I really want to homeschool my LD/ADHD daughter but I don’t know where to begin with choosing curriculum. She is going into 8th grade but is learning at a 3rd grade level. Do I get third grade curriculum and if so how do I tell the school district that she is only doing 3rd grade work? Does she have to take the 8th grade tests at the end of the year if she is only doing 3rd grade work?
We live in NYS and the regs are very tough. I have joined HDSLDA but I have alot of questions. My friends all homeschool but none teach LD kids.
Any advice would be helpful.
Thank you so much.
Some thoughts.
It can definitely be done, though you’re right, the regs are a bear.
Don’t get the third grade curriculum unless your daughter really functions at a third grade level all around. Your daughter is not a third grader. If her skills are at a third grade level, then for the reading and math skills — well, actually you probably want to start from ground zero and build, because kids who test at “third grade” are usually using their smarts that come wiht age and have huge holes in the foundations (that’s why they get stuck at third grade — really hard to build on that). And in school she’s probably not been given the chance to learn much since the way they teach can be very skill- dependent.
Figure out how you’re going to tackle what you think is the most important (sounds like skills). Then look at what you have to do, curriculum wise, for the state requirements — and find ways to teach that that are *not* so dependent on her skills or limitations. (Discussion, movies, hands-on projects, whatever.) But don’t let that state curriculum totally drive you — think hard about what’s going to free her to become her full self and work at that the most.
for starters. You can usually find at least one by doing a search at http://www.metacrawler.com on “homeschooling New York”. Homeschooling organizations are your best source of information about (1) what you have to do to comply with state law, and (2) what you don’t have to do to comply with state law.
You can bet there is some legal way for you to homeschool an 8th grader who is working at a 3rd grade level, because the only approach that makes any educational sense at all is to start where she’s at academically and work from there.
A state homeschooling organization will also be able to advise you about the 8th grade tests.
Mary