Starting from the beginning with a child who has learning challenges

[rafiki]

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[speedmom4]

My son has cerebral palsy (from a stroke at birth) and epilepsy. He has always been on his own time table. But he has been making up a lot of the gap this school year. He is 11.

 

My son loves history and good stories. I have always tried to do A LOT of reading aloud and books on CD since he wasn't able to read them for himself but he understands them. We are using Winter Promise since many of the books are very visual.

 

I love Handwriting without Tears. It is very solid.

 

I would recommend looking at Math-U-See or Teaching Textbooks for math. Also, I just ordered Times Tales from Trigger Memory Systems for learning the times tables. I also just ordered the workbook Two plus Two does not Equal Five. It has "tricks" for learning addition and subtraction. It is reproducible.

 

I used Learning Language Arts through Literature last year for English and it was a very nice gentle experience. This year I knew he needed more so he is now using Christian Light Education. It is awesome. It has tons of great repetition built in. It is a spiral method so each concept is repeated and repeated.

 

So far I have just found books that my son has been interested in for him to read. He really enjoys reading even though it can be difficult for him.

 

I think my best bit of advice is to know where the line is between letting your child learn at his/her own pace and challenging him/her. I guess that is the same with other children too!

 

I hope this helps!

 

God Bless,

Elise in NC

[speedmom4]

Oh, I forgot, All About Spelling. I have tried SO many spelling programs and this one is the bomb! I can not recommend this program highly enough.

 

Elise in NC

[chiguirre]

For handwriting, Handwriting Without Tears, hands down.

 

I used LLATL Blue and Pathway readers for ds, but reading is a relative strength for him. If you think it will be very hard, I'd start with Barton.

 

For math, I'd try MUS and see how it goes. If it doesn't go well and he can't retain his math facts, I'd look at Semple Math. We've only used it for half of the first level, but it's picked up hidden issues I didn't know ds had that were holding him back. I'm hopeful this will give ds the foundation he needs to succeed.

[Ottakee]

My personal favorites:

 

Start with the I See Sam books http://www.3rsplus.com or http://www.iseesam.com Once you get through the 3rd or 4th set, start Apples and Pears spelling slowly---like 1/2 of a level a day or so.

 

Handwriting without Tears would likely be my choice there.

 

For math, I really liked Christian Light Education. We didn't start it until 3rd grade level but I loved it. You might need to do 1/2 lesson a day, etc. but it is effective.

 

For easy social studies and science, I might start with either ACE (school of tomorrow) or Christian Light. ACE is a bit easier and more colorful so if that is appealing you could start there.

 

Then just do lots of life experiences, read aloud some good books, and go from there.