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How to do you balance the needs of one with a LD when you have other kids?


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As I curriculum plan for next year, I'm struggling with how to balance the needs of my sweet 6 year old (dyslexia, suspected auditory processing, articulation disorder, etc) with my other three kids. 

Obviously, a preschooler, 2nd grader, and 3rd grader cannot be independent, nor have I found independent materials that I feel are the "best fit" for them (for example, we looked at Teaching Textbooks, but neither older child liked the way it was taught). 

How do you balance your time? We're going to be using LiPS, then Barton, those dyscalculia books, etc. with my 6 year old - all things that take up a lot of time, planning, and energy. 

What's the secret?

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Honestly, for my 6 year old I throw loads good books his way, supervise his math, and call it good. He works independently really a lot and does fine that way. He's a freak of nature though (in a good way): very firstborn, self-motivated, naturally curious, and gifted. Next year for 2nd grade my goal is to spend more time on actual direct instruction in history and science with him. But honestly the kinda unschooly thing we did this year as I remediated DD hasn't turned out badly. He learns tons from books and talked DH into doing a few little experiments with him that he found. He's about finished with 2nd grade math too. I am not an unschooler at all but for this year with this kid it worked.

 

My 4 year old I'll be setting aside 1 hour just for him next year early in the mornings because he wants to read and now knows his letters and sounds. He's very bright but needs more direct instruction because of his age and personality. YDD will probably tag along with our 1 hour preschool time knowing how she is. My hope is to have ODD (the one who has higher needs) do independent morning work and chores during my time with the little ones. Then I can spend a good 2 hours just working with her one-on-one with Barton and Math U See.

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Not very well? 

 

Seriously, though, it's hard and I can only do my best.

 

I simplify our schedules and subjects- especially for the kids who struggle and I use materials that work for the kids rather than what I wish they'd love. There's no secret.

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Where are the 2nd and 3rd graders in your sig?  Is this 6 yo your oldest?

 

I don't know, my ds is 6 and that's our mix and that's what we've been doing.  If you really started listing them out, not by preference but by serious brainstorming, what are your options?  Do you have a relative who can watch the littles twice a week for an afternoon?  Do you have a sitter?  A preschool program you could send them to?  Do you have money to bring in a mother's helper every day for 2 hours?

 

I like the MFW preschool activity cards and would have an idiotically simple plan like that for your preschooler and toddler.  So those kids would get one hour a day where you read to them, do an activity, do an art kit from Timberdoodle, whatever.  During that time maybe the 6 yo has quiet time (nap) or watches a worthwhile science video.  I would make free to do videos for science and history for both sets, older and younger.  

 

As far as the actual instruction, I don't see how you get that done with a 4 yo and a 2 yo underfoot.  Of course my kid is not representative of all kids.  Maybe your kids are way better.  :D  That's where you might need to sort of get honest or creative about options.  (preschool, sitters, whatever).

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Well, I can tell you that I pick resources with the struggling one in mind. I prioritize whatever is hardest for him at the start of the day. His twin waits. It's not ideal.

 

I don't know how I would do it with a preschooler. It was hard when they were toddlers and preschoolers. I wasn't homeschooling, but I was trying to work on autism things. It was hard with the two. I think it would have been better to get a mother's helper or send the twin to preschool or similar perhaps. I just did the best I could.

 

Some good things have to give for both kids so I have time to focus on the most important areas/areas of struggle with one. I just have to accept that. I prioritize.
I do school year round, and that's mainly so I have more over-all time to work.

 

ETA: my opinion off hand with the 6 year old...I would focus on just LIPS I think. You can wait on all the rest. Age 6 is young. If you have an older, make sure that child gets math and LA instruction.  All the rest would be gravy. Math: CLE is the most independent yet good program I know.

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Are the ages in your signature correct? If they are, I'd focus just on the 6 y.o. (who is 1st grade, no matter what the grade level materials used are) and not worry about the youngers for now.

 

If you've got an old siggie and your kids are actually 8, 7, 5, and 4, then I'd just have the older two do school.

 

Kindergarten is optional, even if most kids today start formal academics prior to 1st.

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Are the ages in your signature correct? If they are, I'd focus just on the 6 y.o. (who is 1st grade, no matter what the grade level materials used are) and not worry about the youngers for now.

 

If you've got an old siggie and your kids are actually 8, 7, 5, and 4, then I'd just have the older two do school.

 

Kindergarten is optional, even if most kids today start formal academics prior to 1st.

Florida is awful in the push for early academics. They have these huge billboards that "School doesn't start in Kindergarten anymore", and if you don't enroll your kids in the free preschool, you're given a very hard time by doctors. :( It's awful.

 

Granted, my four year old could (intellectually) handle preschool... but i'd rather her be creative and play than sit at a desk all day. 

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The secret is that is can't all get done. Give yourself permission to not get it all done.

 

I'd focus on LiPS and math with the 6 year old. Make sure the older ones are doing math and reading. Everything else can catch up later. I'd fill the rest of the time with family read-alouds, science explorations, nature walks, etc. The family time and read-aloud time is important.

 

I've been doing a balancing act for awhile now. The thing that keeps me sane is prioritizing the one thing I want to do with each child and then doing that.

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I'm still trying to figure out the best way to make this work at my house. I start school around 6 with my ds9 and work for about an hour until the other kids wake up. Then we have breakfast, get dressed, and do morning chores before the other kids start their independent school work (explode the code, review math, and copy work mostly). I do one on one work with ds6 while my 2 older boys play with the 2 girls in a baby proofed bedroom (usually stuffed animals, dress up, puzzles or lego duplos). Then after lunch when both girls are napping I work one on one with ds7. We do science as nature walks or wild kratts or magic school bus or sid the science kid and my dh helps with fun experiments some evenings and weekends. We also check out books weekly from the library and some of those are science or history related. We do read alouds (or audiobooks) regularly. But now that it looks like we will be adding VT and OT into our days (and possibly Barton depending on how ds7 tests) I'm not sure how next year will go. I'm looking for a mother's helper but the COL is so high here I'm not finding much. I'm thinking some school work might have to be moved to after supper when my dh can watch the younger ones. I'm realizing there are no perfect answers. I hope you find something that works for all of you soon!

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My rising 3rd grader does do Keyboarding without Tears, Read, Write, Type, and/or Word Qwerty daily, so he has some school activities he can do independently. He also does Immersion Reading on the Kindle with assigned literature or free reading too. Can you work in something like that for both the 3rd & 2nd graders?

 

Reading Horizons is something I might consider for the 6 y.o. too to reinforce phonics while you work with the others. I'm also going to be adding Reflex Math for my younger ds to practice math facts independently (he has fast processing speed so this should be good for him). Can you add more of these types of independent computer work for them? It doesn't outsource your core lessons, but does shore up review on math facts, phonics, & adds typing skills, all of which can be done relatively independently even by younger kids.

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Is your 8 y.o. heading into 4th or 3rd? I noticed a big jump this year in older ds's ability to get work done on his own. He is a bit older 4th grader (10) and still has a fair amount of wandering distractions, but he can really dig in and work on a bigger project on his own now as long as the guidelines & organization are clear. You may not be that far off your oldest getting more independent if you can structure the assignments well. He still needs me at elbow for math, spelling, and a couple of other subjects, but bigger assignments like writing, science reports, geography presentations, etc. can be handed off to him to complete as long as I specify how much work needs to occur daily.

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I found an exceptional public school, in the next district over, and spend a tremendous amount of money on gas and 3 seperate hours driving them to and fro. (Before, after and half day kinder), I never thought I would do this, but because of Miles attention issues I had to choose less distractions for him. But I also happenEd to find a home schoolers dream school so it made the drive worth it.

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