Homeschooling - SUPPORT GROUP

[French Hen]

Arielle,

I don't know the answer to that question and I'm a nurse! Well, not currently working as one. That can be my excuse. Honestly I think the question must be worded poorly because I can't think of an answer to that and the question is not nearly specific enough.
A test to measure oxygen being taken into the heart? See. I don't understand the question. Pulse oximeter measures the amount of oxygen making it to the extremities. That's a useful little device.

Does anyone here have a child with dyslexia?

I haven't scrolled back far enough to see what everyone uses. We've tried a number of programs and are enjoying trying new things too.
We use Math U See and I cannot say enough good things about the program. The hands on approach has brought my very behind dyslexic daughter up to speed with her age group. And she has confidence that she didn't have!
I need a second program since we go through this one before the year is up and also just to incorporate different styles of math.
I've been very tempted to try out Math Mammoth for my older and advanced daughter. Anyone have any experience with them?

We use Ambleside Online as well and a ton of extras.

I haven't been thrilled with our science books so I'm still looking.

For science I'm sorta lost because I have a lot of education in science personally and I value it a lot but at the same time I do not follow with the theory of evolution and dislike books that teach it as fact.
I want the kids to learn about all current theories though so it makes picking science books tough for me. I guess it is one of those areas where we have a lot of discussions as a group. We've been doing science all together anyway.

 

[DMRippy]

Thanks!! I appreciate the links. We have to move in the next couple years and TN was such a good choice for many other reasons. I did not know about umbrella options.
I guess anything is "more" for me since I literally do nothing regarding the state. No attendance or grades or anything. But I record that stuff anyway (mostly) so it isn't exactly going to kill me.
But we miss out on being able to do sports and other good group stuff. We have to pay a lot for those opportunities to be had privately which restricts how much they can participate in.

I am not 100% sure but the attendance and grades are required by the umbrella schools..... attendance might be the state too as there is a law here about missing some number of days you can't pass school regardless of grades. That law was implemented when I was in High School and i dropped out of school because of it.... not sure that law helps anything. I eventually got my GED and then attended college..... had to stop and FINALLY got my AA Degree in 2008 in my late 30"s while working at the college. AND NOW I RAISE CHICKENS

 

[Arielle]

LOL-- the reason you cant find an answer is that the question is wrong. I too have enough back ground and the EKG section of the program was where we should have found the answer. I might play the program again when I can devote more time-- but honestly it is not worth it. VO2 test is the answer I found on line; in the program it had a child hooked up to a type of respriator amchine to collect the gasses but the woman showed the heart beat info and talked out hooking up the EKG leads . . . . oopps . . .sort of funny really. Some how it is fun to catch a teacher in an error; like it prooves we know our stuff. lol

Dyslexia--- I'm sorry I dont know a whole lot about this one, exccept that my brother has a child that struggled with this. At first the testing indicated color blindness ( WTH??) but within a few years that had the right diagnosis and was able to get him the help he needed. THey live in a state where support is not given to famiies with children with special needs. SO my SIL did what she needed to do; he went from not reading to a successful student and now that boy is in college . And some years ago that same SIL learned to be a dyslexia instructor/teacher/ mentor thru a company here in Massachusetts, so she works with other kids now too. I'm sorry I dont know more.

 

[Arielle]

Donna , I hope this is ok by you. While it is not home schooling directly I thought it was worth mentioning as Dr Amen went balistic when asked about school lunches--and lack of exercise at schools. Let me know if you want me to remove it.


I am pretty convinced that my oldest has ADD, and until I can get a doc to confirm this . . I have invested in buying Dr Amens Healing ADD and all his tapes and work books. What I am discoviering is that while the book is faily complete, the DVD's provide more pieces to the puzzle.

Helping our children to eat well boosts their brain function. A diet higher in proteins and good vegetables with a few complex carb vegies are the way to go. Dump the sugars, the artifical sugars and food dyes. Many other foods need to be checked for "food sensitivities" like gluten, corn, dairy and soy. Apparently food sensitivites can act like ADD and other issues.

THe brain is 80% cholesterol-- Dr Amen says. CHolesterol is very important to the function of the body; so much so that at level below 160 the death rates increase. Eating healthy fats, and good meats and lots of good vegies promotes the correct function of the brain.

GO organic when ever possible. THe pestacides residue in his opinion is one of the contributing factors to the high rise in ADD and autism.

Here is a web site that he recommended:http://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2014/07/phthalates-are-out-children-s-toys-your-food Heat foods in non- plastic containers. ANd pay extra attention to the types of water bottles-- we have moved to special metal types rather than plastics.

Exercise helps the brain function-- a strong walk for 45 minutes 5-6 times a week.

THe ability to learn is effected by both sufficient exercise, eating only high quality foods, and limit scren time to 30 min a day. He mentions a few other things but I"ll save those for if any one wants more info.

 

[KentuckyMom]

French Hen,
Kentucky is a great place to homeschool. All that is required is that you notify your school district at the beginning of the school year that you will be homeschooling. My husband and I always send two copies of the letter along with a SASE and a place for the school official to sign too. That way if the letter is misplaced by the school, we have a copy as well. Only once in the twelve years that we have home schooled has the letter been misplaced by the school and we just sent them a copy of the copy that we had that was signed by their official. KY wants you to keep an attendance record too, which we do,but has never asked to see it.
As for a science curriculum, we have used a few. I love A Beka science- Christian textbooks out of Pensacola Christian College in Florida. My kids really enjoy the details. My daughter, who has since graduated, really enjoyed the Apologia series by Dr.Jay Wile( Exploring Creation with...)but that is more of a highschool science. The other science that you may want to check out is the Answers in Genesis books. They have many different age levels, books, magazines, dvds, etc. ,and are always interesting.
I have a friend whose son has dyslexia and she found more success with the Math You See than any other math curriculum. As far as other subjects, I think they experimented with different curriculums. The Math You See was the only thing I ever heard her rave about.

 

[French Hen]

I am pretty convinced that my oldest has ADD, and until I can get a doc to confirm this . . I have invested in buying Dr Amens Healing ADD and all his tapes and work books. What I am discoviering is that while the book is faily complete, the DVD's provide more pieces to the puzzle. 

Helping our children to eat well boosts their brain function.  A diet higher in proteins and good vegetables with a few complex carb vegies are the way to go. Dump the sugars, the artifical sugars and food dyes.  Many other foods need to be checked for "food sensitivities" like gluten, corn,  dairy and soy. Apparently food sensitivites can act like ADD and other issues. 

GO organic when ever possible. THe pestacides residue in his opinion is one of the contributing factors to the high rise in ADD and autism. 

Here is a web site that he recommended:http://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2014/07/phthalates-are-out-children-s-toys-your-food      Heat foods in non- plastic containers. ANd pay extra attention to the types of water bottles-- we have moved to special metal types rather than plastics. 

Exercise helps the brain function-- a strong walk for 45 minutes 5-6 times a week. 

THe ability to learn is effected by both sufficient exercise, eating only high quality foods, and limit scren time to 30 min a day. He mentions a few other things but I"ll save those for if  any one wants more info. 

Arielle
My youngest Grace nearly died in January due to MSG intolerance. Specifically free glutamate as the additive. It is in EVERYTHING too. Ok, not in everything but a ton of foods.

I really believed we ate a mostly healthy, whole foods diet until I started reading about free glutamate.

When we switched her diet our pedi team at the children's hospital recommended we switch all our kids because glutamate and aspartate in tolerances are super common.
Glutamate acts as a neurotoxin and causes excited rapid fire and cell death. Docs said leading evidence suggests that conditions like ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, sensory perception disorders and even autism are hugely triggered by food processing and additives that contain MSG and free glutamate.

This info has literally changed our lives. Since we switched our dyslexic/SPD daughter many struggles went out with the garbage food.

It took a few weeks to start seeing major changes but as each month goes by it gets better.
It took only days to see minor changes. Literally blew my mind.

If we slip up and let them eat bad foods we see an immediate regression of symptoms.

Check out unblind my mind .org

I cannot even begin to tell you what a difference it has made in our family. Fixing the food doesn't "cure" her condition but it has taken my child that I feared could never attend college and potentially not have a successful job at all to a child that I KNOW can complete college if she chooses to take the path.
It sounds crazy... I never knew food could be so powerful. It isn't anything gimmicky at all. No special diet or anything. Just avoid ingredients that we know contain high amounts of free glutamate.
Ingredients like "natural flavors" and "citric acid" and others. We also avoid all soy because it is so heavily processed.
Some people go dairy and wheat free too but we dont and we have great success. We just avoid heavily processed dairy and gluten. Nothing ultra pasteurized and nothing heavily heat or pressure treated.
Fresh, real foods essentially.
Feel free to email me at [email protected]
I could talk about it all day. I had a 9 month old baby that wouldn't roll over or sit up or sleep. All she did was scream. Then one night she was blue and not breathing. After CPR and a trip to the children'should hospital I never ever could have guessed that her problem was an MSG intolerance. But that is what it was. And apparently it is super common. Some babies just have reflux and others get reflux so bad they die or nearly die. Her apnea disappeared after 4 days on a "clean" diet

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Clearly I still have more to do to have clean food. THanks for the websites I'll check it out this afternoon after swimmming.

I didnt realize msg was such a big problem; I knew it has some intolerance issues and I always think about it AFTER ordering chinese take out. Hmm. . . guess I need to find our won recipes for such foods so I know it is clean.

Glad you were able to save your baby-- that must have been terrifying.

Would you be interested in starting a thread on the subject so we can educate others too and not clutter up Donnas homeschooling thread??

 

[French Hen]

Oops! Sorry! Didn't mean to derail!

 

[French Hen]

Un derailing the thread:
Anyone have days when they feel like a total failure?
Edited to add: having a tough day here!! I can't help but worry all the time. Being teacher and parent is a huge responsibility. Sometimes I'm afraid I'm not doing enough

 

[DMRippy]

Un derailing the thread:
Anyone have days when they feel like a total failure?
Edited to add: having a tough day here!! I can't help but worry all the time. Being teacher and parent is a huge responsibility. Sometimes I'm afraid I'm not doing enough

You got this! God knows what he is doing and He will enable you to be successful! Nobody can do either job better than you, you have been teaching them since they got here and so far they know everything they need to know!