Serious question here about finding someone to plan my homeschool?

[Night Elf]

I have admitted time after time that without a structured program, schoolwork just doesn't get done consistently in my home. I don't know why. I've tried to analyze it. I've tried to discuss it with my DH. We just don't have an answer.

 

Is there such a thing as a homeschool planner/counselor? I'd love to hand my list of materials over to someone and have them draw up a 36 week schedule, with a daily plan laid out in exact detail. Some of you think this is so easy but it's so NOT.

 

My son didn't do well with Calvert. He did better with K12. But while he did great with K12 5th grade, he didn't fare well with 6th grade. His peers are going into 7th grade in public school. My DH thinks I'm nuts for wanting to buy Calvert 6th grade but I'm having an extremely difficult time with our current homeschool program.

 

My son doesn't like reading books, so a literature based program is out. He has always hated hands-on things like projects, arts and crafts, and even science experiments. He doesn't do well with programs that expect all learning to happen by writing paragraphs about reading material. He wants to work on the computer as much as possible. He needs a complete secular, absolutely no mention of anything religious, program. He's a very strong atheist who cannot skip over religious refererences. He gets hung up on them and wants to discuss how ridiculous they are rather than concentrating on the core subject.

 

I'm feeling so absolutely hopeless right now that I am seriously contemplating calling the school district tomorrow to set up a meeting for registration for the fall. My son would hate me. He'd feel betrayed. But he's only 2 years away from high school and he's falling behind his peers. I don't think I'm being a good teacher for him.

 

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[dragons in the flower bed]

He wants to work on the computer as much as possible. He needs a complete secular, absolutely no mention of anything religious, program.

 

Have you looked at Oak Meadow's online program? Kids read websites, click through links, explore the internet to learn something. Time4Learning also has interactive, cartoon-like lessons. Time4Learning does not come with lesson plans, but Oak Meadow, IIRC, does.

[Mama Lynx]

I don't know if there is such a thing as a homeschool planner/counselor. If there is, and if people get paid for such things, then I have a new career goal :D

 

You say school does not get done without a structured routine. Do you mean a structured routine imposed by someone else, like K-12 or Calvert? Do you mean that you have trouble creating and sticking to a structured routine on your own, and it doesn't seem to work without that outside accountability?

 

How is IEW going for writing?

 

Which programs are you using have been working? Which have not?

 

Why didn't he do as well in Calvert 6th?

 

Do you feel you aren't the best teacher for him because you are finding it hard to keep to a structured routine, or because you're having trouble teaching him? Do all subjects go better when someone else teaches?

[Night Elf]

Have you looked at Oak Meadow's online program? Kids read websites, click through links, explore the internet to learn something. Time4Learning also has interactive, cartoon-like lessons. Time4Learning does not come with lesson plans, but Oak Meadow, IIRC, does.

 

He's doing Time4Learning and thinks it's stupid. The math is okay although he finds the lessons redundant. The LA has these stupid themes like the Word Show and Word Herd which were fine for 3rd grade, but seem out of place in 6th and 7th grade.

 

I haven't looked at Oak Meadow online specifically, but dismissed OM because of it's background. It's Waldorf(y) which I thought was lots of exploration and hands-on. He doesn't like that. But I'll look again and see if it's something that could work. Thanks.

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

This summer is going to make or break my homeschooling my oldest (11).

 

He sounds so much like your child. Add a unhealthy dose of sibling rivalry (younger brother is curious and cooperative) in there and you've got a glimpse and the misery.

 

Wish we had the funds for K12 - I'd jump on it in a minute. Math, logic and computers are all that interest him. He reads what I force him to read. If it involves history or science, he balks. Like IEW because I let him type everything but the key word outlines. It's always trying to get him to do work - will argue rather than work (oh yeh, we use R&S and he rolls his eyes quite a bit). Wears me out. Will make an excellent attorney someday.

 

Can't wait to see some advice from the Hive.

 

Hugs,

K

 

PS. Does your boy play Runescape or BattleOn? Oldest is always looking for like-minded friends to hang out w/ in cyberspace. PM me if you would like.

[RhondaM.]

Just tossing this out there...

I know you don't want anything religious or literature based but maybe, just maybe you could use this the way you want.

 

What if you used the schedule for SL 100 and spread it out over 2 years to make the reading load a lot less, PLUS you could take half of the reading load for each year and turn them into read alouds. For instance you could both read Hakim together each day, the history readers would be read alouds, and the the literature would be his readers. I don't think any of the books were religious, you could just toss any that were. The books are good, but not hard or long.

 

Rather than handing him any of the notes that have religious content, you could pick out things you felt were worth discussion, highlight them ahead of time, and discuss them orally.

 

Their writing is included and is pretty gentle...

 

Don't they have schedules for their math too?

 

Just a thought.

 

Hope you find something that works. I have a kid too that does not care for reading or writing. It's a huge struggle.

[kailuamom]

 

My son didn't do well with Calvert. He did better with K12. But while he did great with K12 5th grade, he didn't fare well with 6th grade. His peers are going into 7th grade in public school. My DH thinks I'm nuts for wanting to buy Calvert 6th grade but I'm having an extremely difficult time with our current homeschool program.

 

 

 

For what it's worth -- my dd liked Calvert 6 much more than she liked Calvert 4 or 5. It is written to the student (as in all the of the assignments, etc., in the lesson manual) so it is very hands-on for the student. Yes, it is a lot of work, but you can take your time doing it and split up some of the lessons. They have added some online lessons (just a few so far) and the lesson manual is online for them, too.

 

Good luck!

[Mama Lynx]

He's doing Time4Learning and thinks it's stupid. The math is okay although he finds the lessons redundant. The LA has these stupid themes like the Word Show and Word Herd which were fine for 3rd grade, but seem out of place in 6th and 7th grade.

 

I haven't looked at Oak Meadow online specifically, but dismissed OM because of it's background. It's Waldorf(y) which I thought was lots of exploration and hands-on. He doesn't like that. But I'll look again and see if it's something that could work. Thanks.

 

The early grades are Waldorfy, but less so as the grades progress, I believe.

[Night Elf]

You say school does not get done without a structured routine. Do you mean a structured routine imposed by someone else, like K-12 or Calvert? Do you mean that you have trouble creating and sticking to a structured routine on your own, and it doesn't seem to work without that outside accountability?

 

Yes. A schedule written by someone else is seen as instructions, whereas a schedule written by me is seen as negotiable. With Calvert and K12, I could modify the expectations to suit my son's needs. For example, instructions that ask for questions to be answered or a paragraph to be written can be done on the computer. Or in Math, the instructions may say to do 25 problems, but we'll do 10 as long as he does them well.

 

When I create the schedule, everything is up for negotiation. He constantly asks "Do I really have to do that?" He just fights me more because he knows that eventually I will get worn down and cave in. We do nearly everything orally. His Aspergers really gets in the way. I don't mind doing some things orally but if I can't get him to do something any other way, is he going to be successful in high school? I just can't imagine doing high school work orally, especially because my DH and I want our son to use an accredited correspondence high school.

 

How is IEW going for writing?

 

He doesn't love it, but likes it better than any other writing instructions we've previously done. But there is very little daily structure. I started him off doing 5 mins. of IEW work a day. He's worked up to 15 mins. now. But he's not doing 5 days of schoolwork a week. I'm lucky if we get in 3 days of school because of all the craziness that's been happening in our household over the last few months. He won't do IEW, or another other subject, without me sitting next to him. A few years ago he was a really good dependent worker. He's regressed and I have no idea why or how to fix it!

 

Which programs are you using have been working? Which have not?

 

He loves having me read the Hakim series aloud. We discuss it as we read, but that's it. If I ask him to write about it, he says he doesn't know what to write. K12's 5th and 6th grade History program uses the Hakim series. We'd answer discussion questions and he'd complete an online assessment. Now that we don't have access to K12's online school any longer, we aren't doing anything but discussing what we read. We're halfway through book 8, and there are 10 books altogether. I just keep feeling like we should be doing more with History.

 

IEW U.S. History-based writing is good, except we don't know how much to do in a day. I honestly feel like he can do so much more but without a schedule that says exactly how much to do each day, he tries to do the absolute minimum he can get away with.

 

Daily Paragraph Editing - he really likes. It's just editing one paragraph a day. It takes him about 5 minutes.

 

Living Learning Books Chemistry is not for him. We've only done the first few lessons and he hates it. I've ordered some Prentice Hall Science Explorer books and plan to have him work in them. But without a schedule or an answer key, I don't think he'll really do what I hope to achieve with those books.

 

Math - we're continuing the book used in K12's prealgebra level A. He was having a lot of problems with the concepts which is one of the reasons I dropped K12. But the math in Time4Learning just didn't seem like enough, so I went back to using this textbook. I even started him at the beginning of the text again to see what he had mastered and what needed work. It's going okay, but it's not really enough instruction to help me teach him. I keep having to go to my DH and have him explain it to me, then I go back and try to teach it to my son in his terms. My DH is very technical and the kids don't really like having him explain things.

 

Getting Started With Latin is probably our best program right now. It has short daily lessons that are clear and simple. We do one little lesson a day that takes 5 minutes. My hope for this program was to complete the book and have my children be familiar enough with Latin that a strong, full program wouldn't freak them out.

 

Time4Learning - I chose this because it is on the computer. My son doesn't like the History or Science lessons, but I really only wanted the Math and LA. Unfortunately, the LA lessons are childish. He's not learning anything new with the material.

 

Why didn't he do as well in Calvert 6th?

 

He hasn't tried Calvert 6th. I had him doing Calvert 5th grade in early 2007. He did the first 64 lessons and he was hating it more and more every day. The writing assignments expected more than he could handle and didn't give him step by step instructions. The Science textbook was boring because he knew all the material. He didn't like the reading selections. The History textbook was boring. We stopped doing Calvert 5th and went straight into K12 5th grade. He just liked the presentation much better.

 

Unfortunately, K12's 6th grade program was just too much for him. The writing assignments were not good, of course I should say we didn't do many of the 5th grade writing assignments for the same reason. The History content was fine, but the worksheets were too much for him. He couldn't handle analyzing the text or other sources. We stuck to the discussion questions only which weren't too bad. The Literature selections didn't appeal to him which made it quite difficult to get through the assignments. Spelling and grammar were easy. The Science totally upset him. It was boring, even on the computer and he absolutely hated the experiments.

 

To be honest, I can't tell if it's the grade level he can't handle or the materials we've chosen.

 

Do you feel you aren't the best teacher for him because you are finding it hard to keep to a structured routine, or because you're having trouble teaching him? Do all subjects go better when someone else teaches?

 

Yes, I say I'm not a good teacher because I am horribly inconsistent with my expectations, both my expectations of what work he should be doing and my expectations of the energy he should be putting forth in doing the work.

 

My dd10 is using Calvert. We sit down at the table and do a full lesson, sometimes two, following all the instructions in the book. She's a good student who very rarely complains about the work at hand.

 

My son and I were doing fine with K12 for quite a while. But I cancelled it because I couldn't stand the thought of paying $800 for him to want to read the material very fast and then feel like he was done. I'm thinking he's gotten really lazy, but I can't help but feel guilty because I don't know how much of his problem is due to his Aspergers. Basically it comes down to him feeling like an assignment is useless and stupid and he'll dig in his heels and not want to try. He can't handle my saying the work needs to be done just to get it done. I found ways around it over the past years, but it's getting more difficult now that the work is getting more difficult.

 

Thank you for letting me air all of that out! Egads! :lol:

[Julie in MN]

Hi Beth,

Isn't it hard, sometimes? It would be hard having him in public school, too. You'd still have to impose things on him that he didn't like, but they'd be someone else's choices. BTDT.

 

What I'm hearing is that he doesn't like anything. Doesn't like reading, writing, hands-on, or God. Things are stupid and redundant.

 

I'd look hard at what's behind this. Is this just his age? Then I'd work hard to find what he *does* like but bite the bullet on most of what he says until this passes. Or is it a consistent character issue? If so, I'd spend more attention on that than the academics. I suppose it could be just his particular special needs situation (I certainly don't think all Aspie kids are like this, but each one is unique). If so, he needs to develop skills in realizing that nothing is perfect and we choose our own happiness.

 

 

That said, it does sound like he enjoys computers. Although I haven't been impressed with many computer classes I've seen, I do think you can incorporate computers into much of his learning. He can do all of his writing on there, for instance. My ds has experimented with different formats over the years, such as power point, creating a newspaper style report, etc. For math, I was looking into a programming course for my ds this year as a part of his math credit. So, things other than strictly computer-based learning might help motivate him.

 

Just my random Sunday morning thoughts.

Julie

[ccmom]

Your post is very timely for me. I have an older child who has always taken lots of time and attention. He is now 13. My younger, now 9 is a very quick learner, and if I had not had to spend so much time on my oldest he would be a lot farther along. I feel that I am at a pivotal point in their education. Both kids are a little behind because of my inefficiency in managing their schedule. I am very interested to know how others make their schedules work. That could be a very good career for someone who knows how to manage schedules!! I would not trust anyone in the public school system to help me, but I sure could use a scheduling counseler. :iagree:

 

I'm interested to hear constructive replies. I do not want to send my kids to public school (the only choice in my area). Both of my children have strong gifts in certain areas. One child has some difficulties that make him work at a slower pace while my other child might be considered "gifted" in that he could advance quickly if I work with him more. I am really struggling trying to keep up a workable schedule that won't burn them out.

[dragons in the flower bed]

He's doing Time4Learning and thinks it's stupid. The math is okay although he finds the lessons redundant. The LA has these stupid themes like the Word Show and Word Herd which were fine for 3rd grade, but seem out of place in 6th and 7th grade.

 

Does he find the lessons redundant because he already knows the math, because they drill and reinforce concepts more than he needs, or because he doesn't feel he should be subjected to learning exercises?

 

My Aspie brother used to get (okay, still gets) annoyed and insulted when you repeat something more than once. Aspies can be perfectionists, and very hard on themselves, so they see repetition, or sometimes any lessons at all, as an indication that they are being assumed to be stupid.

 

I wouldn't quit a program because my child finds it stupid. I did at first, and curriculum hopped, and felt lost, and questioned my authority and my sanity and my ability to make educational decisions. Then I had an epiphany about Sterling (our kid) -- he will find everything stupid. It wasn't the material, it was his personality. I learned to say, "Yes, it's tacky," or, "Yes, it's repetitive," and add, "But you can still learn from it, so do it."

 

The Word Herd thing does sound juvenile, but if it gets the content across, then I'd sympathize with my kid, probably even make fun of it along with him, and expect him to do it anyway.

 

 

I haven't looked at Oak Meadow online specifically, but dismissed OM because of it's background. It's Waldorf(y) which I thought was lots of exploration and hands-on.

 

Be sure you're looking at the samples of the online program, not the samples of the syllabi.

[mama25angels]

Will he do the work if someone else has made the schedule? I would like to recommend Cyber Ed Plato Science (I know I messed up the name), i've heard that it's a really good program, it's done on the computer. Maybe you could try Aleks for math (also on the computer) and KISS grammar (free and on the computer) the only you'd have to do then is come up with some sort of schedule and i'm sure we could all help you with that.:grouphug:

[Night Elf]

Does he find the lessons redundant because he already knows the math, because they drill and reinforce concepts more than he needs, or because he doesn't feel he should be subjected to learning exercises?

 

He gets a lesson or two and then gets the quest which has the same lessons in it. I finally told him to skip the teaching areas in the quests and go straight to the challenges. Then once a concept has been checked off, he never sees it again. I don't think that's going to be good for him in the long run.

 

My Aspie brother used to get (okay, still gets) annoyed and insulted when you repeat something more than once. Aspies can be perfectionists, and very hard on themselves, so they see repetition, or sometimes any lessons at all, as an indication that they are being assumed to be stupid.

 

Yes, this is Jeffrey. But what's really difficult is that he does not master math concepts enough to really move on with no review. He'll do fine in one concept but if that concept comes back at a later date, he may not remember how to do it. Last week, I was giving him some daily drill in long division with decimals. He was annoyed at me, but he continued to make mistakes. He admits he forgets how to do it but then gets angry that I would expect him to remember. Yet ask him to recite one of his obsessions and he can talk for hours like he's reading from an encyclopedia. It's just really frustrating.

 

I wouldn't quit a program because my child finds it stupid.

 

Oh I understand, believe me. I've listened to him for years talk about things being stupid. But these lessons in T4L *are* stupid. The Word Show takes about 10 minutes to present 3 words. Even I get annoyed or downright bored watching these 'cartoons'. I thought they were funny at the lower levels but I think it's inappropriate for middle schoolers. And they aren't challenging. The answer is so obvious that an early education student could likely do the 7th grade LA easily.

[Night Elf]

PS. Does your boy play Runescape or BattleOn? Oldest is always looking for like-minded friends to hang out w/ in cyberspace. PM me if you would like.

 

Unfortunately no. He did World of Warcraft for a while but prefers his Playstation games over roleplaying games on the computer.

[Mandamom]

but what about Odysseyware. It is the secular version of Switched on Schoolhouse.

 

I used SOS for the final year that my dd now 15 was home and part of it was because of issues you are dealing with. I found that having the computer generate the lessons helped reduce the "negotiation" that occurred by ds when he didn't like what he had to do.

 

I just thought I'd throw it out there because when I was at the point of sending dss to school or having him do SOS at home I chose the SOS and I'm pretty sure that was the right decision. The next year's switch to school was based on other family issues rather than curricula problems.

 

Good luck figuring something out.

[Night Elf]

What if you used the schedule for SL 100 and spread it out over 2 years to make the reading load a lot less, PLUS you could take half of the reading load for each year and turn them into read alouds.

 

I have thought about that. I purchased a used SL 100 IG so I could take a good look at it. My son has already expressed an interest in starting the Hakim series over after he finishes it because he doesn't want to move into World History. We're reading 2 and 3 chapters of Hakim at a time, a few times a week. We're in book 8. He'd freak if I started him over at book 1 right now. So I wasn't sure if I should start him in the IG where he is and then just have him roll over to week 1 after he finishes week 36, or just have him read the rest of Hakim with me and start SL 100 afterwards.

 

I didn't see a schedule for Math, or writing. I need to take a closer look at the IG.

[FlockOfSillies]

I think your question isn't so much a curriculum question as it is, "How do I deal with a logic-stage Aspie?" question.

 

It sounds like puberty has hit your house in full strength.

 

Is dh capable of scheduling it? Would that provide the distance your son needs?

 

Or here's an alternative... is your son capable of scheduling it, with help from dh? Put him in front of HST or Excel and let him go at it. Maybe the regression is because he doesn't have enough responsibility. I have that John Rosemond homework book in my head as I type this to you. I don't know all the unique Asperger's related challenges you face, but he IS getting older. I'm doing TOG next year, mostly because I want my oldest (rising 5th) to take on more of the planning. If your son were capable of doing it on his own, then he'd have no one to blame but himself. :D

 

I think the only other thing you can try, other than looking at Oak Meadow, is to work on strengthening your backbone. We all get "worn down" by our kids from time to time, and if it's something you struggle with, you may just need to make extra effort to divorce yourself from any guilt or emotions that can undermine you. Even special needs kids know how to push Mom's buttons, right? :)

 

I hope some of this helps. :grouphug:

[Night Elf]

I'd look hard at what's behind this. Is this just his age? Then I'd work hard to find what he *does* like but bite the bullet on most of what he says until this passes. Or is it a consistent character issue? If so, I'd spend more attention on that than the academics. Julie

 

Yes, it's his personality and it has always been this way. He has Aspergers Syndrome which basically means his thinking processes are different from a neuro-typical person. Sometimes I understand him, and sometimes I don't. I have been trying to work on the issues but I don't seem to be getting anywhere. In fact, I wonder if my slowing down and trying to address the personality issues are what made things worse. My DH is starting to say to just force ds to do the work because we're the parents and we say so, regardless of how our son feels. But ds doesn't take that direction well, and from what I read about other Aspies, it's a commonality some of them share. My son needs to understand WHY and will argue until we're exhusted if the work doesn't make sense in his mind. It was easier when he was younger and the work was easier. We'd eventually get through the work. Now that the work expectation is higher for the higher grades, he's not following through and I'm having a hard time getting him to follow through.

[Night Elf]

I think your question isn't so much a curriculum question as it is, "How do I deal with a logic-stage Aspie?" question.

 

It sounds like puberty has hit your house in full strength.

 

You may have a very strong point there!

 

Okay, I'm signing off for a bit and want to take a look at what I have so far.

 

Yes, I think DH wants to step in and help. I just may let him.

 

No, I really don't want my son in school. It wouldn't really solve the problems, but likely add on more. I'm just frustrated because I'm feeling like if I can't get do it then I have to find someone else who will.

 

You ladies are a tremendous help. Oh my, a logic-stage Aspie! Egads! :001_huh:

[EKS]

Two things.

 

First, I'm so glad that Getting Started With Latin is working for you (I remember I rather, um, forcefully recommended it to you a while back). The other thing is that when my 12yo son (diagnosed then undiagnosed with Asperger's) is thinking it is stupid to get work done just to get it done, I tell him that it is the law that he do his schoolwork, that I have signed something that says that I will teach him whatever. Which is sort of true. And noncompliance with the law results in no more homeschooling.

 

I know there are those who say not to threaten homeschooled children with going to school but, frankly, this homeschooling thing is a two way street. My son needs to meet me halfway or it isn't going to work. It's not just about me constantly trying to make things perfect for him and him doing whatever he wants. I finally realized this about 6 months ago after 4 1/2 years of homeschooling. I posted something on my blog about it. Here is the link to that post: http://theknittedear.blogspot.com/2008/02/on-coddling-and-disability.html

[elegantlion]

You might check with some local homeschool bookstores to see if they have anyone to help with lesson planning. here is a link to a store in Kansas City that does "consultations".

 

http://www.gsacademy.org/bookstore.php

 

They may not provide exactly what you need, but perhaps they could point you in a direction.

 

I think that would be a valuable service for someone well versed in the homeschooling community.

[Kathy in MD]

Yes. A schedule written by someone else is seen as instructions, whereas a schedule written by me is seen as negotiable.

 

If it would make your life easier, why don't you hire someone on the boards to design a schedule for you. Otherwise I think you have several options:

1) Layout the year's schedule and present it to him, with your reasons. If he objects to any portion, he must present his objections in a well planned presentation, oral or written, without any whining or nagging. This option should be allowed throughout the school year. If he doesn't follow the rules and starts to whine, get up and walk away. He of course doesn't get to do whatever he wants to til his work is done. If necessary, lock yourself in your room. Or send him to his room.

 

2) On a smaller scale, layout all the reasons you want your ds to study X and let him find an alternative for learning what you want him to learn,on his own time. I did this for my ds in Latin, and haven't heard a peep out of him since.

 

3) The bad alternative is to lie and say someone else developed the program.

 

 

 

.....I'm lucky if we get in 3 days of school because of all the craziness that's been happening in our household over the last few months. He won't do IEW, or another other subject, without me sitting next to him. A few years ago he was a really good dependent worker. He's regressed and I have no idea why or how to fix it!:

 

A neuro-typical child would struggle with disruptions in the household. I'm not surprised that a child with aspergers or other LD's would regress. The best way to deal with the disruptions is to establish some modified schedule that you can stick to, perhaps school from 6am- 10 am? Or possibly drop school altogether if it's a short term problem?

 

 

 

He loves having me read the Hakim series aloud. We discuss it as we read, but that's it. If I ask him to write about it, he says he doesn't know what to write. K12's 5th and 6th grade History program uses the Hakim series. :

 

Do you give him questions or prompts on what to write about? I don't know if he would work best with a choice, or just being told what to do, but the instruction to write about what we just readis awlfully open ended and could seem to go one forever to a child who struggles with writing. Be very specific in your prompts. An alternative is the various study guides for Hakim. I used _A History of US Assesment Book_ by Oxford University Press . It's multiple choice "quizzes" for middle school and high school that I let my ds use as homework assignments (open book no time constraints.)

 

IEW U.S. History-based writing is good, except we don't know how much to do in a day. I honestly feel like he can do so much more but without a schedule that says exactly how much to do each day, he tries to do the absolute minimum he can get away with.:

 

I have the midieval lessons for next year. I assumed that each lesson was designed for 1 day's work, except I'd let the rough draft sit for a day, before modifying it. I could also see doing all the preliminary work one day, the actual reading, outlining and rewriting a second day and rewriting a third. Isn't the US history lessons broken up like this?

 

I've ordered some Prentice Hall Science Explorer books and plan to have him work in them. But without a schedule or an answer key, I don't think he'll really do what I hope to achieve with those books.:

 

I recommend that you look also at CPO middle school books. My ds found the PH books graphically distracting, the illustrations not clear, and preferred a trade book, The Weather Book, to PH for understanding. I found the CPO book taught the underlying concepts well before introducing more complex scientific info. For example, CPO spent a chapter each on convection and bouancy/density before introducing how plate techtonics worked. PH spent about a paragraph. Although CPO was designed around experiements, it still worked well with skipping them. You might also want to spend the money on the teachers edition or additonal materials for either textbook.

 

 

 

I'm thinking he's gotten really lazy, but I can't help but feel guilty because I don't know how much of his problem is due to his Aspergers. Basically it comes down to him feeling like an assignment is useless and stupid and he'll dig in his heels and not want to try. He can't handle my saying the work needs to be done just to get it done. :

 

Many kids with LD's are very good at manipulating parents and teachers as they get older. After all, when they were younger and couldn't do something their parents made it easier. So let's keep it up ;) However, many children reach a stage where they want to understand the why they they need to do something. I feel that it's the teacher's responsibility to answer those questions. And if you can't, why are you asking them to do it? Sometimes the reasons aren't obvious, and sometimes it's because you need to do this step as preparation for the next step. Over time, your dc will learn to see the reasoning himself. However, sometimes dc will ask in order to stall, wiggle out of, etc. They still deserve an answer, once per assignment. Then stop discussing it if they're arguing.

[Kathy in MD]

Yes, this is Jeffrey. But what's really difficult is that he does not master math concepts enough to really move on with no review. He'll do fine in one concept but if that concept comes back at a later date, he may not remember how to do it. Last week, I was giving him some daily drill in long division with decimals. He was annoyed at me, but he continued to make mistakes. He admits he forgets how to do it but then gets angry that I would expect him to remember. Yet ask him to recite one of his obsessions and he can talk for hours like he's reading from an encyclopedia. It's just really frustrating.

 

I've moved math concept review and math drill from math to memory work. There it's mixed in with poetry, historical fact and LA memorization. My ds still objects to it at times, but it doesn't seem as bad. BTW, I use a variation on Laurie4bs spelling method for memorization work.

[StephanieZ]

First: (((((hugs)))))). It sounds like you have your hands full. Hormones are starting to influence my "perfect" 11yo dd and I am starting to be grateful I crammed so much knowledge into her head pre-puberty b/c I think she'll be learning a lot *less* the next couple years. Yikes, what a handful of attitude!

 

2) Since Hakim's History of US has worked so well, check out her History of Science! It, too, is a very readable and informative series. Really cool. I'm sure you'd both learn a lot and it may be a great find for you if it works as well as History of US has.

 

3) Have you checked out Thinkwell? The courses are completely computer based and seem quite good. There are all kinds of courses. We're using Intermediate Algebra, but there are also science, economics, etc. . . You can get them very inexpensively through the Homeschool Buyers Coop.

 

4) If your son isn't willing/able to work/learn in a variety of ways (reading, experiments, etc.), he is going to have trouble in any school. Ultimately, it would be best for him if he learned to accept these approaches. . . I'd want to judge how much of his resistance was just bad behavior vs. uncontrollable biological/psych differences. No matter the source of the resistance, I'd modify if if I could (but I'd relent sooner if I felt it was hopeless and knowing that I'm accepting the likelihood that he won't be able to go to college. . .)

 

5) I bet you could hire out your scheduling if that's really what you want to do. But, you'd have to pay a pretty penny. I'd expect to pay $20-$50/hr for that service. Maybe $400?-$1200? per subject, depending on how straightforward it was and how demanding you are. I'd advertise my need (and pay rate) in likely spots (here on the WTM boards perhaps, if allowed) and interview applicants. You'd find some very talented people, I'm sure. You could hire one subject at a time to test the waters. .

[RhondaM.]

I have thought about that. I purchased a used SL 100 IG so I could take a good look at it. My son has already expressed an interest in starting the Hakim series over after he finishes ....

 

I'm sorry, I didn't notice that he was already using this series.

 

I just checked my SL catalog. They sell math curriculums, but not schedules for the math.

[mcconnellboys]

Have you looked at Oak Meadow? I believe that they have an option of kids doing their work online and they will grade and provide transcripts.... They are completely secular, too.

[dragons in the flower bed]

But what's really difficult is that he does not master math concepts enough to really move on with no review. He'll do fine in one concept but if that concept comes back at a later date, he may not remember how to do it.

 

Does he work with a therapist on the Asperger's stuff? Seems like attacking this trait might be essential to curriculum success.

 

As for the stupid English lessons, will the Time 4 Learning folks move him up a few grade levels? When we were members, they asked us to just shoot them an e-mail when we wanted to be moved up a grade.

 

I found a direct link into the Oak Meadow online lessons. This particular page shows some of the alternative projects kids can choose from, to demonstrate their knowledge. Two of them could be done orally, and one is simply applying the information while making further observations.

 

Also, I remembered Core Curriculum, who claims to do an asessment to determine what curricula to give your kid, and then plans it for you. But, not having talked to them, I don't know how custom they let you get, nor how thoroughly the plans they lay out are. The description says they offer scheduling suggestions, and in another place, the core texts pre-scheduled. I can't tell if that means they lay it out and don't demand that you follow it, or it means that they give you ideas and you lay it out.

[MIch elle]

Royal Academy does consulting. I don't know what exactly they offer, but maybe you can contact them for details.

 

http://www.homeeducator.com/FamilyTimes/

http://www.homeeducator.com/HEFS/royalacademy.htm

 

Calvert 6 Scholastic or Oak Meadow might be good options for you too.

 

Good Luck!

[Peela]

 

I wouldn't quit a program because my child finds it stupid. I did at first, and curriculum hopped, and felt lost, and questioned my authority and my sanity and my ability to make educational decisions. Then I had an epiphany about Sterling (our kid) -- he will find everything stupid. It wasn't the material, it was his personality. I learned to say, "Yes, it's tacky," or, "Yes, it's repetitive," and add, "But you can still learn from it, so do it."

 

 

 

:iagree:

I don't have an Aspie kid but I do have a LD kid with many of the same, perfectionist tendencies, and I learned the above lesson too. Actually I don't mind continually tweaking my program to match my child, however I try to do one term of each new approach before changing, because if I change because of his whining, he feels he has worn me down, and I felt continually worn down. I learned I had to win and make him do it, and change the program as an apparently independent decision nothing to do with him, at another time.

 

Have you asked your son what he wants? Since he is so strong on his opinions and preferences, perhaps you can sit him down and tell him a lot of money is at stake here, and talk it through with him. Show him the program samples online. Negotiate up to a point beforehand, then hold him to it once you have come to an agreement.

Usually when I have made the effort to do that with my kids, and I actually don't like to do it much because *I* like making the decisions :001_smile:, I get more cooperation, and I save heaps of money.

[disneymom]

I have been looking for a program for my dd who is 11. We have used K12 for the last two years and she only does what she has to do and tries to skip many lessons. I have been looking at Oak Meadow and Keystone online programs. I still do not know what we are going to do. In math she has forgotten so much that I am having her review it with Teaching Textbooks. She seems to like it and really hasn't complained that I am making her work in the summer.

[Targhee]

Just a thought, but it sounds like what many "gifted" kids behave like because their needs aren't being met. Here's a neat article that explains what I mean by that. I'm not one for labeling kids, but perhaps he falls in the gifted category, which isn't uncommon with Aspergers kids. Here's a curriculum link that may interest you (and your ds).

 

I hear what you mean about structure. My kids are the same way - if it comes from another source then you do it, if it comes from mom then you roll your eyes, complain, drag your feet, and maybe do it.

 

I can't say I am up to planning homeschool for you - I get too muddled trying to do my own. Good luck! If you find someone who does this, let us know ;)

[mom31257]

Does your state offer a virtual school? Georgia has one that is considered a charter school. You are actually registered as a public school student (as I understand it), but you do it on the computer at home. I'm sure a public school curriculum would not be religious in nature.

 

Amy of GA

Darin's wife of 17 years

11yo dd

5yo ds