Looking for Home School Book Suggestions

[SherryTX]

Hello, all!

I am new to this forum (thanks for referring me here Donovan!), and was very happy to see that there was a subforum on parenting. This is something I have not seen in other Objectivist forums I have visited, but have been searching for.

Background: My husband and I have 5 kids, ages 7 to 18. Our 18 year old started college in January, and 3 of our children are in public schools. We recently pulled our 9 year old out of public school to educate her at home. While the elementary school here is pretty good (by public school standards) we felt in her case the negatives at school outweighed the positives. She was diagnosed with Asperger's several months ago, and although she has progressed in some areas (she is in speech therapy, and does fairly well academically and has been in the schools "gifted" program for a few years), the overwhelming social aspects just sucked the life out of her, and as well as some of the home work assignments. It got to a point where I was spending very little time with my other kids as I had to help her deal with the "drama" of social issues at school, and in many cases homework. There are other issues to related to her Aspeger's, but I think I have outlined the basic reasons we decided to pull her out.

Anyway, we are using a math curriculum that is pretty good so far (Singapore Math) - she adores math and that and art are her strong points. I also have some decent text and work books for grammar, and we have put together a rough outline of what we will be teaching her for science and history using various books, dvds, etc.

In putting together her curricula, I have used some guidelines based on a classical education, as well as trying to keep in mind the proper hierarchy (Lisa VanDamme had a good article about this I believe in the Spring 2006 issue of the Objective Standard). As we study the big bang theory, we are also reading different stories of creation based on various cultural mythologies (biblical, Greek, Egyptian, etc.) So far she has really enjoyed what she has read and is learning.

Here is what I am looking for - suggestions on books you think are compatible with Objectivist philosophy for her free reading and assigned reading. Right now, she feels like she has run out of books hahah - that is because she wanted to jump ahead and read a bunch of books that we had. We have a ton of books - a lot of sci/fi - some that are appropriate for her age level, and a lot that is not. She even tried to read Animal Farm a few weeks ago, but I suggested we wait on that one. We have all the Harry Potter Books (though not sure if one could consider them Objectivist - myself and most of my other kids have enjoyed them), "The Girl Who Owned A City"....but I am looking for more suggestions.

Besides math and art, my daughter is absolutely obsessed with cats. For xmas I gave her an Encyclopedia of Cat Breeds and she goes through it constantly.

So - what do you buy your kids?

Edited to add: While she has not read Anthem yet, she has listened to it on CD.

Edited February 19, 2009 by SherryTX

[Backlighting]

Maria Montessori may have written some books, for educating at home, the age group you are seeking.

[SherryTX]

Maria Montessori may have written some books, for educating at home, the age group you are seeking.

She was in a Montessori school (owned, actually by Objectivists) for a year, and she did fairly well there. I am planning pick up some books on the Montessori; but I am not sure if it would have suggestions for books for kids that may appear compatible with Objectivism.

I am not seeking that EVERYTHING my children read are necessarily in the Objectivist camp - but I don't really have much in our home library that I think would fall into such a category.

[BaalChatzaf]

Hello, all!

I am new to this forum (thanks for referring me here Donovan!), and was very happy to see that there was a subforum on parenting. This is something I have not seen in other Objectivist forums I have visited, but have been searching for.

Background: My husband and I have 5 kids, ages 7 to 18. Our 18 year old started college in January, and 3 of our children are in public schools. We recently pulled our 9 year old out of public school to educate her at home. While the elementary school here is pretty good (by public school standards) we felt in her case the negatives at school outweighed the positives. She was diagnosed with Asperger's several months ago, and although she has progressed in some areas (she is in speech therapy, and does fairly well academically and has been in the schools "gifted" program for a few years), the overwhelming social aspects just sucked the life out of her, and as well as some of the home work assignments. It got to a point where I was spending very little time with my other kids as I had to help her deal with the "drama" of social issues at school, and in many cases homework. There are other issues to related to her Aspeger's, but I think I have outlined the basic reasons we decided to pull her out.

Anyway, we are using a math curriculum that is pretty good so far (Singapore Math) - she adores math and that and art are her strong points. I also have some decent text and work books for grammar, and we have put together a rough outline of what we will be teaching her for science and history using various books, dvds, etc.

In putting together her curricula, I have used some guidelines based on a classical education, as well as trying to keep in mind the proper hierarchy (Lisa VanDamme had a good article about this I believe in the Spring 2006 issue of the Objective Standard). As we study the big bang theory, we are also reading different stories of creation based on various cultural mythologies (biblical, Greek, Egyptian, etc.) So far she has really enjoyed what she has read and is learning.

Here is what I am looking for - suggestions on books you think are compatible with Objectivist philosophy for her free reading and assigned reading. Right now, she feels like she has run out of books hahah - that is because she wanted to jump ahead and read a bunch of books that we had. We have a ton of books - a lot of sci/fi - some that are appropriate for her age level, and a lot that is not. She even tried to read Animal Farm a few weeks ago, but I suggested we wait on that one. We have all the Harry Potter Books (though not sure if one could consider them Objectivist - myself and most of my other kids have enjoyed them), "The Girl Who Owned A City"....but I am looking for more suggestions.

Besides math and art, my daughter is absolutely obsessed with cats. For xmas I gave her an Encyclopedia of Cat Breeds and she goes through it constantly.

So - what do you buy your kids?

Edited to add: While she has not read Anthem yet, she has listened to it on CD.

Have a look here:

http://www.homeschoolcentral.com/

You might find some useful material and guidance.

I am an Old Aspie myself. You have your work cut out for you and I wish you the best of outcomes. The worst time for Aspies is when they are young and have not toughened themselves sufficiently. Aspies meet with a degree of hostility and misunderstanding from the neuro-typicals. But that can be overcome with love and guidance from the family. Once your child has a confident sense of self she will be alright. Aspergers is not an illness, it is a gift.

I find being my literal minded self has actually been a benefit. I do not "read between the lines" any more than I have to, and I do not expect others to read between my lines. As a result I have learned to speak and write plainly (except for the occasional grammatical and spelling error. I was also in the software business for nearly 45 years and my AS stood me in very good stead

If I may offer you some comfort, over the last 40 some odd years (I am 73) I have taught myself to adapt to the world of neurologically typical folk in the sense that I figured out the rules of external behavior so as not to provoke unnecessary hostility. I pass for human now, with no trouble at all. It just takes practice. It has worked out fine. My good wife of 52 years is an NT and all of my children except one are NTs. The one who is not, is quite o.k.. He has learned to "paint by the numbers" and gets along fine with his NT wife.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[DavidMcK]

I know that there are some child's books on economics, I think one is called 'Whatever Happened to Penny Candy' or something very close to that.

[SherryTX]

I know that there are some child's books on economics, I think one is called 'Whatever Happened to Penny Candy' or something very close to that.

Thanks - I haven't heard of that one I will look for it!

Ba'al thank you for your comments as well. It has been an interesting journey so far. As a parent, I think dealing with it would be much more difficult if we were not aware of Objectivism. Being based in reason has been a huge help to us in dealing with her, and trying to help her deal with the world in general. She has a very keen (well sometimes over sensitive) sense of justice and it would be absolutely painful, I think, if she had to deal with altruistic parents.

[Chris Grieb]

I'm not a parent but on literature as a way introducing your child to Shakespeare there is something called Lamb's Tale.

Another scource is McGuffey's readers. They can be found on the internet. The Readers are still in print and you can get them from Amazon Books. They used lots of good literature with moral lessons.

Edited February 23, 2009 by Chris Grieb

[BaalChatzaf]

Ba'al thank you for your comments as well. It has been an interesting journey so far. As a parent, I think dealing with it would be much more difficult if we were not aware of Objectivism. Being based in reason has been a huge help to us in dealing with her, and trying to help her deal with the world in general. She has a very keen (well sometimes over sensitive) sense of justice and it would be absolutely painful, I think, if she had to deal with altruistic parents.

Don't be altruistic. Give her what she needs. That is what parents do.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[SherryTX]

I am an Old Aspie myself. You have your work cut out for you and I wish you the best of outcomes. The worst time for Aspies is when they are young and have not toughened themselves sufficiently. Aspies meet with a degree of hostility and misunderstanding from the neuro-typicals.

Be that as it may, is totally illogical violent malevolent seething racism a side-effect of Asperger's that I'm not aware of?

Did I misunderstand something?

Ummm...this is interesting. I am not sure what this is about (since I am new to the forum).

However, I can understand why perhaps SOME with Asperger's may seem racist - when my daughter came home from school last year and they were learning about Martin Luther King Jr., she said to me "Why do I can? I am not black!" We discussed his importance in history a bit more in depth than they did in school, and she seemed to appreciate why his an important historical figure to learn about - not just because it was Black History Month.

I think perhaps it could be that some people with Asperger's that have trouble with empathy, and if they don't have logical facts, or perhaps their experience with a certain group of people of a different race may be negative, they may be more likely to form over all racist opinions about the race over all.

Again - not sure if this is what you mean, but that has just been my experience. My daughter had some trouble with some kids in her school early on that just happened to be non white, and it took a little time for her to get that these particular kids punks, and not necessarily a representation of their race.

[Brant Gaede]

Go here for the best home-schooling curriculum, through high-school and calculus.

http://www.oism.org/s32p28.htm

Please understand that with this curriculum the student does the work, the parent does not teach. A laser printer is needed.

--Brant

[SherryTX]

Go here for the best home-schooling curriculum, through high-school and calculus.

http://www.oism.org/s32p28.htm

Please understand that with this curriculum the student does the work, the parent does not teach. A laser printer is needed.

--Brant

Thank you for the link!

[BaalChatzaf]

You will notice my reply #4 on this thread was to give a URL to a web site that had all sorts of potentially useful material, plus a pep talk by an Old Aspie to give the original poster encouragement. Is that relevant enough for you? If you want to complain about irrelevant responses to the O.P. talk to Bob-Mac. He is just the fellow to check in with.

Ba'al Chatzaf (Old Aspie).

Edited February 21, 2009 by BaalChatzaf

[Kat]

Hi Sherry, Welcome to OL. I just ran across this thread and had to wade through a lot of trash before posting. I apologize for the hijacked thread. I think we will need to move some stuff to the garbage pile.

Anyway, I think it is wonderful that you are able to homeschool your kid. My son has PDD-NOS and I understand how challenging it can be. My kid just started high school this year and it feels like it takes an act of Congress to get him any services, although his high school is better than the middle school he went to. He is in an organization called Best Buddies and also participates in a drama program. At home, he basically reads about what ever he is interested in... Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lego animated video games, but at school he has to read what is assigned, although since he is a special ed kid, they don't challenge him much academically.

There are many resources out there and several books by and for Aspie children. You can start by looking at The Autism Shop and just browsing around. Check out the forum wrongplanet.net read anything by Temple Grandin and definitely read Tony Atwood's Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome.

Check this link for specific titles for home schooling Objectivist parents... Strong Brains. Also, check and see if you can get your kid into Best Buddies. I believe that it is a national program.

Kat

[Kat]

OK, the food fight is over here

Stay on topic please.

Kat

(I really hate having to use my magic powers, but boys will be boys)

[algernonsidney]

Background: My husband and I have 5 kids, ages 7 to 18. Our 18 year old started college in January, and 3 of our children are in public schools. We recently pulled our 9 year old out of public school to educate her at home. While the elementary school here is pretty good (by public school standards) we felt in her case the negatives at school outweighed the positives. She was diagnosed with Asperger's several months ago, and although she has progressed in some areas (she is in speech therapy, and does fairly well academically and has been in the schools "gifted" program for a few years), the overwhelming social aspects just sucked the life out of her, and as well as some of the home work assignments. It got to a point where I was spending very little time with my other kids as I had to help her deal with the "drama" of social issues at school, and in many cases homework. There are other issues to related to her Aspeger's, but I think I have outlined the basic reasons we decided to pull her out.

It's not unusual for someone with Asperger's to be considered smart. I probably have something like it.

One thing I definitely have is what I call a "left-right integration problem." The two hemispheres of my brain don't like each other and don't work together. If this is the problem, the younger the age that you fix it, the better. A good book on this is called The Other Mind's Eye.

Anything on neuro-linguistic programming is valuable for someone with the problem. Get her some good books to read on the subject, and I think she could handle them at nine. She will learn to work on herself. That's really the only thing you can do. This book is a good start.

Where are you? I am in Austin. I could possibly point you to some good people. We have a very active NLP in Austin.

I recommend that you and your daughter read Grace Llewellyn's Teenage Liberation Handbook.

[SherryTX]

You will notice my reply #4 on this thread was to give a URL to a web site that had all sorts of potentially useful material, plus a pep talk by an Old Aspie to give the original poster encouragement. Is that relevant enough for you? If you want to complain about irrelevant responses to the O.P. talk to Bob-Mac. He is just the fellow to check in with.

Ba'al Chatzaf (Old Aspie).

Yes - thank you!

I am working through all sorts of links I have received here and from others outside the forum. I do appreciate it!

[SherryTX]

Background: My husband and I have 5 kids, ages 7 to 18. Our 18 year old started college in January, and 3 of our children are in public schools. We recently pulled our 9 year old out of public school to educate her at home. While the elementary school here is pretty good (by public school standards) we felt in her case the negatives at school outweighed the positives. She was diagnosed with Asperger's several months ago, and although she has progressed in some areas (she is in speech therapy, and does fairly well academically and has been in the schools "gifted" program for a few years), the overwhelming social aspects just sucked the life out of her, and as well as some of the home work assignments. It got to a point where I was spending very little time with my other kids as I had to help her deal with the "drama" of social issues at school, and in many cases homework. There are other issues to related to her Aspeger's, but I think I have outlined the basic reasons we decided to pull her out.

It's not unusual for someone with Asperger's to be considered smart. I probably have something like it.

One thing I definitely have is what I call a "left-right integration problem." The two hemispheres of my brain don't like each other and don't work together. If this is the problem, the younger the age that you fix it, the better. A good book on this is called The Other Mind's Eye.

Anything on neuro-linguistic programming is valuable for someone with the problem. Get her some good books to read on the subject, and I think she could handle them at nine. She will learn to work on herself. That's really the only thing you can do. This book is a good start.

Where are you? I am in Austin. I could possibly point you to some good people. We have a very active NLP in Austin.

I recommend that you and your daughter read Grace Llewellyn's Teenage Liberation Handbook.

Chris/Kat - thanks for the additional information! I appreciate it.

We are in the Dallas area - I have been able to find an Aspie home school yahoo group and another local Aspie group, as well as a secular homeschooling meet up group.

There is so much info on home schooling, but the first few weeks wading through info, at first it appeared everything was religious oriented or totally "unschooling" oriented. I am starting to find some good information that is more inline with Objectivism.

I appreciate all the suggestions, and am checking them all out.

Again - thank you very much!

[Selene]

Sherry:

When you get a list of sites or places will you share them with us as I have a lot of home schoolers in my networks.

Adam

[SherryTX]

Sherry:

When you get a list of sites or places will you share them with us as I have a lot of home schoolers in my networks.

Adam

We are currently using this program for math:

http://www.singaporemath.com/

After having my daughter take an assessment test (they are on the website), we decided to go with level 2A to start. Many times kids coming out of public school start with a half grade or full grade level below in Singapore. This is a full grade level below. While the first few lessons were a breeze for her, she is already into some math that she either didn't get in school (she was half way through 3rd grade when we pulled her out) or didn't yet have a complete grasp. We purchases the Home Education guide, the Textbook and Workbook as well as the Intense Practice work book. So far, it is a great choice for us. I am not "math minded" but have found that the instructions in the HE guide are great so I can handle instruction quite well. (When we get into higher math later, like geometry and algebra, most likely my husband will have to take over.)

Here is a book that I ordered today to assist in Math/Science - I have read great reviews on it the past few months:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Usbor...e/9780746041680

The Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History

We also have several other books we are and will be using with this.

Right now, I have just a Language Arts book for Grade 3 to cover Grammar and writing - but am checking out other options.

Here are some links that I don't believe have been mentioned already in this thread - these are ones recommended to me by a person that runs a private school (she is an Objectivist):

Vocabulary: Wordly Wise, http://www.epsbooks.com/dynamic/catalog/se...seriesonly=428M

Spelling: Phonetic Zoo, http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/?q=catalog/4/spelling

Grammar: Easy Grammar, http://www.easygrammar.com/index2.html

A book I read that has been extremely helpful is The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. She has home schooled and home schools her children currently, and has taught college level courses as well. While she is religious, she appears to make a point to suggest secular curricula, not just religious themed curricula. While I don't agree with all of her choices for literature (I don't think all the suggestions are actually age appropriate), this is a wonderful book and I refer to it often. It is a good reference for figuring out how to structure the day, and how often to teach certain subjects etc. She also gives some great information on the later years, when your child is in their high school years so you can keep in mind what they need in order to take tests to get into college, etc. My favorite part about the book is that she offers it as a guide - and tells the reader in the beginning that it is acceptable to take as little or as much from her method as works best for the child.

Right now my daughter usually spends 45 minutes to 2 hours on math a day (anything above 45 minutes is her choice, as she loves math!). We were spending about 15 to 30 minutes on grammar per day, but have gotten a little away from that. She spends time doing a lot of free reading, as well as art. My husband and I are working on putting a more formal schedule together in the coming weeks. Since she hasn't been out of public school very long, I am not stressing too much about the fact we don't already have something in place better. I let her take the first week off, to "decompress" if you will, and since we don't have to worry about adhering to a public school schedule, I think starting slowing the first month or so is a good idea.

Once I get things more formalized, I will post again.

Thanks again for everyone's input - I appreciate it!

If anyone has any specific novels they would suggest, please feel to chime in as well. We have a lot of books, but I am always looking for a new books to introduce all the kids to!

[Chris Grieb]

Sherry; Good luck and Good premises with this task.

[natcriss]

Hello, Sherry. I am also homeschooling a child with similar challenges. Although she has not been diagnosed with Aspergers, she certainly exhibits many indicative behaviors. Additionally, she has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and has various documented learning issues.

Your post struck a chord with me. We began homeschooling Kate when she was nine for reasons not unlike your own. And I was excited to see how your path has been so similar to my own (from teaching various creation myths along with the Big Bang and merging Montessori with Classical and Van Damme's hierarchy to flagging all the secular resources in The Well-Trained Mind). We even own the same Usborne book (I love their internet-linked encyclopedias.).

My daughter's strengths are reading comprehension and science. Her biggest weakness is math and anything else that involved complex, abstract problem solving. After much trial and error, we have settled on using history as a backbone, because developments in science, math and other fields naturally build on previous discoveries (which makes teaching concrete-to-abstract to much easier). We teach grammar, writing and literature separately and do not necessarily tie our selections to history (although we do when possible). The only purchased set of curricula we own is Math-U-See, and we will continue to use it (and giggle at the occasional Biblical reference in the word problems) because of its seamless incorporation of manipulatives throughout the lessons.

Has your daughter read The Mysterious Valley by Maurice Champagne? My daughter read this and later began reading aloud to her little sister from it. Your daughter might be interested in it as well.

Have you discovered Joy Hakim's Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way? It is fascinating and written for the younger reader. She has written several other books that I am interested in reading. Right now, the only other Hakim book on my shelf is Age of Extremes. I haven't pulled it off the shelf in a while, so I may go do that now.

My daughter also loves cats, but her current obsessions are horses and archery. I just go with her interests and incorporate them into homeschooling for as long as she will let me...and then we're on to the next thing.

Natalie

PS. To help Kate cope with social anxiety and to increase her personal awareness, we do a lot of role playing to prepare her for situations we know will present challenges. She is having a luncheon this weekend for her 17th birthday, but she never would have been interested in or capable of sitting through such an event just a few short years ago. I hope this helps.

Here is what I am looking for - suggestions on books you think are compatible with Objectivist philosophy for her free reading and assigned reading. Right now, she feels like she has run out of books hahah - that is because she wanted to jump ahead and read a bunch of books that we had. We have a ton of books - a lot of sci/fi - some that are appropriate for her age level, and a lot that is not. She even tried to read Animal Farm a few weeks ago, but I suggested we wait on that one. We have all the Harry Potter Books (though not sure if one could consider them Objectivist - myself and most of my other kids have enjoyed them), "The Girl Who Owned A City"....but I am looking for more suggestions.

Besides math and art, my daughter is absolutely obsessed with cats. For xmas I gave her an Encyclopedia of Cat Breeds and she goes through it constantly.

So - what do you buy your kids?

Edited to add: While she has not read Anthem yet, she has listened to it on CD.

[galtgulch]

Go here for the best home-schooling curriculum, through high-school and calculus.

http://www.oism.org/s32p28.htm

Please understand that with this curriculum the student does the work, the parent does not teach. A laser printer is needed.

--Brant

Sherry, I just clicked on the link above and wanted to mention that there is an endorsement in the right column which mentions Ron Paul. I have no particular advice to give you regarding your daughter who I understand is nine. I have met people with the diagnosis of Aspergers who were grown and have no experience with children with that diagnosis.

I did read sci fi as an early teen. Actually enjoyed Isaac Asimov's books of which there are over 300. He certainly was naturalistically oriented and his books are exceedingly factual about virtually everything. Which ones would depend on her particular curiosity, planets, chemistry, you name it.

I enjoyed Sir James Jeans on astronomy and George Gaylord Simpson on evolution, although there are many more up to date books on those subjects, e.g. Stephen Jay Gould whose columns from Nature were published in a number of collections.

On the Ron Paul thing, he is an avid advocate of the Constitution but what comes to mind are the books on American History of the revolutionary period, David Hackett Fisher's book on Paul Revere's Ride; April Morning by Howard Fast; The Crossing about Washington crossing the Deleware to defeat the Hessians in Trenton; The Battle of Bunker Hill, not to mention Thomas Paine's Common Sense. All those mentioned might be best in a couple of years or more.

There is a group called Young Americans for Liberty with groups on a growing number of campuses including high schools. I suppose the home schooling network might have a group someday. www.YALiberty.org You would find Ron Paul as their hero there too.

I think it is wonderful that your daughter will have the opportunity to grow with your guidance and without the clutter and obstacles of public schooling which I endured and so many of us had to contend with.

Forgive me if I post my little update on the membership growth of the

www.campaignforliberty.com 4Mar 6PM 105690, 8PM 105699; 7MAR 105941

Enjoy!

gulch

Edited March 7, 2009 by galtgulch

[SherryTX]

Go here for the best home-schooling curriculum, through high-school and calculus.

http://www.oism.org/s32p28.htm

Please understand that with this curriculum the student does the work, the parent does not teach. A laser printer is needed.

--Brant

Sherry, I just clicked on the link above and wanted to mention that there is an endorsement in the right column which mentions Ron Paul. I have no particular advice to give you regarding your daughter who I understand is nine. I have met people with the diagnosis of Aspergers who were grown and have no experience with children with that diagnosis.

I did read sci fi as an early teen. Actually enjoyed Isaac Asimov's books of which there are over 300. He certainly was naturalistically oriented and his books are exceedingly factual about virtually everything. Which ones would depend on her particular curiosity, planets, chemistry, you name it.

I enjoyed Sir James Jeans on astronomy and George Gaylord Simpson on evolution, although there are many more up to date books on those subjects, e.g. Stephen Jay Gould whose columns from Nature were published in a number of collections.

On the Ron Paul thing, he is an avid advocate of the Constitution but what comes to mind are the books on American History of the revolutionary period, David Hackett Fisher's book on Paul Revere's Ride; April Morning by Howard Fast; The Crossing about Washington crossing the Deleware to defeat the Hessians in Trenton; The Battle of Bunker Hill, not to mention Thomas Paine's Common Sense. All those mentioned might be best in a couple of years or more.

There is a group called Young Americans for Liberty with groups on a growing number of campuses including high schools. I suppose the home schooling network might have a group someday. www.YALiberty.org You would find Ron Paul as their hero there too.

I think it is wonderful that your daughter will have the opportunity to grow with your guidance and without the clutter and obstacles of public schooling which I endured and so many of us had to contend with.

Forgive me if I post my little update on the membership growth of the

www.campaignforliberty.com 4Mar 6PM 105690, 8PM 105699; 7MAR 105941

Enjoy!

gulch

Thanks for the link.

I do have Paine's The Age of Reason - I believe I have Common Sense on my computer. We probably won't get to American History for a while, since we are still in PreHistory at the moment.

[SherryTX]

Hello, Sherry. I am also homeschooling a child with similar challenges. Although she has not been diagnosed with Aspergers, she certainly exhibits many indicative behaviors. Additionally, she has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and has various documented learning issues.

Your post struck a chord with me. We began homeschooling Kate when she was nine for reasons not unlike your own. And I was excited to see how your path has been so similar to my own (from teaching various creation myths along with the Big Bang and merging Montessori with Classical and Van Damme's hierarchy to flagging all the secular resources in The Well-Trained Mind). We even own the same Usborne book (I love their internet-linked encyclopedias.).

My daughter's strengths are reading comprehension and science. Her biggest weakness is math and anything else that involved complex, abstract problem solving. After much trial and error, we have settled on using history as a backbone, because developments in science, math and other fields naturally build on previous discoveries (which makes teaching concrete-to-abstract to much easier). We teach grammar, writing and literature separately and do not necessarily tie our selections to history (although we do when possible). The only purchased set of curricula we own is Math-U-See, and we will continue to use it (and giggle at the occasional Biblical reference in the word problems) because of its seamless incorporation of manipulatives throughout the lessons.

Has your daughter read The Mysterious Valley by Maurice Champagne? My daughter read this and later began reading aloud to her little sister from it. Your daughter might be interested in it as well.

Have you discovered Joy Hakim's Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way? It is fascinating and written for the younger reader. She has written several other books that I am interested in reading. Right now, the only other Hakim book on my shelf is Age of Extremes. I haven't pulled it off the shelf in a while, so I may go do that now.

My daughter also loves cats, but her current obsessions are horses and archery. I just go with her interests and incorporate them into homeschooling for as long as she will let me...and then we're on to the next thing.

Natalie

PS. To help Kate cope with social anxiety and to increase her personal awareness, we do a lot of role playing to prepare her for situations we know will present challenges. She is having a luncheon this weekend for her 17th birthday, but she never would have been interested in or capable of sitting through such an event just a few short years ago. I hope this helps.

Thanks so much for the book suggestions - I haven't heard of either and will look into both of them!

We took last week off because my other kids had spring break - the week before went well, but the previous week or so I was down with the flu, so we are both excited about getting back on track this coming week.

One thing I need to do is pay my library fines so we can start taking books out again. I am breaking the bank because my family is a bit obessed with books haha, but I think we have the ones we "need" to own and am ready to just start borrowing some.

How were the changes in your daughter's stress level after you pulled her out? I have noticed that Rebecca has become much more tolerant of her youngest sister, and just more relaxed in general because she doesn't have to deal with the "drama" of a formal school setting. I like the idea of role playing for social situations. We haven't done a lot of it - well we have had conversations, but not so much role playing. That is a good idea.

One thing I have discussed with my husband is focusing on manners with here - well, with all our girls. They are good kids, but I have noticed that sometimes they appear to lack some manners when we are out in public. Things that are not a big deal, but things we need to get them to be a bit better about now. Talking with one's mouth full, not keeping the mouth closed when chewing, haha...things all kids have to learn. I am looking for a manner guide that I can incorporate a little bit with the three younger girls. My oldest daughter is 13 and pretty good with manners for the most part. I was thinking of doing a "Tea Party Wednesday" with the girls after everyone is home from school to work on it. I would like it to be fun with them, but also would like them to learn why manners are important - without going over the top of course.

What is your experience in that area? Has role playing helped your daughter?

[BaalChatzaf]

Here is what I am looking for - suggestions on books you think are compatible with Objectivist philosophy for her free reading and assigned reading. Right now, she feels like she has run out of books hahah - that is because she wanted to jump ahead and read a bunch of books that we had. We have a ton of books - a lot of sci/fi - some that are appropriate for her age level, and a lot that is not. She even tried to read Animal Farm a few weeks ago, but I suggested we wait on that one. We have all the Harry Potter Books (though not sure if one could consider them Objectivist - myself and most of my other kids have enjoyed them), "The Girl Who Owned A City"....but I am looking for more suggestions.

Besides math and art, my daughter is absolutely obsessed with cats. For xmas I gave her an Encyclopedia of Cat Breeds and she goes through it constantly.

So - what do you buy your kids?

Edited to add: While she has not read Anthem yet, she has listened to it on CD.

Help your daughter to run with her strengths, which you indicate are math and art and cats (Siamese I hope). Developing her intellect is the number one task she has and learning how to be comfortable with her differences from the Neurologically Typical world is what she needs. She is Different and that is the fact. It were well if she regarded her Difference as a gift rather than a problem. If she goes brains first in the world, you don't have to worry too much if she is a mini-Objectivist. Very smart fact obsessed people tend to evolve into some sort of rational egoism. I did it on my own before I even knew Ayn Rand existed.

Aspies (those on the Asperger Spectrum) tend to be self absorbed from the git go, so you needn't worry over much about your daughter becoming an Altruist or a Kantian. Aspies tend to drill into facts so they are well connected to external reality, more so than Normals. If your child goes to adulthood knowing that her condition is a blessing more than a problem, she should be alright.

You are probably right in home schooling her while she is emotionally vulnerable. At a public school (or even a private school) they will try to bang an odd shape Aspie peg into a trivially symmetric Normal hole. If being an Aspergarian produced a reproductive advantage (it does not) the Aspies would be the next evolutionary step for the human race by way of Darwinian Natural Selection. People like your daughter and I are the Alphas. We have to learn to live with the Betas and still not lose our edge.

Go forth and help your daughter do mighty things. She and you are blessed.

Ba'al Chatzaf

Edited March 23, 2009 by BaalChatzaf