Sounds like it could be either some kind of seizure or possibly a result of the fall. It is hard to tell since you did not see the first episode occur. I also agree to look into causes from parasites, etc. There are a lot of infectious diseases that can affect the brain in such a manner. I would be especially be concerned because he has traveled to other countries. Here is information on PANDAS which is a type of strep infection that can cause tics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PANDAS Also, I once saw an episode on a medical show where a girl was having uncontrollable twitches (I think hers were constant though) and I think it had something to do with her heart. Hope you get some answers soon.

I think there are a lot of people still looking for curriculum in June. Some of us don't even start shopping until June or cannot decide what we want until the last minute. Then you have newbies to homeschooling that may not buy until July or even August. I would wait at least until mid-May and then maybe post that you have an entire package that will be available in June. I don't see why someone would not want to wait a couple of weeks as long as it is something in demand. I wouldn't separate out the pieces or mail things at different times to the same person that does not make much sense.

Here are some other writing programs to consider: Razzle Dazzle Writing http://www.rdlco.com/ Complete Writing Program http://www.createbetterwriters.com/The_Complete_Writing_Pro.html From the same website, Homeschool Writing Action Plan http://www.createbetterwriters.com/Writing-Action-Plan.html Igniting Your Writing http://www.homeschoolwriting.com/ Advanced Writing Resources (this is for 5th grade and up) http://www.advanced-writing-resources.com/video-communication1

I use either this for websites: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/ or for books/DVDs: http://www.readerware.com/index.php

I just found this awesome resource. I was looking up online high schools for my dd (very difficult to find a comprehensive list), and found this website that has the largest list of schools I have seen with information about each school and website links. The only negative is there is no information on religious based schools like Kolbe, MODG, etc: http://www.onlineschools.com/ Hope this helps others looking for high school info.

For Algebra, I agree to consider Kinetic books or another possibility is Algebra A Fresh Approach (I think it is around $50) or getting the cheaper version of Chalkdust Math (you can usually buy an old version of the text along with the DVDs for cheap on Amazon). I would definitely consider Oak Meadow for history, electives, or English. You can get the materials used or when they are on sale. They have a sale in May, 20% of materials. For electives, they have art classes, psychology, or you could do geography. I would buy the textbooks that they require used off Amazon or Ebay, etc. Some other possibilities for history: Notgrass or Beautiful Feet, both could be self-directed by the student and are inexpensive. For literature, look into Total Language Plus ($20 per guide) which covers writing, literature, some grammar, etc. or maybe Hewitt's Lightning Literature guides. For writing, Essentials in Writing is self-directed with videos and it is not too bad in price ($40), available in August/September. My Access is a website that has writing instruction and evaluates writing. Homeschoolbuyersco-op.org has it on sale right now for $50 for a year's subscription. I bought this writing curriculum called Inspire Motivating Lessons For Teen Writers from Rainbow Resource and it is really good, creative, fun, and written directly to the teen so they could possibly do it on their own($20). Wordsmith might be a possibility as well, also directed to the student, sells for $13 on Rainbow's website. If you plan on doing grammar, Thinking Through Grammar is a possibility, it is written to where the student could do it on their own. For vocabulary, Vocabulary From Classical Roots workbooks would be independent or Wordly Wise. Wordly Wise has a website and has free vocabulary lessons on there. Another thing to consider Kolbe Academy is really inexpensive, flexible, they have payment plans, it might work for science, English, or math. You can either purchase their course plans separately and then find the books used or you could enroll ($300 per year for high school-can pay in 4 payments) and then you would get course plans for all the subjects. The benefit of enrolling is that you would then have a transcript at the end of high school already done for you. The only downside is they really don't offer electives. I have been looking into Kolbe Academy for when my daughter is ready for high school and I think a combination of Kolbe Academy and Oak Meadow would be ideal. You could receive a degree from Kolbe and have the flexibility, but then take electives and possibility history or geography courses from Oak Meadow. I like the math and science options better at Kolbe. I also like that I can use any other curriculum/text, etc to meet Kolbe's requirements rather than stick to whatever textbook they pick out.

It sounds like you are starting off right, finishing the associate's degree, getting the phlebotomy certification. I was in the same boat a few years ago. I had actually finished my bachelor's degree, but had no job prospects since my degree was in psychology and I had to devote most of my time to homeschooling and taking care of kids. I tried several times to take courses so that I could find an actual career, but the timing never seemed to be right. I did manage to work as a medical transcriptionist for a few years, but that field has completely dried up now. I also was able to take the certification exam for a pharmacy technician (you don't need any education to do this), but I decided that I did not want to work in that field. If that interests you at all, you might want to look into it, you just study for the exam, pass the test, and you can work in any pharmacy. I strongly believe that you should not pursue a bachelor's degree unless you have a very specific reason. My bachelor's ended up being pretty worthless for the last few years. However, if it is required for something like a job or to get into a program that requires it, then it could be something to consider. After some soul searching and much consideration, and along the way completing numerous prerequisites for the allied health programs at my local community college (finishing up my last one this semester), I have found a program that is the perfect match for me, a clinical laboratory science program that is mostly offered through distance learning (which still allows me to homeschool my kids). I am applying to start the program this fall and it is only a year long. Once out I should be able to find a job in any laboratory because there is considerable demand for this job (not many people want to learn science to the depth required to work in the lab, and there is little interaction with people so it is not for everyone). Since you are interested in phlebotomy you might want to consider the medical laboratory field. Usually most community colleges offer a 1-2 year program that will get you an entry level job in the lab as a medical laboratory technician. From there you can either go back to school to further bridge to the level of a medical laboratory scientist or work for so many years and take an exam (they may change this in the future, but right now there are multiple entry points). Just keep plugging away one step at a time, that is what I did, and now I am finally filling out an application for the program that I want to do which will lead to the job I am really interested in. It can seem overwhelming at first and it does not help when you have student loans hanging over your head, but just focus on your goals and you may not completely have those ironed out now, that is okay. Your goals may change along the way (mine did, originally thought I would go into nursing or pharmacy). My plans are that once I have finished the clinical laboratory science program and work for a little while, to assess where I am at and decide what step I want to take next, maybe grad school, PA school, go into a laboratory specialty, healthcare management, the options are endless, but I try not to think about all of that too much, just focus on what I am currently doing, and once I start working start paying my loans down diligently. Good luck with what program or career you choose!

I think that because Trisms History Masterminds is an overview of history, it does not have as much depth as the other Trisms curriculum. I actually kind of like that they include science and inventors, and all that other cool stuff you don't see in other history curriculum. I think it would be easy to take Trisms HM and beef it up even more by adding a textbook, encyclopedia, or other resource or spine, maybe even a website or videos to give it a little more depth. I am mainly wanting to use it this year for the way it is organized, the writing, reports, and research activities, the reading and topic lists, and mapping. I am just seeing it as more of the skeleton that I want to frame my history around. There are a lot of other curriculum programs out there that I felt like I would have to change too much, which would just give me extra work and I don't have that much time on my hands. At least with Trisms I feel it is more ready to go and when we have time we can add in things here and there. I have heard that some are not as happy with Trisms HM as they are with the other levels. I just see HM as laying the groundwork for the other years to come with DAW, etc. I think it is helpful to have a year to work out the kinks and kind of see how the day to day activities flow, how to do the research and reports, etc. I am not sure if I would classify Trisms as having too much busywork. I feel that curriculum is what you make it. It can be really overwhelming, difficult, and fill your days and nights with paperwork, grading, etc or it can be an enjoyable learning experience with you and your child choosing only the activities, readings, etc that will help get you to point B. I do feel that there are some curriculum products that are really overwhelming and a little too much, mainly Tapestry of Grace. Some people are able to make that work and just take what they need out of it, but it is not for me, I would be overwhelmed at all of the choices. I like that Trisms does not overwhelm me with choices. It is just enough to give a little variety and give the student options, but not so much that you spend weeks trying to plan what to do.

Our first year was in 2004. I had just graduated with my bachelor's degree and was originally planning to go back to work full-time. After my dd's experience in kindergarten I knew we would be homeschooling. I remember when my dh and I went to our first homeschooling convention that year and were awed by things like K12 (it was pretty new on the scene at the time). I think the well-trained mind and SOTW were relatively new as well, don't think all the volumes were out then. Math U See was the hottest math program at that time, but Singapore math was quickly picking up speed! I think Konos might have been a lot more popular back then because there were not many options for unit studies. I also remember Shiller Math being at a lot of conventions back then, but have not seen it around much anymore. There were tons of companies and programs that did not exist back then, Winter Promise, Pandia Press, All About Spelling, Elemental Science, Growing With Grammar, etc, tons of really great stuff that we just did not have available to choose from.

For history: Trisms History Masterminds (a little pricey, but will be on sale for $195 in April for the new edition coming out in May) - we will be using this next year for 8th grade Beautiful Feet guides - I really like these history literature guides, they get to the point quickly, you don't have to buy a ton of books, inexpensive, some of them have been revised and are really nice as far as pictures/graphics Oak Meadow - I love their history curriculum for the 5th-8th grade range, it is pretty comprehensive in itself so you would not really need to add anything, lots of activities, writing, etc. It can be done independently by the child. They have a sale on their curriculum coming up in May, 20% off. For literature: Total Language Plus - I just bought one of these for The Hobbit and it looks great! Covers vocabulary, literature questions, writing, and spelling. There is some grammar as well, but not enough. If you use these with something like Daily Grams I think you would be fine. Veritas Press Comprehension Guides - if you just want literary questions to go along with a particular book, these work well for that, not as meaty as TLP, but at least gives you some direction. Literary Lessons From Lord of the Rings - We will either be doing this in 8th or 9th, have not decided yet, but you might want to consider it. I have heard nothing but positive reviews on this board. Lightning Literature - I currently own 7th and 8th grade levels. For whatever reason, we never got around to actually using these, and the more I look at them, the more I don't like them. They teach elements of literature well, but it seems almost too dry/boring for my taste. I think I am the only one that does not like these, but I just want to give a different view. I got all excited about these, then when I finally looked at them, not so much. For vocabulary: Roots and Fruits by Jill Dixon - this is a comprehensive list of roots (over 600) and ideas for activities and how to schedule the roots for an older learner, really inexpensive Excavating English - interesting history of English language by Ellen McHenry, might go along well with Roots and Fruits IEW Advanced Spelling and Vocabulary - IEW revised their advanced spelling and vocabulary CDs (also come as MP3s), looks interesting, but have not tried this yet For science: Ellen McHenry also has science curriculum, The Brain, Cell, Elements, Carbon Chemistry (they all go up to about age 13 or 14) so might work for you. Elemental Science - they have logic stage curriculum for Biology and Earth Science Science Fusion - saw this on Homeschool Buyers Coop, looks interesting although it is more technology based, so not sure if that is what you are looking for Joy Hakim's Story of Science - there are also curriculum guides that go with these

I like the idea of combining HM with Story of Science. We will be doing HM this year although my dd is in 8th grade so I am hoping everything will be easier to coordinate. Since she will be entering high school soon I will have higher expectations for her research and writing. Even though there are IEW assignments within HM, I was thinking of also including IEW's new Rockets, Radars, and Robots writing curriculum. I think it would go very well with HM. I am excited about the revised HM this year! I think I have finally filed away the idea that I will ever use Sonlight, just too much to coordinate with everything else I am doing and I like coming up with my own booklists. I guess that is why I like Trisms, because we have more choices in books and we can read the ones we really are interested in. Since I have trouble trying to keep myself from going overboard with planning, this year I have resolved to keep moving along each week to the next topic even if we do not get to read everything, do every project, etc. I might start a blog this year with our Trisms experiences which I think would be another way to keep us on task as well. To the orginal poster, you know you want to buy it! I am completely a curriculum enabler!

Soaring With Spelling and Vocabulary, we love it!

My 2-year-old is really into animals so some of her favorite series right now are: Curious George Corduroy Biscuit Spot Maisy She also likes: What Mommies Do Best (there are other ones in the series) Toes, Ears, and Nose (and others in the series, lift-the-flap books) Geraldine's Blanket Brown Bear, Brown Bear (and others in the series) The Three Billy Goats Gruff Peekaboo Kisses Lift the Flap Farm Mommy Mine A Color of His Own Z is For Zoo Ten Little Ladybugs My First Colors (DK) Cat (by Fleet) Time For Bed Barnyard Dance (Boynton) I Don't Want to Go to Bed (Sykes) The Very Hungry Caterpillar Peek-A-Who (board book with mirror at the end so they can see themselves) There are some older books that we have that have nursery rhymes that she likes as well. When my oldest daughter was younger she really loved a book called Clara Caterpillar (really cute book with the repetition of a lot of words that start with "C"). She also really liked If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and all the books in that series. Another cute one was Cookie's Week (about a cat, good for beginning readers). Click Clack Moo Cows That Type is really funny. The Kissing Hand (really sweet story), The Grouchy Ladybug, there are so many I could list! There is this old story called Donkey Donkey that is a really good story but it may be hard to find. Also, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Here are a few more: Chester (by Syd Hoff) I Love You So Much The Magic Porridge Pot Chrysanthemum

Hard for me to pick just 3: 1) Home Learning Year by Year - Rebecca Rupp 2) Upside-Down Brilliance - The Visual-Spatial Learner - Linda Silverman 3) Creative Home Schooling for Gifted Children - Lisa Rivero I also really liked reading books by Cynthia Tobias when I first started out, Every Child Can Succeed and The Way They Learn.

Feel free to PM me with any questions. We are currently using Holt's Earth Science online materials which include the text, teacher's notes, lessons, audio component of the text, and more. If you want the actual physical book then I would look into getting it off Amazon and save a bunch of money. I am not sure if you would absolutely need the teacher manual or not, kind of depends on how you are going to use it. I have been intrigued by the lesson plans by Kolbe as well, if you feel that you need a schedule of what to do when then that may be a good fit for you. Anyway, I will have to dig up the old post where I gave the info on how to go to Holt's website and order the online version of the text if you are interested. It is only $16 per year. It might be a good way for you to try it out and see if it would work for you or not and then if you want an actual hard copy of the book you could order one on Amazon. As far as the material in the text itself, it seems pretty meaty to me and I am picky when it comes to textbooks. We have not gotten that far in the text yet, so I am not sure if there are any sections that might be lacking or not. I don't think there are any serious science experiments that correlate with the Holt text so if you want more of a hands on component than you might want to add a rock kit, etc. I have thought about using an earth science activity book to get a few more ideas on experiments. I have also considered Elemental Science Earth Science and as crazy as it seems have pondered combining Holt's book with Elemental Science. I like the schedule of Elemental Science and the fact that the activities, encyclopedia readings, are all coordinated for you. At the same time, I hate just using an encyclopedia for science because they can be kind of dull sometimes, so that is where I figured the Holt book would come in. By the way, as far as the teacher's manual for Holt, most of it is overrated. There are a lot of worksheets, review sheets, some vocabulary, I cannot remember what all was there, but nothing significant. I have the online version of the Holt teacher's manual so I have not seen the hard copy in person. I will post the link to Holt's website in a few minutes. Here are the old threads: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=325141&page=4 http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=325141&page=5 I think I posted about midway down the page and then on page 5 I gave instructions on how to order through Holt.

I just picked up Total Language Plus for The Hobbit and it looks really good. I also wanted to do a study of The Hobbit before we did LLFLOTR. So, we plan on reading it this summer and completing the Total Language Plus assignments. In TLP, there are projects, writing, vocabulary, dictation, discussion questions, grammar, and spelling. The grammar is pretty light, so we will be using something else for that, but otherwise it is pretty thorough.

There is so much I could list since we have been homeschooling a long time: Miquon Math HOD Ambleside Online Explode the Code Phonics Spalding Phonics/Reading MCT Language Arts Rod and Staff Apologia Horizons Math Art of Problem Solving Calvert Winston Grammar There is so much more I was underwhelmed by, but it is a good thing, keeps me from buying too much!

I will never have enough! If I was homeschooling a younger student I could probably get by with everything I had, but now that we are heading into high school I would not have enough math, science, and language arts to get us through high school.

Just a thought, but maybe you just need to slow down with what material you are covering in TT to let it sink in for a while. Maybe you could find something to supplement it on the side to help her learn the concepts she is struggling with using extra worksheets, videos, games, etc. I have used the Key to books with my dd. Another option maybe consider a different type of curriculum like Life of Fred. Derek Owens has free videos on prealgebra that might help: Prealgebra. There are also Thinkwell math videos. Here is a math curriculum that I am thinking about using for my dd for algebra because it is in more of a workbook format: Algebra A Fresh Approach A lot of times when we would struggle with curriculum I wanted to jump ship, but sometimes my dd just took a little longer to understand a concept and that is okay. I probably changed curriculum more than I really needed to.

Maybe, Latin Alive by Classical Academic Press. It can be used in high school and it is secular. I have Latin Alive 1 and we have not started it yet, but from previewing the book it looks pretty simple to follow.

Here is a link to Holt McDougal Social Studies texts (some of them also have online versions as well): Holt McDougal They have world history, american history, and geography for middle school. Another suggestion, have you considered Oak Meadow? They have curriculum that is written like a textbook. The student reads the information for whatever topic is being covered and then there are questions, activities, websites, etc to complete. The 7th grade social studies from Oak Meadow is kind of an overview of World History describing major events and different cultures around the world. It might be just what you are looking for. Then their 8th grade social studies focuses on civics, community, government, and american history. Oak Meadow has a way of interweaving topics so it has more of a holistic feel to it. I think they may be having a sale again on their curriculum soon. I will have to look it up because I know I saw it somewhere. Oak Meadow Just looked up the curriculum sale, and someone mentioned they would be having a 20% off sale in May. Here is a link to the yahoo group as well where people sell used OM curriculum and you can ask questions: OM Yahoo Group

Check Out: Homeschool Math Curriculum Reviews Here is Maria Miller's recommendations for Algebra Maria Miller's recommendations on Prealgebra Also, you can check out reviews of math curriculum at this message board: Homeschool Library Hope this helps!

I am partial to Chalkdust because that is what we will be using so that is my vote. Not sure about the schedule part. You might also want to look at Derek Owens because you could have something more scheduled that way since he has online classes and homework. I know nothing about what Saxon offers. From what I have seen of the books that Chalkdust uses (I have not seen the Larson book in person) it seems like each chapter focuses on mastery and then there is review at the end of each chapter. Not sure if there would be enough review for what you are looking for. If it were me I would save money and use what I have or at least give it a try before putting down more money for something else.

We mainly used LOF as a supplement to reinforce what we were learning and to have a little fun, the stories are really funny! Now we are finishing up the Key to Percents books before heading into prealgebra (using Chalkdust) and we have set aside the LOF books for now. Percents is a topic that is overwhelming my dd right now so we may end up just wrapping things up quickly and starting on Chalkdust sooner than I thought. I am thinking that Chalkdust might teach the topic of percents a little better plus there is the video instruction. I just do not like the Key to books for percents. Every time I look at the topic for the day I cannot even figure out what the directions are asking. They just seem to pound topics in your head from a few too many angles sometimes which can end up confusing some kids. I do like Key to for the other books that we used. What can I say other than I change my mind a lot when it comes to math books and I don't hesitate to use whatever will work and get the job done.

Here are my suggestions: Chalkdust - they use Larson for Algebra which you can just get used on Amazon/Ebay and also if you want the DVDs you can find those used as well Derek Owens Algebra - does not use a text, just a workbook and videos, this would be the way to go if you did want to use videos http://www.derekowens.com/course_info_algebra1.php Algebra A Fresh Approach http://www.aplusses.com/zencart/textbooks-c-1.html What I would do is pick a program that appeals to you and your dd the most and then just supplement with other stuff for additional review. There are things like Thinkwell, Khan, etc that have videos if you need to supplement or you can pick up additional Algebra workbooks to reinforce concepts. Maybe something like this: Algebra (Straightforward Series)