Wow, I'm glad you posted that, Nan. What year did this happen to you? The UMASS application doesn't seem to require a guidance counselor's signature this year. Maybe they'll be looking for that later. I hadn't bothered submitting an ed plan for approval once they turned 16, because state law doesn't require it, but then when they wanted to dual-enroll, they needed a guidance counselor to verify they were in an approved program (which they obviously weren't, but luckily we were able to work around it). Lesson learned, though. :)

Wow, I didn't reallize such places existed! I lived in dorms, and it seemed as though socializing and partying took priority over studying. :) My husband commuted for his undergraduate degree and his opportunities for socializing didn't suffer for it, either.:) My eldest is in his second year of commuting, and since keeping his scholarship depends on keeping a certain average, it probably doesn't matter where he lays his head at night, (noisy dorm, noisy siblings, so he spends most of his time at the library) but financially he's ahead by living at home. My second eldest will be starting college this year also and is planning to commute. He's like your son, quiet and reserved and tends to be fairly independent, so I doubt it would matter where he lived, either. My view of college (particularly in light of today's tuition costs !!!) is that it's a means to seriously prepare for the future, and the social aspects aren't as important. So I think that whatever living arrangements best serve that goal are preferable.

I love Saxon, and it covers essentially the same material as Stewart. My two oldest kids have done very well with it, and my son who used Stewart in college thinks Saxon presents the material more clearly than Stewart. It seems like Stewart is one of the omnipresent texts on college campuses though, so I was thinking it might be worth using it for homeschool since it's lying around here anyway. If my younger kids end up taking calculus again in college, they'll already be familiar with the style (more wholistic than Saxon, which presents the topics in a more discrete format, so might be harder to grasp the big picture) . My next student in line has a very different learning style than the older two, which is why I've been casting about for various options to consider. :) I don't know if you would need a follow-up to Saxon. Since it covers the same material that would be studied in calculus I and II, that might be enough. We've never done AP before, though, so I'm not sure. I would probably choose a second text to use along with Saxon, and dip into it for practice.

That sounds very helpful. We used Foerster's for Algebra II Trig but went back to Saxon for precalc. Foerster's had more graphing practice than Saxon. I'll definitely check those out. Well, I tried to use it before and found it was awful without the solutions manual, but once I got the solutions, it was much easier to proceed. No way I could use it otherwise. :tongue_smilie: Thanks so much! I appreciate all the great suggestions. :)

It's funny, when my son was using it and got hung up on something, he always reached for the Saxon. They're similar in a lot of ways (although Stewart's is far prettier :)). Fred, however, is definitely in a class of his own. :) So glad you mentioned that - I just assumed the "Forgetful" the book was written for people (like me) who have trouble remembering their tables. :lol: Now that I've actually looked at it online, I can see it's a concise overview - perfect for my big-picture learner (and I also have a left-brained learner who plugs along nicely but I think he would benefit from an injection of right-brained thinking in this subject.:)) Another overview-type book I like for the same purpose - Mathematics in 10 Lessons - The Grand Tour: http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-10-Lessons-Grand-Tour/dp/1591026865/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1296661250&sr=1-1

That's exactly what I need, haha! This book is handy to have around, also. http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Mathematics-K-Stroud/dp/0831133279/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296605605&sr=8-1

Yes, there are certainly MANY practice problems in that particular book. :)

I agree, and my bookshelf can attest to that. :) Can you tell me what you like about it? I'm considering all options at the moment.

Would you use this as an intro to calculus, then? Or do you think it moves too quickly? We've been using Saxon and "Fred" up to now - definitely very different in style. :)

I paid for it too, which was why I was asking about it. :lol: One of my kids used it in college last year and it's sitting on the shelf. I'm thinking of recycling it. I would love to know how it compares to Larson's book.

I'll look into that one. :)

Maybe, but we'll have to see how it goes. :) Jane, are you familiar with James Stewart's text (Multivariable Calculus, Early Transcendentals), and if so, what do you think of it? http://www.amazon.com/Multivariable-Calculus-Early-Transcendentals-Stewarts/dp/049501172X/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296583024&sr=1-9

Do you have particular favorite to recommend (preferably with a complete answer key)? :)

How about Saxon Physics and Saxon Calculus taken together? One of my kids did this combination last year, and it seems to have prepared him well for the college courses he's taking this year.

Are you open to considering a secular program? If so, maybe check out Prentice Hall for biology. One of my kids used their chemistry text (got it from Kolbe, along with an answer key), and I think it has a nice balance between text and visuals (and also a virtual lab cd :)). Also check out Globe Fearon, Pearson LG for biology. Another poster, VinNY, recommended their Concepts and Challenges science texts, and the Earth Science we've recently begun using is very well laid out, with a similarly nice balance between text and grahics. We have many of the Apologia texts, and also BJU physics, and like you, I don't regard their particular formats as the best match for someone with any significant degree of dyslexia. I haven't looked at Christian Liberty Press or Power Basics, but we did try Paradigm Press and I agree with you - the approach is too simplistic. I actually gave it to one of my kids in 5th grade to cover his science requirement. :)

It's helpful in understanding the technique (basically a multi-sensory programming of phonetic sounds in a specific order). It's good for an overview, and there's enough material in it to pull together your own program, easiest if you get the "jewel case" with it. I started out using this program but eventually switched to Wilson, which eliminated the necessity of constantly hunting for appropriate practice material. :)

What type of processing issues might they be? Is math his only challenging area? One of my kids has struggled mightily with math (his processing problems include dyslexia, dysgraphia, CAPD). I'm not sure whether his math difficulties stem from severe dyslexia or "dyscalculia" - no doubt we'd get differing opinions on that one, depending on the expert. :) Anyway, he's almost 12 and working in grade level materials. The way I accomplished this was by spending, easily, about ten times as much one-on-one teaching time with him on math as I've spent my other kids. Programming the basics, one topic at a time, with workbooks, homemade worksheets, software, hundreds of examples, whatever it took to get the underlying concepts to sink in. :tongue_smilie: Lots of time building the basic framework. Luckily, once it finally sinks in, he owns it. It has just taken him a lot longer. Manipulatives were definitely necessary. Also teaching to his learning style - very important. Some websites with helpful materials: http://www.rempub.com/math http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/?subject=76S http://www.ganderpublishing.com/On-Cloud-Nine-Math.html HTH. :)

Auditory Output-Organization Deficit? This is an odd label, isn't it? It seems to lump auditory processing and output production together as though they are a single issue. It would seem to require an auditory problem be present. Poor hearing in the presence of background noise and difficulty with multi-step directions are red flags for CAPD (both my kids with CAPD have these problems). Each one was evaluated by a different speech therapist (one of the therapists specializes in CAPD) and neither therapist saw any red flags. Had them tested by a CAPD audiologist and there it was. The most recent audiologist we worked with explained that it's not uncommon for people to figure out many adaptive tricks as time goes on, but there is a particular test involving tones that no amount of compensatory strategies can fool. It might be worth having another test done.

Re MCT - I decided to give the "Paragraph Town" set a try, but when it came in the mail, my first reaction was, "What do I do with this big pile of stuff?!!". I prefer streamlined, structured materials that are pick-up-and-go. These books present the topics largely in an ongoing story and discussion form, with a moderate amount of practice sprinkled in. I was hoping to combine a couple of my kids together. But the first time I started reading one of the books to them, it became apparent that my 8 yo couldn't stand sitting and listening to it. Tried it again with my older child alone (11 yo, dyslexic) and he LOVES it. I have him read the books to me rather than reading them to him. It's definitely a far more engaging presentation than I've found with other programs. I think that it would be a great program without supplementation for a kid who enjoys the study of language and writing, and maybe also a good choice if you're trying to rev up a bit of enthusiam for a subject your kids find generally unappealing (our case). The way I've decided to use this is to have them do it together, taking turns reading it aloud to me and have them do a few of the exercises twice a week, and also use more structured materials for writing and grammar for the remainder of the week. So I'm giving it an hour or two a week, and we'll finish it whenever we finish it. :) Re "too much writing", whatever curriculum you use, you can just adapt the writing demands (or ditch them altogether if that's what works best for you at the moment. :))

That's my profile as well. There are 32 basal dominance profiles described inthe book. My profile (and your daughter's) is K, and my kids with CAPD are L's (supposedly the same as Albert Einstein:tongue_smilie:- I don't know whether that's good or bad, but either way, your daughter's profile would be similar. According to the book my"left eye scans from right to left". No point changing eye dominance (if it's even possible :confused:). I just hold my book to the left when reading and slant my paper kind of at a right angle to the desk as I write. The impact is minor. The author says that the learner's greatest challenge may be to access the pieces of information in the brain in order to communicate them. This may be true, but honestly, it's never held me back, except that I'm not as verbally eloquent as I'd like to be. But it's not noticeable to anyone else. I'm working very hard on building my kids' vocabularies because the more words a person has stored in their minds, the easier it is to work around the expressive language glitch. Both my CAPD kids have the auditory integration type.

I like these books, too. And another Carla Hannaford book, "The Dominance Factor" (neurology/learning style). I was a bit sceptical at first, but after we did the tests and matched up each person in the family with the associated list for their particular dominance profile, I was amazed at how spot-on the match-ups were. It was freaky. :eek: It could have been a coincidence, perhaps. But we have a big family, and every one of them matched up.

Yllek is very fortunate in her therapist. I hope you can find someone with a similarly effective attack plan. (I haven't had much luck around here :tongue_smilie:). Yes, a multi-pronged attack is the best approach, I think. V/V workbooks can help with the verbalizing practice (but really, many other materials could do the same thing.)

I agree - it sounds like it could be an expressive language weakness (another common problem within the dyslexia array). I have one child formally dx'd with Expressive Language Disorder, and a couple of others who exhibit signs. I suspect I also have it to some degree. For more information, "The Source For Processing Disorders" (Linguisystems) has a section addressing remediation and compensation for Language Processing Disorders. http://www.linguisystems.com/searchResults.php?searchtype=1&dosearch=1&keywords=The+Source+For+Processing+Disorders According to this book, "The neurological Processing Continuum Model supports the fact that we aren't yet able to "fix" or repair brains that function differently. However, by implementing modification strategies to assist or compensate for deficits, the brain can assume the required language processing functions in a limited way." Although I don't like the idea that there's only one "fix" that's out of reach for people with atypical neurology, there is some truth to it. Ultimately, no matter how hard I might try to fix myself, I will always have SOME weaknesses in this area. The trick is to minimize them by strengthening the processing as much as possible, and then finding ways to compensate above and beyond that. Also, working memory plays a significant role in expressive language. Two of my kids have lower than normal working memory, and I can see that same problem in myself. For instance, my husband has finally accepted the fact that he can't just tell me directions and expect me to arrive - I really need to write it down, and preferably have a map. I read an article (I think it was on the Eide's blog) that one of the doctors didn't discover for years after graduating from Harvard Med that she had lower than normal working memory, and had been unconsciously compensating for years. :) V/V can help, I think, but I don't use it in the way it was intended. The workbooks provide an excellent, structured format for expressive language practice, both verbal and written. Here's a suggestion for working memory enhancement practice: "No-Glamour" Memory http://www.linguisystems.com/searchResults.php?searchtype=1&dosearch=1&keywords=no-glamour+memory I don't think there's a quick fix for this. Working on memory, vocabulary and expressive language, plus developing self-management tricks such as lists, planners, etc., and also study strategies (I like Andrew Pudewa's key word note-taking system) can be really helpful over time.

She wants her clothes to be TIGHT! (Maybe a legacy of the therapeutic "Bear Hug" vest?) She's 14, so that's not such a great idea. And she rolls her pants up way over her ankles like she's expecting a flood. :lol: I've spent years scouring the bargain racks for clothes (she used to systematically wreck her clothes, unravel her socks, etc.). I saw some jeans online for $8 and bought 10 pairs at once. They've lasted a while. Then I introduced her to sock knitting and that finally cured her of ripping socks apart because she made them. So I think the socks are safe at last. But then she started making these TIGHT TIGHT sweaters. So the battle continues... I can easily imagine her going around all the time in a scout uniform or some other favorite outfit. :) I've dug in my heels over the years, because left to her own devices, that's what she'd do, without a doubt.

Erica, in addition to ElizabethB's excellent suggestions, here's a link to book by a COVD doctor, Kenneth Lane with exercises, lesson plans, etc. It might be a cheaper way to make some observations regarding the vision issue and help you decide whether you want to follow up on it later. I tried this book and I could see improvements, particularly in the written exercises. (But once again, I'm not sure if the underlying problem was visual or related to fine motor weakness :tongue_smilie:). I'd love some insight as to whether the vision therapy assessments are able to distinguish one from the other before I take the next step. I know my son wouldn't perform perfectly on a reading test, for instance, because his fluency is not up to par, but in real life, he works effectively in grade level material, can string tiny beads, etc. So I'm still unsure whether he's a candidate or not. :confused: http://www.amazon.com/Developing-Ocular-Visual-Perceptual-Skills/dp/1556425953/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295614375&sr=8-1