Downloaded Andrew Pudewa's lecture about teaching boys who would rather be building forts. Listening now :001_smile:

Thanks :001_smile: - reading this and looking at their materials.

This is the thing. We DO feel that most of the schooling issues is from plain ol' being a high-energy little boy. He doesn't have ADHD - it's not like that. He can sit and do a hand-writing page from "handwriting w/out tears" - he would just rather be up a tree, running around, etc... and it's just been hard to find something he is interested in with LA because I think thus far it's just not been the right learning style or something (like he's just not ready or ??). He has a bunch of foods that cause neurological reactions so if he eats something with, say, wheat in it (on accident or if he's plain old being a little sneaker) his brain has a reaction to it and he, at that point, is unable to focus on anything (behavior goes out the window, voice gets high-pitched, hands flap, he can even end up curled in a ball in the corner). We have to "re-set" him if this happens. Sometimes it means having him swing in a swing chair or just run outside for awhile. Other times it means making him take a long shower (sensory) or making him go to bed. It is weird and took us a long time to figure out what was going on with him (he was 4yo and unable to use the toilet even though he "knew how" - two days wheat-free he used it no problems and never had an accident again unless he got wheat somehow). Anyways - some days it's not food that sets him off - could be just tired - basically anything that causes him to get over-stimulated puts him into a negative spiral towards hands in mouth, jumpy, jittery, flappy, tippie toes, high-pitched voice, weird "language"/speech, etc... All this was told to the Autism specialist but because it's not "all day" and just "occasional" "set off" they didn't want to dx him with "autism". We put him in gymnastics last year and the first 5 classes it took him so long to not just sit there and be overwhelmed by the new, the people, social, (sat by himself, hands in mouth, etc....) but then he jumped in and LOVED it and got more social and did just fine. I just mention "school time" and he just sort of "shuts down" some days. His ES said that kids do best starting LA in the mornings but really the only way I can start him on school lately has been to start with Math U See because it's not INTIMIDATING to him - it's a breeze, he's not afraid of it, he knows he can do it and learn it. I can just see when we try to do LA it's like just so hard for him to LIKE it. It did help a little bit to do a small character series to teach him "diligence", "patience", "endurance", etc... trying to show him that it's okay that sometimes things are hard to do but that it's good to still do them. I really like the idea of getting a little stand so he and paint standing up. I also think if the program we do can be really "routine" and move very slow (like how Math U See seems to do) I think he'd actually do it just fine.

My son's ES has suggested trying an all in one LA program this next year called: "The Blue Book - First Grade Skills for beginning readers". I'm looking to find those who've tried or used or are familiar with this curriculum. We tried FIAR (I thought my son would be into the cool books with airplanes and steam engines - nope) and I had a terrible time just spending so much time organizing and planning things and making them fun only to have my son hate it. Then we tried Zoo phonics, which my son felt was too "baby-ish". He'd just roll his eyes while my younger children were so delighted in it. He DID like using the flash cards to play spelling games with but that's about all we used from the whole package! I'm trying to find something that is short, low pressure, "gentle" on this little guy because his interest right now is just NOT in language arts. He can hardly sit still very long and just has a hard time focusing on school in general, really. He does have sensory issues sometimes so there may be a special education type thing going on here too but mostly I just feel like he is simply not ready for full-on "school" (sit for long period of time and write/read/etc.) yet. We have the biscuit books but again - he's not much into them. He does like these scholastic Clifford books my aunt gave me and he likes Dick and Jane book we have. I had his ES pre-order the next book in the "handwriting w/out tears" series, which I think he did quite well with this past year. He's also doing Math U See - that one is working out well too. I was asking about that specific curriculum because it is one the things available (paid for) through his charter school program (homeschool program) and because his ES thought it might work out well with me expecting a baby in Sept and not having much time for lesson planning. I'd really like to focus mainly on the writing (handwriting w/out tears) and on reading with him and to him. I don't know what is in this curriculum or how difficult it is for little ones just starting out and if the lessons are in short enough spurts and will hold his interest. How can I find something "serious" enough for his personality (not "baby") but also still FUN? This has been a tough 1.5 years of K trying to figure out how this little guy learns and where/how to start with him.

Thanks everyone! I will try posting in that other board for specific curriculum, I guess. I'm just trying to figure out what might work weather it's actually using a curriculum or if I just need to get books out and read to him and find things that CAN hold his attention. My son has been seen by a developmental specialist because we suspected him to be on the autism spectrum a couple years ago and I personally still think he may be on the high functioning end of things. We could probably get him a dx of some kind (if we really pushed it) but my husband really felt like we should wait til he gets just a bit older since it was really "borderline" (high functioning). He for sure has some sensory issues. So I guess I can try to post in special needs too.

Hi. This is my first post here. I hope I'm in the right place. I have a little boy who is 6.5 yo and I had him start K 1/2 way through 2010 and then do another year of K this year - both through a local charter school homeschool program. I tried FIAR and we also did Zoo phonics but neither seem to "fit" for me and my son. He is a very energetic little guy, he is not able to sit still very long or sit and focus for very long at a time. He found zoo-phonics too "little kid" and I thought he'd totally get interested when we did the fun FIAR themes (like the steam engine, airplanes, etc...). Nope. He is doing Math U See and seems to be really doing okay with that. I also had him writing 4 days a week a sentence (journal). We did "handwriting w/out tears" and I'm sticking with that as well for just hand-writing because he did well with that. The ES from the school suggested "The Blue Book - First Grade Skills for beginning readers" because it's an all in one type kit (easy for me) and sort of "gentle" (because I honestly feel like this little guy isn't really ready for heavy-duty LA yet - I'd rather work on handwriting still and just read to him and with him as much as possible). I'm hoping to find out what thoughts might be here on that curriculum with what has and has not worked out for my son thus far. PS - my husband is an avid reader but has told me that he, too, did not really "get" or have much interest in reading/writing himself 'til he was 8 or 9.