Thank you all for your replies and links. I am reading and re-reading all of them. DS is 12 and was typically considered one of the smartest in the class until about 5th grade. That's when math became an issue (compounded by the school changing curricula three times in three years...). His verbal skills have always been excellent but the jury is still out on the reading comprehension. I thought he was having some comprehension difficulties last year but this year he has surprised me and seems to be doing really well. He is reading a lot more. I have streamlined our homeschool to focus firstly on "reading, writing, arithmetic," so perhaps turning down the noise of all the other topics has helped. I will be monitoring this closely. OhElizabeth: The Iowa scores are the national % rank, based on age. Again, what gives me pause is how far apart they are rather than where they are, and this appears to be consistent with the achievement tests. I had to look up what "pragmatics" was and I don't think that is a primary concern. He seems pretty aware of social cues and is generally very considerate, but as I write that I have to admit that I'm talking about his at-home behavior. He clearly is experiencing anxiety at school and it may be manifesting in an issue here. I have always thought his biggest social problem was that he doesn't suffer fools well; ie he doesn't like to put energy into relationships he does not want to pursue (classic of his black/white interpretation of the world). So working in groups is hard when he doesn't like the other kids or feels like they don't like him. I will look more into this -- I did order some Social Thinking workbooks to look through; we'll see where that leads. As for getting a diagnosis, there are a lot of acronyms flying around and I don't think I understand why a diagnosis is important. It all seems like a pretty grey area with a lot of overlap, cross opinions and misdiagnoses. I don't think his issues are severe enough for him to be "on the spectrum," but I would like to be able to identify areas where he is weak. The trick is figuring out what those weaknesses are because they are so well masked. At the moment, I don't think I am looking for a diagnosis, services or an IEP, etc. But then again, maybe I'm too focused on the short term. I appreciate the advice here from those of you who have lived this. For now, I have him set up with a developmental vision screening and a psych eval (the waiting list is less than I thought -- it should be 4-6 months). I think I am going to try for a neuro-psych eval as well; seems like the more information I can get and the more sources I can tap, the better off we will be. Thanks again for all your advice and help; it is much appreciated. This is a lot to take in.

The NVLD is what I am investigating, so if you know any OTC / DIY tests that focus there, I think those would be helpful. How does one administer the Woodcock Johnson test? Is that something I could / should do at home or does a doctor / psych do that? Our insurance will cover it, but we have to pony up the deductible, and that's either $1,500 or $2,000, so that's where that number comes from. As for other reasons to be concerned -- he has had sensory processing issues for years. But nothing has been overt enough -- maybe I should say problematic enough -- to warrant formal testing. It's all been "quirkiness." Because he has been the youngest kid in class, we figured many of these issues were due to immaturity. And since he is also a very bright child, he has likely been able to mask the depth of his issues. But I recently got feedback from a teacher that she suspects something is amiss (mostly social and organizational / executing on directions), so here I am, thinking it might be time to quit guessing and assuming and try to collect some actual data so I can narrow down what kind of professional would be most helpful. Sounds like maybe I start with a regular psych eval? (Waiting list is about a year here; we are already on it.) Our school counselor said the regular psych evals are helpful but tend to give generic info as opposed to the neuropsych eval, that drill down to specific areas of learning. Anyway, the Iowa Cogat discrepancy is huge: 62 on Verbal, 31 on Quantitative and 6 on NonVerbal. I can explain *some* of this away (bad day, test fatigue, boredom, etc.) but not sure I can explain all of it away. His Iowa Achievement scores were low as well -- lower than expected, but to be fair, he had not yet been presented with some of the math material because we took some time to reset and fill in gaps that year. He also isn't fond of taking tests in general, so I would expect some margin of error due to a dislike of testing. I have also wondered about the developmental vision testing that people talk about. His eyesight is fine but he has never been tested in this way. Thanks for your responses!

Question for all of you who have gone down the LD evaluation path: Are there any DIY tests that you can administer at home to get a preliminary idea of whether a full $1500-2000 eval is a good idea? We got some unusual results on the Iowa Cogat but it is not very informative. I am hoping to find some "softer" at-home tests before I schedule a formal neuro-psych evaluation. Specifically, I am looking for more data points on what I suspect might be an LD; I would simply like more "proof" of what I think I am seeing. (Low non-verbal score, high verbal) I really don't want to worry DS that there might be an issue unless/until I am more sure. TIA

Question for all of you who have gone down the eval path: is there any DIY tests that you can administer at home to get a preliminary idea of whether a full $1500 eval is a good idea? We have done the Iowa Cogat but it is not very informative. TIA

You're welcome! I hope it goes well for you guys!

Mine are required to do one large project, divided into two parts / two semesters. This year, our class covers Reconstruction to Modern. They are to create a US History Museum in Minecraft. The museum must include several exhibits of noteworthy history (I think I said 6-8 per semester, ie two weeks per exhibit), and each exhibit must have a build component and a writing component (researched museum-esque context cards). Once the museum is done, they must make a YouTube-type video that walks viewers through the museum and explains the historic significance of each exhibit. That's really the only output I require for history. We have a lot of lively discussion in this class and we do some worksheets,but there's not much writing. We do writing elsewhere. We also have assigned reading (with essays, etc) that often supplement history, but I classify that as part of our literature class.

For the Hakim history books, I generally assign a Minecraft build and they have to produce some kind of text to go along with it, such as explaining the historical significance of the build, posing and answering questions about it, writing paragraphs about it, etc. This is all done in Minecraft. We do enough writing elsewhere that I'm not concerned about adding more here. Besides, our history class is always such a great discussion / current events / sociology class as well. I really think the discussion is the heart of it. Good luck. : )

DS, 11 INDEPENDENT READING: Sounder Lord of the Flies The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Cycle of the Werewolf (Stephen King) Bridge to Terebithia Haddix: Among the Hidden The Giver The Hobbit -- maybe General Butterfingers Maus I & II Number the Stars Night Churchill (Paul Johnson) The Cay The River Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World Tuck Everlasting Watsons To to Birmingham Fahrenheit 451 Within Reach: My Everest Story Basher 52 The Outsiders READ ALOUD: Outliers (Gladwell) The Night Gardener or Jasper Jones Frankenstein 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or Treasure Island A Midnight Clear How Sugar Changed the World Pop & Bud (family history) The Abyss or The Hot Zone

We read a graphic novel and did Laura Randazzo's activities from TpT (excellent). Also watched the Leonardo DiCaprio movie, then saw it at the Globe. Everything we did was a huge hit, for all of us. DS11, DS12.

Great feedback, thank you all. I think what I'm going to do is this: Get them both and try some of each. I think that's really the only way to tell. (!!) I know we can't go wrong with Saxon, and despite the sheer number of problems, I think we both like / need the structure and predictability of it. But I love the explanations AOPS provides, and I think using that as my teaching resource makes sense. Plus, we can do some of the questions orally during the teaching segment. Hopefully I can use both of them effectively, and if AOPS ignites his imagination, we can go full-bore with that. Thanks for chiming in.

DS claims not to like math, but I can see that he has a mathy brain. He has just never been turned on by the subject. We pulled him out of PS after 5th partly because the PS math curriculum was inconsistent and terrible. He was not doing the work and was getting behind. Not knowing where to start, we began with TT5 to fill in gaps. We chose TT because he loves computers and because his motor skills are slower than his brain -- he gets really bogged down writing things out. He complained about being bored with TT5 but kept getting questions wrong. I think it was because he was bored, but it was so hard to tell. I made him stick to it and tried to get him to care about right answers, regardless of the difficulty, but that didn't work as well as I would have liked. So I would like to take a different approach this year. He has shown an ability to grasp higher-level concepts very quickly and is very good at mental math. (He often "gets" his older (13) sister's math problems without context.) But again, he is undisciplined -- absolutely despises having to answer 25 questions / day and also hates having to write things out -- to the point that he actually prefers doing long division in his head despite my protests. He gets them right as much as he gets them wrong. For this year (7th), I had planned to put him in the Saxon 7/6 worktext. He tested into this and I also thought it might acclimate him to some discipline. But now I am second-guessing that. I was researching Algebra courses for his older sister and am intrigued by the AOPS Pre-Algebra text for him. Maybe this is a better path? Or would we fall right off the cliff? Seems like it might be a good fit in terms of the way his brain works and it might actually turn him on to math. Again, he tolerates math right now, but doesn't love it (I think because he hasn't been put in front of anything truly exciting.) On the other hand, I worry that he lacks the preparation and discipline that this requires, and biting off this much math might backfire. Looking at the placement test, I think he would test in. I think he needs a combination of higher-level concepts to keep him interested and a "less is more" approach in terms of the number of practice problems. But then again, I would like to see him do more practice problems to create a habit of working things out on the page and hopefully, to eliminate the mistakes in the mental math. Does anyone have any words of wisdom for me? Maybe Jousting Armadillos instead? Really struggling with this one.

Thanks for the help. I didn't realize Bryson had a kid's version -- that is fantastic.

Thanks for the suggestions! Also hoping for a few that are for a younger audience than the ones listed. Any suggestions?

I am trying to put together a list of "big idea" science books for a read aloud / discussion class this year for my ds, who is in 7th. He likes science but it is my weakest subject. We usually read aloud for 20 minutes or so, then have a discussion, look related stuff up on the internet, etc. This is an informal, interest-led class and my aim is to present a variety of topics so he can chase down what he wants from there. Would love to hear suggestions from the hive on the following books. We won't have time to read all of them, so I am hoping that you all can help me streamline the list. I am sure there are some redundancies, and I am equally sure there are others that should be there but aren't. Here's what I have so far: Magic of Reality (Dawkins) The Planets (Sobel) Science Matters (Hazen, Trefil) Men, Microscopes & Living Things (Shippen) Disappearing Spoon (Kean) What If? (Munroe) Briefer History of Time (Hawking) Microbe Hunters (de Kruif) Thanks for your help! We won't have time to read all of them, so I am hoping that you science-types will be able to help me figure out which are the best ones and which might be redundant, and of course, I am open to suggestions.

Unless I am missing something, that is an Either/Or situation. So I could have MWF on Weeks 1, 3, 5, etc. OR TT on those weeks. If I set it up for the former, I cannot add days on the "off" weeks. : ( Thanks, though. I am trying everything.

I didn't have any trouble entering the assignments. I am just trying to get the assigned time slots down without having to individually click each day. What makes our schedule wonky is on A days, math is at one time (except Mondays) and on B days, it is at a different time (except Mondays). DS is really good about following the clock; otherwise I would be satisfied with inputting each day's assignments "at no particular time." I may do that anyway and just post a clock schedule in the room that he can refer to. It just seems like Homeschool Planet should accommodate this, as robust as it is.

That would work great... if it were an option. I only see: every <specific day> every other <specific day> every MWF every TT every weekday every day of the week selected days of the week (this is by week only, not two-weeks) I think what I'll do is create an every day class "Math" with no particular time that contains only the assignments. Then for time-schedules, I'll create two more classes. "Math A" will be the A-day schedule and "Math B" will be B-days. These won't contain any assignments but will show the assigned time of day. Thanks for helping!

Does anyone know an easy way to make an "A/B Day" schedule in HS Planet? We do a two-week rotation that looks like this: Week One: ABABA Week Two: BABAB We do some subjects each day, but at different times. I am having a hard time figuring out how to input this structure. (Maybe more coffee would help?!) TIA

Math: Saxon 76 M-Th. Fridays: Balance Math, Dragonbox. Hoping to get to AOPS Pre-Algebra in the spring. Writing: NaNoWriMo (creative) first semester. IEW-B (formal) second semester with DownWrite Funny exercises as a creative outlet. Grammar/Vocab/Lit Studies/Reading Comp: Workbooks, about 12-15 pages per week. Glencoe Grammar 7. Vocabulary in Action. Figuratively Speaking, Evan Moor Daily Science/Skill Sharpeners. Literature (Reading): Homegrown booklist, either a study guide or one essay per book. Easy classics, historic, sci-fi. Hoping to do 1-2 books per month plus a short course on poetry. Literature (Read aloud): Homegrown booklist, discussion-only class, no assignments. Harder classics, big-idea books, war, contemporary. Probably one book per month. US History: Hakim's Story of US C&D (Civil War to modern) plus study guide, readings, videos, movies. Science: Outsourcing earth / physical / life rotation. If we bring this back in-house, we will do Exploration Education. Basic IT: Homegrown class. Will cover hardware, OSes, hard drive organization, maintenance / diligence, troubleshooting, server setup, networking, etc. Will build gaming computer first semester, also planning to use Google's internet safety program. Critical Thinking: Various mind-bender workbooks. One workable problem per week. Music: Guitar lessons. Outsourced music appreciation class. Art/PE: Outsourced classes. Spanish: Maybe. Pretty sure we cannot fit this in. PowerGlide and Spanish is Fun are on deck if we commit to this.

Came here to say this. Great stuff.

In your same boat. I have lined up TT pre-algebra, along with Lial's pre and Jacobs. I am leaning toward starting with Lial's, with TT as needed. I also have Key To but it seems young for her delicate ego...

That is promising to hear. Thanks for replying!

I am constantly on the lookout for ways to use tech in our classroom, but I have been disappointed in most of the online math offerings. Just came across Buzzmath(.com) and on the surface it looks great (it's Common Core, btw). Wondering if anyone has any actual experience with it and what your thoughts are. It's free, so we will try it here, but always love to hear experiences from you all. We are middle school level, btw. TIA

Good to know I am not alone -- I could have written your post. And my kids love to write. We are doing a travel book once a week in preparation for an upcoming trip. Each kid has a destination, and once a week must write an article / page on an assigned topic. Sometimes it is informational, sometimes persuasive (ie, what attraction should we see / not see), sometimes (actually most times) it is humorous. They do some internet research and decorate the book with things they print out. So far it is working pretty well. They will end up with a nice, finished semester-long project. Also, once a week they write a traditional essay related to our literature selection. We also do a creative writing workshop twice a week, which is sometimes the Fishhman book, sometimes the Eggers book, sometimes a continuation of their never-ending stories, or sometimes an irreverant prompt. I also throw in assignments from other resources, depending on what is relevant. We don't do much writing across the curriculum, though I do sometimes give them a creative prompt related to science or a history assignment in Minecraft with a bit of writing thrown in. I also started having them do EIW recently because I am a freak and second guess myself too much. We may or may not contine this... it only takes them 10 minutes or so to finish because each section is such a small chunk (and we are using a grade ahead). My aim here is two-fold: first, to make sure I am covering whatever things I haven't thought of, and also to insert some slow-down; perhaps a more organized approach to writing. I am not sure it will prove helpful or not, but I plan to stick with it through the first couple of writing assignments. So no real advice here. After writing this out, I guess we do more writing than what it feels like. But since we don't use one formal program, I often feel like we are not as committed or as methodical as we ought to be. Like you, I am still on the lookout for the perfect-fit curriculum. I do hope I find it. Good luck to you!

We dumped it about halfway through. Mine are natural writers and they write a ton. We kept waiting and waiting and waiting for a writing assignment from this program and finally gave up. I love the concept but be warned: there is very little actual writing involved. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk