While perhaps not a *true* treatment for dyslexia, VT helps dyslexics immensely. My son had several visual processing issues as well as dyslexia; by the time he had finsished a year of VT, he had jumped several years in reading comprehension, and his dyslexia was well-managed for several years. He finally overcame his dyslexia after doing 4 months of Cellfield Therapy. VT is better than nothing for dyslexics, and there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that it does help them.

I loved TG. The scenes where she was frightened pulled on my heartstrings, but you know what was most powerful for me? Her mother. When she faced down that doctor when Temple was diagnosed, I wanted to stand up and cheer (can you tell we haven't had much help from the medical community?). When she sat on the steps and persevered through teaching Temple to speak, I cried. And at the end, when Temple stood up and credited her success to her mother for pushing her and not accepting second best from her, I burst into sobs. I pray that my boys will be able to say that some day, and that all of *this* will pay off in the end.

Read The Out of Sync Child ; maybe you'll see your dd in it...sounds like Auditory Processing or Sensory Integration Disorder to me. Also, she could benefit from a Vision Therapy assessment as well. You didn't mention how well she reads, but kids with dyslexia and visual processing issues struggle with spellilng and can be helped so much by Vision Therapy. Definitely keep home schooling! She's only 6, so if she gets a bit behind now - but gets the help she needs with her auditory and spelling problems - she'll easily catch up down the road.

Read The Out of Sync Child and see if you think it applies to your ODS. As far as the obsessing about dad's work hours, I can identify with that. My 3 sons greet my DH at the end of the day as if he's been fighting in the Middle East for a year. :rolleyes: I love that they have a great relationship with their dad, but drama much?! Anyway, could you or your DH do some kind of spreadsheet or even just a list on paper of when dad's expected to leave and return home, and then post it in a prominent place? That way your ODS can just look at the paper and be reassured. If Dad's going to be late, he should call and manage everyone's expectations. This helps my boys (and me!) a lot; we'd rather get a phone call and know he's going to be 30 min late than keep looking at the clock and wondering. My DS8 has been diagnosed with ADHD, borderline ODD, and SPD (older boys have issues, too, but not as profound). After a year of OT and liberally applying grace when he tantrumed in ways you describe your son doing (because we had a hard time most of the time discerning what was SPD and what was willful defiance), we have begun to crack down on the discipline and structure again (after getting over our guilt for disciplining SPD kids for years before we knew it was SPD). It's been hard and tiring, but it is working. It sounds like your ODS struggles with the unknown. A lot of people, myself included, hate surprises of any kind...very unsettling. Maybe you already do this, but make sure you tell him what your expectations are before a task, ie: "It's time to _____. I expect you to ______ without crying or having a fit. I expect you to finish ___ in ____ minutes. Let's look at the clock/set the timer so you know how much time you have. If you do not finish ____ in ____ minutes, or if you have a fit, _____ will be your consequence." Parenting kids with issues is pickin' exhausting and often seems like you're not making any headway. You're not alone. :grouphug:

How did you know to pick these particular games? We have Wii Fit and Wii Sports, and maybe Wii Olympics, but I would have no idea which ones to pick to get all of those benefits.

This is how my kids swallow pills (the older ones have worked up to swallowing multiple pills this way, and I can swallow over 1/2 dozen at a time if needed): Take a drink but don't swallow. Tip your head way back and look up at the ceiling. Open your mouth and drop the pill(s) in. While still looking up, swallow.

Will you please tell me more about this? We've done many of the same things as you have (we follow Dianne Craft's Bio of Behavior), but DS8.75 still needs help focusing. I'm against meds except as a last resort, so if there's a supplement "like ritalin," I'd love to hear about it. My boys already take pycnogenol, but it's not helping him focus enough. Thanks, Becky

WORTH IT!! PRICELESS!! :grouphug: Hard to use that credit card, I know, but you're making an investment in the future of your child. Did I say it's worth it? :)

Look at Dianne Craft's Biology of Behavior. Pycnogenol is great for helping with focus; it has a variety of other health benefits, too, but it's expensive.

I have used Mom's Plan It as a wall calendar for years and love it. I didn't know they have a portable version. Thanks for the info - it looks great!

I need suggestions for a portable, non-electronic organizer (no iTouches, etc). Something like a "Day-Timer" I guess. I don't want anything thick and bulky; it has to fit in my purse. There are 5 of us, so it has to be big enough for me to write all of our appointments, lessons, and responsibilities on it. Does anyone have a favorite brand? Thanks, Becky

I'm using it with my 8th grader, because he can use a little extra help with outlining and narration. I use Michael Clay Thompson's grammar curriculum, and will combine some of his writing with WWS as the year progresses. I know he and SWB have completely different philosophies on teaching writing, but this DS has been doing advanced academic writing already, so I know he's ready for MCT.

Definitely use the Extra Practice and Challenging Word Problems books that Singapore sells. I also print extra practice sheets from online and use Khan Academywhen they need a different explanation of a concept. My DS 13 did Singapore Standards Edition for 2 years (finishing with 6B), supplemented by Life of Fred in the summer. He tested into Veritas Academy's Algebra I for 7th grade this fall with little problem.

DUH!:rolleyes: I'm frustrated to the point of not being able to see the "tell more" button. Thanks, Kandty!

I need some help from Math U See users, please. My son struggles with math in general, "advanced" division in particular (like 38492/41). He has dyslexia and a sequencing problem, and those issues seem to have created a black hole, sucking any possible comprehension out of the room. He took the placement test, which indicated Delta placement. Here's my concern...The Delta Table of Contents on the MUS website lists the following topics: Building a Rectangle Solve for an Unknown Divide by 1 and 2 Symbols: "÷", "/" Divide by 10 Symbol of Half Rectangle Divide by 5, by 3 Perpendicular and Parallel Lines Divide by 9 Finding Area of a Parallelogram He already knows all of that, except he probably won't remember how to find the area of a parallelogram. The table of contents doesn't list the kind of division he needs. Is it in the Delta level and just not listed, or will I find it in Epsilon? Thanks, Becky

Actually, I would seriously overthink this. As with everything, you get what you pay for. Try this test from Supplementquality.com: "Some manufacturers claim that many brands of vitamin tablets are so hard that they go through the body undissolved, and quote nurses who find vitamin pills in the bedpans of their patients. While this can happen, here's a simple "acid test" you can apply to find out if your multi—or any other pill!—dissolves properly: 1. Place approximately one cup of white vinegar in a small bowl and warm it to 98 degrees or so by placing it inside a larger bowl of water that you "top up" several times with warm water from the tap. (The goal is to keep the vinegar reasonably close to 98 degrees for half an hour.) 2. Drop your multi-vitamin (or other pill) into the vinegar, and jostle it about every five minutes or so by gently shaking or swirling the cup. While you can also stir the mix with a wooden stick or toothpick, be careful not to touch the tablet itself. 3. The tablet should dissolve within 30 minutes. (This is the USP standard for all pharmaceutical tablets.) If it doesn't dissolve within a full hour, it's not doing you much good. Get another brand!" Some good brands are Nature's Way, Solaray, Nature's Plus, Doctor's Best. I've found the lowest prices anywhere at Vitacost.com.

That would be great! I know we'll be in DC around 10/30 because my DH is running in the Marine Corps Marathon. We were planning to go for a few days before to do a school field trip vacation thing, but might do it the week after instead. As you can imagine, both Philly and DC have fabulous living history to offer. We're about an hour from Philly and 2 from DC. So do let me know if you ever head north. :)

When you told us that your 9th grader was sure that you had never covered nouns with him, and that you were relieved when that first college acceptance letter came...well, I'm surprised that my own sigh of relief wasn't audible. I truly felt like I was releasing a burden. Knowing that you - the PhD curriculum-writing guru that you are - have some of the same battles, concerns and (dare I say?) fears that I do makes me feel closer to normal and less fearful. Thanks for being honest with us. :001_smile: I'm a very round hole with some square peg sons, and "Don't frustrate your son," is a good mantra for me. I know I'll be repeating it frequently this year.

My gut feeling is usually, "Do whatever Susan says to do," so your nebulous answer is not particularly helpful. :D With only 2 years of homeschooling my 3 "real" sons under my belt, I tend to err on the side of legalism (stemming from fear that I'll completely screw the boys up and they'll end up living with me forever - or under a bridge, or in a shack by the river). So here's what Susan says: Don't frustrate your son. I will now go off to repeat that ad infinitum while eating chocolate, until it becomes my gut feeling. Thanks, Susan. :)

Define "near." We're in DE. So, nearer than you were in HI, but not all *that* near. ;)

OK, point taken, Denise. ;) But STILL, DON'T you sometimes?!:w00t: Get discouraged, I mean. I have 3 sons and they're brain-farting (and otherwise, as well! :rolleyes:) all over the place!

DS #3 has to get braces (he's almost 9). We dodged the bullet with his 2 older brothers, so I'm completely inexperienced here. Our dentist recommended one ortho, many friends recommended a different one, and another friend recommended a 3rd who's close to our home. Tell me how to handle a consult. What do I ask? DS has Sensory Processing Disorder, which doesn't bother him at the dentist, but will definitely be a problem during a long orthodontic appointment, so I know to talk to the ortho about that. But what else? I have a panoramic xray from the dentist. Do I just show it to the 3 docs and say, "How much and for how long?" THanks!

The classical school my boys used to attend uses IEW. I HATED it with a passion. I was so happy to dump it for WWE when we started to homeschool. I'll be happy to never see another 3 point paragraph in my life. I do know some kids who've used it there from 1st - 12th, and they're excellent (pun intended) writers of original compositions. I think if you see the program through to the end, it delivers the goods....making it out of the grammar stage is the hard part.

So happy to have stumbled onto this thread, if for nothing else than that I forgot to print the Teacher's Edition. DUH! Anyway, here's my question: Susan, I learned from you in Valley Forge that I was expecting too much from my kids in terms of writing (the 2nd & 5th graders were doing WWE as well as narrating every day for reading AND twice each week for history), which explains sooooo much about our '10/'11 school year. So now I'm paranoid about WWS and narrations in general. My 6th & 8th grader are doing WWS, and I need to know how to correct their mistakes. Last year with my 5th grader, I'd say, "You have 4 mistakes on the first line," and leave him to figure out his spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes for himself. This sometimes took forever, and I'd get to the point where I'd say, "It's 1 spelling error, 1 grammar, and 2 punctuation." Is that the right approach, or should I point out his mistakes to him? Thanks! Becky

I say the same thing! "WHO is your geography teacher?!" is what my kids would've heard, while inside I'd be thinking, "I need to call 1-800-PUBLICSCHOOL!" because I'm done wasting my time here! Yes, they're brain farts for sure, but sometimes don't you get discouraged by them?