Looking for history and science textbooks/workbooks

[Innisfree]

Ideally, I wish there were an open-and-go curriculum which would include a bit of reading, then some sort of manipulation of the information with a spiral format. Something geared to grade-level reading ability but short attention span and a need to use information over and over before it is really learned. Something without a huge amount of writing. Any idea if something like that exists?

 

We've been using CLE fairly successfully for math and language. It provides the necessary repetition. But I do not want their slant on history or science. And, honestly, CLE language is very time consuming for us. I'm not sure we can handle that much for other subjects.

 

Our greatest successes in long-term learning have come when I have made manipulatives at home: stuff like cards of all the colony names, which we practiced sorting by region, and map puzzle pieces which we assemble over and over, and cards naming staple crops grown in different regions which we match with the map. But I can't keep doing all this, there isn't enough time.

 

With my older dd, we used Oxford University Press books and study guides. Dd12 wilt melt into a puddle before she can handle those. Her reading ability is less of an impediment than her general short attention span and complete lack of interest. She needs activity of some sort, mental at least, using the information in order to learn it.

 

We need roughly middle-school level. Any ideas? Would the PowerBasics do this, albeit with a lower reading level?

[PeterPan]

Look at the samples and see what you think, but the PowerBasics are going to make a shift toward thinking and applying. So they might have them do an activity comparing and contrasting or applying the concept creatively in the arts. That's for the world history, that kind of thing. Haven't seen the science. I'm guessing it will have plenty of material you can turn into flashcards or manipulatives, yes. You can also look for videos or software for things.

 

It really sounds like she has the widely spaced mini-columns thing going, wow. My dd is like that, and for her anything where we can get it into a *narrative* is better. Have you read Dyslexic Advantage?

 

I'm sure you hear this enough, but are meds on the table? Even if you find over time she shifts from that memorization stage to more dialectic/rhetoric type thought, she's still going to have the attention issues. Does anything help? If you chain from her interests or start with something she already relates to, does it help?

[Innisfree]

Okay, now you've piqued my interest. What do you mean by widely spaced mini-columns?

 

I've tried videos, and unless it's her special interest, she still just zones out. It's the ASD "I'm only interested in ____" phenomenon. She just really doesn't care about stuff. Her attention span is short, and she's kind of lethargic. She can fall asleep beautifully. 😉

 

Yep, she's on meds. They work well enough for the most important areas that I'm highly reluctant to start tweaking things around. But they don't help with attention or interest or drive.

 

Chaining from an interest can help, but we're at the point that I cannot spend my life inventing curriculum or approaches for this kid. There just aren't enough hours in the day. I sit by her and keep her working on school days, but the books need to be there and ready. Kwim?

 

I haven't looked at The Dyslexic Advantage in a few years. My memory is that it's very much not what we're dealing with. She never got a dyslexia diagnosis in spite of testing, because they said her phonemic awareness was too high. And there really is no 2E component here. But I may be misremembering the general thesis?

 

Anyway, maybe the PowerBasics would work. We need a relatively simple sort of manipulation of information. But if anyone else has ideas, I'm all ears.

[PeterPan]

Oh there are theories and some MRI studies. In theory, autism should present with unusually closely-spaced mini-columns in the brain and dyslexia should present with widely-spaced mini-columns. The Eides' book Dyslexic Advantage describes it and gives some interesting profile patterns. Whether they fit your dc, can't say. I don't really recall finding my ds (ASD + SLDs) in there, but I did find my dd (straight ADHD, no SLDs) pretty easily. There are other things that can account for how people learn, obviously. It's just interesting to learn about and think through. They explain why it matters. You can probably google and find articles on it.

[PeterPan]

For the actual academics, can you tie it to an area of interest or work to some strength she has? What is something she does well? Does she have a special interest? Almost anything could be tied to science, mercy.

[OneStepAtATime]

You MIGHT look at Trail Guides to Learning.  I found the history and science stuff really well done.  I had to ditch the grammar/spelling because we were working on reading/spelling/grammar through Barton.  The rest is really cool.  You could ditch the parts you don't want to use and just work with the stuff you like.  

[Heathermomster]

Maybe LHS Gems kits...

http://www.lhsgems.org

[Innisfree]

Thanks, OneStep and Heathermomster. I'll check those out.

[PeterPan]

GEMS are discovery and come with reading lists. LHS GEMS Teacher's Guides  The one for Vitamin C testing is free.