frogger Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 I will make time(a lot of it :\ ) for seat work for my, soon to be 10 year old, son when it comes to reading and writing but I really need opportunities to work with all my other children. Has anyone found work that isn't overly simple or childish but doable for a child with a very short attention span and a second grade reading level? I'm not even sure I care what subject. I just want him getting practice at being successful on his own and following simple directions on his own. He gets frustrated easily if the directions are complicated so it needs to be fairly simple and straightforward. Even if I get him to not interrupt me while I'm working with someone else he will get nowhere if he gets stuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 What about a Kindle with books to listen to/read using Immersion reading? Or just listening while he plays with legos or something? You can get him a good set of headsets (not earbuds). DS loves being independent and he can choose which book he wants to be reading. He may have 2 or 3 going at the same time and will listen/read the one he is in the mood for. As for other things, with math, would it be possible for him to log onto Khan Academy for a little each day? Or the CLE light units might work. Just have him to the word problems with you there to help him decode. Maybe do those separately. I highlight those to remind DS to get me if he is struggling. Maybe Veritas Press Self-paced for history? He could do part of a lesson in the morning and part of it in the afternoon, so he doesn't have to sit so long. Are there any projects he could be working on? Like building a small garden? What about doing a chores apprenticeship? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citrusheights5 Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 For my son who has add and dyslexia, his independent work are these book I found called "Starting comprehension- Phonetically" We are using bartons and he was able to work up to book 1 and 2 alone. They also have a set of Starting comprehension- Visually. Miles has worked through thouse books, but since we are focusing on Bartons I am not using thouse anymore. We also switched to teaching textbooks, so that he can do that work independently. I still have to help him, but not nearly as much.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutingmom Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 We are using a Charlotte Mason program - Ambleside Online actually - and my dyslexic 11yo does all the readings with audiobooks. Well, there are some that there aren't audiobooks - if possible we do TTS, or else I read. I'm looking into technology right now to use our tablet/phone camera to scan books, OCR them, so that TTS can be used - mainly because as we move into the modern age in history there are more books that I can't get audio or TTS for. This has allowed my son to blossom - he loves history, is reading Shakespeare and Plutarch. He just finished Robinson Crusoe and is starting Kidnapped. (And yes we are working still on phonics and some basic spelling - his reading has moved from about a grade 3 level to about a grade 4.5 level this last year - his spelling is atrocious.) hth some. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Another option are the ACE paces. They are simple, very conservative (if that is a concern for you) but my kids loved doing them. The science and social studies are very simple and it is read, fill in the blank type thing but they could do them on their own and it gave them some reading/writing practice. They are not rigorous academics but doable for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogger Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Thank you for the ideas to research. He actually is more of a "doer" but is easily frustrated so I find almost all projects end up involving mom which doesn't help me have time for other kids even if projects are his best learning medium and we try to do some. He also isn't much of an audio learner. To have a dyslexic that doesn't learn well from audiobooks is kind of a double whammy. Not that he can't listen to things anyway. If he listens to something 5-10 times he just might actually learn something. ;) So it has felt like he has needed me for everything this year on top of all that extra intensive reading and writing work. So anything that he can do and maybe get a little reading/writing practice sounds great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Handwriting workbook Geography workbook Typing program We are currently using Draw Write Now which doubles up for handwriting and art. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I don't think it is realistic to expect a lot of independence from a 10 yo boy with learning issues. My 9th grader still requires me for teaching about half of his subjects. My DD is a first grader, and I sit down with her and review phonics/reading, spelling, and dictation. I also read to her, but she doesn't appear to have any LDs except maybe handwriting so I accommodate that. I rely upon videos for science with her so that I can attend to her elder brother. Son's educational needs are greater, so if I could not manage the situation, DD would go to a private bm school. In your situation, maybe use workbooks with all the kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanin Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 How about videos? Bill Nye the Science Guy, Discovery channel, PBS kids things like Wild Kratts? I sometimes feel like videos do a better job teaching than me, particularly science videos! :) If he's not into science, how about history series like PBS Liberty's Kids? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanin Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 You could turn the videos into a more school-ish thing by having him keep a video notebook of sorts, and write a 2-3 sentence summary of each video, or write three interesting things he learned, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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