I just got a counter height table for our school room that my 18 month old can't climb up on. I'm hoping that will help with this toddler whose favorite place to sit was in the middle of our old table and throw things off or try to rip anything he can get his little hands on. I also have 2 play yards that I plan to set up with activities for the littles to help them stay occupied while I wotk with the others. This year I will have a 4 year old and an 18 month old with 2 schooling and 1 after schooling. I hope the high table helps. Ask me in a month or so!

No, he didn't mean the strict diet that starts with hospitalization. I did ask. His actual wording was low carb, high fat, like the keto diet, but not so strict. Like Atkins with high fat. Thanks for your concern! A lot of her behavior issues actually stem from over activity throughout her brain. Something about the ketones calms that down. I need to do more research to understand that better.

This is motivating!! I went over on carbs yesterday. We had my family over for dinner and my dad asked me to make fish and mango salsa. I also made bacon jalapeños with cream cheese. Even with all that it was 1568 calories, 112F/45C/102P. I'm trying to keep carbs 20-30 so I guess a 45 isn't that bad. I think I solved my bulletproof coffee sweetener problem. Instead of coffee yesterday I used green tea. I didn't hate it like the coffee. So that will help me drop the sweetener completely.

I love readinga-z. The books are also available as apps. Each reading level is a few dollars I think. I have the first couple levels on my iPad and I use them all the time.

That sounds really interesting, I'll check it out. I saw this the other day: http://www.abapianolessons.com. Genius. I wish I thought of it. DD has pretty significant fine motor issues, so idk about knitting/sewing. She may like clay, there's something to try. She hates play doh though, it's very hard for her to manipulate. I like the idea of an art cabinet for her. I think I'll work on that this summer. I think she would love writing stories. I have yet to find a text-to-speech program that understands her though. I also haven't looked that hard. She has apraxia and is mostly understandable to people that know her, but not unfamiliar people or technology. I would love for her to learn to cook/bake. I saw a little kid cooking program somewhere. She's in the 3-5 year old developmental age range for most things. Safety would be my biggest concern.

We recently moved and are venturing into more self sufficient living. We have chickens and she likes them ok. We had sheep at one point and she really liked when we had lambs. Getting a garden going is in the plan for this year. She used to like playing in the dirt and she does like to pick the petals off flowers 😛 Getting her a die cut machine is a great idea! Her favorite thing in the world is if she can get someone to draw shapes/characters so she can color them. I can't believe I never thought of that! Thanks 😃

It is huge improvement! And I'm trying to keep that perspective. She is 13 now and thinking about the future is scary. She has 9 more years until she ages out of her private day placement. That's a long time...but at the same time it isn't. At that time her brothers will be 10, 12, 14 and 22. I don't see us transitioning her to a group home until my younger kids are grown, unless that's something that she really wants to do. In my area, once kids age out of special education, there is pretty much nothing for them; she will be home with us. And that's probably ok. Now, she's better off at school. They maintain a 1:1.5 ratio, which is better than I can do for her with the other kids. The tricky thing is to pick out the skills that will really benefit her in the future. Obviously, maintaining the behavioral gains she has made is most important. Functional life skills next: independent personal care, clean up after yourself, occupy yourself with something constructive. Basic academics after that, but with a functional emphasis, like typing with word prediction so that she could learn to text so that she could have a phone. Learning how to talk on the phone would be a good too. Enough reading so she could read for enjoyment or look up things that interested her on the Internet. Functional math so that she could do her own shopping and manage her own money. Safety and how to access public transportation too. More than anything though, I want her to find something to occupy her time that is meaningful for her. I don't think I'd make her have a job, unless she wanted to; she'll have SSI. So she needs a hobby that is meaningful. Ideas? She loves arts and crafts, but needs a lot of help to do more than 3 year old-ish painting, coloring, cutting/gluing, etc.

DD is now in 8th grade! For so long, the focus with her was managing her behavior. She's come a long, long way. She's been in a fantastic private placement for 2 years, and finally got meds that work made all the difference in the world. Her 5th grade year, I walked into an IEP meeting and requested residential placement. Her behavior was really that bad. We compromised on a behaviorally focused private placement. We had to regularly restrain her and could not leave her alone in the same room with her little brothers. We had to resort to locking her in her room during tantrums and she often kicked holes in the wall, and through the door. She broke an aide's foot at school. She broke her own collarbone during a tantrum. The dr prescribed a sedative for when her tantrums became unmanageable. Forget academics. Now, she clears the dishes every night at dinner and helps wipe the table, she can pick up and put away things and is learning to vacuum and fold laundry. With she starts a tantrum I can say "go to your room" and she will. She may lay on her bed and kick and yell, but that's ok with me. Then she comes back and says "sorry I scream." She loves art and spent 2 hours yesterday painting with her little brothers...unsupervised while I was working in the basement. She asks to be read to often, listens to the entire story and answers questions! She is learning to copy simple sentences using cowriter. She learned to count quantities to 10 correctly this year. She mastered the pre-primer Dolche list, which she has worked on since like, kindergarten. This year at her IEP the discussion revolved around academic goals and not behavior. She still has a behavior plan, but it is largely maintenance and crisis management, for when old behaviors resurface. I can leave the house with her. Last week I took all 5 kids to the grocery for something I had forgotten, and it was fine. This is what I want to remember instead of focusing on all the things she can't do yet. Will she learn to read? I don't know. Will she ever write her name? I don't know that either. And you know what? Maybe it doesn't matter as much as all these other things do.

Well, I guess it's good I don't like the stevia then! I need something to make my bulletproof coffee palatable though. Suggestions? To get DD to buy into this though, I can't take away everything sweet all at once. I need a few good recipes.

Wow, this thread came at the right time! I'm about a week in with keto and it's really hard! I've eaten mostly whole foods for years and DD was gluten free/casein free for about a decade. Still, the counting carbs has been a real education. Keto was suggested for my daughter to help with her psyc issues. After reading about it, I thought I'd try it first to get the hang of it. I'm doing it for weight loss. 3 pregnancies in the last 5 years has taken its toll. I gained about 15 pounds each pregnancy and another 10-15 immediately after each baby was born. I have yet to explain that one! And then I couldn't get rid of it. So that's roughly 90 pounds that I'd love to never see again. I'm not exactly sure how it helps with psyc issues, but DDs psychiatrist swears it will help her. I'm struggling most with sweet things. I got some stevia but it has an aftertaste I don't like. I'm not sure if it's because I bought an off brand or if it's stevia.

Yay! How exciting! Hope you get it.

Thanks! Yes, I was asking about very early readers. Single sentence-ish with repetitive words.

What are your favorite early readers for a new reader? Series or single books? Thanks!

Ramadan Mubarak!

I have my first 9th grader next year. This is the plan so far: Math - AoPS Geometry (1st semester) and Intermediate Algebra (2nd semester) Science - Thinkwell AP Biology English/History - Roman Roads - Greeks, WWS 2, Vocab from Classical Roots Foreign Language: Latin 1 - Henle, Arabic Grammar - self paced online course with tutor Electives: Intro to Homesteading - chickens and gardening, PE/Weight Training Possibly: AP Human Geography - self study text and study guides, AP Computer Science - Teen Coder. I think these are too much, but DS wants to try to fit them in.

Thanks you all!

Do I need the quizzes and final exam?

I'm shopping on Amazon and I'm not sure which books I need to get for Henle Latin First year. Which of the accompanying books are needed? Thanks!

When I taught band in public school, I graded A, B or F. Most people got As. For band and ensembles, pretty much you show up with your instrument and music and participated and you got an A. If you practiced the specified amount of time per week, you get an A, though I did not require private lessons. I did suggest them. I required that they practice 30 min 4x a week for an A. (School was not in the nicest neighborhood. I would have liked to require 5-6 days a week, but that want realistic). So you've got: -Theory/history/appreciation - I would wrap that together into 1 credit. I'm assuming the courses you listed have written/listening work? Grade as appropriate and average. -Band with clarinet lessons and daily practice - another credit -Guitar ensemble with lessons and daily practice - 1 hour ensemble and 3 hours practice a week(x36 weeks) is 144 hours. That's enough for another credit. You've got 2.5 hours. I would keep Youth Orchestra and piano as extra curric. FWIW also, when I was in high school, I got a 5 on the AP Theory exam. I got 6 credits when I went to school as a music major and started with Theory 3 my first year in college.

Following!

And nope. No #6. Again with the mixed feelings :/

This sums up my experience pretty well. With just the twins and then with the twins and a single 7 years younger, I struggled with entertaining them and finding things for them to do. Laundry, cooking and housework were still there, but it wasn't that big a deal. I remember doing laundry once a week and that was it. Now, with 5 I struggle most with the sheer volume of cooking and laundry. Entertain kids? What? No. They play with each other. It requires strategizing now to fit everything into the day that needs to get done. There's no time to "fill."

That's amazing! Congratulations :)

Test was negative this morning too. But still thanks for all the support and sharing. I've been enjoying this thread!

Very well said!