Yes, that would be her! Thank you! It is not general but I can see what she has and maybe pull up a bit that I can use. :) Maybe a unit study of some sort would be what I need to do for Ry. Does anyone else know of more free science????

Is there a free science curriculum that anyone knows of? I recall a lady on here that did a free history and I thought that she had a science one as well??? Looking for something for my 10DS. He is currently doing Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space but I want a more general science that cheap or free..:)

As soon as I read about the questions that were asked, the movie "Freedom Writers" jumped to my mind...even the scene where those questions were asked. Now that you have mentioned that this is a school for children who need intensive help to get to college, the idea that it is taken from "Freedome Writers" is even stronger! It is a great movie about kids who are not expected to make it through high school alive..let alone to go to college and how a teacher believed and fought for the kids. These kids were killing each other over differences that did not exist except for on the skin and she used that game to show them some really important things about each other that is deeper than skin and that they have more of a bond than they realize. I am not agreeing with the teacher but did want to share with you the info on the movie. It had a huge impact in our home in the way we look at "at-risk" students. K

Thank you everyone for looking at this for me. :) I did more research off the links that you provided and think that I might just be able to pull this off! I will say that I do intend on using some other view points to round it out but I think that this might just be what I am looking for!!! Honestly, I like the way Freedom is written as it provides much material for rabbit trails for research...:) Now,, one more question. Is there a Kingfisher like book on just American history??? :) Thanks! Krystal

I found this book at a used book store and thought to use it as an extra but now I am wondering if anyone has used it as a spine and if so, how did you use it? I did see online that there appears to be some PBS movies and that this is the companion book to go with the series. Has anyone seen the movies??? Currently I am using AAH but it is not really working so well for my 13DS or maybe it is just not what I was expecting so now I am looking for something else for him. I love the way HO works but I really wanted to focus on US history and fill in with world history. Thanks, K

I completely agree with the poster above me! Very important to find someone well versed in peds and these types of medications. :iagree:

How 'bout: Bryant (family surname) Warren Alec Arron Alexander Zane Blaise Bruce Byron (grew up with one) Chaise/Chase/Chason (I wanted this one...:( ) Luke Mace Saber Okay..lunch is done! :) I assumed you wanted boy names...

Not sure if this drug is approved for children but I take Celexa for my slight OCD and Anxiety. I am not taking it for depression even though it is a drug for depression. I take a very low dose and have had no problems with the meds. No odd side effects and I feel much more stable on it. Like I said though...not sure about it for a child but you could look into it. HTH, Krystal

I like: Deacon Garrison Cannon Kaden Micah Noah Jason Jaxson Levi Ryan My last name is a single syllable with an abrupt and harsh ending as well and these names go pretty well with it. If my last name was pronounced as it is in German, it would be a nicer sound but not going to bother trying to change it..:) Congrats on the baby!!!!

I am all ears if you figure out the connection..:) We did try to come up with our own theories and that was fun. LOL

Cindy, I have 2 boys on Concerta. When we started the olderDS on meds, I cried my eyes out. I was set against it and feared "losing" my wonderful and fun little boy but what I was not thinking about was him and what was best for him. We had tried all kinds of things to help him focus and control his frustration levels but he still chewed his clothes, bit his finger nails, and took hours to do work. We, actually I, finaly gave in and let him try some meds and the impact was astounding! I did not lose my "kid", I actually found a happier one!! He says that it is like he can think now!! As for the weight issue, I had to watch that as well with him but we worked around it for the most part. A lot of fruits and second helpings and never giving him his meds on an empty stomach. He is starting to drink protein shakes with added yogurt and fruit to help him keep his weight up. As for the other comments about the autism spectrum, ODS's anger issues are much better now that his frustration levels are lower due to the meds. That being said though, YDS is on the meds as well but he does have NVLD which is on the spectrum. Once he was on the meds and the other issues were under control (kinda), it was easier to see that something else was going on not related to ADHD. His quick temper, not seeing the social cues, sleeping issues, problems in math and writing, not being able to "get" jokes or to "read between the lines" and so much more led us to keep hunting for an answer. I sometimes wonder if we had not medicated him if we would of just kept blaming all this on ADHD when it was so much more than that. Not saying that you have to do the meds as that is always a personal choice but in these 2 boys it made a huge difference. ODS was able to chill out and YDS was able to get a correct DX. Whatever you choose to do...Good Luck!! http://www.ldonline.org/article/Nonverbal_Learning_Disorders http://www.ldonline.org/indepth/nonverbal

So, the boys are learning so many cool things about Marco Polo and his adventures through AAH and other books. After the lessons and the readings I ask the boys what they thought about it all.....wait for it....all they wanted to know was why was a water game named after Marco??? Nothing else!!! LOL They were hung up on that game and the connection to Marco. :lol: Ah jeesh....not sure that will be on a test. Oh well, it was funny if nothing else. BTW, does anyone know the connection by chance? :bigear:

Chose Glenn Beck as I like most of his points. I am a conservative but very very liberterian leaning. My second choice for entertainment would be Rush and then Laura Ingram. Can not stand Mike S.!! Before anyone comments....I am not a sheep...I do look things up on my own using multiple sources, sometimes even venturing into the more liberal blogs to read. :) I find Dailykos very interesting. :)

AngieW in TX, Just want to send you :grouphug:'s. It is hard when the spouse does not understand. K

We are VERY open about the boys issues. We tell teachers, family, Scout leaders, and coaches...pretty much anyone that has prolonged contact with the boys. We do this to protect the boys simply because these people mentor my boys and they need to know that some behavior is more of a teaching moment and less of a discipline issue. :) As for the boys, Ty is very involved in his IEP and points out to me what is working and what is not working. We have taught him that being labeled with an LD just forces the schools to teach to him the way he learns. Actually, he is considered gifted with an LD..:) Which backfires at times when the teachers focus on his intelligence in some areas and forget that he does need help in other areas. As far as I am concerned, this is his life and this issue is not going to go away so I need him to be able to understand what he needs and how to go about getting it. Ry was just DX about a month ago but we have been very open with him about his DX but always tell him that this is no excuse for giving up and that we will not tolerate the DX being used as an excuse for to not try. We plan on teaching him the same as we have taught the older son concerning the DX. In other words, I want them to "own" it! :) K

I have 2 boys with some special issues..:) 13 DS has a processing disorder that I could not get DX until he was in 5th grade and up to that point he was taking hours to go his work, crying all the time, eating his clothes (Yes eating! Long sleeve became short sleeve in record time)...point being, his anxiety was at very high levels during this time because there was another issue that was not being addressed. We get his ADHD addressed (medication) (non hyper but coke works!!), his LD's addressed (IEP and an Aid) and what do you know? He still has some anxiety! Jeesh.... Turns out that the silliest things actually help him. Such as a routine, knowing what he is expected to do that day, making him a list, and exposing him to the things that trigger the anxiety. If he ever feels overwhelmed/frustrated, which he often does due to the ADHD/PD, we head for a melt down. So we give him a place to go and chill and then later talk to him about what could be done to fix the issue. I remember teaching him how to add time and it took us hours!! He had actually shut his book at school and refused to budge or work. Thank God for a kind teacher who just sent him home with the work so I could work it with him...we spent hours before I found a way that he could get it. Just laid time out on a line. The point here is that this was hard for him and he just refused to do it becasue the way it was being taught to him was just not making sense to him and he did not know how to verbalize the problem. Maybe your DD is having a hard time doing it a certain way but does not see another way to learn it? So she refuses to do it and developes an anxiety response. Make sense?? The other kiddo, has anxiety due to his nonverbal learning disoder. He is kinda rigid and very black and white about how he sees the world and this has caused so many problems in school. What we all thought was OCD was just him trying to make sense of what was going on around him and him trying to act more like everyone else. Once again, having a DX did help so much in figuering out what to do and how to do it! Both boys will most likely have some amount of anxiety about new things but in reality they have a good reason to be that way. The goal I have is to make them as aware of how they need things done for them and to be able to advocate for themselves. Less anxiety if they know what they need and are self assured enough to ask for it. All that being said, I do understand that it is hard trying to figure out what is going on with your child and what to do to help them so here is a hug!!! :grouphug: Hopefully you will get a good DX, which gives you a clue as how to do what needs to be done. Until the boys got thier DX, I was a mess trying to figure out if I was just a crazy mom and what I needed to do to help them out! Sorry to have rambled on so much! Hope you find something in that mess to help you out! :tongue_smilie: Krystal

Okay, my 10ds just had his done about a month ago. He was in testing for 6 hours over 2 days. If you PM me I will try to find the link that explains the testing that they use. Keeping it short, the testing involved things such as looking at cards and he had to tell them what emotion was being shown, completing a puzzle that was partially covered, testing him to see if he could understand inference, and looking at reflexes. Before he went in he had the WISC IV done and the Woodcock Johnson and both showed some issues in his ability to understand nonverbal communication. Hence the referral! :) It was worth it as far as I am concerned as I now have an answer for some of his quirks that kept getting him in trouble at school. He was DX with NonVerbal Learning Disorder which is very low on the Autism scale....some do dispute this classification but not the disorder. Point being, I am thankful for the test and yes, I did get a DX for my son that is going to make life much easier on all involved since we now have a direction to work towards. Good luck!

Two boys on Concerta... the youngest on 18 mg and the oldest on 27 mg. Youngest has always had sleep issues so the meds are not causing our issue. Oldest, as long as he has his meds before 10:00 he is good to go for sleeping by 9. Not much help here except I would wait about a week to see if it was actually related to the med and not excitement about the vacation. If the problem continues, then without a doubt, I would look at changing the med. Best of luck to you!

KMCC is the new mall type BX that they built at Ramstein Air Base. We live in Vogelweh which is about 10 mins from Ramstein.

Germany 91-93 Germany again...05-2011 (still here and not expected to leave until 2011) 4 months in Bosnia 4 months Saudi Arabia Ready to move home the the Southeast US and NEVER leave again. :)

Good point on bringing books with you! The BX is not well stocked at all but that may change once the KMCC is up and running but I would not hold my breath. :) That is also assuming that you are going to be within driving distance to Ramstein. Also, I never meant for it to sound if all students end up in ESL but it does happen. Some are from German/American homes and some are from strictly American homes but I really think that is does depend on how hard you work with the children as they learn the languages and start to read. Most of them were coming back at around the 4th or 5th grade. I only met one boy that was going into 9th grade that had attended German schools most of his life and I can say that he really really struggled in most of his classes but that was one case and your kids most likely will not be in German schools for that long. Once again, good luck with whatever you decide to do. :) Krystal

Where are you going at here in Germany? We are near Ramstein. Anyway, I have worked at the DODD schools for the past 2 years and I have seen some of the children come back to American schools after spending the first few years in a German school and from what I have seen, most of them end up in ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. The reason for this is that the most have a huge issue with reading english and writing and composing in english. The vowel rules are very different and so is the way of writing a sentence. Example: in english vowel group...ei...the i makes the e say its name in german it is the other way around. V's are the F sound and W's are the V sound... :) Not trying to discourage you...just wanted to point out what I have observed when kids have come back to the American school. Also, someone has mentioned the "tracking" over here already but I will bring it up as well. At around 10ish, they are given a test to see which they will go...there are 3 schools for them to be tracked into. One prepares them to go to college, one is a kind of trade school and the other is for more of a mid level occupation. Of course this is a vast simplification of the system so just research it for yourself. (my oldest DS, who are gifted with LD's, would of been sent to the trade route) They are less tolorant of kids having a point of view that is different and less accepting of differences in a child but that is more as they get older. Either way, it is your choice and I did consider it until I found out about the tracking issue. :) Good luck in whatever you choose to do!! Now off to Little League baseball practice!! Go KMC All Stars!!:lol:

Let the military handle the military issues...:) That being said, I agree that an informed spouse is a valuable asset not only to the military member but to the military as a whole. Get to know the chain of command and let your voice be heard. (in a reasonable tone and for the good of the men and woman who serve) LOL We as spouses are an important part of the military machine so when he does get to the active side join the spouses groups so that you can get info out to them...in the AF each unit has a group called "The Key Spouse" and they are where we go for info on deployments, who to talk to about certain issues, and just general support but it only works as well as the people who are involved make it work. Good luck in this and hope it works out for you all! I for one will say that this lifestyle is what you make of it. It has it's bumps and things that drive me crazy but I would not change it for anything in the world!

I plan on using GS with a 5th grader and an 8th grader. My plan was to use the Audio for the older DS and let the younger DS read with me...then have him to just do further reading on the subject at his level and read Bio's on famous people of science. I was going to let him do a simple outline of the topic as well as do the experiments with older DS. Now that I see the Lapbooks thats just makes it easier to plan it all out for the both of the boys. I have already purchased some neat kits for his age that tie in to the text as well as some interesting books on the topics that will be presented. I know that this is not much help but just wanted to let you know that are not the only one trying to work this out. :)

I think that I should of reread before I posted. :) He was tested in his 5th grade year but the actual process did start at the end of his 4th grade year. We are in the same pattern with his younger brother...LOL Must be a family thing. :)