This is true for us as well. We have 4 full days at home plus one day at co-op. We're there for 5 hours including lunch but each child has an hour or two that are "open." My oldest takes pre-algebra and Latin; youngest takes science and writing. My middle son has three enrichment classes. The older two also bring work with them from home to complete during their open hours. They bring their literature and history reading. Oldest completes one day of WWS while we're there and then oldest two boys complete a science assignment once we're back home. I counted the co-op day as a full day and voted 5 days.

When I was a kid it was pop. Everyone in my extended family still calls it pop and so does my husband and his family. In high school my boyfriend was a transplant from NJ. His family called it soda and I thought it was so weird because I'd never heard that before. Somehow the soda thing stuck with me and now I call it soda. I also ask my kids what kind of soda they want. Weird.....

My family arrived around 4:00 - my parents, my sister, bil, and their grown kids. Everyone was gone by 8:30. This is pretty typical for our family.

I love it...but then again I grew up with it. My mom will be bringing it over later today :D . My dh didn't grow up with it and he despises it.

Oh good....that's what I was hoping :) .

:iagree: I do the same thing here.

I did it! I finally finished Stone's Fall by Iain Pears. The ending was a shocker and not what I expected at all. Overall I enjoyed, it but this book took some patience to get through. I think it took me about 3 weeks to read it! My oldest two sons and I finished listening to Men of Iron by Howard Pyle last week as well. This was an assigned literature title for them but I knew it would be a tough read. I decided we would listen to it together and I'm glad we did. The story really brought the middle ages and knighthood to life for me. Now I'm ready for something that I can read a little more quickly. I hope I've found it with Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson. The inside flap says: "Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love - all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may be telling you only half the story. Welcome to Christine's life." I'm ready to get started!

Yay!!! :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: I'm so happy for you.

Here is a tutorial I used when I looked into doing this myself: http://www.squidoo.com/make-notebooking-pages She uses Microsoft products but she does mention Open Office. It might give you some ideas which programs would work for a Mac.

My youngest started a new series called The Magnificent 12. I believe there are only two out so far: The Call and The Trap. They're probably closer to a 39 Clues reading level than Percy Jackson. I'm not sure what level you're looking for.

We use company plates because I have 12 of them and only 8 of my every day plates. It's also about the only chance I have to use the plates & crystal that we got for our wedding.

OhElizabeth, I pm'd you.

Yes, I don't remember what all it included because I was :scared: . The gal I mentioned that does 8 hours of testing charges $2500. It is a battery of tests split over 2 days. She is not a neuropsych, so I figured that $3500 must be the going rate for neuro. That's helpful to know that the rate in your area is $150 per hour.

$3500 is what I was quoted. I didn't realize it could vary greatly from one neuropsych to the next. Our insurance doesn't even have the neuropsych category listed as a specialty. I looked up several names that I had found just to double check, and they were not listed. I had been told that it is often not covered by insurance, so I didn't pursue that avenue any further. It sounds like it could be worth my while to call the insurance company next week. Thanks for all the additional tips.

No, you're right that they are not neuropsychs. I looked into a neruopsych evaluation but unfortunately, it's not something our family can do right now financially. I checked with some other places. One is a tutoring type place like you mention. The other specializes in dyslexia but also has a comprehensive 8 hour test that identifies other processing issues. They do not do any tutoring but do make recommendations on what type of tutoring to look for based on the weaknesses identified on the test. I know we discussed the SAT issue but I don't remember the specifics. I was under the impression that the testing I did with them could enable my son to have additional SAT time if necessary, but I could be mistaken. I'm not really sure my son would even qualify because he is able to complete the CAT tests for his grade level within the given time constraints.

This is sooo much like my son! I made a couple of phone calls this week. Both people dismissed dyslexia. While he has a few things that could indicate dyslexia, he is missing some of the bigger indicators. Both said it sounded more like some type of processing issue. I don't know if the same would be true for your daughter, however, I do feel better just knowing this bit of information. The two places I called use different methods to work with the student. One mentioned Lindamood Bell techniques, the other Processing and Cognitive Enhancement. I'm researching those methods to determine which place to take him to for testing. Both people indicated that their methods could help him improve his reading & comprehension but I don't know by how much. They also mentioned the possiblity of having extra time for the SAT if his testing showed a need for that.

Same here! I even thought to myself, "Why would anyone pick 14? Are people having trouble counting?" :o :leaving:

It's funny that you mention this. I used to have him read aloud quite a bit when he was 10 or 11 and this would drive.me.crazy. He would read so flat! I would try to get him to add inflections, but he just didn't. He would put his dad to sleep when he would read aloud to him! Thanks for the tip on the SN board. I hadn't thought of that. :)

My kids have no interest in their timelines either. We're going to try something different after Thanksgiving. They will add the timeline figure to an index card and then write a couple of sentences about the figure on the back. The index cards will be stored in chronological order. We will pull them out periodically for study and review.

I know where vision therapy is done in our area so I will look into this. I guess that's where we've gone wrong, by expecting it to show in the test scores or the grades. I've been thinking about this for while now so we'll go ahead with evaluations. Thank you to everyone for your ideas.

Thank you all for your replies. I wouldn't have considered dyslexia because when he reads aloud I don't notice anything going on. I know where the VT is done in our area so I can look into that as well.

Yes, I understand that :) . Sorry my spacing made it look like I was inferring it was an LD.

Yes! He is a visual-spatial learner. So is that what is causing the problem? I'm considering taking him in for an evaluation for LDs. In WA, homeschoolers have to have an individual assessment or take a standardized test annnually. Two years ago he had the assessment and she wasn't concerned with him, just mentioned the comment about him being a concrete thinker. His CAT scores from last year give him stanine scores of 7 or 8 in everything except vocabulary and language mechanics where he scored 6's.

Thank you for this info. The web sites that I've looked at say that you can use the technique while improving comprehension but I'm not convinced. At his last assessment the gal did not feel that he had any "disablilites" but that he was a "concrete thinker" and has difficulty with abstract concepts. She did not do any type of specific testing for learning disabilities however. He does well in science, it just takes him a long time to get through the material. If I pre-read a section and it takes me 20 minutes, it will probably take him 35-40 minutes for the same material. Math is another subject where he moves really S L O W L Y. He gets through it but it is slow going. He is taking this through our co-op and his current grade is in the low 90s. He also takes Latin at our co-op and is currently receiving a B in that class. I have no concerns with his grammar or spelling. I feel like he writes well and can express himself clearly through writing. If it were some form of learning disability would it be present across the board? This is what has made me wonder if he's just a slow reader like you mention. Or is the "concrete thinker" a disorder in and of itself?

Coffee???!!! Did you say COFFEE???!!! I'll have to check that out. :D I thoroughly enjoyed Outliers so this sounds like something I'd enjoy. Thanks, Negin! As for me, I've made it about halfway through Stone's Fall by Iain Pears. I'm hoping I can finish it this week.