I love this....this October weather in July is a real downer.

I wanted to add, as someone whose Autistic/ADHD son is older (17) than yours that you are doing FINE...give yourself some grace and a pat on the back (I need to take my own advice here!). What I have had to do is totally reset my expectations for him...not that I don’t have any, but they are not going to be what I thought for him. I actually just wrote an article that is going to be published on ADDitude Magazine’s blog about homeschooling with ADHD. I will add it here for you Use the Math programs you have. I switched around alot. Last year, all he was able to do was Khan videos for math. It was way more than enough! Tweak the PROGRAM to fit his needs...for example, too much ‘clutter’ on the page? Get a piece of cardboard or opaque plastic. Cut a hole in it and cover everything except that one problem he is working on. I got this idea from Melinda Boring’s site...her resources are excellent. http://www.headsupnow.com Here is my draft of the article. HTH: Blessings to you...Nanci Smith, Ph.D. Homeschooling ADHD & with ADD “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out, it’s the pebble in your shoe.†— Muhammad Ali I have home educated my children for 16 years. My two oldest two have graduated, but I still homeschool the other four… including 3 boys with ADHD (and one also with accompanying Aspergers). Honestly, there have been times of feeling like I had nothing but pebbles in my shoes and losing sight of the mountain ahead.. One of the first questions new home educators ask is about curriculum. Actually, choice of curriculum is not as critical as you might think. What is far more important is knowing each child’s strengths and weaknesses and working with that. As a parent, you already have this skill, so this is a huge benefit. This is what’s worked for me. As an ADD’er myself, I’ll make this short and sweet. S.M.A.R.T. M.I.N.D. S is for Strengths…leverage those to make learning interesting such as Lego-centric lessons (Google is incredibly helpful) M is for Movement…all 3 of my boys go to Occupational Therapy. Their OTs told me that the best thing for them (or any child with ADHD) is to incorporate movement into everything you can. And include wiggle and stretching breaks. A is for Activity… do lots of hands- on… board games, play clay, newspaper collages. Trying to force a child with ADHD to sit quietly as they would be expected to in school is well, like trying to force a kid with ADHD to sit quietly. R is for Remove obstacles…sometimes the biggest obstacle is not inability to do the problem or learn the answer; instead, it’s trouble transferring their racing thoughts from their mind to the paper. Play the “middleman†by having your child dictate his thoughts while you write or type them. Then you can revise together. Or remove the issue of having the child have to copy down the math problems by using a workbook or only requiring half (or no) handwriting and teach typing instead. T is for Tweak to meet your students’ needs…make the curriculum work for you, not the other way around. It seems so obvious to me now, but at first, we did all the workbook pages or all the lessons… skip pages, skip problems, skip lessons…do only the odd (or even) problems. This not only helps prevent your child from becoming overwhelmed—it also supplies a bit of that “novelty†factor that sparks an ADHD mind. Harness technology. If the physical aspects of writing overwhelm your student, have them make a PowerPoint presentation. Or videotape the child telling you what he’s learned. M is for Minimize distractions…don’t work near a window if you know child will be distracted…Make a portable “study cubicle†using a cardboard trifold Science Fair XXXX. For worksheets, use opaque plastic or cardboard to cover all but the row your child is working on, or cut a square in the middle so he sees only one math problem at a time. I is for Input… Ask for his input if he’s getting tired or hungry so he can learn to self-regulate BEFORE a meltdown. Don’t force a long lesson when there’s a meltdown looming…better to take a break and come back later or another day. N is for Neutralize your expectations of what a homeschool day SHOULD look like and instead do what you need to do to make it work….This is not to say that there should be no expectations, but be realistic about how much a child can accomplish. if a child is more receptive in the afternoon, don’t try to start school at 7:30 a.m. You do not have to re-create the school environment in your home. D is for Decisions…when at all feasible, let the child choose…would you like to start with Math or a read a chapter right now? Gives a sense of control. Home educating has not been easy, but it has been worth it for our family. Even a veteran home educator needs to be reminded to keep my focus on the mountain

My son has Aspergers/ADHD and really had trouble with Algebra because it is so abstract. What I got for him was an App called Hands on Equations. He did all the levels with no problems because it was so “concrete†https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fun-way-to-learn-algebra-free/id505954972?mt=8 HTH

Don’t get me wrong, IEW is a great program. Very structured, and it was the first thing I’d ever found that helped give him the structure he needed and actually get him writing...but it’s the same underlying premise for all of their books. One year of it was more than enough for him (and me, especially when I am teaching it multiple times with the other kids). Plus it’s only one perspective of writing. I’m thinking maybe WWS doesn’t need tweaking at all? Right now his problem is being able to focus enough to sit down without being distracted. We are looking into some med changes.

My son is 17, Aspergers/ADHD...he learned the basic IEW writing format but honestly got bored because it was so repetitive (ironic!) I am going to start WWS Level 1 this summer with him because we didn’t get much school done last year with his medical issues Would anyone like to share ways they tweaked WWS for SN or offer me suggestions? TIA, Nanci

I started with WTM years ago...many children (I have 6) & some of their special needs situations derailing us from classical But I still love SWB’s books I used to be a member in the old forum