Thank you all so much for your advice! At this point I have an appt for him to have a "normal" eye exam & then a follow-up w/ a Vision therapist that I found through the covd.org site. I am waiting on a call back from a local testing & assesment group that works closely with homeschool families to help w/ curriculum choices after they complete full evaluations. I'll hold off on choosing curriculum until we see where he is in his learning gaps/capabilities. In the meantime, I will be researching and studying all of the resources you have posted here & try to educate myself so I can better help him.

Yes, I agree about not purchasing anything until I research a bit more. I'm making a list and will be taking the next few weeks to research and start a plan of action. Another mom in our local hs group gave me the link to a Scottish Rite Childhood Language Disorders and Dyslexia Program at a university in our state. I'll be looking into this program also for evaluation. My boys will be at Rock climbing camp next week so I'll have some time to dig into this a bit deeper. I do think I'm going to snag that IEW audio spelling program though, that's brilliant. :)

Thank you KathyBC.

By slow & painful I'm referring to his ability to recognize sounds in isolation but in words, sentences, paragraphs he mixes up his letters (a for e & vice vera, b, p, & d mixed up). If he looks up from the page he can't find his place on the page again & nothing he has already read looks familiar. I do have him read to me for up to 20 min most days but he does not seem to be improving. Some days it's as if he has never seen these words before even though he read the same or similar passage the day before. We've been working our way through TOPGTTR and have seen some improvement but that doesn't seem to carry over to a book. These are great suggestions and I'm so grateful for all of you taking time to help.

Looking at REWARDS, what is necessary to get the most out of it? I see parent/teacher training options, teacher manual & student books. Are all of these necessary or can the program be used effectively w/ teacher manual & student book?

Thank you all so much! It's almost a relief to have a direction to go in for help. I think I've found a place locally to have him evaluated & for a development vision exam. I'm looking through REWARDS site now & will work on reading consistency. Thanks again!

You are right! My husband was finally diagnosed w/ dyslexia in college. I have no idea if it's hereditary but it's time we find out. I'm putting out feelers locally to see where to take him. It helps to have someone else say "It's time, get him checked out". Thanks.

I've let this go on WAY too long but I have an almost 12 yr old son who is really struggling with reading which means I have to read ALL of his school work for him. He CAN read technically but it's slow & painful. He will read nothing on his own (signs, labels, anything) unless I make him read it. He is my 4th child out of 8, all of my 6 girls are reading at or above grade level, my other son is a slow reader also but much more advanced than my 12 yr old. At this age reading is such a HUGE part of his curriculum and he's behind in grammar, spelling, etc b/c of this. He is a quick wit, loves being read to & listening to books on audio (currently listening to The Story of King Arthur & Pilgrims Progress) & absolutely loves being outside and in nature but goes into this zone when we sit down in front of books, his eyes glaze over & he seems to be shutting down. Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm at the point of seeking outside help, maybe he has a learning disability or some other obstacle holding him back but I have no idea where to begin looking for help. Any advice or ideas would be welcomed!

I will be using HO v1 w/ an 11yr & 13 yr, using SOTW v1 w/ the younger crew, & History of the Ancient Worlds w/ my 15 yr old. I haven't received HO yet but when it arrives I will hopefully have more to contribute. I am already compiling a reading list based on recommendations here. And the links are a great resource. Thanks for starting this OP! Samantha

It looks like someone from this forum is selling one so hopefully I can snag that one. Thanks a bunch! Samantha

https://ecomm.k12.com/ecommerce/public/itemDetails.xhtml?cid=197585 Is this the Human Odyssey to which you are refering? I'm going to look into this, I had never heard of this series but it looks like the solution. Thanks for taking the time to help. Samantha

This fall we will be using SOTW Vol. 1 for the 5, 7, 9, & 11 yr old & The History of the Ancient World for my 15 yr old. For some reason I can't think with clarity where my 13 yr old should fit into this picture. Should I lump her in with the younger crowd & SOTW or challenge her a bit with History of the Ancient World? Anyone willing to contribute their thoughts to my curriculum weary brain?

We are about 45 min east of Raleigh, the Louisburg area, between Rocky Mount and Raleigh. We are in Wake Forest and Raleigh about once a week or so. I'm familiar w/ Garner a bit, my midwife was there. We have been here for 3 yrs and have lived all over the south, northeast, & MI but I think we are finally settled, I think. Oh & we are not military, I get that question a lot. Samantha

praying for you

Too funny! We love Tim Hawkins and hadn't seen this one. Thanks for posting. Samantha

I had so much fun reading these introductions last night that I forgot to make dinner but it ended with a date night & yummy Mexican food so it worked out beautifully! I have lurked here for a while and finally joined. So here's my intro... I'm Samantha and my hubby & I have 8 children that we homeschool. We are somewhere between Classical/WTM, CM, and unschooling but this past year has been mostly non-schooling (it was a rough year-my younger sister lost her baby boy half way through her preg, we were both pregnant due a week apart, and then she died of a heart attack a few weeks latter. We were super close so this obviously shook my world. Toss in pregnancy hormones & it wasn't pretty). Right now we are trying to get some normalcy back to our lives & focusing on homeschooling & planning/preparing for the fall is my current project. We homeschool, homebirth, and have a sort-of homestead so we are home alot, lol. I used to have more normal hobbies but I don't remember what they were, right now my hobbies are collecting children, keeping the cows & goats out of the neighbors yard, spending too much money on curriculum, and reading, of course. It's great to meet you all & I look forward to learning and contributing here!

I forgot about Analytical Grammar! I haven't heard of Winston but will check it out also. This is what I needed, some direction. Thank you! Samantha

I have 2 sons, my oldest is the one having a hard time reading. I decided to turn our home into a phonics immersion camp for the summer, lol. I have been doing this for 6 wks now & have seen some amazing improvements. We have stacks of books, a variety of books that range from super easy to challenging, and he reads to me every day. I started at 15 min/day but have increased to 25 min/day gradually. We alternate who chooses the books, I let him choose a book to read and then I choose the next. If the books are really easy I let him read the whole book. If it is a new-to-him book or a more challenging selection we will take turns reading. I made flash cards to review with him once or twice a day. At first he balked at so much time being focused on reading but I was thrilled beyond words when I found him in his room reading a book without my prompting & he picked up his Bible to try to read a few verses while I was doing my Bible study this morning. So my advice/suggestion is not worry about the curriculum so much but focus on consistency and see if that helps.

She has not used a formal grammar program since 1st grade (FLL). Most of the programs I have looked at are the end of their programs by 7th/8th grade so I hate to invest a ton of money if she is going to be overwhelmed. I also don't want to purchase something geared for elementary ages that she would feel is too young for her. She needs something challenging for a 7th grader but is stand alone so she hasn't missed anything by starting it in 7th grade. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

My daughter is having the hardest time w/ Apologia Biology & is begging me to find something different but I didn't know where to start looking. Thanks!