TyraTooters Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 I don't know WHAT I was thinking but we are done with Abeka kindergarten and are moving on to FIRST GRADE! We made it through Abeka with a lot of modifications and we are ready to break away from the box and find something that works better for us!! Title says it all!! I need some suggestions that have worked well for you all. So far he's been fairly easy to teach, just trying to find the right fit. We are in the process of looking at Miquon but I haven't fully settled on it just yet. We are starting Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons today (he can read but not fluently so we are working on it some more). What else can you all suggest? Nothing too teacher intensive as I have an eight year old third grader and a two and a half year old! And GO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Well, an ADHD kiddo needs teacher intensive, though not for long periods of time. Miquon Math (Add Singapore in 1st grade...just Miquon in Kindy.) or MEP Reception Year Happy Phonics Treadwell Primer Handwriting (Handwriting Without Tears is popular and good for ADHD kids. I prefer Peterson Directed Handwriting. Both are excellent.) That is IT. Don't add anything else except for a trip to the library once a week where he picks out a stack of books on whatever he's interested in at the moment. Read aloud to him as much as he can sit and as long as the 2yo is not into trouble. Reading aloud to him is very good for lengthening his attention span. As his reading ability picks up, buddy read some too. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 HWT EtC (and we actually had success with AAS in 1st) We used RS B when he was ready to start math 100EZ That's about it for school. Play outside, and lots of good books. I know those are all teacher intensive (except EtC), but this is when he needs you a lot. You have to help set foundational skills really well before he will ever be able to work independently. If you have your 8 year old play with toddler for 15 min hear and 15 there for short sessions with K'er all will benefit from the breaks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 He wasn't ready to start anything until 5.5+ and then it was: Handwriting without Tears Right Start B I See Sam reading Read-alouds (he's always loved books) nature walks/exploring the world as often as we could Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 I'm sorry I didn't see non-teacher-intensive, that doesn't really work with an adhd boy or really hardly any kid that is k level. I understand it is rough, I have a 2 yr old this year, along with a 3rd grader, k'er and 5/6th. The good thing however is that none of those things take very long you can aim for just 10 -15 min of math and phonics a day and 5 min of handwriting and then work your way up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyraTooters Posted August 13, 2015 Author Share Posted August 13, 2015 Love this list so far! Such great suggestions!! Keeping the load light has always been the plan! This is actually the first year that the eight year old is doing any formal history/geography and science, so little brother will tag along with that as well, SOTW 1 and activity guide. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera33 Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 We are using Wee Folk Art with ETC primer for phonics and MEP reception/year one for math. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyraTooters Posted August 13, 2015 Author Share Posted August 13, 2015 I don't know what I was thinking but I actually need recs for FIRST GRADE!! I have no idea why I wrote kindergarten!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Oh in that case, HWT, AAS, RS B/C SOTW 1 (he's an auditory learner so it was great to do the audiobooks while he colored), science workbooks from Singapore which they don't make anymore (this was his favorite subject so he was excited to do these little fill-in and circle style wokrbooks). We tried PAL and it was a fail. Pretty much all writing was a fail until 4th grade. We also did a PE co-op for 2 hours twice a week. I had to let him work standing up, or upsidedown, or on the floor rocking and spinning around between things. It was also nice to have dad do AAS lessons with him in the evening. He was excited to work with his dad, so sitting for 20 minutes of spelling was possible. We often would take our work to the park, or do it in the car (somehow the movement in the car helped him settle a bit and focus). We did lots of reading aloud, and he regularly went to bed with a science or history encyclopedia (mostly staring at pictures, but reading parts). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Fwiw RSB is a first grade program, Math- I think Right Start, MEP or Miquon are all great- placement tests! Handwriting- HWOT is still my fav, some phonics/spelling have writing- phonics or spelling at whatever he needs- I think All About Reading/Spelling or Logic of English are good choices I did WWE with ds but I don't know that it was the best choice but it was short at least and I think it was pretty good for him. We did SoTW and various things for science but he just loved anything related to books and also being outside. Short lessons, right at my elbow, patience, redirection, hit it at every angle that you can- oral, verbal, auditory, kinesthetic. Try to be patient with the bouncing but also realize that sometimes you have to get them settled down enough to focus- as they can distract themselves, then again you'll have to see what works for you and your kid. The big thing with ADHD is executive function- memory, processing speed, organization, distractability, initiation, hyperactivity but how it manifests varies. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Mine likes Miquon (with some Singapore), lots of books and buddy reading, and lots of breaks. He did some Explode the Code and liked it, but we continued with A Beka's Handbook for Reading. We just used it as we saw fit. Some days we worked on a white board, circling special sounds and things like that. We played with spelling, but didn't do it formally--more just working on the whiteboard, copying words for handwriting (I'd make up sheets that went with what we were doing in Handbook for Reading. When he's ready, he might like the Aesop's Fable books from RFWP. My son will be doing those for 2nd grade, and he loves them. http://www.rfwp.com/series/aesops-fables-books-about-reading-writing-thinking Cathy Duffy also has a review for these books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmtzc2009 Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 I also have a 1st grader this fall who has adhd. He needs a lot of structure and planned activity. We use a workbox system so I can keep him fairly busy so I can school my other kids. Handwriting- HWOT Math- Lots of hands on math/games & supplementing with worksheets as needed Language Arts- Hooked on Phonics & hands on activities/games Fun & Independent logic games Read-alouds & Audio books Lego building challenge cards Board games/card games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternallytired Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 This past year we used RightStart B/C (and I adjusted assignments as necessary, since it could take him forever just to play the games--thankfully he understands math quickly), AAS (done standing up by the whiteboard and with lessons shortened as much as possible while still getting the content--it still sometimes took him a half hour to write a handful of words), and Bible Heroes (only because he really wanted to do writing). That was all we could manage for most of the year. In the spring I finally started adding one "extra" per day--science (BFSU, done via lots of experiments), social studies (my own), Spanish (my own), art (my own). I try to make it all active and hands-on, otherwise I lose him quickly despite his easygoing personality and desire to please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minerva Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Math games for the first part of the year (and maybe CLE later in the year) Barton for reading, but if he wasn't dyslexic I would go with LOE Science, HIstory and Art with his sister if he feels like it. Lots of read alouds. Lots of bike riding, running, swimming, fort making.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 First grade just IS teacher intensive. They don't have the skills they need to be independent workers yet. :001_smile: But, a realistic amount of seatwork can be done in about one hour. ;) My hyper kid starts 11th this year. There are about a bazillion more options on the market now than there were when he was little. He basically taught himself to read to fluency in K, so we used A Reason for Spelling A instead of a phonics book, which worked well. My kids who still needed phonics used Phonics Pathways, which was a short 'n sweet, snuggle on the couch sort of text. We used copywork for handwriting/penmanship. First Language Lessons 1 for very gentle, bite-size grammar with poetry, picture study, and such mixed in. We were heavy library users and read gobs of picture books together. Dr. Suess was his favorite. For math I basically cobbled something together with internet resources, but he was my oldest and I had time for that. Now I would use Rod and Staff or Horizons math. Science was library books and Magic School Bus, and history was reading Story of the World aloud at bedtime and discussing it. Sweet, simple, and he did literally all the seatwork standing up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest healthwolfe Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Keeping the load light has always been the plan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Lego building challenge cards Hey, where did you find these? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 My ds is 3rd this year, and still not super independent. Things that worked for him when he was younger: Right Start math HWOT AAR We were able to use FLL and WWE but he did a lot of moving during those lessons, they are short and to the point though. Oh yes, we began AAS successfully in 1st and still using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 My ds has a bit more complicated mix than yours, because he has multiple learning disabilities, verbal apraxia, etc. etc. on top of the ADHD label. I'm trying to have a mix of a *few* things he can do independently, since almost everything else I do with him is entirely dependent on me. I like the idea of the lego cards. I got this state bird coloring book during the Build Your Own Bundle sale, and I'm hoping maybe he can color those. He'll do dot to dots and mazes independently. Small puzzles. I don't really have a list yet. The trick is they need to be things he really can do on his own. This is the system I got to use with him for his independent work. Structured Work System Starter Kit for Autism--Elementary Version With ADHD your key is always STRUCTURE. You can make anything happen if you STRUCTURE it. Don't be put off by the name. The structure is still good, the price right, and it's easy to implement. You can put exercise cards into his independent list, so long as he knows how to do them and has cards on a ring or something. Where we live, I can let my ds go outside. I was just realizing we could do short nature challenges that you pull out of a jar. (Find something something small and alive and draw it. Find a leaf that fell and draw it. etc) My ds also loves to take pictures with a camera, so he could do collections with a camera and we could make them into a book. Anyways, I think the issue is less what you do than how much you structure it. You can structure in breaks and snacks and things too. Here's the set I got to work on his overall schedule for the day. Autism Pre-K - Elementary Classroom Visual Bundle Solid Colors (special ed) Again, don't look at that word autism and skip. I took my ds to the ps for an IEP (to get him eligible for our state disability scholarship), and visual schedules are something they put in there. It's an evidence-based practice that works well for kids across a variety of labels. Also, you didn't ask, but I always recommend OT evals and getting into sports if he's not. Gymnastics has been AWESOME for my ds. The YMCA here has a boys' gymnastic program that starts in preschool. The OT eval is because there can be retained reflexes and other things going on an OT will catch. The OT does BalavisX with ds, and he's noticeably calmer and more collected with it. You can get the book and do it yourself with him, using it in the morning or afternoon as a warm-up to get him more focused. This past school year with my ds I did Focus Moves before our morning work and BalavisX before our afternoon work. It helps a lot and only takes maybe 10-15 min. It's something all your kids can do if you want. :) Focus Moves is an inexpensive ebook on amazon. We did that, digit spans (for working memory), etc. as part of our morning routine. Really, the cognitive work like that, for midline, working memory, etc. can make your academics go a lot better. It's worth putting into your schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForeverFamily Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Focus Moves is an inexpensive ebook on amazon. We did that, digit spans (for working memory), etc. as part of our morning routine. Really, the cognitive work like that, for midline, working memory, etc. can make your academics go a lot better. It's worth putting into your schedule. Such great ideas in this post, thank you for sharing! I am not trying to derail this thread, but do you have a link to this book, I tried searching Focus Moves on Amazon and couldn't find it. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 We don't know that he's ADHD, and I don't really suspect, but he IS a wiggle-worm and doesn't like to sit still, lol. Dancing Bears Phonics (probable dyslexia) Miquon Math (the hands-on approach is fantastic) Simply Classical Copybook 1 (handwriting) Literature based American History BFSU for science (with literature) Literature based religion, alongside Chats with God's Little Ones and Leading the Little Ones to Mary Catholic Schoolhouse cycle 1 art Mom-created recitation (and Memoria Press K art cards) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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