Right LA curriculum for 7yo boy?

[racheline]

Hi. This is my first post here. I hope I'm in the right place.

 

I have a little boy who is 6.5 yo and I had him start K 1/2 way through 2010 and then do another year of K this year - both through a local charter school homeschool program.

 

I tried FIAR and we also did Zoo phonics but neither seem to "fit" for me and my son.

 

He is a very energetic little guy, he is not able to sit still very long or sit and focus for very long at a time. He found zoo-phonics too "little kid" and I thought he'd totally get interested when we did the fun FIAR themes (like the steam engine, airplanes, etc...). Nope.

 

He is doing Math U See and seems to be really doing okay with that. I also had him writing 4 days a week a sentence (journal). We did "handwriting w/out tears" and I'm sticking with that as well for just hand-writing because he did well with that.

 

The ES from the school suggested "The Blue Book - First Grade Skills for beginning readers" because it's an all in one type kit (easy for me) and sort of "gentle" (because I honestly feel like this little guy isn't really ready for heavy-duty LA yet - I'd rather work on handwriting still and just read to him and with him as much as possible).

 

I'm hoping to find out what thoughts might be here on that curriculum with what has and has not worked out for my son thus far. PS - my husband is an avid reader but has told me that he, too, did not really "get" or have much interest in reading/writing himself 'til he was 8 or 9.

[Deniseibase]

Hi Racheline, welcome to the boards!!

 

You might try re-posting this question on the K-8 Curriculum board, since you are looking for curriculum suggestions. Plus, this board, the General board, moves REALLY fast and questions often get buried super fast - you are much more likely to get more responses on the K-8 board! :)

 

I don't have a suggestions for phonics - we use Saxon Phonics, which I like a lot, but it has a lot of seatwork. We break it up into a couple sessions over the day to give him some 'wiggle breaks' :)

 

But, for writing for a wiggly young boy, I'd definitely suggest you look at Writing With Ease. The first level is pretty gentle - one sentence of copywork, or else read them a short reading selection and ask them questions about it, which they have to answer in complete sentences. Very short time commitment, and gives a lot of great practice in copywork and forming good sentences.

 

Hope that helps!

[julzar]

I like All About Reading for phonics with my very wiggly young boy.:)

[bleeglaser]

We use Phonics for Reading and Spelling and I love it. My 6.5 year old is super active and I would give him an exercise stress ball and go through the phonogram flash cards. He has those down now and we are working through the rules. He can sound out words and read now. We are working on fluency which takes lots of practice and working on retention with our literature curriculum. We started with Biscuit readers which helped give him confidence, and he loves Dick & Jane. We also read from the McGuffey set as well as the Christian Light readers. I actually feel like I'm behind with him, there are so many kids reading in kindergarten at a second grade level. He does read at a second grade level now but he is starting second grade this fall. I started working with my pre-k son and he is more than half way done with memorizing the phonograms. I think I will have him reading much sooner with this program. He's started on the Biscuit books but without finishing the first 72 phonograms it's been rough. I wish I had figured all this out sooner with my first. Good luck!

 

Oh yeah, we use WWE and FLL too, which are super quick and painless.

Edited June 15, 2012 by bleeglaser
Added more LA curriculm notes.

[sbgrace]

I'll post what else we did for reading instruction. It was fun and worked for my wiggly and late to mature guy.

 

My boys absolutely loved I See Sam (links in this post for free ones to print/use if you want to try it and see what he thinks first)for beginning reading instruction. Those books are entertaining to boys it seems and a nice gentle way to begin.

 

I did the first two sets of I See Sam first. We loved those books and got a great start. Then I taught the phonograms in an active, multisensory way using this free program to do it well--it includes K-2nd reading and spelling (orton-gillingham style like All About Spelling). I used it to teach the phonograms up front though--concentrating on reading first and then going back for spelling after we were reading well. What I did was show him the phonogram and then he would say it and write it on a sensory mat (needle point mat I picked up at walmart with paper on top) and then again in salt on a pie plate, shaving cream, etc. We would do things like swat the phonograms with a fly swat as we said them, say them jumping from phonogram to phonogram on the floor, etc. Then we would use Progressive Phonics (free too and my boys loved them) to read with the new phonogram we had learned.

 

Basically I used the free program methods but I switched the presentation order of those phonograms a little to match up with the progressive phonics order of presentation. So we would learn the phonogram using their multi-sensory techniques and then use progressive phonics as fun and decodable reading practice with the new phonogram and the previously learned phonograms. It was so effective. You don't have to do I See Sam first but we really loved those books and I think it's a great, gentle and boy friendly way to start.

 

After reading well we launched into Phonics Road for language arts. My kids were ready by that time.

[PeterPan]

Well bless you, you've got a whole bunch of littles and wiggles too!! :)

 

I'll give you a bump here, but I'll just say that my *dd* was wiggles and of a short attention at that age and later ended up with a diagnosable label. You might not like labels or be thinking that way yet, but the things you're saying are the little red flags that make you go hmmm. By 7 they can definitely diagnose, and it's info you want. It's not so much about the label or meds as it is learning about his processing speed, executive function, and what other things are going on. Might change how you do some things. It's a neuropsych that you'd be looking for to do those evals or a psychologist through your school system.

 

In other words, whether you think the label fits or not, anything you find online, in books, or on the SN board about teaching littles with adhd might be very helpful to you. Short lessons, lots of kinesthetic, lots of DOING, etc. There are some learning styles assessments online you might try. Our SLP (speech therapist) did some testing with my ds and found out he's a dominantly kinesthetic learner. My dd is dominantly visual. So with ds I'm going to have to up the kinesthetic component a LOT to get things to stick in his brain, where with dd it was about upping visual. Can't fix the problem till you know what it is, kwim? And it's not so much that learning styles and modalities are a problem as it is that they're not very flexible when the kids are young.

 

Everything we DID when my dd was that age she remembers. She remembers a lot of what she READ. But other than that, nope. So focus on DOING things. Sometimes the reading isn't taking off because there's a working memory problem. They literally can't hold that many thoughts or letters in their head and have anything left over to turn it into a word and remember the context, lol. Working memory is something you can work on and it's something that psychologist will test.

 

Get ready to enjoy the ride! :)

[racheline]

Thanks everyone! I will try posting in that other board for specific curriculum, I guess.

 

I'm just trying to figure out what might work weather it's actually using a curriculum or if I just need to get books out and read to him and find things that CAN hold his attention.

 

My son has been seen by a developmental specialist because we suspected him to be on the autism spectrum a couple years ago and I personally still think he may be on the high functioning end of things. We could probably get him a dx of some kind (if we really pushed it) but my husband really felt like we should wait til he gets just a bit older since it was really "borderline" (high functioning). He for sure has some sensory issues.

 

So I guess I can try to post in special needs too.

[PeterPan]

Racheline, yes you want to go ahead and get the evals, because clearly there's *something* going on. You're in a really good window for OT, and if he has sensory going on he could be getting OT. As far as the neuropsych, by the time you actually get in, he's going to be 7, meaning you'll get a good, solid diagnosis. The next step down from HFA is going to be ADHD. There's going to be SOMETHING. It's not like you're going to walk in there and get NO help, kwim? And the breakdowns and info on processing, fine motor, working memory, EF, anxiety, etc. are going to be immensely helpful to you. Your dh is not really correct in that sense. He's just thinking labels. You need to think in terms of the test info and how it will help you teach him better. It will DEFINITELY help you teach him better (if you get a good neuropsych who explains the results and what to do with them). If you wait, you're only going to kick yourself. Don't play the "is it there, is it not there" game. It's there. The neuropsych eval will help you know what to DO and be immensely helpful to you. :)

[Critterfixer]

Could just be a normal amount of wiggles too. Both my boys are high-energy critters who would far rather be up the maple tree daring the "Nana"-dog to tell on them for going too far up than sitting and studying. They will sit and study, because they've had some training in that area, but I really try to make sure that we don't do things sitting that we could do standing.

How this looks:

Math-we do a lot of work on the white-board, with all three of us up, gathered around the problems and working them.

Language Arts-I'm a big fan of having them stand when I'm working with phonics cards, or doing some oral spelling. Although they prefer to sit to write, it's not uncommon for them to write in one place, then get up and move to another table in another room to finish. For read alouds, the only time I insist on sitting and not moving around much is at bed-time read-alouds. Otherwise I'm happy for them to run and get a stuffed animal, to get something to build (my hFA son is a little like me-he's just not happy doing one thing unless he's doing something else.)

Art-same thing-I encourage standing up to paint, and moving around from place to place to draw.

Music-we might dance or have the stuffed animals dance while we appreciate music.

And lots and lots of 15 minute go-check-the-chickens, climb-the-tree breaks.

 

I'm not all over the learning style end of things (mostly because I'm not particularly intuative about the ways my boys learn best because I've not really had them all that long-8 years!) But I think that little boys just plain need to move.

Another thing that I've had to get used to with the boys is that silliness, wiggles and frustrating lapses in attention are not always indicative of whether the information was taken in and retained. In fact, just the opposite happens at times. When they look completely focused and attentive, that's usually the time I need to stop and find out if they understood a word I said. Half the time, if they are happily being little goof-balls they "got it, Mr. Mom-head." (My hFA son's nickname for me when I'm being overbearing again.)

[racheline]

Could just be a normal amount of wiggles too. Both my boys are high-energy critters who would far rather be up the maple tree daring the "Nana"-dog to tell on them for going too far up than sitting and studying. They will sit and study, because they've had some training in that area, but I really try to make sure that we don't do things sitting that we could do standing.

How this looks:

Math-we do a lot of work on the white-board, with all three of us up, gathered around the problems and working them.

Language Arts-I'm a big fan of having them stand when I'm working with phonics cards, or doing some oral spelling. Although they prefer to sit to write, it's not uncommon for them to write in one place, then get up and move to another table in another room to finish. For read alouds, the only time I insist on sitting and not moving around much is at bed-time read-alouds. Otherwise I'm happy for them to run and get a stuffed animal, to get something to build (my hFA son is a little like me-he's just not happy doing one thing unless he's doing something else.)

Art-same thing-I encourage standing up to paint, and moving around from place to place to draw.

Music-we might dance or have the stuffed animals dance while we appreciate music.

And lots and lots of 15 minute go-check-the-chickens, climb-the-tree breaks.

 

I'm not all over the learning style end of things (mostly because I'm not particularly intuative about the ways my boys learn best because I've not really had them all that long-8 years!) But I think that little boys just plain need to move.

Another thing that I've had to get used to with the boys is that silliness, wiggles and frustrating lapses in attention are not always indicative of whether the information was taken in and retained. In fact, just the opposite happens at times. When they look completely focused and attentive, that's usually the time I need to stop and find out if they understood a word I said. Half the time, if they are happily being little goof-balls they "got it, Mr. Mom-head." (My hFA son's nickname for me when I'm being overbearing again.)

 

This is the thing. We DO feel that most of the schooling issues is from plain ol' being a high-energy little boy. He doesn't have ADHD - it's not like that. He can sit and do a hand-writing page from "handwriting w/out tears" - he would just rather be up a tree, running around, etc... and it's just been hard to find something he is interested in with LA because I think thus far it's just not been the right learning style or something (like he's just not ready or ??).

 

He has a bunch of foods that cause neurological reactions so if he eats something with, say, wheat in it (on accident or if he's plain old being a little sneaker) his brain has a reaction to it and he, at that point, is unable to focus on anything (behavior goes out the window, voice gets high-pitched, hands flap, he can even end up curled in a ball in the corner). We have to "re-set" him if this happens. Sometimes it means having him swing in a swing chair or just run outside for awhile. Other times it means making him take a long shower (sensory) or making him go to bed. It is weird and took us a long time to figure out what was going on with him (he was 4yo and unable to use the toilet even though he "knew how" - two days wheat-free he used it no problems and never had an accident again unless he got wheat somehow).

 

Anyways - some days it's not food that sets him off - could be just tired - basically anything that causes him to get over-stimulated puts him into a negative spiral towards hands in mouth, jumpy, jittery, flappy, tippie toes, high-pitched voice, weird "language"/speech, etc... All this was told to the Autism specialist but because it's not "all day" and just "occasional" "set off" they didn't want to dx him with "autism".

 

We put him in gymnastics last year and the first 5 classes it took him so long to not just sit there and be overwhelmed by the new, the people, social, (sat by himself, hands in mouth, etc....) but then he jumped in and LOVED it and got more social and did just fine.

 

I just mention "school time" and he just sort of "shuts down" some days. His ES said that kids do best starting LA in the mornings but really the only way I can start him on school lately has been to start with Math U See because it's not INTIMIDATING to him - it's a breeze, he's not afraid of it, he knows he can do it and learn it. I can just see when we try to do LA it's like just so hard for him to LIKE it. It did help a little bit to do a small character series to teach him "diligence", "patience", "endurance", etc... trying to show him that it's okay that sometimes things are hard to do but that it's good to still do them.

 

I really like the idea of getting a little stand so he and paint standing up. I also think if the program we do can be really "routine" and move very slow (like how Math U See seems to do) I think he'd actually do it just fine.

[Micron4]

I like All About Reading for phonics with my very wiggly young boy.:)

 

:iagree:

 

I used All About Spelling (which is a related program) because they didn't have All About Reading out yet in time for my dd. She is very wiggly and can often be found practicing handstands in the middle of our lessons.:tongue_smilie: I allow her to move around a lot, as long as she is still paying attention and answering my questions. The movement actually seems to help her focus somewhat.

 

AAS was great because of the magnetic letter tiles that she gets to move around a lot and manipulate. She liked it immediately, and it continues to be a hit.

 

The story behind AAS is interesting too--

 

http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/our-story

 

Disclaimer: I don't sell the AAS products; I am just a happy customer! :001_smile:

[campmom]

I would suggest you look into My Fathers World Kindergarden program. It is very hands on, plenty of time to move around and have fun while learning. I used it with 2 little boys who loved it. Also listen to Andrew Pudewa's cd about teaching boys who would rather be building forts. It really helps you understand the differences in the way boys and girls learn.

Hope that helps

[racheline]

:iagree:

 

I used All About Spelling (which is a related program) because they didn't have All About Reading out yet in time for my dd. She is very wiggly and can often be found practicing handstands in the middle of our lessons.:tongue_smilie: I allow her to move around a lot, as long as she is still paying attention and answering my questions. The movement actually seems to help her focus somewhat.

 

AAS was great because of the magnetic letter tiles that she gets to move around a lot and manipulate. She liked it immediately, and it continues to be a hit.

 

The story behind AAS is interesting too--

 

http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/our-story

 

Disclaimer: I don't sell the AAS products; I am just a happy customer! :001_smile:

 

Thanks :001_smile: - reading this and looking at their materials.

[racheline]

I would suggest you look into My Fathers World Kindergarden program. It is very hands on, plenty of time to move around and have fun while learning. I used it with 2 little boys who loved it. Also listen to Andrew Pudewa's cd about teaching boys who would rather be building forts. It really helps you understand the differences in the way boys and girls learn.

Hope that helps

 

Downloaded Andrew Pudewa's lecture about teaching boys who would rather be building forts. Listening now :001_smile: