Best curriculum or learning method for ADHD girl xposted

[mamato4girls]

Cross Posted in General..

 

My 12 yr old daughter, 6th gr, has ADHD predominately Inattentive type. She seems to never really get any school done. Last year she seemed to do ok in her 1 Co-op class, and if I worked directly with her or sat over her. This year not even that is working (we actually aren't doing co-op this year). She doesn't want to read a literature type book, reads maybe a page or 2 of a textbook. Even begged for a Home Ec Elective curriculum and has done maybe 20 pages since right after Christmas. She says she "can't" study/read/do school.

I have asked her if she would like to go to school, public or private, she says no. I am worried I will need to hold her back, work at a lower grade if this continues. And if it does continue, will she ever learn anything?

What curriculum is best for this type of kid? What style? Textbook, online, send her to school? I don't know what to do!

Thank you!

[mamato4girls]

Anyone?

[PeterPan]

Sigh and a deep breath. One, my dd is non-functional (as in gets NO schoolwork done) without omega 3 (flax oil). So you can't solve physical problems with curriculum changes. You have to back up and look at the physical.

 

Two, since she's talking reading, I would make sure you get her eyes checked. It's not AT ALL UNCOMMON that kids are complaining about reading and the issue is their eyes. COVD is where you find a developmental optometrist. Just do a basic exam, nothing fancy, but they will *screen* for the extra things that affect reading (convergence, focusing, tracking, etc.). Could catch something.

 

Then you have orderliness things like how she transitions, where she's at with sensory, her environment, how much activity she had before the task, whether it's Monday, whether she has clear checklists, etc. etc. Lots there to look at. Again, none of it's curriculum, but it's all the kind of stuff you look at to create a successful outcome. I was just realizing, duh, it is Monday. We went to the dentist today, so it slipped my mind. Mondays can be very bad for some kids, because they had two days off. Some people decide to assign school work on the weekends as well. Doesn't have to be much, but it's just something independent you can assign that keeps their brain in "we do school" mode.

 

So then what is your curriculum list with her? And what format is it given to her in? Checklist? Your availability? Environment?

 

Yes, some people end up holding back their adhd kids. Sometimes it's just not realistic to have it all pull together when you have a kid with EF 30% behind, etc. etc. Have you done any standardized testing? How were the academic tests the psych did? Was her adhd diagnosis through a psych or ped?

[Ottakee]

our experience is that without meds NOTHING got done, with meds everything got done. Yes, it was that dramatic.

 

I would check the vision issues as mentioned above as well.

[Greta Lea]

Don't discount how much hormones might be making the ADD worse. Both of my son's issues were SO much worse during the raging puberty years.

 

A daily checklist has always helped my boys. I always had them alternate a heavy reading subject with a writing and/or workbook type program. Some kids with attention issues do best to not have lots of breaks during school, but my boys have done better with lots of breaks. I'd just talk with her about that. If she won't give input then just try some different schedules til you figure that one out.

 

Also, my 9th grade son (ADD and dyslexic) has done well in the past reading along to audio books.

 

Since you did ask for curriculum ideas, I'll share. But just remember there is really no curr. that works best for all kids with attention span issues (or any issues). My ds likes workbook type programs. For history, we alternate between oral narration via key-word-outlining (IEW method) and answering specific questions about the chapter.

 

Some ideas:

Math U See

IEW

Easy Grammar

Megawords

Wordly Wise

Story of the World (during middle school)

History of US (started this year...9th grade)

Globe Science Workshop series (just started this year)

 

Almost forgot to add that one thing that has helped my ds SO much is to do something that tee-totally relaxes him on his breaks. For my son, that is either drawing or playing his guitar.

[Ottakee]

My daughter really liked the Christian Light Education workbooks. She liked having a very clear start and stop point. She knew what was expected each day and the learning stuck. She didn't like unit studies or other open ended things as she never knew where the STOP point was---even if I did.

[Lily_Grace]

I use bites, headphones, and timers.

 

Bites - nothing longer than 5 minutes at first, building up to 15-20. Anything sitting down is either a)reworked to be hands on or b)followed and preceded by something active.

Headphones - they keep out the noise and can offer something directly related to the subject.

Timers - a clear start and stop. For my nephew, he likes to compete against himself. I can start a stop watch and time him for individual answers or do something like roll a die. The number that comes up is how many pieces he needs to accomplish and the same number with a 0 added is how long he gets for break.

 

Curriculum we have used successfully:

Moving Beyond The Page (active and creative, but worksheets included)

Ellen McHenry's The Elements (short chapters, fun games, songs, and videos)

Hands On Equations (short, hands on)

Math U See (non cluttered pages)

Intellego (short, with lots of online work and activities)

 

Semi-successfully:

Writing Tales (the games work, but meh)

Learning Adventures (some of the crafts take too long and I've reworked history. The literature and grammar are nice, though)

[Mom22ns]

 

A daily checklist has always helped my boys.

 

Some ideas:

Math U See

IEW

Easy Grammar

Megawords

Wordly Wise

Story of the World (during middle school)

History of US (started this year...9th grade)

Globe Science Workshop series (just started this year)

 

Almost forgot to add that one thing that has helped my ds SO much is to do something that tee-totally relaxes him on his breaks. For my son, that is either drawing or playing his guitar.

 

 

There are some great points there! We use a schedule/checklist. MUS, EG, WW, SOTW, and History of US were all hits here too. I haven't used IEW, but its success rates for kids with a variety of learning challenges is indisputable. Finally, for us alternating challenging and fun subjects made a huge difference. Math (challenge) was followed by lit (loved). After a draining subject, I always scheduled something heavy in reading because that was the best way for ds to relax. I realize reading isn't the carrot for you, but find what is and use if for a mental break and a reward for pressing through the tough stuff!

[Guest DisplayName]

I'd say, keep it short and hands-on as much as possible. Take the math book out 5 times a day for 5 minutes if needed. Do some reading out loud while she's eating, if that would help her.

[RockstarMom]

One of the reasons my 9yo no longer homeschools is that I started to struggle with him to get the smallest amount of work done. I had to sit with him and be ON HIM at every moment in order to get anything done. Other factors contributed to us enrolling him in Public School but he started ADHD meds at the exact same time he started PS. He is in the gifted program. The meds help him focus and stay on task all day long. He is thriving. Now, he's be thriving at home on his meds, too, but he's doing so well we're allowing him to stay in PS as long as he's doing so well. I regret it EVERY DAY but I don't fight it. I have 4 younger kids to work with at home!!! :)

 

For what it's worth, his younger brother is 6 and has the H in ADHD, two very different kids with very different needs. It's ROUGH!!!!

[Erin]

Just wanted to bump this because #1, it's a common challenge and #2, I'm in the process of trying some new steps with my DS13.

Funny how the tricks that worked at 3 had to be modified at 7 and revisited again at 13. ;)

 

 

Caveat: DS has never been diagnosed. He doesn't need to be at this point as we're not desperate enough to try medication. Besides, we already know.

All those checklists you see? He doesn't fit some of the criteria or most of the criteria. He fits ALL of the criteria. He is textbook ADHD-PI, predominately inattentive. Back in the day when my little brother was DXed, it was just called "ADD" (ie, without hyperactivity). Also, in addition to the usual checklists of behavior, ADHD kids also are commonly extremely ticklish, have/had speech and language delays and have abysmal handwriting skills.

 

We pulled DS out of 3rd grade and HSed through the end of fourth. He was extremely lonely though, and we live in a very rural, isolated area, so we tried putting him back in school for 5th and 6th grades. He did "Ok," but it was obvious it was a struggle.

By the time 7th grade started (the beginning of JrHi in our district), he was losing his mind trying to keep up. So we pulled him back out

 

 

 

Things we've done for a number of years that seem to help:

 

*Letting him choose what he works on, in what order, timeframe, and speed. He frequently jockies back and forth between different assignments. Or listens to one while working on the other. (Listening to audio Bible while starting Math is a popular combination)

 

*Letting him work where ever he wants to be.

 

*Asking him what he's supposed to be doing when it seems he's "lost." A command to get on a task seems less effective than a question, which jogs his brain back into gear.

 

*LISTS! Everything is on a list. Schoolwork is on a list. Scouts/4H projects are on a list. Daily chores are on a list. His entire world is on a list, ready to be consulted and checked off.

 

*A cup or three of coffee. We all know people with ADD work more effectively with stimulants and coffee is natural, cheap, accessible stimulant.

 

*Magnesium, B6 and Omega3 supplementation. There's a small body of research that kids with ADHD have magnesium and/or B6 deficiencies as well seeing benefits from Omega3s.

 

Schoolwork in particular--

 

**He's good at math but he gets lost in the details of more complex problems. And of course in the 7th grade, they're ALL complex problems now. I've recently tried giving him all the answers, plus a few extras, to check off (more lists!) as he finds them. Not on there? You'd better go back through your work... So far, so good.

 

** We avoid anything requiring handwritten work. Like many kids with ADD, his handwriting is nearly illegible. He can't read it himself. Everything is typed. My only regret here is that we didn't start him keyboarding younger. Like kindergarten!

 

**Reading is very difficult (those speech/language delays afterall). Consequently, I try to find an audio version whenever possible to accompany his reading assignments.

 

**Try to let him work in a limited-distraction environment. (If you have toddlers, pets, the radio/TV going, etc. yes, it's just life at home but it's also exacerbating the challenges for a distractible student.) At the same time, I can't just send my son into his room because he'll get "lost" too easily.

[PeterPan]

Hi ErinP--just wanted to say hi and welcome to the boards! :)

[Erin]

Thanks! :) I was just hunting through the boards for ADHD ideas (we're all looking for that magic bullet that we just haven't discovered yet! ;) ) and this post had jumped out at me.