Yes...same as my daughter. No concept of money that could be used for something in the future. No concept of 'that happened a long time ago' .... One thing I love about her is that she does live very much in the moment. She holds no grudges, there is very little worrying about 'what will happen next'. But the flip side of that is, of course, no concept of when to start getting ready for something, how long something is going to last etc. Will keep people posted about what I find!

Thanks all. I am going to check out the book rec from OneStep--- and the Unicorns are Real book that Incognito suggested... I've got one of the Ronnit books, but need to bring it out again. Also, good idea about having her note what time something started and what time it was finished. I hadn't thought of that. It is just innate for me.. it's difficult for me to think how to teach it. Will also see about getting or making a better clock too. I've got and use Math U See for her---- unfortunately, even though I thought the way Math U See approaches teaching time would work for her... it hasn't. )-: Thanks everyone! I appreciate the ideas... Laura

My 14 yr old DD has mild-ID and has a very difficult time with understanding the passage of time. I've been unsuccessfully trying to teach her to tell time on an analog clock for years. Anyone have great method of teaching this? Would love to be pointed in direction of something that has worked for others! TIA Laura

Yes.. I have a 14 yr old daughter who has significant trouble with math. We do use Math U See. That, along with a history of using Right Start (she learned to use their abacus which was helpful) and Saxon (only good thing that came from using that was she learned her doubles addition facts...but that was good!). No one program or method will probably work for your daughter...so you just have to take from various places. I used Dianne Craft's method of teaching subtraction, used Addition the Fun Way to teach the addition facts...used a trick I found online for teaching subtraction with regrouping... Etc...etc.. As far as using the calculator. I know what you mean when you say you just aren't sure about letting her use it. I thought the exact same way. What I do is teach her the methods....then allow the use of the calculator only for things like: addition of 3 or more numbers (ie. 32+45+67 or 716+123+243). I also allow calculator for subtraction with regrouping in problems with more than 2 digits (ie. 245-157). She has learned to add and subtract, but those problems with so many steps are just too much for her brain to hold the info. I would probably grab a calculator for those kinds of problems...so I figure, why shouldn't she? It allows her to progress and gain confidence. My plan is to try and get her to 6th grade level if I can (she is at a late 3rd grade now) at age 14 (nearly 15)....then work on practical math. Money, making change, bus schedules, menu math etc... HTH Laura

This http://www.diannecraft.org/math-program/ helped my daughter immensely. The way Dianne Craft teaches subtraction made total sense to my daughter. Scroll down a bit on that page and you can see the process for subtracting she uses.

Thanks...I am going to look at that too.

Thanks, all. I will look into all of these. I agree....I don't want to cover every religion known to man-- but just some of the more 'prominent' ones. Thanks, again!

Yes. This. It is a very difficult place to be in as a parent-- the moment you realize you really have no control, even to get them help, is overwhelming-- and a very dark place to be. I missed the original post, but I've got the OP in my thoughts.

Looking for a religious studies/world religions curriculum for my 13 year old. Any recommendations? TIA Laura

He isn't. He won't have the time...but he is going to study theater ed. at univ. so he'll still be busy in the theater!

Photos look great! Your post caught my eye because my 18 yr old son also just directed King Lear. He started a theater company last summer, and this was their last play (he's off to univ. next month).

If I was you, I would go the BCP route at this point. Especially since your daughter is so frustrated, and she's tried so many other things. One other idea is to try Aczone. It is prescription only, but has worked well for one of my kids. -Laura

My daughter also had an incredibly difficult time learning math facts....until : http://www.amazon.co...s/dp/1883841348 Within one week she had them all memorized. This might also work for your son. Something about the stories just stuck in her brain....

I'm thinking you are in my area--- I found XL twin sheets for my college-bound son at Target. (think it was their brand) --Laura

I expect she would really love it then. My daughter is also horse crazy. The look on her face when the books arrived was priceless. There is a ton of info. on horse behavior, medical and social needs.... It's presented well and working through it has been a lot of fun.

We used this as our main science program--- but my daughter has special needs so we do things a little differently with her. We really didn't tweak anything. It was easy to skip over any bits (which have been very, very few so far) I felt were.... not worth our time to read. She has learned a lot about horses!

Please don't let the references stop you... We are not a Christian family, and my 13 yr old daughter has really loved this program! We just don't read anything that is religious, and to be honest... I can't really think of much that we've skipped. I's definitely doable as a secular program!

My 13 yr old daughter has really loved this program. She has learned a lot about horses, how to take care of horses, etc... We do it twice a week together-- spending about 30 minutes each time. My daughter has intellectual disability, so needs me to sit with and help her-- but I suspect other kids could do it on their own. We are counting it as science for the year, but again... she has special needs, so that may not work for other families. There are reading assignments, art, timeline (historical significance of the horse), quite a lot of info. about horse breeds, colors, parts of the horse and tack, illnesses, behavior etc. There is enough variety each day that we do it that she is never bored. She likes the way it's presented as Dr. so-and-so needs your help! Here are the horse's symptoms, what could be wrong? (after doing the reading, the child would know how diagnose the horse based on symptoms listed) Hope this helps some! Also, we had some trouble with receiving the order, but nothing terrible. I think it came in 2 shipments, and I ordered it last May or June. Laura

I'm tutoring a little girl right now (as well as homeschooling my own kids)-- she is in public school, so I've been trying to read what I can about the common core standards. I'm curious why you think the common core math is dumbed down. What she brings home for homework doesn't look dumbed down to me.... it looks similar to Singapore Math. The way they seem to be teaching the concepts is very similar to what was in Singapore when my 18 year old was working through that years ago. The girl I'm tutoring is only in 1st grade though, so it may be that the older grades look different? Anyway, I'm just interested in opinions! TIA Laura

We have a 6 yr old dog who is about 45 lbs.. very sweet, very laid back, social, friendly etc.. We are looking to add to a 70 lb 11 mth old friendly, playful, smart dog to our family. Any thoughts about how best to do this? We've only ever had one dog at a time, so this will be a new experience for us. We're trying to decide how to introduce the two dogs, what to expect etc.. TIA! Laura

My 13 yr old daughter has been working on a field guide to our backyard--- she started with the birds that come to our yard/feeders, and is about to move on to the different trees. Your daughter could also do flowers, insects etc... Another idea would be to make a healing herb guide..

I don't mean to hijack the thread... but just a quick question (still trying to sort through if this is even something I could do)... when the child comes to stay at the foster parents' house--- are they encouraged to think of the foster family as their family (ie.. mom, dad, sister, brother etc..) so, you mentioned your foster daughter called you mama--- I'm wondering if the kids are encouraged to think in terms of mom, dad etc.. and call the foster family by those names? I don't know anyone who fosters.. so in my mind I had always thought of foster parenting as a temporary thing whereby you'd still always be talking about the child's family, and sort of encouraging that relationship--- (ie. 'are you looking forward to seeing your mom' etc..) From what I'm reading in this thread, it sounds more like it's better for the child to sort of bond with the foster family and think of them like 'their' family. I'm intrigued.... (and also very sorry to hear how difficult it can be!)

This sounds so difficult. I have often thought of fostering, and had it in my mind that it was temporary--- this sounds more like the expectation was permanent. Are some foster placements permanent?

If you have a World Market near you... that might work http://www.worldmarket.com/

We paid about $1800--- we're in NC