I was discussing next school year with DS this morning & asked if there was anything specific he’d like to learn about this year or any skills he’s like to acquire / develop. I noticed a strong trend of “How Does XYZ Work?” topics. I’d like to brainstorm ways of organising topics to be at least somewhat cohesive, because I can see it devolving into chaos... but was thinking that would be a cool science focus for the year. Specific examples of his interests are: how a plant forms fruit, how plants “fight” for resources, seed dispersal methods, how burning fuel is able to power a vehicle, how we make rubber / steel / concrete, how we find and collect natural resources (metals, coal, etc), & how instruments make sound. I was thinking we could use episodes of How Does it Work / How It’s Made as a springboard for research, model-building, & experiments... Has anyone done anything like this? Any there good resources you can recommmend?

DS has mentioned wanting to learn more about plants. We covered basic Life Science this year so he knows about life cycles, basic parts, & cell structure. He is a fluent reader. He is specifically interested in different methods of seed dispersal, how a plant forms fruits or flowers, and how different plants fight for resources. I’m thinking Mendel genetics would be interesting to him as well. He has had no formal intro to chemistry or physics, but I’m happy to incorporate those as needed. I have a black thumb, & we have limited outdoor space (no yard) so I’d prefer to limit the growing of various plants. Secular materials only, please.

We’re not sure if he has ADHD or is high-energy with low impulse control but still within the normal range. The OT was able to confirm that he was sensory-seeking, but of course wasn’t qualified to give us an answer re: an attention deficit. Due to his age and the cost we’re trying to meet whatever other needs he may have & see what resolves before pursuing a full Psych Assessment. Yes, he can distinguish between types of discomfort. In familiar environments he is able to identify when he’s overstimulated and can manage it himself by asking to have a quiet moment away... but when he’s in a new situation & there’s lots of interesting things he wants to get into or he has an “audience” then it’s far harder. He has to WANT to calm himself - he likes the wild excitement feeling, even though he knows it gets him into trouble.

Nothing yet for the STNR. I found some stretches / exercises online that I can do with him at home on my own, though. Despite my best efforts (arriving early, having a snack, free playing for a bit) DS was really squirrely while we were there. I tend to forget that he gets this way in new situations & it catches me off guard because while he’s always “full on” he is much more mellow by comparison at home. The first task we were given was the flippers. DS haaaated this! Glasses being a reality and not just theoretical is not going over well, so glasses + colour lenses + the flippers making the task challenging = resistant kiddo. The DO backed up and gave us an easier level flipper so he can work his way up with less frustration. We have both so we can adjust difficulty whenever he’s ready. The next was a tracking activity where he scans for individual underlined numbers / letters in a row of text, reading them off as quickly and accurately as possible. He managed to do this in 30sec with 2 errors (skipped one line). Goal is 20sec with 0 errors. If he masters the task we also have sheets with several letters grouped together (asr tyn drl zvq). DS didn’t mind this, as it was straightforward and he felt confident it was achievable. The final task was the one DS enjoyed most. It’s a series of mazes, and he has to direct a pawn through the maze by telling it to turn left or right each time it hits a wall. DS loves mazes and enjoys coding, so despite being challenging this activity is right up his alley.

Got DS’ reading glasses & had our first session today. We have several versions of 3 distinct exercises. He’s asked us to work on each one for 10min a day (not back-to-back) & otherwise continue reading as usual, just with the reading glasses. Of the exercises he did today DS enjoyed one, was “meh” about one, and really resisted one. For the last, the DO moved him down a level so he could feel more successful. He included tools for both that level and the harder level in our “took kit”. We’ll be coming back every 2-3wks for new exercises & tools.

The stark financial dichotomy here is indeed very sad - and humbling, as someone who grew up in poverty myself. We were able to see some progress in the time he was in OT, but we dropped because we simply couldn’t afford it anymore. Weekly sessions were running us nearly $700/mo 😩She focused primarily on his sensory-seeking behaviors while we were there because they were the most disruptive / problematic. We were only able to attend for a few months.

This part, at least, is easy! Everything is “pay by session”; no packages or pre-payment to worry about.

Okay, there’s a lot to dig through here but I’ll do what I can... Most families here consist of parents both working 60+ hrs a week, and kids who are in class all day with tutoring and then heavy homework loads each evening, I have a feeling this is where the issues with “compliance” would come in. Many parents here hardly see their kids at all during the week. Domestic helpers are stretched too thin to perform like a Western nanny; they are house-cleaner, errand-runner, and child-rearer all in one. The only reflex tested (so far) was spinal-galant, based on observations the Optometrist made during the initial assessment. I did some “home tests” for others and didn’t notice a response, but it wouldn’t surprise me if all are systematically checked at our first therapy appointment next week. DS had OT for a while about a year ago, and that was identified by her as well. None of the others were. He does not have any issues with bedwetting - he was fully potty trained at 3yrs. Hong Kong is a business epicentre, but is incredibly split flinancially. There are a lot of wealthy expats, a smattering of wealthy mainlanders, a select handful of locals who have “made it”... but the majority of the population lives in poverty. The healthcare system is socialised, so those individuals have access to completely separate providers once they make it off the waiting lists (easily a year or longer). They absolutely could not afford private therapy. Because of this, there are relatively few private providers (compared to population) for any specialty. There simply isn’t enough need to support them from populations that can afford care.

Hong Kong is a “big city” but a very small region. While HK is a territory of China the two are still very much separate entities. The languages are different, the medical system is different... we need visas to even cross the border. Our provider is far & away the most experienced practitioner available. His thesis was (and specialization is) vision therapy interventions for children. There are about half a dozen total optometrists offering vision therapy services. Most work almost exclusively with ambyliopia. Few who are fluent English speakers / have English-speaking therapy staff. None of them are covered by insurance. We’ll have to work with what we have access to. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m not entirely sure his reasoning for the timing. I had no idea what to expect, so the frequency didn’t stand out to me when he mentioned it. I assume it is to give each activity / tool ample time before coming back to switch or modify. He mentioned that sometimes parents have a hard time getting the home therapy done, and I assured him that as homeschoolers we could simply work the activities into our “school time”. I do know that the developmental optometrist will be doing all of our in-office therapies personally. I remember that when we were doing OT (SPD: tactile/vestibular sensory seeker) coming in weekly it felt like we didn’t really know how well techniques were working after only a few days. He has retained Spinal Galant reflex and very clearly struggles with separation of upper- and lower- body movements (though that is a milestone for 8-10yrs and he is newly 6yrs, so possibly within the realm of normal?) If it feels like too long once we get started I won’t hesitate to push for increased frequency.

Hello Everyone 👋🏼 First time posting here. Last week I had DS meet with a developmental optometrist who confirmed my suspicions of a tracking issue as well as noting a weakness in visual focus, retained reflexes, and potentially something to do with visual processing (an inability to distinguish “forward-facing” letters from those which were “backwards”). He will receive reading glasses and we’ll begin vision therapy next week. DS is a strong reader, but fatigues quickly and avoids books with more than a few lines of text together. Hoping the therapy will help him get more enjoyment from books, as he LOVES stories! Would anyone be willing to share their experiences? I really have no frame of reference - what did vision therapy “look like” for your child?

It’s hard to look at a list of curricula and know, especially when you don’t have firsthand experience with the student(s) in question. I agree with many of the above posters; you’ll know once you get going. I would prioritize the items, and introduce them one at a time. When you feel like you’re in a good groove, save the rest. Something new can be incorporated once another book is finished. We rarely start all new things together... one thing is completed in the middle of another, all staggered. It works out.

Things went pretty well this year, plan-wise. For next year we have a few things continuing, a few new things being added in. DS turned 6 this week, so... Primary 2? 1st grade? Something like that.  Language Arts: Killgallon Story Grammar, CAP W&R Fable, cont. MCT Practice Island sentences, something for spelling... (AAS? SWR?), NaNoWriMo Math: Beast Academy 3C - whatever he gets to. We may or may not alternate with Singapore IP. History: History Odyssey Middle Ages Science: Real Science Odyssey Astronomy  PE: Cont. Tennis & Soccer Art: Misc. history- / science- / math-inspired projects. Maybe a couple of Meet the Masters units that fit the time period.

Language Arts: Michael Clay Thompson Island, TorchLight Year 1, NaNoWriMo We dropped TL early on; it wasn’t a good fit at all. We’ve enjoyed a few of the science / history supplements but that’s all we found useful. Instead we’ve enjoyed other random novels... lots of Dahl, the Dimwood Forest series, Charlotte’s Web. We are both loving MCT Island! I initially thought it would take us two years, but we’ll easily complete it in one so now I’m planning to alternate years with a couple of other programs. DS participated in NaNoWriMo again and really enjoyed it! Mathematics: Singapore 2B-3B + IP, LivingMath L1U1 We completed Singapore 2B, then switched to Beast Academy 3A. We may or may not circle back to Singapore; I like both programs, but for now BA better meets our needs. Early in the year we did a good bit of the Living Math activities. They are sporadic, so as the year has gone on I’ve tended to forget about them a bit. There’s some great material there, though, so I am going to try to remember to get to it more often. Life Science: Mr. Q Life Science I knew from the get-go that I wasn’t satisfied with this, but it was free so I thought I could make it work. I ended up just dropping it and creating my own. Ancient History: Real Science Odyssey This has worked well. It’s enough of a framework to feel accomplished when I don’t have a ton of time or energy to devote to planning something more, but light enough that when I do want to add things it doesn’t become cumbersome. Free Choice: Educational Games, Snap Circuits, Scratch Programming, etc We’ve stuck with this pretty well throughout the year. Things got busy at one point in the midst of switching from one program to another so we paused for a while, but it’s been fun. Also a good motivator, as we only have as much time as his focus during earlier subjects allows. If he goofs off and wastes time, no Free Choice. All in all we stuck pretty closely to our plans. I kind of wish we could include more subjects, but at the moment I’m not willing to sacrifice depth for breadth.

I tend to increase the challenge level (depth, breadth, speed, or some combination) for subjects that are more natural for my DS to naturally even out time spent on each subject. In our case, the “easy” subject is generally mathematics and his skills there are pretty even. When lessons moved too slowly, I condensed them. When the questions were too simple, I switched to a program that offered a supplement with more complex logic needed to solve problems. Eventually we found a good fit; challenging, yet enjoyable! He’s fairly strong in LA as well, but his comprehension is 1-2 grade levels ahead of his production capability. In this case, I added breadth. We cover grammar, literary elements, poetic devices, Latin, creative “writing” (dictated to me) while keeping handwriting and reading demands at a comfortable level. He’s not super into history or science, but loves projects, so we take a more hands-on approach to those topics. We also incorporate other topics, like art and music, this way. Overall I’m fortunate that he seems to enjoy any subject so long as I avoid busywork and don’t demand too much fine motor work (handwriting / drawing / coloring / cutting).

We haven’t begun yet, but I wanted to let you know there is an ongoing CAP W&R thread (all levels) in the K-8 Writing Workshop subforum. I’ll be joining in with my DS’ work in Fable this summer 😊

I strongly recommend that you complete LOE Foundations through D. The final book is very different from A-C; it offers new aspects such as paired texts, reading comprehension, and a stronger focus on grammar. I do agree with PP that the spelling later on was a bit much... I believe we largely dropped it. After Foundations is complete you could move on any middle-grade Language Arts program. We have been enjoying Michael Clay Thompson’s language arts series, but find what suits you and your daughter 😊

Sorry, I missed this! I am planning W&R for the autumn, and we’re going to try to do it as written. If that doesn’t work we’ll do Narration-to-Copywork. He’s a strong writer, but hasn’t practiced writing directly from thought much.

We’re moving into our 2nd semester, but several things changed at the tail end of last semester / beginning of this semester. Math: Continuing Beast Academy 3A, which we began in November. Language Arts: Music of the Hemispheres (MCT Poetics), continuing Practice Island, self-chosen reading, whatever strikes our fancy for read-aloud. DS still very rarely chooses to read outside of school, which drives me a bit nuts. He *can*... with excellent fluency, comprehension, recall... he just doesn’t choose to. I’m hoping that not pushing the matter (beyond minimal practice to prevent the skill from getting rusty) will pay off in the end. Spelling: Continuing Words Their Way & making a 2nd Homophone Book. Science: Human Body, moving one system at a time. We covered large-scale life science last semester, so now we’re drawing our focus in. History: Continuing History Odyssey Ancients, picking up after Greece. Culinary Arts: We are making some dietary changes that will require us to eat almost exclusively home-made, and DS loves to work in the kitchen so we are going to be building skills in this area. I want to get him more proficient with chopping, dicing, peeling, and removing seeds as well as work on stovetop skills. He can mix, measure, and crack eggs pretty well already. I’d also like him to be able to follow a simple recipe semi-independently (under supervision) by the end of the term. Free Choice: Exactly what it sounds like. Primarily he chooses coding, circuitry, or educational games. Occasionally arts and crafts.

Definitely take a break. Just put it all away and enjoy the holidays. You’ll be able to see when they are ready to start up again.

Has anyone used Keepers of the Flame? https://www.rfwp.com/book/keepers-of-the-flame-poetry-and-prose-resource-book During which of the seven levels would you say it is most useful? Student excerpts were from 6th-8th graders, so I would assume it is intended for secondary students, but wasn’t sure if it would fit better between Level 4 / Level 5, earlier, or later.

I feel very “ruttish” at the moment; so much so that I called off school after the first week of the month. My big goal is to build back up the excitement (and DS’ engagement). Our years always start off super fun, but I find it hard to keep up that energy level. Otherwise, my goals for 2019 are: Complete BA 3A-3D & tackle the multiplication table Improve narration skills, work toward producing written summaries Hopefully get DS reading for fun... this is elusive, despite his reading level being solidly on a 2nd/3rd grade level. Introduce Poetics & Latin (MCT Island) Learn about the Roman Empire before our trip to Rome Visit / revisit all of the 30 places on our Hong Kong Bucket List Formulate a plan for short visits to 8 nearby countries in 2020 We’ve accomplished what we set out to do in coming overseas, and have begun to formulate our “exit plan,” but will be here at least another year and a half. I’m torn between wanting to experience so much in this part of the world and an unexpectedly strong, sudden desire to “go home”. With any luck 2019 will bring us some clarity regarding our next steps...

I haven’t, and we’ve been off for the holidays now... perhaps I’ll give that a whirl in the spring.

There are certainly differences, but you’d likely be surprised how similar things are to any other large city. It’s crowded (on a whole ‘nother level!) and busy downtown, but the outlying areas are quieter. The public transit is amazing. There’s an endless supply of things to do and see. It’s very diverse racially, culturally, and spiritually. We return to the US for about a month each year and I absolutely agree about reverse culture shock. Heading overseas you EXPECT everything to be different, so any time it isn’t you are pleasantly surprised. Returning “home” you expect things to be easy and natural, so when they aren’t... the surprise is less pleasant. You also see your home through a fresh pair of eyes; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Heading to a completely new region of the country we’ll still be anticipating a lot of change, but also looking forward to things we’ve missed! Funny how it’s always the “little stuff” you miss most - drink refills, dressing rooms, return policies... 🤣