My 16 yr old daughter has been suffering from stomach issues for two years, also, though not as severe as your daughter's. Up until recently, we've not had good insurance. Recently, however, she was able to get a referral to a pediatric GI doctor who questioned her thoroughly, then scheduled a combined colonoscopy and endoscopy (at our local children's hospital, thankfully). While we haven't found the exact cause yet, it is helping us rule out things, so I'm thankful that we are making progress. Perhaps a referral might be helpful to you, as well.

I hate you had a bad experience. This is a good reminder to me -- I'm buying and selling used curriculum right now -- I need to be very clear about the condition of things I'm selling, and I need to ask questions about what I'm buying. Hope you are able to work this out.

I have a homeschool binder with dividers for each child. I start making notes there about the coming year as soon as I start thinking about it, then add more formal lists and schedules as they come about. I also include syllabi or lesson plans for particular subjects -- DonnaYoung.org is a great place to find some of these. The last section includes my Georgia state-required intent to homeschool and attendance forms (blank and completed), along with a one page yearly calendar (so I can see dates quickly). Lifesaver, but took me a few years to figure this out! By the way, don't feel too bad. You do know that we've all give most of our brain cells to our children, right?! :-)

Very helpful info -- thanks for sharing!

I second the motion for Analytical Grammar. It's a great plan to use over several years, with plenty of review. If you want to add writing, It's very easy to plug in Writing Strands between reviews after you've worked on your grammar core at the beginning of the year.

It's not only a boy thing. My daughter struggles with this in math, as well -- it's not her favorite subject. She can excel when she is careful, but when she's not... well... Three things I have found that help. First, when grading her Saxon math tests, she has to evaluate all missed problems. Did she not know the concept (unlikely in Saxon), not read the problem correctly, or miscopy the problem. Second, we began grading her work together. We sit down together and she gives me her answer for each problem. If she misses one, she must correct it then and there (I can help her if needed, but I usually send her back to the lesson first so she'll learn to do that on her own). Third, she must write out all steps for her work, as well as check each answer when possible. This has helped some. Oh, and moving her math to the first subject of the day was good for her as well. I let her work wherever she is comfortable. Some days it's on her bed, sometimes at the dining room table, sometimes on the floor. As long as it's neat and I can tell she is truly working, I'm good with it. Sometimes it's a challenge to minimize distractions but also keep tabs on how our kids are doing. That's something to strive for. Hope something in there helps someone!

I've recently found Books Children Love (Elizabeth Wilson) to be very helpful. The books are listed by subject rather than grade level, but she includes suggested grade levels with each entry. I found her suggestions to include books that I might otherwise overlook, and they seem to be quality literature without objectionable material.

Someone mentioned that diagramming helps students understand other languages better. It also helps with Bible study, if you are interested in that. Rod and Staff offers good sentence diagramming early in their curriculum (and is just a good, all-around grammar curriculum). They start basic and review lots to help the student grasp the concepts well. We've used it up through 3-4th grade, then migrate to Analytical Grammar Jr.

100EL is a great jump start to encourage reading, but it should be followed up with a solid phonics program. I'm not sure what OPG is. I know that we were very successful with Saxon phonics for K and 1st grade. Also, it was 3rd grade before my youngest boy started reading by choice (and that was only after I made him read for 1/2 hour a day just to show him it could be fun!). The reason phonics is an important part of reading is that many kids can feel their way through reading after 100EL or a sight reading approach. But when they hit about 4th grade and their textbook and fiction reading offers a more challenging vocabulary, they get stuck and frustrated. A good, thorough phonics program will equip them to practice proper decoding for several years before they reach that point, equipping them to handle the challenge.

Did I just miss it, or did no one mention Story of the World?:001_smile: Some of the reading recommendations are the same as WTM, some are different. Many are available through your local library system. If your library is small, know that many libraries provided intersystem loan between libraries within the city, county, and/or state. Our local library system even allows us to do this online, so it's very convenient to look up and order books in advance.