Yes, his PSI was 103 and his WMI was 120.

This would be a great thing to have for each age. A What to Expect of your SN K, 1st, etc year with both a short and long range goal in mind. With a guide to if he/she is Mild, Moderate, Sever SN. Like I would have never considered teaching my oldest to tie his shoes at 5 if it wasn't for my mil's nagging, I mean insistence upon it. And I would have relaxed a lot more if I knew that kids with SPD tend to have a harder time doing fine motor things like that. And having a 7yo who can sorta tie his shoes after two years of daily instruction would not have been as big a deal. To know what is "normal" for our not so average kids would be rather helpful. So do any of you have time to write that book? :lol:

Cadem what is SLP? I'm not sure what that is. Speech evaluator I'm guessing. He had one ear infection in March. So just once in his whole life. We've had his hearing tested, at birth and again last year (their previous Dr. felt it necessary to "cover our butt" as she called it because we homeschool and he would not be getting the normal preschool evaluations). So no there are no hearing issues. Just strange speech patterns. As far as reading is concerned; I teach my children to read when they ask to do so. I do not use age as an indicator of readiness, but rather desire. However for him I have been diverting his requests because of his pronunciation problems. He knows all the names and sounds of the letters, but can not reproduce them himself. When asked to will get the letters in words such as c -a - t, or f-r-o-g (magnets on refrigerator) he gets it correctly every time. So he does understand the sounds correctly. It's not from the ear to the brain, but from the brain to the mouth that is the issue that I am concerned about.

How about lap-booking or scrap-booking instead. My son got all the Narnia easy readers from the cereal boxes when The Lion... came out and we used all the extra copies everyone gave us (they are still in denial about his reading ability) to make a scrap book. He drew some pictures of the themes he liked best. And he wrote a short poem about Lucy (his favorite Pevensie). We made Turkish Delight (which was a big flop) and took pictures. We will be doing Roasted Apples and "Bear" Meat for Prince Caspian. If you have access to actual bear meat there are some bear meat recipes on that site. We made paper costumes for their stuffed animals and had a mini-play complete with tiny mice (made out of play-dough) chewing the ropes on Asland's paws. (Now I wish I'd taped that one.) We discussed how that some of Lewis' allegories seems similar to other stories we've read. And of course we talked about what an allegory is. And we taxed our poor librarian to look into the origin of Witches in Mythology. We even studied the many names of Father Christmas. We shopped for wardrobes too (not that we were buying). That was lots of fun going around to antique shops, furniture stores, and garage sales asking if they had any wardrobes (lol "A what?" they would ask as my ds would try to say it with Lucy's accent.) Anyway those are some non-workbook ideas that your dd might enjoy.

I see a lot of children with special needs having speech therapy. Every time I hear about the stories the children are 2 or older and not talking at all... or no one can understand anything they say, not even mom. So I've been hesitant to get my little man ST. My dh had ST when he was in elementary school and has been trying to work with ds from what he can recall, but it is becoming increasingly obvious to both he and I that ds isn't getting the gentle correction that we are offering. He is 3yo will be 4 in September. He usually speaks in complete sentences (except when he is tired). He has been asking to learn to read. But he does not have a grasp of the short vowel sounds yet and he has a hard time with double consonant blends at the beginning of words, he also drops the endings of some words. I foresee trouble in learning phonetic reading (the method that my older 2 used) if he doesn't learn these skills soon. He has trouble with words beginning with n and th... He will say things like "I heed dat toy". Other words patterns he mispronounces are; octopus (otu puss), yes (yusss)[sticks out tongue with all words using s no matter where it is in the word. He pronounces z the same way.], what is that (sat), rocket (rackit), angry (Anry), baby (beaby), ball (bouw), black (back), blue (boo), treasure (tweaser), card (cur), hand (han), brown (grown), darn it (garnet), and so on. For those of you with children in ST do you think that he needs therapy or should I wait a little longer and see if he grows past it?

My son had an IQ test done in Nov. of last year. On the WISC-IV his Processing Speed was 20 pts. lower then his Working Memory which was the next lowest score. On the Woodcock-Johnson III he scored 3 grade levels lower in Math then in the other areas. Still he would have been getting an A in math in ps according to our psyc. We decided to focus first on Math as it was the issue that seemed to be effecting ds's self-esteem the most. He was really struggling with the fact that math was difficult, feeling that it should come as easy as everything else in life had. He thought he was dumb, because it was such a struggle. In March we bought MUS Alpha for him and his little brother to go through. He will finish lesson 30 on Friday. He is so getting it. He really enjoys math now. Next year we intend to allow him to go at his pace with MUS Beta and Gamma. He has already memorized most of the Songs on the Skip counting CD and seems to be able to regroup. He has even figured out that 17-6 is a similar problem to 27-6. So I don't foresee any snags in Beta or Gamma. This program seems to be so easy for him. My husband keeps saying that maybe it's "too easy". So now that I am a bit more at ease about his math issues I've been revisiting his IQ scores. I really want to spend next year spending an 1 to 1.5 hours a daily (not necessarily all at once) dealing with his Processing Speed and Working Memory. But I'm not sure how to go about that. So finally to my question. What are your suggestions on materials I can use? The cheaper the better as we have already spent next years school budget. I am looking for something we can do at home. Non-consumable would be good too as I have a younger son who also has some PS and WM issues.

We are in the process of dealing with fast paced grammar and spelling. (So not BTDT but well on the road.) My 8yo started asking to do the FLL when he was 4. He went through year 1 and 2 in just a few months. But with him he kept asking for more. Next he used the CLASS Language 3 book (FLL 3 wasn't out yet.) He finished that in a matter of months, due to his immature writing skills it took him a bit longer to finish then his mental processing speed. Now in 2nd grade he finished 5th grade basis grammar skills and moved on to Step-by-Step Grammar which covers diagramming all the parts of speech, the one thing he hadn't learned (It covers 4-7th grade grammar). Most days I have to limit the amount of time he spends on grammar. Next year he will finish up the Grammar book and start the Mechanics and Usage book. When he is finished I may have ds do a grammar review book ever other year, just to keep it fresh in his mind. But even now I am seeing how he uses grammar in his writing... his ability to expand and clarify his writing by using what he's already learned through his study of grammar. It has also come in handy in his foreign language studies. I don't know that I would "require" much grammar for the child not begging for it. But I do provide it for my son because he enjoys it. His younger brother doesn't seem to crave grammar like his big brother. So we go at a slower only slightly accelerated pace. As for Spelling... both my boys are good spellers. After trying several programs and going up several grade levels we decided to use AVKO Sequential Spelling because we don't have to spend tons of time on words they already know how to spell. When we finish the series we will probably work on vocabulary in place of spelling.

I'm beginning my plans for next year as this one is nearly over. I was wondering have you had any great successes this year? Big failures? We did pretty well this year considering everything. This year dh took over the schooling for my oldest 2nd grader mid-year. So of course, our schedule changed. His attitude about school improved a bit though and that was the point. They got into next years materials in Grammar, but completely left out writing. They didn't finish History, Penmanship, or Spelling. We decided to take a summer break this year so we will have to finish those in the fall. We ended up starting a new math program after I realized that ds just wasn't ready for SM 3 no matter how many times I make him redo 1A-2B. He got the concept, but couldn't translate it into consistently correct answers. So he and his Kindergarten brother are just finishing up MUS Alpha and really getting the concepts. In retrospect I'm glad that ds and dh had this year of 'Educational Bonding' as dh will be starting Nursing School in the Fall and will have little time to spend with him. As for my Kindergartener... I wished that I'd spent a little more time playing and a little less time redirecting him. I've learned that his style is different from his brother's. And that left to himself he's more likely to make up a story about robots and aliens then to do math. He finished Kindergarten work well before Christmas (except penmanship which is awful). We started doing 1st grade work at a slowish pace just after the holiday. We have some grammar and science left and quite a bit of history left. I'm considering forgetting narrations next year in favor of puppet plays as my ds's both seem very put off by the narration aspect of History even though they are both quite good at it. He's reading at a 3rd grade level now. I wasn't sure at the beginning of the year if we'd ever get out of those nutty bob books. He tends to prefer non-fiction science reading and will try to read higher level books if it interests him. He doesn't have the drive to learn like his big brother... but he does have a drive to play... new games, make believe... we've been able to turn quite a bit of his education into fun things.... unlike his 'by the book' brother. My 3yo (almost 4) has shown a real interest in doing school next year. I guess we will see how that goes. He has been begging to learn to read, write and do mathusee (Which he is quite sure is the only kind of math worth learning). We may do a lay-ed back, on an as needed basis, K4 since he already knows most of the preschool scope and sequence. Anyway, How has your school year gone? Are you going to take a summer break? Anything you plan on dropping next year or adding?

Usually you just know. Some people say that "everyone" thinks their kid is gifted... but that just isn't true. Most people pride themselves on their kid being brightish. But that is not the same. Hoagies has a list of gifted characteristics to compare. We saw most of the things on that list from a very early age. Well, we don't just let ds do the grade level requirements that our state sets out. We expect that he does work at his level. Sometimes that means reading Narnia when his counterparts are reading Dick and Jane. We also require more output then the average 2nd grader. Not always as high as his imput though. (But not all parents of gifted kids do this). We expect that if he can read and understand Narnia (a 6th grade level book) that he can give us a sixth grade report on the subject... though we do give allowances for his just slightly above average writing ability. Also we do a lot of exercises in imperfection... to try and teach my son that perfect isn't always best. This has been his hardest lesson I think. We go faster then the average 2nd grader even in his weak areas. We also go deeper. We get off on rabbit trails at times... like when we did the body last year, instead of doing an overview of the digestive track we spent a week on what stomach acid does, and then we ended up looking at what battery acid does... and citrus acid, and ended up spending a day learning about the periodic table and listening to The Element Song. We suspect that our 2nd son is gifted as well, but he has no perfection problems. I think this may be more of a first born issue then a gifted issue, but I could be wrong. We do have a good time figuring out how he learns differently from his big brother though. We started out using WTM suggestions then tweaked them until they fit. Of course we have to do this several times a year. With my oldest, we use the 4 year cycle with the Logic Stage book list, but requiring Grammar Stage output...except in Language Arts which is hs strong area...and Math which is his weak area. We like Sylvia Rimm's books Especially, How to Parent So Children Will Learn, and Keys to Parenting the Gifted Child. I hope this helps. :) Have a nice day.

I just read you post in another thread about your son.... This is my son. He is the king of bored distractable "bear land". At six ds was reading at a slightly higher level and begging for more. I had two other children to contend with and limited time to dish up hours of learning. Now at almost (in 9 days) 8yo I can tell the difference on the days he gets only 2 hours of instruction as opposed to 4. He has to have a balance between input and required output. If that balance is not met he is an awful mean little thing. Much like the mama bear without her young. Grrrroar. And he can be very whiny about having to do "So Much" school. That is until we remind him that the other children have to sit in school doing boring stuff for six hours a day. Not a lot of advice here... you already got plenty. All I can say is that it will be a wild ride. It doesn't really matter what you want your ds to be known for... if he is a brain then that's what he is. We try to let our son know that there is more to life then intelligence, but we do embrace the fact that he is intelligent, We try to balance that with the understanding of wisdom. Ex. An intelligent child knows the difference between a Green Metallic Bee and a Digger Wasp. A wise child does not correct his grandfather when told to stand still or the Wasp will sting you. We work hard to help him learn the difference between intelligence and wisdom. He may be the smartest almost 8yo in our city, but he isn't always the wisest. And we make sure he knows which is more important. And of course, there is always the next city over...next county and kid who just might be a little bit smarter. So it is always better to be wise and humble then to be smart and flat on your face from a fall off your pedestal. I do have one suggestion though. Give the math book to someone who could actually use it. Find something that is a little more challenging.

My disagreement with dh on how much school ds needs is part of the reason I posted here. You see, this year he's taking the lead with my almost 8yo and I want to give him the space to decide these things. To let him do things his way. But I really feel conflicted about it because it is not him who has to spend the rest of the day dealing with a cranky child. That also means I really need to find some non-academic things that will still be intellectually challenging for him. We have agreed that ds and dh would focus on Math, History, Grammar and Penmanship for the rest of the school year. These are the subjects, except grammar, that he is still working on. For Math we decided to have him do MUS in addition to having completed Singapore 2B, for history he is doing a Middle Ages hybrid between 2/5th grade and 3rd grade Penmanship because he has slacked in his usual neat penmanship. Oh and I wanted to thank everyone who posted. It's a relief to know that this is just a boy thing. I hate having to always be correcting him but like Kalah said, I'm okay being the meanie... at long as it's for his own good and not my shoe throwing frustration... and for the record I've never thrown a shoe at him. :lol:

I do not believe that his school work is challenging him enough. My husband disagrees. He feels that the work is so challenging that our son should only be required to do school for a short period of time each day. For him, it is more that he feels the time requirement is too much. Most of the materials we use for him are on a Jr. High level, we require an output equal to the input. For instance, in grammar he has to do all the work in his workbook just as if he were doing upper level grammar. However, dh sits with him to keep him on track and focused which is unlike the average Jr. High student.

I'm having a hard time with my oldest son. He will be 8 at the end of the month. But he's a little teen ager in an eight year old body. Always challenging my (and dh's) authority. He is always (for the last year) so annoyed if I expect anything from him. And the less we do the more of a challenge he becomes. Not just in school but in everything. In school if it is too easy then school is "stupid". But when I expect anything of him it's all about other 2nd graders don't have to do this. And he's right. But he's not other 2nd graders and we have the talk. With chores he's the only one who ever has to do anything. Mom and Dad do NOTHING and his brother who is 6 never has to do anything and his 3 yo brother doesn't even have to do school... life is so unfare for my 8yo in his eyes. His chores include: Feed/water cat (daily) Clean room with help from 6yo admittedly not a lot of help (daily), Water "his" plants (daily) Pick up living room (twice a day) Put away his and 3yo brother's clothes (he puts them in drawer 2-3 times a week) Put away his school books (daily) Rake yard (once a week) Prepare one meal a week (with help as needed) I personally did much more at his age while dh did much less. The questioning never ends. When he was little his questions were probing and thoughtful... they were not authority defying questions. I miss those days. We have never allowed our children to talk back... but that's all he does these days. I spend more time dealing with his bad attitude then anything else. *I make a point to tell him tons of sencear positives even when I feel like chucking a shoe at him instead. When he gets a reward for doing something good he's generally got a bad attitude when getting the reward. For instance, he worked hard in the yard today preparing to move our seedlings into the garden so I rewarded him with a trip to McDonald's, but by the time we'd gotten there he'd smarted off to me twice. His brothers had earned the reward too so I couldn't just turn the car around. He was disappointed when he didn't get to have a happy meal, he did get to eat, just no toy... I just couldn't reward the bad attitude. I felt worse then he did I'm sure. In the past when we've come against these kind of behaviors it was always just before an intellectual leap. It usually meant that it was time to challenge him a bit more in one or more areas. Normally we'd speed up something and give it a couple weeks to see how he was doing. But his dad is doing school with him this year. His dad doesn't agree that he needs to be challenged more. He tells me the work is too much for him. Because it's 4 hours of school a day. But on the days when dad does an hour or two and heads off to work I'm left with a rude and obnoxious child who is obviously not balanced. On the days when they do their full 4 hours of school he is his usual sweet self. So I'm very torn about it. I don't want to step on dh's toes. Ds really needs this dad time. Their strained relationship has gotten better... even as he's pulling away from mom. I know that some of it is being a boy and that age needing to be "the man". But the disrespect is not acceptable. And he seems so miserable. He's really struggling and it's making it hard on me, dh, and his siblings. :confused:So for my questions... :confused: Am I the only mom dealing with a child who desperately wants to be independent of dear olé' mom and dad? Is my son the only kid who thinks he's 12 years old, just because he's academically 12? Will it get any easier? Any ideas on intellectually stimulating him outside academic pursuits?

I really thought my son was highly gifted too. He's doing some subjects 3-5 grades ahead and when I read the characteristics of HG compared to Gifted he fits that much more closely. I had him tested in December. He tested as Moderately Gifted but his Memory Processing skills were 52 points lower then everything else. That brought his scores way down. His Psychologist said that he definitely has some sort of Processing problem... along the lines of ADD, but slightly different. If he has asynchronous development then it could be that he has something challenging him. In those cases an accurate score isn't going to happen. If all the other scores are in the high 90's I'd go with your instincts and consider the low score either a fluke or something to look a little more closely at. With things like History and Social Studies I'd say it was just that you are studying things differently then the average x grader.

My dh and I were just discussing this last night. I was concerned that my ds might be missing some "great" opportunity that he would be getting in the ps. So last night I looked into the gifted and talented program that my district has for gifted children in our area... their isn't one. So I looked up the one in the next district over (10 minutes up the road). Inclusive Classroom program: Students in grades 4, 5 and 6, who are identified as having Specific Academic strengths in math and reading, are serviced through the inclusion model with a team approach. The objective of this approach is to provide differentiated activities in the specific areas of reading and math which supplement and build upon basic academic skills and knowledge learned in the regular classrooms. Gifted Pull-out Classrooms: Students who are identified as Superior Cognitive in grades 4, 5 and 6, from North K., P. and K. Elementary Schools, are bused to K. one half day per week for instruction. The objective of this model is to provide concentrated instruction which addresses the identified needs of gifted students through a multidisciplinary curriculum. In addition , the Gifted Intervention Specialist spends several afternoons at the various schools providing model lessons, small group lessons, materials, etc. for identified students, as requested by their classroom teachers. The school mentioned above is about 30 min. away from us. How this compares with our gifted homeschool program. In our program each child gets a differentiated program upon entrance into our school, not just in reading and math, but across the curriculum. We don't wait until they are in 4th grade. We work at the level they are at in each area of study from the first day they enter into our program (that would be when they are born). The gifted Jr. High and High school programs are no better. And because of the rural area in which we live I seriously doubt that the private schools are offering much better then what I can give them for 1/3 the price. I'm not so concerned about what my ds might be missing now... because he is gaining so much more by being at home then anything he might get 2 years from now.

On Wed. My son had his 2nd O.T. appointment. He had a great time. She let him jump on the trampoline for a few minutes. He learned to do the airplane and the wheelbarrow. She taught him how to do chair and wall sit-ups, as well as, a couple of calming exercises. Then she went on to "warm up" his pincer muscles with therapy putty and a hard sponge. In the end he spend a few minutes jumping in the "ball room". At the end of therapy she asked if he had any "other" diagnosis attached to him. That is other then SPD that she had just diagnosed him with. I said that he had been diagnosed with ADHD. When she heard that she laughed and said, "I thought so". She went on to say that most kids with undiagnosed SPD before the age of 6 are evaluated in school and "found" to have ADHD. She said that it is unlikely that ds has ADHD. She said we would know for sure within the next 6 months. If we see behavior changes with O.T. that it is more likely that his sensory problems are getting in the way of his ability to pay attention and stay still. SO GUESS WHAT! We are already seeing changes. He absolutely loves to be brushed. He said "It's soothing, mommy. It's like I can calm down and think a minute." When he got off in lala land Thursday and Friday I was able to have him do a few exercises and he was good to go for another 30 minutes. (He's never focused for more then 15 min. even while watching TV). We'll be measuring him for a pressure vest next visit, she thinks that it would help him more then the weighted vest or the heavy blanket. Even my son says he's feeling better. He is so excited to go back to therapy.

I second Jenny in here statement about bumping her up. It has helped my ds with the "guff" every time... except math. I have really liked Step-By-Step Grammar I and II (a 4th-7th grade program). It's comprehensive and it teaches diagramming from the beginning. It doesn't have a lot of busy work or tons of writing... and for a writing reluctant child I'd have them just draw the lines rather then rewriting the sentences. It has been great for my ds who is grammatically accelerated, but at grade level in writing. The only thing I don't like about the program is that it categorizes Articles as Adjectives, but we have just explained that they are both to our ds.

I'd first like to say that my children have never done anything stupid in their lives. But there have been times when I've had to say, "What were you thinking?" When my 7yo decided to make an experiment with a whole tube of toothpaste the one time I decided to buy the expensive brand, I had to ask, "What were you thinking son?" And he said, "All good scientists get their start by making childhood messes." When my 6yo jumped from the top landing of our staircase, and I asked him, "What were you thinking?" He said, "I wanted to see if gravity applied to me as well as Newton's apple." When my 3yo climbed into the top cupboard and shut the door, I had to ask him, "What were you thinking?" And he said, "But mommy, it's cozy in this dark space."

Here are a couple of websites that "might" be helpful. Homeschooling The ADHD Christian Child Teaching Highly Distractable ADD/ADHD Children From my research and what my ds's Psyc. has told me I've found that children who display ADD/ADHD traits (at least 6 lasting for 6 months or more) are automatically diagnosed with ADHD inattentive or ADHD hyperactive. There is no longer a dx of ADD. The dx is a dx of symptoms... akin to your dr. saying, "Oh yes, your child does have a fever so give him/her a fever reducer and it will go away". And isn't that so helpful. NOT. What if your child's fever is not helped by a fever reducer. In the case of those meds. there is no big loss if you try the reducer and it doesn't work. But if you try meds for ADHD well that's a different story. And so now over the last few years doctors are becoming more hesitant to suggest first trying meds. There are quite a few "causes" of ADHD. Some are rather easy to fix. Others aren't. Here are just a few causes... #1 (often what most people w/o an ADHD child automatically assume) Is Poor Parenting. Usually the case when no consequences are required of the child. That's a pretty easy one for the parent to decide... yes, this is why my child is displaying ADHD traits. #2 An allergy. It could be an allergy to just one food or just one outside source. Many ADHD children benefit greatly by implementing the ADHD diet others have no change whatsoever. #3 Sensory Processing Disorder. Sometimes also called Sensory Integration Dysfunction or the Highly Sensitive Person. Because the nervous system is not fully developed or is damaged in some way a child becomes over or under stimulated by his environment. The behavior that accompanies this improper ability to filter the world around them is then called ADHD. *There are several other neurological problems that can cause ADHD symptoms as well. #4 A Fatty Acid deficiency. And this is why many children can be given Fish Oil in "therapeutic doses" and suddenly become average. #5 Giftedness. No matter what you do... diet, drugs, supplements, the child's behavior will not change because it is wired into their temperament. However add more challenging materials academically will help curb some of the ADHD tendencies. *A child who is gifted and has ADHD could also have one or more of the other causes going on as well. #6 A dopamine deficiency can cause all the traits of ADHD and more. When these children are given Ritalin or other ADHD medications a big change happens. They begin to function better and seem to become more content in their own skin. So I hope you can see by this that a child can both be gifted and ADHD or gifted and be mistaken as ADHD. A child could have ADHD for many reasons. Even the "experts" can't agree on what constitutes a true dx of ADHD. Most say 6 traits and your child has it... but those same experts are slow to offer rx without offering other options first. The easiest things to check for are a fatty deficiency, giftedness, and poor parenting. For the fatty deficiency you would give your child a therapeutic dose of fish oil daily for a month and watch for changes in behavior (this is not the recommended dose and can very from child to child and from brands of oil). For giftedness you would have him/her tested. And for Parenting issues you would track your responses to your child's demands. The others require a professional.

We are using Sequential Spelling with my 7yo. after going through 4 spelling programs that were "too" easy last year. It's not like the typical program that requires you to drill words that the child already knows for a whole week. It does not have exercises... there isn't a bunch of busy work. It uses all 4 learning styles and is great for both the child who has spelling issues and the natural speller who misses something now and again. It teaches spelling by using spelling pattern (word families). It takes us 10 minutes a day but we do two lists each day. If your dc has writing (penmanship) issues or isn't reading at a 3rd grade level yet then it would be too difficult. The first 8 days are on their web site if you want to see if the program would be right for your child.

We just started our next school year after finishing up "our" 2nd grade in November (Except for SOTW). We went both deeper and faster then I'd originally intended. We pulled books from the Jr. High section of the library after exhausting the Elementary books on the Middle Ages, space and earth science. Though he hasn't finished writing his narrations or answering the questions. Ds completed his grammar book without very many things being "new" to him even though we'd never covered any of it. For this next school year I am struggling to decide how much time I should be spending on each academic subject with him and how I should go about it. His attention span for things he enjoys is very long, but he does have processing problem and ADD. For instance ds's grammar book has 239 pages. How would you divide up your year's work over 36 weeks? Do you have a set time each day to do grammar, divide the pages by weeks or days? If I go at ds's pace he would do only grammar and literature. He can finish correctly 4 pages in less then 10 minutes. He has complete recall, but is still struggling in the Mechanics of it out side grammar (ex. In writing he forgets to capitalize or use spaces). SO Do you go by time (Say 30 min. for Math), by page or chapter/unit?

Our biggest struggles this year are... Me: Getting the housework done. It just doesn't get done. We're going to try a 4 day week and see how that works, using Friday for appointments and chores. Motivation to do a "scheduled" school day which my boys desperately need, and is against my nature. Enjoying the process and not becoming frustrated with myself or the children. Oldest: Me "Not" being his executive function (He has ADD). Allowing him to suffer the consequences of his actions (No TV time, homework). Dealing with his 13yo attitude (BTW He's 7.5). Balancing between his academic, intellectual, emotional, behavioral and physical age because they are all different. 2nd born: Being patient with his 200'th, "What did you say, Mommy?". His constant bouncing off the walls (He has ADHD). Balancing between his academic, intellectual, emotional, behavioral and physical age because they are all different. Handwriting! Not comparing him to big brother. Crying, whining and complaining about having to do school while little brother doesn't. Oh and did I say Handwriting? 3rd born: Finding the time to do any school at all with him. Since he's only 3 it's not as big of a deal... but the guilt of knowing that if I did have time he's got all the signs of being ready to... learn to read, write, add and subtract. The baby: She doesn't get near the attention I want to give her. Though she has a good set of lungs and does get what she needs I wish I had more time to cuddle since she is likely our last.

For the last two years I've tried unsuccessfully to get my ds 6 to print legible. We've tried HWT (with much tears) and we tried a traditional approach as well. Finally, I took ds to get an evaluation for SPD in January. The Occupational Therapist suggested that we try Italics. I bought book A for him and he is doing wonderfully. He says that the letters make since. Though his penmanship is still not up to par I can see a difference in the few weeks that we've been using it. He doesn't cry about writing anymore either. I started my oldest with traditional print when he was in Kindergarten. He had wonderful handwriting, but wrote very slowly. We tried traditional cursive in August, but it was very confusing to him and his beautiful print went away and hasn't been seen since. Now that he is writing 3 and 4 essays a week his penmanship has gotten even more sloppy. My oldest started with Italics C when I started his brother on Italics A. He has gotten a new desire for writing and his penmanship is improving. He's not taking so much time to print and is very excited about getting to write in cursive. The only transition issues I have with ds is that he sometimes thinks that he knows how to write the letter and becomes frustrated when I make him rewrite his mistakes. But then I think this is more of a personality issue with ds (he tend to be a perfectionist and hates correction).

I noticed that you said you would be doing Earth Science and Astronomy with SOTW 1. Year one science is "Animals, Human Body and Plants". If you decide to do year one science instead of Earth/Astronomy I highly recommend you get "SOMEBODY". It's truly worth the $20 price tag. My boys and I have learned a lot and had a blast playing the games. If you go with Earth/Astronomy our favorite resource this year was "The Glow in the Dark Night Sky Book" by Clint Hatchett. It was my ds's favorite book this year and he has really enjoyed using it. We did WS2 with my ds when he was 6. It was not too difficult for him to do. But it was BORING. Very, very boring. I suggest that you get Write Source for your child instead. It has lots of cool pictures and is written in a conversational tone. Also it teaches by way of strategies rather then just using specific exercises. It covers the writing process, how to write in journals, letters, notes, autobiographies, several kinds of books, poetry and a few other things. I got Write Away for my Nov. 6yo. It's written on an upper 1st to 2nd grade level. If your ds is reading at or slightly above grade level it would be a good fit. If he is reading closer to a 4th grade level you might want to get Write on Track. If he hasn't had any writing instruction I'd go with Write Away... the six steps for writing are written in more simplistic terms. The Skillbook/Sourcebook (sold separately) is basically a grammar and mechanics book and is not really needed. Also I would add Art and Music as others have mentioned. This year we are using Child Sized Masterpieces and the boys and I are really enjoying them.

I have been told by three different Psychologists that we should try giving our newly diagnosed ADHD son coffee. They all said basically the same thing... that it would calm him down. One (who is just a friend and has not seen ds) said that if it doesn't calm him then he probably was misdiagnosed. Have you heard of this? Anyway, I gave him a cup of somewhat strong coffee the other day and saw no difference in his behavior. He didn't get more hyper or less hyper. He does seem to get more hyper when given foods with processed sugar though. Have you tried this with your ADHD child? Should I try giving him coffee a few more times?