Of the three options-Bookshare, Learning Ally, Kindle Immersion reading- my kids much prefer Kindle Immersion Reading. It can add up so we do a mixture of both. Kindle Immersion reading for domain books + Audible is usually very reasonable. Domain books are often free and audible for these books are often 99 cents. I loaded our Kindle Fires with classics to use with immersion reading. Current bestsellers are more expensive, a Percy Jackson kindle book is $4.28 and the audible book is a reduced price of $12.99. We would use Bookshare or Learning Ally if the kids wanted to read this book.

Thanks for the feedback, OhElizabeth. ADHD-hyperactive is her formal dx, and she fits it to a "T". She does not have any S/S to suspect APD. Specifically, off meds she is extremely talkative, overly active, unable to sit or be quiet when appropriate, seems to be on a "motor" all the time, etc. She could understand a request, but may or may not be able to follow through with the request due to her activity level. Her only learning issue was reading related. Math is not a problem. She is a grade level ahead in math and it didn't matter if the content is verbal or visual unless she was especially hyperactive that day ( which was usually related to diet specifically food dyes). As far as the test at Scottish Rite, my understanding from previous users is to expect the gamut of testing to be done. I will know more on May 8 when I get their results. I'll let you know!

Anytime I think that it cost too much, I price out the cost of O-G tutors for two kids, and Barton seems like a bargain in comparison! My older child working through Barton went through level 3 rather quickly. Maybe not 1 month, but certainly much less than 2. He bogged down in Level 4 almost to the point of wanting to quit. There is a lot of information in Level 4 which is explained far more explicitly than in AAS. Previously, he had made it through level 4 in AAS, but Level 4 in Barton helped his reading, spelling, and confidence far more than AAS. Happily, he is sailing through Level 5 without difficulty. Resale. Resale. Resale. It helps me get through the sticker shock. LOL.

Anytime I start to question the price, I re-work out the cost of OG tutor for two kids and get over it real quick! FWIW, Level 4 bogged us way down. It is taking my youngest almost 2 weeks per lesson.

We are getting tested through Scottish Rite ( next month!) and a part of the pre-evaluation form was a behavior assessment form. With her acceptance letter for evaluation, my youngest also received the "blue letter" which encouraged us to have her evaluated for ADHD by our primary physician. While preparing for this appointment, I found Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) algorithm for diagnosing, evaluating. treatment, etc. of ADHD. This was the exact same process that our Pedi had us work through. We had another behavior assessment form to complete prior to the first appointment, and the first appointment lasted quite a while. At the end of this appointment, I felt "good" about the diagnosis, treatment plan, and medication options. Medication is an important part of her overall plan of success. She still has reading issues, which should be formally identified next month, but medication has improved her success with our reading program that we already have in place. HTH

I'm all for getting evaluations for struggling learners. Without this information, it is difficult to know how best to proceed. As you can tell from all the PPs, there are many different reasons why a child will struggle with learning. With a proper identification of your child, you can choose the resources that will work best for your child. My child is dyslexic and ADHD-hyperactive. With this information I can choose a reading program that is researched-proven best practice for dyslexics and stop spending money on resources that don't work. We did a trial of medications to treat her ADHD and have found that medication is an important component of her educational plan. With the right program, my child has progressed over 2 reading levels since September. With the right medication, she can focus on school, which has greatly enhanced her overall success. I am so very thankful that I did not wait to see if she was just a "late-bloomer". One very important factor for our kids who struggle is to keep their self-esteem intact. This is impossible when MOM or the kid is discouraged. Proper identification can change the dialogue that leads to discouragement for mom or the child. Instead of "I'm stupid because I can't read", my dd's dialogue is now "I am dyslexic, which is just a specific problem with reading which can be "fixed" with my reading program". For her it was important to realize that the problem was very specific ( translating symbols on the page to words) and not some sort of global deficiency in ability. Best of luck!

After level 3, I had my son read the level 3 readers from Barton. Now that he has completed Level 4, I will have him read the level 4 readers. He has completed an extensive list of audiobooks that are at grade level. He prefers to do Immersion Reading with the Kindle, but has also done a few through Learning Ally. If you are purchasing Barton through Susan Barton, she will be a reference for Learning Ally. He enjoys audiobooks because it keeps him independent, and he is able to ear-read (terminology from the Dyslexia Empowerment Plan) books that I might not be willing to read aloud to his younger, more sensitive sibling.

Subtle changes here. The main change noticed is that she can "turn off" the non-stop chatter when needed. Prior to medication, she could not stop the non-stop talking. Otherwise, still chatty and engaging. She sits when it is appropriate to sit. She no longer has to do schoolwork standing up, climbing around in the chair, etc. She stopped unlimited snacking. She eats meals, although a little less than she does without medication, but does not snack just to snack. She has lost a little weight but she was a little chunky before and now is a healthy weight. She likes it when the medication is working. She says she's a zombie once the medication wears off. I think that she means that she has less control over what she does and gets done when the med wears off. Typically she does "zone" out when the med wears off and prefers to watch tv, etc. instead of creating, writing, drawing types of activities that she prefers when the medication is working. From a practical standpoint, she has already completed the days worth of schoolwork and is currently outside working in her garden. Prior to medication, it would take us f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to finish school since we had to work in short bursts and redirect the talking/movement constantly. Prior to medication, she would not be able to stay on task long enough to work in her garden. She would be dancing, and singing, but not able to do much else. Now she sings and dances, but can do she wants with her garden. HTH

Barton lesson of only about 30 minutes a day for 4 days a week? We started using Barton this year, the 11 yo is almost done with level 4, and the 8 yo is reaching a wall at the beginning of level 4. I have been debating if I should stop and focus on the fluency sheets of level 3 with her. What type of Science and History videos? Do you do both science and history each day or focus on only one subject each day? I need details! LOL. My 11 yo loves a documentary. So videos might be a really good option for him. A. Puduwa's talk called " But, but, but....what about grammar" had the recommendation of adding in something like Fix-it to help teach editing skills. Thanks! You have given me some ideas.

I have 2 kids who are using Barton. The eldest is almost done with level 4, so we will be adding in writing (IEW) and eventually grammar (Fix-it). The youngest just started level 4 and is ADHD. I have been doing at least 45 minutes a day of Barton with each child. Of course, this does not include our other subjects. Math is also done separately, but other subjects are done together. I am burning out. Our school time seems to go on forever. The thought of adding in writing and grammar with the eldest is stressing me out. We do a 4 day school week due to my work schedule. Our school day lasts from 8:30 to 3:00. I don't want a longer school day, so I need to figure out a way to keep the kids progressing with reading while getting exposure to the fun subjects. So, I have a few questions for people using Barton with multiple students. How much time do you spend daily on Barton? How much time do you spend doing other subjects? What other subjects do you teach? Thanks!

Have you looked at Khan Academy? My 11 yo enjoyed the algebra lectures and it reinforced that he really does need to continue to work at his current level so that he can solve all those wonderful math problems to come.

I found myself in a similar situation last year. I didn't switch to TOG but did "jump ship" for a few months to try something other than MFW. It did help me to see that the problem wasn't MFW but just a byproduct of my own family dynamics. I lasted about 2 months before returning to MFW. When my youngest was in MFW 1, it was just easier to keep her in MFW 1st since her attention span just wasn't there. There was no expectation that she participate in the cycle. This has been the first year that I have been able to successfully combine the kids in content subjects (History, science, etc.). I do allow my younger child to not participate in some of the history readings such as Streams. I suspect that next year as a 4th grader she will be able to fully participate in everything. I still teach skill subjects separately (LA, math, etc.). For my family, it is just so much easier to keep them separate for skill subjects. Read alouds happen either during lunch (my active child is able to pay attention when busy eating) or bedtime. My older child prefers audio books. I take advantage of this preference whenever possible! I completely ignore the suggested schedule at the beginning of the manual. We are not the family that is going to be able to get all children done with one subject during one 20 minute time period. That is OK. The benefits of the grid is the time saved trying to write my own plan for each year. I think if I were in your situation, I would let the eldest child read on his own and then read the 2nd/3rd supplements during lunchtime or at bedtime with the younger kids. Best of luck!

Your son sounds like my 11 yo son. I even posted a question earlier this year regarding using AAS vs. Barton. He was on level 4 with AAS and reading OK but his spelling was poor. He refused to do any "real world" reading.....ie reading text for video games, etc. Getting this child to write anything was like pulling teeth. My 8yo was not progressing with AAR/AAS, and could not blend and read CVC words despite working on this skill since age 5 through a variety of programs. Reading Dyslexic Advantage was like reading a book about this child. The decision to purchase Barton was because of this child. Since I needed Barton for the 8yo, the decision was made to have the 11 yo go through it as well. I emailed with Barton regarding advancing him so that he did not have to start at the beginning but, of course, they recommended that I work through the entire program with him. We started in late August, and he started Level 4 yesterday. He went through lessons in Level 1 & 2 at a rate of lesson per day. In level 3 he spent 2 days per lessons. The only new information was the presentation of units in Level 3. For example, ALL is taught as a unit and these are called unit syllables. His reading ability, comprehension, and willingness has jumped up leaps and bounds. His willingness to write has jumped by leaps and bounds. His confidence has grown by leaps and bounds. Barton looked like overkill for this child, but it wasn't. It was exactly what he needed. TT for math and Winston Grammar ( he completed FFL 4 last year) have been really good fits for him. FWIW, we are still working on getting evals for both kids. Regardless if they are dyslexic or not, Barton is working for them. Best of luck!

My kids enjoy Apologia, too. The science in ECC meshes well with the study of the various countries. We did not substitute an Apologia text this year. We did not enjoy MFW's science in CtG so I substituted Apologia's Astronomy since I had a child who really wanted to learn about Astronomy. I think your plan to do the Chemistry/Physics text during the CtG year is a good one. If you are teaching only 1 child in the 5th grade, then it would be relatively easy to complete 2 Apologia texts this year especially if it is a subject your child enjoys. RtR schedules both Human Anatomy and Astronomy. My kids have enjoyed the scheduled Human Anatomy using MFW's selections for the first part of this year so I did not substitute for the Apologia text. We plan on doing the Chemistry/Physics book the last half of the year since we completed Astronomy last year. HTH

I've used both. MFW 1 covers all phonics but it does so very quickly. Each concept is covered in 1 lesson per day. The lessons are tied into the phonics lessons. It is a wonderful full program that is a great fit for a child who will learn to read easily and smoothly. It is easy to build in review and play the recommended games for children who just need more practice. Some children need to spend more time focusing on one concept before being introduced to the next and this can be tricky to accomplish with MFW1. AAR also introduces concepts per lesson however there is much more practice for each concept. Individualized review is built into AAR ( and AAS). A child can move through the lessons as quickly or as slowly as needed without bogging down the rest of the curriculum. I can spend 1-5 days per lesson based on my child's needs. With my youngest, I started out with MFW 1 and quickly realized that she was a child who needed to spend more time with a concept. I dropped the phonics in MFW 1 and added in AAR which better met her needs. HTH

I am trying to determine the specific differences between these two programs. Are the same skills in 10 levels of Barton covered in 4 levels of AAR for reading and 7 levels of AAS for spelling? I understand that Barton has DVDs, uses nonsense words, and cost more.

There are only 9 books in the series. Would you really need to skip one? The 4-6 books, 7-8, and 9-12 series have 2 books. One book focuses on drawing skills and the other one focuses on color/painting. If you need to skip a book, then just decide if your child wants to skip drawing or painting. FWIW, my 10 yo enjoys working with the K-1 books with his 7 yo sister even though he had previously done the lessons. For us, there wouldn't be any issues with an older child working through a book that is for a younger age group. HTH

I spent part of this afternoon evaluating our long-term plan. My older kids did a copywork, oral narrations, written narrations sequence from 1-8th grade. 4th-8th grade they worked through Writing Strands. They used Format Writing to help them formulate essays 7-12th. They have solid writing skills. I assumed that I would use a similar pattern for my younger kids. Of course, there are far more resources available now. Current 10yo worked through WWE 1,2, and part of 3. I started him using WWE a grade behind ( using WWE 1 for 2nd, etc). Halfway through WWE it was becoming obvious that he was hating writing and becoming increasing frustrated. Think tears. I tried Writing Strands since it worked well for my olders. Writing was better but not great. There weren't tears but the potential for tears was present. I borrowed a friends' IEW for a few months, and it was an awesome fit for this kid. This year we are using IEW's Fun and Fascinating and the kid is really enjoying it. "Writing is so cool" is not an unusual comment. Plan is to continue IEW through 8th grade. Current 7yo is using WWE 1 which is working well. Plan is to continue WWE and progress from there. My long-term plan is to do whatever works for each particular child. How is that for simple? Once we start a sequence ( WWE, WS, IEW, etc.) I plan on using the sequence unless it become obvious that is just isn't working. Tears or frustrations means it isn't working. Boring but effective means we just keep plugging along. Once we finish a sequence, I first look at resources that I own. I would then look at the least expensive option available. Why use a $200 product when the $20 product will ultimately work just as well? I try to avoid making specific long-term plan that means evaluating every possible resource for a skill subject and picking the "best" or my favorite. In 4 years, there could be different resources for highschool writing, and I will have 4 years of experience helping my 10 yo on his writing skills. It will be easier to evaluate resources for this particular child if I just wait until closer to highschool. HTH

My kids prefer to stand at the dining room table.

I've been working on advancing my degree since last May. In addition to homeschooling and graduate school, I also work part-time. It can be done! Avoid the naysayers. Set priorities for activities. Avoid timewasters. If you can do this, you will find that there is plenty of time for the important stuff. I also homeschool year round which helps when I'm in the middle of a particularly time consuming course. Best of luck!

I look at the cost to send my kids to private school and aim for 10% of that cost. Around here, 10K for private school for 2 kids. So I budget for $1000. I do not include costs for uniforms, etc. that a previous poster mentioned but that's an idea! Thinking of homeschooling budget in relation to spending the kids to private school really makes sense to my dh. Having a limit forces me to really look at purchases and prevents me from just buying the flavor of the week to check it out. The eldest child cost the most to homeschool since you have to purchase those large 1x expenses. I also budgeted more when I was homeschooling highschoolers.

If the child is currently enrolled in PS, he will need to be formally withdrawn from the school district. THSC.org has a specific withdrawal letter that can be used for this process. She does not have to use this particular letter. Texas really is an awesome place to homeschool!

Since you are liable for the injury, I would make sure that the person bit seeks medical attention. Far easier to treat with stitches and oral antibiotics then if the wound progresses to something much worse. My son was bit a few years ago. I did report to animal control, and the dog was quarantined for 10 days at the owner's expense.

Another vote for Easy Grammar.

I think you missed my main point which was to give you a resource to understand the concept of sovereign nation. However, I had a similar 2nd grade teacher and a similar experience. In no way did the times that I experienced prejudice when viewed as a Hispanic prepare me for the prejudice I experienced as a Native American when near the reservation. That was not the point I was hoping to make. Treaties were signed in the 1800's that stated that Native American Tribes were sovereign nations. These treaties were ignored, and the tribes have battled in courts for these treaties to be recognized. It is a sad commentary that it has taken 4 years for this particular tribe to receive permission to participate in their religious ceremony. I might not understand their religious ceremony but I am glad that they are able to participate in it. Bottom line, sovereign nation is an interesting area of law. HTH