I have heard that karate can be helpful for children with dyslexia and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with that? My ds 12 has just been dx and could sure use any extra help he could get! He is a leftie, but is right eye dominate, so we've done some Brain Integration Therapy. We've done lots of things to cross the mid-line, but I really question if it helps or not. I'm hoping that Karate would help with both the mixed-dominance and the dyslexia. Any thoughts on that? Thanks! Gayle

I heard that repeatedly about my son as well. He'll catch on, he just needs time, etc. We worked diligently for years together and he can now read, but was just dx with dyslexia. I wish I had known so that we could have started on an OG based program earlier. All those years that he struggled! I knew something was wrong and should have not listened to the advise of others. Gayle

Thanks so much for all the helpful replies! I've been really in kind of a daze since the dx because I've been in denial that my ds has a problem. I kept thinking he would outgrow it.... we could just work through it.... etc......etc..... I didn't want to face that there was a real issue. I think the AAS is working, although it's getting much tougher for him. He's just in the first book of MegaWords, but I think that will help him as well. I'm leaning toward trying AbeCeDarian C & D, and then moving to Rewards. I think Wilson might be a step backward since he is already reading. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but we started AAS from level 1 and he zipped through levels 1, 2, & 3. I really appreciate the advise from those who have btdt! Thanks! Gayle

My 12 yr. old son was just diagnosed with dyslexia and I'm searching for what to use with him. Just to give a little background... he can read and loves to do it. He's currently re-reading the PenDragon books. His comprehension is good, but he glosses over many words. He cannot read large words well, but is smart enough to figure out what they mean. When he reads aloud it sounds very choppy. His spelling, writing (composition), and handwriting are all terrible. We are currently doing level 4 of AAS, and have just started on MegaWords, level 1. He's doing HWT. We've been doing BJU English & Reading, but I don't think it's really sticking. I'm looking at possibly Wilson, Rewards, or ABeCeDarian. Barton is way too expensive. I don't really know much about any of those programs, or whatever other options are out there. I also am looking for a grammar/writing program. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks so much! Gayle

Thanks for these encouraging responses. I have heard so many good things about CLE, it's just frightening to think of switching math since they all introduce topics differently. My older son really tries to take shortcuts in his work, but this might be the thing to keep him on track. I only worry that he would skip reading the instructions :-) Any other opinions out there, good or bad? Thanks! Gayle

Two of my dc are currently doing BJU math 5 (with the dvds), but it's not going very well. The teacher on the dvd isn't very good, and I'm lousy at math myself so I'm not much help. They don't seem to be remembering much. I've started teaching one of my kids from the TM to help him understand it better, but I don't think it's helping. I really hate to switch math programs, but I'm thinking the review of CLE would really help. It looks like a good program, but was hoping to hear some opinions on it. Is it worth it to switch? Thanks in advance! Gayle

I am currently using BJU Math 5 with my son. We have the dvd's, but he's pretty math-minded and finds the explainations too drawn out. I've been trying to teach him myself from the TM, but I am NO GOOD with math! I really don't understand it. We just finished the fractions chapter and it had me about in tears every day :-(. I just can't teach it even following the TM! I really hate to switch math programs, but I'm not doing a good job explaining things. Is CLE math easy to teach? I'm not looking to let him do all of math independently, but if CLE has good explanations, maybe I'd understand that better and be able to teach it more easily. Would CLE be a good fit, or should I look at something else? TIA! Gayle

I just noticed some of your questions. Some candy is ok, but watch for barley malt. Reese cups are fine, hershey choc. bars (singles) are fine. I google any food I'm wondering about. I also google restaurants before-hand to see if they have GF menu options. Outback is great about that. I'm going to post the list of OK foods here, but it's very long. Sorry about that, but I carried this around in my purse for the longest time! It was so helpful! Gayle SNACKS Act II microwave popcorn (all) Fritos Cheetos Potato Chips (some flavor with wheat) Lays Stax All vegetables- keep a relish tray and salad dressing for dipping. Kraft states on the label if it has wheat. Many say gluten-free now. Skippy Peanut Butter Jiff Peanut Butter Smucker’s Jams Jellies, Marmalades, Preserves Hershey’s chocolate Syrup Icecream check labels for mono and di-glycerides Bryers’ All Natural Ice Cream Fresh fruit (all) Dole dried fruit Apple sauce (Musslemans & most brands) Del Monte Canned/jarred fruits Minute Maid Fruit Drinks Tortilla corn chips (most-but check label!) Pace Picante Sauce and Salsa (check label on salsas for wheat, some say GF) Nut Thins by Blue Diamond (Wild oats) Brown Rice Snaps (Edward & Sons brand) Mydel Cookies (gluten free type) EnerG Crackers & Pretzels (at Martha’s) Johnsonville Sausage Beef Snack Stix Many candies: Check the label for malt, wheat starch, modified food starch (wheat), NO LICORICE Hunt’s Snack Pack Puddings (all) Jello Puddings & Gelatin Butterfingers and Baby Ruth Almond Joy Jelly Bellys (not buttered toast) Campfire marshmallows Tootsie Rolls Snickers Guittard chocolates M&M’s not crispy Kelloggs Fruit Snacks (many other brands are GF) Eggs – boiled good snack Rice Chex (General Mills) Health Valley Corn & Rice Crunch-Ums Fruity Pebbles (watch for malt) Nabisco Cream of Rice (bland) Trix-Cocoa Pebbles, (check label) Milk Cheddar Cheese(s) (check label) Viva Cottage Cheese Velveeta Cheese Viva Cottage Cheese Philadelphia Cream Cheese Crisco Butter Buds Parkay Delimex Taquitos Tyson Chicken Tenders Hormel Bacon Bits and Pieces Hillshire Farm Bacon Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage (except Fresh Beerwurst & Cheddarwurst) Little Sizzlers Sausage Links & Patties Always Tender Homestyle Potroast & Peppercorn Pot Roast Cure 81 Ham (bone-in, boneless, & old-fashioned spiral) Starkist Tuna (except Lunch-to-Go kits) Kids Kitchen Bean and Wienies Ortega Refried Beans Dinty Moore Beef Stew Progresso Cream of Mushroom Soup Hunts Spagetti Sauce Prego Traditional Pasta Sauce Zatarains Dirty Rice or Jambalaya Butterball Turkey Hormel Pepperoni & Canadian Bacon Hormel Vienna Sausage Hormel Canned Chuck Meats Hormel Fully Cooked Entrees Beef Roast Au Jus & Pork Au Jus only Boars’ Head Hickory Smoked Chicken Breast Oscar Meyer Lunch meats (all hot dogs) Ball Park Hot Dogs (except corn dogs) Jennie-O Turkey Breast Jennie-O Turkey (for Thanksgiving) Thai Kitchen Stir-Fry noodles w/Sauce (original Pad Thai, w/ chili and Thai Peanut Hormel Tamales (Beef & Chicken) Hormel Chili with Beans (not meat only) Bush’s Baked Beans (Except Chili Beans & Chili Magics) Campbells Healthy Request RTC (RTC Hearty country vegetable) Fresh vegetables (all) Giant Food frozen broccoli in cheese sauce Del Monte canned tomatoes & tomato products (except spaghetti sauce flavored with meat. AVOID TVP or HYDROLIZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN on the LABEL) Wendy’s chili, baked potato and frosty McDonald’s French Fries (s/b dedicated fryer, but is too complicated legally to certify as GF, so I eat them anyway.) DO NOT GO TO APPLEBYS (Many franchises inject meat with wheat.) Mrs. Dash Pace Enchilada Sauce Walmart Great Value Red Sauce (see label) Heintz Ketchup Heintz EZ Marinader Teriyaki Herb-Ox bouillion (beef, chicken, vegetable) Swanson vegetable broth Cattleman’s Barbecue Sauces Miracle Whip Hellman’s Mayonaise (Best Foods) Valasic Pickles French’s mustard Hellman’s Tarter Sauce French’s Worchestershire Sauce Hellman’s dipping sauce McCormick extracts & some packet mixes Trappey’s Hot Sauces (all) Carnation instant breakfast (except Classic Chocolate Malt) Cremora Non-Dairy Coffee Creamers Folgers Coffee (all) Carnation Hot Cocoa Juicy Juice Gatorade Nestea Ice Tea Stephens Gourmet Hot Cocoa (at Target)

I'm gluten intolerant and it was very hard at first. I have found some good cookbooks from the library and some good brands of prepared foods. Any cookbook by Bette Hagman is good. Very simple, good food. There are lots more. I have one called You Won't Believe it's Gluten Free. That's been good, too. Pamela's Baking Mixes are good. Tinkyada pasta is tasty. Glutino has good crackers that taste "real". Those are the ones I've enjoyed the most. I get those mostly at Whole Foods. Celiac.com has a great forum for your questions. They also have a gluten free mall you can order from. I found a website that has a list of normal foods from the grocery store that are gluten free. I can't remember the site, but you could google it. Some things on it are fritos and rice chex. Utz brand tortillas chips are GF. It's a tough transition, but gets much easier over time. Once you get through mourning the loss of gluten-containing foods, it's better. Be especially careful of cross contamination. I can't use the same butter or toaster or many pots and pans that the rest of my family uses. Everything has to be separate. I keep separate peanut butter, jelly, mayo, etc. Anything that you dip into is possible to contaminate with gluten. I even have separate chips because if someone makes a sandwich with regular bread and then reaches into the chip bag, it gets gluten in it. I react to the tiniest amount. Hopefully your daughter won't, but you can't be too careful. I hope your daughter feels better soon! Gayle

There are a lot of restaurants with gluten free menus. Google it before you go and you'll find good lists out there. For places that don't have a GF menu, I usually tell the waitress that I have a wheat allergy because that seems to get their attention more than just saying I need gluten free food. Even with a meal cooked gluten free, there's a high risk of cross contamination, so I carry GlutenEase just in case. I usually carry my own dressing and snacks in case I'm caught out somewhere that's not going to be safe to eat. Enjoy your trip! Gayle

These are great ideas! Thank you so much for sharing! I love the school cone and may try a small version of it. Was that something you thought up, or is there a significance to it? Thanks to all for such awesome ideas! Gayle

I'm not too excited about starting back to school, so maybe some fun things to do will help :) What sorts of fun first day (or week) things do you do? We have a non-back to school park day in the afternoon scheduled, but I wanted to do something special in the morning... I'm just not sure what. Any ideas?? Thanks! Gayle

Thank you all for such kind, enouraging, and thought-provoking comments. I knew I would get much good advise here and I truly appreciate it. I started homeschooling to provide Godly instruction, deepen family relationships, and help my son with his learning difficulties. We have done well in those areas, I think, but aren't there yet. The things I think they're missing out on are things like friends, clubs, art, music, and things like that. We don't have a lot of homeschoolers around us and haven't formed too many bonds with those we know from the two groups we're a part of. I also see issues of immaturity in my kids that I think they should be beyond. My kids don't really enjoy school and I wonder if they would enjoy it if they went. My husband is totally supportive of homeschooling. He would put the kids in private school if I asked him to, just to help me out. He would prefer homeschooling, though. Thanks so much for the encouragement so far. It's really helping! I just need some outside perspective that I'm not ruining my kids! Gayle

:confused: I have always homeschooled my 3 dc. Age-wise they are going into 6th, 5th, and 3rd. The older two work on the same grade level because my oldest has learning difficulties. My problem is that I just don't know if I can keep doing this. I have all sorts of doubts about it.... and have had those doubts for a few years now. I would put them into private school and go back to work (as a teacher, since I'm certified), but I feel that God has called us to this. That's the only thing that's keeping them home right now. I've been trying to get ready to start school next week after a nice summer break and I just can't seem to even face it. The curriculum we use is good and engaging, and academically I know they are fine, I just can't help thinking of what they're missing. It doesn't help that my mom was just here and doesn't wholly support homeschooling (as a retired teacher). I think I just need some encouragement. In my heart I know this is the best thing, but need to be reminded. I'm just so discouraged. Can I keep doing this? Please tell me it's worth it! :crying: Gayle

I cannot have gluten, so don't use any wheat, rye, barley, or oats (because of cross contamination). I got several cook books from my library on gluten free cooking. There were lots of recipes with no dairy, eggs, or gluten. Many have been very good. Bette Hagman is one author that has a lot of good recipes. Celiac.com has recipes and a forum which has a cooking section. You can get tons of ideas from there. You can also just google allergy free recipes. There are lots of them out there. Gayle

I actually understood that when my kids did Alpha. (I've never understood math before!) The example he uses of 9 being a vacuum cleaner sucking up one from the other number to make a 10 helped us. After 9 takes that one, you are left with 10 and whatever the other number is... which is an easy equation. I guess it's all in how you picture it. I struggle with math so much, that this brought it down to my level :001_smile: Gayle

When we use Calculadders, I have the kids use a timer that counts up. Then they record how long it took them to do the page. Each day they try to go a little faster. That way it's not racing the clock, but racing yourself. Gayle

You can always add lines to a white board using a ruler and permanent marker. A thick sharpie would work well. Gayle

Something that I've used and that my kids do enjoy is Calculadders. I have their 2 cd's and print off pages for them each week. That has helped SO MUCH cement their math facts. :001_smile: Gayle

I have QMM. I didn't pay very much for it. My kids don't really like it very much :001_huh: They don't like the pressure of the racing. They actually prefer the free Math U See online drill. Go figure! Gayle

I heard Diane Craft (Croft?) speak at MassHope a year or two ago. I bought her Brain Integration Therapy book for around 20 or 30 dollars. That had the writing eight exercises in it and all of the other therapies. My son did all of the things in the book for about 8 months. I think it helped him. He commented that writing was easier for him. I think it was well worth the money and time spent on the exercises. He has mixed dominance, so we also patch his dominate eye. She tells you in the book how to check for dominance. Gayle

Congratulations!!! You have every reason to be proud!! :001_smile: Gayle

Lymenet.org has a lot of good information on it. Gayle

My son has dyslexia. He had vision therapy a couple of years ago and it helped him so much. His reading improved at least a grade level in the 2 months he did the therapy. The vision therapy helped, but working one-on-one every day on Reading was the key, I think. He still has problems with spelling and English, but is reading great now. He is left-handed, but right-eyed, so we do exercises for that and patch his dominate eye. I'm hoping once that's fixed he'll improve even more. Gayle