Looking for Incremental Science & Social Studies

[Element]

Wow, I guess I haven't been around in a while! I wonder what my signature will be when this posts. 😂 

Does anyone happen to have a child with a developmental delay yet great working memory? We don't know what this is. It looks like ADHD and she takes Concerta (which helps) but we were told it's not "organic ADHD" because she has such a high working memory. Her processing speed is very low (13th percentile) and she has motor delay but she did quite well on the verbal comprehension & memory subtests. We've been told everything "looks like CP but she doesn't have CP." She does have a connective tissue disorder. 

Her brain is great at the learn-&-dump. She can learn anything for a daily quiz but then not remember the first thing about it about it 48 hours later. We tried video-based programs like Acellus & Study.com- straight A's, learned nothing all year. We have tried many WTM suggestions and she has struggled with them due to the writing required in every subject. She really needs incremental lessons with lots of review and no writing. Teaching Textbooks math has been perfect. She learns well from that setup. She has also done well with Duolingo. Is there anything similar for science? History/social science? 

I feel like in the 8 years she's been homeschooled, we've tried everything. I thought RS4K "Building Blocks of Science" was going well but she did not remember info from chapter to chapter. In younger years Galore Park Jr. History & SotW seemed good, yet same outcome. Moby Max was probably the closest thing to something that worked, but it doesn't go past 8th grade. BFSU series was a flop. 

For the last 2 years, I have been reading (science & social studies) topical books to her and we stop every so often to discuss. This seems to help her retain a small portion of the material but she needs to move towards becoming more independent. She would like to start community college in a couple of years. The psych who completed her eval said this was definitely doable with accommodations, but I don't know how to get her ready. Her current accommodations address testing but not the learning process itself. 

[kbutton]

23 hours ago, Element said:

Her current accommodations address testing but not the learning process itself. 

Oh, that's frustrating!

Did you have language testing done with the evaluation? The "no writing" thing makes me wonder if that's part of it. Then, remembering things long-term that are less meaningful to you due to a language issue can be tricky. Is the writing because of the motor issue? Does she use keyboard accommodations?

With social studies, does it help to do timelines?

I have a kiddo with a CTD, and he has a mishmash of learning issues and a lot of motor problems. A lot. It's not always a hallmark of his particular CTD in the literature, but at a conference, we met tons of other families whose kids had motor issues. It affects so much! Does your DD have a lot of fatigue?

I am wondering if you need to use study cards, such as Quizlet for retention. I am also wondering if her auditory working memory is good, but maybe not her working memory for other contexts. 

[PeterPan]

Praxis also affects how they process language. When you're saying CP but not CP, then back up and think dyspraxia and DCD strategies. So when they talk about praxis and language, it's usually mapping, organization, how the language was organizing in the brain. This is just what SLPs and OTs are telling me, not something I've researched or have hard links. So like we had an OT doing evals on dd and she wanted her to name all the animals she knew. Dd was 11 at the time, and she was totally stumped. Then she figured out some strategies and could list names (by continent, whatever).

So I 2nd the suggestion to examine the working memory, because working memory and RAN/RAS definitely affect how things get into long term storage. You can read about it. You could run genetics and skirt their "not this" mess. If they haven't run genetics (and run it enough), then I wouldn't accept anyone saying not not on complex cases. And beyond that, as far as learning strategies, you might try improving brain organization with mapping. Heathermomster had a visual mapping technique she posted about for textbooks. Anything where you get it organized in the brain and connected to life. Getting it connected to life and talked about and used can help retention. You could even put that slant, like looking for topics that lend well to connections with current events, politics, etc. Or apply it with debates by making little debate prompts. That way she sees it, hears it, says it, thinks around it lots of ways. It's something my dd bucked with her spanish. She wanted to grapple with the vocab only one way, her preferred way, but reality was she needed to interact with the vocab LOTS of ways to learn it. Sticking to just visual or whatever was making it harder.

Have you looked here for materials? https://www.wiesereducational.com

Edited November 11, 2019 by PeterPan

[Element]

Thank you both for your input! I didn't realize that there were different facets of working memory, so that could be what's going on. No language testing was done and no further testing is available (state insurance.) My other child has dyspraxia & autism but I've never considered this as a possibility for my dd since she does well learning/doing dance steps. However, it sounds like those strategies might work for her. I glanced over the materials in the website linked, PeterPan, and I think that could be helpful too. Thank you for that suggestion. 

Kbutton, I really have not been able to sort out what is a brain issue and what is a motor issue. She does not have accommodations for writing but she will absolutely need them before she goes to college. I never require her to write anything out by hand. I'm not sure where those would come from. She hasn't been to OT for years but I'm assuming I can return to them for accommodations when she needs them for non-mom-school. Her joints are so unstable that any pressure causes them to hyperextend so fatigue is certainly an issue. 

[happycc]

The only thing I can think of is project based curriculums like Moving Beyond the Page. 

Check out https://www.phoenixlearningresources.com/

Can't think of anything else. Maybe like Mystery Science or something like that. It is online. 

I guess you are looking for something like a Saxon but for science and history. I will put more thought in it.