Slipper Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I'm trying to help out someone I know from another board. I'll be upfront and admit that I don't consider this person a friend as we hold differing beliefs. However, I try to help people if I think I can and offered to post around for her. I know very little (and it could be that it's so little that nobody can help me). Her son has ADHD and is in 5th grade and she felt they weren't doing a good job and pulled him out. She said that he is reading at a 4th grade level but his comprehension is low. (I'm not sure if that means that his comprehension is 4th grade or if it's lower). She also said that she doesn't know what level he is at for anything. She said that the teachers have continued to be involved in helping her and they have tested him and she goes back soon so they can see if he's improving while at home. She said the teachers are very nice to her. She's looking for workbooks and printables from the internet for math, reading and science. I am not sure if she has been working with her son yet this school year. She does not have a lot of money to spend and is a single mom with three kids, one of whom has significant medical needs and autism. She is only homeschooling her son with ADHD. Any suggestions for free sites or inexpensive curriculum for math, reading and science would be appreciated. I have already mentioned to her that she needs to see where he is at before purchasing anything and that his reading program should be based on comprehension level rather than ability to read words. Thank you :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momtotkbb Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Well, first it's not uncommon for kids w/ ADHD to have low comprehension scores especially if their ADHD is not being treated or is undertreated. Reading Detectives by Critical Thinking is a good resource for working on comprehension skills - it teaches the techniques/tools to take what is read and to read it for meaning. Doing lots of read alouds w/ the dc and stopping every paragraph for an oral narration would be good - she'll have to take it slow and maybe even do the narration for him for a few weeks until he gets the hang of what is required. Also, she needs to determine if reading level is bec of comprehension or does he not have the decoding skills? Are there other things going on like learning disabilities along w/ the ADHD. There are also some sites that you can download leveled readers from and they include worksheets - they are about $60 or so for a year. An inexpensive math curriculum would be CLE -it's spiral based which is sometimes good for ADHD kids bec they keep coming back to the topic. However, for some it sends them over the edge bec it's too many problems. She would need to be willing to 1) download and complete the diagnostics test and then place him where the test says even if it's much lower than his "grade level" and 2) she would need to be willing to cut some of the lessons if they are too long for him in the beginning. With CLE she could purchase only a few Light Units at a time to see if they work w/ his learning style. Another inexpensive one is Math Mammoth. I would be hesitant to just download math worksheets from free sites other than for review or to use in the meantime while she's getting curriculum. I would hesitate bec she isn't used to hsing and she might miss skills that are building blocks in math. Science could be done cheaply for this year by utilizing the library - let him select topics he's interested in and then check out books, read them with him and do experiments. Some will depend upon what requirements the state has for hsing too. Also, I know that here if a parent is working through the school while hsing they will provide public school textbooks so that could be another option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
provenance61 Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Momtotkbb-- our son also has ADD and we were interested in finding the leveled readers you are talking about. Could you please share the source or link? We would really appreciate it too...also how do you find the exact level? Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momtotkbb Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 http://www.readinga-z.com They actually have leveled readers that you print off - have the child read - record the errors - etc. and they tell you if you are "on target" w/ the right level. My kids have all loved them and even though I use other readers w/ them they liked taking a break and using the "little" individual books that I printed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 My phonics lessons and the resources on my how to tutor page. Don Potter also has many free resources: http://www.donpotter.net/education_pages/ Including this presentation about comprehension with ideas about how to teach it. However, I have found with my remedial students that most of my students did not have a true comprehension problem but instead a phonics deficit. When the phonics skills were over learned and guessing tendencies from sight words fixed through nonsense words, the "comprehension" problems vanish. I also have some free reading grade level tests and diagnostic reading tests. I suggest she do the NRRF part 2 to determine reading grade level and the MWIA to see if there is a problem from sight word teaching that will need nonsense words and a lot of phonics remediation to fix. (This is likely.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipper Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 Thanks for the suggestions! I really appreciate the info. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oceana Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Figured I should add My son has encephalopathy which looks very much like ADHD I started homeschooling him this summer and find while he can read it's like he is not able to look at books or cards. When using books we usually have a melt down or two him not looking at the book and thus unable to read the word which I suppose if you don't see the word reading it is somewhat more challenging. :001_huh: Monday I introduced reading eggs website and he is busting through showing he can read so much more than I ever knew. It might be worth it to give it a go with the free 14 day trial and see what happens. I don't know if it can be used as a stand alone program or if it needs supplements but I do know every single minute of choose what you want to do time for 2 straight days he has been doing games on the reading eggs website and taking tests and learning words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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