Yep, here too. Has anybody called them? Wonder if they would replace them?

My whole family read the Riordan books. And I agree with Red Squirrel - my boys also read all the Artemis Fowl books.

Can someone recommend a website, book, or whatever for educating Mom? We're using MEP math and I'm struggling to teach the statistics/probability parts. I've looked on their website, but haven't found anything yet. I might need to back up in the teachers manuals - anyone know where they started this stuff? THANKS! Nicole

We also have the attitude issues and video game issues. Maybe they're related? My 11 year old ds finds math hard and that is where all his attitude issues show up. So yes that is one part of the problem that we need to work on, but, like the others have suggested, his struggles with the academic area are also part of the problem. My oldest ds is dyslexic so I have some experience there too. You mentioned speech issues and vision testing. Did you have concerns about dyslexia? Dyslexia is really very common, 1 in 5 students according to some research, AND children with late speech are much more likely to be dyslexic. Plus dyslexia isn't just a yes or no thing. It's all the in between too. You can be mentally gifted and still your brain uses different wiring than the typical brain does when reading. A dyslexia specializing reading program has more practice, tries to incorporate multiple senses, uses explicit rules, etc. So thinking a child has at least dyslexic tendencies and needs an Orton Gillingham multisensory approach would never hurt. Nicole PS I don't care for all the sounds of the phonograms at the beginning either. We've used AAS like that. I prefer to add them as you go. We used Wilson Language with our oldest.

Fyi - Mardel just sent out an email about an IN STORE 50% off clearance on educational materials. If you live near a store, may want to have a look. Nicole

I've tried searching for past threads, but haven't had much luck. I'm interested in opinions on which "classics" are boy friendly and which I should let them skip. For instance, it seems every list includes Little Women. But as much as I loved it as a child, I just can't see it appealing to boys. Can y'all point me to past threads or other places online? Or what classic books do your boys just skip? Thanks! Nicole

Yep, I agree with all the above. Even when doing WWE with older students I've needed to do smaller parts, more reps, chunking, etc. If my student was not an auditory learner like op's, I'd do lots of studied dictations letting him/her look at the sentence first. Also, be sure to talk about this with your student. These dictations are hard for everyone. They are trying to stretch the student's abilities. Give lots of reminding and lots of praise for what they do get!

My 11 year old ds, who reads at a high level, has great comprehension and amazing speed, can't spell worth a darn. Today he was writing "quote" and he spelled it "qoute". This has been going on for some time. He can't be using phonics when he spells; has to be trying to spell from sight, right? I put him in AAS last year and we've been through two levels. Sometimes I think I've just been a bad teacher and he's lazy. And sometimes I wonder if we are dealing with a form of dyslexia. His older brother is dyslexic, but the regular kind if there is such a thing. Probably Dad and Grandma too. This ds reads fabulously. But his writing is horrendous and his spelling atrocious. He hates anything that forces him to put pencil to paper, especially narrations. And he hates math because he can't seem to get the facts memorized. Ugg. First day back stinks. I guess I just need some hugs. Nicole

Thanks Hunter. I picked up the science books at these good prices - Mystery of periodic table and Galen... as well as the Herodotus book. (I already have the Archimedes book.)

So I've been reading like crazy. I greatly appreciate your threads on writing/writing programs, Ruth. So much to think about. Quick question though. You posted the following in 2012. Has it changed now that your kids are further along? What I will be using: For 5th through 8th, we will use WWS with Killgallon to shore up the lack of style in WWS. I like the modern writing style in WWS. 9th and 10th LtoW, I may even compact levels 1 and 2 into 1 year. This is early rhetoric. 11th -12th : Rhetoric. We will be writing across the curriculum without a curriculum. For an overview of rhetoric, Ds will read Corbett both years; for critical reading, we will apply Corbett to essays; for arrangement, we will use They Say/ I Say; and for style we will continue with Killgallon.

Here it is. http://tendingourlordsgarden.blogspot.com/p/recipes.html

For Hannah's start here. https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Hannah_hs_helps/files/HISTORY/ Then look for timeline cards under SOTW1, etc. or some are listed under ancient, medieval, early modern, etc. And wasn't there another mother here who made big half page cards for a wall timeline? I'll see if I can find that one too.

Can you suggest some reading - books or webpages - to help me understand where Writing with Skill is headed? It feels...IDK. I can't see the forest for the trees, I guess. Thanks! Nicole

I see that Killgallon offers an elementary, middle school and high school version. As well as "Grammar," "Paragraphs" and "Sentence Composing." Anyone know where they overlap? Which are the must haves and which can I live without? Thanks! Nicole

Missed the old chat, but... My hubby got me a pj set from Soma that is incredibly soft and comfy. Maybe check there. ;)