Yes, I think this is key. Thank you for the reminder. It is so hard these days. I think I am hair trigger too, and I talk too much! I didn't use to. This child in particular is an "old soul". He was born 30year old, I swear, so it is super easy to talk WAY too much with him. I'm been thinking the word "patience" but I think I need to think "neutral". Stay the course, but stay neutral.

He is resistant only during lessons. All the rest of the day (and the three days of the week we don't do lessons) he's fine; engaging, sweet, dependable, affectionate... My sister and my brother-in-law were both tested and diagnosed with dyslexia. My dad has undiagnosed learning disabilities that still affect him to this day. With my kids, dyslexia was on my radar at least. My oldest has had the most trouble learning to read, but he reads very well now. I could have gotten a label for him, but it wasn't necessary. What wasn't on my radar was dysgraphia--- hadn't even heard of it. In Austin, there is a neurologist who specialized in dysgraphia. By chance, I heard about a talk he was giving at the Scottish Rite. I took samples of my son's writing, and then later took his seminar. Dr. Karnik (the neurologist) has developed a test that parents and teachers can administer themselves. He has does so because he know it takes 6mo+ to get an appointment with him, and he hoped this will be able to help more families sooner. My son tested "moderate" (mild and extreme being the end designations), with particular struggles in getting things to make an automatic memory in the cerebellum. My son's handwriting is all over the place in size, slope, lower-case vs. upper case choice, rarely on the line (lines what line?). He still confuses many letters: calls them by the wrong name, gives them the wrong sound(s). He seems to *finally* have b & d down, but y, g and j still throw him for a loop. Also, he cannot put his thoughts on paper. Cannot. All of these issues became clearer and clearer to me as my 8yo son began passing him in ability last year.

Hi all, My son has resisted lessons since kindergarten. I have spent years and thousands of dollars in finding good fits for him curriculum-wise. We started out with Enki(Waldorf) ---very child-friendly, right? before moving to a more classical approach. He is not interested in anything, and nothing attracts him. He is equally unhappy, no matter what I try, so I have settled on using what is easiest for me to implement. He has a very negative personality--- always complaining and whining; highly critical. My other two children are very easy and fun to teach. They have sunnier personalities. They seem to be just as baffled as I am by his behavior sometimes. My oldest also has dysgraphia, which we are addressing. I am miserable when I teach him, though. He is on the edge of a meltdown every lesson day, during lesson time (he's fine the rest of the day; typical 10 yo boy). He has a fullblown meltdown every Monday and Thursday like clockwork. We've written a behavior contract that we've both signed (I won't threaten school, he won't tantrum). We are in the middle of Dianne Crafts supplement program (with no change yet). We have gone to a HIGHLY structured day because he doesn't do well with change. I had hoped that he will feel more comfortable if every lesson day was exactly the same with exactly the same about of work, but it hasn't helped. I have tried letting up with very little work-load, and he tantrums about even that amount. I would unschool him, except he isn't---LITERALLY ISN"T--- interested in ANYTHING! It's hard to believe, but it's true. My younger two are interested in everything and are game for anything. My oldest would lay on the couch looking out the window all day. He *might* read a book if he was already into a series, but it can be hard to encourage him to pick up something new. I feel like I am a pretty positive person, so I don't think he is reflecting my personality. He is really difficult to live with now, let alone teach. I can't point to any year in the last 6 of active homeschooling that I can say "there, that year was good" I don't know what else to do. He doesn't want to go to school. He's very introverted, and I think he will be happiest at home regardless, but he doesn't act that way, yet he doesn't even want to try school. And with his dysgraphia-related (and resistance-related) delays, I'm scared to even think what grade they would put him in. He's 2nd grade in some areas, 4th in others, but he would be going into 5th this year. But he's very clever. It just doesn't show in his lessons. I have massive headaches and stress-induced digestive problems every day from dealing with the child. (I've ruled out other things through docs and acupuncture) It's not fair to my other two, either. Lessons can take from 9am-5:30pm these days!!!!!! It would also be that way if he had only one thing to do. Amount almost doesn't matter. He has about 2-3 hours of skillwork he needs to do every morning, and then we do history and science all together in the afternoon. Which seems to be reasonable to me for an almost 5th grader! Today, he tantrumed about not having the right kind of snacks available! It wasn't even about lessons. Is it me? Is it him? Is there something I haven't tried? Will he mellow out? If so, soon? When? Am I on the right track, and I just need to stick with it? I would think there was something we would need to seek medical advice on if he completely lost it at other times of the day. It is like he has a hair-trigger for his temper regarding lessons, probably from pushing too hard when I thought he was being lazy rather than understanding he was dealing with dyslexia/dysgraphia. I don't know how to undo that, though! HELP!!!! I feel really lost, really scared that I've screwed him up and I can't find a way back to a comfortable place for both of us. Jennifer

I've appreciated all the thumbs up and thumbs down for BraveWriter. Has anyone used BraveWriter alongside IEW? Are there elements of BraveWriter that I could pull out easily and enhance IEW (next year when we'll be on SWI-CC-A). Since they are so different, since it sounds like BraveWriter develops "voice", I was wondering if that is easy to pull out and use alongside IEW, or if that would be crazy, and I should maybe do IEW one year, BraveWriter one year, back to IEW, etc? TIA! Jennifer Original post: Hi all, My 10yo ds is currently doing IEW's SWI-A. I am definitely happy with it, and I plan to continue with the program. My son has dysgraphia, and it has been instrumental in getting him to write *anything* (we used to be at a tear-filled hour for three words). We are also using MCT's Grammar Town and IEW's Fit-It! Both of which are think are good fits for him. I've been looking into adding BraveWriter for next year. It seems to be a different approach to writing. Is it truly? What are Brave Writer's strengths? How much of it is redundant to MCT Grammar Town & IEW's Fix-It? If you have used it *and* IEW (and MCT), did you use them simultaneously, or did you spend several months on one and then the other? TIA! Jennifer

I just looked up Horrible Histories on Netflix and could only find the US version, which had terrible reviews. I couldn't find the British version. Anyone have a link? Jennifer

Nice board! We use AAS, but you seem to have twice as many tiles as we do. Do you make those, or is there a second, advance letter tile kit? Jennifer

Hi all, I have a quick question. We are starting Dianne Craft's Biology of Behavior supplement regimen. I went to Whole Foods today all ready to buy the Nature's Way brand she recommends, but the clerk talked me into Garden of Life. Now, I'm regretting my purchase. Garden of Life seems to not be a reputable brand? We're going to use it up since it bought and paid for and opened, though. But for our next bottle.... As I have been googling, I keep coming across recommendations for Jarrow. I haven't really been coming across any recommendations for Nature's Way. I definitely want refrigerated.... What acidophilus do you use?? Thanks in advance, Jennifer

Hi all, I am interested in combining SOTW vol 1 with Living Math C1U1. I am finding Living Math's format really difficult to work with--- too much of a good thing. I am lost! Has anyone already compiled a complementary list of living math books that go well with SOTW chapters? Any help would be appreciated! TIA! Jennifer

Hi all, We have been using MCT Grammar books and Latin roots books, specifically Grammar Island, Sentence Island, and now we're in Grammar Town, and we are finishing up Building Language, and I have Ceasar's English ready to go. I find MCT's writing style very annoying and obtuse, and his rhymes to be awful--- but! I am learning a lot about grammar as being the relationship of words, and my 10yo also seems to be getting a lot out of it, though he *hates* it. At the same time, I recently went on an irrational Latin Roots buying spree. We have been using the cards from English from the Roots up, but they just aren't sticking for my oldest (though my 8yo is remembering them well), and I bought Words on the Vine and Vocabulary from Classical Roots. I was kind of thinking of combining all of this with MCT's Latin stuff into my own thing, but it is currently all just sitting on my desk because I am dreading the task. I recently saw someone post on the IEW group about using IEW's Fix-it in conjunction with Latin Road to Grammar and being very pleased. I am now wondering if I could just scrap everything I have been doing and go that direction. I would love a program that is at least as effective as MCT without being as annoying. Is Latin Road to Grammar that program? It seems awfully dry (and pricey) from the website, but also very thorough. Thanks in advance! Jennifer

Hi all, I have used OPGTTR with fine success with my two older boys. I like the easy to open&use script and its thoroughness--- and I already own it. I also have a 5yo daughter, and I am just kind of exploring other options... is the grass greener, so to speak? I've been looking at PAL from IEW, which looks fun, but I am concerned about it using lots of sight words, and I have a poor track record with following through on games. AAR looks good, and my boys are currently using AAS, which we all like. I've also been looking at Phonics Road to Spelling, but it seems very dry, but thorough. I am wondering if AAR paired with the PAL writing portion would be a good way to go? I'm very curious to hear about other's experiences, especially in comparison to OPGTTR. Thanks very much in advance! Jennifer

Hi all, I'm new to this group, and I am looking for writing program recommendations for my 10 year old son with dysgraphia. He is unable to put his thoughts onto paper or computer or even to do verbal recall/narration. We're using Italics for handwriting, and we're making progress on legibility. We are using AAS, which I really like for spelling, and we are using MCT for grammar. I really like MCT, but my son doesn't particularly. I wouldn't mind some thoughts on a better grammar program, but what I really, really need are some options for composition/creative writing. I need something that is easy for me to use, is enjoyable for him, and starts off very slow. He can write about three words in 15 minutes, so we need something that really begins at the beginning. Thanks very much in advance for any thoughts you can share! :001_smile: Jennifer