http://store.mathusee.com/catalog/additional-items/manipulatives.html tells you what should be in the set in the product description.

:iagree: My son was like that and I was told to bump him up to 8 oz. It has been a long time ago, but there was some chart or something that my pediatrician gave me that said to start solids only if they are drinking x ounces or more a day. He didn't hit that for another month or so, closer to 6 months. http://www.drgreene.com/qa/how-much-milk-should-baby-be-drinking has some interesting information. But I think I was told that ds should be taking more formula than he recommends in this article.

Is his specialty listed as such, or does he happen to be in a clinic that gives that as a focus? I ask because my daughter sees a couple of specialists that are in the most unlikely clinics, that have nothing to do with her diagnosis, but are where our children's hospital happens to have the doctors offices at this time. Also, depending on the day of the week, the same doctor may be listed on our appointment letters as Neurology Clinic, Botox Clinic, or Autism Clinic. We go to the same waiting room and everything...

Talk to other homeschoolers in your area. In some places you can receive occupational therapy, physical therapy, and more thru the school district. In my area, speech is it. The school district can also provide the beginning testing that includes IQ testing and achievement testing. This is often very expensive if done privately so many have the school do this portion and then go to private professionals for additional testing that gives a more specific diagnosis. The schools only use the testing to determine if a child qualifies for special services according to state quidelines and makes general 'learning disability' diagnoses. They don't determine what is causing that learning difference/disability. For example, they may say that there is a general learning disability in reading but can't make the diagnosis of dyslexia. We also went to a private education psychologist for initial testing of our son. One, we were able to get scores much faster than the 60+days it can take in a school setting. We were also able to do it on our schedule. Our school district kept the process as difficult as possible. Plus, we were wanting occupational therapy for our son. The school would only provide it if he qualified for special education services (like special classes) AND could show that his fine motor issues were negatively impacting learning in the school. Other districts work completely different and provide excellent services to the homeschoolers. I would also check your state laws concerning homeschooling and special needs. Some states are more restrictive on homeschooled children who have been identified as special needs.

My parents have done this a couple of times. Once, they arrived in a small town and the campsites were all closed (or full, I can't remember which) so they went back to WalMart and parked by several other campers. They only did it for one night and were welcomed by WalMart and their security personnel. They said they would not make it a habit however simply because they didn't like the bright lights shining in all night.

My brother was diagnosed in his 30s with HFA/Aspergers. His came after a lifetime of struggle and then an inability to maintain a job. He loves people, but has few close friends because he can become very intense. He is very intelligent and has a great sense of humor. After the last job he lost due in his inability to adapt to stress, he began seeing a psychiatrist who made the diagnosis and also prescribed a mood stabilizer and anti-depressant to help with the anxiety and intense emotions he dealt with. The meds really helped him manage his own life much better althogh he will always need help with finances and so on.

I think you have been given some great advice. I just want to remind you that even in public school a child is not going to play with friends every day. At most they might get 5 days a week - if both children are at school, in the same classroom. Even then there are many variables. I don't know if your library has any activities you can join, but I would recommend activities with common interests at first, like a LEGO club if possible. Sometimes having a goal other than a generic 'play with friends' is a good ice breaker and can help you both connect to other families.

We did not go thru their process, but we did use a tutor trained thru their clinics and officially certified as one of their tutors. I was incredibly impressed with their Take Flight Program. For us it was a terrific program. We chose this tutor over a Barton tutor because we were promised results in 2 years rather than 4.

That sounds great! My son loved VT even though it was very difficult. He was even eager to do the homework. It is sounding like you have found a great provider.

We love All About Spelling and Winston Grammar here. This year I am adding in the Easy Grammar and Daily Grams workpages as well for some extra practice. If he is really struggling, I would likely start at the beginning and move as fast as he can.

I recently received LOF and while I think it is an interesting supplement for elementary, it is no means comprehensive enough for a total program. Have you looked at Touch Math? When I taught special ed it was a favorite among most teachers.

I hope the school is kind and helpful. Ours wasn't and I eventually went to an educational pychologist (not psychiatrist) for baseline testing. I did have to have an insurance referral initially, but it went smoothly after that. In our area, school districts do not diagnose ASD. They don't even do screenings. It is considered a medical diagnosis. They will however do IQ and achievement then tell you if the child would qualify for school assistance.

My son initially had about 3 hours of exams for VT. He was about 8 or 9 years old. This also included a regular eye exam. My daughter at age 5 had an eye exam and VT evals in about 1 1/2 hours. Just for your perspective. We also never paid for a month in advance. We paid by the session. Ds's insurance would pay for some so the insurance company would preapprove for 6 sessions at a time and we usually did 1 session per week for 1 hour. Before insurance paid, we would just pay each time we went. The VT also told us that after every 6 weeks she would do some quick rechecks to make sure we were still on track. After each one she would give us progress notes and new goals for the next 6 weeks.

I spent a very long time yesterday with my son's former reading tutor after calling her and asking for advice. She sent me home with a huge amount of pre-reading phonemic awareness materials for me to use. It is a combination of ABeCeDarian, Scottish Rite Pre-Flight, and a couple of other materials with tons of simple, yet fun manipulatives that I think will work beautifully for us. Our first focus will be making certain that dd can concretely identify all letters and make sure she knows their sequence inside out, forwards and backwards, understand rhymes, and so on. Once she has matered this material we will move to something else, which is yet to be determined. For me, the bigger benefit of using the materials from our tutor is that she can actually show me how to use it and be available if I need help. After 30 years of tutoring she also gave me what has been most effective for her over the years for a large number of kids. Not to mention, if this doesn't work, I have only invested my time.

Every state has dramatically different laws regarding this situation. In my state, this is legal. To receive guardianship they either have to prove abandonment, or they have to have legal documents signed by the parent giving them the right to make all decisions for the child. If it is done in court, it has to be undone in court though. This is not the same as adoption however. Adoption is much more involved and does require a homestudy, even if it is an open adoption where the birthmother knows the family and asks them to adopt the child. A child in guardianship qualifies for WIC, state insurance, and so on, because in a sense they are considered without family and alone. An adopted child does not necessarily receive any of those unless the family income is low. I have friends who have guardianship of their grandchildren. It was a much less complicated process. The parents can come back and ask for the children, but they would have to go to court first to do this.

If you really need those services (and I believe you do) at that church, call them and see if you must be a member or not for him to participate, talk to them about what they can offer you as a member of the community, ask how they will be teaching their beliefs, and so on. Several years ago a large church near us offered lots of tservices to adults with significant disabilities as part of their community outreach. The families of those adults didn't have to place membership, they just had to occassionally sign things like medical releases in case of an emergency. It was a fabulous gift for the families. Yes, some eventually converted to that congregation, but not all did.

I am not doing it just because, well, I don't like it. With my son I had to change the order repeatedly for him to get it and eventually went to MUS primer. Other than the calendar, which I do anyway, the rest just doesn't seem to be enough or a right fit for her or something. Maybe it is just me. I would love to do something different.

I have always had a loose lesson plan organization - essentially if we do lesson 1 today, tomorrow we will do lesson 2, and so on. That works ok with 1 child, but next year I am adding a K'er. I really think I need something more. I have several traditional teacher lesson plan books, but get tired of erasing, changing, and all that, especially iof we start moving faster in one subject than in another. I would love to enter my plans into something and then that something would tell me what to do next after I say I have completed it. I would love a place to put in our therapy and activities schedules so I don't over plan for Monday when we won't even be home. A bonus would be that I coul print off a to-do list for ds12. And that dh could go to this lesson planner and be able to find out what to teach on the days I can't. An extra special bonus would be that it is free, or nearly free. Does this exist? Where would I find it, or what do I have to combine to create this?

For me I may avoid places, but I rarely totally boycott them. WM is a royal pain. Large, noise galore, dirty, and really not any cheaper than the Kroger across the street. I only go if I can't find what I want somewhere else first. I wouldn't completely boycott it though because I have dear friends who work there, it is their only job, the only one they could find. The same is true for just about any large business or organization. I have friends, neighbors, and family who work at Lowe's, for Home Depot, Office Depot... They may not be great jobs, but they are jobs. In this economy that is so very important. That being said, I try to shop as much as I can locally first, thru locally owned businesses. I buy our vitamins at a local health food store even though I could order them for a good deal less online. I buy as many foods thru local food co-ops and farmers markets and food stands. And so on.

Bac-Out or something similar will work on the smells outdoors. We just buy the concentrate at Sam's. We had a horrible cat smell on our concrete garage floor and it really helped.

You will most likely get faster, better service through your insurance company and your own agent. My dad and dh sell insurance and they always say this is true. I would call your agent, let them begin the process, and go from there.

Thank you! You are asking what I need to know to help give me direction. She recognizes 2 as a group, if 2 is the only group, and will say there are 2 whatevers without counting. She doesn't recognize that '2' is what goes with that group. If I hold up 5 fingers, she has to count them and can't tell me automatically that there are 5 fingers. Sometimes after counting them she still can't tell me that she has 5 fingers. She may hold up 3 and tell me she has 2, or hold up 2 and tell me she has 4. She is now looking at them and can tell something is wrong, and that the name she assigned doesn't match what she is displaying, but can't correct it yet consistently. She also struggles with spatial terms such as more, less, taller, smaller, longest and so on. She can often point to the correct one, but not verbalize it correctly. Sequence is another difficulty for her (putting story cards in sequence, placing number cards in sequence, etc). I also believe she is not grasping yet that 5 is more than 3 which is more than 1.

I haven't heard of that one. I will look into it more.

OK, that makes sense. I used BJU from 2-5th with my son and am taking him back to MUS. I will look more closely at the K5 book for her. I liked BJU but it just wasn't right for him, he didn't ever get to mastery. And you are right, color, cute stories, and cute manipulatives are important to my girl. Last night as I was planning, she called ds's MUS books 'ugly books' because they are b/w.

How structured it is totally depends on the studio and the instructor. We have several types of martial arts here and different families like different studios, even families with special needs kids like different studios. Most allow a few free visits, or have a 'friends week' where you can visit for free. Initially I would call and speak to the peoplein charge and see what they have to offer. If they seem well versed in special needs, they may be ok. As far as time involved, that also depends on the studio. At least a couple here charge by the month and you decide how many classes per week you attend at your level.