Hi, I will start homeschooling my 3 youngest in the fall. I have been researching different curriculium to use and I still don't know what to use. My 14 year old 7th grader is my biggest concern right now. I would like something computer centered, he is very independant and likes to figure things out. However, he tends to get discouraged easy and figures out how to work around what he don't know. As you can tell by his age and grade he is behind, 2 years in fact. He had a massive speech problem when he was little and it delayed his ability to learn to read, to this day he struggles with reading. He would rather do anything than read. I need something that will inspire him to want to learn and go over the walls in his life rather than take the long way around. Please help me find what is right for Jay. I would love to hear your suggestions. Thanks, Charity
If you want computer based and don't mind religious curriculum you can check out Switched on Schoolhouse. It seems to be people either love it or hate it. My oldest daughter used it for all of high school and loved it. She is not a book-type kid.
Thanks! I have looked into Switched on School house. I have read the reviews like you say they either Love it or hate it. It is on my list of possibilities, and I preferr Christian curriculum. Thanks, Charity
Here is my picks for a 7th grader (so sad... I bought all of this once and then ODS decided to go to PS ) All of it is secular. Math: Teaching Textbooks Language Arts: Lightning Literature, Analytical Grammar, and Writing Strands if you feel you need more writing instruction. History: Hakim's A History of US with the Hewitt guide if you want US spread out over 2 years instead of 1 or k12's Human Odyssey (this is a 3 year course, you can buy the textbooks on amazon and go it on your own pretty much, I think there is a guide you can get but they are rare since they are all going online... you can get their course on your own too if you want do use the whole shebang). Science: Prentice Hall Science Explorer Art, music, PE... by this age they are all self directed in my mind Welcome to the spot
For Math you might also want to check out Video Text. It is not a computer based program but instead a dvd program but I do know that you can access teachers with questions and they will walk you through the problems if need be. To help with the reading you might want to do something like Progeny Press or Novel Units. These are not on line but the nice thing is that you can choose books that you think would interest your son. Aim to do 2-3 or so a year until his reading improves. You would just have to find some time to sit down and go over the questions with him. With Switched on Schoolhouse you still need to go in and check some of the work. I would also require a half and hour of reading something of his choice (novel, comic, poetry....) That would just get him in the habit of reading and he may find a genre that really sparks a desire to read. Science you could do something like Switched on School house but I personally like Apologia for middle and high school. That can still be done pretty independently except for the experiments. You might even find a local co-op that does the labs. I know our co-op offers them quite frequently. For Grammar I personally love Easy Grammar plus for jr/sr high kids. It is easy to follow, it can be done independently (you just need to check the work). As for writing I really like IEW. That is also a DVD based course. Mainly I just work with the editing process with dd.
Charity, My dd has learning issues, one being dyslexia. It is the main reason we started homeschooling (when she started 5th grade). In the past 4 1/2 years, we have tried many things and here is what we have settled on. Learning Ally: (about $100 per year) If he has a certified learning disability, he can join and listen to unlimited audiobooks, even textbooks. (I actually found a Bob Jones history book we were using!) Math: Teaching Textbooks!!!!! Independent on CD's; lessons are read; immediate grading; can be passed down to the next child in line! Their website has awesome samples. Grammar: Easy Grammar PLUS to start him off. We took 2 years (7-8) to get through it Reading: Look for hi/lo comprehension workbooks. (High interest/low readability) I can't remember the publisher but I think I got them at Mardel. History: Just interest based for now. We are in a co-op and do history there using Bob Jones textbooks (I keep her on grade level for history) Science: Apologia. I would recommend starting him with one of the elementary book (astronomy, anatomy or the new chemistry/physics). He could do these independently, with a little help. The high school courses have audio CD's and full course DVD's. (She uses the audio cd's, I have never used the full course because we do science at our co-op and I teach science there.) Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW). Start with the Student Intensive level A. If you can afford it, it is worth the price because all three will be able to use it together and the lessons are on DVD. If you watch the lessons with them, it will make more sense to you. I did level A and we are doing level C this year with ds and dd. Extras: Writing practice with A Reason for Handwriting (print or cursive); Mavis Beacon for Kids (typing) and anything that interests him! I don't normally post long replies, but since I have been there/done that, I just wanted to share what worked for dd. She is in 9th grade now. We plan to homeschool through graduation. I have never looked back!!!!
Thank you. He is ADHD but that is the only "disability" he has, I don't really call it a disability, just needs a little more time to settle and you must get his attention fast. My 10 year old daughter I believe has dyslexia but I never could get the school to test her, and I can't afford it. I am dyslexia and know the signs very well. I know I can get them where they need to be with the right resources. I know they are very bright and capable of so much more than what they are doing now.
We use a lot of computer courses. Check out homeschoolbuyersco-op.com. We've used Uzzingo and Plato for science, Thinkwell for math, spellingcity.com, and grammarlogues.com to name a few. We used Switch on schoolhouse for a couple years, but the longer my kids used it, the more they hated it. For history we used Mystery of History. It's great for multiple ages. We got the mp3s of the lessons and listened together. My kids were not big readers either, so I kept their reading to books of their choice in the evenings before they went to bed. Even in high school, they usually listen to the literature books. Otherwise, they have no clue what they read.
My son also had a severe speech problem. At 5yrs old he spoke at a 2yr old level. He understood what people were saying to him, but could not articulate his response. We went to private speech therapy (VERY expensive), but eventually he was able to express his thoughts. To this day, he still cannot distinguish certain phonetic sounds. And like your son, he didn't like to read one bit! So, I selected fiction books that interested him: mysteries, sports, science fiction, etc. He liked the subject matter so much, he didn't even realize he was he was reading! Take as much time as he needs to help him improve his ability to read. Reading is probably the most important skill your child will ever develop, so do everything you can do to help him.
Check out Currclick.com. They have a lot of "elective" type classes, but also some good history and science classes. They are very affordable and the child joins an online class one day per week where they can interact live with their teacher and classmates, and then works independently on homework the rest of the week. We are currently taking Apologia General Science (my 7th graders). My kids also do a book club, Entrepreneur club, and a few small classes like History of Christmas and things like that here and there.
We have a 15 year old son working on 7th grade materials. He is ADD and speech impaired, among other things, due to cleft lip and palate. He was adopted at age 8 1/2 and was a non-native English speaker. I hear you about the visual/computer based approach. For kids who don't appreciate reading as much, there are really a lot of options out there! You could check out Time4Learning.com as they recently added high school levels and it covers all subjects, plus you can adjust the grade level in each subject, allowing you to meet him where he is at. The History Channel has a TERRIFIC multimedia set of history computer based learning programs for both American and World History. You also might research project based learning to move away from the computer sometimes and not be too tied to it for everything. You could check out www.wiesereducational.com for special ed resources, and textbooks that are high interest-lower reading level, as they tend to be more direct, to the point, and easier on the brain for kids who are not as engaged by reading. They also have great resources for other kinds of learning,like projects, etc. and some computer oriented materials as well.
