Can we do a "What are you using for __ Grade?: Special Needs Edition" ?

[Shari]

I am planning for next year and am in the early stages of 'the grass is greener' mode. (I've been homeschooling a while, so I recognize the symptoms ;)). We have been plugging away with a BJU/TOG core combo for years but I'm feeling the pullllll of something else.

I'd love to see what your curriculum plans are for the fall, especially for your LD student. Are you using LD specialty curriculum? Modifying a standard one? Going half-pace? Using the computer or some fantastic audio program? I'd love to hear some ideas! Also, for your non-LD students, how are you getting them more independent so you can focus on the one(s) with learning issues?

[Ottakee]

My daughter just turned 13, is in 6th grade and this is what we are using THIS year:

Math---Christian Light Education 3rd grade---LOVE it
Language Arts--Christian Light Education 3rd grade --pretty good
Science--finished ACE 4th grade--she liked it
Social Studies--finished 4th grade ACE--she like it
Bible--Possessing The Land (5th grade) from Positive Action--need something different for next year
Spelling--Apples and Pears level C--she doesn't enjoy it but it WORKS and is easy to use
Literature and Creative Writing--ACE 4th grade--going pretty well

I think for next year we will use CLE 4th grade math, Language Arts, Social Studies, and Literature. We will keep Apples and Pears for spelling. I need to find something for Science and Bible.

[KarenAnne]

Great thread and I'm eager to see what everyone is doing

My 13-year-old is 2E: very, very bright with some major problems in terms of visual-spatial skills, fine motor ability, and dysgraphia. So we're all over the map. She is also having sudden, huge leaps in ability in the past year, so that all my best laid plans tend to not fit after a few months. I have become the specialist in last-minute adaptations or in just throwing overboard everything and starting again.

Literature is her main passion. At the moment she is enthralled with science fiction, so I'm planning on trying to expand her knowledge of it as a genre: approach it historically and see how it develops, read some major writers. Her reading skills are post-college level, but her writing ones are way down, so I'm hoping to come across some good ideas for manageable essay-writing during my internet searches. She needs the meatiness of a sophisticated idea and likes writing longer papers rather than solidifying her skills in shorter ones, so she is doing many fewer papers but longer ones and I'm working on fleshing out paragraphs and using quotes and details. All of this is difficult for her.

We still do spelling, using Spelling Power. My daughter seems to be a visual speller, but her visual skills are compromised so she drops letters, mixes them up, etc. It's quite a big problem when she writes vs. when she is just concentrating on spelling. I don't really know what else to do. She's making slow but steady progress.

Math: it's geometry time and I'm panicked. Her visual-spatial skills are quite a problem, plus she HATES anything that seems abstract and isolated from narrative or "real world" applications, and most geometry books seem like they would put her through a year of exactly that with formal proofs, rotations, etc. Just yesterday I found a different program called Modelling Our World (or something similar) by CoMap, which is a 4-year program that integrates algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. Furthermore, it presents students FIRST with a real-world problem or situation and then discusses whether math is a proper tool for dealing with it, what math would would need, and THEN presents the skills and uses them to tackle the main problem. We had major success with a problem-solving book called "Crossing the River with Dogs" this past year or two so I'm thinking this might be worth a try. Scary to move away from the traditional progression of math topics, but perhaps much more suited for this child, and ends up by covering all of the same ground in the long run. This will be one big leap into the unknown.

Science: chemistry. I usually refer to a textbook to see what gets covered, but this narrative-driven, story-obsessed child finds textbook writing very difficult, so I usually try to find other books for her to read, with not a high degree of success. We do lots of experiments and activities. I have some good chemistry books by Vicki Cobb, lots of stuff from the internet, and a chemist husband (who so far has not been involved in homeschooling but who might not be able to resist when she's working in his field). I can always hope.

We need a foreign language and I don't know what to do. For some reason my child loathes computer learning, which leaves out one of the main ways homeschooled kids learn languages. I'll have to look for a class.

I have not settled on anything for history/social studies except to know that we are going to continue weekly reading of UpFront, a New York Times magazine for teens, to follow world issues. We've dropped timelines, although we play a game called Perspective, which is a timeline game; I'd like to pick that back up particularly as we tend to pick up history books all the time (not texts but well-written trade history, fiction and non-fiction) and not necessarily read in chronological order even if we're attempting to focus on a single time period. We read a lot but this area is kind of a mess for us at the moment.

Art: drawing classes. Daughter resisting art history unless presented as part of history she is enjoying. PE: she rides, working at the stables several hours a week to earn lessons. I'm quite happy with this arrangement!

I am very torn between the successes she's had in the past with a highly individualized, very quirky approach to most subjects and the need to be more conventional in setting up credit courses for high school. Would love to hear how others approach this.

[Shari]

I should have put in what we are doing! This is the plan for ds 9yo dyslexic, starting 5th grade in the fall

Language Arts:
Spelling -- All About Spelling, hope to start Level 3 by this fall
Writing/Grammar -- Verticy Learning Yellow Level. Expensive but worth it (so far!). Will probably be continuing this until Christmas.
Literature -- TOG Classic Year 4
Reading -- still working thru REWARDS, hope to finish this up before the end of the year and move to BJU Reading 5

Math:
Just started MUS Gamma, plan to be in Delta by August

Science:
Used BJU distance learning this year and it was great. However, we will not be able to use the dvds for grade 5. The plan is to try NOEO Biology II with Mom doing the reading and ds either narrating or drawing back the ideas for each day's work. (2x/week)

History:
TOG Classic Year 4. Again, Mom reading, ds narrating or drawing major points for each day, time line work, geography/mapping. (2x/week)

I am toying with the idea of foreign language, either Rosetta Stone or SOS Spanish. I've heard bad things about dyslexics and foreign language, though, and I'm reluctant to overwhelm ds.

[chiguirre]

I have a 9yo boy who's in 2nd grade level extracurriculars.

We're currently using Abecedarian level B and just started AAS level 1 (this is easy, but he needed some of the later steps). We're also doing Queen's Language Lessons for Little Ones 3 this year. We'll continue with ABCD and AAS and do the Classical Writing primers next year. We'll probably also do Language Lessons for the Very Young 1 over the summer. Ds has been reading a chapter of a Magic Tree House book every day. I use the vocabulary and comprehension exercises here:

http://www.mce.k12tn.net/units/tree_house.htm

Ds is about half way through MUS Alpha. He's finally getting the idea of making tens to add, so I do think we'll be able to speed up a bit, but math is his biggest challenge. We've finally found a groove with MUS and I hope to be able to follow it as far as ds can go.

I combine ds with dd for history, science and Spanish. We're currently reading through CHOW and doing outside science classes. We're chugging along with Puertas Abiertas and when we're finished I think we'll do La Clase Divertida to build vocabulary a bit more. I plan to study Spanish grammar is about 2 years.

[lauranc]

My plan for fall: *dd, who will be 11 by then, has multiple learning struggles along with auditory processing disorder and significant speech/language delays*

*Math: continuing with RightStart level B-- maybe ready for level C
*AAS: level 4 --she goes pretty slow with this, but it's been very good for her
*R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey: Chemistry ----and we are always doing nature study etc. as well
*We'll be studying British history in the fall (my husband is British) using Galore Park History books and other materials
*Not sure about writing/lit./grammar yet-- she's currently using Writing Tales
*We'll be finished with Song School Latin, and maybe starting Latin for Children

Laura

[Misty]

My 13-year-old is 2E: very, very bright with some major problems in terms of visual-spatial skills, fine motor ability, and dysgraphia. So we're all over the map.

Literature is her main passion. At the moment she is enthralled with science fiction, so I'm planning on trying to expand her knowledge of it as a genre: approach it historically and see how it develops, read some major writers. Her reading skills are post-college level, but her writing ones are way down, so I'm hoping to come across some good ideas for manageable essay-writing during my internet searches.

She sounds a lot like my 12yr old daughter! 2E with exceptional reading skills.. Dysgraphia, etc. Very much alike!

[Niffercoo]

I'm dealing with Autism Spectrum Disorders, lots of language processing and auditory processing problems, and my son also has a seizure disorder. It has taken a long, long time to find our groove. Too often I end up trying other things because I panic about high school graduation (or getting into college), but I've learned that I can't push my children too far out of their zone, or no learning takes place at ALL.

Here's what we use:

Austin/7th grade
Math - Math U See Zeta
Grammar - Analytical Grammar (we do it year round, splitting an exercise in half so it takes us around a month to do each unit. It's the ONLY grammar that he has ever understood!!!)
Writing - just working on written narration this year (words on paper and gaining confidence), next year we will use the Essay instruction from Analytical Grammar, also we do copywork and dictation once a week each
Spelling - Apples spelling program (he does it but it does not seem to transfer into his written narrations)
History - SOTW 3 with his siblings, reads Kingfisher Illustrated Encylopedia but no outlining yet (maybe next year)
Science - dumped Apologia General after a frustrating 4 months, now he's reading a DK Eyewitness book on Chemistry, watching videos from the library on Chem, and doing experiments with his sister from the Thames kit I bought
Latin - Getting Started with Latin (it's going well, but I may have to dump it to free up more time for the basics)
Literature - WTM list, need to do more discussion with him to help him get main idea, etc (he's a struggling reader)


Reece/2nd grade
Math - Math U See Alpha (been working on this for 2 years, but I think we might actually finish it this year... well, I say that but we're starting subtraction soon which may totally screw everything up! LOL)
Grammar - First Language Lessons 1 (she enjoys this)
Writing - Writing With Ease 1 (wish this had been around for Austin... she has the same trouble with main ideas and grasping the meaning of a passage the same way he did. They both tend to focus on a small, insignificant detail and want to call it the main idea. I'm hoping WWE will help)
Spelling - None right now, but I use Rod and Staff with her older sister and might give it a shot next year (no spelling curriculum has ever worked with her older brother so I'm a little nervous)
History - Listening in to SOTW3with her siblings, not sure what we'll do next year when they do SOTW4
Science - Nature study: Outdoor Secrets (from Simply Charlotte Mason) and the Burgess Bird Book. She loves both of these!
Cursive Handwriting Instruction - Handwriting Without Tears (HWT has worked beautifully with all 3 of my children)

As a family we all do hymn study, artist study, composer study ala the Charlotte Mason method. I aspire to make our homeschool more CM because her methods mesh well with our autism remediation program, but it's hard for me to let go of WTM! (Even though I feel like a failure when I read the boards and see how far behind my kids are, even my NT kid who is working at grade level).

[siloam]

I am planning for next year and am in the early stages of 'the grass is greener' mode. (I've been homeschooling a while, so I recognize the symptoms ;)). We have been plugging away with a BJU/TOG core combo for years but I'm feeling the pullllll of something else.

I'd love to see what your curriculum plans are for the fall, especially for your LD student. Are you using LD specialty curriculum? Modifying a standard one? Going half-pace? Using the computer or some fantastic audio program? I'd love to hear some ideas! Also, for your non-LD students, how are you getting them more independent so you can focus on the one(s) with learning issues?

All of the above?

Most TOG weeks take us 2-4 weeks to complete. I do try to add as much audio as possible, and I even record lit for my gal with OCD tendencies who feels the need to re-read till she gets it perfect. :001_huh: I also have to pay my oldest to do some of the recording, because it takes so much time.

The basics of what we do are in my sig line. All are behind the "ideal" for math, but all are progressing fine. I am also doing Seeing Stars with my 3rd dd, and LiPS with both my 3rd dd and ds, which aren't listed in my sig line.

I have to use a loop schedule. I can't get it all done in one day. My youngest two, for example only get spelling two times a week. I just don't have the time to do it more often. My oldest on the other hand is going through it as quickly as I can motivate her to, so that she can move on to Megawords for reinforcement, which I believe she can do independently (if not I will just do dictation with her and review rules and phonograms now and then-I can record the dictation for her on a min-recorder and she can self correct it). Then I can use that time with my 3rd dd. Not ideal, but in PS they probably wouldn't even worry about these sort of gaps.

Heather

[scrapbookbuzz]

Glad to know others do a 'loop' schedule as well. I keep wondering about us, if we're doing alright despite the fact that we can't seem to finish a Sonlight week in an actual week! It's not that we don't do any schooling, we do! It just seems to take a lot more time than I think it should!

My dd is slightly dyslexic and definitely struggles with dysgraphia! She's never been formally diagnosed but I can definitely tell! I was just thinking today about how I might be able to improve her essay writing. She doesn't mind doing a report on something. It's the words "essay" and "paragraph" and "(number of) sentences" she despises. *sigh*

Thankfully she reads pretty well and math is okay for her. She's 11 and in 5th. We've had to slow down on math so she can get her multiplication down. Plus, we had to do some subtraction review, for some reason. She has improved, though, so I guess I should thank God for that, huh? :^)

She loves to LISTEN to audiobooks, as well, so I download those whenever I can.

I look forward to reading more responses! It helps to know that someone else has a child similar in learning ability to mine!

[LisaTheresa]

4th grade for my son with language based lds looks like this.

R&S Math 4/5, (supplementing w/LOF Fractions, Key to Fractions & Singapore IP)
SRA's Spelling Mastery
SRA's Cursive Writing
IEW class
Sonlight 3 (everything except the LA)
CLE LA 3
IEW's Poetry Memorization Program
Wordsmart Vocabulary cd
Hands-on equations
McCall Crabbs Reading Comprehension & the EPS reading comprehension books
Six Minute Solutions

Lisa

[prairiegirl]

I have been thinking alot about what I am going to do next year. I think I have it all figured out but I'm not sure if all of my decisions are wise ones. All of my children are dyxlexic but at varying levels and their difficulties lie in different subjects.

Dd Grade 6

Math: this is her troubled subject. MUS Zeta w. LoF Decimals
Language Arts: Bartons Reading and Spelling, Classical Writing: Homer (so far this is working well for her) Mother Tongues Bk. II
History: Ancient History (I will be making up my own curriculum reflective of WTM, will be heavy on writing (essay, outlining) as dd needs help with this)
Science: I think we will be doing our own thing with this, too.
Latin: I have agonized over this for a long time. She has a great difficulty with foreign languages but I have this crazy need for her to do latin. I think we will do Henle oral and do it very slowly.


Ds Grade 4

Math: BJU
Language Arts: Bartons Reading and Spelling. CW: Aesop (I am going to try him with this as I already have it but I think it will be too hard and may have to do WWE. Mother Tongue BK I, Reason for Handwriting--Cursive (this is so painful for him, I am thinking of just ditching cursive altogether.)
History: Ancients--SOTW
Science: REAL Science--Earth and Space

Ds Grade 2
Math: RightStart Level B
Language Arts: LiPS (when she is ready, we will move her up to Bartons for reading and spelling). copywork. This is all I am doing for LA until we get her reading
History: Ancients--SOTW
Science: REAL Science--Earth and Space

[meet me in paris]

I think I've figured out what we're doing next year (though don't hold me to it, LOL). For my rising 7th grader w/AHDH, dyslexia/dysgraphia and other LLD:

Sonlight Core 5
Sonlight LA 5
Oak Meadow Math 7 (this has been the best math for her, hands down)
Oak Meadow Science 7

The Sonlight may take some tweaking, but generally their cores are great for her since they don't require a ton of writing. We can discuss the books together and that's generally enough. SL 5 has a bit of research and writing, though, so we'll have to work through that together. I'm hoping for the best! OM Math & Science are so clean and clear and that really helps her a lot. Textbooks freak her out because they're so busy.