Planning thread...

[OneStepAtATime]

Now that August is half way through, I was curious how everything is shaking out for school?  I realize some of you school year-round.  Just wondering what the plans are, going into the fall.

 

For us, the kids were in a specialized tutor training center for part of July and August to get them over some humps I just didn't seem to have the skills to help with.  Jury is still out on how much it helped DD since we have not yet moved back into our normal materials yet but she feels it has helped her.  DS did great with his sound discrimination issues but I do worry how we will do on our own without their support.  Our plans have changed a bit since I was trying to work things out in the Spring.

 

Plans for DS...

 

Language Arts:

Barton 30 minutes a day (tutoring center discouraged me from doing more than 30 minutes for this particular child)

Reading Detective 3 times a week (tutor's suggestion)

Audio books in subject areas he has interest in as well as book series he likes

Possibly IEW SWI-B and limited cursive practice

 

Math:

CLE in limited fashion (DS's request)

Transition Math for math spine since it incorporates real world math application and math history (DS' request)

AoPS Pre-Algebra in limited fashion (DS' request)

History of Math DVDs

 

History:

Self-paced Middle Ages course (DS' request)

On-line Ancient History with Percy Jackson course (DS' request)

Fun Texas History class with friends (possibly - already feel we are overloaded on History)

 

Science:

On-line Chemistry Class through Athena Academy for the Fall

Continue above with the Periodic Table of Elements class for the Spring if the above goes well

 

P.E.

Working out at home

Swim Club and possibly Swim Team

 

Other:

Junior Student Council

Junior Drama Class

 

I think I'm missing something but I can't remember what it might be.  If anyone has feedback, feel free to comment.

 

For DD I am waiting to finalize plans until the tutoring center gets back to me with the results of the testing she did at the end.  DS didn't do extensive testing, just the sound discrimination and reading program, but they were confidant that he would be able to move back into Barton without too much trouble.  In fact, they went ahead started him in Barton again and he did fine.  He made huge leaps while there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pen]

That sounds wonderful so far!

 

We theoretically school year round, but still have more of a focus and heavier load in regular academic year.

 

Currently the plan is a 60-90 minute per day math focus, probably only 4 days per week and with one for games.  Once upon a time long ago it was ds's favorite subject. Now it is least favorite and suffering so first goal is to re-instill liking it.  If possible.

 

30 min/day writing.

 

1 hour science.

 

The rest for this next year I am expecting to be child initiated and determined /  unschoolish.

 

Your schedule looks much more impressive, I must say!

[OneStepAtATime]

That sounds wonderful so far!

 

We theoretically school year round, but still have more of a focus and heavier load in regular academic year.

 

Currently the plan is a 60-90 minute per day math focus, probably only 4 days per week and with one for games. Once upon a time long ago it was ds's favorite subject. Now it is least favorite and suffering so first goal is to re-instill liking it. If possible.

 

30 min/day writing.

 

1 hour science.

 

The rest for this next year I am expecting to be child initiated and determined / unschoolish.

 

Your schedule looks much more impressive, I must say!

Sounds awesome to put trying to inspire a love or at least like of math a priority. With the interest led, do you have any overall goals in mind? Or does your son? Or just wherever rabbit trails lead?

 

I am trying to do interest led here while still having some structure or nothing gets done. I still have not worked out the best way to do so. DS is easier. He likes online and selfpaced classes. He also does a ton of research on his own. DD not so much...

[PeterPan]

You might want to sit with him while he does the VP self-paced.  Or maybe he has already done it before and has the gig down?  It's a lot of reading.  That's why I haven't tried ds on it.  

 

I'm still amazed at what a ROCKET BOOST this summer experience was for you guys!!!  Our plans?  I'm sort of bogged down with trying to get some visual schedules that I can put our ideas into.  I know that sounds crazy.  When I feel awesome, I can totally roll with things, but when I don't feel so awesome I need more structure.  Ds has so many issues with bolting, impulsivity, and just being a challenge to keep up with, that I'm trying to follow the IEP advice and get visual schedules going.  I had tried in my own fashion, but now we're giving it rocket fuel with these ASD-specific ones I found on TPT.  

 

So it's more like I'm setting up stations, trying to put my ideas into bins.  Within those category bins, we'll be able to choose and roll with it.  Hopefully that will get us there.  He has JUST started asking for books on things besides his obsession, and somebody told me this may turn out to be SEISMIC for us.  Seismic change I could handle, lol!  So like yesterday we read 3 books about topics that weren't his obsession, all at his request.  Wow.  Always before *I* was initiating that.  Always before I was the one trying to broaden him and say hmm, let's be interested in clouds or bats or whatever, when all he wanted was his obsession.  That's kind of conflicting, because the evidence is that kids with communication issues don't broaden their horizons because they aren't interacting with people that broaden their horizons.  But if you pull a kid away from his obsession, that's also frustrating.  So this is an interesting change, to think that he might enjoy something else too.  But we'll see how that rolls, lol.

 

So I'm trying to make things that can be independent work, things that are together work, do a better job at working on our math goals, work on the reading without having it feel arduous, sneak in therapy things for both language and OT, and oh btw feed his gifted side and work on typing.  Oh no, it doesn't feel nuts around here.  I haven't even touched making syllabii for dd's work.  Totally behind the 8-ball.  I have all the materials and it won't take long (maybe 2 hours per subject).  I think we're going back to paper schedules this year.  I might try Quip for collaborative writing.  

 

For dd I'm going all in with fashion and fashion history, so she's getting a half scale dress form, several books on fashion history, etc.  I've ordered her 3 K12 texts and the Perspectives books of primary sources from Norton, so I'm hoping she likes them.  

 

With ds I've been prepping some fun things to try with geography (US), state birds, etc.  We've still got some more of the BJU science and heritage studies videos to watch.  Lots of ideas, so it's much just creating a choice structure and doing it.  He's been so in his summer routine, and that has ended with the end of swim lessons.  So that transition may get crunchy.  That's why I'm going heavy with the visual, to move him right over.  I think I'm going to axe morning tv entirely.  It is just this rigid thing in his mind and it's time for a change.  I think I might work on the value of WORK, hahahaha...  That was my FIL's wish, that I make sure ds learn to WORK.  So I'm thinking if he wakes up to a job list, that could work.  I don't know.  I'm looking at a token system.  I think he's going to need something for a while to help him over some humps, so I think I might use tokens to reward target behaviors (sitting with me to work, finishing your independent work list, doing morning jobs, starting the list without being told, etc.).  It may step things up for him and be a good maturity shift.  When he was in the preschool classes at the Y, he had NO CLUE he was years older than some of them.  Then we moved him in with the 10-12 year olds and he slowly figured it out.  So now I'm trying things with him like how would a 7 yo handle this (vs. what a 6 yo does), etc.  New concepts.

 

We're going to a fresh calendar approach.  I thought I had done enough, and now I'm realizing I wasn't even close.  Like he can tell me Christmas is the 25th and have NO CLUE what month it's in, lol.  We've got some work to do there, oops.  Like for a number of years.  I'm realizing he needs even MORE chances to contextualize and work with math concepts across situations.  I had no clue.  I thought 2-3, bam done.  I'm realizing now it may be much more.  So right now 6+6 is 12 here, on an app, with Ronit Bird, maybe the 2-3 ways we've done it, but NOT 20 others.  So that overwhelms me.  Sigh.

 

And that's all I am, overwhelmed and drowning in my own ideas, lol.  So I'm paddling out the only way I know how, with reorganization and structures.  We'll see.

[OneStepAtATime]

Wow, OhE, you really are busy! :)

 

I get the needing more structure when things aren't rocking along.  I do, too.  Maize, anther poster on WTM, recommended I use Homeschool Planet and it helped me quite a bit.  I was able to move things around, play with scheduling ideas, create "ghost" kids to see how a different schedule altogether might work. It helped me a lot.

 

The tutor really pushed me to recognize how bright DS is and how I have to feed that or I will lose him.  At 11 he is pushing back.  He is resisting the basic stuff quite a bit.  She said make a contract, keep remediation skills work to shorter segments, and work harder on the intellectual side.  If he sees purpose to the remediation he is far more likely to embrace it.  She was great at showing him how he limits himself if he doesn't spend a little time working on basic skills that will help him soar in his areas of strength once he masters those areas.

 

The tutoring place was wonderful.  They were so adaptable and wanted only the best for the kids.  They are available by Skype if we run into trouble, but I am hoping we won't need that.  The directors both said they were only an email or a phone call away if we hit snags.  Honestly, I was amazed at how hard they were working to help us.  And while the cost was high, they actually honored the prices they quoted me when we thought we were going up last year even though they increased what they charge by quite a bit since then.  And they helped me find ways to reduce cost on the eval.  We paid thousands less than we might have.

 

As for paddling out with reorganization and structure, that statement really speaks to me.  Besides using Homeschool Planet, I am completely reorganizing the education/dining room.  It helps me stay focused and feel like I have a bit of control.  

[PeterPan]

That's definitely what it is, control in a situation that feels a little out of control, lol.

 

Hmm, it sounds like you got really good (perceptive) advice on your ds!  I have a bin of things I got at the convention that I haven't even (ahem) put away yet.  Or maybe I put them away and I haven't put them into the new schedule because they're on a shelf?  Anyways, I *think* I got some TinMan Press books and similar things that were meant to sort of scratch their noodle.  That MIGHT be a better way for ds to start his day than a list of jobs (dishwasher, floor duty, trash...).   :D  Lecka calls that working from high probability of compliance to low probability, rather than working in the reverse.  :)

 

[OneStepAtATime]

That's definitely what it is, control in a situation that feels a little out of control, lol.

 

Hmm, it sounds like you got really good (perceptive) advice on your ds!  I have a bin of things I got at the convention that I haven't even (ahem) put away yet.  Or maybe I put them away and I haven't put them into the new schedule because they're on a shelf?  Anyways, I *think* I got some TinMan Press books and similar things that were meant to sort of scratch their noodle.  That MIGHT be a better way for ds to start his day than a list of jobs (dishwasher, floor duty, trash...).   :D  Lecka calls that working from high probability of compliance to low probability, rather than working in the reverse.   :)

What are TinMan Press books?  

 

And you know, DS tends to hop out of bed faster if he knows he has something interesting to tackle right away.  He is willing to do housework but reading your post I think that would probably work better as something he does between academic endeavors to give him something physical to break up the day and get his blood pumping again.

[PeterPan]

What are TinMan Press books?  

 

And you know, DS tends to hop out of bed faster if he knows he has something interesting to tackle right away.  He is willing to do housework but reading your post I think that would probably work better as something he does between academic endeavors to give him something physical to break up the day and get his blood pumping again.

I know, as soon as I said it, it was this total LIGHTNING BOLT FLASH in my own brain!!  LOL  Sometimes I'm really slow on the draw.  But you're right that to transition from a highly preferred activity as the routine, we'll have to be going to another equally highly preferred activity basically, or else we're toast.  

 

These might be on the young end of what you need, but it's an idea, just something to get you started.  Smart Snips  That should link to one of the books that Rainbow is selling.  I had looked at Tinman stuff for years online but never bought till I saw it at the booth at the convention.  Impulsivity and all that.   :D  But see what levels they have and if anything strikes you.  They're humble but good for thinking.  And if the Tinman books don't do it, he's at a fabulous, fabulous age to do logic puzzles (mindbenders, perplexors).  Come to think of it, that's how my dd started her mornings at that age.  Her school work mornings that is.  Her real morning started with 1-2 hours of slowing coming to, reading, and staying away from humans.  I remember trying to have her run laps to perk up.  It didn't work.  LOL  

 

 

 

[Guest]

I'll come back to this when I have some time and can actually sit and type at the computer. In the meantime just linking this free resource:

 

http://www.kansasasd.com/classroommat.php?view=viewcat&aid=teacherresources

 

You may find it useful OhE or anyone else looking to do visual schedules. It is a teacher resource but I think many of us may already have a classroom type set up in our home and all the downloads are free anyway ;)

[OneStepAtATime]

Thanks for sharing, Cricket. :)  Look forward to your more detailed post later.  

[PeterPan]

Hey OneStep, look at this!!!  http://www.amazon.com/United-We-Solve-Problems-Groups/dp/0964849666/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=

[OneStepAtATime]

Hey OneStep, look at this!!!  http://www.amazon.com/United-We-Solve-Problems-Groups/dp/0964849666/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=

Way cool!  Already shifted it to my cart.  :)

[texasmama]

Hi LC friends!

 

This summer involved some phone calls for services for ds14.  He is on some waiting lists and will have an assessment in a couple of months to get his foot in the door of the county-run agency that serves kids on the spectrum.  It is mostly just in case of a crisis because what is offered is not much or what we need, but the process is started.

 

Ds14 will be doing quite a lot of outsourced classes, which works really well for me and for our relationship.  He needs to finish up one test for Jann in Texas and then will begin her Geometry class online early Sept.  He will be taking Landry Academy Spanish online and Biology at co-op.  English is at a co-op, taught by me.  History is SWB's Ancient History of the World at home.  I've made a schedule, but it will be mostly independent.  He will continue with competitive bball (coached by dad), with his brother also on the team.  Historically, he has managed his co-op work well, and he responds very well to Jann in Texas' teaching style.  He works very slowly so I expect a learning curve with organizing and prioritizing time spent on subjects.  I have a planner for him (and his brother) which we will review weekly.  He is resistant to this, but I am hoping to get him in a habit of organizing his weeks in a written fashion using the planner.  

 

I put him on chelated magnesium and high quality fish oil this summer, which has helped some with his mood, I would like to say.  I also dragged him to a therapist once.  (That is all he would agree to and did this reluctantly.)  This summer has been much about dealing with everyone's mental health issues and recovering from the death of dh's grandmother and dealing with crazy family stuff surrounding that.  So it will be good to move on to our school year for all of us and get on a better schedule.  Ds14 stays up too late every night and has his head stuck in screens too much, and I threw up my hands all summer over it because I had bigger fish to fry.

 

 

[OneStepAtATime]

Way cool!  Already shifted it to my cart.   :)

And then when DH asked what I was doing and I shared about the book he turned around to tell me it is a stupid idea because there are no other kids that are going to want to do group math activities.  I ordered it anyway.  I still have a bit of money set aside for school stuff for the year.   :001_tt2:   DS loves group stuff and there are two kids near his age in our homeschooling group that like mathy games.  

[OneStepAtATime]

Hi LC friends!

 

This summer involved some phone calls for services for ds14.  He is on some waiting lists and will have an assessment in a couple of months to get his foot in the door of the county-run agency that serves kids on the spectrum.  It is mostly just in case of a crisis because what is offered is not much or what we need, but the process is started.

 

Ds14 will be doing quite a lot of outsourced classes, which works really well for me and for our relationship.  He needs to finish up one test for Jann in Texas and then will begin her Geometry class online early Sept.  He will be taking Landry Academy Spanish online and Biology at co-op.  English is at a co-op, taught by me.  History is SWB's Ancient History of the World at home.  I've made a schedule, but it will be mostly independent.  He will continue with competitive bball (coached by dad), with his brother also on the team.  Historically, he has managed his co-op work well, and he responds very well to Jann in Texas' teaching style.  He works very slowly so I expect a learning curve with organizing and prioritizing time spent on subjects.  I have a planner for him (and his brother) which we will review weekly.  He is resistant to this, but I am hoping to get him in a habit of organizing his weeks in a written fashion using the planner.  

 

I put him on chelated magnesium and high quality fish oil this summer, which has helped some with his mood, I would like to say.  I also dragged him to a therapist once.  (That is all he would agree to and did this reluctantly.)  This summer has been much about dealing with everyone's mental health issues and recovering from the death of dh's grandmother and dealing with crazy family stuff surrounding that.  So it will be good to move on to our school year for all of us and get on a better schedule.  Ds14 stays up too late every night and has his head stuck in screens too much, and I threw up my hands all summer over it because I had bigger fish to fry.

Sounds like you have some pretty good plans in place.  Good luck with the services for DS14.  I know I need to do the same thing you are doing with getting the kids more independent on organization.  Everyone depends on me and we are all EF challenged so it is a bit draining.  Both kids want checklists so they can see what they have to do each day and each week.  They are just really bad at managing time within those checklists.  I need to make this a priority.  DD is already in 9th grade as far as she is concerned...

 

As for screen time, DS started learning how to program and while we were gone his only effective contact with friends was through Skype so I let him Skype while playing Minecraft with his friends as a group quite a bit more than usual.  He spent quite a bit of time in front of his computer screen.  Going to be hard to cull that back but I know we need to.  I wish us both luck.  

 

Sleeping is actually a bit better now.  He was staying up really late and having a hard time sleeping but because he had to be up by 8am to get to the tutoring center every weekday and we did that for a month, his sleep cycle is more normal now.  The past couple of days since we've been back he has been asleep by 10:30 and has waked up on his own by 9:30 or so.  Hoping to keep that going for school.  DD always goes to bed by 10:30, sometimes sooner, and wakes up early on her own.  She likes the peace and quiet as the sun is rising.  :)

[Pen]

Sounds awesome to put trying to inspire a love or at least like of math a priority. With the interest led, do you have any overall goals in mind? Or does your son? Or just wherever rabbit trails lead?

 

I am trying to do interest led here while still having some structure or nothing gets done. I still have not worked out the best way to do so. DS is easier. He likes online and selfpaced classes. He also does a ton of research on his own. DD not so much...

 

my overall goals on the interest led are to let him take ownership of as much of his education as I feel comfortable leaving to him, and to decrease reasons for conflict     

 

I'm not sure if he has long term goals in mind, but short goals would be things like that our computer situation improved to the extent that we have Duolingo back, and yesterday or maybe the day before that he gave himself a double or nothing 7 day streak challenge.  He started all over from the beginning of his language, so he has been racing through the easy early lessons that he has already done in the past and is pretty solid on already.

 

He also does Hogwarts is Here, which is not a high level of learning anything especially useful in terms of content, especially once he finished the astronomy part, but does give some practice with doing short essays or quizzes to someone else's standards, and is a chance to communicate with real other people in written notes. 

 

Other types of goals he has: He wanted to learn more about technology, so he has been getting Popular Science and Scientific American in addition to Time and Smithsonian--all of which lead to some rabbit trails and current events learning.  Also the "learn more about technology" goal led to the choice of a physics and technology oriented text book for what will be his science starting in September -- one of the required subjects this year, but his choice as to subject and he approved the text book.  

 

He is interested in finance and economics, and so I am not sure exactly where that will lead, but I expect that it will be part of what he is involved in during his interest led learning.

 

He reads a lot and also listens to a lot of audio books, such that once he learned to read, "reading" stopped being a "subject."

 

And he has a lot of history covered already, so while I was thinking to have him do Critical Thinking's World History Detective (and maybe he will do some) partly as practice in outlining and other skills, I decided to let history be up to him this next year, if he wants to do any at all, and if so, what.

 

He is currently in a movie making 2 week local "camp" and at least right now is extremely interested in that and talking about how he wished it had other sessions in the year.  It is possible that something to do with that will continue.  A couple of the high school kids in it are obviously very into film making, and I suggested to him that he might volunteer himself to help them if he wants to do more after the camp ends.  Also he volunteered to do the film editing for the project the "camp" is working on which means that for him his main activity related to this camp project will begin when everyone else has finished, so time for that will be part of his "unschool" time, I expect, at least into whenever in September or early October, maybe, it is supposed to be done and ready for a community "screening".  Film editing is a sort of a combination of art and technology, I guess.  But when things are being student interest led / unschool style learning,  I do not so much need to ask myself questions like what subject does this count as in a checking off boxes sort of way.

 

In theory he was going to be doing ice skating this year as a major activity, sport, performance area...  but we got into conflict over it, so now I am not sure if that is happening at all, but I still made the parts of the schooling that I am insisting on fit a 4 day week, not a 5 day week, so that if he needs a  day mid-week for skating lesson and so on, he has it.

 

He may be planting some new fruit trees.  It is an on again off again idea, but one which will need to be decided soon if it is to be done this year.

 

Perhaps most important though is that if they are actually to be student interest led and unschooled in approach, pretty much all of what I wrote above could be completely different tomorrow or next week.  I will still hold him to the physics/technology science requirement, but he could decide that he is more interested in anthropology or that he wants to pursue woodworking instead of technology for his own pursuits.

[PeterPan]

And then when DH asked what I was doing and I shared about the book he turned around to tell me it is a stupid idea because there are no other kids that are going to want to do group math activities.  I ordered it anyway.  I still have a bit of money set aside for school stuff for the year.   :001_tt2:   DS loves group stuff and there are two kids near his age in our homeschooling group that like mathy games.  

Why do you need a group?  Just put the cards in a pile and take turns drawing them.  Or draw in your dh and dd too.  :D

[Terabith]

Elizabeth, I'm really curious. What is your son's obsession?

[FairProspects]

Oh, I don't know! Summer rocked our world in a really good way. Both boys had a couple of camps that stretched them physically and socially and both thrived in so many ways. Aerospace camp was the happiest I've seen older ds in forever because they were all kids who were definitely his tribe and it was the first time I've seen him challenged and engaged in an area of strength in a long time. I'm still trying to figure out if or how I can carry that over to the school year. Building the strengths may be the area of focus this year and in some ways that is just as hard as remediation!

[OneStepAtATime]

Oh, I don't know! Summer rocked our world in a really good way. Both boys had a couple of camps that stretched them physically and socially and both thrived in so many ways. Aerospace camp was the happiest I've seen older ds in forever because they were all kids who were definitely his tribe and it was the first time I've seen him challenged and engaged in an area of strength in a long time. I'm still trying to figure out if or how I can carry that over to the school year. Building the strengths may be the area of focus this year and in some ways that is just as hard as remediation!

Yes I am struggling with this, too. :)

[nature girl]

OhE THANK YOU for the Smart Snips rec! That looks fantastic, something right up my dd's alley...(And now I get to shop around to find another $12 to add to my RR cart for free shipping. :) )

 

Thanks also for reminding me about Tinman Press. I bought Are They Thinking a couple of years ago, used it many times and it was SO fun, perfect at priming her creativity, we both loved it. A few of the activities were beyond her though, and I'm sure she'll get even more out of it now than she did at 4, so I'm going to add it to our mornings. Might find another Tinman book to make up my $12 now that she loves drawing so much more than she used to.

 

And that right there is the extent of my 2015-2016 planning, haha.

[nature girl]

Oh, but I've recently added this for a good segment of our science. I LOVE this book:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1603425314?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

[Minerva]

I am starting Barton with my son (7). So excited about this.

And trying CLE with him along with continuing math games.

I had wanted to get testing done for him while we are in the US, but that has to wait for next year since all of my testing money just got spent on dental work (insert bad word of choice here). 

 

This is the extent of my expectations of the year for ds. He will sometimes tag along with his older sisters classes, but I am finally learning that just getting him to read and understand numbers is enough of an academic expectation for now. He is good at other forms of educational mischief on his own. 

 

With my dd (10), the goal is writing, writing, writing. 

We will continue to work on spelling (although we have never made ANY headway in this department and I am beginning to wonder if it is just a waste of time).

We will continue to work on typing and penmanship.

Still not sure which of the million writing programs we will use. I am flailing a bit in this department but do feel like it is time to concentrate on getting some ideas on paper (or at least a few sentences with spaces in between words and punctuation...)

Continue Saxon Math

Science with a focus on physics

Modern History through literature and movies

Art

 

Lots of read alouds and audio books for all of us

[PeterPan]

Minerva, you might look at the Ronit Bird ebooks for that number sense.  There's also a textbook Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills, Third Edition  that has an awesome chapter on math.  Actually a lot of the book was really good, at least to me.  Alas, not cheap.  I got it through the library.  But RB you can get as downloads.  

 

I've just concluded, and this is just me, that ds can rote memorize in one place and not have those numbers mean the same thing elsewhere, that he's going to have to do the same thing in lots of places, in lots of ways, before it generalizes.

[Minerva]

Thanks for the recommendations, OhElizabeth. I have the Ronit Birt book but don't have access to an Apple device for the ebooks. Last year when I realized that regular math programs are not working (AT ALL) for my son I ditched curricula and just started playing games. I was able to find a lot of good games on the internet, also some of the easier Right Start games , and a lot of inventing. We at least made a bit of headway as opposed to getting nowhere with lots of hours of hard work. I love the game route but get frustrated with the hours and hours I have to put into coming up with what to do next and also feeling like there isn't a sequence to my method. I keep having to spiral back to games and concepts we played, he mastered, and then forgets. I am also having a hard time linking the game to the language of numbers. He can often times play the game but not make the leap to understanding the concept in a different context or recognizing the terms.

 

I have put the Multisensory book in my cart. 

 

Many thanks

[PeterPan]

Minerva, I hear you!  I had to return the Multisensory book to the library, but their chapter on math had a lot of the kinds of stuff RB suggests. The book is $$ because it's a text.  It may be so generic that it won't appeal to you.  Maybe you can find an online sample?  For me, getting it at the library, it had enough bits to be useful. RB also has her printed books.  They're $$ but superb.  

 

I think you're on the right track with your games.  I've been thinking about how to diversify our math time, to get more done, more ways, without making it feel arduous.  How long are you actually spending?  The ps here spends 45 min a day on math.  They do some with centers, some together, some on the rug.  It made me think maybe my 15-20 min approach of one thing per day was missing an opportunity.  So I *have* lots of things, but we haven't necessarily been *doing* more than one thing a day.  Now that I've got him doing an independent work table with bins, I'm putting a math thing in one of the bins.  That seems to work well.  I don't really have a lot that I've thought up for that either, oops.

 

So to me (just thinking out loud here), there are:

 

-Ronit Bird lessons and games

-the RB Resource book, which is more like supplemental pages and activities

-living math books

-Marilyn Burns stuff, which is discovery-oriented but intentionally math

-GEMS units (hands-on, graphing, working with data), TOPS, anything that uses the math in a real-world context

-Family Math

-mathy games and kits, fun sheets, etc.  

-drill

-soroban lessons (haven't done this)

-things for patterning, geometry, and spatial work

 

The glitch where the language and the vision of the math don't connect I think *is* the fundamental disconnect of the math disorder.  Geodob and I talked about it.  It has all faded from my brain, but it's sort of about which small part of the brain, on the right or left, is processing the math and which aspects of the math.  When those don't connect, you end up with the math disorder.  So you can be math *gifted* and have a math SLD, screwy as that sounds.  In fact, one of the psychs swore that's how ds will be, which is wild to think about.  I have no clue.  

 

Geodob was saying the soroban (and soroban-style finger counting) is the closest thing to how our brain actually processes the math.  The bit I've done with the finger counting, ds enjoys and really takes too.  And of course it's the manip that is always with them.  

 

I think the problem for us is that we think if we repair some glitch, they'll move forward.  I don't think there is a moving forward without memorization, and memorization only gets you so far.  So I think they have to do ALL of it, not sequentially but literally just all of it, for a long time, lots of ways, and eventually they move on.  And I think they have to move on and explore other things too, like the algebra, probability, statistics, etc.  I don't think it's going to be like this year he does 2nd grade math, next year he does 3rd.  I think he's going to do lots of things, some on level, some off, just all over the board, and eventually we'll give up on computation and move on.  I have no clue.  I've just decided, at least for ds, I think my goal is not to make him on grade level but rather to explore lots of things and understand.  Then later, when he has more maturity, let that come together and do just enough to get computation out of the way and move on.  

 

See, I know what's coming.  I know in the 4th grade math book there's estimation.  I know a dc who can memorize can look fine until then but totally, absolutely flounder, because in reality they have no concept of the quantities, of the relationships.  So it doesn't MATTER if I win now and next year and the next, doing it all by rote, because I know it's over, done, hopeless, once he has to do something he can't do by rote.  Division, same deal, you have to estimate.  So I spend a lot of time talking with him about ESTIMATING, because right now ESTIMATING and having a sense of quantity relationships is WAY more important than doing computation with 2 or 3 digits on a page.  So like today we talked about the weather for our morning time, looking up the humidity and whatnot on www.weather.com  They list it as a table, so you can see the percentages predicted to change over the day, the numbers going up and down.  We, as adults, can probably look at that and see the humidity is going up or down, but HE can't see that.  It's all jibberish to him.  So we looked at each number.  He thought they were going up (they weren't), so then we read each one, asking if it was higher or lower than the number before.  We talked about how many % to make a whole.  We talked about 80% humidity and what that is and how it might feel if it was a low % and what that low % would be.  THAT is math, math, math!!  That's his number sense and disability.  I don't think any worksheet we'd do is as valuable as the 20 minutes we spent doing that.

 

 

 

[Tiramisu]

This is what I think we're doing this year for dd9.

 

Finish VT. We have a re-eval next week and then I'll have a better sense of how much longer it might be. The original estimate was 3-5 months. After VT, we will investigate IM or just do metronome stuff or brain integration stuff seriously at home.

 

Modern Speller (Dictation Day by Day) as copywork (and maybe dictation) for writing automaticity under the guise of spelling. My plan is to do writing 8's prior to having her copy the daily passage.

 

Daily Grams for reinforcing mechanics and for the sentence combining under the guise of grammar. She writes very simple senteces and this is my plan to address that. One sentence a day for a year should make some impact, right?

 

Just Write a year or two below level to gently learn paragraph organization.

 

CHOW and Understanding God's world to increase non-fiction reading while learning about history and science; little or no written work in these areas.

 

CLE Reading for critical thinking and inference. Inference is something my oldest two struggled with, and I realized it too late. If I tried to pull these skills into the study of real literature, it would ruin reading for dd. I can't ever let dd know that reading lit is in anyway related to school work, or else. I'm not even calling it "reading" on the schedule; I wrote it as CLE Read to Learn.

 

Faith and Life 4 for faith study and practicing answering question is written form. It's required for her religious ed class and I'm going to make it fit our goals.

 

Singapore Math 4. I hope this goes well since this level seems challenging. She's very intuitive and wants to do it on her own. If it flops I have Math Mammoth in the wings, or I'll just order CLE. I actually think CLE might be best for her because she needs review, but we'll see how it goes with Singapore, which was her request.

 

Memory work: poetry and world capitals (and perhaps catechism). She enjoys poetry and geography and she's good at memorization.

 

Latin with dh using Latina Christian which lends itself to doing it aloud. She likes working with dh and is good at memorizing so this could be self-esteem building.

 

Cursive with dh using an app that uses a German script with very simple strokes.

 

 

 

[Guest]

I never got the chance to come back to this thread but I'll post about my youngest and come back for my oldest.

 

For my youngest, I will be giving my oldest son the first week of September off to work on my planning for him. I am still undecided if I will do HST+, my own Excel planner that I created a long time ago, or a planner I bought (printable type). I have used all three at different times and it just depends on the year. I am leaning towards HST+ this year.

 

Math: I have decided against using Singapore as our main math program. I just received our second order a few days ago and I decided to go with Saxon 1. I have the Singapore guides though and want to incorporate some of it to add more conceptual understanding.

 

LA: I got him Saxon Phonics 1 because I like the multisensory approach it offers and it is OG based. He is already reading at a very advanced level but I always keep my kids at level and back what they learn on their own with what I feel will give them a solid foundation. That's just my decision and I have been very happy with this approach and the results in my boys so far. I have not had to remediate in any area. I also got him Climbing to Good English and have the NAMC (Montessori) 6-9 LA guides to work on grammar. I will not be doing WWE with my youngest, but will add W&R most likely in the future.

 

Bible and History & Geography: I bought him the Lifepac sets for this year. We lean Catholic (although we don't follow any specific church at the moment) so this is just a one time thing for the Bible program. I liked the visual workbooks, I think they will work great for him for this year. He is my Bible kid, takes all our Bible storybooks and Bibles all around the house with him and what I liked about both the History & Geography and Bible Lifepacs is that they will help me work in some self-awareness with him. It was the main reason I bought both those two. It will help him see his place in God's plan, his place in our family, in the community, etc. Next year my goals are different and we will be moving away from the Lifepacs. I wanted a mild year for him since I am using curricula for all areas.

 

Science: Again I got him the Lifepac set just for this year. I also have the Singapore grade 1 science workbooks and I will be ordering some of the Clifford science kits with our final order next month. He does a lot of his own science study with all the resources we have including the full collection of Let's Read and Find Out About Science 2 books so I want to focus more on following his lead more on science for this year.

 

I think I covered our main materials for my youngest for this year. We have so many additional materials at home that we do many add-ons.

 

I'll be back when I have more time...

[Guest]

Forgot to add...

 

Music: Discoveries in Music (Calvert) and hoping to find some time to work with him on his ukulele.

 

Art: Lots of art resources! I want to focus on drawing with him so I need to see what lessons I will work out for him and how much time we have. He is very interested in drawing, always makes me draw for him, and I have done a lot of hand over hand drawing with him. He does some of his own drawing in Inspiration and Kidspiration and I am looking at getting an animation software for both of them this year. I think it's a good next step with what he does on Inspiration and Kidspiration.

[kbutton]

I've just concluded, and this is just me, that ds can rote memorize in one place and not have those numbers mean the same thing elsewhere, that he's going to have to do the same thing in lots of places, in lots of ways, before it generalizes.

 

This is, to some extent, a problem for all spectrum kiddos; you're just seeing it writ large with math. With us, it shows up in things like can he actually spell that word outside of his spelling lesson? Can he recognize that he needs a comma in that sentence without someone saying, apply your comma rules to this sentence? (He can answer very complicated questions about clauses and commas and semicolons, but if you give him an unpunctuated sentence, all bets are off, lol!)

[kbutton]

6th grader (ASD, etc.): 

• Tutor for composition (using Jump In)
• Tutor for social skills and other behavioral stuff as it comes up 
• Singapore math and maybe some Zaccaro--we'll dabble in the 7A stuff and move back to the 6A and 6B if it's too much
• Pet Shop Business Math (SCM)--for fun maybe once or twice per month
• Co-op--novel unit, poetry unit, Ellen McHenry Botany, study skills
• Notgrass Uncle Sam and You with some of the literature books
• Giggly Guide to Grammar/Easy Grammar Ultimate Series (half book)
• A middle school text that focuses on directly teaching non-fiction reading--how to recognize fact/opinion, some kind of inferencing, etc. 
• Several CTC books with logic puzzles and such--trying to find as many as possible that require inferencing
• Piano and maybe dabble with Young Scholar's Guide to Composers

Some of these subjects will be on a loop, not every day.

 

Will post later about the little dude in 2nd.

[Jennifer-72]

This is, to some extent, a problem for all spectrum kiddos; you're just seeing it writ large with math. With us, it shows up in things like can he actually spell that word outside of his spelling lesson? Can he recognize that he needs a comma in that sentence without someone saying, apply your comma rules to this sentence? (He can answer very complicated questions about clauses and commas and semicolons, but if you give him an unpunctuated sentence, all bets are off, lol!)

I agree. It is a problem with generalization that is very common for asd. It will come up in all sorts of areas. Just when you think your child has acquired a skill you will find that presenting it in a new way will cause a blank stare and a need to backtrack. To try and combat that I have always tried to present things to ds in many ways and to bridge the connections that most children will naturally pick up on their own.

[Guest]

This is, to some extent, a problem for all spectrum kiddos;

Good point! It was something I was going to mention also. We do not see it consistently but I have observed it with both boys at times. It is why I have them use what they are learning in different situations and help them make the connections.

[Guest]

I agree. It is a problem with generalization that is very common for asd. It will come up in all sorts of areas. Just when you think your child has acquired a skill you will find that presenting it in a new way will cause a blank stare and a need to backtrack. To try and combat that I have always tried to present things to ds in many ways and to bridge the connections that most children will naturally pick up on their own.

We were posting at the same time :)

 

It is my main reason for putting such strong emphasis on building background knowledge and not on advancing them beyond grade level.

[kbutton]

2nd grade dude (likely ADHD, extremely slow processing speed, ??):

• Sequential Spelling (trying)--older bro is also doing this, but I forgot to list it. Won't be keeping them together.
• Miquon math with some Singapore (for word problems and variety)
• Aesop's Fables from Royal Fireworks Press--has bits of reading, writing, vocabulary, thinking skills, misc. LA
• Lots of reading
• Greek myths
• SOTW and slowly work through an American history text (maybe over several years)
• Pentime cursive
• Work on memorizing states, capitals, etc. and some state history stuff
• Lots of fun short bio readings--some about African American history that's not emphasized in textbooks, some about explorers and whatnot mentioned in SOTW
• Hoping to use some Magic School bus videos more
• co-op--literature (EB White, Roald Dahl, etc.), art and composer studies, and Forces and Motion curriculum (Investigate the Possibilities series)
• Piano
• Puzzle books (some CTC books and misc. stuff)
• Keeping up with OT homework from past OT and maybe a little VT work (trying to prevent full-blown VT)
• Trying to add in more games as well as fun mapwork, centers, etc.

[PeterPan]

This is, to some extent, a problem for all spectrum kiddos; you're just seeing it writ large with math. With us, it shows up in things like can he actually spell that word outside of his spelling lesson? Can he recognize that he needs a comma in that sentence without someone saying, apply your comma rules to this sentence? (He can answer very complicated questions about clauses and commas and semicolons, but if you give him an unpunctuated sentence, all bets are off, lol!)

Dude, you're WAY ahead of me, lol.  Remember, 3 SLDs.   :)  It's gonna be a LONG time before we're to semi-colons I think.  You know punctuation usually just has one context, written language.  So maybe in that sense it's better?  Dunno.  But I'll keep my eyes peeled.  Right now I'm working on meta-level understanding, so when we read sentences I'll stop and ask him WHY things are there.  (periods, capitals, etc.)  But we're not doing anything active yet.  I got him the english through literature (I forget, it's printed and ready), but we're just going to see what happens.  I think we might do the writing over several days, in several ways, so in a tray then on a chalkboard then on a whiteboard then finally on the worksheet.  But even that's not a period in lots of exposures, just the same situation in multiple modalities.  

 

Just read Jen's comment.  I agree, there's a difference between just not learning/remembering (which the ADHD can do) and not generalizing, ie. it's not in a file folder that even turns it up as being connected and known in another context.  That's what's so whack about the math, that it's very obvious these numbers just aren't the same EVERYWHERE.  But we haven't done enough yet with other things to know.  We'll see, sigh.  Thanks for the cheerful thought.  :)

[OneStepAtATime]

Dude, you're WAY ahead of me, lol.  Remember, 3 SLDs.   :)  It's gonna be a LONG time before we're to semi-colons I think.  You know punctuation usually just has one context, written language.  So maybe in that sense it's better?  Dunno.  But I'll keep my eyes peeled.  Right now I'm working on meta-level understanding, so when we read sentences I'll stop and ask him WHY things are there.  (periods, capitals, etc.)  But we're not doing anything active yet.  I got him the english through literature (I forget, it's printed and ready), but we're just going to see what happens.  I think we might do the writing over several days, in several ways, so in a tray then on a chalkboard then on a whiteboard then finally on the worksheet.  But even that's not a period in lots of exposures, just the same situation in multiple modalities.  

 

Just read Jen's comment.  I agree, there's a difference between just not learning/remembering (which the ADHD can do) and not generalizing, ie. it's not in a file folder that even turns it up as being connected and known in another context.  That's what's so whack about the math, that it's very obvious these numbers just aren't the same EVERYWHERE.  But we haven't done enough yet with other things to know.  We'll see, sigh.  Thanks for the cheerful thought.   :)

As a kid, there were certain subjects that I struggled to translate from the textbooks to other contexts.  I just wasn't making the leap in those early years.  If it applied in a classroom lesson that was it.   Grammar and spelling were not actually an issue for me, though.  I read all the time and absorbed grammar and spelling from my reading.  There were other subjects, though, that I was just not moving out into the larger world.  I remember being really shocked to find out that some event mentioned in my history textbook was an event my parents had witnessed.  It never occurred to me that they might have heard of any of the things I was learning about in school.  Maybe I thought they were stories instead of facts?  I don't know.  I don't remember anymore.  I just remember being a pretty linear thinker with some difficulty applying a concept learned in one context to other areas.

[prairiewindmomma]

I threw my hands up in the air and headed for the beach, literally. We are in our second week here.

 

Between evaluations, selling our house and moving, and doing intensive therapies on top of our normally crazy life (complete with toddler), I needed to recuperate.

 

We technically have started our year but now that I am grasping the big picture, a psych, a homeschooling OT and I are reworking life and school.

 

In the meantime, dh and I are contemplating it all while all of the kids are getting worn out daily with hikes in the mountains and sand digging at the beach.

 

We studied a bunch of biomes over the summer and have stopped in tall grass prairie, short grass prairie, deciduous forest, desert, temperate rainforest, ocean, and one other in the last few weeks. :)

[Guest]

Most of the issues with generalizing here have to do with theory of mind. I have not been faced with any major academic issues, I think it is at least partly because I focus so much on conceptual understanding, comprehension, and background knowledge. Another factor is compensations they make on their own and also compensations I have helped them arrive to. We do sometimes have to find ways around things but I brainstorm with both of them guiding them to find their own solutions to their problems. Whatever these problems may have to do with. I don't give them solutions. It's my form of brain training. I have had to do this more with my oldest as my youngest is more of a natural at problem solving. My oldest has come a long way the past 4 years though!

[texasmama]

I am in almost constant conversation with my ASD kid about a variety of things, which is designed to expand his narrow view of the world, including directly addressing theory of mind.  This is a long-term project.  :)

 

My therapist (because I need my own, you know ;) ) told me yesterday after working with him once that he is "just barely on the spectrum".  I have pondered that and dissected it since.  I believe it is due to his social skills being better than most ASD kids.  He does not want to appear odd or to call attention to himself so he has largely taught himself "to pass as NT".  However, he is very impacted in our home and family relationships by the deficient theory of mind, the EF issues, lack of ability to emotionally regulate well and consistently, sensory issues (causing him to be overloaded and his functioning to decrease markedly), average-ish cognitive abilities combined with LD's, and auditory processing disorder.  So he looks like an NT person at a birthday party or the mall, which is a strength, but he is not "just barely on the spectrum".   He really does have an invisible disability.  Also, his functioning varies markedly from day to day with no apparent reason for this.  It will be a very long time before he is ready to learn to drive, for example.

 

Just pondering.

[Storygirl]

This year is going to look different for our family, because our three youngest are enrolled in school for the first time. There are pros and cons to that. Big pros. Big cons. It's a hard adjustment. But it gives me time to work with DD13, who has had to do many things independently over the last few years that she could have used help with, because my time has been spent helping the others. She is very gifted in other ways but is not academically inclined, so she has to work hard. Fortunately she is willing and good spirited. (I suspect she has math and written expression learning disabilities, but she has not been tested.)

 

My main goals for her this year are

1) Make continuous and swift progress in math. She's about a year and a half behind where she needs to be to meet her graduation goals and is working to catch up.

2) Build writing skills. Another one of her weak areas. She really struggles, and I have to scaffold a lot of it with her. My goal is for her to increase in independence as well as ability. We're spending up to two hours a day on LA, working side by side.

 

Her curriculum:

*MFW Ancient History and Literature for Bible, History, and English

*CLE English 1 (which is grammar) and additional literature to supplement what is in MFW

*Some additional writing materials to help shore up writing

*CLE math -- finish 700 level and complete 800

*NorthStar Geography (first half)

*Apologia Biology

*Fallacy Detective and other logic materials (logical and analytical thinking are particularly weak, which is affecting her overall work)

*CLE home ec lightunits as a spine for cooking class

*Getting Started with Spanish

 

We also have various materials that I bought but haven't used or completed, that I will be throwing into the mix. She has used CLE reading in the past, and I want her to continue working through that to shore up her foundation in analytical reading skills, inference, understanding literary elements, etc. Reading and writing are my areas of personal skill, so there are many things I want to do with her that she just isn't ready for yet. I try not to feel frustrated by that but just meet her where she is and slowly nudge her ahead.

 

I'll write about my three school kids later.

 

ETA: My sister asked me yesterday if I have loads of extra time now that the other kids are enrolled in school :smilielol5: :smilielol5: :smilielol5: :smilielol5:

 

 

[Storygirl]

Texasmama, DS11 can also seem NT to others, but has obvious disabilities at home and in settings where he feels comfortable enough to let down his guard. I found myself nodding along while reading your post. I've found that this is challenging in a different way. Sometimes people are confused when DS doesn't behave as they expect a NT child to behave, because he can SEEM neurotypical. Until he doesn't.

 

Our pediatrician didn't see his differences. Even the psychologist who saw DS weekly for awhile didn't see the things that we see at home. The NP could see the underlying issues and diagnosed NVLD, but during their testing, they said they couldn't see the ADHD (but didn't doubt it), which is severe and obvious at home. It's weird and makes it hard to have anyone outside the immediate family understand the extent of his issues. If I videoed his behavior at home and showed it to some of the professionals who have worked with him, they would see a different boy.

 

DS has just started at a private school for the first time and is going to be evaluated for a possible IEP. I'm hoping that his teachers will see the disabilities, because sometimes they are disguised or hidden. But they are always there, having an effect on him.

[kbutton]

Thanks for the cheerful thought.   :)

 

You're welcome. ;)

 

Really, I'm sorry! I was trying to give you more information, not freak you out.

 

I think your approach to the math (maybe mentioned in a different thread) has been great--you are building number sense, etc. Don't let my comment dissuade you. 

 

The kids I know on the spectrum who tend to verbalize their thoughts are easy to figure out in this regard--they ask the same question in ten different contexts to see if the answer is still the same. Then they change a single variable and start all over again, lol! It's helped me realize that I can't take things for granted with my son. When he was little, he was more like this with his questions. Then he wanted to blend in (like what texasmama and Storygirl are talking about). Before we had a diagnosis, I just assumed he'd figured a lot of that out, but then we realized it wasn't so.

[kbutton]

Oh my goodness, yes!!! And it's challenging for the pros too--my son's tutors (composition and social skills/behavioral) have a maddening time trying to find materials that address this. The direct teaching is one thing, but it's putting into action in real life that is where it falls apart. And the inconsistency is huge too (though much better with ADHD meds).

 

My understanding of one reason for putting Asperger's with ASD in the DSM V is that this underlying issue is one of the core things that ties all these diagnoses together, and higher functioning kids were not getting services for these things. The idea was to broaden the idea of what ASD is, not narrow it. I don't know if clinicians and school personnel have gotten that memo, but I thought it was interesting to hear that perspective on the DSM (I think I got this impression from some blogs and also maybe an interview on Bright Not Broken about the DSM changes.)

 

I am in almost constant conversation with my ASD kid about a variety of things, which is designed to expand his narrow view of the world, including directly addressing theory of mind.  This is a long-term project.   :)

 

My therapist (because I need my own, you know ;) ) told me yesterday after working with him once that he is "just barely on the spectrum".  I have pondered that and dissected it since.  I believe it is due to his social skills being better than most ASD kids.  He does not want to appear odd or to call attention to himself so he has largely taught himself "to pass as NT".  However, he is very impacted in our home and family relationships by the deficient theory of mind, the EF issues, lack of ability to emotionally regulate well and consistently, sensory issues (causing him to be overloaded and his functioning to decrease markedly), average-ish cognitive abilities combined with LD's, and auditory processing disorder.  So he looks like an NT person at a birthday party or the mall, which is a strength, but he is not "just barely on the spectrum".   He really does have an invisible disability.  Also, his functioning varies markedly from day to day with no apparent reason for this.  It will be a very long time before he is ready to learn to drive, for example.

 

Just pondering.

 

 

Texasmama, DS11 can also seem NT to others, but has obvious disabilities at home and in settings where he feels comfortable enough to let down his guard. I found myself nodding along while reading your post. I've found that this is challenging in a different way. Sometimes people are confused when DS doesn't behave as they expect a NT child to behave, because he can SEEM neurotypical. Until he doesn't.

 

Our pediatrician didn't see his differences. Even the psychologist who saw DS weekly for awhile didn't see the things that we see at home. The NP could see the underlying issues and diagnosed NVLD, but during their testing, they said they couldn't see the ADHD (but didn't doubt it), which is severe and obvious at home. It's weird and makes it hard to have anyone outside the immediate family understand the extent of his issues. If I videoed his behavior at home and showed it to some of the professionals who have worked with him, they would see a different boy.

 

DS has just started at a private school for the first time and is going to be evaluated for a possible IEP. I'm hoping that his teachers will see the disabilities, because sometimes they are disguised or hidden. But they are always there, having an effect on him.

 

[texasmama]

Texasmama, DS11 can also seem NT to others, but has obvious disabilities at home and in settings where he feels comfortable enough to let down his guard. I found myself nodding along while reading your post. I've found that this is challenging in a different way. Sometimes people are confused when DS doesn't behave as they expect a NT child to behave, because he can SEEM neurotypical. Until he doesn't.

 

Our pediatrician didn't see his differences. Even the psychologist who saw DS weekly for awhile didn't see the things that we see at home. The NP could see the underlying issues and diagnosed NVLD, but during their testing, they said they couldn't see the ADHD (but didn't doubt it), which is severe and obvious at home. It's weird and makes it hard to have anyone outside the immediate family understand the extent of his issues. If I videoed his behavior at home and showed it to some of the professionals who have worked with him, they would see a different boy.

 

DS has just started at a private school for the first time and is going to be evaluated for a possible IEP. I'm hoping that his teachers will see the disabilities, because sometimes they are disguised or hidden. But they are always there, having an effect on him.

Yes, exactly this. And I want "credit" for being his mom and the effort I put in. Lol

[Guest]

Also, his functioning varies markedly from day to day with no apparent reason for this.

I know how that looks and feels. Here it is purely sensory related. Example, my youngest and I cannot tolerate heat well. On hot days if there are other events that are anxiety inducing it can eventually chip away at our coping mechanisms. Another example, the constant noise from traffic mixed with other busy city sounds. Too much of it and it chips away at our defenses. For me it may come out as irritability. My son who is younger and has more difficulties self-regulating it will start as irritability but may escalate if he is not taken out of the situation quickly. At times I will return him back to the situation for a short time to help him adapt. It is why we bought our home outside the city. I know I can hear traffic from a far distance and my youngest can as well. Not having a moments peace can really chip away on someone that has an issue with that, leading to constant anxiety and depression. Moving out here has made a huge difference for us.

[texasmama]

I know how that looks and feels. Here it is purely sensory related. Example, my youngest and I cannot tolerate heat well. On hot days if there are other events that are anxiety inducing it can eventually chip away at our coping mechanisms. Another example, the constant noise from traffic mixed with other busy city sounds. Too much of it and it chips away at our defenses. For me it may come out as irritability. My son who is younger and has more difficulties self-regulating it will start as irritability but may escalate if he is not taken out of the situation quickly. At times I will return him back to the situation for a short time to help him adapt. It is why we bought our home outside the city. I know I can here traffic from a far distance and my youngest can as well. Not having a moments peace can really chip away on someone that has an issue with that, leading to constant anxiety and depression. Moving out here has made a huge difference for us.

Ironically, we live on four acres in the country.  However, my ASD kid is surrounded by three extroverts who say a lot of words every day.  He also has a limited tolerance for activities outside the home in a day.  Recently, his shoes had a hole in them and he needed more but I took one look at him and drove right past the shoe store because he had already played with friends at the park, rushed home, showered, and gone to a hair cut.  He was complete toast.  In fact, that evening was an epic meltdown.  He is irritable today for no reason other than testosterone and having to spend all of his time with three extroverts.

[Guest]

kbutton, my boys were diagnosed under the new DSM. My oldest that appears very NT also (he has milder sensory issues) still was not offered any services. He adapts well and can fit into an environment but his level of thinking about life for example is lightyears ahead of many kids his age but some of his mannerisms are younger. The developmental pediatrician could see it but here services are not offered to kids that can appear to cope so well. So, I am left to deal with what I see and finding ways that will work for him, on my own.

[Guest]

Ironically, we live on four acres in the country. However, my ASD kid is surrounded by three extroverts who say a lot of words every day. He also has a limited tolerance for activities outside the home in a day. Recently, his shoes had a hole in them and he needed more but I took one look at him and drove right past the shoe store because he had already played with friends at the park, rushed home, showered, and gone to a hair cut. He was complete toast. In fact, that evening was an epic meltdown. He is irritable today for no reason other than testosterone and having to spend all of his time with three extroverts.

 

I grew up in a family of extroverts so I definitely get it. Each family is different though so it's really tough knowing how to deal with that. We are all introverts here, my youngest and I more so than my oldest and dad. Overall we don't have major personality differences here so our home becomes our place where we regulate from a given days events after being out.

[merry gardens]

I'm arriving late to the planning party because I've spent most of my computer time scanning through older posts and finalizing our curriculum choices. Boxes of books have now arrived, and we're now surrounded by various stacks of really great materials!  

 

I'll have three in high school this year, including my ds with dyslexia who finished Barton 10 last year. None of my kids are starting the year with plans to use any special education materials, (although I'll pull from my large supply of special ed. materials on an "as needed" basis.) Last year we pulled one child from a b&m high school, and this year we'll start the year with homeschooling everyone. I am so excited!  Except for a few accommodations and modifications, I'm hoping all the regular materials we've selected to use will be fine.  

 

One thing I did this year that I've never done before but always wanted to do was I bought a large number dvds on sale from "The Great Courses". I showed my 3 high schoolers the sale catalog and bought just about everything that they found interesting, covering all kinds of subjects from writing to math and science. This week we started with watching the study skills dvd on being a "Super Star Student". So far, so good! Next week we'll continue with still more dvds in other subjects, and then crack open our new math books. We'll add more subjects bit by bit, with the goal of working our full course loads by mid September.

  

The hope of a new school year dawns!  :cheers2: