I think I heard it from a couple of places -- from local parent group forums, maybe on this forum?, and also at a how to homeschool highschool seminar that I attended once. The psychologist also mentioned it would be helpful to have a paper trail.

I'm not opposed in theory to getting a PS eval. I did try (as I detailed in the other post) but was not successful. Yes, I think there may be some overlap with ASD as you mentioned. That part of the neuropsych eval could not be completed because the eval straddled the height of the pandemic shut down. We haven't had an OT eval. He was in Social Thinking class a few years back but it didn't seem helpful enough to warrant the drive (it was far for us). If we could get multi-modal evals in a one stop shopping type of situation (like PS), I would do it. It's just that I have been told no, and when I spoke with the school district a few months ago, they made it sound like it would still be a no (I was told to call back in August when school starts). And piecing it together from private providers is way overwhelming (and $$). Hence the need to triage and prioritize. I need to know that the juice is worth the squeeze, YKWIM? That's why I'm wondering how important this 504 is - maybe my time and energy would be better spent seeking out more resources to help with the anxiety - this is what I'm trying to weigh. I guess it might help to know how hard it is to get accommodations for things like SAT? And I guess with many colleges and universities going test-optional, maybe this will be a moot point? Though he will need to learn to take tests at some point...

Could I ask what state you’re in?

@PeterPanthank you so much. Quick reply then will write more later. I did try to get an eval through the PS a few years back. It was an incredibly difficult and uphill process, which is why I eventually went with a private neuropsychology eval (which was $$$). He is 11 (to answer your question) and 2E, and basically as soon as they heard he was reading the Hobbit, the refused further discussion of any formal evaluation - ostensibly because if he’s reading the Hobbit and age 8, he must be doing fine. They did offer him a speech eval (because he had a referral for speech therapy through our pediatrician) but that process was horrendous as well. The SLP would take weeks to answer an email. When we finally had the speech eval, all they offered was up to 2 hours of “consultation” by the therapist - meaning she would be available to answer questions from me as parent. But even when I tried ot contact her with questions, it was the same thing — weeks to get any reply. Always very apologetic, but not helpful. So I totally gave up on the PS system for that and went with the private eval. Please don’t quote as I may edit later: Later I sought a different private consultation from a supposed 2E expert psychologist (again $$) and it was just overwhelming and not super helpful. I sought it out because DS was having a lot of anxiety and thoughts of self harm. I was basically advised to get a boatload of additional evals (he has ADHD? You should rule out sleep apnea, and vision problems, and do the WIlbarger brushing protocol where I need to brush my kid with a surgical scrub brush EVERY HOUR, etc. ) but offered no advice on how to deal with the anxiety and thoughts of self harm. I was just totally overwhelmed. I don’t want to sound like I’m unwilling to advocate or do what it takes to help my child, but realistically, I can only tackle one set of evals at a time while juggling the rest of the people under my care. He’s had a recent optometry eval - no issues found. I can guarantee that seeking out a lot of additional evals will NOT help this child’s anxiety, at least in the short run. If they really are necessary, I will need to pace them and space them out. I’m basically trying to triage all the recommendations I’m getting - rank order them by must do, nice to do, not really necessary for the long run…

How important is it to get a 504 or other type of documentation for your homeschooled child with ADHD/LDs? We were advised that even though we homeschool, we should secure a 504 from the local school district in order to create a "paper trail" to demonstrate the need for accommodations. We were told that the paper trail would be important if DS needs testing accommodations down the line. How important is this? I've called the school district and they've pretty much told me it will be an uphill struggle to get any kind of help from them. They said that since I'm already accommodating him by homeschooling him, there is no need for a formal 504. (Basically, what it sounded like to me -- since I'm solving the problem through homeschooling, they don't see any reason why they should document the problem.) I don't know how hard to push. I don't have tons of time and energy - juggling some elder care stuff and complex health issues for a family member as well right now. DS has mod-severe ADHD and dysgraphia. I don't give him any tests because I know he won't test well. He often needs me to scribe for him. He often needs me to read the problem to him, or prompt him to read and re-read (or he'll end up answering the wrong problem). He would do better with a calculator for math (though I often still make him write out the calculations). He is very bright and understands concepts, but has a hard time executing his thought process because of the ADHD and dysgraphia. The neuropsych and pediatrician both said (unprompted) something along the lines of thank goodness you're homeschooling because he wouldn't do well in school. Any advice on how hard to push the school district on this? Any advice on what to say to the school district to get them to be more sympathetic? There is a piece of me that doesn't even want to try, since that piece of paper (504) isn't going to change what we do at home for now anyway. But I don't want to be shooting myself (or rather, him) in the foot for later, if the documentation is necessary for down the line. Thanks for reading all this!

Agree. I don’t think theory precludes application, and application certainly does not preclude theory. In reality, you have a mix of both in the picture, but weighted more one way or the other.

For Dimensions, the textbook is written in such a way that some students could probably teach themselves from the text. But even if you teach it, the lessons don't take very long (at least in my limited experience). I would say the lesson portion might take 10-20 minutes for us. I end up sitting with DS for more time because he has some LDs and needs someone at hand for the exercises, too. But a different student could probably do the exercises on their own.

RE: AOPS challenge problems -- What @8filltheheartsaid is true for us as well. Some of the challenge problems in AOPS are just brain busters for me. I don't even understand what some of these problems are asking (and I did very well in traditional math programs). If DD needs help with a challenge prob and she's not in one of the online classes, I no longer try to figure out what the problem is asking. I used to do that and it would take me half an hour. No kidding. (This is mostly because it's hard for me to keep up with the way AOPS teaches). Now, I basically pull out the answer key and try to figure out from the key (which I barely understand) how to slowly feed DD bits of info to help her examine her own logic, without giving away the whole thing. After she figures the problem out, I give her the answer key and have her read it to make sure she understands. More recently, I found a great tutor 😃 to talk through challenge problems with DD until she's back in an online class. If you are math-oriented, you may be fine helping your child with the harder problems, but it would take a lot of time for someone like me. If DD is in one of the online AOPS classes, she posts her question to the forum. I'm just along for moral support. Oh, and she sometimes asks me to proofread her proofs. My greatest contribution was coaching her on how to effectively participate in an online forum - how to ask questions in such a way as to optimize one's chances of getting a clear answer. That being said, I know several families who use AOPS books but just don't do any of the challenge problems. You could still learn a lot that way. If you're considering online classes, here are some potentially helpful things to know: The AOPS online classes are text only, with no audio or video. I thought DD wouldn't like it, but it somehow works. AOPS ONline class office hours are also text only, so there can be a delay between the time you post your Q and when you get a reply. AOPS Online classes tend to move at a very rapid pace - content that might be spread out over a full year in regular school might be compressed into a 18-24 week class for AOPS Online. WTMA also has classes that use AOPS textbooks, but with more direct teaching (synchronous, with audio and I think with video - don't quote me on that), live office hours, and a slower pace (full year). I'm not aware of any online options for Singapore Dimensions, but I have never looked, as my child who uses Dimensions does better without screen based teaching. I think I made AOPS sound like a bad option, but we love it in our family -- DD wants to do every possible AOPS class over the coming years. I mention all these details because it is helpful to know what to expect, so you can figure out how to set your DD and yourself up for success. If you start with AOPS pre-algebra, I believe they have a self-paced class option online. Usually, the first 2 weeks are free (meaning you can drop and get a refund -- double check that to confirm). So you could always try it and see how it goes.

Ok, part 2. I posted the first part because I’ve lost my posts before and it’s super frustrating 🙂 Singapore vs. AOPS- Both are solid, great programs. (Disclaimer - in our family, we have experience only up to Dimensions 7 and the AOPS Intro series) You know how in some fields, you have theoretical vs. applied approaches? Like theoretical physics vs applied physics? Well, I think of AOPS as theoretical mathematics, and Singapore as applied math. Is one purer or better than the other? Depends on what you want to do with it, right? And what kind of approach you prefer? Dimensions is very much a parts to whole approach. There is direct teaching of concepts, and concepts build on each other. There is very little discovery learning (where you deduce a mathematical principle by doing a problem). Once in awhile they throw in a discovery learning problem as an optional supplemental exercise. AOPS is more of a discovery learning approach. They give the student problems, and as the student works through the problems, they discover the mathematical principle or relationship. I would encourage you to look at both to see how you think you would implement each with your DD. There are samples online. With AOPS, my DD teaches herself from the book. I am very hands off. If I needed to teach AOPS directly, it would take an inordinate amount of prep time for me because it’s not the way I learned math. For DImensions, I can teach it with minimal to no prep. hope this helps! Best wishes!

Standards vs. Dimensions. Standards home instructor’s guide is much more robust. The HIG explains the concept and teaches you how to teach it. I didn’t need the HIG much, but it was nice to have as a safety net. Dimensions 6 has a pretty robust teacher’s guide. It’s a large format, spiral bound book that provides pretty detailed notes on the concepts and how to present them. It also has answers to the sample problems in the textbook. Dimensions 6 textbook looks more like it’s for older kids — smaller font, more text on the page, less “childish” formatting. The textbook includes lots of practice problems. The workbook problems are not super challenging. That was ok for us, because we were also doing Challenging Word Problems 6 alongside. However, know that there are some topics in CWP that aren’t covered in Dimensions 6 (like area of a circle, for example). Dimensions 7 (to my knowledge) does not have a home instructor’s guide. There is a big change in the presentation at this level. The teacher’s book has very limited teaching notes for each chapter — it mostly functions as an answer key (has the answers to the sample problems in the textbook). In this way, Dimensions 7 assumes much more knowledge on the part of the instructor than Standards or Dimensions 6 did. Dimensions 7 textbook has lots and lots of practice problems. The workbook feels almost superfluous. However, the workbook has some more challenging problems, whereas the textbook problems are mostly pretty straightforward. For my DS, we’re not using the workbook for now. I plan to have him make a first pass through the textbook of 7A, then move to textbook 7B while doing a few problems each day from the 7A workbook for review. Dimensions 7A teacher’s book has a confusing layout, but I did finally figure it out after a few days. The first few pages of each section have limited teaching notes (as mentioned above), then the next few pages have answers to the sample problems that are presented in the lesson portion of the student book. Then the pages after that have the answers to the practice problems in the textbook. It’s a little confusing because that’s not exactly the order that the problems appear in the text. It’s hard to explain, but now that you know what to look for, you’ll figure it out if you decide to use it. With Standards, there were all these extra books you could order - Extra Practice, Tests, etc. I don’t think Dimensions has a test book. Each chapter has an end of chapter review that you could use as a test if you need to test. (I haven’t given DS tests, but that’s another issue).

At those ages, I’d do a stack of picture books. There are so many great pictures books with solid writing, not just nice illustrations. Honey for a Child’s Heart is an annotated bibliography that has a nice list of great books.

I have one child who is going through the AOPS series, one who moved from Singapore Standards (only goes up to 5) to Singapore Dimensions (6-8). If you have specific questions about Singapore Dimensions, I can try to answer them — we did Dimensions 6A /6BB last year, and are in the 1st book of Dimensions 7A now.

There are several on this forum who are Anki experts 🙂 . I am far from expert. I never figured out how to integrate Anki into our daily flow. For us, a big part of it was that we needed to avoid screens. I ended up going with paper flashcards, though they are much less efficient and more difficult to organize for spaced repetition. You might try posting a thread specifically with Anki in the title, to catch the attention of the Anki experts in the hive.

Anki?

Here are some other WW2 related historical fiction titles-- Letters from Rifka, The Devil's Arithmetic Resistance (Jennifer Nielsen) Rescue (Jennifer Nielsen) Russian Revolution related historical fiction-- Words on Fire (Jennifer Nielsen), Angel on the Square (Whelan), The Impossible Journey (Whelan), Endless Steppe Hautzig) China in 1970s-- Little White Duck, Martinez and Liu