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Orthodox6

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Everything posted by Orthodox6

  1. Sorry ! I was under attack by a playful beagle at the time of typing, so erred. Eagle of the Ninth definitely is Roman Britain, though. Who has reissued them? Some of ours have disintegrated from use. My boys read her books when they were in the 10-11 age span. I don't know how to gauge "reading level"; I just let them read what they like. In general, my kids are "warped" toward a lot of the older British children's literature, because that is what I instinctively chose myself as a child. (I'm nearly 54.) Antonia
  2. May I "second" Misty's recommendation? The only thing I would add is that although the two often can be comorbid, as she notes, sometimes Asperger's is mistaken for OCD. Also with Asperger's, check for the overlaps with NonVerbal Learning Disorder, just in case. Our 15-yr old ds with Asperger's and NVLD is happily stable now, after an explosive start to life. He can be a hoot-and-a-half, especially now that he is both mature enough and stable enough to poke fun at himself for his many foibles ! Antonia
  3. Checking back in whilst dinner simmers. . . I really appreciate all the experience and observations ! DD has me revising nearly everything we did in hs'ing ! She seems almost unrelated to her three elder brothers in "how" she learns. This, despite her dx closely mimicking that of one brother. I would bet my mortgage on her having ADHD, although "the professionals" won't commit for definite yet. (I have woeful-level ADHD, so recognize the characteristics !) She has mild NVLD. The p-docs are split between MDD and anxiety spectrum. At any rate, this places her very like the 19-yr ds who has ADHD (woeful level, too), mild NVLD, and anxiety spectrum. [Another ds has Asperger's and mild NVLD.] Fully agree with all who champion instilling self-confidence in a child, rather than force-feeding a "dream curriculum." That's why I'm trying to find what is best for dd herself -- but simultaneously factoring in that she shall be good college material in the future, so should not be limited by curricula which "feel good", but which don't prepare her for subsequent higher education. A sidewinder question for you all with special needs students -- and also for that subset of you all who are "special needs" individuals yourselves -- Have you experienced much trouble from trying to teach a subject-specific curriculum which "fits" your child, but which definitely does not "fit" you ? I'm reminded to ask that question because of the incoming recommendations of other math programs. Some years ago, I was reading the then-current, "philosophy-of-the-day" of "learning styles". The "ka-ching !" insight flashed that "teaching styles" are inextricable from the teacher's own "learning styles." If the teacher cannot learn from the material, s/he is unlikely to teach well from the material. [unsolicited Teaching Tip of the Day !] At the time, I was trying to figure out how best to work with the [now 19-yr old] ds described above. I realized that I was hamstrung, to great extent, trying to teach him math if the program was not one with which I fruitfully could learn myself. One close friend exerted her utmost persuasive skills to talk me into Miquon Math. I told her it was "too weird." She then clobbered me with "Making Math Meaningful". I dutifully tried to teach from the first grade book for a week, then chucked it aside, telling my friend that if I could not even understand the directions in the teacher guide, it was pointless to continue. (For comic relief, I now reveal that I was "math competent" throughout high school, took all the honors math classes, and survived college calculus.) I never have looked much at MUS, but can do so at the upcoming local hs book fair. Teaching Textbooks clearly appealed to my dd when I showed her the sample lesson streams onsite this morning. Over the course of three boys, I have taught from Horizons, Saxon, Calvert, Sadlier, Singapore, UCSMP, ABeka, BJUP, VideoText, Jacobs, Teaching Textbooks, Foerster and, even, that Hungarian program available on the Internet. (Yep, the Queen of Failed Curricular Attempts ! :lol: :o ) Thank you for the reminder not to "put all my eggs in one basket". How do you all "balance"use and quantity of supplements, though, so as not to overwhelm a student who already feels overpowered by math ? DD has "spatial issues" and "sequencing" issues, is what I remember most. (Want to get my hands on the written report ASAP !) We were counselled to work hard on bolstering her fluence with basic math facts. To that end, they suggested a couple of tools. One was a rich-man's price tag software, so forget that. Another was the FlashMaster, which we already had, courtesy of using Sonlight curricula at one time. So I have stepped up her use of that aid. I apologize for the prolixity. Again, I'm deeply appreciative of you all ! Antonia
  4. Hello ! I posted a long enquiry on the special-needs board, related to Teaching Textbooks. Rather than reproduce the text here, this is a link: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=921396#post921396 If that does work, here is a "tinyurl" : http://tinyurl.com/clamj7 I will be very grateful for any guidance ! Thank you, Antonia
  5. The books by Sutclif which have been mentioned thus far are not the ones my boys liked. We fell for all of her books set in Roman Britain ! (I had read them as a child.) They may even be out-of-print by now, and available only by scouring the used market. When our family started hs'ing, fifteen years ago, all of these were sold in the standard chain bookstores. Not any more. :smash:
  6. Thank you for the reminder ! Until about two years ago, I participated in the Sonlight fora, which uses this same web-ware. How quickly I forgot how to navigate !
  7. Hello ! I am new to these fora. If I could locate a "search" function on this website, I would use it, rather than trouble folks with unnecessary questions. Although we do not homeschool with classical ed, we do incorporate elements of the philosophy. We recently had our 10-yr dd complete a thorough battery of educational testing to confirm/deny suspected LD issues. As expected, there are strong math LD issues at play. The disparity between dd's math situation and her verbal abilities startled the researcher ! We have not yet received the final written report; we have received only the top-line oral discussion of results. Currently, dd is in the 4th grade (for accounting purposes). She did not fare well with my preferred K-6 math program (Horizon), and is doing a bit better with Calvert math. Not long ago, she started the Calvert Grade 3 program. I have wondered whether Teaching Textbooks ("TT") would be a good program for her. I understand from what I have read so far, that the TT program is sadly deficient in content and depth for the math "able" and for the math "normal" student. I can see that readily from the samples I have found. I am wondering, nevertheless, whether TT might be a good choice -- for the short run, or, until end of 6th grade -- in order to strengthen dd's self-esteem. [and, obviously, to help her to learn math !] She took the downloaded placement test this morning, and fits right into the TT grade 4 program which, according to the phone rep with whom I spoke, should be released for public sale on Friday. My dd liked the presentation-style of the website demos. She evinced skepticism that it really is a "4th grade program", when she saw some of the topics covered. I do not want to explain to her that TT is a "dumbed-down" program, as that seems counter-productive to the goal of increasing her self-confidence enough to make math less "the enemy." In case anybody suggests Saxon math as an option, please forgive my blunt dislike of that program. Others of my children have used Saxon at times, and the ds currently in an outside school is stuck using Saxon algebra I right now. I dislike the program, my children dislike the program, and we have spent time with every level up through algebra I. My hope for dd, if it be realistic, is to strengthen and build her math skills sufficiently to use, eventually, the Jacobs' textbooks, which we consider quite student-friendly. (If I'm dreaming wildly, somebody please tell me !) (I know that she won't be able to use my personal favorite of Forster's algebra.) Thank you, most sincerely, for any advice. Antonia
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