Home schooling Ideas | ADHD Information

Hi Y'all. I formally withdrew my 8 y/o ADHD ODD son from school last week. Jon also has dsygraphia and some health issues.

Jon helped me discover how to reach him and teach him. Right now, I am using a 'life skills' approach until he gains some of his confidence back.

I have a large dry erase board (3'x4'), some easy reading comics and books, a cd player and headphones. I also have a great computer program called 'Elementary School Success' which has 21 subjects and a lot of fun activities. I also have a large sheet of poster board where I will be posting a schedule in a week or two when the kinks are worked out.

Jon loves to help cook: we made poached eggs and he learned that there 12 eggs in a dozen. He learned that butter melts when put on hot bread but jelly does not. He learned how to measure out teaspoons, tablespoons, and that 1/3c is larger than 1/4 cup (and why). We learned liquid measurements (reinforced on the dry erase board).

Jon found a 99 cent calculator in an office supply store and can now help me decide which peanut butter is cheaper by the ounce as well as determining which brand of food is less expensive.

Jon is learning etiquette and manners. He opens doors for me and other women, says 'yes m'am and yes sir', thank you m'am, thank you sir. By the way- this has helped his self confidence immensely with all the positive feedback he gets.

Jon learned that wearing a colander on your head in public can start some interesting conversations!!!

He is interested in fishing and has learned Florida Gulf fish species and their specifics and what 'test pound' line is. He is also learning inches and centimeters based on the permissable fish catch.

He is learning to read better through action characters in comic books and by reading books to our dog...

he is learning meteorology and can tell you the different cloud names and formations. he can also tell time in the sun without a watch: the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. So, if it's morning, keep your back to north (which is left of east). Put one arm straight up in the air and point your other arm toward the sun. You are the clock. So- the position of your arms tells you the time.

We are learning geography of the world by watching travel tv. And we are having fun and it is not painful.

Jon will create poems and stories. I scribe and sometimes he tries to copy them and decorate the page.

We have a multiplication song cd that we listen to in the car. We look at the newspapers together and see what is happening in local news and in the world. We look up more things in Google to find out who is who and what is what.

And we are having a blast! No stress. Jon has fun math pages to do and language pages. When he needs a break he listens to CD's snuggled on the couch or grabs his rod and fishes in the pond across the street.

We are still trying additional things. My 9 y/o and 6 y/o can't wait until the school year is over and they can be homeschooled.

jaderock54,

I'd love to hear more about your homeschooling experience.  If you're not comfortable posting in the public forum, just send me a private message.  I feel it's important to weigh all sides before I make my decision.

Thanks much!! 

Randyjim,

I have been following Jon's story since I found this site and I am so greatful for you sharing your story with me. I have truly learned alot. I am so glad that Jon is doing so well. Keep up the great work!!!

Oh, of course I meant it, YMe! I have always taken what you have said in the best way possible- you are sharing your thoughts and experiences with me and I do appreciate it.

Thank you for the positive posting RockysMama. I am so thankful to have my Jon back!

Today was a rocky day as far as schooling. Jon did not want to do anything but eat and fiddle around in the kitchen. So, we made everything fun- including why carmel blows up all over the microwave if it set for 3 minutes and how it is so easy to clean up if you then set a large bowl of water in there for 3 minutes and then wipe out! Also, eggs really should not be cooked on the asphalt- but he beat me there because the egg did cook although it was not edible

Jon also learned about ring around the bathtub. We looked at some under the microscope and saw epidermal cells and other things. Now he knows all about skin and all the layers and what is contained in each layer.

We also learned how high mommy can jump when daddy sneaks up behind her in his trooper car and bumps the siren- all the neighbors that I was talking to found out how high I can jump also. I am so happy I made their day......

We had PE at the pool and Jon learned to float on his back and do the backstroke. Now we can alternate laps with crawl, butterfly, side and back strokes.

Jon was adamant about not wanting to write with a pencil today. He wrote a line and I could not read one letter. His fine motor control was out of control. I will mention that to the doctor in our next appointment.

One thing I don't understand is this: Jon is on such a low dose of focalin 10mg in the AM and 5 at noon that his appetite really is not affected very much. But the meds are working. I am NOT complaining- I hope he always can stay on a low dose but I wonder why this is working now.

Tomorrow, his math lesson is already prepared, he will have Spanish and French, we will learn to make change and pay for items at stores and he will read a Mudge Book.

Yme,

I sent you the dugeon comment. I am not always sure how to take your comments.

It was one of the most common comments I got when I homeschooled my daughter 10 years ago. We were very busy and out and about in the city we live in. We visited libraries, museums and parks.  My daughter and son, like most homeschooled children, interact with larger variety of age groups that most children in public schools do.

The 4 hours are plenty of time. My son and I are cut from the same piece of cloth, we are both ADHD. We have days when we take 4 hours and days when we take longer. We have days when we have a battle of wills. At the beginning of school and after breaks are when we have the most problems getting back on track. I also gave him the option of doing his school 4 days a week. If he completes all his work on thursday afternoon, then he get Friday off. That has proved to be a great motivator. It also gives us days to use for doctors appointments. The best thing about homeschooling is no homework and those night time battles.

Homeschooling here in Florida is very diverse. Some of the options you have are doing it by yourself, joining a group or being part of what is called a 509 school. The 509s are schools are run by the parents, you pay dues to support an administration that guides the curriculm, assigns teaching assignments to the parents and they handle all the testing and documentation required by the state.

The state also has 5 different ways to measure progress, we have many options.

Randy--We loved the Henry and Mudge books. "The Long Weekend" and "The  Careful Cousin" were two of my favorites

reruho39576.8796875Guys I have a question about homeschooling, jd is homebound which you all know, but the school sends a teacher to met us at the library twice a week for two hrs each day. Dont worry I also homeschool him for more time than that. He also has the Elemantary school success deluxe 2008. We do field trips as well, we do online vocabulary, he reads my medical books all the time. He knows multiplication, division, fractions, graphing, he loves art. We go to the ymca for pe. In science he built a volcano, very fun btw. He loves geography and history,(he doesn't get that from me, lol). He does a lot of work in all subjects. He is very bright, in first grade his IQ score was 137. I can only imagine what it is now. But now that he is not an any meds his homebound teacher said that her boss said that since he cant calm down to do his work that he no longer has to do any work since he is so far advanced for his age. I am not sure that I agree with this. Should I let him take a break since he is having so much other things going on or should I make him still do work. Which I will admit is like pulling teeth. It even causes him to have meltdowns. Where he says he is so dumb, that he hates himself, on and on. I am just not sure what to do. I dont want him to get completely maniac again, but I dont want him to think that he can use this as a new crutch. Any advice???lethy proud mom39577.2578472222

Hi,  I just wanted to weigh in, as someone who was homeschooled as a child.  I've known lots of families who have had great success.  These families had one parent, usually mom, who was home with the kids and could devote a lot of time to planning and preparing lessons and outings in addition to the time spent on teaching and school work with the kids.  They also were highly involved in home-schooling groups and various other activities/classes and were around other children almost daily.

My own situation was different.  My mother had to get a job after she and my father divorced.  My sis and I went to public school for several years until my mothe decided that she was going to homeschool us again.  She was with us a few hours a day, but it still left myself, at 15, and my sis (9) home alone for many hours.  The school work was never a problem, but the isolation was.  I'm the first to admit that the education itself was superior, but my mothers lack of ability to be with us and devote the nessecary time made it a a very bad situation with even worse results.  I won't go into all the gory details, but if anyone really wants to know just ask- I'm more than willing to share.   

The other thing I wanted to add was about cost.  I know the curiculum can be had for under 0, but you also have to factor in all the other costs.  Educational outings, science materials, books (many can be found at the library, but not all), art supplies, ect.  My mother used a curriculum coordinator when we were young- it cost 0/yr. 20 years ago- I can't imagine what it must cost now- but it was this woman who held me up to an exceedingly high standard and coordinated all the class for kids older than 10 so it was well worth the money.   

Randy, please know that I never meant to suggest that you weren't capable, and I appreciate your response.  (I hope you meant what you said, as I sometimes come off as a know it all, which isn't my intention!)

Every child is different and every parent is different.  Since my son is already 13, sasses me, and there is no chance that I could stay home due to finances, home schooling for those and many other reasons wouldn't work for us.
Although I took advanced math in college-it was hard as hell and can't imagine attempting to teach something that I barely understood myself. 
To whomever said "kids aren't locked in a dungeon"---I kinda knew that if you were sending that my way.
Good luck to you all in every endeavor you take for "our kids."

 As a mom who homeschooled for a short while, I'd like to chime in on this subject.

Homeschooling can be great. You can get so much more done in a shorter day than traditional school can cover. You can really craft your curriculum to your child's interests. You can cover so many subjects, all while talking about the one thing your child loves, such as fishing. BUT homeschooling requires diligence on the part of the parent. A worksheet done while mom does the laundry isn't the same thing as being in a classroom with discussion and board work. It takes a real commitment and some education on the part of the parent about how children learn. Just because they read about something one day or did one worksheet about something doesn't mean that they've learned it. After all, none of us learn a second language in a day. I mean, most lessons take a bit of rote or reiteration.

As for the advanced classes, in my state homeschooled children have the option of attending school for any class that their parents don't feel confident about teaching. My son loves art and since the school had more material resources than we had, he went to school for that. Lots of homeschool parents don't like this option, though, because then the school schedule has some control over the homeschooling. I know a boy who went to school for phy ed, recess, and lunch! His mom was more than happy to follow their schedule because it gave the day structure.

Anyway, good luck with your homeschooling, randyjim. Unless I'm mistaken, it's a pretty new thing for you all, since Jon's time at the hospital in Miami. From your posts it looks like you all have dabbled in many subjects in that time. I would caution you that mastery takes time.

BPQW39576.3599884259

Hi Tina: I'm so glad you found something that is useful to you. When my children are older I may do the online schooling. Great tools are great to share!

Randy

Homeschooled children are not locked in a dugeon away from away from the world. They actually are more mature than most kids in public school. They tend to interact with many people through their many activities. Many homeschooling parents join groups which plan activities for the kids and parents. The local parent group here has a 3 day convention, complete with classes and a vendor fair, each year during the summer.

In Florida we have something called the Florida Virtual School. It is available to students to do coursework online with certified teachers. And in the county I live in, the city provides free PE for homeschoolers at the local communiy centers.

My son is actually getting more done in 4 hours that he did in a full day at public school. Our public school day is 6.5 hours long. Here in our local elementary school they do 90 minutes of literacy, 60 minutes of writing, and 60 minutes of math everyday. Two bathroom breaks, lunch, and transit time take up about 90 minutes, which leaves 90 minutes a day to do everything else. Yes, that means science, history, library, music, art, or PE. 

My son does work in 8 subjects daily. I know if my son understands the lesson in 15 minutes and we don't have to spend 60-90 minutes working on a topic. English is divided into me topics--reading comprehension, grammar, and writing. We also cover science, history, geography, spelling and typing. We do art projects and go on field trips. I make sure he gets outside to burn off his energy everyday. This was not happening in the public school. We have done all of 6th grade in 7 months and going 4 days a week.

When my daughter was in middle school, we did courses on Shakespeare, World Religions, Geometry, Medievel History through Literature and Jazzercize for PE. Not only did my daughter learn something, so did I.

 

 

 

randyjim,

What is the process to withdraw your child from school and start home-schooling?  My son is in 7th grade and is "failing" every class but one.  Mind you, this is due to missing assignments - he is all A's in quizzes and classwork, and his Math and Science teachers have acknowledged that he's one of the brightest students they ever taught.

I would love to home-school him.  However, both his dad and I work full-time... I'm just thinking, if I changed my hours around at work I could easily spend 3-4 hours a day with him... would this be enough?  What are the qualifications one has to meet to be approved to home-school?

Any information would be great... Thanks! 

Tina,

This isn't my business, but I worry about home schooling in so much that the kids are now alone.  What about interaction with other kids?  I also doubt that 3-4 hours a day would be enough.  Are you going to teach a foreign language?  Calculus-(kids are doing much higher math than we did)? PE?  I really understand how some people need home schooling, but as someone who has thought it through myself, I can't give my son the expertise of every subject, not to mention the fact that our kids tend to not respect us when they are being told what to do at times, and I would think adding the role of "teacher" to our resume would make that more so. 
What about trying some of the things we discussed on the board regarding doing things electronically?  I plan on taking his books and chapter by chapter (in math for example) scanning them, keeping a digital copy so that the "I left my book at school" excuse no longer matters.  In addition, what about using email?  Meaning once he has done an assignment, scanning it and attaching it to an email-sending it to perhaps his teacher directly?
Try to think outside the box.  If you do part of the work, and allow the school to do part, you might just get there.
P.S. My child also is getting A's and B's on tests and classwork-while receiving F's and D's on homework---we are in the same shoes!  He got 2 D's on his report card last quarter.  I think if we keep stroking their egos with what they got in the knowledge part of the class while downplaying the "losing things" part-it might help their self esteem as well.
Just some thoughts.  Good luck to you.

Dear Tina,

http://www.hslda.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1 is the url for a website that can give you a lot of information about homeschooling and the requirements for each state. In Florida, all I need to do is notify the superintendent of schools of my intention to homeschool and give the names and birthdates of my children and my home address. That is all I am required to do right now. There are other areas that I need to address, but that will come later. This has been such freedom for me and a positive experience for Jon. Some homeschoolers only work 3 or 4 hours a day and some work more. I believe there is information for working parents who wish to homeschool.

Dear YMe: My children will not be 'alone'. Most all homeschoolers join a local homeschooling network. Ours meets once a week for a day of school with other homeschoolers. This year the subjects have been: drama, art, music. Plus- homeschoolers can play sports in the public schools and there are many homeschool teams. I am not worried about teaching my children calculus or anything else. There are so many curriculums out there and I can choose the best for my children. This coming year I am choosing to use one called Accelerated Christian Education or ACES. The children have paces to complete in a variety of subjects. There are 10-15 or so paces per subject per year and the children go at their own pace. The paces are 20 pages more or less and the children learn and advance by mastery. They need an 85 (I think) before they can go to the next pace. I am not saying homeschooling is for everyone but it is a wonderful choice for ADHD as there are curriculae out there specifically for children with differing abilities.

Randyjim,

I wasn't addressing you, but in response: there is a HUGE difference between being with kids their own age daily and mom/dad all day--(even seeing kids one day a week vs. weekdays alone is a HUGE difference.)  Also, "choosing" to not teach calculus due to the "availability of many curriculum choices" sounds to me like either you don't know calculus, or don't think that your child will need to know it. 
I am fairly certain (?) that Tina and my son are older (perhaps I am mixing her up with another mother on the forum, if so, I am sorry!) and quite frankly, if our kids want any hope of going to college, they need to be on par with what their peers are expected to know--which is FAR more than what we were expected to know!
And again, quite frankly, unless you own a family business, or have some passion or skill that can BOTH be turned into a "living" and know that it won't "go away" in the future due to a change in the way things are done-college is mandatory at this point if one wants to earn a living in the future.  The job market is bad and even if it gets better there is always potential for a return to bad-or even worse off than we are now!  I want to make sure my son has every opportunity.  NOT JUST FOR BETTER SELF ESTEEM WHICH IS NO DOUBT THE HIGHEST REWARD YOU HAVE SEEN SO FAR.  Better self esteem can come in more ways than one.

As I previously stated-there are some kids that need home schooling.  I just don't happen to think that due to the inability to complete or to remember assignments our kids should change their whole world as they know it.  If our kids are getting above average in knowledge (tests/classwork) yet below in homework (keeping things in bag, not losing them or forgetting them) they are smart enough to adapt and flurish--if we are smart enough to give them an alternative to adapt to.

Just one person's opinion.

Hi again, YMe. I always love hearing your opinions and suggestions. You have helped me immensely.

Homeschooled students have won the national spelling bee 8 out of the last 10 years. The average SAT for a homeschooled student is over 1400 as opposed to under 1000 for public schooled students.

So many people think that homeschoolers don't get enough socialization because they are not in a class of 25 or more students per day. Most homeschoolers are more assured in social activies and meet and play with others their age every day. On my street alone there are at least 4 homeschooling families. Team work in sports, church groups, playgroups etc and playing with neighborhood children are also ways that homeschooled children socialize.

My son is 8 so he doesn't need calculus now. But he is learning physics, algebra, has memorized most of his multiplication tables (which he could not do in school), written stories, is reading better and will be doing community work in the next month. my son is learning Chinese, French and Spanish. He can ask for chopsticks in Chinese in a Chinese restaurant, count, knows several of the word pictures, can read a story in French and know what it means, and can speak simple Spanish. These are things I was teaching him anyway. I learn as he learns. It is so much fun.

As far as my being a mommy and a teacher- I want to tell you what Jon said to me today: "Mom, you really have changed this week. You are so great now." Music to a mother's ears.

Do I ever have doubts if I can do it? Of course. Are some days going to be washouts? Certainly. But we have a plan and are taking it one day at a time. BTW- my homeschool is 6 days a week. Field trips on Fridays and a paper on Saturday morning with the who, why, what, when and where of our field trip.

Randy

Hi Yme!,

I appreciate your concern... so, no worries about being in my business, ever.  After all, isn't this kind of feedback we're here for? 

I did consider some of the points you made... as far as socializing is concerned, the time he spends with his best friend (and not-so best friends) is not at school, but at (mostly) our home.  We have boys sleep over, take them to the movies or bowling, or just let them play in the yard or their beloved video games - all on the weekends.  He also has friends through his "Young Heroes" program, where he spends three Saturdays out of the month learning about social issues in the community and volunteering, along with 70 other kids (they do break up into smaller groups of 5-6 kids, lol).  He could still do all these things, and he already barely socializes in school as it is.

I'm not terribly worried about the curriculum being too hard to teach; so I would have to brush up on my math a bit, but just doing homework with him I realize that it's coming back pretty quickly... and, strangely enough, better than ever before!  I don't know if that's due to me being more mature, or him being a better teacher than the one I had...  

Languages aren't daunting in the least; both Sawyer and I are fluent in German, spoken and written (I'm German, he has spent his summer vacations at my parents' house in Germany since he was 6 years old), and I'm having a great time helping him with his French homework (I spent a year in France attending a French High School).  I also know whatever Latin I remember from school, and took Spanish lessons in the past.  Languages seem to come easily to both of us.

We're both Geography nuts (we love to travel!!!) and voracious readers.  I just gave him an Electronics kit for his 13th birthday, which I ordered through the college I work for... it is the same kit our Freshmen are taught on, and he's already made it chirp like a bird and play like an organ; all he had to do was look at the textbook it came with (it's full of weird graphs and pretty intimidating to me), and now he seems to know a great deal about how capacitors, transistors, and all sorts of wires and "gates" (?) work.  Again, this is college-level stuff!

When he was 11 and came to work with me one day I let him take our Admission test... basically to keep him busy.  He scored higher than 70% of the HS graduates!  I'm worried that the endless repetitions and "failures" at school will turn him off to learning altogether... that's why I'm considering the home-schooling option.

But, well, I don't know how the process works, and it could still turn out to be a bad idea... I guess that's why I'm asking questions... 

randyjim,

WOW!!!!!  I just followed your link (THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!!), and eventually got to this website:  http://www.globalstudentnetwork.com/homeschool/index.php

I am so excited, I think this is EXACTLY what I was looking for!  At first I was sceptical, because I figured the tuition would be thousand of dollars a year (like the private schools I looked into), and looked through the information cautiously hopeful... I really liked what I saw, and then, with lots of trepidation, clicked on the "Tuition" link...

Well, I couldn't believe my eyes...  5 per YEAR!!!  And this includes all the coursework you need, and lets your child learn at their own pace (i.e., if Sawyer completes 8th grade in 6 months instead of 12, he can go right on up to the 9th grade curriculum and continue, at no extra cost!!!!).  I just love it!!!

I'm going to investigate this further... talk with my employer about flexible hours, etc... boy, I can't believe this was an option all along, and I HAD NO IDEA!!! 

randyjim, thanks for your posts today... I think I may owe you a cake or something...  

I'll keep you posted! 

Sounds like you are making great progress.  Keep up the good work!