Curricula Questions about 1st Grade DS (HF Autism, ADHD)

[ClassicMom]

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Curricula Questions about 1st Grade DS (HF Autism, ADHD)
We are brining our son home from PS next year and I want to make sure that he continues with his love of learning and encourage a challenging education without frustrating him. He is on the Autism scale but high-functioning. Most of his problems are speach/language related. He is also ADHD, but is on Meditate and has improved leaps and bounds over the year. He loves school and I afterschool him as much as he can tolerate and wants.

I'm really torn as to what to use next year because in Pre-school/Kindergarten before he entered school, he really struggled with HOD and WinterPromise.

Recently, he's been doing amazing and it's like windows of understanding have flooded opened. His speech has improved dramatically as well. He is a visual learner and learns from the whole to the parts approach.

Unfortunately in school, they have taught him beginning reading by sight word and I've taught him beginning phonics, but that has confused him some. I will teach pure phonics over the summer.

Here are some of my choices:

1. Calvert (because of their strong foundation)
Math U See

2. MyFather's World 1st Grade

3. Put together my own:
Phonics Pathways
Math U See Beta
AAS
Lots of Reading using the lists in Teaching Your Child to Read Using Children's Books
Geography - Evan Moore beginning Geography workbooks and children's globe
Lots of Geography Puzzles
Evan Moore monthly thematic pockets
Leading Little Ones to God

I also looked at Rod and Staff Reading and Math and they looked really good. He loves their workbooks and that's what we use for afterschooling.
However, I need straight and forward for reading/phonics without diatrical markings.

AND... Open to suggestions.

Thank you in advance for any help ladies!

[dtsmamtj]

We use a similar mix of your #3 option except that we now use Growing with Grammar. When we used Abeka in the early years I just didn't use the diatrical markings. Now that our son is older he is doing Megawords and understands better than in the early years.

T

[purplecow7]

I afterschool my ds who has Sensory Issues.
For math we use sigapore and lots of verbal math facts. Because of his fine motor skill delay for math I write the answers on one page then he does the next and so on and so on. He keeps us going at the right pace for him without him being frustrated because he has trouble writing.

For reading I used hooked on phonics - but he memorized all the books in the first box. At Kindergarten they teach him by site words or wall words.

I have just started using explode the code and it is working wonderful for him. It really breaks down the phonics and makes him look at each letter. From this I have learned that he has trouble right now with the i sound and has trouble blending words especially the endings. Like he will read pal as plal. There is also writing so it is helping him with his fine motor skills and there is built in repetition so he is having lots of success.

[littlewigglebutts]

Just wanted to say that my DS with pretty severe autism also LOVES ETC. I didn't even get it for him, I got it for his brother, but he's taken it over completely. Also I just really started with MUS alpha and DS is really liking that right now. I don't know how much we'll learn, but before math was always a total no go here.

[Hausunterricht]

I would love to give you some helpful advice. Don't try and keep up with normal. From what I've personally experienced and seen with others he will most likely have huge differences in his strengths and weaknesses. Prepare to set stuff aside and come back later. Prepare to take 2 years on a curriculum instead of 1. Prepare to skip pages when he just gets something and can move on.

If he is hyperfocusing on a subject, (I think at that time my son was into amphibians) use it. Have him do copy work from books on the subject. Read and teach him to read with books on that subject.

My oldest is an Aspie and loves to read. So, I use that a lot. He hates to write and I have struggled with that for years. Finally I got him started on the Italics books last year. He is gaining some confidence and the straightforward method and short books have really helped him. He is now doing a lot of typing. I would love for him to work more on copy work, but he is learning so much more about writing when he types.

My Father's World does look good, especially if you want that schedule. We've done really well with just using the Story of the World at this point. I kind of wish we had started with it. It's nice to just read (or listen if you get the wonderful CD's). You can do just 15 minutes a day or get it all done in an hour. But, it's easy to work around anxiety, bad days, and raging. (Not sure if your son rages, but mine always has.) At that age, all my boys have loved picture books. So, I try to keep a book basket from the library. I put stuff on hold that looks interesting. I then let them take a bag each to fill up.

MUS has been a huge hit with all our boys, but especially our oldest. If he understands the lesson he only does one regular page and one review page. He was really behind in Math because of Public school and an aversion to writing. But, he is going by leaps and bounds this year. For once I truly believe he will be at Grade level by the end of middle school.

I would be really leary of the Evan-Moor stuff. I love them and so did my artistic son. But, my oldest found all the cutting, pasting, etc to be a waste of his time. He gets very frustrated with that kind of stuff. But, then again you might have a wonderfully artistic son. You never know with spectrum children.

Welcome to this journey. I've seen such a huge difference in my son when he wasn't in school. He has the freedom to take breaks and find his own space. He has the freedom to take a day off if needed. He doesn't have to keep in all his anger till the end of the day and take it out on his family. It's amazing the difference in him and other kids who have a similar diagnoses, yet have to be in school. I'm so thankful for all his progress and I do owe it all to homeschooling.

[chiguirre]

I've used a lot of Calvert with ds, but 1st grade reading didn't work for him because it moved too quickly when it introduced new phonics concepts. We ended up using LLATL Blue and Pathway readers 1st grade. OTOH, both Calvert K and 2nd grade reading have worked very well. I've ditched Calvert's science and history because they are just soooo dry and substituted Sonlight. Another problem with Calvert and I suspect with MFW is that the writing can quickly become overwhelming if your ds has fine motor delays. I'm planning on combining ds into dd's Calvert 1 writing instruction when she starts in about 6 weeks and have them progress together. But this is just trial and error. I would say that if you want to try Calvert, avoid enrolling because you might not be able to keep to the schedule. I've always bought my Calvert on ebay or vegsource, so I've felt free to modify it to suit us. I do love the TM and the HM reading materials are bright and appealing to my kids. If you buy the HM practice books, you will get almost all the Reading Work Pages plus tons more phonics/spelling worksheets. They're a very good value and available on Amazon.

[katalaska]

My 9yo dd was just diagnosed with Asperger's (which I've suspected for 5 years). "Not knowing" all this time, I've just plugged ahead with what worked for my oldest dd (neurotypical, possibly gifted, definitely advanced). I've had to make tons of allowances and alterations but that's kind of the point of homeschooling--tweaking to make it work!!

So...
We use Zaner-Bloser for handwriting. My dd had lots of reversals (in letters and numbers) and we used Dianne Craft's Brain Integration techniques...the writing eight exercise really helped cement proper directionality (and the "cheat sheet" is still taped to the wall in front of dd's desk). She does NOT learn handwriting (or much of anything) by seeing it demonstrated. When I started teaching cursive it wasn't enough to show her or for her to see the little arrows...I actually had to hand-over-hand guide her...but once she "felt" how to make the letters she could do it. (This happens with learning to swim, too--she needs an instructor who can put her body through the motions and then she can consciously take over).

For reading, I used Phonics Pathways. It was nightmarish. I started "late" (age 6) and every time we got to three letter, c-v-c words, she hit a wall. We started PP from the beginning three times and finally, by the time she was 7 1/2, she got through the book. (By that time I had started it with my ds, who "got it" and soon read and spelled better than dd).

For math, we use Saxon (primarily because *I* like the program). Dd needs LOTS of repetition and LOTS of manipulatives and LOTS of time to do math. Math facts and skip counting are laborious but necessary to keep repeating or she won't retain them. So...just about every time we get in the car she practices skip-counting (by evens, odds, fives, sevens, fours, threes, tens, etc.). We keep doing the flash cards even though she doesn't "get it" that 3+7 is the same as 7+3; to her they are two completely different facts and she so doing flash cards is like having a million different facts even though really there are only half that many. :) I need to make it "more visual" for her and use right-brain teaching strategies but I haven't gotten around to it. If skip counting/math facts can be linked to something "real" her abilities are much better...for example, ask her what three times five is and she'll struggle, but if you remind her it's like counting nickels or how many minutes past the hour is it if the minute hand is pointing to the three and she can tell you the answer is fifteen. She will be allowed to use manipulatives for as long as she needs to. I have her do the fact sheets with a timer but she gets TWO scores--a "before the line" and an "after the line" score--because she has to draw a line after the problem she just finished when the timer rings. She is supposed to be able to do at least 15 problems in 45 seconds but she usually does between 6 and 11. Her answers are accurate but her processing time is miserably slow. Only ONCE has she ever completed a fact sheet within the time allowed. It would damage her self-esteem to "lose" every day so we concentrate on the "after the line" score.

For spelling we use Spelling Workout (because it's what we have...but might not necessarily be the best for her). I am using some right-brain teaching strategies (helping her color-code the salient features of the spelling words) to help her. Spelling is a really weak area for her but she does okay with some extra help. I need to help her learn to create "pictures" about the words and then I think she'll do much better.

For grammar I tried First Language Lessons but we were so bogged down with just learning to read we dropped it. Definitely a better choice than English for the Thoughtful Child, though! I do plan to use Rod and Staff grammar with her...when we get to that point. I intend to minimize the written work (possibly only doing worksheets to reduce copying from the book, which would be time-consuming and error-filled) after doing the textbook work orally. Language is a HUGE weakness (she struggles with names, word retrieval, sequencing, conjugating verbs, pluralization, multi-step directions...just about everything verbal is hard but written work is even worse so we'll try the oral approach!!).

For history we use The Story of the World. The audio CDs, though extremely expensive, are an absolute life saver for us. This is because my dd does not retain auditory information well at all and needs things repeated endlessly (minimum of four times). There is no way I can read aloud that many times and her reading skills are lower than my seven-year-old's, so she cannot read the material herself. Plus, when she reads she does not process or comprehend... So we "preview" the story by listening to the audiobook several times BEFORE I read it aloud "in class." Then I have my dd and my ds take turns doing the first narration (based on the activity guide questions). This way, he models for her (he "gets it" more quickly) and she also gets a chance to "stretch" a little bit. We complete the worksheets with LOTS of oversight on my part. We are doing SOTW 1 and it's manageable; I think SOTW 2 will also be but I worry that SOTW 3 and SOTW 4 will be beyond her reach...

For science...well, we haven't gotten to it much. It takes her two to four times longer to understand subject matter and complete the work. Plus, she's active and distractible (probably a little bit ADHD) and if I leave her unattended she stops working.

One thing that helps is to remind myself that dd is 1-2 years behind emotionally and socially. Academically, she is also about a year behind. She language-tests 1-2 years behind so it is reasonable that she would not be where she should be based on chronological age. Gearing some of her work down to a first grade level (she is in third) where my ds is helps tremendously. If it takes her longer to complete something, fine. If she isn't ready for something yet, stop and try again later. If she does just "get" something (like patterns in math...there was one lesson I was just dreading teaching her and she "got" it instantly--I was shocked!!), go ahead and move on to the next thing (and acknowledge her gift in that thing). If we never get to some things, it's OKAY (I have struggled with accepting this one...you know, I had my plan and it was going to work!).

[ClassicMom]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I went to the Cincy conventions last weekend and picked up the OPGTR. While I do like PP, this has the audio component which I think my son needs. He LOVES workbooks (which is odd for an ASD child) but I will add ETC to help reinfoce the lessons. This way the information is coming in through all modalities. He can print all of his letters at this point.

We are going to spend the summer working on the phonics program so that he can just focus on this. I will have to determine where he is closer to fall to assess his first grade skills, but I am still thinking of MFW 1st and just moving through the lessons at a quicker pace. Or we will do more of a regular Classical approach.

I do know now that we will have to approach this with a visual, audio, and movement (coloring, drawing, activity) for each subject in order to cement the information.

Thank you again for all of your help. Oh, and I did get a copy of Brain Integration Therapy by Dianne Craft. All of her materials are wonderful.