Your son sounds just like my 12 yo son. (the learning example you shared sounds like our history lesson yesterday...and he also loves history....lol) He also has severe limitations in his expressive language skills. After 4 years with an IEP (he started with one at age 3 for language delays) IQ testing, which is mandatory in our state by 2nd grade level for all students, showed him to be exceptionally gifted. (He went from a restrictive classroom environment to a full day gifted school....we are now homeschooling because he really needs a combo of the 2 and the district couldn't provide it) His Neuropsychologist explained it this way....Kids with learning problems like this have trouble getting information in (receptive), they have even a harder time getting it out (expressive) but what happens to that information once it is inside their head (when they do manage to absorb some of it) is amazing. To meet my son you wouldn't even know he has a problem. He looks like your normal skateboard obsessed pre-teen, and doesn't come across "gifted" in conversation (normally). But he has almost a 40 point difference between verbal and nonverbal skills. He compensates for one with the other and comes across normal in any social/educational setting. He can barely write and can't always respond to a question quickly (he really has to form his thoughts before he speaks..otherwise the sentence is twisted), but 2 weeks later he will amaze me by having an indepth discussion with a family friend about chemical engineering or renewable energy options. (recent examples) He can't memorize his multiplication tables, but he can do advance geometry and algebraic formulas, understands physics (I'm totally lost) and get nuance in literature (audiobooks) that I miss......but again don't ask him what 6x8 is....*sigh* Its my belief that all children who suffer with learning disabilities are 2E in some way.....gifted in some other area to compensate for their exceptionalities. Just like visually impared individuals tend to have other senses that are enhanced, I think kids who struggle with learning also develop additional skills and abilities. Don't worry too much about your son...he might surprise you and definitely don't blame yourself. There are days I want to just bang my head on the wall.....but I know if I just keep presenting the material eventually a little will stick...and that's when it gets exciting......:grouphug:

I took my dyslexic son out of PS at the start of 5th grade. He couldn't write a sentence. He seriously couldn't get one complete sentence written down without help.......and what he could write was illegible. (TBH this was why we finally decided to bring him home and lose the IEP he had since pre-K) Over the past year he's worked very hard and found some success with graphic paragraph planning (think 5 boxes, Topic in middle with 1 detailing sentence around it in each of the other boxes) and he is now up to 3-4 grammatically incorrect sentences that kinda make sense and need heavy revision for "flow". I too am waiting for the lightbulb to go off.....untill then we do alot of narration and copywork...and work on typing lessons on the computer which is easier for him than handwriting (dysgraphia). It is still a battle and that 1 paragraph can take several hours to complete without help.

Science has been the one subject I struggled the most with...mainly because the kids were just so darn bored with the textbook approach, and they didn't see the bigger picture. I started mixing science history and understanding with the study of the concepts and stopped keeping them segmented. I also mix types of science. For example while coloring human anatomy pages (art/biology) we talk about why blood is shown as being red/blue, and move into chemistry as we discuss medicine and how it works on the human body.. and when discussing joints and movement we touch on geometry and physics..... Acknowledging it is all interconnected has helped my kids "get" science. To give you an idea.....I'm currently teaching biology to a 6th grader, supplementing with lapbook type activities for a 1st grader, (she sits with us and watches the experiments/videos and joins in when she wants) WE are also doing lots of hands on projects, reading Hakim's science book (a chapter on each science day that is tying in nicely to our history study) and we have annual passes to the aquarium, zoo, mariner's museum, children's museum, and local natural living musuem, plus we are only 3 hours from the national museums in D.C. (we go 3-4x a year) I also have the Elemental Science Biology Curriculum which I use to make sure I don't miss any key concepts. So we do science 2x a week. We start the day with a chapter from Hakim's Science book over breakfast (read orally by me). Later in the day we do an experiment & discuss vocabulary, pertinent concepts and so forth with lots of added video/interactive media whenever I can find it (Netflix, Discovery Streaming, Hippocampus and web searches are great for this).....We have regular science outings 1-2x a month and we do nature journaling on the weekends (art/biology/ecology mixed). I'm happy so far in with this approach for the logic stage...I even found my 12 year old on the couch reading/interacting with the elements ipad app instead of playing a video game during free time the other day. 2 days ago after a trip to the maritime museum my 6 year old asked how the ancients navigated by the stars which started a whole new unit study in history/maritime activity and science. But I'm dreading Highschool....I've heard about Thinkwell's AP prep courses....or maybe I'll just enroll my oldest in a local Community College course, or have him volunteer at the aquarium....Science, at least for my kids, seems best learned thru absorption and hand on experience not by reading a textbook. *My little one also LOVES the magic school bus series and science kits....and we incorporate alot of fun additional science/history combined hands on type books like Amazing Da Vinci Inventions you can make yourself, Newton's life Ideas and Activities (these publishers have a series of different inventors) and other books like Ancient Science 40 activities you can do (to tie into ancient study) Just like our Literature is based on our history study, combining our science study with history and the timeline on our wall gives them a visual/conceptual understanding of not only how the specialties in science are connected, but how science itself is connected to history, math, and even the humanities.

Noteshelf is a great journaling app we use. You can set up a journal/notebook for every subject that sits on a shelf (just like ibooks app) Using a Stylus my son will open his vocab journal and write the page #, then question # and then the answer from his workbook, just like on notebook paper but without killing a tree or cluttering our shelves with more notebooks. Plus he like the interactiveness and doesn't complain about writing when he gets to write on the ipad (Stylus is required for this). This is also great for those materials you can't get in pdf form but want to save for future children to use. (consumable workbooks and so forth)

Its the same type promo alot of stores have, I've seen them advertised at gymboree, children's place and so forth. They tell you spend x amount and we'll give you y amount to spend later. These promotions are usually seasonal (think back to school, holidays, start to spring season) Old navy runs (at least in my area) for every $20 you spend we'll give you $10 back to spend later. Usually in the form of a coupon good to spend several weeks in the future. When they run this promo @ the same time as the $10 jeans for family event (which they often do) I stock up. So I'll buy 10 pairs of jeans for $100, but get $50 back to spend later...Hence $50 for 10 pairs of Jeans , or $5 a pair. Now yes I know I only get the money back as credit, which I have to spend in their store, but there is always something I can use it for I would have needed to get anyway, like socks, underwear, pj's or even work clothes for the hubby (think polos/khakis), so its a win/win for me.

I also forgot to mention we supplement TT with Life of Fred, Khan Academy and I recently discovered Ko's Journey (Think Oregon Trail for Math). All of which give him a fun mixed-media approach that works well with his Dyslexia and supplements the TT with repetition of skills for retention. We do TT Mon-Thurs and the Supplements for Fun on Friday.

Thanks for all the advice!!! I managed to rock out some massively great finds while hitting 5 thrift stores and Target. (We live in a highly concentrated military area around here so there are lots, and I mean lots, of thrift stores due to so many people moving in and out) (I found some adidas tracksuits my 6 year old gymnastic nut went gaga over...for $2 each..*score*) I also found a few more long sleeved T's in various colors. Ironically the jeans were so overpriced for used ($6 & $7 a pair...????) So I'm just going to wait for the next $10 OldNavy jean event (when they run this @ the same time as bonus bucks you can get jeans for $5 a pair and they do it 2-3 times a year) I did manage to find 1 pair of boys jeans for $4....She gonna be wearing alot of leggings this winter. (Target score of footless leggings, 5 colors all clearance priced at $1 each...I bought like 8 pairs..lol) I've checked out some of the other web-based clothing sites... While I love the look, I just have so much trouble justifying $20-$30 for 1 item of clothing when I have no other mini-Monkeys to pass it down to. (If she had a younger sibling or even a younger cousin my thinking might be different) I know reselling is an option....but it is just not something I have the time for. (I'm still sitting on a box of Matilda Jane, Lipstick, & Little Mass Boutique stuff from before I started sewing Apron Dresses for her that I still haven't managed to get listed on ebay, and its been almost 2 years......) I recognize my shortcomings....and buying to resell is just not something I've ever followed through on..... But thanks for all the advice...and I will be keeping my eye open for clearance sales at LLBean and LandsEnd. :grouphug:

We actually hit a wall with Pre-Algebra. I couldn't figure it out until a friend with dyslexia explained mixing letters and numbers was horrifically difficult for them in math.....(My 12yos is Dysgraphic, Dyslexic and suffers from a documented lack of mid-term memory...he just doesn't have it, so memorization is literally impossible for him) I had a "DUH" moment....lol :tongue_smilie: It all made sense. Anyway, we switched to Teaching Textbooks. I actually had him check out demos of Thinkwell and TT. He really like the look, interaction and explaination with the TT. He also loves entering the answers into the computer after each problem and getting the immediate feedback, correct answer and explaination of how to solve it. (It helps him to correct mistakes immediately so he can adjust any misunderstanding of the process before he does all the problems with the same mistake.) He also works any problems in a graph paper notebook (not the book that comes with the program) This really helps him keep everything lined up. We were actually waiting for the new Pre-Algebra 2.0, so we started TT 7 with him 2 months ago to review. (He is sailing thru, and we discovered a few holes / memory loss he had with division of fractions and multiplication of negative numbers that TT retaught him) As soon as he's done he's moving into TT Pre-Algebra (Prior to TT he was using the K-12 Virtual Academy Pre-Algebra)

I too used to be anti-apple.... Then I got an ipad into the hands of my son (who has some significant learning disabilities) and found out exactly what it could do for us. 1. Read books..(It replaces the need for a Kindle for me and the kids) 2. Audio Books & Digital library can all be accessed thru the IPAD....(These are the free Audio & Digital books thru our library system....we can checkout, read, return and get more without ever having to link to a desktop) 3. Education apps....(fun on the run...great for waiting @ doctor's office and for rewarding good behavior/work completion on the fly w/out having to get the gaming system out. Plus I know they are learning with the games. 4. Netflix streaming for educational videos anywhere anytime (If you have wifi..if not than at least anywhere at home on wireless network....many other free *tv* and *video* apps available as well) 5. Creative Medium for Art/Music (My daughter loves to play "electronic" guitar and lap harp..and practice her piano. My son loves to draw and create images he then saves to our picture gallery for me to keep a running portfolio of. 6. Rediscover previously hated subjects....My son hates to write...but he considers playing with the ipad and creating a daily journal fun....and he's writing for fun...something I never thought possible. (I think its notepad or notebook app..it lets you handwrite journals...win/win for us it combines creative writing and handwriting, he just uses a stylus to mimic using a pen. He can go back in and insert pictures, symbols, highlight text, draw...its actually alot of fun) 7. Electronic books..combining visual images, movie playing and reading for a new fun experience. My kids have always love Grover's Monster at the End of this Book....we discovered recently the interactive Ipad version where Grover talks to you and you can break the wall, cut the rope and listen to him talk, this is a HUGE hit with my 6 year old...My 12 year old loves reading Alice in Wonderland with the interactive story pages. 8. Starwalk and Elements app (I think those are the right names) Starwalk turns the IPAD into a real time star chart for your area....Elements is an interactive periodic table....my 12 year will spend hours sorting thru the elements. These are just a few of many reasons I became pro-ipad, inspite of my previous anti-apple attitude. And yes all these things could be handled just as easily with a laptop....but for my kids its the tactile nature of the pad, the physical interaction from finger to screen that really inspired their creativity and has resulted in some significant gains in previously problem subject areas... Totally worth it for us.