I will talk to him about this, but he's not a kid who loves food anyway, so I don't think it would make him sad not to eat if he wasn't hungry.

They started him out low and increased the dose until it was therapeutic. They did not do any testing at any point past the initial diagnosis ... just changed him to another medication with the same side effects. Thank you all ... I think my husband and I need to talk things over and see about talking more extensively with his doctor.

The side effects that he had with every med he tried were heart palpitations and shirt-soaking sweating, particularly as it wore off. The other one that was not with every med but was with the time-released one was lack of appetite. He would be hungry, have food in front of him that he loved, and the idea of putting it in his mouth was repulsive. (That's how he described it.) The caffeine is only to get him going in the morning, but he's fine to keep going even after it wears off. I am going to take him in for a developmental vision screening ... found some info on that earlier this morning, and we thankfully have a dr nearby. I will look into some of the other suggestions you mentioned. Thanks!

What kind of testing would determine if there's a processing issue? He was diagnosed last year as a freshman, because it wasn't really a problem until then. His reading load became heavier with high school-level material, and combined with Algebra, he was kind of floundering. They did say that he had "mild" adhd. He's planning on attending a local technical college. I know there are a couple of classes that will be difficult because of the density of the reading, but he is very opposed to meds at this point because he hated how he felt when he was on them.

We do some reading aloud, as well as utilizing other audio sources. He can summarize from audio, and even from short readings. He's just frustrated that reading is not at all enjoyable for him, but that it is rather a whole lot of work. I have heard of the genetic testing. I'm kind of keeping that in my back pocket, but he's pretty opposed to meds right now.

I have a 15yo who has been diagnosed with ADHD, inattentive. We have tried several different meds, and while effective, the side effects have been intolerable. He has since stopped taking them. He is currently taking a combination of ginko biloba, fish oil, and caffeine, and it's working well enough that he's satisified with how he feels and is able to focus, except for when he tries to read. He says that he can't focus very long, and also that he has to read a passage a couple of times to understand what it's saying sometimes. I don't know if that's a focus issue or a comprehension issue. (He's always been homeschooled, learned to read relatively easily in K, used phonics.) What tools are out there that would help with this? I'm wondering if speed reading would help with the focus, but then the possibility of lack of comprehension makes me a little worried to try that. I guess I'm just looking for anything that would help him ... thank you!

We have several kindle fires that we've installed google playstore on using the instructions here: https://www.saintlad.com/install-google-play-store-on-kindle-fire/ They work well for us. It's not perfect - sometimes you have to manually start updates, for example, and there have been a couple of apps that wouldn't work right. But overall, especially considering the price differences between the kindles and other android tablets, we've been very happy.

I know. It's terrifying to think that someone could see your child from a distance and destroy your world with no actual prior contact with anyone in your family. I think it's partly why there were so many people who believed she had to have had some involvement ... as awful as that is, it isn't as terrible as thinking that something like that could happen to us and it's entirely out of our control.

I've been following the pretty closely because it's within a couple hours of where we live. According to the criminal complaint, he didn't even know her name until he got her home. He learned her parents' names from news reports. He saw her get on the school bus one day and decided "that was the girl he was going to take." This news account has links to the actual criminal complaint, but it does describe in detail what the responding officers found at the scene, so be aware of that before you decide to read it. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/jayme-closs-jake-patterson-kidnap-murder-arraignment-778919/

We went to Yellowstone this fall, and I read Death in Yellowstone by Lee Whittlesley before we went. I don't know that I would recommend that approach, although it was really interesting. 😁

I'm glad it's been helpful to you, too. We have Reading Pathways and he *hates* their pyramids for some reason, although he'll happily do them if I write them out on the whiteboard. I love all the syllable work suggestions - thank you!

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'll be looking into these today.

I've looked at that, and I really don't think so. That's not a professional opinion, of course, but when I look at lists/tests, he doesn't fit those symptoms. I have been concerned at his lack of progress, and I had him evaluated at the beginning of last year. (It was just a reading evaluation by a teacher.) The results of that were that if he didn't make significant progress by the end of the school year, they would refer me for services. He made huge jumps though, so she wasn't worried at the end of the year.

Thank you! I'll have to look at that again. AAS was not a hit here, and between that and the price I've been hesitant to go that route. I think I'll go take another look, though.

My youngest son has been a late reader. We've used a variety of phonics-based resources in an effort to help him learn to read, but it wasn't until last year (3rd grade/9yo) that he really progress beyond CVC words. Between the end of last school year and the beginning of this year, he made enormous progress - I think his brain rested and made all kinds of connections over the summer break maybe. He's reading much more fluently now, but larger words still trip him up and the book we used last year (Reading Reflex) never really got into some of the phonics ideas that he's stumbling over (-tion, ss as sh, etc). He's reading a level 2 Pathway reader pretty easily right now, but he's just itching to read books that are more appropriate for his age and interests. He's struggling with the harder, multi-syllable words, though, and my gut feeling is he needs a little more work with phonics. What options are there out there that would meet him where he's at? I have no problem tweaking something, but I really don't want to make him do a full phonics course. Thank you for any help!

I've worked in both Cubbies and Sparks, and we just borrow a different kid's book, listen to the verse, and let the record keepers know. Then we sign off on the book the next time they bring it. If they're not prepared to say the verse, we generally practice with them. Sometimes they'll learn quickly enough that they can say it that night, sometimes we'll tell them to practice more at home.

I snagged a great deal on Sonlight Core F through our local homeschool facebook page, but as I was going through the guide today, I see that I'm missing some pages. I haven't ever done Sonlight before, and I am having trouble telling what might be missing. If you have this core (the copyright date is 2016, so I think it's the current one) can you take a look and tell me what I'm missing? Pages 13-14 Pages 17-18 Pages 25-26 Pages 69-72 Pages 83-84 Pages 97-98 Pages 103-104 Pages 107-108 I'm guessing that some of the missing pages might be maps. I would so much appreciate any help you can give me!

Thank you! This looks like an interesting resource.

That's a good idea! I'll take a look at Science Shepherd. That sits a little better with me than using the elementary books ... thank you! He's not interested in doing a marine biology course; I tried to talk him into that. :001_smile:

My 15yo ds has expressed a desire to study zoology for one of his remaining two years of science. He specifically is interested in mammals, reptiles, and birds. I can't find an actual course. I've searched these boards and found a couple of recommendations for texts (I think college texts) that are suitable; after checking one of them out of our library, I found it's more focused on evolution than we'd like. We would prefer something fairly neutral or from a creation point of view. I'm not opposed to pulling together our own, but I would like a spine of sorts. I don't have a problem with beefing up something like the Apologia elementary series (we haven't done any of those, but I've seen them) although I'd love to hear from someone who has done that. I'm not worried about how rigorous it is in terms of what potential colleges will think, but I do want him to be stretched and challenged. Whatever we use will need to be fairly in-depth, as he knows a lot about animals already - this has always been one of his areas of interest. Any suggestions or ideas?

Yes, we need a routine, definitely. I think part of our problem this year is things have changed (schoolwork and expectation-wise) and our routine that worked last year has not adapted. I need to work out what needs to change and implement it. I appreciate so much you all helping me work through this!

Yes, everyone spends time with him before he heads off to bed. It's just breakfast (for everyone) and a bit of unwinding (for dh) so it's pretty casual and just family, every-day kind of time, but we all treasure it. :)

*This* is a good part of the problem. There is a gap between when everyone is ready for the day and when dh goes to bed, but for several reasons, we don't start school until he is in bed. That's a non-negotiable point in our day. :) So I need to address that gap ... this clarified that part of the problem, so thank you!

Yes, definitely need to work on training them that school time is just for school - well, the youngest two, my eldest does much better with that. On the other hand, they're good about giving me space if I need it ... they're just bound to be making a mess! :001_rolleyes:

Wow, so many good ideas to chew over! I love the idea of a zombie chromosome ... pretty sure I (and several of my boys) have that as well! Drives the "get up and get going" members of our family crazy. :lol: