Well, I have ABeCeDarian student workbook B short version. Is that one that you need? Michele

Thanks, Susan! I'm seriously considering SOTW now. My daughter, who is a senior, just told me she remembers very little from World History & that it was very boring. She used BJU, if I remember correctly. Michele

Thanks, Christy! I have been checking their curricula out too. :)

Wow! thanks for taking the time to post all of that. I've never had my son tested but I KNOW he has ADD. He has an extremely difficult time staying focused. I want to get him on some medication to help him, but there's a waiting list for a particular doctor I want to see. My son is a very bright young man. He has a large vocabulary and is a "thinker". He has a lot of the "right-brain" characteristics, and I did purchase the Brain Integration Therapy Manual and Right Brain Phonics Program from Dianne Craft. We've been doing the phonics book for a couple of weeks now, but I'm still not convinced those brain integration exercises are gonna work. Seems a little "out there". He's gotten lazy with his reading. We went through the REWARDS program (red book), and he did pretty well. However, it didn't seem to transfer over to his reading of real books. He still wants to guess at multi-syllable words. He absolutely HATES to read and won't read unless I make him read TO me. He never reads on his own at all. His comprehension is pretty good when I read aloud to him. However, when he reads something to himself (which hardly ever happens), comprehension goes way down. I think his mind wanders some because he hates reading so much. I also think he works so hard on decoding words that he loses the meaning by the time he gets to the end. Spelling is worse than his reading. We've gone through three levels of AAS. His spelling has improved some, but not a whole lot. I tried something with his spelling that Dianne Craft or Jeffrey Freed recommended where you write the word really big and color code it into syllables...like un re mark able He can still remember how to spell that words weeks later. So, I think that's what I'm gonna continue doing for spelling. Rules have helped some as well. Oh, and although he seems very bright in SO many ways, his IQ is pretty low. The lady who tested him said that he's working to his potential, and doing all that he can. I wasn't convinced of the results of the test, though. As far as testing for anything else, what type of testing are you talking about? Thanks! Michele

Thanks to those of you who gave me websites to visit. I did find a set of science books from AGS Publishing that look perfect! As far as history, someone recommended Joy Hakim's history books, and I had forgotten all about those. Perfect as well! :001_smile: The SOTW books are written on his reading level, but do you think they'd be "enough" for him for a high school world history course? Not arguing, just wondering. Again, many thanks! You guys are great! And to the person who posted about getting your child through high school and even through college, I have decided that this particular child of mine will probably have to go to community college. All kids just aren't able to go to university, and that's okay. ;)

Well, I have looked at Power Basics, but it doesn't look like it would be enough for a whole year.

I know this board is for classical education, but I don't know where else to go. I also know this board usually talks about high schoolers who are extremely SMART, doing college level work, applying to BIG colleges & universities. However, I'm not really sure what to do for my third child who is about to start high school, and still only reading on about a 4th grade level. We have worked so much on reading for so long, but it hasn't gotten much better in the past several years. His spelling is horrible! There's no way he can read the normal BJU or Abeka for science or history. I can manage English & math. Are there lower level reading history or science textbooks out there? Or can anyone tell me where I could go to ask or find them? Michele

Oh my word! Thank you, Angela! I forgot that I DO actually have some flash cards with answers on them. On one side is the fact without the answer, on the other side is the fact WITH the answer. :) I totally forgot until I saw the cards. Bless you for reminding me...my memory is horrible! ;)

I recall finding a website once where you could order these multiplication flaash cards. They had the answers on them for kids who were very visual, and you'd actually do them with your child several times throughout the day until they had seen them so much that they'd *know* them. Anyone know that website?

My daughter is taking American Government this year at the local Christian school. Her teacher wants them to be prepared to write a three paragraph essay. I've heard of 5-paragraph essays, but not 3. Anyone heard of these?

Elizabeth, I've been playing the phonics concentration game with my boys. If one of them pronounces the word incorrectly, should I have them sound it out? Or should I tell them the word? It seems to be a little confusing for them. Today, one of them picked "S" and "ON". Since we're working on "phonics", I assumed it would have a short 'o' sound in the middle, rhyming with "Don". However, it's actually son, as in the son of God. Which way should they pronounce it? Thanks for your help. I ordered the Back on the Right Track program yesterday. I'll let you know how it goes. Michele

I gave my son the MWIA. I think I did the scoring correctly. We'll see... Holistic - I Time: 40 seconds Errors: 0 WPM: 75 Phonetic - I Time: 55 seconds Errors: 8 Spell-Cor: 7/8 Phon Eff: 87.5% Slow-Down: 27% Holistic - II Time: 225 seconds Errors: 19 WPM: 56 Phonic Eff: 89.4% Phonetic - II Time: 398 seconds Errors: 55 Spell-Cor: 30/55 Phon Eff: 55% Slow-down: 43% I think that's right. Let me know what you think. Thanks, Michele

Thanks for posting. He has none of those symptoms. :)

Actually, he's been wearing glasses for several years now. :)

Could someone please tell me how to do this? Thanks, Michele

Thanks, Lizzy! Would you mind telling me what all of that testing cost you? Michele

Okay, I will definitely get an IQ test done. Thanks for the responses! Michele

No, she didn't give him an IQ test, just the WJIII. I guess it would help me to get his IQ checked. Would I be able to tell if he has a learning disability if he took an IQ test?

I have two boys who both have learning problems. My goal is to figure out what's wrong with my older son first (since he is older). So, I had someone test him last week. She used the Woodcock-Johnson III. His scores are all pretty low (math, reading & writing). It really breaks my heart because he is my most sensitive child. He is 12yo (will be 13yo in May) and is only reading on a late 2nd grade/early 3rd grade level. He knows how far *behind* he is. I hate to even use that word because we homeschool, and I know that *behind* is not even relevant. Anyway, what's my next step? If someone can help me with these scores, it would help. Just tell me what to post (AE, Easy to Diff, RPI, PR, SS or GE). Thanks! Michele

We've been focusing so much on the 3 R's in the past several years that we haven't really done any formal science up to now. What would be a good program for two boys (actually 7th & 6th grades next fall) that would give them a good foundation in science? One son is very visual, one is very kinesthetic. My older son may end up in Christian school sometime in high school (don't know if that matters or not). I'd appreciate any help you could give me! Michele

Yeah, that was what he was wanting to do, dual enroll. I'll look for that thread.

I'm going to try to explain this situation and see if any of you know if this is "legal". Here goes... Our son is a senior this year. He has been a part-time student for all four years of high school at a local Christian school. He's taken his core classes at home & one or two classes at the cs each year (and played sports soccer, basketball & baseball). Well, he's decided he wants to do one more year of high school. Why? Because he wants to play sports at this school for one more year. Really, he could use another year of high school. He only has 20 credits, which is enough to get into the community college he wants to attend, but his language arts skills (specifically writing) need help! I don't think you can have five years on your high school transcript so could we drop the credits he got in 9th grade (only 3) and do another year of high school? Also, he could dual enroll at the community college and start getting credits toward his college transcript. Okay, I know this sounds ridiculous, but he really wants to do this. WHY would you want to go through another year of high school when you have enough to credits to graduate? Well, because this son is very athletic and absolutely LOVE sports and sees his sports career coming to an end?? Ugh! I guess I'd need to contact the state, huh? The more I think about it, the stupider it sounds, but dh acts like it would be fine as long as the christian school is okay with it. What do you think? Ridiculous?

What would you do if you had a senior who had had very little writing (he's never written an essay or paper) and you wanted to prepare him for the SAT? I know he'll do fine on the other parts, but I have not taught him very much writing. It always got pushed to the back burner in favor of other subjects (not to mention two younger kids with special needs). No need to cry about it now, it's over and done with (even though I feel terrible about it). At this point, is there a way to prepare him for a test he needs to take in the next few months? If he doesn't pass the writing portion, he'll just take the placement test at community college and take a writing class there. However, I'd really like to see him place out of the math since he does very well in math. Any suggestions?

I'm planning on using this in the fall with 12yos & 11yos. The hands-on part will appeal to my younger son, but my older son is extremely visual. I'm thinking I may need to supplement with visually appealing books. Did anyone else do this? Has anyone made a list of books to go along with this program? Thanks! Michele

Thanks, Ottakee. My 12yos has done programs before with nonsense words, and he totally freaks out! Is that what you're describing when you say "using the sounds but that aren't real words"?? He hates nonsense words, maybe because it really makes him "think" about the sounds. I can't see the sample pages because our pdf files are not working right now.