Let's Play...

[Guest]

pretend. We are going to pretend none of you have ever heard of me before. :001_smile:

Now we have a nice clean fresh slate. Here is my question.

 

My oldest son is very weak academically in all areas except reading. He just turned 14. He is NOT starting high school. Our plan is he will take the GED when he finishes Algebra 2. He is working on (and loving) CLE 400 math now. He is intelligent but his LD is in lang arts which of course affects just about every other subject as well.

 

What would you suggest for a vocabulary, writing, grammar/usage, and lit. studies/reading comprehension program for starting from the beginning and needing loads of review? Along with a non-writing intensive history and non mathy yet not dumbed down lots of experiments science?

 

I did look at CLE but he tested at the 300 level for LA and I am concerned the writing instruction is not strong or direct enough. Direct instruction for LA areas is best for this child. Think scripted. I do prefer secular. R&S is a dead bird here.

 

He can write a decent yet dry sentence. We have covered 5 sentence paragraphs.

 

I am planning on buying All About Spelling. I have considered dropping history to focus on these other areas but he loves history.

 

My others are all sorted but this guy I am fretting over. Any ideas? I know I have plagued these boards with this in the past and I do apologize in advance for revisiting this. Thank you for your patience.

[In2why]

I don't know your son, your background or your beliefs. One thought that I had is the John Jakes series. It was a fascinating way to learn about American history because it was an interesting story that had a ton of history in it. I have to say that I learned more about history reading the series then I ever did in any of my classes and it made the connections come alive for me. I dont know if you have read them but you two could read them together and then it would be easy to expand them into conversations or projects.

 

If he is a strong reader the vocabulary will come naturally. As for grammar there are the old standbys Mad libs.

 

My other thought about writing is if he has any heroes or even is just a fan of bands, sports figures, or anyone in the public. If a letter is written they often write back. Another option is requiring him to write a review for any book he reads in Amazon or Barnes and Noble's review section. Or on video games even. If he needs it completely directed then I would suggest the different story starters that are available.

 

Just some quick thoughts

[Linda (Australia)]

Hi - the best thing I ever did for my oldest was introduce her to the IEW programme. She could hardly string a sentence together when we started, and she was about 14 at the time. I was terribly worried that I had completely failed her. But, with IEW, she's now writing entire essays! I can't say that her essays are brilliant, or that they would win any competitions, but, she can DO IT.

 

IEW also have 'History-Based Writing Lessons' - meaning you can combine History and Writing in one, another bonus. We really enjoyed the Medieval book. As it covers a certain amount of grammar as well, you many not need an additional grammar text, either - it depends how much grammar you think he needs to know.

 

As for literature, we've done a couple of the 'Classics Club' DVDs from Adam Andrews at Center for Lit - excellent! We actually had a discussion, and she wrote an essay, on Hamlet! Now there's something I thought would never happen.

 

I'm so glad we found these resources, they're just brilliant.

 

Hope that helps,

[KathyBC]

My just-turned 14yo ds sounds similar. Like Linda's dd, IEW's Medieval book was a great fit for him, combining history and writing, and produced something tangible to go with our SL reading. It dramatically improved his writing in both quantity and quality. We use Megawords for spelling/vocabulary and his spelling has also shown much improvement. Rainbow Science has minimal math, lots of experiments, and is not dumbed-down. On the con side, it is expensive and it is not secular.

 

We're going to try lit. studies next year with TTC. Grammar and usage is a bit of a problem here, too. We've tried the more indirect route. Like you have found, this child needs direct instruction. We've covered parts of speech with Winston Grammar, which he liked. But he can't seem to hear irregular verbs. At all. After 14 years of hearing mostly correct usage, of reading more than some kids, of being read to more than most, he says things like, "He fighted." It shows up in his writing, too. So we're going to try Abeka Oral Language Exercises. It can't hurt. Hopefully it won't wound his dignity. (The inner pages are labeled grades 1-6. He'll likely spot that at some point.)

 

 

Hope some of that helps. I'm off to check out the Classics Club DVDs. :D

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[Guest]

Shari, you are a riot! Yeah, I bought verticy but it was way too young in tone for him and me. I sent it back. (don't tell the OMers I am back here. I AM using OM for the youngers. This is my tough child.)

 

To everyone else, thank you!

[Mandy in TN]

What would you suggest for a vocabulary, writing, grammar/usage, and lit. studies/reading comprehension program for starting from the beginning and needing loads of review?

Vocabulary Cartoons

IEW

Steps to Good Grammar from Walch OR

(if you need something very basic, hands-on, and visual try Winston Grammar)

Toolbook Prose and Poetry from Walch OR

(if you need something more basic try Figuratively Speaking)

 

Along with a non-writing intensive history non mathy yet not dumbed down lots of experiments science?

Power Basics World History from Walch

 

WinterPromise Science (We used their Human Body and Forensics jr/sr high program this past year.)

 

WinterPromise Sea and Sky would cover both science and history and meet your requirements. (This program was my middle ds's best year of school ever. We didn't use the adventure read-alouds.)

 

HTH-

Mandy

[justasque]

My oldest son is very weak academically in all areas except reading. He just turned 14. He is NOT starting high school. Our plan is he will take the GED when he finishes Algebra 2.

 

I have considered dropping history to focus on these other areas but he loves history.

 

 

I would actually look at it from a different direction. If he is getting a GED, is he college-bound? If not, what is his and your plans/hopes for his future? What skills will he need to reach those goals? What skills does he have now?

 

If he can write a fairly useful business letter, and gain information as needed through reading, does he really need to master the finer points of grammar? Does he need a spelling program, or does he need to learn how to work with spell check to make sure it doesn't miss certain words? Does he have the math skills to manage his personal finances and perhaps a small business? How much literature does a man need? If the interest is there, then reading the classics and identifying symbolism and foreshadowing and so on can be fascinating. But if it just flat-out isn't his thing, and yet he's interested in reading, then why not steer his reading to things he wants to read (however non-school-y they might seem)?

 

You've said he loved reading and history. What if he took a significant amount of time to do just that - read history? Not just history textbooks, but all kinds of books about various time periods in history.

 

I've seen kids who are really horrible in some aspects of school really thrive in their area of passion, and it's not always easy to see, while you're in the middle of it, how that all fits together. Sometimes, you've got to make a huge leap of faith. Homeschooling lets us have that freedom.

 

Just trying to think outside the box. If you hate these ideas, then throw them out. But I do think it would help you to see a clearer path if you took stock of where you hoped to be in a few years, and chose your curriculum based on that.

[hornblower]

I wanted to offer this:

 

I know a man whose story you might find interesting. He has undiagnosed LD's, probably dyslexia and some other things as well. He was held back one year in elementary. He had extra tutoring etc. He finally settled in late elementary into steady poor but passing grades. He was a poor, struggling reader - never read a book for pleasure until late teens.

 

In junior high (gr 8-10 here), everyone, including his parents, thought he'd be headed into a manual labor career. They kept steering him into shop/metal/wood working etc.

 

And then, at the age of 16 in senior high (gr 11 & 12), this kid all of a sudden started blossoming, and instead of pulling C's and D's, started pulling steady B's and some A's & taking academic stream courses. His marks were high enough that he applied and was admitted to a university to a BA course. A couple years later he transferred into the science faculty & graduated with a science degree.

 

Several years later he was working as a writer & editor in the field of science for an online journal. He was also managing a staff.

 

All this to say, don't assume that where your ds is now is where he'll be 2 years from now. Teen brains undergo big changes & many boys are really late bloomers.

 

best wishes

[MerryAtHope]

I wanted to offer this:

 

I know a man whose story you might find interesting. He has undiagnosed LD's, probably dyslexia and some other things as well. He was held back one year in elementary. He had extra tutoring etc. He finally settled in late elementary into steady poor but passing grades. He was a poor, struggling reader - never read a book for pleasure until late teens.

 

In junior high (gr 8-10 here), everyone, including his parents, thought he'd be headed into a manual labor career. They kept steering him into shop/metal/wood working etc.

 

And then, at the age of 16 in senior high (gr 11 & 12), this kid all of a sudden started blossoming, and instead of pulling C's and D's, started pulling steady B's and some A's & taking academic stream courses. His marks were high enough that he applied and was admitted to a university to a BA course. A couple years later he transferred into the science faculty & graduated with a science degree.

 

Several years later he was working as a writer & editor in the field of science for an online journal. He was also managing a staff.

 

All this to say, don't assume that where your ds is now is where he'll be 2 years from now. Teen brains undergo big changes & many boys are really late bloomers.

 

best wishes

 

What an encouraging story, thanks for sharing it! Merry :-)

[lovemykids]

Have you thought about the Wordsmith series and Winston Grammar for LA?

 

Wordsmith is great for reluctant writers.

 

That was a fantastic story, hornblower.

:)

I wanted to offer this:

 

I know a man whose story you might find interesting. He has undiagnosed LD's, probably dyslexia and some other things as well. He was held back one year in elementary. He had extra tutoring etc. He finally settled in late elementary into steady poor but passing grades. He was a poor, struggling reader - never read a book for pleasure until late teens.

 

In junior high (gr 8-10 here), everyone, including his parents, thought he'd be headed into a manual labor career. They kept steering him into shop/metal/wood working etc.

 

And then, at the age of 16 in senior high (gr 11 & 12), this kid all of a sudden started blossoming, and instead of pulling C's and D's, started pulling steady B's and some A's & taking academic stream courses. His marks were high enough that he applied and was admitted to a university to a BA course. A couple years later he transferred into the science faculty & graduated with a science degree.

 

Several years later he was working as a writer & editor in the field of science for an online journal. He was also managing a staff.

 

All this to say, don't assume that where your ds is now is where he'll be 2 years from now. Teen brains undergo big changes & many boys are really late bloomers.

 

best wishes

[Guest]

Thanks for the story. It was very encourging. And the poster who talked about seeing what he wants to do and looking for an alternate path. Slow and steady. He is my tortise.

 

This son wants to either be a vet, an engineer (mechanical), or a computer consultant guy like his dad. (sorry that isn't descriptive. What my dh does is hard to explain.)

[Guest]

just checking in....

[momuv4girls]

I wanted to offer this:

 

I know a man whose story you might find interesting. He has undiagnosed LD's, probably dyslexia and some other things as well. He was held back one year in elementary. He had extra tutoring etc. He finally settled in late elementary into steady poor but passing grades. He was a poor, struggling reader - never read a book for pleasure until late teens.

 

In junior high (gr 8-10 here), everyone, including his parents, thought he'd be headed into a manual labor career. They kept steering him into shop/metal/wood working etc.

 

And then, at the age of 16 in senior high (gr 11 & 12), this kid all of a sudden started blossoming, and instead of pulling C's and D's, started pulling steady B's and some A's & taking academic stream courses. His marks were high enough that he applied and was admitted to a university to a BA course. A couple years later he transferred into the science faculty & graduated with a science degree.

 

Several years later he was working as a writer & editor in the field of science for an online journal. He was also managing a staff.

 

All this to say, don't assume that where your ds is now is where he'll be 2 years from now. Teen brains undergo big changes & many boys are really late bloomers.

 

best wishes

 

Thanks... this is a GREAT reminder. :001_smile: