The kids I tutor aren't really cooperative. The boy likes to flaunt his superior knowledge, which can be used to help the girl. The girl is working hard to catch up to her brother. Sometimes, she is more perceptive than he is; for instance, he didn't remember, nor could he find, the reference to the beaver's tail being like a paddle. The girl found it but misunderstood the word. I worry about the boy's comprehension. I think maybe he has a slight learning disability. He has improved, so he's not hopeless, but he doesn't remember a lot of what he reads. It shocked me the other day when he saw a movie in school and couldn't remember anything about it. He has trouble putting his thoughts into order and writing them down. He comprehends conversation a lot better than even easy written material.
Another thing I can't understand is how resistant both kids are to answering things out of order. They want to struggle with a question rather than skip it and do the easy ones first, then go back and do the hard ones, when at least the easy choices are eliminated. Yesterday, I tried to explain to the boy how it's less work to do it that way, and he always likes to take the easy way out, so I thought he could relate to that. For a while, he was answering things out of order when I prompted him, but now he's gone back to insisting that he do them in order.
I want them to learn this skill since it'll make them score higher in timed tests. They will at least get the answers they know instead of spending all their time puzzling over question #2. There's no reason to do test questions in order. Why do they insist so strongly on doing it that way? Is it just human nature to do things in order?
I've made a note of all of the supplements that you've referred to; but I don't want to add any additional supplements for now. How would I be able to tell what's actually helping? 
Thanks for all of the info!
