Cheryl, someone on the learning challenges board mentioned your book yesterday, and it made me cry just to hear that it was an available resource. I felt like I would have a place to start in the midst of my confusion, and ordered it immediately. I also appreciate your words of wisdom in your post. I love the idea of having a lunch date and having this talk with my daughter. Thank you for taking the time to help me!

Heathermomster, for processing speed: coding 7, symbol search 6, (cancellation 7)

Well, she is reading when I make her, and math is ok if I am sitting there working through each problem together, but she can't write above (I would guess) a 1st grade level, and I can already tell that math will not easily progress past where she is now. Has anyone used Right Start with a lower IQ/ADHD kid? It really helped her when she was learning addition facts, but I only made it about 2/3 through the B level bc of how teacher intensive it was and I had so many others I was teaching at that time. Now my older ones are pretty independent, so I could give it another try, but what I've read indicates it isn't the best for SN kids (which again, not sure if she is SN).

I may delete those scores in a bit for privacy. Don't quote, please.

Information 9 visual puzzles 9 figure weights 12 Picture span 3 was lowest FSIQ 80 GSI 83 CPI 71 verbal comprehension 81 visual spatial 89 fluid reasoning 94 (bc of figure weights, the other subtest was a 6) working memory 69 Processing speed 80

We tried several programs and finally had reading success with abeka. And Calvin & Hobbes :D And really I don't know if it was Abeka or time, or the consistency. Again, this was with constant, focused daily work with me. 3+ hours every day. I cringe thinking how I was pushing her. I just kept thinking, she's basically on grade level, maybe she just needs more time. Ugh. She can decode well, I think on grade level, and comprehension is not too bad, but she says she hates to read, other than Calvin & Hobbes. Although she is reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and not totally hating that.

OT is a great idea, ditto swimming and martial arts. I don't even know how to start thinking about academics for next year, though. We just finished Math Mammoth 3B. I had to sit with her for every single problem, but we did it. No way do I think we should move to MM4, but don't want her to lose the progress she has made, especially since she is a bit stronger in math than other areas. Language Arts I can think through more easily, although if anyone has ideas for spelling I sure would love to hear them. That area is particularly tough for her. Otherwise I think a ton of reading aloud, some copywork/handwriting, and some assigned reading will be enough. Maybe listening to her little brother do grammar, but I'm not pushing that. It really didn't stick this year at all. I also don't know what, if anything, to tell her at this stage. Or whether to give this info to the school system. I doubt her annual testing next year will hold at grade level. Also maybe there are some programs I should consider for her if she is eligible. But I don't know the downside to telling the school & having it on her record, if any. Thoughts?

I'm definitely not hung up on college, I guess I'm just trying to wrap my head around what this means for her long term. I definitely want to try and help her find her strength areas. I would not say she has talents we have identified at this point, other than a love for animals and babies. She tends to be kind of clumsy and not athletic, and she also is a bit on the irritable side, which may be partly her ADHD. We have to think about whether to try medication, mostly to help her irritability and impulsivity. Definitely plan on relaxing more this year, but also want to not lose ground if we shouldn't be. I'm not even sure. Gah!

I have been homeschooling for a very long time, and thought I had a handle on this whole thing, until I started teaching my almost-10yo. She has been very hard to teach, and I thought she had some LDs but she always managed to stay about at grade level, with a WHOLE LOT of one-on-one Mom time, so I waited to have her tested. Probably a big mistake. So we finally had her evaluated this month, and it turns out that in addition to ADHD (we expected this), her IQ is 80. Her subtest scores were all very similar (with a couple higher ones) and I feel like the evaluator did a great job and that this is accurate. I'm trying not to beat myself up as the worst mom ever for waiting so long and pushing this poor child. I guess the good news is she was working at grade level on most areas of her achievement testing, but I have made this kid pretty miserable for years trying to keep her at grade level. I don't know where to even start. I know I need to back off and I want do a lot of reading aloud, but what else can I do for her? How do I continue to stretch her and not close doors, while also not making her hate school any more? Can a child with an 80 iq even think about college? Driving a car? Is 80 even considered SN? Someone tell me how to start turning this around, please!

I have been homeschooling for a very long time, and thought I had a handle on this whole thing, until I started teaching my almost-10yo. She has been very hard to teach, and I thought she had some LDs but she always managed to stay about at grade level, with a WHOLE LOT of one-on-one Mom time, so I waited to have her tested. Probably a big mistake. So we finally had her evaluated this month, and it turns out that in addition to ADHD (we expected this), her IQ is 80. Her subtest scores were all very similar (with a couple higher ones) and I feel like the evaluator did a great job and that this is accurate. I'm trying not to beat myself up as the worst mom ever for waiting so long and pushing this poor child. I guess the good news is she was working at grade level on most areas of her achievement testing, but I have made this kid pretty miserable for years trying to keep her at grade level. I don't know where to even start. I know I need to back off and I want do a lot of reading aloud, but what else can I do for her? How do I continue to stretch her and not close doors, while also not making her hate school any more? Can a child with an 80 iq even think about college? Driving a car? Someone tell me how to start turning this around, please!