Help me find a curriculum that will WORK for us!

[jamiejo]

This is our second year homeschooling, my DS just turned 8 and is going into 2nd grade. He will have some catching up to do tho from last year.

I started off with Sonlight Core B last year, Saxon 1 Phonics, Saxon Math 1, Apologia Exploring Creation through Astronomy. It was too much, WAY too much and we never got it all done in a day. We muttled through it tho, until I got pregnant in late October and was seriously sick until Dec. In Jan we moved from NM back to TX.
My son shows all traits of ADHD and some very Autistic traits but we do not have a diagnosis.

He has an intense hatred of rote memorization. Saxon was far from a good fit for us. It took too long, was too repetitive and he absolutely hated phonics. In the Spring, I enrolled him in Explode the Code Online. This worked well for a month or so and then again, he was bored and it was repetitive. Once this child decides he won't do something, there is nothing and I mean NOTHING that will change his mind or motivate him to do it. I've tried it all, believe me.

Saxon math was the same, he hated it. I tried Life of Fred, and BINGO he's learning, he's engaged and he's happy.

Sonlight was just too much. He is not an auditory learner, so listenting to me read for the bulk of his day was useless and it took me reading the same thing 7 or 8 times for it to even remotely sink in. Pure frustration. We finished the year out just letting him read, and enjoying Life of Fred together. The rest just fell apart.

He is a visual/kinesthetic learner mostly. I just saw the term "visual spacial" today and much of that fits for him. His long term memory is outstanding, he's quick to pick up on big ideas and tasks but still counts on his fingers for 2+3.

He has his own routine, and when it's messed with it is not a happy situation. So I need something that will create routine, but not repetitive. Does that make sense? We will continue with Life of Fred. I was thinking something like Lifepac, that is somewhat all in one but smaller and not overwhelming at once. He is a very good reader, and his reading comprehension is great. I need something I can create a schedule for him with so there are no changes to his day to throw him into a downward spiral. He's very punctual, he likes to know exactly what time such and such is happening, how long it will take, what time we leave and what time we will be home. If the plan is altered, he has a difficult time adapting to the plan and continuing to function.

 

I also have a 3 1/2 yearold girl to entertain, and a 6 weekold baby. I know we can be successful and enjoy homeschooling, but I am having a very hard time figuring out what curriculum to use. Unschooling is appealing to me, but he needs the structure. Our styles are nearly opposite and last year, we clashed.

[...................]

Well I personally think your son might enjoy Calvert with the Math in Focus or just stay with Life of Fred if that's working.  The thing I personally like about Calvert is that there is a clear checklist of exactly what we are doing that day.  So my kids know what to expect.  (me too)  However, because it is a curriculum designed by professonals, there is a lot of variety.  So it has a nice balance between knowing what to expect (the checklist and manual) and variety (not all days are the same exact subjects in the same exact order!)  There is a lot of hands on stuff in almost every lesson, plus enrichments.  We usually skip most of the enrichments.  THere are also Brain Pop and Discovery videos linked if you want to watch them. I thought my kids preferred the shortest school day possible, but they are actually happier when they are engaged and different things are happening such as hands on experiments, videos, and such.  I skip anything that even smells like busy work, but they get plenty of practice in the basics.  

 

(We use Saxon for math.)

 

Now, Calvert is advanced in Writing and it is also very expensive.  SO it's not for everyone.  But we are happy with it and it could possibly work for you.  

[Susie in MS]

Sonlight Core B last year, Saxon 1 Phonics, Saxon Math 1, Apologia Exploring Creation through Astronomy. It was too much, WAY too much

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Certainly continue with Fred if it is working. You may also want to consider math games if he learns well with his hands. Mastering Mathematics has several games with the program. However you say he likes variety in math instead of too much repetition. MM has a lot of the same thing in the books. I don't know that it is worth buying the whole program to get just the games, so maybe you can find some you like. Play War with a deck of cards can be fun. Also if he likes the story form of math then maybe something like Math Lessons for a Living Education (in addition to Fred) would be beneficial. It offers variety and has more practice problems.

 

I have heard many say that Apologia was just too much for a child of that age. I'm sure it varies by the child, but it could be that your ds is not ready for that sort of load. Maybe try letting HIM read Christian Liberty Press Nature Readers to you since he doesn't lean well when he is read to. How about One Small Square books. And throw in some Magic School Bus vids for the visual learner in him.

 

Let him read a lesson in a history reader (can be alternated with science days) from something like Child's History of the World of Story of the World.

 

And certainly not least on my list would be Five in a Row. Yes, even for a 2nd grader. This can be done instead of the above or in addition to. Though I feel it is a stand alone with the right books. With this program you would read to him -5 days in a row- a picture book. This would appeal to his visual learning abilities. Each of the 5 days you would bounce off of the story with 1 subject. So on Mon  you would do Social Studies , Tue Language Arts, etc. Lessons are done by discussing, cuddling, and some hands on. You can down load a free unit on Ping to try.

 

If he is reading good I would drop the phonics.

[roanna]

My son sounds very similar , visual, loves reading, not great in math etc.  I'll just tell you what I am doing and it's working for us.  

I put what subjects we are doing for the day on a small white board on the wall that he can see during school.  He wipes them off as we go or crosses them off.  Makes him feel good.

 

We are using Adventures from MFW for history, science and read alouds.  The lesson plans are all done for you (buy them used, save tons)

He does not do phonics since he reads great, I just get piles of books every 2 weeks and he reads them all.  

We use Rod and Staff math 2 , not because it's cute or he likes it, but because it has 4 pages of work each day and he is finally getting math through this.  But it is repetition, but it's working for him.

My husband and I are late grammar people so we are not doing any except Mad Libs here and there.  

I read the Catherine Vos Bible Story book at breakfast and then while he is doing math I find short sentences from our Bible readings and write them down and he copies them...for penmanship and learning good writing. He does Rod and Staff spelling 2 also.  I think that's about it.  

 

We take a week break every 6 weeks and a big break in between school years and a few weeks off at Christmas.  Don't know if this helps at all.

 

We also did core B+C and it was fine but not quite what I wanted and too much reading for me.  The read alouds in MFW are very doable.  

[AK_Mom4]

You might take a look at the Spectrum and Steck-Vaughn workbooks. Lessons are fairly short but not repetitive. A lesson is a fairly set amount of work, so it should help with setting predictable schedule without being too boring.

 

For a visual learner, how about covering science and history this year by letting him pick out library books on a topic? The DK books always held my kids attention (lots of pictures). If he likes the hands on stuff, pick up a book of easy experiments and try those (entertaining for the 3yo too!). Good reading practice too!

 

I have two non-auditory learners so I feel for you! What worked for us was lots of text and workbooks with pictures and color, not too much repetition or small print. Also, early on we adopted planners for each child. I would write in the planner what we would cover each day with page numbers and notes and the child would check off each assignment as it was finished. I even put in snack and lunch time. It gave them more control over things to let them check them off when complete and let them know what was next. Other parents have done similar things using work boxes - you might want to read up on those as the lady who originally set up the system had an autistic son but it works for many types of kids.

 

Another thought would be to post this on the Special Needs section of WTM - the folks there have many great ideas for working with challenging kids.

[Plink]

First, your circumstances last year would be difficult for any child. If he is quirky and ADHD, that means that his anxiety was very high with all of those changes, and nobody can learn when they are working hard to simply survive. Don't base your choices on last year - it isn't a good measure.

 

Second, and said with all kindness, the job of a homeschool mom is to force our kids to do what they don't want to do. I know that you say it is impossible to encourage him to work when he doesn't want to, but I would encourage you to reconsider. Offering too many options, and switching when he digs in his heels will only lead to him learning that he can get out of doing hard work by fussing.

 

Having said that, you can't force learning. It might be time to go in for a formal evaluation. I have a learning disabled child, and really regret not having her diagnosed sooner. I spent far too long wringing my hands over what I thought she should be able to do and assuming that she was being lazy. She wasn't lazy, she needed to be taught differently.

[JessieC]

Moving Beyond the Page may work well for your son. It is literature- and project-based, not rote at all, very hands on.

[countrygal]

Check out Miquon math or Cuisenaire rods for some hands on math. We are doing MFW adv. now and it may work for you. There are scheduled core books with fairly short readings that you could read, then you can expand with history or literature books using their book list. Since he likes to read you could get some of these from the library and just let him go at it on his own during a scheduled independent reading time. The Usborne science they included has a short text with easy experiments that he may like as well. I'd also ask on the special needs board. HTH!

[jamiejo]

Sonlight Core B last year, Saxon 1 Phonics, Saxon Math 1, Apologia Exploring Creation through Astronomy. It was too much, WAY too much

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Certainly continue with Fred if it is working. You may also want to consider math games if he learns well with his hands. Mastering Mathematics has several games with the program. However you say he likes variety in math instead of too much repetition. MM has a lot of the same thing in the books. I don't know that it is worth buying the whole program to get just the games, so maybe you can find some you like. Play War with a deck of cards can be fun. Also if he likes the story form of math then maybe something like Math Lessons for a Living Education (in addition to Fred) would be beneficial. It offers variety and has more practice problems.

 

I have heard many say that Apologia was just too much for a child of that age. I'm sure it varies by the child, but it could be that your ds is not ready for that sort of load. Maybe try letting HIM read Christian Liberty Press Nature Readers to you since he doesn't lean well when he is read to. How about One Small Square books. And throw in some Magic School Bus vids for the visual learner in him.

 

Let him read a lesson in a history reader (can be alternated with science days) from something like Child's History of the World of Story of the World.

 

And certainly not least on my list would be Five in a Row. Yes, even for a 2nd grader. This can be done instead of the above or in addition to. Though I feel it is a stand alone with the right books. With this program you would read to him -5 days in a row- a picture book. This would appeal to his visual learning abilities. Each of the 5 days you would bounce off of the story with 1 subject. So on Mon  you would do Social Studies , Tue Language Arts, etc. Lessons are done by discussing, cuddling, and some hands on. You can down load a free unit on Ping to try.

 

If he is reading good I would drop the phonics.

Thanks for this post and all the links! I'll look into all of them and see what pops :)

 

My son sounds very similar , visual, loves reading, not great in math etc.  I'll just tell you what I am doing and it's working for us.  

I put what subjects we are doing for the day on a small white board on the wall that he can see during school.  He wipes them off as we go or crosses them off.  Makes him feel good.

 

We are using Adventures from MFW for history, science and read alouds.  The lesson plans are all done for you (buy them used, save tons)

He does not do phonics since he reads great, I just get piles of books every 2 weeks and he reads them all.  

We use Rod and Staff math 2 , not because it's cute or he likes it, but because it has 4 pages of work each day and he is finally getting math through this.  But it is repetition, but it's working for him.

My husband and I are late grammar people so we are not doing any except Mad Libs here and there.  

I read the Catherine Vos Bible Story book at breakfast and then while he is doing math I find short sentences from our Bible readings and write them down and he copies them...for penmanship and learning good writing. He does Rod and Staff spelling 2 also.  I think that's about it.  

 

We take a week break every 6 weeks and a big break in between school years and a few weeks off at Christmas.  Don't know if this helps at all.

 

We also did core B+C and it was fine but not quite what I wanted and too much reading for me.  The read alouds in MFW are very doable.  

MFW has been mentioned a few times here, I'll be looking at it for sure! I love the whiteboard idea. I've been looking at cutsie schedule ideas on pinterest, but simple may be better! I love your scheduling too. A week off every 6 sounds good for us. Altho I'm only planning on "school" 4 days a week so we'll see what happens.

 

You might take a look at the Spectrum and Steck-Vaughn workbooks. Lessons are fairly short but not repetitive. A lesson is a fairly set amount of work, so it should help with setting predictable schedule without being too boring.

 

For a visual learner, how about covering science and history this year by letting him pick out library books on a topic? The DK books always held my kids attention (lots of pictures). If he likes the hands on stuff, pick up a book of easy experiments and try those (entertaining for the 3yo too!). Good reading practice too!

 

I have two non-auditory learners so I feel for you! What worked for us was lots of text and workbooks with pictures and color, not too much repetition or small print. Also, early on we adopted planners for each child. I would write in the planner what we would cover each day with page numbers and notes and the child would check off each assignment as it was finished. I even put in snack and lunch time. It gave them more control over things to let them check them off when complete and let them know what was next. Other parents have done similar things using work boxes - you might want to read up on those as the lady who originally set up the system had an autistic son but it works for many types of kids.

 

Another thought would be to post this on the Special Needs section of WTM - the folks there have many great ideas for working with challenging kids.

We used some spectrum workbooks long ago, before kindy, and he didnt like them. But now he seems more atune to smaller workbooks than big text books. Which is why we've been looking at Lifepacs. I also love that THEY checked off the list. Last year I made a die with rewards on it, for each completed subject that day he got to roll the die and do the activity. 10 minutes of lego.com, or 15 minutes outside without his little sister etc. I will cross post this on the SN board, I was not aware of it. Thank-you!

 

First, your circumstances last year would be difficult for any child. If he is quirky and ADHD, that means that his anxiety was very high with all of those changes, and nobody can learn when they are working hard to simply survive. Don't base your choices on last year - it isn't a good measure.

 

Second, and said with all kindness, the job of a homeschool mom is to force our kids to do what they don't want to do. I know that you say it is impossible to encourage him to work when he doesn't want to, but I would encourage you to reconsider. Offering too many options, and switching when he digs in his heels will only lead to him learning that he can get out of doing hard work by fussing.

 

Having said that, you can't force learning. It might be time to go in for a formal evaluation. I have a learning disabled child, and really regret not having her diagnosed sooner. I spent far too long wringing my hands over what I thought she should be able to do and assuming that she was being lazy. She wasn't lazy, she needed to be taught differently.

Thanks for this, you're absolutely right that his anxiety was extremely high. He also *may* have suffered a mild concussion in October, right about the time I got pregnant. He doesnt do well with major change, and this was our 3rd move in 2 years. It was a lot for all of us to handle. Thankfully he seems to have moved past his anger at moving, and thinking about new friends now. We're closer to family and have no intentions of moving again anytime soon.

I have taken him to a pedi neuro, and he immediately offered meds, and said he certainly has all the characteristcs of ADHD, but not an official diagnosis. I've had to postpone the followup and testing because of medical bills from the baby. He has an appt with an ADHD counselor in Sept. We dont want to medicate him.

You're right about not switching when he digs in his heels, he needs to learn to be a finisher. We had the same struggles the entire year, and I finally realized after the move and my head cleared, that I'd chosen curriculums based on what I liked growing up homeschooling. I chose based on my style and knowledge, not his. It was a very very difficult decision to change anything mid year because I didnt want him to learn to quit. But when somethings not working, and you've tried literally standing on your head to engage him, its not working. I've spent the summer having taken a step back and observing him. It was eye opening to say the least. I can't force him. That is just not his personality, he goes into competitive or anger mode and would quite literally rather be in a corner for hours than pick up 2 toys if he doesnt want to. It's extremely challenging. I have found some ways to motivate him tho, and there are always consequences when he acts like that. It is thankfully not all the time like it was, he has settled down some. This is why I'm really trying to research more in depth what HE needs and make it work. It has just as much to do with my attitude as it does his.

 

Thank-you everyone for your responses, I'm exploring all the suggestions today. Calvert I'm afraid won't be an option, we don't have the budget for it.

[Ellie]

Visual/kinesthetic? Doesn't sound like a good match for Alpha Omega.

 

What about KONOS? It does everything except math and English skills--Bible, history, geography, science, arts and crafts, drama, literature--while learning about godly character traits such as obedience, orderliness, and attentiveness. and it's especially good for wiggly little boys. There's some lead time in planning, but once you've done that, each day is just get-up-and-do-it. Your 3yo can join in on some activities, and you can bounce the baby on your lap while y'all work. :-)

 

I'd recommend Vol. 1 and its timeline. Each volume of KONOS is good for at least two years.

 

Are you anywhere near Austin?

[jamiejo]

Visual/kinesthetic? Doesn't sound like a good match for Alpha Omega.

 

What about KONOS? It does everything except math and English skills--Bible, history, geography, science, arts and crafts, drama, literature--while learning about godly character traits such as obedience, orderliness, and attentiveness. and it's especially good for wiggly little boys. There's some lead time in planning, but once you've done that, each day is just get-up-and-do-it. Your 3yo can join in on some activities, and you can bounce the baby on your lap while y'all work. :-)

 

I'd recommend Vol. 1 and its timeline. Each volume of KONOS is good for at least two years.

 

Are you anywhere near Austin?

Thanks! I have not looked at KONOS at all, so I will do that now. I'm in Lubbock, so quite a drive yet from Austin!

[jessj]

You have gotten some good advice.  Some things I would mention... stick to it.  My eldest has struggled to learn to sit and work. She wants everything to be social.  Well, some subjects just aren't.  Sometimes you have to put your head down and work alone for a bit.  That is a skill she is still working on, but we've come a long way.  In the beginning I thought it was all because I had the wrong curriculum.  But it wasn't.  It was her temperament.  She was wiggly and social and not ready to be serious. 

I would second the idea about something like KONOS.  Something that is unit study based would be scheduled and regular, but the subject matter would change which might keep him more engaged. 

And yes, I have used Apologia for science with my kids all along.  I wouldn't do it again.  I would hold off until 2nd-3rd grade before starting it.  K-1 and some 2nd really struggle with it.  I feel that they need something a little more informal and hands on.  Nature study at that age is great! 

It sounds like LOF is working for you.  I have heard some people who supplement LOF with Excel.  It's a supplemental program, not a main program.  I don't use either though, so I can't speak from experience. 

 

Good luck!  There are lots of great options out there.  I hope you can find a good fit for your family!

[Ellie]

Thanks! I have not looked at KONOS at all, so I will do that now. I'm in Lubbock, so quite a drive yet from Austin!

 

Doggonit, because I have a Volume 1 KONOS I'd be wiling to send to a good home. :-)

[Susan in TX]

Your son sounds very much like mine. My son was diagnosed with Aspergers. He is in public high school now, but when we were homeschooling it was very hard. He just didn't like school and he didn't like having to do assignments. The curriculum that worked the best for him was Christian Light. I'm not sure why it worked better for him than other things but I think it was because it was very predictable. He knew what he needed to do each day and he could get it done in a relatively short period of time. He still didn't like it but it got done with a minimum of struggle.

 

We used Christian Light for the basics: Math, Language Arts, and Reading. Everything else was "unschooled". He learned a lot of history and science by watching educational TV/DVDs. Even now (he's 16) he loves youtube and often tells me about some educational video he has found there.

 

Susan in TX

 

[roanna]

As for the 4 days a week.  MFW only schedules school 4 days a week.  Friday or whatever your 5th day is can be used for catch up or a co-op or sick day make up.  I just make sure that we get our 36 weeks in.  I also live in TX so it is really up to us how we want to accomplish that.  He needs the break every so often so it works well for us.  He matured quite a bit in our last large break and I was so happy with the change it made in school.  

 

I am NOT a diehard My Father's World mom.  I will not be using it next year, but possibly maybe the year after.  It's a good curriculum, especially the lesson plans being done for you.  If you are new to homeschooling it is very helpful to get you broken in as a mom for what to expect of children.  I sometimes expect too much or way too little.  It's been very helpful this year to use it. I feel more confident now and bought a used Well Trained Mind on ebay and will be using a mix of that next year for our own year of geography.  

[sbgrace]

You have your hands full. I'd suggest you prioritize and simplify.

 

I've got an ADHD autism spectrum kid who has similarities. He also loves Life of Fred and, so far anyway, Math in Focus has been the least painful complete math for him (us...he's so hard to teach). It's just the right amount of practice it seems--not too much so that he tunes out, not cluttered, not too repetitive, visually appealing with full color text (he loves the look), and well organized. Math has been the biggest struggle here. So getting that in place will probably help. Some other ideas for you to consider--Kitchen Table math books along with continuing Life of Fred, C-rods with the Education Unboxed videos available free online, maybe look at MEP perhaps..it's free to print so no loss if it's not a fit. If you try  Math in Focus, you don't need the teacher's manuals. Rainbow Resources sell the texts and workbooks without TM's, so the cost is reasonable.

 

I prioritize the important things. For me that is math and language arts. My son is easier in language arts. MCT materials seem to be a great fit for mine. He loved I See Sam books (I've got links on my blog for free printable ones) and Progressive Phonics (also free printables I linked on my blog) for learning to read and Sentence Family for grammar (cheap). We were reading very well before I started any spelling work, and a little time has really helped him maturity wise. Essentials in Writing is a DVD based writing and grammar course. I would just focus on getting him reading well first though, in your place, if I'm understanding that he's not there yet. We use HWOT for the handwriting stuff here, and it's been pretty smooth.

 

Consider Magic School Bus videos (Amazon has them as a set) for visual science that would be so easy to implement. There are links online for little handouts and experiments to go with each video if you have time/desire/inclination. But I think it alone is fine at this age. He'll probably remember a lot.

 

I'm doing a book called Unstuck and On Target with my son now. It has lessons plans (pretty easy to carry out, visual and hands on) and works on flexibility. It might be helpful, at some point anyway, to work on those areas with your son.

 

 

If you're looking for bible The Jesus Storybook bible is very attractive (visually, the stories) to my son. They have a DVD form too. He really likes those. Telling God's Story is very hands on, though not particularly visual.

 

I'm thinking every day you two do a math activity, read library books to him, and cover language arts (reading until he's solid, printing or fine motor work, then add the next thing while he continues his reading practice).

 

 

Short, sweet, doable day in and out would be my goal. Add video documentaries, Magic School Bus, etc. as you want. If you're consistent, you'll probably find it all easier. My son does better when we don't skip any school days. We school year round and even on Saturdays a little. Routine is his friend and a slower pace to accomodate his major attention issues is no big deal. I'd try to make sure what I began as a routine wasn't overwhelming in time for either  of you and is as pleasant as possible for him. We do math (hardest subject for us) first thing after breakfast, then break for active play/exercise, then do language arts just before lunch. If that's all I get with him, I'm glad. If we only get through part of a lesson but he's been mind engaged for that time...well, that's better than dragging him through something he won't remember later anyway. For a long time 10-15 minutes was the max I could expect.

[...................]

PS I wanted to tell you to ignore my recommendation of Calvert....I didn't see the part about the toddler and the baby.  Calvert is very teacher directed and a bit time consuming compared to other approaches or curricula so it's not that great for your situation.

[Guest]

Doggonit, because I have a Volume 1 KONOS I'd be wiling to send to a good home. :-)

Media Mail is cheap!

[jamiejo]

Doggonit, because I have a Volume 1 KONOS I'd be wiling to send to a good home. :-)

Sent you a PM!

 

Your son sounds very much like mine. My son was diagnosed with Aspergers. He is in public high school now, but when we were homeschooling it was very hard. He just didn't like school and he didn't like having to do assignments. The curriculum that worked the best for him was Christian Light. I'm not sure why it worked better for him than other things but I think it was because it was very predictable. He knew what he needed to do each day and he could get it done in a relatively short period of time. He still didn't like it but it got done with a minimum of struggle.

 

We used Christian Light for the basics: Math, Language Arts, and Reading. Everything else was "unschooled". He learned a lot of history and science by watching educational TV/DVDs. Even now (he's 16) he loves youtube and often tells me about some educational video he has found there.

 

Susan in TX

 

Thank-you! I will definitely look at this!

You have your hands full. I'd suggest you prioritize and simplify.

 

I've got an ADHD autism spectrum kid who has similarities. He also loves Life of Fred and, so far anyway, Math in Focus has been the least painful complete math for him (us...he's so hard to teach). It's just the right amount of practice it seems--not too much so that he tunes out, not cluttered, not too repetitive, visually appealing with full color text (he loves the look), and well organized. Math has been the biggest struggle here. So getting that in place will probably help. Some other ideas for you to consider--Kitchen Table math books along with continuing Life of Fred, C-rods with the Education Unboxed videos available free online, maybe look at MEP perhaps..it's free to print so no loss if it's not a fit. If you try  Math in Focus, you don't need the teacher's manuals. Rainbow Resources sell the texts and workbooks without TM's, so the cost is reasonable.

 

I prioritize the important things. For me that is math and language arts. My son is easier in language arts. MCT materials seem to be a great fit for mine. He loved I See Sam books (I've got links on my blog for free printable ones) and Progressive Phonics (also free printables I linked on my blog) for learning to read and Sentence Family for grammar (cheap). We were reading very well before I started any spelling work, and a little time has really helped him maturity wise. Essentials in Writing is a DVD based writing and grammar course. I would just focus on getting him reading well first though, in your place, if I'm understanding that he's not there yet. We use HWOT for the handwriting stuff here, and it's been pretty smooth.

 

Consider Magic School Bus videos (Amazon has them as a set) for visual science that would be so easy to implement. There are links online for little handouts and experiments to go with each video if you have time/desire/inclination. But I think it alone is fine at this age. He'll probably remember a lot.

 

I'm doing a book called Unstuck and On Target with my son now. It has lessons plans (pretty easy to carry out, visual and hands on) and works on flexibility. It might be helpful, at some point anyway, to work on those areas with your son.

 

 

If you're looking for bible The Jesus Storybook bible is very attractive (visually, the stories) to my son. They have a DVD form too. He really likes those. Telling God's Story is very hands on, though not particularly visual.

 

I'm thinking every day you two do a math activity, read library books to him, and cover language arts (reading until he's solid, printing or fine motor work, then add the next thing while he continues his reading practice).

 

 

Short, sweet, doable day in and out would be my goal. Add video documentaries, Magic School Bus, etc. as you want. If you're consistent, you'll probably find it all easier. My son does better when we don't skip any school days. We school year round and even on Saturdays a little. Routine is his friend and a slower pace to accomodate his major attention issues is no big deal. I'd try to make sure what I began as a routine wasn't overwhelming in time for either  of you and is as pleasant as possible for him. We do math (hardest subject for us) first thing after breakfast, then break for active play/exercise, then do language arts just before lunch. If that's all I get with him, I'm glad. If we only get through part of a lesson but he's been mind engaged for that time...well, that's better than dragging him through something he won't remember later anyway. For a long time 10-15 minutes was the max I could expect.

Language Arts/Phonetics is where he fought the hardest last year. Most other things we could do, not easily, but we could do. Phonics... was a different story. I think this is my biggest concern for this year, finding a program that he will actually do, and learn from. 

 

He loves documentaries, and learns well from them. Animal Planet has been great for him. His current love (obsession!!!!) is River Monsters. We've all learned some great things from watching it! I'm not going to buy anything for Science unless its a membership to the local science museum. I think I've about decided to hang onto last years Sonlight, at the very least the science. We've done a few things from the books over the summer and he loved it.

 

Short, sweet and doable in a day sounds exactly like what we need. Nothing over whelming, engaging enough he'll do it, and nothing that takes drastic amounts of time. LOF he loves enough he wants to do 2-3 chapters a day, and we play games for supplementing etc so I'm not too concerned with that, at least not this year. Next year I think I'll be looking for something fuller, but we love Fred. He wants to read on without me and I wont let him because I'm learning from it too! He surprised me today playing a kids yahtzee game with adding up points. :)

 

This thread has been very helpful, thanks again.