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Kathryn

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Everything posted by Kathryn

  1. Wow, that's really creepy. I'd have a big problem with that too. I've looked at that website. I'm glad that didn't happen to me!
  2. That's a good point about reading fluency. Kindergarten was very phonics-intensive here and he ended kindergarten reading at a very strong second grade level at least. He reads upper elementary chapter books to himself now. So, we aren't doing phonics at all besides the ETC books, which we only do because he loves them and had a fit at the thought of stopping them. When we were focusing on phonics and introducing math concepts, not much else was happening. And I wouldn't have added in components like grammar and spelling until we were finished with phonics.
  3. I don't think much more is necessary beyond listening to good literature, learning to read and write, and arithmetic at the first grade level. However, as you see from my signature, we do a lot more. DS thrives on curriculum. He begs for it. And I comply. It does give me a feeling of insurance to feel like I have my bases covered, but I'd be just as happy if he were more content to run around exploring nature. Unfortunately, if he weren't doing "school," his next choice would be video games. :glare: ETA - even with all I have listed, we spend 1-2.5 hours per day on academics.
  4. I don't think I'd do narration with the Little House books. They just don't seem all that suited for it. There is so much description and so little action. We spent two years as a family going through the entire original series. "The Long Winter" was actually one of our favorites because of how well we were able to identify with the characters and what they went through from Laura's story-telling. Pages-long descriptions of dresses and curtains and whatnot don't really do much for DH or DS. DS just finished "The First Four Years" on his own and we talked about how different it was from the other books because it was a rough draft and she hadn't fleshed out the details like she had in the books she had published. We also talked about the fact that it discusses her son dying, while we had read that she didn't write about her brother at all in the other books because she didn't want to write about his death for a children's audience. So, we discussed whether or not we thought she would have included the parts about her second pregnancy and her son's death had she lived to edit and publish the book. I thought it prompted some worthwhile discussions, moreso than any of the other books now that I think about it.
  5. I would agree with this. I bought the text at first and read through it. I then decided that I preferred having the work done for me and got the workbook. It does seem much more challenging than what is laid out in the text.
  6. Thank you! He refused to do the verbal working memory section at all. He was supposed to talk to the tester about pictures on cards she was holding up, but nothing could convince him to do it. So, if he had completed that section, I would think that his verbal IQ score would be a lot higher than his nonverbal, since it's already higher? What constitutes "verbal" vs. "non-verbal" on these tests? My impression was that the sole purpose for the test was to determine whether to label him "high-functioning." When DH asked what gave him the "high-functioning" label, the psych said because his IQ score was above normal. That was the only discussion of the test, and what I provided above was the only report of it. I was just wondering if it could help me in any other way. I know from doing the Developing the Early Learner books from Sonlight's P4/5 (and from attempting to have him follow any multi-step directions) that auditory memory is an issue. He seems to have a lot of trouble with things like puzzles, visualizing how pieces can be turned around to fit together, patterns, etc. I was wondering if these test results could somehow point to strengths/weaknesses that I was missing.
  7. Agreeing. My first grader is also HFA and I realized a month into "summer break" that breaks weren't going to be helpful for him. He had forgotten so much in that short amount of time. We started back to school after a little over a month off from kindergarten. We had finished May 20 and started back on July 1. Before that, we had gone straight through without a break of more than two weeks since January of the previous year, so almost a year and a half (we had two weeks off during the summer and one at Christmas). I anticipate that when he's older and these skills are more ingrained, that he'll be able to break longer without losing skills. But, for now, any time we break for longer than the weekend I make sure we incorporate math skills, reading and writing into our days. It doesn't have to be sitting down and "doing" school. We play math games, make up word problems, drill math facts, write letters to people, make lists, and have daily reading time. We took off last week also, and although the transition to "school" on Monday was tough, it wasn't much worse this time than the transition EVERY Monday. He really thrives on a schedule and routine and weekends and vacations are tough for him.
  8. We just started WWE1, half-way through the year. We are doing it double-paced because of that and it's working well. So, we're doing days 1&2 on Monday, days 3&4 on Tuesday, the next week's day 1&2 on Wednesday, and 3&4 on Thursday. I'd probably do the same if I were you and if you run into difficulties with the faster pace, slow down. I'd want to make it through all of WWE1 before starting WWE2.
  9. Anyone? I see the dictionary that JW recommends in FLL got good reviews on Amazon, but I have some concern over the reviews on the recommended thesaurus. Are children's versions all that helpful? I grew up using a complete American Heritage dictionary and Roget's thesaurus. I think I'd be more concerned about the thesaurus being geared towards younger children since I recall it being difficult to distinguish shades of meaning, yet I want something complete.
  10. How do I choose? I think I'm picking between American Heritage and Merriam-Webster for a dictionary and between American Heritage and Roget's for a thesaurus. Is there a clear "winner?" What about "student" vs. "children's" vs. "elementary?" Related, how many years should these last before we need to move up to something higher (and what is the next level?)?
  11. DS did them at four and it was really just busywork, but he loved them.
  12. I'd just do as PPs stated and move forward as his speed. If he knows the material, there is absolutely no reason to do every problem or even every page. If my son didn't struggle with math, we certainly wouldn't! Also, I'm not sure why a PP thinks there is no money, clock, or geometry in MUS. MUS does not follow a standard public school sequence of introducing concepts, but these are most definitely covered.
  13. I block-fed (4 hours on each side) AND laid down to nurse. That solved all our issues within a week. I had to lie down/recline at every feed for about a month. The few times I was sitting up or standing, it showed in his diaper. After about a month, I was able to sit or stand to nurse and alternate sides without him suffering.
  14. I tried to buy today also but didn't see a discount applied either. I hope it gets fixed soon.
  15. I keep looking at TOG but am still so confused. One big question I have is about the activity sheets. When you look at the online 3 week sample, they are in there, but if you are "shopping" you are asked if you want them and for which level. It doesn't mention that they are already in there and you'd be getting additional ones. So, are student sheets included, or are they extra? The other big question I have is what kind of credits this would produce for high school at the rhetoric level? My boys are 4 years apart and we're thinking about TTC next year, which would give us two four-year age spreads. Something like Tapestry of Grace sounds like it would work well when both (or all) are in formal schooling, but I'm still confused!
  16. I'm using it with my 6yo DS who is diagnosed high-functioning autistic. We love it. It is exactly what he needed. I've scheduled it to last for the year. We could go through it faster, but I don't feel the need to, so we don't. If you're wanting to progress faster, I'd guess that with an average 6yo, you could get through 2 levels in a school year.
  17. Why can I not click on the "Mail" option? Is that no longer an option, or is it just because the new catalog has just come out and isn't printed yet? I like print!
  18. I've read the second and the third editions, but don't own WTM and I'd like to. There's a big difference in price obviously. I don't recall them being all that different, but my readings have mostly focused on the grammar stage. Would I just be missing updated resources by getting the 2nd edition, or something more significant?
  19. We supplement with Life of Fred. I don't know how necessary it is though. It does make math more fun and less abstract.
  20. You could spend two years on Core A (K) to bring your youngest up to suggested age. A lot of people do that with A because it's so easy to do by reading the sequels (Boxcar Children, My Father's Dragon, etc.) to the literature and getting library books/videos to supplement the history. P4/5 was a wonderful kindergarten year for us.
  21. I'll outline more fully our story and see if it helps you more. DS was always "off" in our eyes, but it was nothing we could really pinpoint. We suspected ADHD for a long time, but knew that it's not routinely diagnosed until age 5 around here, so I never brought up any concerns at all to his doctor. When I did mention concerns to friends or family, they were brushed off as "normal" or he'd "grow out of it." When he was 4.5 and in Vacation Bible School, I asked his teachers to let me know if they had any concerns because I was going to be speaking to his doctor soon about some concerns I had. The lead teacher immediately told me that he had "sensory issues." Honestly, though I'd noted certain things as odd, I thought of them as just quirks, suffering from many of those same quirks myself. I checked out "The Out-of-Sync Child" from my library and made a two page list of all the symptoms he had. I took that to his doctor to get an OT referral. Because of several red flags, most notably his problem with eye contact and that my half-sister has been diagnosed with Asperger's, she recommended that we also go for an autism evaluation. At first, I thought she was crazy, but I agreed to do it. My only experience with autism was "classic" autism. I did a quick online search that confirmed she was crazy. But, I thought about it some more and decided to check out a book. I got "A Parent's Guide to Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism." I did the same thing, writing down all of his matching symptoms. It became painfully obvious that he'd be easily diagnosed. The process for us: About two weeks after his pediatrician called the developmental pediatrician's office for a referral, I received a phone call from the dev. ped. intake coordinator to set up a telephone interview for two weeks later. She sent some preliminary paperwork to fill out and called me two weeks later (so, it's now been a month since we saw his ped.) and asked me a series of questions to determine which waiting list he got put on to. I was told that list was 3-4 months. Exactly four months later, they called with an appointment for two weeks later. This was to meet with the we'd be working with and have him determine what sorts of testing he would be able to do. It lasted about an hour and he sent us home with "Caregiver Reports" (I assume they were the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklists mentioned below) to be filled out by us and anyone else in a supervisory role (his Sunday School teacher, speech therapist, and occupational therapist). We went back a month later for testing. That day, a PhD student gave him the Stanford-Binet in the morning. We were given the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales to fill out on our own over lunch. In the afternoon, the psychologist did the ADOS with him and the ADI-R with us. Including lunch, we were there for about five hours. His evaluation report lists evaluation methods as: Medical Record Review Parent Interview Child lnterview Mental Status Examination Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales - Fifth Edition (SB-V) Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised (ADI-R) Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales - 2nd Edition (Vineland-Il) Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL, Parent and Teacher) A month later, we went back for the reporting appointment, when they told us the diagnosis, went over the report, answered any questions, and gave us information packets. Although he knew we were homeschooling, he talked mostly about public school accommodations. It seems to me that that is the arena in which diagnosis makes the most difference, which makes sense from what I've seen when I frequented a high-functioning autism forum online. I'd say greater than 3/4 of the chatter had to do with school issues. It's why I stopped going there, because they just weren't relevant for us, and whenever someone asked about homeschooling and I'd answer, I was attacked by people very wedded to the "socialization" benefit of public school for autistic children. The most vocal of these women was constantly posting about how her son was isolated in the classroom, made to sit in a corner removed from the rest of the class, had to eat lunch alone in the classroom, punished with no recess for his "quirks," etc. :glare: Sorry, tangential. Anyway, that was in the back of my mind with testing. If anything ever happens to me, DH will have to put them in school, and I'd like him to have some documentation under his belt even if the school requested their own evaluation. So, that's our story in a nutshell. Now I must pay attention to the kids before they burn the house down!
  22. Forgot to address sensory issues. He had a separate OT evaluation that diagnosed his sensory issues and receives once a week OT to address that. I called two different offices that were recommended to me. The bigger, hospital-affiliated office called me back 6 months later with a spot for an evaluation. The independent OT called me a month later for the evaluation.
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