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FrogMom5

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  1. It's fun hearing about all the great adventures and activities your kids are having this summer! As for us, my oldest is interning at the National Magnetics Lab and taking a math class this summer. At the Mag. Lab he is developing a program to test the affects of magnetism on iron alloys ( I don't really understand all this, but I think that is what he said). The math class is an extra class that he says will help him in an upcoming physics class. He got hit by a car while riding his bike home from the Mag Lab one evening. He was pretty banged up, but ok. We had to get him a new bike. His wounds were still healing when he almost got hit again. Now he is taking the bus or Uber when he works late. Otherwise, it has been a fun summer for him. My younger two are doing light school work, helping me with a huge clear out of our house, swimming and playing with friends. We took them to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't seen the Lincoln sites, they are well worth the trip. The museum is fairly new, at least to me, and is very well done. I hope the rest of the summer is fun and relaxing for you all! Denise
  2. My kids love these pics. Thanks for sharing them. We have a bearded dragon, Riley Muffin, and he is really cute and fun. They lots of personality. I hope your dd gets one. They are so much fun! Denise
  3. We used Foerster for Alg.2 and no, we did not do the trig. chapters. Trig. was in pre-calc. (Derek Owens). HTH Denise
  4. Ok, I looked at the SBT website and...I don't know what they are doing. It looks like you have to get the system through a provider now instead of directly from them. I can understand them making this change, but it doesn't help you. Fwiw, the SBT uses video games and dvd movies as vehicles to teach the kids to keep their brains working at certain levels. That's my lay explanation. There are games like this http://www.amazon.com/Mattel-T8498-Mindflex-Duel-Game/dp/B004GHNFKK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435077911&sr=8-1&keywords=ball+levitation+game and this http://www.amazon.com/Mattel-P2639-Mindflex-Game/dp/B001UEUHCG/ref=pd_sim_21_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1KC5BRKN4840NFJXKJ1Y maybe this http://www.amazon.com/NeuroSky-MindWave-Mobile-BrainWave-Starter/dp/B00B8BF4EM/ref=pd_sim_21_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=1KC5BRKN4840NFJXKJ1Y Is this a similar concept? Making something move by concentrating and sending electromagnetic waves to the machine? Like the lady with CP who flew the plane using only her mind? http://internetmedicine.com/2015/03/04/quadriplegic-woman-flies-f-35-with-nothing-but-her-thoughts/ Anyway, maybe a game like that, auto racing video games (because you have to focus or you crash) and then one of those dance games where you have to dance like the person/people on the screen. The whole family could get involved and your son might have fun doing those things with all of you without even realizing he's increasing his EF. HTH Denise
  5. I was writing and did not see this post. My doctor gave us a sample packet of Strattera for free. It is a 45 day trial. Maybe your doctor has the same for whichever med. you want to try? I wish I knew a good psychologist that would spend that hour with you for free. Prayers that someone will be put in front of you with the info. you need. Denise
  6. First, I do agree that neurofeedback is a good option. We also looked at Zengar, but because the nearest professional was several hours away, we went with SmartBrain Technology at home. Our preference would have been a professional, if one had been close enough. Each thing we tried helped in slightly different ways. We were also targeting slightly different things with each intervention. Also, we only tried one thing at a time. So, when kids were little, we used dietary strategies, VT, AIT, etc. We do not use medication until they are well into puberty because it seems the side effects are more likely when meds. are begun before puberty. That's my observation, no scientific lit. to back it up. Ds #1 was on meds. for about 2 yrs. He came off and then about a yr. later, we tried the neurofeedback. Hoping for a limited duration of meds for ds#2, but we'll see. You may already know this, but in case you don't - Strattera is not a one week trial. It is a step-up over several weeks. Coming off of it is the same. I don't know about other meds. If you try Strattera, it's a few months trial and is fairly expensive. Everything helped, nothing cured. Ds#1 rejected organizing strategies I found in books. I told him that was fine, but find one that works for you and use it. He did. I have no idea how he does it, but he is manages his time and workload at college really well. Again, I am hoping ds#2 will do something similar - especially since he also rejects all the strategies I present. I do agree it's important to zero in on the symptoms and their underlying cause, if you can, and treat that. The labels are like a big stew or soup-they work together, or not, and everyone gets a different mix ladled into their bowl. Denise
  7. Years ago when I was in the thick of this, I was told by doctors and teachers that ADHD/ADD is part of the Autism Spectrum. Learning disabilities of many types were included on the spectrum. Again, that was many moons ago, so it may have changed. I don't know if all people with ASD also have ADHD, but it does seem a common combination. My experience with ADD meds. is Strattera. Strattera helped ds #1 focus and concentrate better, but he did not become more organized. Maybe he was better organized mentally, but outwardly we still saw the same messy room, papers, and so forth. Second ds just began Strattera. He is organized in that his room is fairly clean, he tends not to lose papers and so forth. He has less focus and sustained attention than ds #1. I have no explanation for this. Disclaimer: I am not a doctor of any kind, nor am I a certified Special Ed. teacher. I am just a mom and this is what I was told and observed. HTH Denise
  8. I sent you an e-mail, hit the send button and then, there was the e-mail w/the webinar link. Thank you! Ignore my request for a duplicate. Denise
  9. Thank you for responding so quickly, Rosie. The conference on Teaching History through Fine Arts begins today, 4/30 at 11:00 a.m. (10 a.m. my time). Yes, the Academy is separate. The conference page says "sponsored by WTM Academy" with the logo and I just took that to reference the page. I should have said on the conference page instead. Thank you pointing that out. I see how that is confusing and I will correct my post. Do you know how I log into the conference? When I sign in to the conference page, it only gives info. on registering, shows that I paid and so on. No link or any options to actually enter the conference. Any ideas? Denise
  10. Help. Am I missing something? How do I now sign on to listen to my conference this morning? I have an acct. on conference page, got e-mail saying I had registered and paid (back several wks. ago) but there is nothing that leads me to the conference session. I sent a message last night through conference page but don't have a response yet. Conference begins in 2 hrs. Is there something I am not seeing or doing? Thanks for your help. Denise
  11. Right. I never said one was superior to the other, just different than the thinking in the past. The thread is about identifying trends, right? That is what I am saying, I see this as a new trend. And the above quoted response to you was just to further define it, not any kind of judgement statement. Fwiw, I would send my kids to school too, if I could find the right fit for them. Denise
  12. Yes, but you are the one teaching your kids and it's just you and your kids. What I am seeing is people setting up their own ps and others attending in an almost exact copy of our local ps. I'm sure that is not what your school looks like at all. You are at home. You are teaching. Fwiw, I am not criticizing traditional curriculum or the set up ps outside ps. I apologize if that is how I sounded. Each family makes their own decisions based on what they want and what works. I fully support that. I was just trying to describe a new trend I see. Denise
  13. Yes, I should have stated this differently and left off the at home part. When I say they want to recreate school it means take their kids to some building where groups of same age peers move from class-to-class each taught by someone else. So, they really want ps school and to do very little, if any, at home. If that's what they want to do, fine. It is a trend I see that seems to be new. Even the traditional curriculum was done at home with just your own kids and you were the teacher. And, yes, there was often a desk, a flag, recess and so on. This newer version of recreate school seems to be a true copy of ps, just smaller and with the founding parent being the director. That is a different environment from the past years of homeschooling, at least to me. Denise
  14. There are mixed signals, imo. Most of what I see is positive, some is not. The number of homeschoolers doubled over the last year in my county. Some of that is due to a lot of new people moving into the area. But, most of it is due to people pulling their kids out of school or, in the case of kinders, choosing not to even start them. CC and co-ops are growing quickly. Packaged curriculum and virtual schools are also popular among the new folks. Many of them are using a mix, such as A Becca and CC or FLVS and a co-op. There are a few new homeschoolers who choose the pick each piece and teach it yourself style that most of us older homeschoolers are familiar with. They tend to choose Charlotte Mason style designs over unschooling or WTM/LC/Circe classical styles. No one writes their own curriculum from scratch the way the first sets of homeschoolers did and still do. By the way, I have never done this either -tweaked and modified, yes, but from scratch, no. I've thought about it, but never done it. My hat is off to those that do. There are so many choices available now that it is overwhelming. I think the gravitation to programs designed and structured by someone else helps the new folks feel more secure. We all know the fear that we are messing up our kids' lives. Many of the new people I've met have said they want to recreate school. It still floors me to hear that as it seems to miss the point of homeschooling. Not trying to judge, just not used to hearing that type of thinking about homeschooling until recently. Also, I have been asked many, many times what the best this or that program is. Usually this is in conjunction with comments about how homeschoolers do better academically than ps kids. So, stronger academics is a priority. That is a positive change from the traditional homeschooler in this area who pulled their kids out of school for religious reasons and downplayed academics. One negative trend that I've seen is that the new homeschoolers focus too much on having the magazine picture ready house, yard, clothes and so forth. Yes, I am judging here. How do you teach your children and keep everything else so picture perfect? When I began homeschooling moms had conversations sharing tips on how to keep up with meals, dishes and laundry. Maybe it's just me, but I don't have the time, energy or focus for more than that. There also seems to be an over abundance of adult socializing and not enough emphasis on the children. It's a complete reversal of the mindset I am used to and I don't think it's for the better. Finally, in many areas schools are overcrowded. In my area, we've had 3 new elementary charter schools and 2 charter high schools open in the last 5 years and we still have overcrowding in most of the schools. Due to this, the county is very supportive of homeschooling. I live in a very overcrowded district. The county is only too happy to let me teach my kids at home and keep them out of the schools. I see this as a trend toward less regulation since these counties/districts may want to encourage homeschooling. This is all just my corner of the world. It seems that other parts of the country are seeing different trends. It will be interesting to read everyone else's experiences and thoughts. Denise
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