Awesome! I would be interested to know how you got over the writing issue, as we are already finding chemical equations written out for biology are a bit..ummm.. artistic. Chemistry will be next for DD.

The math was a supplemented version of Calvert Math (though I think they use a supplemented version of Math in Focus now). The supplement comes in the form of extra visual supports, manipulatives, games etc. Calvert Math is mastery with some spiral review, it suited us very well, and prepared DD with a good foundation for Algebra 1. The other subjects were fine. I particularly liked the science (being that sort of way inclined as a family). Really the only problem was killing the enjoyment of what we were doing by racing through things when already tired from working on the core subjects. I can't imagine trying to do a grade level in a 9 month school year. We took at least 12 months to do so, and that was without any major holiday breaks. If there is anything else I can help with, just ask.

We used the full program for 3rd-5th, then did a mix up with the main Calvert program for 6th. DD tested out of the first two levels for phonics/spelling, but did all four levels of writing (did not complete all of the last level). She did the Verticy math up to their 8th grade level. We used the ATS service for grading. My thoughts. Expensive, but good value considering the amount of support that is available and the professionalism of staff and materials. I would do it again in a heartbeat, not least as it gave me confidence that I knew what I was doing. The biggest disadvantage is that it is still a lot of work, and if you are remediating problem areas that by itself takes a lot of time and energy for you and your child. For example, I would say one hour at least per day on each of reading, writing and math and that is going to be both for the child and the parent as there is not a great deal that can be done totally independently. That does not leave much in the tank for literature, science, geography, history, and information technology, and I always felt that we were rushing through those. It was not an option for us to drop anything (local requirements). If I had that period back again, I think I would opt to take the Verticy package for reading, writing and literature, and wing the rest with DVDs, audiobooks etc. I know that Verticy/Calvert are able to mix and match subjects over grade levels, and there is a lot more flexibility in this than you would know from the website and brochure.

I really like the Holt Biology text, for its coverage and also the clarity of writing. Sometimes I get the feeling that science writers are trying to show how clever they are, rather than tailoring their writing to a teenage audience. The audio is available through Learning Ally too.

The 8th grade course served us very well for a rigorous pre-algebra, but since DD had used Calvert math from Grade 3 up there was a natural progression. I am not sure that I would hop across from Singapore, as the methodology is very different.

Not us, but there are a couple of young ladies in our community who I believe have an under the skin implant which is effective for a few years. It goes in the upper arm. This was felt a better option to injections needed three-monthly.

You could add Calvert to that list. We are very pleased with the professionalism of their 9th grade options and the schedules are very flexible.

DD13 has a very significant language problem (think single digits for percentiles). She had no background in foreign languages (other than some tv exposure) as I wrote the idea off totally. I was so very wrong. She is nearly through the first semester of Spanish 1 for high school and has A+. I don't really know why, but she says it is much easier than English. Perhaps it is worth trying?

It means I am not providing accommodations specifically for pleasure reading, as she tends to read 'below level' and her lack of stamina does not affect her enjoyment of reading. The more books the better, even if is Captain Underpants or Wimpy Kid.....

We are using Learning Ally to give DD her textbooks as audiobooks to reduce some of the load on her and/or I popcorn read with her. At this stage, I am finding accommodations are worth much more than trying to remediate. The only reading I do not support is her reading for pleasure.

My personal mantra during mass is, "Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind". Well done.

Could you add me please. It will make the journey less lonely.

We have started Biology early (8th), with the intention of it taking as long as it takes into 9th, rather than rushing through the subject that interests DD most.

Thank you Lanny. I agree about traditional textbooks, so am very pleased we do not use e-books as such, but have the material on-line closely liked to actual texts. I find navigating around e-books quite difficult, even though it would nice to do away with the 6 pound weight of a book! It is not that Calvert is accommodating as such, but that the set up of courses - lots of continuous assessment as well as the usual tests and exams - is more accessible to DD. The staff have been very helpful and understanding though.

Happy to share what we are doing and why. TTUISD were very cautious about enrolling DD as they felt that the high level of reading and writing in their courses would be a problem, given the LDs we are working with. They were not able to suggest any accommodations and for this, and valuable information provided above by Lanny we did not pursue this. DD started a course with the middle school associated with the University of Missouri. This was okay, but the course materials are looking very dated (the Life Science text was the 1999 edition). It got the job done. Pricey for middle school, as there is no discount for taking multiple courses, as there would be for high school. As a result of something completed unrelated, I asked Calvert for details of the high school program. We had successfully used Calvert 3rd-6th grades, but had decided not to continue as the high school was fully on-line and with LDs we need books. In the info package was an assessment to determine whether a student was ready for the program, and DD took this just out of interest. Although DD was only just into what would be 8th grade by age, Calvert were happy to enrol her right away into the 9th grade program - and because I instinctively thought that they really understood the issues, that is what we did. At first she signed up for just 3 courses, instead of the usual load of 6, and has recently added another with a view to rolling in another two when comfortable. We are very, very happy with how it is going. The intention with starting high school early is to spread the workload over a longer period of time, not to graduate early.

I have no idea whether it is Compass Learning/Time4Learning as I have not seen either of these. However, two of the courses we are using (Algebra 1 and World History) have a close relationship with Holt materials. Although texts are not required as all of the materials are on-line, the optional texts are Holt and chunks of these are recognisable in the on-line materials. So we are finding they are quite useful to have as a reference. Spanish 1 links in with Rosetta Stone. I was not expecting to go with Calvert for high school although DD had successfully used it from 3rd to 6th grade. I did not feel that a fully digital platform sat well with our blend of requirements. As we have an odd mix of learning issues, it did not seem that it would work at all well. However, both DD and I are thriving with this. The content is interesting and well-presented, the workload is manageable without a pile of busy work, and the support is very professional. We are not using the live sessions, as to do so ties you in with a traditional school year and pacing which we did not want, but do have teachers available for each subject who mark assignments so the credits will be 'accredited'.

We are using Calvert High School and University of Missouri at the moment, and will continue with Calvert. I would be happy to recommend either. Flexibility is incredibly important to us too.

CAPD here with a mix of language problems. AAS led to frustration and tears, but DD has now completed the levels of A&P (no tears) and is functional with spelling.

Digging up an old thread, but samples are available from Calvert if you ask. And I am pleasantly surprised that they will recommend texts to go along with the digital courses, although this is entirely optional. It is back on our list of possibles for high school.

I don't think it is unreasonable to give your daughter a quiet work time for dictation. If you go the CAPD testing route, you will see that in most cases conflicting noise is bad, but conflicting speech pulls the performance level down a whole heap more. So it is better to change the environment to suit her needs. If she is going to succeed with writing, she does need to have the ability to hold her own thoughts as a sentence in her head, and dictation is a preparatory stage for that.

Small chunks that make sense in isolation. For example, splitting subject and predicate. So it would be 'Crows' and then 'are very smart'. Enormous intakes of breath for a full stop, and an obvious pause for a comma. Some explaining if key words are not obvious from the context. So I would expect to say before dictating your passage to my daughter, "This is going to be about crows, you know the bird that goes caw and steals vegetables from the garden". Ask her to repeat back what she hears before writing it down. Saying out loud seems to help overcome some of the poor auditory memory that is bundled with CAPD. Fairly horrendous CAPD here with other language issues, and I could not have done dictation at 9 without tears from both of us (I confess to a ceremonial burning of WWE....) but it has got much better with age, now 13. But, and it is a big but as it is a skill that most would expect to acquire easily, dictating sentences in one go are still impossible.

The best things I have used for DD, who is operating at a low level for language, are the Diana Hanbury King Writing Skills books - starting with Book A. I have not found it necessary to have the teaching manual, so the cost is really low too.

Not using it, but we have used Calvert and investigated high school pretty thoroughly. The biggest issue for me was the reliance on online delivery of the curriculum. I have no issue with using digital, but for our set of learning issues a textbook is vital. I had hoped that the courses may have been wrapped around e-books (in which case we could have just bought a hard copy for our own use), but they are all designed by Calvert using their own materials. I would have paid for the 'mastery transcript' option, as that would have given the accreditation we need, but the 'classic' option at $2,000 does seem costly for curriculum only.

These look really interesting - thank you for the link. I also have a need to provide a lot of scaffolding for DD, which means that the pace and grading of outside classes is often too much, yet she does well with a highly structured course rather than me winging it. I did make an enquiry to the company, and can confirm that the packages are available to individuals for purchase.

Thank you both for these suggestions, which I am exploring. For reading remediation we are currently using Rewards Secondary. However, it is not really a reading issue, but a language one and is not one that is going to be 'fixed' any time soon, if ever.