Thank you very much! I'll check out that link you provided. Does anyone know if there is an acronym list anywhere in these forums listing what commonly used acronyms mean? I've been looking, but haven't found one.

I am relieved to hear someone who has experienced both meds and non-meds state that. I have a 11ya DD who was recently diagnosed ADD (primarily inattentive, strongly so -- incapable of sustaining focus unless her imagination is actively engaged), with dysgraphia. She also has many allergies (none food, but lots of environmental), had vision function problems in her past and some moderate sensory integration issues, and a HIGHLY active imagination (the doctor called her "internally distractable"). She's brilliant, and has a hard time showing it. The doctor who tested her stated that trying meds on our DD would very likely backfire and cause more problems than it would fix, and so it is counter-indicated at this time. In the meantime, after our DD was dianosed ADD my SIL had my nephew tested (he has a few similar problems, and more that are different). He was diagnosed ADHD and put on meds, which have done a world of good for him. He says he can hear people now, whereas before he heard EVERYTHING and couldn't filter anyone out. His concentration is better, too. Now, because of his success with meds, my MIL is on a campaign to change my mind and get my DD medicated. Why? Because we have decided that this is our last year in classroom schools (private -- we gave up on public years ago because they couldn't work with DD), as it simply isn't working for us. We are going to homeschool, following a classical plan. My MIL's folks were both teachers, and she thinks that homeschooling is a horrible thing to do to a kid (though her arguments are mostly from a socialization standpoint and not an educational one, probably because both DH and I are quite smart, literate, and detail-oriented and fully capable of pulling off homeschooling). What really burns me up is she only chooses to raise her "concerns" (attempts to badger me into changing my mind) when I'm tired, stressed out (usually over my aging Dad), and my defenses are low. She doesn't take it up with my DH (her son), who she knows won't budge either. Well, I showed her. This last time she did this I told her in no uncertain terms (but a respectful and sincere tone) that I really do want to hear her concerns because they pinpoint specifics that we can work to address and make sure we are doing a good and thorough job on the homeschooling, and not overlooking anything. So there -- keep talking to me, because even though you won't dissuade me your points can still help. I really do love her and respect her input and opinions. When she isn't being closed-minded about something, as she is here. She rarely is (closed-minded), but she's stubbornly so on this. Thanks. Guess I needed to vent a bit, too.

Newbie here (new to the forum). What are IEW, FWIW, NP, and ITBS, please? Also, I jsut joined the forum today, and can't seem to edit my profile yet. Anyone have any clues/suggestions there? I just tried to email the Contact Us address, and it refused to send.... As for spelling problems, sounds scarily like my DD, too. Tougher words amazingly not so difficult, but easier words, even common ones, are often misspelled. Misspellings tend to be phonetic or to attempt to follow some odd spelling rule (keeps spelling "from" as "frome"), and misspellings can be quite sporadic. She can quiz quite well at home for spelling words, but fail the spelling test the next morning at school, or she can quiz poorly and do quite well on the spelling test. I look forward to checking out spelling suggestions. This is our final year in the mainstream classroom setting -- we will start homeschooling next year. (Which is a detail I'll put in my profile, if I can ever edit it....) Another interesting aside: my Dad received head injuries 20 years ago in an accident, and he sometimes has a few spelling issues, especially when tired. I'll have to check into that more the next time he comes for a visit....

You are describing my daughter! She's 11, and I think her case can give you some insight, or at least some things to check out. If the grip you mention is what my daughter does it is holding the pencil with the hand and wrist curled so that they lie above the line of writing, so that she is writing towards her wrist (where the usual right-handed grip has the wrist in a neutral position and to the right of the letters as one writes them). First, the handwriting thing -- have you had your daughter checked for dysgraphia? This exhibits as very poor handwriting, but it is a eye-input to hand-output issue. Our daughter's was diagnosed when we asked to have her tested for a math learning disability. Ask your pediatrician for a reference to a GOOD place to have her checked (the place where the public schools send kids for testing is usually quite good). Don't accept just anybody local who does testing -- you want someplace that handles LOTS of cases. My husband reminds me to mention: In most states the public schools are REQUIRED to send your child for testing (on their dollar) if you request it, even if your child is not enrolled in the public school. This can keep it more affordable, though it can take several months before your child will be seen and tested. If you don't want to wait quite as long you can pay for the testing yourself, but it can be quite costly. Have you tried D'Nealean handwriting? This is sometimes called "Modern Manuscript", and is kind of a cross between cursive and printing. My eldest prefers it (thinks of it as "Fancy Nancy" writing). I never heard of it when I was younger, but once I was given a choice of how to write and no longer forced to write cursive I went back to printing, but "modified" it by running some of my letters together, much like D'Nealean, it turns out. Second, you mentioned vision issues (which I was going to ask about as soon as I read what you wrote about the handwriting). Check for vision function issues (again, my DD had them) -- if your child has them they may be related to the handwriting issue. Diagnosing vision function issues requires a child's eye specialist who handles vision therapy, so get a referral from your pediatrician. If you live in SE Texas I can recommend a good one! Vision function is NOT a matter of visual acuity (which is an eyesight issue). Vision function issues are a matter of how the brain interprets the signals coming from the eye. My DD (diagnosed in 1st grade) had problems with tracking (following a moving object without moving the head), eye teaming (the two eyes working together), focusing quickly between near and far distances (picture the difficulties that would cause when trying to copy from a blackboard!), and she was far-sighted as well (which WASN'T caught by the vision screening at school). Several months of vision function therapy (basically training the brain) resolved her issues, and (bonus!) her far-sightedness resolved, too! Now, speaking of far-sightedness (a soapbox lecture topic of mine): YOUR TYPICAL VISION SCREENING TESTS PERFORMED AT SCHOOL RARELY CATCH FAR-SIGHTEDNESS. I have this straight from the eye specialist's mouth. The explaination: Near-sightedness is an inability of the eyeball to focus beyond a close distance -- the child or person is simply unable to do it. Near-sightedness is nearly always caught in your typical vision screenings. However, in far-sightedness the eye has difficulty focusing up close, but is actually able to do so for short periods of time. A child, desperate to please the adults (especially if their difficulties have been mistaken for recalcitrance), can and will force his/her eyes to focus on an object just long enough to pass a vision screening. But it HURTS, even though they may not be able to explain or adequately describe the hurt, and they can't keep it up for long. Far-sightedness is more reliably diagnosed by a child's eye specialist, who has tests for prolonged visual focus. If your child ever complains of headaches during or after schoolwork, it is probably eyestrain. One more vision-related note: after our eldest was diagnosed with vision function problems we had our youngest checked as well. She tested fine, and her eyesight tested at 20/20. This, we were told, WAS A WARNING SIGN at her age. Young children (she was 4 at the time) typically test a little far-sighted, but it comes in line to 20/20 by the time they are school-age. Our eye specialist told us that some time in the future (would be a few years) she would likely become near-sighted, since her vision was 20/20 at such a young age. She is now in 3rd grade, and is showing signs of near-sightedness developing (same age as me when I was diagnosed near-sighted). We have another appointment after the new year to get her checked, and have made sure we have enough vision insurance to cover the expense. Hope this helps. I'll set the "follow this topic" button so I remember to check back, in case you have more questions.

As a favor to people new to these posts would everyone please consider spelling out acronyms (e.g. LOF, TT, AoPS, etc.)? My kids are currently in a private school, though we will be starting homeschooling this next school year. My eldest is currently 5th grade, ADD (primarily inattentive), has dygraphia, HATES basic calculating (arithmetic, though she loves the higher math concepts), and is using Saxon math in school. Each evening it is common for her to take 90 minutes or more to do the 30 problems in the homework. Saxon to my eye looks like it has good lessons, but it isn't clicking for my eldest. My youngest (currently grade 3 without her sister's issues) is also starting to take longer on her math homework, though she has an easier time of it. We are switching from mainstream-school to homeschooling following a classical track, and so will backtrack a little to set certain foundations for history and science that have not been covered to my satisfaction in the school. I am currently doing homework into selecting a math curriculum for when we start homeschooling. Technically Saxon math is "working", in that my kids get the concepts just fine, but they do get quite bored with reading story problems full of extraneous details, creating tables, and working lots of repetition. Most of their errors in their homework (I check it each day and go over corrections with them) are basic calculation errors or copying the problem down wrong. Saxon math does seem a bit fragmented, in that I haven't been able to pull out clear groupings of lessons (sections that focus on fractions, or geometry, or decimals, etc.). The comments above look interesting, so I am printing them out (too much to read on a computer screen -- eyestrain). I'm also setting the "follow" button on this thread so I remember to check back. Thank you all for your comments, and please continue to post. This really does help us newbies!