Hi-
I’m completely new to homeschooling. We’re in a crisis and I’m going to pull my son out of school and try homeschooling. I would really like some help in picking the most appropriate curriculum for my son.
Brody is 9 years old, currently in 4th grade public schools.
I had him tested by Child Study Team over the summer. Said he has no learning disabilites.
He reads at 2nd grade level and is currently failing 4th grade. (conference with teacher)
He definitely has ADD-I haven’t made a medical appt. etc as my husband and I don’t want to use the drugs. ( My oldest takes Strattera and has ADD with a LD-even if I homeschooled him I would have to keep him on the Strattera but he’s happy now in middle school). My husband has ADD. 5 out of 11 grandchildren on my husband’s side have ADD.
He cannot follow 2 part instructions, he cannot think without moving etc etc.
No social problems-he’s a happy camper. School doesn’t bother him exactly -he’s just decided not to do a single thing/or listen to a single thing there.Though he told me the other day that he’s bad at math.
If I sit down and re-teach math homework of approx. 40 questions-he’ll get 90% to 100%. If I just let him start by himself-more like 40%
He’ll just plug in numbers. I require him to re-do the wrong answers.
Reading: he omits small words.
Testing-She said writing -he leaves out small words -then will add them when he read it back outloud.
In Math -he makes careless mistakes, not checking if it’s subtraction or addition.
If the question asks for smaller to higher-he’ll have it reversed frequently-it’s correct but “wrong”.
Writing,grammar etc-really bad.
Spelling tests-frequent 100%
Testing his verbal IQ is 120.
Yesterday during homework I discovered he doesn’t know that the word “nickel” is 5 cents. He can use money correctly.
I know from testing that he doesn’t have a learning disability but from what I observe he has a problem with language. Very very “literal” -he has a hard time with definitions-or if the teacher says estimate once -she had better not substitute “rounding ”
Talking to him-he’s articulate, entertaining,quickly grasps concepts.
He’s exhausting if you’re not used to high energy kids.
Tactile-kinesthetic learner most I’d guess.
He’s not big on T.V.
Loves Playstation-he plays standing or jumping around.
My question is what type of math?
Math-u-see or singapore math-something else?
Should I do some phonics work? Remedial reading teacher told me last year that he is the one in her class that she calls on to read -because he can read. What should I work on with reading? Explode the code,Reading Rescue 1-2-3?
Writing-try Writing Strands? That sounded good for him.
Learning Language Through Literature?
My Pals are Here for science?
I’m having a hard time judging what would be a good programs to teach and interest him.
Do I make him redo careless mistakes? Or if he understands the concept let it go?
I was planning to do lots of 15/20 minute sessions. His attention span is not large!
Thanks, Cyndi
Re: help! ADD 4th grade son I'm going to homeschool
I think I’d try Math-U-See. Concepts are presented in a multisensory way as opposed to Singapore which just has pictures in the workbook (I think). You must use the pre-tests and go back to where he needs to start. Math-U-See requires that the child masters math facts, for example, before moving on. The lesson introductions are on DVD or video which really helps, too. Children learn concepts as opposed to just doing computation.
Just because the team said your son did not qualify for an LD label does not mean that it is true. Reading at 2nd grade level in 4th grade is either an indicator that he has a reading LD or else his attention span was not long enough to learn the decoding skills. I always have hesitancy in recommending a reading program because some parents are more comfortable than others in teaching phonics. But I think I’d recommend that you start out by reading the book, Reading Reflex, by Carmen and Geoffrey McGuiness, but then order materials from ABeCeDarian to work with him (www.abcdrp.com). He would likely need levels B1 and B2 (buy manuals and student workbooks). These would teach what Reading Reflex refers to as the advanced code. I don’t think that Explode the Code will teach the blending and segmenting he probably needs. Another possibility would be Phonics for Reading from Curriculum Associates. It is laid out well and is scripted for the teacher. You’d need to pretest him to chosee the level, though, and I am not sure whether that is on their website.
Another choice for science and social studies would be to use the Core Knowledge sequence to do unit studies that would interest him. They do also have texts for the social studies. You can see the books on their site.
http://coreknowledge.org/bookstore/
You may want to look at some therapies to help him improve attention such as Interactive Metronome. I am sure there are parents on here who can tell you about it.
Janis
Re: help! ADD 4th grade son I'm going to homeschool
YOu’ve had good advice so far :-)
To support it, though, the school folks aren’t really looking for an LD - they are looking for a legal definition of something that determines whether your son is eligible for services. Some of them are rather creative in interpreting test results so that they don’t have to deliver those services; sometimes it’s not deliberate, just that not all of our children fit those eligibility definitions. IMO homeschooling can be an excellent option, especially at this point in academics, to get skills and self-esteem back on board and learn how he learns best to apply to later learning (whether at home or in a brick & mortar situation).
There are some excellent resources for homeschooling but many of them assume that, to quote one, “Reading is easy. Reading is easy. Reading is easy.” However, they can give you structure & guidelines for designing your own. Personally, I would focus on skills and basic general background and things that your son is interested in. (I put some thoughts & resources online at http://www.resourceroom.net/homeschool/index.asp )
Lots of questions, lots of answers.
Yes, definitely do phonics. Any good structured program, but yes he needs it. You do not want him like a umber of my students , at Grade 8 or 9 or out of school and still at that Grade 2 level.
Yes of course correct his math, and yes of course make him redo it. You never wat to practice a mistake.
He *does* need those little words. They are the glue that holds the sentence together and makes sense of it. Yes you can read Grade 2 level ad skip them or insert at will — but agaih you don’t want him still at that level ten years from now. Have the disagreement now and get him reading what is on the page; later it just gets harder and harder.
I have heard good things about Singapore Math. It is a complete program, unlike many others that have good bits but ot everything. From what I uderstand, the grade levels are higher than US, so you might be better to start a year lower and work up. I also hear that you should defiitely use the workbooks.
Cotact me at [email protected] if you want my outlies for a home-grown reading program.