My 9th grader does about 5 hours a day. I think I go pretty easy on him. I may need to step it up.

Thanks for sharing this site!

Magnesium and Valerian are the two that I can think of. Also, massage and imagery could help.

My hubby and I are trying to figure out this whole teenage thing. We don't necessarily want him to be excluded from all high school norms such as dances, but 14 may be too young. He would be attending as a group (3 boys and 3 girls), but they have paired off into boy-girl. So far we have decided that we would take him and pick him up. Also, we need to meet this young lady. Anything else? He said he's not interested in the girl, but he's still a young man with hormones.

My 8yo dd is in love with this! We are making this a one year study by adding in geography. She loves the story and is a little hummed that it will take so long to read. We always do the crafts because that is her favorite activity. She does the vocabulary, animal sheets, habitat sheets, maps,extra books, and fun videos. I'm so glad we chose this! I hope she comes out with at least one a year.

It seems like you've tried some great phonics programs. Maybe you could take a different approach and try something from Dianne Craft. She teaches with a more visual sight word approach. She has a more visual phonics program that may help.

Thanks for some great thoughts. When my two fight, I usually just require an apology, but I never feel like it's enough. I appreciate your ideas, especially writing 10 things they like about them or along those lines. I can't do the chores thing because then my kids say, "He hit me. He has to do my chores!" when they were just goofing off. Anything to get out of work!

"Oa" comes in the middle of the word. "Oe" and "ow" come at the end. So not a perfect science. One example is toe and tow. Most spelling programs teach these at some point.

I've been doing a ton of research that has my head spinning. First, my 8yo dd is behind in mostly her reading/spelling skills. Her opthamologist recommended that she be checked for VT. We are so broke due to my own disability, so I started my research. I have found numerous exercises to try with her for both convergence, tracking, secaades (sp?), and helping cross the midline. This is when I started to read about primitive reflexes. My dd has had numerous testing done for her incontinence. She has no problems (typically) with holding her urine, and then out of the blue she pees. She's been doing kegel exercises for over a year without it helping. Now I learn that the Spinal Galant primitive reflex (which she has) can cause incontinence. Wow! My mind's a little blown. I've found exercises to help rid her of this reflex. We'll see if it helps with the incontinence. It couldn't hurt.

Yeah, I think you're right here. I was hung up on that. Thanks for the help! I love the hive!

He's had a lead role in numerous community (i.e. church) performances. He's taken a leadership position in community outreach programs (VBS, AWANA). I still don't know if this is what they want since it is not directly related to work or school.

I wasn't planning on making anything up. My concern is that they specifically said work or school. He has held a leadership position in church, but they didn't specify that. He took a standardized test and did great, but no award. He plays sports, but again no leadership position. If he was in public school, he'd be on the honor roll every time. He's super smart and reliable. He just hasn't had a chance outside of home and church to show it.

My son is filling out his first job application. He has never had a job or been in public school. One of the questions is, "Please list awards or leadership positions (work or school.)" How would you answer that? We are not involved in a co-op. He has been involved with church, but they aren't asking about that. Best homeschooled ever! Cutest son ever! Hard worker award! Most responsible of my 2 kids award! Seriously, how does he answer? I don't think he should leave it blank.

You didn't include AAS, which we use and love. I'm only using them with one 8yo girl, but if I had a lot of kids using them, I'd laminate them.

I cannot figure out how to help my 3rd grade dd. She is using 1st grade reading and phonics (R&S), Why Johnny Can't Read and AAS1 for spelling. Today, she spelled camp C-A-P. I always have a good attitude with her, but I'm worried that she is not progressing. Do I need to change my way of teaching? I don't know how to teach any other way. I don't have money to put into a new program.

I like to wear long skirts regularly, but none of them are fancy. I don't wear dresses because I don't find them flattering on me. I guess I need to buy a fancier skirt. :sad:

We're talking run of the mill wedding here. Fancy ceremony, cocktail hour, reception with dinner and dancing. It's been 10 years since I've attended one.

I'd like to get a feel for how you handle poor grades. Do you punish them? I ask this because my ds does not study. I remind him to study before tests, but then he does poorly. Also, he makes silly arithmetic errors constantly. He knows his facts. He doesn't have a LD. How would you handle it? How do you handle it in your home?

I agree that updating still sounds like a good deal. If it's working for him, I'd stick with it. Any other decent program will cost at least $100.

I think I'm gonna stick with AAS for my 8yo dd. I also think I'll use The Webster Speller from Don Potter for my 14 yo ds. He can move through it quickly until he gets stuck.

Which do you use? Prefer? Why? Has anybody used both methods and preferred one over the other? Can you use them together?

Yeah, I think I'm going to start at the very beginning. A very good place to start! The rules and marking will be completely new.

We are doing accidental geography through this program. Since we currently are not doing any history, I might stretch out the lessons to make it a full science and geography course. Marking the maps for the different habitats, learning continents and oceans, specific studies about locations where they visit, good documentaries of different locations and habitats. Yeah! I can see how this can easily be changed to a one year program.

I bought WRTR a while back and was freaked out by it's jargon and huge sized manual. I've been using AAS for a while with my youngest which has helped me learn exactly what a phonogram is and how to teach with them. I recently started reading WRTR again, and it makes sense. So is there any difference in the way you teach a teenager from a younger child. I feel like my 14 yo might scoff at spelling " me." My ds is not a poor speller. He was never taught spelling rules, and it shows up in more difficult words.

My son is using this website as part of his Computer Science course. I love it! I watch the lectures as well.