What To Do When Your Chosen Curriculum Doesnt Work
First of all, dont freak out and dont take it as a failure either. Remember the old saying, different strokes for different folks? Its okay. You homeschool precisely so that you can have more options to try when something doesnt work for your child. Schools dont let you do this.
Heres what you can do to recoup at least most or some of your money:
- Before you give up entirely, try using a different approach to the material you have. Change the method of application to notebooking/unit studies and see if that helps.
- Re-evaluate your routine and make some changes if you see your child simply isnt rested well enough, overly distracted, and stressed about other things going on, etc.
- Give it a break for a week and then try again. Sometimes a break is all you need for something to click.
- Is the work too repetitive or content-heavy? Cut the fluff and stick to the priorities only. Leave everything else out. You dont HAVE to tick every single box!
- Swap with another family to try something else
- Resell to another family
Free Add/adhd Homeschool Resources
Homeschooling kids with ADHD or ADD can add additional expense because you may need to expand the collection of materials you have available for learning. You may also pay more for specialized instructional resources. Luckily, there are free ADD and ADHD resources available to benefit your homeschool. Here are some that we have found:
Choosing The Best Adhd Homeschool Curriculum For You
Before we found out our kids had ADHD, I tried a heap of different homeschool curriculum programs with them. In the past, Ive talked about the Bermuda Triangle that is our homeschool closet. You know, curriculum goes in, but it doesnt come out.
Having spent lots of money over the years and, admittedly, wasted more than necessary, I thought Id share a couple of things Ive learned in my efforts to find the best ADHD homeschool curriculum for our family. Hopefully, you can use these tips to find the best curriculum for your kids!
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Short Lessons Are Best
It is better to work with your childs brain than against it! Consider curriculums that offer short, to the point lessons. One of my favorite examples of this is CTCMath. Each daily lesson is no more than 5 minutes with a 5 question quiz at the end. This has ended all the resistance to math we were experiencing, and has increased my sons mathematical ability tenfold. Less sometimes really is more!
How To Pick The Best Curriculum For Adhd Kids
Save this idea for later so you don’t forget to use it!
Have you ever tried to get a kid with ADHD to use a regular textbook? My mom used to call it like pulling teeth. That is to say, ridiculously hard and painful for everyone.
My goal today is to help you avoid some of that pain by teaching you how to pick the best homeschool curriculum for ADHD kids.
Read the entire simple, no-nonsense guide to homeschooling ADHD here!
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Adding Movement To Learning
Because we are not confined by a desk in a traditional classroom, not only can our wiggly kids move as much as needed, but we can actually add movement to the learning itself.
When my son was learning math facts early on, I decided to place the various math equations on the walls around our house. He would then run from room to room, trying to locate them. Once found, he would solve the math problem and move onto the next.
Because a brain with ADHD needs movement to thrive, our kids often comprehend and retain learning much more effectively when we can add in movement.
How To Put It All Together
- List your resources, priorities and main criteria for choosing a curriculum.
- Join homeschooling support groups on Facebook, read some posts on there and connect with families in your area.
- Ask questions, make some calls and talk to some of those families, adding to your notes.
- See if you can check out some samples of the curriculum youre considering. Download some material online if possible. Borrow used copies or library copies of some of the material.
- Choose only the essentials you need to start with maybe a language module, a math module, and one on another subject.
- Create a basic planner. The one in this post may help.
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Set Up A Snack Station
Kids have fast metabolisms and when hungry, its hard to concentrate. Being home allows you to make sure healthy snacks are readily available and easy to access. Setting up a snack station is one way to achieve this goal. The caveat is that you need to set clear boundaries so kids know what they can eat and when. For example, sweet snacks on the top shelf are for special occasions. Or, no eating within thirty minutes of mealtime.
Heres What To Do Next
Breathe a big, enormous sigh of relief. Have a cup of coffee and a snack! Youve got this blog post to help you now, and you are not alone.
You also dont have to make your decision in five minutes. Youve got this. Its not going to give you a migraine, and youre not going to spend a ton of money and hope for the best.
You are now equipped to help yourself make an informed, cost-effective, child-friendly curriculum choice.
Welcome to homeschooling!
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Curriculum We Have Used
As a parent and a teacher of my son I took finding the right curriculum very seriously. After looking at all the options I decided that MathUSee was going to work well. We did get a free DVD sent to us in the mail to try out first.
MathUSee one of the best purchases we ever made! The manipulative blocks are color coded to a specific number amount, the DVD is very concise and to the point , and the boys can work on their own with a little help from me on Mondays. This program has been mother tested and approved by a lot of moms with kids who have ADHD as it is always #1 on Carol Barniers yearly curriculum survey. We started with the MathUSee Primer which is akin to Kindergarten Math.
Christian Homeschool Curriculum List & Religious Resources Top Homeschool Curriculum List Picks Of 2020
These are our top picks for the Top Homeschool Curriculum List in the Christian/Religion category. This is your one stop homeschool curriculum list to see all of the Homeschool Resources we love!
AOPPartnering with parents for over 40 years, AOP provides families with top quality Christian curriculum that makes it easy, enjoyable, and affordable to teach children at home or wherever learning takes place for homeschoolers. AOPs print curriculum includes mastery-based learning with LIFEPAC units and the popular Horizons curriculum with award-winning preschool, language arts, and math programs. In addition, AOP offers the groundbreaking Monarch online curriculum with learning options across grade levels and subscription plans available for one student or the whole family. Monarch offers automatic grading and lesson planning, as well as customized learning that allows students from preschool to 12th grade to learn at their own pace and in their own style. Overall, AOP students show increased productivity, improvement in their grades, and greater enjoyment in their academic pursuits.
Alpha Omega Publications was chosen as a 2020 Top Homeschool Curriculum List winner!
Sonlight is a complete, literature-based, Christian homeschool curriculum offering every subject for students from preschool through high school.
As the leaders in literature-rich homeschooling for thirty years, Sonlight provides you everything you need to homeschool with excellence.
Whats included?
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Homeschool Tips For Students With Adhd
Written by Colleen Kessler of Raising Lifelong Learners
Hes an EXTREME thinker, exclaimed my oldest sons preschool teacher the first time I met with her for a conference more than thirteen years ago. Since that day, Ive endured all sorts of similar comments some judgmental some tinged with laughter all of them related to his non. stop. energy.
My son was diagnosed with ADHD by the first of three psychologists we saw beginning when he was five. Wed later discover that his wasnt truly ADHD, but hyperactivity and impulsivity that mimicked it, a result of his overexcitabilities stemming from profound giftedness.
But as ADHD and psychomotor overexcitabilities tend to need similar adjustments to learning environments and styles, we chose to pull him out of the public school system more than a decade ago so that we could meet those challenging and unique needs.
Homeschooling a child with ADHD can be a great way to adapt learning to their needs, and over the years weve found some things that work well as we try to tackle the ever-changing needs ADHD kiddos have.
Why Do We Prefer The Homeschool Curriculum For Adhd Students
Some parents are worried about their childs high-level education, and because of the stigma and teasing, they often decide to homeschool their child. There are also many reasons why parents prefer the homeschooling of their children.
- The ADHD child is a unique child that needs to be taught in various ways without realizing that something is unusual with him/her.
- The second factor talks about An ADHD child at home who needs one-on-one intervention, a perfect starter for their homeschooling.
- ADHD children studying in a home environment would attain a comfort zone and be free from distractions. Also, the academic progress of the visual learner can be reviewed twice or thrice a week.
- Furthermore, a parent can quickly look after the child and teach him to learn different techniques to get an idea about this particular learning style.
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Orton Gillingham Language Arts Curriculum Options
As mentioned earlier, Orton-Gillingham homeschool programs are designed for children with dyslexia.
So here are a few recommendations that you may want to consider depending on your students needs.
Beckye Barnes, a homeschool mom and an educational advocate, loves Logic of English.
She uses the program with her two teen boys. They each learn differently and have diagnoses of:
Her favorite homeschool reading program is All About Reading.
Colleen modifies All About Reading to fit the needs of her child. Simply by slowing down the pace, she makes it work.
My dyslexic son is doing well with All About Reading. And even though its made for dyslexia, we still do it at a slower pace.
Colleen says that she loves the fact that her sons kinesthetic learning style is used in
Physically moving the letter tiles, my son can now see that the ending or beginning sounds stay the same.
In the end, she says her struggling reader was thrilled when he finally read an entire story from the AAR reader.
She said All About Reading has boosted her sons confidence and made learning to read more fun!
She also recommends two online language arts programs, Nessy and Teach Your Monster to Read. Theyre fine options for kids with dyslexia as theyre based in the science of reading.
Helpful Tips To Keep Your Child Learning
Melinda Boring found that using the right materials and techniques will help children better retain information. Here are eight items she recommends:
1. Post-it tape to cover part of a chart, so the child isnt overwhelmed by too much information on a page.
2. Foam earplugs block out background noise while allowing a student to hear what youre saying.
3. Colored overlays to frame material on the pages
4. Block-out reader a colored strip of see-through plastic that allows the student to see only the text that he is reading and blocks out lines above and below.
5. Tri-fold display board blocks out visual distractions when placed on the students desk or work table.
6. Peanut butter dough map enhances geography lessons for kids with ADHD mold cookie dough into the shape of a state, using colored sugar for rivers, large M& Ms for cities, mini M& Ms for smaller cities.
7. Colored notebook paper each subject is assigned a different color, allowing the child to find and file loose papers quickly.
8. Post-it arrow notes helps a child to locate an answer in a page of text without having to re-read and allows him to highlight areas in which he needs assistance.
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One: Find Your Adhders Learning Style
Finding your childs learning style is one of the keys to success in any homeschool. I dive into homeschool learning styles a little bit in this post, but most kids with ADHD seem to prefer hands-on learning. My kids love active learning and anything they can do while moving about.
This test can help you Finding your childs learning style. From there, you can know what to avoid when shopping for curriculum, like a literature-based curriculum for a kid who hates reading.
Tips For Homeschooling Kids With Adhd
Homeschooling kids with ADHD presents its own unique set of challenges. And it can be pretty lonely, especially for the parents who are trying to balance homeschooling with parenting kids with special needs.
Need help choosing a good ADHD homeschool curriculum? What about helping your kids with ADHD sleep well at night? How can you set up a daily routine that your kids with ADHD can follow without frustration? And what if you are living with ADHD as well?
Our 31 Days of ADHD Homeschooling series covers these and many other possible challenges to help make your homeschooling journey a happy one! Try these 31 tips for homeschooling kids with ADHD this month!
Image c/o: paulgrecaud / depositphotos
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Find A Curriculum That Is Already Organized
This part is super important. Disorganization is one of the biggest issues for kids with ADHD. If the task of organizing the program in its entirety is left up to you, you may never get around to actually doing it.
Youll probably need to adjust a few things to suit your kids, but if the program has a thorough outline, youll have a starting point for creating your lesson plans.
For example, were using Pearson Education EnVision Math with Tigger this year. The book already has the necessary concepts listed and they are structured in a way that naturally builds, so that I dont have to worry about Tigger having to face concepts shes unprepared for.
But, I divide the lessons into two or more days, which keeps Tigger from having to spend a long time on one subject. If I had the job of collecting all of the objectives, organizing them into lessons, and then deciding what to cover when, we still wouldnt have started math this year.lol.
How did you choose the best ADHD homeschool curriculum for your family? Let us know in the comments!
Want to learn more about homeschooling kids with ADHD? Try these posts!
Want to get inspiration for homeschooling kids with ADHD in your inbox? Sign up for our email newsletter to get our best ideas and tips!
The Homeschool Adhd Schedule Smorgasboard
Because every kid with ADHD is different , there is no one schedule that will work best for all. Even just executive dysfunction has eight different components, any of which might be more or less severe for your kid.
So enter the smorgasbord. Ive compiled a list of 13 scheduling techniques that Ive used with ADHD students or I know other parents have used with their kids. These are mom-tested, kid-approved hacks that really have the potential to streamline and smooth out your homeschool day. And theyre specifically tailored to your childs hyperactive, attention-lacking, hey-look-squirrel! brain.
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How Do Homeschooled Children Make Friends
Some parents worry that homeschooling may mean their child with ADHD, whose social skills are marginal at best, will be unable to make friends. Not true, says Kuhl. Home-schooled children are not anti-social weirdos who sit in the house all day.
In many communities, students attending homeschool join together to participate in activities, co-ops, volunteer programs, and other social events. Groups regularly schedule activities, such as proms, plays, spelling bees, chorus practice, debate leagues, art classes, sports outings, as well as the all-important graduation ceremonies.
In fact, some experts suggest that a child taught at home has more opportunities to interact with people of all ages, compared to a schools structured environment with only peers around. An added benefit is the social training parents can provide on the spot. Parents who home-school have one-on-one time with their child, to coach him in social skills before and after he plays with friends, Kuhl says.
Melinda Boring is proud of Josh and Beckie. Josh says he wouldnt have learned nearly as much in public school, and Beckie, while having many public-school friends and attending homecoming events in high school, prefers to work at her own pace at home, says Boring. I always knew they were smart. Schooling at home proved it.
High School Adhd And Dyslexia Homeschool Curriculum
by | Sep 13, 2022 | Resources |
This year, I am homeschooling a 9th grader with ADHD and dyslexia. Here are our curriculum choices for high school.
Weve gone from homeschooling a houseful of struggling learners while juggling toddlers and babies, to homeschooling just two kids this year.
This year Im homeschooling a profoundly dyslexic, dysgraphic, and ADHD 9th grader and a gifted, traditional learner who is a high school senior. We also have a college kid at home, a college graduate starting her own business, and our 7th grader is going to school! More on that later.
Weve come a long way and Im here to tell you that you can do this! I lacked so much knowledge in my early days of homeschooling but here we are kids reading, pursuing interests, confidence intact, and bright futures ahead.
Today Im sharing our homeschool curriculum choices. I say our because as my kids get older, I get their feedback as much as possible.
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