I'm realizing the only way DS will remember the direction of the tricky letters if there is a visual story to go with it. We figured out one: "p dives into the pool" to remember to dive down first and not make a q instead. Please share anything you use like this. The sillier the better.

There's LightBot and Scratch for coding.

I'm looking to do one science for my rising 8th grader and rising 4th grader. They both need to be challenged more in science and the younger loves astronomy. CPO's site says the courses can be used with multi level, "To challenge honors students, there are higher-level questions at the end of each chapter "Applying your knowledge", and intermediate and advanced questions in the test bank. There are also additional sections on many investigations that allow students to delve deeper into concepts and phenomena. For students of lower math and/or reading ability, there are skill and practice worksheets, as well as built-in reading and note-taking tips in the textbook." So I'm wondering which one to get. I want the course to be high school level for my older, middle school level for my younger. Has anyone used both and gave share an opinion?

Yes, the NP evaluated my 9 year old. This is a good idea to see if I could essentially do a full eval in steps like this. She has a private practice but consults at the dyslexia center. I made the COVD appointment today. When they heard he still does reversals they suggested I get 2 evaluation done, the additional one being for perception. With my 9 year old, this ended up being torture b/c he was dyslexic as well as had issues with his vision. He spent months doing exercises to try and teach him right from left, nope! So I am refusing that on the grounds that with my family any perceptual issues are most likely dyslexia. I dug up his paperwork. Here are the tests the dyslexia center ran: Culture Fair Intelligence Test WIAT-III (decoding and encoding subtests) GORT-5 Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration and visual perception subtest Visual Aural Digit Span Test Test of Information Processing Skills I'm going to look for a full list of tests run with a full eval and see what's missing.

I'm sitting here feeling the same way about my 13 year old. I think it's hard to really know when to say there's something else going on here vs. people saying he just needs more practice. Don't beat yourself up. Hope the testing goes well.

I am using CLE Math with my 6 year old and I like it. It is slow and gentle and spiral. You can see samples here. I don't think my son had mastered counting to 20 yet a 5 either. It happens with lots of practice. If he doesn't like games, you could do other fun things to supplement like hopscotch, sing songs.

I'm looking at CPO Foundations of Physical Science with Earth & Space for my rising 8th grader who needs to be challenged in science. I think I understand it right that this is the high school level version. I don't want to do separate science for his brother who is very interested in astronomy. Has anyone used this course and have thoughts and making it work for a rising 4th grader?

I got my son's SAT 10 scores today. He is above average in mathematics problem solving and below average in procedures with a break down of the subtests. The overall score was below average for procedures but only 2 of the subtests were below: computation with decimal and computation/symbolic notation. So I guess this means he gets it, but not so much the step-by-step?

It was extensive testing, took 3 hours and told us a lot more than he was dyslexic. Said what type, what level, etc. I don't have all the info handy right now, but I was going on recommendations of other homeschoolers.

Yes, you are both right. I need to look around for a different option. His brother is a vision therapy graduate, so going back to the COVD is one place to start.

I'm hitting a wall with my 13 year old ds. I am considering taking him to the dyslexia center where his brother got his eval (by an NP) and get him tested too. Here's what I'm observing. WWYD? First his grandmother, father and brother are all profoundly dyslexic. He takes standardized testing every year. He scores above average for reading comprehension, but very poor and below average on spelling (phonetic principles and structural principles) and capitalization. Good scores otherwise. He just finished the SAT 10 and I'm waiting on those results. However, he reads all day long. We go to the library he comes home with 20 books, most sci fi series. He can't sum up things quickly, even things of high interest like his books. He comes off as bright but a little spacey, a lot of pauses. Poor memory and slow recall. Math facts are still an issue. He sometimes still reverses b and writes s backwards. He knows it's wrong right away, but can't stop from making the mistake. The dyslexia center will eval for dyslexia as well do IQ testing. They can say we think he's not dealing with dyslexia, maybe it's this or that instead but he wouldn't get evaluated there for that. It's much cheaper this way. I wish that wasn't a concern but $1k vs $3k is a big deal. Well rereading this I pretty much talked myself off the fence. He needs to be looked at just wondering to find a way to manage full testing or not...

Ds and I had a powow and I think we decided on VideoText. I like the idea of mastery for him instead of spiral. We have a family friend going to school for math that tutors that can work with him if needed.

Are the classes Youth Digital? Funda Funda has Python classes too http://fundafunda.com/comp_courses There are summer sessions. My son is waiting for more people to join the Gamestar Mechanic class so it will run. He has done all her scratch classes. This year he played with CodeCombat to learn Java more

This looks really good! I was thinking to try out their subscription option one day. Will put this on my wish list.

It's pretty low key. I ended up not having time to finish and you can transfer your quizzes to the next session. I'm not sure but I think it might be constantly enrolling.

Thank you. At first, I had ruled out AoPS because it is tougher. I am afraid of burning him out. He has been going through Khan Academy math just because he wants to. He started at the beginning a while ago, so I am letting him work through that this summer while I look for a new curriculum. I think together we have come up with some of the issues: -First one is me. Sadly, I apparently lack the skills to explain math. I know how to do it and when I am explaining things I'm thinking ahead so I jumble up what I'm trying to say. Maybe I am getting a little intimidated. -He says he is really bad when something needs to be done on time. I bought the book Smart But Scattered Teens. He is bright, but slow to come up with what he is trying to say and answers to problems. You ask him what the book series he is reading is about. He could be on book 7 and still have a really long pause before he answers. Is this from hormones kicking in? lack of practice? ADD? I don't know. However he has taken coding classes online where projects where due and he was on top of submitting things on time. -Still not totally fluent in facts. I'm regretting not drilling enough but have him on XtraMath a few times a week. I think he does know the facts, it's just recalling the info under pressure that is the issue? So for these reasons I'm wondering if something like AoPS is too rigorous He reads and reads all day. I'm wondering if Jousting Armadillos would be a good fit. He says he does not want an online class or video class. He says he doesn't like the format. So I guess I'm looking for a text to use with videos like Alcumus for different ways to explain things. Sorry this is long. I really appreciate all the help I'm getting with our math drama :)

Sharing a class DS13 and I are both taking on Coursera: Learning How to Learn https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn I am really enjoying it and learning a lot of things that I can talk about with ds. If you don't finish in time, you can enroll in the next session and it transfers your quizzes. It runs all the time it seems. The class seems like it would be excellent for middle schoolers and up. I especially like that they stress you don't have to be born a genius in something to pursue it, just need passion and persistence.

Thank you for all the replies and advice. I am felling a little better. I do need to spend time and energy and probably money to figure out why he is struggling. Hoping to have a better picture over the summer.

DS13 wants to go into robotics engineering. He is struggling with math and did not get very far with prealgebra this year. I think it would be best if he repeated it with a solid program. I see so many starting Algebra before 9th and worry he will be behind for college. Is it ok to take Algebra 1 in 9th for a STEM major?

Do you mean do Jacobs one year and then transition to AoPS? I'm having such a hard time figuring out what to pick. MEP I read is hard to jump in if you don't start early. I'm worried AoPS might be too hard. TT seems to easy. I checked out Lial's but the format is too busy. He will be taking the SAT10 in a few weeks, but last year he scored above average in a lot of the math sections. He is just slow. This is why Derek Owens didn't work out. He got it, but it was taking so long to move ahead. Not a good thng when I'm paying monthly.

Here is my plan for Language Arts. It's a weak spot, so trying to get it planned out first. MY son scores low on spelling, so trying to remediate that with Megawords. He reads a lot for pleasure. Would Figuratively Speaking be enough for Literature? It took me a loooong time to finally decided on IEW vs WWS. Decided I was overthinking and just went with my gut. Anything missing? Grammar - Fix It Writing - IEW Spelling: Megawords Vocab - English From the Roots Up Literary Analysis - Figuratively Speaking

Great advice. Do you have a suggestion for a physical science course?

Grabbed it, thanks!

My son just started Nessy.com. Maybe you could try it for in between months. He likes it.

Wow an eventful year for you! Enjoy your break. I'm happy you found a therapist you like for your son. Does he deal with anxiety? Where did you find an outside chem class? I feel concern for your mother. I couldn't imagine just stopping my SSRI cold turkey. I hope she can get into a doctor and maybe go back on to ease off slowly instead. ETA: our big highlights were finding an OG tutor for dyslexia and finding a co-op and meeting new friends there. I'm happy with that.