I agree with the part about seeking out further therapy and considering private, but LOSING SKILLS IS CONCERNING - I would take your child to a pediatrician and keep persueing this until you figure out what is going on. The delays, sensory issues, speech, etc are all things the therapists can work on, but WHY is he losing skills - this can be all sorts of problems, correctable or not, but you better work on finding out why because it's likely correctable and likely will get worse if you don't do anything.

I taught my first two to read with Reading Reflex. They knew the basic sounds with letters before starting. I don't really think it teaches spelling. My third is dyslexic and is using Barton Reading and Spelling. I've gone back and taught my older kids some of the spelling rules we are learing through Barton, because it really does teach spelling alongside reading. I'm not sure where my little one will fall, but I've been told he is likely to have more severe reading problems based on his speech and language difficulties.

I also use Art of Problem Solving. It is written to the student with all the solutions worked out in the answer book. If your student likes this, then AoPS can take him far.

I like the supplemental physics labs by Paul Hewitt. They are on the Arbor Scientific website here: http://www.arborsci.com/Labs/CP_Labs_Selection_2.aspx?utm_source=CP%2Bsuppliment&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=CP%2Bsuppliment Some of the labs are easily doable with household equipment; others require a lot more. I love these labs and I think they're worth picking through if you want to piece some of your own labs together.

Nan, Did you get any grief over not giving grades? This is what my heart wants to do and my husband is on board, I'm just not sure of the practical side of college applications and the impact here.

This reminds me of my medical school transcipt. As I interviewed for residency programs, no one could interpret my transcript. I would frequently get the comment that they could see that I hadn't failed anything, but beyond that they couldn't interpret it well. Some of the classes were pass/fail. The rest were honors/high pass/pass/fail. The transcript made no note of which grading system was used for which class - just that both were used. So did a pass mean I didn't do well enough to get a high pass/honors, or was it just a class that was only pass/fail - no one knew.

another question... do grades matter if looking at national merit finalists? in other words do you have to turn in grades/transcript? Of course if you turn in grades, I'm sure they need to be good for national merit finalists.

It makes me crazy to think of it sometimes. If my friend's child is in school taking "honors" classes and making A's, but my child is doing more work and understands it better, does that deserve an A? On the flip side, if my child masters 100% of my expectations does that qualify for an A? What if I know these might not be the same standards other students are graded on. The problem with grades is that there is no standard scale to compare students to. Is it a rigourous course or a teacher that lets everything slide? Is the grade inflated because of extra credit? Does the grade reflect the student's work or does it also reflect attendence, good behavior, poor penmanship, tardiness, etc. How do you prepare a transcript without grades? ... and do you offer an alternative transcript with mommy grades upon request?

I'd love to hear from more of you who don't give grades for high school and reasons why I should or shouldn't. I could give grades and be happy with it, but I'm not sure they're that meaningful. I expect excellent work and will make my children continue to work until they meet their abilities. For certain kids/courses - my child may be very accelerated and doing excellent work and other courses the same child is not held to the same expectation because they are doing their best at a lower level. I'm afraid that grades can be detrimental - I can just hear one of my kids saying why should he do more if he already has an A. Also what's the point if they can't live up to the expectations of others due to reading or writing difficulties. I could grade based on whether my child did my level of expectation of work, but then I would expect all A's. :) How important are grades really? I suspect homeschool students are more often judged on test scores, interviews, recommendations, etc. but I'm not sure.

Gotta say I love this core and I'm looking forward to repeating it next year. 1. Landmark History of the American People - there is no way I could do this with a 9 yro and 8 yro - right? Is it too difficult for that grade level? I did this with an eight year old who could never get enough of this book. Next year, I'll be doing it with a ten and eight year old. 2. Can you buy Core 3's IG separately or do I need to buy the core package to get their IG? Do what you're comfortable with, but I really like the Sonlight schedule. Core 3 is the first year I found myself using the schedulre more and more. 3. What's better - the Advanced Readers or Regular Readers? The two kids who are doing this core are very strong readers, but length is an issue with the younger one. As previously posted, the adv. readers are the regular readers plus a few more books. I'd look through the titles and see if any really grab you, but I think you're fine with just the regular readers. If your older child loves to read lots then you might have one child read the adv schedule (both the regular readers and adv. readers) while the younger just reads the regular readers. 4. Was anyone disappointed in using the 4 Day Schedule over the 5 Day Schedule? Love all the five day books. 5. The Story of the USA Books 1 and 2 - I need to order two copies of these for 2 students? I use these as non-consumables. We read them together and then answer the questions together. 6. Could I include the would-be-Kindergartner in this core? Or would it be better to do Core 1 with her? I don't think I'd add a separate core for the kindergartener (at least not above core K). When I last did core 3, my 4 and 6 year olds both listened to almost all of the history, but they weren't up to listening to most chapter books. I'd let your daughter tag along as much as she can and then add a little age appropriate material for her - either related lilbrary books or any other books.

I also like adding Fix it Grammar (by IEW) alongside IEW.

Name: Julie age of dc: 11,9,7,3 how long homeschooling?: 7th year have you taught these ages/grades before?: no Do you follow a particular style of education? I'm a laid-back over achiever :001_smile: I most closely follow Sonlight and TWTM, but mostly forge my own path. Do you plan to homeschool high school?: Yes Any favorite quotes or wisdom that get you through the day?: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I love IEW and it is all we've used. I teach it at home and in co-ops. I think it does well at both report writing and creative writing. My kids love the vidoes, but others love the theme based books - I think it depends more on teaching style. My kids use the vidoes and supllemental lessons. When I teach in co-op, I teach some of the same lessons on the videos and use some of the theme based books for other lessons.

For my child it would be heavy on language and too light on science - he would be much happier with 2 hours of math and a few hours of science daily however. ... probably not much help here.

Thanks for the links to mysciencebox and the chemistry info. I wish there was something similar for physics. My favorite link I've found so far is the supplemental physics labs by Paul Hewitt on the Arbor Scientific site. http://www.arborsci.com/Labs/CP_Labs_Selection_2.aspx?utm_source=CP%2Bsuppliment&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=CP%2Bsuppliment I've been working through most of these labs this year as well as a random assortment of other physics labs. ... and Regena, I might teach these (algebra based) physics labs in two years at BRICC. Next year I'm going to stick with a chemisty based class for middle school/high school - wacky science based on 101 intriguing labs, projects and activities for the chemisty classroom by Brian Rohrig.

I've been working through several of the Excellence in Literature units on my own. I think it is great from the perspective of someone who has never understood literary analysis. The units can be done out of order or skipped without any difficulty. The author has teaching and examples of essays which will probably be enough for your daughter, but you can always add something else to teach the basic structure of an essay if needed. Each four week unit has a main text, an optional honors text and lots of "rabbit trails" to go down for further learning. You might spend a little or a lot of time learning about the author, the historical time period, art related to the book, and many other things. The author gives ideas of related things to learn which has really enhanced my learning - I can pick and choose what interests me and then ignore the rest. I also like that more than one assignment is given and often a choice between two.

We use Singapore math in elementary and I started Art of Problem Solving in 6th grade. I agree that Art of Problems Solving is excellent for the math inclined student. Keep in mind it isn't a race to get to calculus, but more of a challenge to increase the breath and depth of math an advanced math student is exposed to.

I call my kids whatever "grade" they are by the public school cutoff (so they are the same grade as aged peers). I teach them at whatever level they are at academically and don't worry about the grade designation. I think of the grade level as more of an answer to a social question.

Thanks. I didn't even realize there is a middle school forum now.

I was wondering what programs you might recommend for German starting with a 6th grader. I'm familiar with Rosetta Stone, but what else is out there?

I'm using the 9th ed college book and using the answers to the odd questions from the Practicing Physics workbook. I also love the Physics in Your Life dvds from the teaching company. You might also be interested in some of the material available for free on the arbor scientific website. It has all of Paul Hewitt's Next Time Questions which are a great supplement. It also has free supplemental labs written by Paul Hewitt. I'm loving the labs at this time.

My son is currently doing the Counting book alongside algebra. Whenever he gets to a review section in algebra he sits there for a few days and starts a counting chapter to go along with it. Math is his favorite subject, however.

What are my options for latin if I want to teach as much as I can while at the same time limiting the amount of writing? I'll be teaching a son who is quite capable of learning the vocabulary and grammar, but he has dysgraphia and the physical act of writing is very difficult. Do you have any suggestions of programs that might work well or that we can cut some of the writing and just do it orally.

As the original poster, I certainly didn't mean for this discussion to become a heated debate. I understand and respect most of the opinions. How do you go about getting "cultural content" - many have cited this as lacking in RS. I think one of the difficulties of studying foreign languages in the United States is that for many of us there is very little opportunity to use and practice the skill. I can travel throughout the USA without needing anything but English. I can't do the same in Europe. I think there is a point to studying the languages for knowledge, learning cultural diversity, and better understanding everything in life since it does impact all sorts of areas such as being present in Harry Potter movies for instance as someone previously pointed out. I would also argue that everyone should study more in arts, music, math, science, computer technology, etc and that most fall short in some area. As a homeschooler, I have to decide what is best for my family. This includes how much time we are going to devote to school and to what extent I am willing to go to provide the opportunities. Every child is different and family dynamics are different.