FLL may no longer be a great fit - opinions?

[Lots of boys]

Hi, my ds 8 is doing FLL2 right now. He finished FLL 1 a few months ago.

 

He has ADHD (combo) and really has a hard time sitting still. I thought this curriculum would be great for him because he could squirn on the comfy chair we have in our school room while I do the lesson orrally. The problem is - he zones out and isn't retaining much. I usually have to repeat the questions or instructions a few times until I can get him focused and it usually only lasts about 2 minutes and he is daydreaming again.

 

He seems to be able to stya focused better if he is more actively involved in the lesson - although he hates writing so I thought the oral approach to FLL would be great for him.

 

Any suggestions?

[PeterPan]

Well with my dd, for whom FLL1/2 was never a great fit done straight, I did the first lesson where each new thing was introduced, skipped all the poetry and narrations, made sure she memorized the defs for the parts of speech, and moved on. It was great for that, and that would probably keep it new and fresh enough that he'd stay engaged.

 

Narration typically gets very challenging with ADHD, where you have working memory and executive function deficits. I would separate that out and work on it other ways. Word to the wise, head over to the SN board and look at the discsussions of the Linguisystems Executive Function workbooks. They're something you could start now and head off problems later. They include some work on working memory, and you can do more on that separately as well. Anything you do with that will help immensely in the narrations and things where he may struggle. If he's not struggling now (my dd didn't the first few years), it will show up as the dictation and narration selections get longer and harder to organize in their brains. The Linguisystems workbooks cover many topics, including helping them learn to outline and understand structure, etc. Very, very good stuff.

 

We went to Shurley btw. Short, super short lessons. Don't do things as scripted. Go in and figure out what really HAS to be done and streamline out the rest. For us Shurley was a 5-10 minute affair, that's it. We did editing and writing separately. You label the sentences in the little workbook and then we would diagram onto a whiteboard. We did their worksheets on punctuation, s/v agreement, etc. orally. Also you can look at Winston, which uses manipulatives.

[krisandpaula]

We use FLL 2 in conjunction with Growing With Grammar. If you only do one page of GWG per day, it is very minimal writing. My two kids (ages 8 & 5) have done very well with the combination of these two programs. On days when they are fidgety, or just plain distracted by their own thoughts and play, we just do the GWG. They enjoy the program, seem to be retaining more using both methods, and they know GWG only takes a couple of minutes each day.

[birchbark]

We went from FLL to The Sentence Family

and my son's attitude toward grammar changed dramatically. :)

[Lots of boys]

Thanks for your message. I hope you don't mind me asking you a few more questions about the sentence family. I thought originally this was part of MCT curriculum but I see it is a separate thing completely. Do most homeschool stores sell it or do you only get it directly from the publisher?

 

Is there any place to see some samples? Would this be a full year curriculum? more? less? What age is it geared to?

 

Thanks again.

[birchbark]

You can get it from the publisher and also Currclick. Currclick has samples and also a downloadable copy that is quite a bit cheaper.

 

It is not a full year. It is 14 lessons I believe. You can do them every day, once a week, once a month, or however you like. It would be best for 3rd and 4th graders, but would work with any elementary grade. It covers parts of speech only, so it is not a full LA program.

[Bloggermom]

At this age you can teach the parts of speech through story books. We love the Brian P. Cleary series. They are catchy and really keep my 7 year old ADD son's attention (even my 9 year old daughter still loves reading them over and over).

Pitch and Throw, Grasp and Know: What is a Synonym?

I and You and Don't Forget Who: What Is a Prounoun?

Hairy, Scary, Ordinary: What Is an Adjective?

How Much Can a Bare Bear Bear?: What Are Homonyms and Homophones?

Dearly, Nearly, Insincerely: What Is an Adverb?

Slide and Slurp, Scratch and Burp: More about Verbs

Stop and Go, Yes and No: What Is an Antonym?

Skin Like Milk, Hair of Silk: What Are Similes and Metaphors?

A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink: What Is a Noun?

Under, Over, by the Clover: What Is a Preposition?

To Root to Toot to Parachute: What Is a Verb?

A Lime, a Mime, a Pool of Slime: More About Nouns

I'm and Won't, They're and Don't: What's a Contraction?

Thumbtacks, Earwax, Lipstick, Dipstick: What Is a Compound Word?

[happycc]

I too have an 8yrs old child struggling with FLL 1/2.

 

It has been a painful process.

 

I try to have her draw as much as possible.

 

We just trek through all the lessons and I help her along a lot.

 

How much she retains...who knows?

 

I am having her work through the Spectrum workbooks for grammar/language arts now and I do see she is retaining stuff.

 

I have heard that it is much better in FLL3 when they can write stuff down.

 

I am also planning to use the Sentence Family(that is the drawing curriculum right? Waldorfy in nature?) this summer.

 

My daughter has learned her multiplication facts using Times Tales so I believe she will do well with the Sentence Family. I am even working on writing and illustrating our own 12 and 15's facts so we can get her to know those as well.

 

I have considered Growing With Grammar and other things but just not sure.

Her older sisters have been doing FLL3 and she has been listening in a little. Maybe she will have absorbed some.

 

With all the poem memorization we also have memory work time as well so all the poems she needs to know is in her memory work binder.

 

I want to take a look on the linguisystems stuff. Do they sell on Amazon?