Pick books at her level that are things she is interested in. WOrks like a charm. Also, read aloud to her. Get a book a bit above her level and have 2 copies. One for you to read and one for her to follow. We followed the 100 ez lessons with the bob books and lots of dr seuss.

Before you invest in ROsetta stone I encourage you to take a look at duolingo. I have used both and Duolingo, imo, is superior and FREE! I am bilingual and learned my second language as an adult and tried both rs and dl in both Spanish (my second language) and French (a language I don't know) to compare. I learned far far more on Duolingo. Plus, there is a really cool TED talk about Duolingo which makes me love it even more.

Try the Mensa reading lists. They have them listed by grade level.

Candy, or other reinforcers, lol. I can get an amazing amount of unliked schoolwork done by using positive reinforcement. I have a drawer full of stickers, candies, and small toys. Heck, my kids love when I take them to the dollar tree to pick out new prizes for the drawer. Also, the finishing of a math workbook gets a big prize. Something around 10 dollars or less. My oldest might pick new mp3s and my youngest usually picks a webkinz. When the kids are having an extra good math day we do more. Also, I tell them that there will be math happening or they will be finishing in summer school. Works like a charm. If we worked really hard on a new concept we get ice cream cones at mcd's.

Woohoo! I have recently started just doing the same thing. I eat less and move more. I am down 10 pounds in 3 weeks and am feeling like I am in control for once. You just made my day! Thanks for the motivation.

Too young to worry about this. Keep practicing a little each day.

When does dd turn 12? 11 is a young 7th grader. Also, my add daughter takes caffeine pills to help her focus. Works like a charm.

We are doing very light work. Both my dd's are doing Life of Fred. My oldest is doing the LoF for pre algebra to get a leg up on next years math. They don't have to be asked to read. They write in a journal once or twice a week.

Ultimately, I find standardized tests useful only as practice for taking the SAT/ACT tests. My rising seventh grader has been all over the place with standardized testing. Our charter has them test 2 months before school is out. I don't know about the rest of you, but I cover a heck of a lot of stuff in 2 months, particularly in math. I do try to cover the range and sequence for each grade, but don't base my performance as a teacher on one test. I look at work at the beginning of the year and then compare it to the end. There is usually a huge difference. Both of my dd's are sn (one has inattentive adhd and is gifted and the other has high functioning autism and is also gifted) and when they are tested in the right way they excel. When they are bubble fillers they kinda suck. MUS is not going to give you great standardized test scores. Period. They don't teach the same range and sequence for each year. If you love MUS I would use their tests to see how your kids are doing. If you want to compare to most kids taking standardized tests I would switch to something like singapore. I know that one of the best curriculum's for the new common core standards is the beast academy as the art of problem solving curriculum is taught the way the common core tests are given. Don't be too hard on yourself.

a few math review questions a day (I saved the reviews from our singapore texts for the summer), lots of library trips, lots of time at the pool, gardening, sewing, and crafting.

I would record the rage and keep a journal. I would also be the annoying parent that kept calling. I would not go to the ER unless child was hurting self or others. I have an autistic dd and am appalled at the steps they are asking you to take. Have you had a second opinion? Another assesment? Those test results can change from day to day.

Somehow this makes me feel like the value of a graduation ceremony is diminished for the kids who are truly graduating from homeschool. It is like saying that their graduation isn't as legit as a regular school (who would never allow this). jmo.

a basket is what we use.

I believe the idea that those who don't study their history are bound to repeat it. I absolutely read the old books with my kids. They are great stepping stones for discussion. My daughters have no problem seeing the racist and sexist points of view in books. These books were written in another time with different values. They are worth studying if for no other reason than to see how far we have come. I don't believe in white washing or presenting revisionist history to my kids. Knowledge is a powerful thing.

There are some cool lego kits for engineering. My husband is an engineer and he also loved building Estes rockets as a kid.

I am taking a hybrid approach to Spanish/ Latin. My kid is learning Spanish and studying latin and greek roots. We are using duolinguo for Spanish (which is a superior and FREE spanish program) and Word within the Word after Caesar's English (MCT). I am bilingual, having learned Spanish as an adult, and have no problem reading and learning Latin (which I am doing). It is a lot easier because I learned Spanish.

For what it's worth, my dd8 with autism hates a "school area" and likes to write out a schedule with me each day that includes reading on her bed, jumping and bouncing in the backyard, science at the kitchen table, english on the rug in the living room, etc. It is most important to her to know what needs to be accomplished and to work with her. I also use a ton of reinforcers!!! I have thousands of stickers, tiny toys, and candies, activities, etc to earn for completing tasks. I use what she is wanting to do, eat, play, etc as our reinforcer and have good success that way. I keep it real. If she is rockin the school work one day we will do extra. If she is struggling (or tantruming) one day we might only get 1 math problem done and feel like we climbed mt everest. This will be a great opportunity to find what dc is good at and interested in so you can start steering your school in that direction.

I would start by making the eating thing a no fuss thing. Serve what you serve for everyone else and have something that she will eat for her. We have eaten many meals with dd just having cocoa puffs but is around food she doesn't like. We then moved to putting something on her plate she doesn't like but not making her eat it. We reward any attempts to try something new even if it is spit out. She also has 1 night a week that we eat what she wants. My dh would definately get a talking to if he refused to eat with the family because he doesn't like what a child with special needs was eating or how. That is just me. dinner time is family time. Maybe food desensitisation should happen at another time and dd should be given what she will eat for now.

I would use his computer gaming obsession to his advantage. How much of his curriculum is computer based? I agree with the ideas for getting him to do things like scratch, etc. I would also use his special interest to steer him to something that can financially sustain him. I would do computer camp, programming classes, robot and computer building, etc. Heck, have him read and study the computer superstars like Bill Gates. I would still limit his time and I would use the opportunity for more as a reward for doing other things you want him to do. Girl, my dd8 is obsessed with unicorns. At the grocery store she was bawling uncontrollably and causing many to stare at the bad parent (me) who can't get their child under control because she forgot to bring a unicorn with her. Those obsessions are mighty powerful. They are a comfort to these kids who are square pegs in a world of round holes. Are you working with any behavior therapists? They can be tremendously helpful in getting the kids to branch out and try other things. Also, a week without computers for an aspie isn't the same for a week without for a nt. I would do anything in my power to help my kid earn her unicorn priviledges back as soon as possible and a week is just way too long. A day might be. To a neurotypical kid losing the computer tells them "I did something bad and won't get a priviledge" to an aspie it says "I did something that my parents don't like and I might not even understand why and now my comfort item is taken away." Just food for thought.

Because our schedule is different everyday, I keep a calendar for my dd with asd. We go over it frequently so she knows what is coming and what to expect. This is more functional than every day school. We make transition stories and she reads them frequently. I do very light summer school work m-f. We are talking 5 math problems and reading a chapter in a book. This is more for retention. She is higher functioning and 8 so other asd kids might need a more similar day to day structure. She ABSOLUTELY needs to know what is coming, though.

I would tell your kiddo that according to your school district she is in 4th grade and ahead. Tell her that she will be ahead of the game when she goes back. "That's it. End of story. I don't have any control over how the schools decide it, dear." Don't bring up the "started early because of readiness" again because it will make her feel bad that she hasn't kept up. It is always better to blame it on something else that you have no control over. :tongue_smilie: She will be more than adequately prepared!

President Monson's talk this morning was wonderful! Can we fire the stylist for the women of motab, though? Those pepto pink layered tents......sigh. I find them distracting in their awfulness (off to repent now). Seriously though, great conference!

A little tough love: This cannot be about your comfort level. I so know where you are. I have been pregnant, homeschooling, and dealing with sn kids. It sucks! It really does. You MUST put your own comfort aside and get them assesed. Like yesterday. It might help if you shared which state you live in. Often there are state appointed advocacy groups that will get things done. In CA we call a regional center and THEY call the schools. The schools don't want to do the assesments. It cosst a lot of money for the district. I have not paid anything for assesments or treatment and the kids with sn are not subject to the same academic assesment standards. Big hugs!!!!!!!!!!!! You are in a tough spot. I bet there are people here in the state you live who know who to ask for help.

My dd12 is oppositional when it comes to school work and sometimes chores. It is so frustrating because she is clearly able to do the work but doesn't want to. Frankly, I have cut out a lot of cool things we could be doing academically because her behaviors have been putting her behind in core subjects. We are half a year behind in math which is nonsense because she understands the math, the first time and even sometimes halfway through an explanation, she simply does not want to do it. She doesn't like it. Luckily we are part of a charter umbrella and she has a couple of math teachers that she works with besides me. Guess what, she isn't as snarky with them, but she tunes them out. One on one! How the #)(*R#) are we supposed to get through a year of math if we are only allowed to burden her with 4 problems a day, lol. If it is a subject she likes she will do it no problem. She lets me teach her and work with her and she will patiently work through the assignment. After the school psychologist (who I work with because I have a dd with autism) suggested that I ask her dr to evaluate her for add I started to do some research. Turns out that adhd in girls looks like pms on steroids. So her doctor suggested that we try an experiment; give dd some caffeine before school time and see what happens. So I made my dd drink coke 30 before we started school and I thought aliens had traded children with me. She was grumbly, but did her work with little complaint. She did a months worth of math in a week. She did all of her school work in just a couple of hours instead of all day and evening. I don't know where we go from here, but this has all been eye opening. Just food for thought.

I know that when I was abroad for a time coming home was brutal. I was sooooooo culture shocked, lol. I was in Spain and the people there are very physically open people, I mean you kiss people as a greeting (even strangers). I thought Americans, my own people, were so cold. I also disliked air conditioning for awhile because I was used to being hot all the time and would shiver around fake cold air. Everyone expecting me to be who I was before was hardest of all. It was as hard for my family and friends as it was for me. My family was exasperated and confused by me and I was depressed and homesick for the country I just left. It did fade. In retrospect I kinda started my life fresh from that point. Kids often bounce back faster and with more ease than adults. It will all work out.