The thing about my boy is that he is not at all language challenged; he's extremely bright and loquacious. It's just a matter of getting his language to work for him (and his readers), to help him remember that other people don't already know what he's talking about when he starts in describing how to work the controls in Minecraft without bothering to say, "This is how you move around in the Minecraft world," etc. Thanks for the suggestions, I'm looking forward to checking them out!

Nope, I'm mostly looking at Progym because it's what's recommended in LCC and because it seems to be comprehensive. My boy is very high-functioning, seems to pick up social cues with a little extra training, shows great empathy - but his theory of mind is exactly what you'd expect from an Aspie. He tends to start sentences in the middle of a thought, thinking we all know exactly what he's on about. At school, his teachers & helpers have noticed that he struggles with taking other viewpoints and being clear in his writing - no surprise. I just want to make sure I'm giving him the tools he needs to be an effective communicator. I thoroughly expect him to have great need of those tools later in life. :) In other words, I'd love to hear what your other suggestions are!

*bump* because this is buried and has 0 views, even. Help?

I'm bringing my second grader back home for third grade (we homeschooled before this year in a very relaxed unschooley fashion) and planning to implement Latin-Centered Curriculum. I had been planning on using Classical Writing as our composition curriculum, but have just heard about Classical Composition. I've searched the boards for the information I'm looking for, but I haven't been able to see my questions concisely addressed, so I'm hoping someone can help. My son's got Asperger's, which for him means that theory of mind is very difficult and he is going to need a lot of direct instruction on composition - writing for an audience, considering viewpoints, etc. He's also very bright, and seems to know and understand most of the basics of phonics. He reads at probably a 4th grade level. We are also a non-christian family, but I'm not averse to bible passages being included in a similar way to other myths and stories. So right now I'm trying to decide between CW and CC - it looks to me like Aesop and Fable are comparable, and I'm assuming all of the following levels compare as well. Given our circumstances, does anyone with experience in the two programs (or even experience in one program or the other that might address our concerns) have any advice? I'm not really worried about grammar and such so much at this point, as I expect much of it to be covered through our Latin studies. Thanks - this forum is always such a valuable resource!

Sorry my responses were annoying - I didn't realize any of the posts I commented on were old. I was commenting in part to get my post count up to sell curriculum (whoops!) but also because I felt I had valuable comments to add to the conversation. We DID use PR, we used LOF, we were homeschoolers who got a lot out of this forum. Not trying to start any drama, I'd just hate to see anyone write off all of my posts because I was "spamming" because I honestly wasn't trying to, I was mostly trying to find things I had something useful to say about.

This is so strange. I'm sitting here complaining that my Dec. birthday 4-year-old can't go to K this year, and people are intentionally holding their kids back for no real reason? I don't even get that. And I've always been the type to think that later school entry is good, because kids often need to be home and play more, because schools push too hard too soon, etc. But my boy wants DESPERATELY to go to school (he was in prek last year, but we just can't afford it this year), he's academically doing all of the things k kids are supposed to, he's socially capable, and he's TALL. I just shake my head. I don't get the PS culture.

My son was a reluctant reader and VERY reluctant writer. We used Phonics Road last year and sent him to PS this year - he still has to be pushed to write in lower case (because he taught himself bad uppercase a long time ago and so it's easier for him), but when he does it's very neat. The phonograpms in PR help with the non-phonetic words. We didn't get to the spelling instruction, but Spalding is supposed to be great (PR is based on Spalding).

I didn't feel like they progressed that quickly, but I started with a 1.5st grader. I don't think the books are really applicable to grade levels that way, you just start at the beginning and work through at whatever pace works for your kids, re-reading and re-practicing as necessary. And Even if your kids already seem to have mastered the stuff in the earlier books, they're FUN, and they introduce a lot of more complicated concepts (like algebra) in a completely non-threatening way that's not to be missed!

^^ THIS. As a mom who homeschooled from birth through 1st grade and now has a kid in 2nd in public school and a 4-year-old at home... I breathe a sigh of relief when I send my 7-year-old off. It gives me a break from the constant fighting. It gives me a break from my son's extreme neediness. It gives me time to find MYSELF again. I love my son very much. I treasure my time with him, and yeah, sometimes I miss him and wish school wasn't quite so long (though he wishes it was longer). I don't think that having our own separate lives means anything bad. We've spent a lot of time connecting and we remain very connected when he's home. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the "break." And honestly, these sorts of discussions are just another piece of ammunition in the "mommy wars." They made it really hard for me to make what I think was the right decision for my family to send my kid to school. Because I constantly second-guessed my motivations, and mothering abilities. But you know what? It's ok that I needed help. It's ok that I needed a break. It's ok to be imperfect and it's ok to have lives that diverge for 6 hours a day.

No offense to anyone here who is awesome and shops at Michael's, but that's my friend's replacement for the "C" word. She says almost everyone she's ever run into at Michael's is just seriously unpleasant, so now when she's referring to anyone seriously unpleasant (like the "B" or "C" words!), she says, "Oh, yeah, she shops at Michael's." Makes me LOL!

My almost 8-year-old son has just started public school for the first time (second grade). I'd like to engage in some "afterschooling," but HOW and WHEN do you do that?! My son needs decompression time. While the routine of school is a big part of why we sent him (he feels much more comfortable when he knows what's coming, and has a regular routine), the stimulation, activity level, etc is a lot for him and he needs time to process that. He gets one hour of computer time on school days (he usually uses half before and half after school). So after all of that, after doing his 15 minutes of reading, 10 minutes of homework, and 10 minutes of math fact practice, there's not a lot of time left for anything else. We eat dinner as a family, and after dinner, we do cleanup and a bedtime routine. My kids are in bed at 7:30, and usually asleep by 8:30. Weekends are family time, and great for life-learning type "afterschooling." We do a lot of chatting, reading, etc. But we turn off our screens and the outside world one day (which makes googling hard, argh!). I am just already feeling like it's hard to cram everything into our days. How do I make time for more?

I just started my formerly homeschooling almost-8-y/o in public school to get him some extra services and structure I wasn't able to provide at home. It's VERY bittersweet, but I'm determined to keep the learning environment at home. Thanks for this.

Sounds a lot like my (almost) 8-year-old Aspie with sensory issues. I often wonder how much of this is his ASD and how much is just normal for an 8-year-old. Since he's my first, I have no idea how to compare him to other kids, so I'm never sure what to just sigh and wait out and what to push to "fix." And whether I need to apply typical parenting strategies, or ASD-behavior strategies. I'm happy to let him be quirky and different and himself, but GODS the whining will kill me, I swear. Anyway, I feel you. If you're concerned, push for an eval. There are so many options to help you better understand your boy, to help him cope, and to help you cope.

You are so lucky to have the PS system evaluate him if you homeschool! We had to pay for a private evaluation. for my son, "obsessive" means it's what he talks about. If he is given the chance to steer a conversation, he's likely to steer it toward Minecraft. If he draws pictures, they're often about his Minecraft worlds. If he plays with Lego or action figures, he's using the Minecraft world/characters to develop his play. Sensory - he gets overstimulated easily. He sometimes chews his shirt or other non-food items. He'll clap his hands over his ears at a sudden loud noise. HTH

My 7-year-old Aspie is definitely a different, nonlinear thinker. I found Phonics Road to be great to give him a more concrete foundation in printing, phonics, etc. He was already reading some, and writing (messy!) in caps. PR gave him the ability to see, hear, feel, and understand the RULES of phonics. He's very much into rules and WHY things are the way they are. PR helped a lot with that.