Solid, yet gentle, curriculum for grades 8-12

[VBCaroline]

I'm having "one of those days" with my bright 13 yo dd, who has nonverbal learning disability. We are both pulling our hair out over math, latin, and writing. I recognize that we can't follow WTM as I'd like-higher level math and writing are difficult. We're struggling through the end of Saxon 8/7. She completed IEW SICC A with a lot of hand-holding. She also has difficulty making connections in history and lit. and seeing the big picture. Logic is out-of-the-question.

 

I'm looking for a solid, gentle curriculum or plan for the next five years. I'm especially interested in hearing from those who are in the midst of their high school years or who have completed them.

 

I'm hoping that cc or a local college is in her future.

Appreciate any advice.

Thanks,

Caroline

[hferguson10]

This may be obvious, since you mentioned that she has a nonverbal learning disability, but have you had her tested - like the complete battery of tests? It helped us to plan having a petty clear idea what was going on exactly.

[VBCaroline]

We finally got the diagnosis of Nonverbal Learning Disability two years ago. On the WISC, she scored in the truly gifted range for verbal comprehension, slightly above average in perceptual reasoning, and extremely low in processing speed. The discrepanciesies between these scores is what led to the diagnosis.

 

What this means is that her rote memory and vocabulary skills are excellent, and that is what has enabled her to do well academically so far. Her deficiencies are in executive function skills-organization, planning, processing info, spatial problems. She also is easily frustrated and has an extremely hard time keeping her feelings in check(frequent meltdowns). Her fine motor skills are weak.

 

I guess I'm looking for some high school texts/curricula that are "grammar stage-ish" in nature. I just want to make sure we have the basics covered so that she can attend community college.

 

She also got a diagnosis of AS (the two are very closely related), but I'm not convinced she has that, and she has had a diagnosis of Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome (genetic) since birth.

Caroline

[JennW in SoCal]

My ds who is graduating is very similar -- gifted range in testing, but poor executive function skills, slow processing. The good piece of news is how much things have improved for him with maturity -- he still has the same disabilities and is really slow, but he understands his challenges and knows how to work around them. He also is motivated to get a college degree because he sees the need for it. He understands he may have to take it slow and that it will be difficult for him, but school is now something that is HIS choice and responsibility and that makes a difference with his motivation.

 

My biggest suggestion is to first focus on organizational skills which is a life skill as well as a school skill. CriticalThinking.com has workbooks on study skills and organizational skills that fit the bill. Things that come naturally to most of us just never occur to a teen with executive function shortfalls and they really need to be taught to keep a checklist for everything. They even need to learn how to tackle a textbook, steps like "Preview first: read headings then look at photos. Read those captions and then the side bars, and ask yourself what is this section going to be about? Now you can read the text."

 

Don't discount logic because it helps them learn to organize their mind. Dandylion has a nice inexpensive series of logic books -- count down, lift-off and orbiting with logic. You can find them at Prufrock Press, possibly Rainbow Resources. My ds loved Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox, but you need to know the authors are blunt about their particular Christian Worldview and it comes up in the chapter exercises.

 

Does your dd have a passionate interest in something? Tap into it for literature and history because it is a natural way to start making connections that are otherwise elusive. My ds is a theater and Disney nut, so he studied 20th century American history through the theater by reading plays, autobiographies, watching movie adaptations of books, and learning everything from about Disney he could find. He even reads the business pages and owns Disney stock, learning quite a bit of economics that way. This year we used a curriculum called "Movies as Literature" which he has enjoyed. For the most part I've used the Well Educated Mind as my source for discussion questions and writing topics.

 

You can also tap into interests so your dd can enjoy success outside of academics. Since my ds was 13 he has been a regular member of the "tech team" at church, and now designs and runs lights for all kinds of special events. He has been the stage manager for a community theater and for a senior project wrote a handbook explaining the duties and responsibilities of a stage manager which this theater has now adopted. He plans on starting at the community college and working towards a degree in lighting design. Most of his high school course credits are in theater and community leadership.

 

Algebra was a nightmare. I'm sorry have no brilliant recommendations for you! It took almost 3 years and I wound up using a combination of the "keys to" series and a couple of inexpensive books I found at Borders such as "Algebra success in 20 minutes a day". He really liked Geometry, though.

 

He had outside science classes and did well enough with those. He had a "study buddy" who helped him with note taking and the teacher allowed him to take tests open book and provided many projects which my ds excels at.

 

You don't even want to hear about driver's ed -- the behind the wheel part! We put it on hold and are trying again this summer with the assumption that his brain has matured quite a bit in the last year or so and things should go better....

 

We also have worked on lots of life skills -- laundry, cooking, keeping a checking account. He needs checklists of how to do things, but once it is programmed into his head he can do it.

 

Hope something in this long post helps you out! I don't have any suggestions of a program, just encouragement to be creative and tap into your dd's strengths.

[VBCaroline]

Thank you, Jennifer, for all of these wonderful suggestions. Can't wait until I have some time to investigate them all! I will definitely check into the Critical Thinking books that deal with study and organizational skills. I guess I will give logic a second look, too.

 

I am very happy to hear that things have improved for your ds. I do wonder if my dd will be able to go to college w/o me. I can't imagine her ever driving, but maybe there's hope. I'm beginning to recognize that working on life skills is as or more important than academics for this child.

 

By the way, you recommended Bryson's Short History for this same dd. She loves it, and I'm enjoying it, too. Thank you.

Caroline

[Paz]

My dd is in 10th grade. She is dyslexic and dysgraphic. Math is still a challenge for us. Right now we are reviewing very basic math with some EPS workbooks and are working through Geometry, slowly. What I have found is that if I keep reviewing the basics and push her a little beyond what she can really do that some parts of that stick. If we go back and review a little more eventually more sticks. Algebra took 2 years and I felt like we accomplished little but when we do our Algebra Review this year along with our Geometry text I am happy that she had been able to retain more than I thought. We have used Jacobs for Algebra and Geometry and are looking at Life of Fred for Alg. II. She also has enjoyed Write Shop for writing. We gave up on Latin in about 7th grade and are slowly working with vocab memory for French I. The Educational Psychologist who did her testing wrote in an accomodation to opt out of language but we are doing what we can, more orally than written. I have found that letting her run with her interests has helped tremendously. She has taken up photography, written two books, dog sits, is starting her own business, and has read tons of books all because she wanted to do it.

[Ottakee]

This might not be exactly what you are looking for but ACE (school of tomorrow) has a nice program that is very step by step and covers the basics. In the lower grades it is more rote learning but as they go up, it covers more advanced thinking skills.

 

Check out http://www.schooloftomorrow.com and see what you think. I would do a placement test and then go from there. It would be OK if she places a bit lower in some areas or has gaps, you just go at your own pace.

 

I did Sonlight and then Winter Promise with my girls but honestly, ACE is a better fit for them. The learning is broke down into small pieces and that works for them.

[Mom22ns]

My ds who is graduating is very similar -- gifted range in testing, but poor executive function skills, slow processing.

 

Don't mean to hijack, but thanks for posting that Jenn! My ds is just 12, so I hadn't commented because I have not btdt yet. My ds does plan to go to college but your description of your dd, gifted, poor executive function and slow processing fit him quite well.

 

I bought the first Dandylion logic book you mentioned last week and when we finish that series I was planning to do Fallacy Detective. We work hard on organization and planning. Your message sounded just like my plan fulfilled. It is so encouraging to hear that it CAN work :D

 

Thanks again for the wonderful detailed post.

[VBCaroline]

Thank you for all your replies. I'll be looking into these suggestions. I do appreciate you all sharing what has worked for you.

Caroline

[hmschooling]

Have you considered beefing up a 6th-7th grade level curriculum? You could add more "beef" to her stronger areas and leave as-is or tweak down on weaker areas. An easy one to do this with would be Heart of Dakota b/c its so complete and easy...helps make those connections you mentioned that can be difficult. It's Classical, Charlotte Mason, Unit Study combo :001_smile: Ancients just came out with extensions for Jr. High that you could use for beefing up Science and History if she is ready for that level. If not, just do it as is! (The main material is 5th grade, extensions bring it up to 7th, but with your own level of math/LA, it's still VERY meaty and plenty for her age without the extensions). There will be 3 more levels after this one. You can use your own math and grammar but they use excellent choices that are scheduled. It's written and formatted to teach organization skills to the student and builds their level of independence. They also have a wonderful Reading Program you could use with her that teaches more than most high school level Lit programs, yet does so in a way that is easy, enjoyable, and effective-- still allowing them to enjoy what they are reading! There are some moms on the boards there that are using HOD with LD children of all sorts and having incredible success and growth!

[VBCaroline]

I haven't looked at HOD yet, but I will.

Thanks.

Caroline

[Caroline4kids]

I haven't looked at HOD yet, but I will.

Thanks.

Caroline

 

 

I want to second the plug for HOD. This has been the easiest curriculum I have found to beef up for olders while still retaining real enjoyment in a curriculum. I have been blown away with how versatile and engaging it is. I hope she continues through HS because I have been having so much fun exploring this curriculum.:)