We're new to homeschooling - will be starting this fall - and my head is swimming with all the great choices in curriculum! My son will be 8 this summer, heading into third grade. He's gifted and has Aspergers (as well as anxiety, ocd, and sensory processing issues). I'm blessed to be educated as an elementary teacher, so this is an exciting opportunity. My main concern with choosing our curriculum is keeping our son from becoming bored. My hope is that we will find something that I can supplement if we need to delve deeper into a particular subject. Can you give me advice, words of encouragement, suggestions surrounding the preliminary decisions below? Writing Step Up to Writing Spelling Pick words from texts Vocabulary Pick words from texts Grammar DOL Science Exploring Creation (Jeannie Fulbright) - Astronomy History and Geography LifePac - Grade 4 Reading Classic Novels - new one every two weeks Different genres of literature (Autobiography, Biography, Fiction, Non- Fiction, Science Fiction, Poetry, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Traditional Literature) - new genre each month Mathematics Kim Sutton Games ????????? Don't know what else! Help! Religion LifePac - Grade 4 Handwriting Handwriting without Tears - Grade K-3 I like the idea of mastery learning. I also think that if I control the reading program, I can taylor it to his interests more (war aircraft and artillary). Thoughts? Thanks!
I hope you get some good feedback. The only one I am familiar with is the Astronomy- Exploring Creation Series. My fourth grader has been enjoying it. We got the experiments that came in a box, and he has liked the hands on stuff. For Math, we have supplemented with Khan Academy. They use videos to teach a concept and then you can practice what you have learned. It's a lot of fun. For Literature, I have been following along with the reading schedule found at AmblesideOnline.org. Just choose the year that you think your son would be comfortable at. We have been reading all sorts of literature- from Aesop's Fables, Burgess Bird & Animal Books, Parables of Nature, to Shakespeare. It's been great having my son introduced to such great literature. For an idea on Geography, we joined a yahoo group called Postcard Kids, where once you sign up you can exchange postcards with other families. Some of the families even include facts about their state. We then get the postcards and try to locate the places on our maps.
Thank you! I'll go check out AmblesideOnline. org right now! Love the postcard idea! I had our relatives do that when our kids were little... It was a lot of fun!
hello and welcome to the spot! and to home schooling! I have schooled a brighter child and a child who needs more hands on , separate kids mind you but needing the focus.
Florida mom welcome! There are many out there start a post if you would like to get some really good answers. It kind of depends on what age, what you want to teach and what style you want to teach. Today there is so much more out there geared to home teaching that was not there back when I started 16? years ago!
I haven't heard of those, but I am using CharlotteMasonhelp.com and it's fantastic!! Our 3 year old has autism, and is extremely bright, so I know what you are coming from! I have a ton of ideas, but you probably already use them! LOL Like visual schedules, fidget toys, and so on. Patryk's OT and ABA suggested Hand Writing Without Tears, and said it's fabulous for spectrum kids! I don't know what age it goes up to or anything, I just thought I would share!!! Everyone here is so wonderful, and a huge help if you ever need anything!!!
What I like best about Ambleside Online, is that you can tailor your schedule to what fits your child's needs. For my oldest son we are combining several years into one until we get to the harder years. For my next oldest, we are taking it slower as he is a little slower with his learning.
Welcome! I also have a gifted aspie. (My younger is gifted, but not an aspie.) What works for you depends on learning style and strengths/weaknesses. What works for us might not necessarily work for you. My aspie is an extremely asynchronus learner and a language arts mega-machine! He can pick up anything to do with language today and have it mastered tomorrow. Math... not so much. He'd rather cry and try to convince me he'll never need to know that stuff anyway. :lol: For a mathy 3rd grader who really enjoys solving problems and seeing the big picture before the details, I'd recommend Beast Academy, Miquon, Singapore, and/or RightStart. For one requiring a lot of explanation and repetition, Saxon, Rod & Staff, Horizons, or Teaching Textbooks might be a better fit. The latter 4 choices vary widely in "grade level", so you'll definitely want to pretest to decide what grade to go with on those. Horizons is the most challenging of the 4, and R&S is the least challenging. All end up at about the same level by middle school, but they start off with wide variations. The first 4 I mentioned require less instruction and more independent problem solving. For a languagy 3rd grader, I'd recommend Rod & Staff for English, WorldlyWise and/or the Vocabulary Cartoons series for vocabulary (http://wordlywise3000.com/ free version... books aren't free), Writing Strands for writing (although R&S has some writing built in... more so in the later grades), and whatever works for you as far as spelling goes. I think all of the spelling programs are great, but their approaches are very different. You'll want to read reviews and/or get your hands on those to really see and feel what you like. Some suggestions are All About Spelling, Spelling Power, Sequential Spelling, http://www.spellingcity.com/ (free), and http://www.zaner-bloser.com/media/zb/zaner-bloser/spellingconnections/practice-pages.html (free). I know I'm missing another biggie, but I can't think of it right now. Like Spelling, you'll use whatever you like for handwriting. I'd suggest a unit study approach to social studies so that you can tie it into literature and geography, since you're wanting to focus on his war interests. Otherwise, choose something that isn't "graded", because you don't want to put a gifted kid in a box and say "this is all you're allowed to learn this year." It'll only frustrate them and teach them to hate learning. "Non-graded curricula" (ones without a grade level printed on the cover and written with multiple levels in mind) allows you to move up or down in both speed and depth without having to scrap what you're doing and change materials completely. If you're interested, we're using Mystery of History, because it's adaptable for K-12 and can be used over and over with deeper learning each time. (Well... we're taking a history break next year to do geography, but MoH is our usual choice.) I really like Apologia for science. It's one that allows you to dig as deep as you'd like. It's what we're using. There are several good sciences out there for gifted kids, though. Hope that helps!
As 2littleboys has said, what works for us may not work for you but, having said that, I know I like to hear what has worked for others. Both of my dds are gifted (10 yo, 13 yo), working roughtly 2-3 years ahead with my youngest dx'd with working memory deficit, dyslexia and dysgraphia. We have been hs'ing for about 3 years after having been in ps for several years. Here is what we use with comments: Math: Started in MathUSee but found it wasn't rigorous enough so we moved onto Singapore math for elementary. After the 6AB series, I tried The Art of Problem Solving. AOPS is good for mathy kids (which both my kids are) but it didn't click with either one of them. So I moved them back to Singapore Math and we are currently doing Discovering Math, (Singapore Math's answer to math after elementary) which is 4 years of Algebra 1 & 2, geometry and trig. It integrates it instead of separating out each class individually so that less time is needed for review. IOW, after the relevant portions of algebra 1 are taught, then the relevant portions of geometry that use that algebra concept are taught instead of the learning the concept, then later, reviewing the concept and then applying the concept. LA: Michael Clay Thompson from Royal Fireworks Press. This program does grammar, vocabulary, writing, literature. You can add on poetry if needed but I wasn't interested in that segment. There are six levels, up through high school. I absolutely love this program. It is also supported by a yahoo group which is monitored by the author himself. He has answered several of my questions regarding the answers in the teaching manual. We will supplement the literature with an online Modern Literature course through Landry Academy as well as an advanced composition class for college readiness. Science: Started off with Real Science 4 Kids but found the depth lacking (former scientist in another life) so I pulled together my own for a year and then moved onto misc. programs, not really finding a good fit. Currently, we are doing Bridge Math (Science Math) and plan on starting Spectrum Chemistry, both from Beginnings Publishing. They have an elementary series as well as a middle school series. I attempted the middle school portion but found the kids needed a higher level. We have also done Physics In Your Life from the Teaching Company (no math involved) and History Through Physics, also from the Teaching COmpany. Both dds liked both series. We also bought a telescope and we watch How the Universe Is Made as well as the Steven Hawking Show on Thursdays. National Geographic channel? Science Channel? I don't recall as it is set up as an automatic record. My oldest will also be taking the Intro to Marine BIology with the Landry Academy this fall. American History from the Teaching Company: Early American History: Native Americans Through the Forty-niners. Has a workbook and recommended readings along with the videos. This series is hosted by a high school history teacher with a minor in drama. He dresses up as characters and does accents. It is engaging. Both my 13 yo and my 10 yo watch the videos, answer the short-answer questions and definitions and my 10 yo does some of the writing portion (i.e. a paragraph instead of an essay). My oldest does the essays as well as the supplemental readings. This can be done independently so it is working well for all of us. American GOvernment: A Noble Experiment from Zeezock Publishing. Definitely taught from a christrian perspective. My 10 yo does this and is doing fine with it and my older does more work (i.e. essays, research, current events) and will use it for her High School Government credit. Another mostly independent curriculum. Latin: In addition to the Greek and Latin stems/roots from the MCT LA above, they are taking Visual Latin from DVDs but he also has online classes in the fall. Very much an independent curriculum. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or if I can help. THe first year we started hs'ing was frustrating as finding curriculum that would work for my kids was difficult. But maybe not as frustrating for you since I wasn't a teacher. Well, I was, but for graduate students and not K-12. Teaching my own is definitely much more fun. Good luck. Kim **tried to post links to sites but it was bounced...LOL
I can't advise on curriculum choice but what's working for us is a continuous progress acceleration approach to our curriculum Continuous Progress: The student is given content progressively as prior content is completed and mastered. The practice is accelerative when the student's progress exceeds the performance of chronological peers in rate and level. HTH and welcome to the spot
Hi and welcome! I'm also homeschooling (without a dx...) an Aspie/HFA son with anxiety issues (again, no dx, so who knows what else. LOL) He's my 13 year old; my almost-9yo deals with sensory issues and some attention things. Again no dx on him; he's one that I'm not sure is really ADHD but I'm sure the school would label him as such. Echoing that what has worked for us may not work for you, but since I can't really feedback on any of the items you listed (that doesn't happen to me often!! LOL) here is what has (and has not!) worked for us! LifePacs did not work for us at the 3rd-ish grade age. There just was not enough comprehension plus sit-still-ability to handle it. These days, he likes some workbooks but only for certain subjects... Bible being one of them. Bible - we have used and enjoyed the Studying God's Word workbooks by Christian Liberty Press. English - I echo the R&S suggestion posted previously; my kiddo isn't necessarily good with language (he does have processing disorders), but he's good with RULES and we fly through R&S like it's candy. The TM's are needed; we do the oral drill in the younger grades, then skip the written practice if there's a worksheet available (which is almost every lesson but not quite), and then take a full week on the writing assignments... which helps with our processing issues. It looks like a lot at first peek, but it's SUPER tweakable and we LOVE it! Vocab/Spelling - because my kiddo is so good at rules, spelling isn't something we've had to do. He tested at halfway through the 9th grade level in only the 2nd grade, so we haven't bothered. I do own Spelling Power and use it with my younger one; we've just started, but I think it's super flexibility will be good with him. It probably would NOT have been good for my oldest who needs a more rigid outline of what to do each day. For vocab we have done a couple of different things. First, we did Words Are Wonderful which I used as an alternative to Wordly Wise (befire there was, or at least before I KNEW there was, a free option). This covered things like homophones, homographs, synonyms, antonyms... things you might cover in a reading program in ps, in addition to the word definitions. These days, partly because of his rules-and-systems organized mind, we are doing English From the Roots Up - a Latin and Greek root words program. There are others out there but this is scheduled with the program we're using; another option is Classical Roots, which I think might actually be better up our alley but I already have this so we're using it! LOL Math - Math-U-See is working WONDERFULLY for ALL of my kids. It is mastery and manipulatives based, has a teacher DVD which visual kids can watch with you, a tm for those who need a guided tour of each concept, and one short workbook page per day. The website also has extra workbook page generators for most lessons, which I have found to our benefit when we need to park it on a concept. The website also has an online drill application which is awesome for memory work on facts! I cannot recommend this program highly enough. It has been a life-saver for me! You can find the teacher sets used online, sometimes you can find the student sets also (workbook and test booklet)... and then if you're like me and can't always afford it, you can always use the worksheet generator online in lieu of the workbook if you need to. I love it!!! And, most importantly, have found it effective with ALL THREE of my differently abled learners. Reading - we do literature with guides, in conjunction with our history, in a program put out by the publishers of our history program. There's a ton of stuff out there for individual literature studies, but having it all put together for me like this has really been great. Before we did this, we just read books and had the kids narrate. We cover the instruction stuff (context clues, homophones, etc) with vocabulary, and I feel it's important to read the good literature! History - we've done Mystery of History for ages now... partly because it took us ages to get through it. Not because it wasn't good or wasn't working, but because it was "back burner" to so much else. I love MOH because it's chronological and specifically Christian not only in including the Bible stories alongside secular world history (which it does do), but also because of the worldview in every lesson. Some people have found it dry, but with the activities and conversations and literature we have always done with it, we have never ever found it the least bit "dry." This one is a great spine to use and jump into whatever is interesting, and these days they have coloring pages and lapbooks and all sorts of stuff to go alongside it. When we are ready for American History, we will use All American History which is put out by the same publisher. Love it!! Science - NOT my strong point, and our failures here haven't always been due to the kids. My oldest hasn't succeeded with anything until SOS - the computer program put out by the publishers of LifePacs - and that has been a life saver for us! Well, we really did enjoy the Media Angels series including Creation Science (also Geography, Astronomy, and Anatomy). I recommend Considering God's Creation... but it was too teacher intensive for me. I recommend the Christian Kids Explore series and we will be going back to using that with my middle boys, but it was too dry for us (possibly my fault as you could probably do with this like we do with MOH, it is by the same publisher). I've always coveted the AIG series, God's Design, and may look into it in the future for the workbook aspect which appeals to my 9yo. I've heard great things about Apologia but have never used it. The only other thing that has worked for us in science has been delight-directed interest studies. Often we'll do lapbooks or just research whatever is of interest to them at the time - turtles, space, the 5 senses, plants... whatever. We read books and do projects and look things up online and in our home library of science stuff. And we continue to do this, no matter what curriculum we're using at the moment, partly because we've been so hit-and-miss and partly because we just want to! I gotta get off here - hubby is getting up for work in 10 minutes and I don't have dinner started! ACK!
DaLynn is absolutely right about rules, rules, rules! I haven't had to teach spelling to my aspie, and we also fly through R&S english. His writing ability isn't anywhere near his cognitive ability, so we mostly just do the worksheets, not the written stuff in the book. If there's diagramming involved, I do the writing. I also second the idea of going into a root study... Latin, Greek, or both. "English from the Roots Up", "Vocabulary Vine", and "Vocabulary from Classical Roots" are all great choices for root study. We're doing Latin for Children (and eventually Greek for Children and Latin Alive) from Classical Academic Press.
