Homeschooling parents

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I have decided to give homeschooling another try. The public schools here suck really really hard, and my husband is against paying for a private school, so that leaves me with homeschooling. I think homeschooling is a great idea in theory, but I had a really hard time last fall for the 6 weeks I tried it w/ my 7 year old. He just refused to do anything. I think the problem was that he needs a set schedule and more structure. I'm too scatter-brained to figure all that out on my own (especially since his baby brother was under a year old--that at least will be better next year), so I'm looking at curricula. I was just wondering if any other homeschooling aspie parents would like to share ideas w/ me. What curricula do you use, how do you schedule, etc? I really appreciate it. Right now I'm looking at the Calvert School since they pretty much do everything for you. But I don't really know anyone who's used it, so I'm worried about it being worth the high price. Thanks for any thoughts.

Wendy

Some kids need to "de-school" for a while if they have begun to see learning as negative because of their experiences. So for those kids sometimes it is better to just let them unwind and not be so regimemented. If they have an obsession then maybe go with that and try some unit studies around that. Your son is young enough where he can learn the basics from a variety of methods. And some kids learn more naturally from real books (instead of workbooks). Also - some kids peak at different times of day - some are not morning people and therefore trying to force that is not productive. If they have a specific time when they are more focused then you might be able to get much more done in a shorter time.

One thing I used as a guideline was "Everything Your ____ grader Needs to Know", it's a franchise of books for all the grades. It's a comprehensive book that includes lessons, recommended readings and sample exercises. The only thing it didn'thave was spelling tests. It's also geared for age-grade appropriate learning styles, so you'll have to augment if your child is above and below his grade level in certain studies-as most autistics are.
Another thing I did was acquainted myself with class schedules and arrange our days according to that. I mean, there must be a reason why reading is first, then math, writing, lunch, quiet story and then science. So, I conducted class in order every day.
Look at why "public schools" suck. I think the main problem (outside of your child's particular needs not being met) for all schools is the amount of waiting child do-for no reason other than that's how it works. They must sit still, get along with people they don't know and wait in lines.
The convenience of homeschool is that your child can get tailored instruction at his pace. You can then concentrate on strong subjects, but piecemeal the harder ones.
Another factor (in why public schools suck) is that they think all kids need to know how to master the same skills. Handwriting, creative writing, art are things that can be hard for autistic kids and frustrating and unnecessary.
We did spelling, writing and reading comprehension on the computer and in workbooks.
Sometimes I snuck in writing assignments for science, he never knew the difference.
There are some online reading sites (starfall.com) but they stop at 1st grade level. There are excellent math sites.

I am very disorganized too and following a condensed school schedule helps a lot and provides a realistic day for your child. I also stressed that the same rules apply, he could watch tv but no video games before school, we started and ended the same time everyday. Outings were field trips (with reports afterwards).

I bought all of my equipment at a teacher's supply store and kept a journal of Pop's progress, with troubleshooting tips for future reference.

I was very unschoolish with my son for 4 years, every once in awhile I would grab my books and "make him" do something, usually with dreadful results! He is 12 and just went back this year, he is having his strongest year acedemically yet! It is amazing how quickly they cover ground if they ever go back, it makes you wonder what their poor peers where subjected to and why all those years!

There are a number of people who believe that a childs formal education should not begin until they are 10-12 years old (if ever) and that all learning up that point should be through play. Children are naturally curious about their environment and the world, they don't need worksheets cramed down their throats to learns something! (now some children like worksheets, and some parents find them very helpful, I am not saying they don't have a place, but overloading a 7 year old in paperwork just does not work for all children! )

One thing I did though was a lot of hands on activities. We did a lot of science experiments, we discussed a lot of things, we went to museums just to "look". We read out loud every day (only books he liked) and we did a lot of hands on math, almost no workbook like stuff!

A lot of homeschooling does not have to mean "school at home", being at home you have a lot more options open up to you! One thing I would look into is Box Cars and One Eyed Jacks. It is a fabulous program for hands on math learned through "games". A lot of homeschoolers only use this style of math instruction right up to grade 9! My son has always loved it when I used these games!

Here is a link if you want to check this out!
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson ... cars.shtml

I definately found getting away from the book learning and to a hands on format was extremely benificial! Not only was my son able to learn the content and did not fight it all tooth and nail, but it also taught him to ask questions and developed his oral conversation skills! It is highly interactive with people, which aspie children really need! He still acedemically struggles in school (always did, part of the reason for the decision to HS) but the school is blown away with his general knowledge and oral presentation skills!

I think you should find some community too for homeschooling, a group that will take you under their wing and walk you through the early days, even if it is just online! I once had a nice lady clear across the country send me cube links because she thought they would help! Of course, if you have any questions, feel free to PM me, or even just post here, as a number of us have some idea as to what you are going through!

Good luck!

Welcome to the world of homeschooling an aspie kid! I am a woman who said I would never in a million years homeschool my son and last year because the public schools are so awful (for a lot of different reasons) we pulled him out (he was in 3rd grade) and took the plunge.

I think it's the best decision we have made so far for our son. The freedom we have with homeschool is indescribable. My son has AS, is gifted and self-diagnosed by me! has a NLD. Quite a combination and not one our public schools know how to handle.

At first I tried to be really structured because I thought that's what my son would want - he's got Aspergers right? But through much trial and error he didn't care about the structure so much as long as we did something. After he "got" the whole concept of homeschooling he also relaxed a little and realized that homeschooling didn't have to be sitting at the dining room table doing worksheets.

I have spent countless hours online looking at websites about homeschooling, about homeschooling kids with Aspergers, etc. THis first year was basically "unschooling" or deschooling - getting my son to not see learning as a stressful chore (which is what public school made it for him).

I did not go out and purchase a whole curriculum - I read too many things that said that's probably not a good idea at first. I did purchase the SIngapore Math books for his grade level because I read on some website that it might be good for some kids with special needs - pages aren't cluttered, etc. It was just ok and my son seemed impatient with it - too much repetition. But that's the good thing about homeschooling - if they already get the concept you can skip pages and move on. I've used a combin

If you haven't already done it, you have to figure out (on your own or there are books and websites that can help) how your son learns- how your son likes to learn - does he need to move around while he's doing something - does he need visuals, etc...very important when figuring out what to purchase.

My advice is never ever pay full price for a curriculum or book, etc. There are so many great websites (ebay is good too ) to buy homeschool materials from. The best catalog (IMHO) is
www.rainbowresource.com - they will send you a huge catalog (for free) It will intimidate you when you get it -but if you take the time to go through it- it is worth it.

There is a website that reviews different curriculums www.homeschoolreviews.com. I'm pretty sure the Calvert school will be on it.

I could write pages on this subject -I'll just stop before I get out of control. If you have a specific question I would be more than happy to help!

I already know unschooling isn't going to work for us. This is basically what I attempted last year. All he wanted to do all day was whine he was bored and beg to play video games. He would do some math workbooks on his own, but that's it.

My son is also gifted and has NLD. I already knew these things going into the public school and I told the principal before she placed him. She put him into the worse possible 2nd grade class. Then moved him back a grade. It took the school until March to do the testing I had requested in October. THe testing found that he has a superior range verbal IQ and below average processing IQ. This points towards the NLD, of course, but they claimed that there was no learning disability b/c it averaged out to being above average. It also found that he is reading at a 7th grade level and doing math at a 5th grade level (I might have those backwards. He's truly a genius in math.) So I was pretty pissed when they still claimed that he has NO learning disability and it was absolutely the right thing to send him back to first grade after a few months in 2nd. His only problem in 2nd grade was that he couldn't do the work quickly enough. The biggest thing his teacher stressed was that he was getting 50%'s on his (timed) math tests. She claimed he wasn't ready for the workload and wasn't capable of doing the 2nd grade work. She didn't know what to say when I pointed out that yes, he got 50% on the math test, but did she notice he got only 50% of the questions DONE and that 100% of THOSE were correct. She was an idiot. And they claim that their school is one of the best elementaries in the country. HA!

We are not Christian and I'm tired of wading through all of the religious curricula. I just want a GOOD secular curriculum.

Your son sounds a lot like mine. He can read at a high school level and he can math problems in his head that I need a calculator for. He does throw a fit with any grammar or writing. We struggle with it but he is getting very good learning how to type (so we avoid the writing tantrums) and can put together a decent sentence.
I have never purchased an entire curriculum because I know my son. I would spend hundreds of dollars on one and then he would balk at some feature and not like it and then I would get ticked off because of the wasted money. So far, we have put together learning from our set of (used) encyclopedias, inexpensive workbooks, many internet sites, many library books, field trips, fun stuff around the house (my son likes to cook) My son is a voracious reader so I am very lucky in that he will get a book on a certain subject and read it and then just know it.

You say you want a "good" curriculum. They're out there but the problem is there are so many you have to wade through all the choices and it does take time. What's right for someone else might not be a good fit for you son.
Good luck !

Like I suggested, What Your First Grader Needs to Know is good for a springboard. But you will need to shop for augmentive materials at a teacher supply shop.

Just so that you know, NLD and Aspergers are not co morbid, meaning they don't exist together. However the symptoms of NLD are usually found in those who have Aspergers. As much as 80% of the asperger population could be DX'ed with NLD. Some people even contend that AS is not Autism, but a form of NLD, or that NLD is actually another form of Autism! Basically, if you have an aspie kid, there is a very high probability that they will have enough NLD symptoms to get a DX for it if you ignore the additional symptoms of AS, like obsessions. So, if a doctor is checking off symptoms in a meeting for NLD, but does not ask any AS questions, then they very well may make a DX for NLD!

You can't average out the Verbal IQ and the Performance IQ! The gap in itself shows there may be a learning disability! You need a second opinion! Even if you could maybe just a second opinion in processing the raw scores! Also, people with AS tend to have high VIQ and low PIQ, a result like this can mean many things, LD's, NLD, or AS.

Now, to me the high VIQ indicates that he may have a problem completing pen and paper tasks and need more creative or alternative programing for school. Getting any 7 year old at home to sit down and "hit the books" is very challenging, let alone one that has an NLD or AS. Additionally, AS children tend to want to focus on their interests, things that don't interest them are hard to get them to do. Finding answers to how to teach your son will probably have to do with giving him sufficient time to study his "interests" everyday.

If you want structure, that still means you don't have to follow a set cirriculum unless your area demands you do. Even then you can look to modify things to a way that keeps his interest, but expect to be very hands on with it all, you may not be able to walk away from the activity and have to keep him engaged for much of the day with you. I know I did with my son, and a lot of Homeschooling parents I knew did to. The fact that he can't function in a classroom very well suggests that it is the school environment that causes him to fail, recreating that at home will result in the same thing.

I think timed math tests are a joke, what does that show, that the children are good microcomputers? Even a child with a good case of ADHD is going to fail at it, not because they don't know what they are doing but because they are bored with the content! They may actually need HARDER work, not easier! I would suggest seeing if you can actually bump your son up a full grade level and see if with a little support you can get him through it! Any child who is scoring 100% shows that they are more then capable of moving ahead and are probably bored to tears with the work they are doing! You are right, you school is about as backwater filled with idiots as you can be! I still recomend the math games, as they allow a child to learn new things in a fun and engaging way. The consepts build on themselves and are appropreate right up to a grade 9 level! Even if you don't do only math games, you may find them a fun "break" or a great activity on a bad day!

Also remember that Homeschooling usually does not require the full day, often a bright kid can get through the material in only a few hours or less. Does he like art? Does he like building? Getting some good building toys or art supplies is a great way to occupy the rest of the day. Also, I know even at 7 my son loved watching documentries and educational videos. Maybe it did put him over his T.V. watching ratio in a given day, but he truely learned SO MUCH!

Honestly, I have spent a small fortune on Cirriculum, and it was a total waste of money in most cases. One exception was a program called "The Jason Project". http://www.jason.org/jason_home/home_old.htm

I highly recomend this as a basis for math and science! It is truely fantastic hands on relevant stuff! We had a blast, they have a homeschooling community, the school teachers are great, (one local to us lent us armloads of stuff) and you can buy the cirriculum as a homeschooler as much reduced prices. We did the wetlands project a few years ago. My son still references it all the time!

Otherwise, I would read with him, have him read outloud, discuss what he is reading with you, what he reads really is not that important. Have him write stories or reports about what he read or a journal. These are some of the BEST activities you can do to get your child writting, even my sons school advises it over any form of worksheet. Actually MAKE stuff, teach him how to type, how to use a computer. Those skills are invaluable in todays world, but are generally not taught in a class. Once I got the right typing tutor (one that would not laugh at my sons mistakes) he loved it! They have fun interactive games now that are very appealing to children. (We use Mavis Beacon).

Also we are using a new program called "inspirations" on the computer, it has a free 30 day trial, and I just love it to death as an organizational / reporting tool. It is highy pictoral, and a very entertaining way for a child to organize information or throw together a report! They have a simpler version for the under 10 crowd, "kidspirations" although I think you should try both, he may be able to handle the Inspirations version. They are not that expensive, and available at www.inspirations.com


Anyway, I hope that some of what I said is useful, one thing I have learned is that no two homeschoolers do things the exact same way, take what you can from everyone and go with what works with your son. When I was homeschooling, I had 2 infants 17 months apart, so I know the baby makes things "harder" too. I just want to suggest that even if you do structure his day, it does not mean you can't look at alternate teaching methods!

I just read the reading at a 7th grade level and math at the 5th grade?

I doubly recommend the Jason project if that is the case! I think too that trying to get a Gr. 2 or 3 cirriculum across the board is NOT what he needs, sure he may not be at a 5th + grade across the board, but for the areas that the is, he needs to be challenged or he is not going to do well! The Jason Project targets middleschool, however it can be adapted for the younger crowd, I think the fact he is so advanced in some areas and probably not as well developed in others make it perfect for him, as you can find the right blend of what he can do at what level!

I just gotta say, make learning fun, and he will succeed. When I took my son home at 8 years old, he was so jaded and ready to throw in the towel with school. Now he actually really enjoys most elements of learning... even in a class!

Have you considered that he may be Hyperlexic? A lot of AS kids are, some think it may be another form of high functioning Autism.

Does he have obsesisons? If you don't mind asking, what things make you think he has NLD or AS?

This is true, in fact it's one of the factors they use in diagnosing autism. Sounds like the school has motivations for keeping your son behind and without services. The "best" schools can often be the worst offenders in this sense.

There have been several discussions here about NVLD. It's thought to be an outdated, pre-AS diagnosis. I don't think all states recognize AS as a disability requiring special ed services, so NVLD is still used by educators. Just a thought.

If I have time I'll did up some threads, basically the whole "what is NLD or NLVD" question is a mess. The threads I was on discussing NLD was a different condition separate and apart from AS, as some of the key characteristics of it, like poorer motor dexterity on the left side of the body, and an inability to read maps or graphs really fly in the face of many people with AS. I think at the end of the day, you just need to be really really careful with exactly "what" label you put on your son, be it NLD or AS, and keep in mind that both can have other LD's that are co morbid! (So you can have LD's and NLD or LD's and AS).

Is there any chance you could get a referral to an autism clinic where you are? Or even just a good diagnostician?

Ok, I found a couple threads, you will see how confused I was about the whole NLD thing, and that there are a lot of people that have differing opinions on what it is all about...

http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... hlight=nld

http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... hlight=nld

I agree with this. I sort of think they're interchangable. My son DOES have obsessions, etc. He's been going to a club for local kids w/ AS and fits in very well w/ them. THere is no doubt in my mind that he has AS.

As to the poster who asked WHY I think my son has AS, can I turn it around on you? Why do you think YOUR child has AS? I have no idea where to even begin. I have AS myself, btw. I could give you whole developmental history if that's what you want.

Thanks everyone for your ideas. My reason for going w/ Calvert is because they write out the lesson plans and schedules for you. I really need that. I am very unorganized. I figure if I don't like anything about it, there's no reason to keep following their schedule, etc. I'm sure I can tweak it. And I can always buy/borrow other books to supplement. They do offer financial aid, which I am sure we'll qualify for. My husband is a grad student and I don't work, so money is definitely an issue for us. If it wasn't, ds would still be in Montessori.

Another huge problem for me is that I also have 2 younger kids, ages 3 and 1. The 1 year old is extremely needy (I think he has AS as well.) It's very hard to work one on one w/ my oldest b/c the baby needs constant attention. I had to take a break just now because he had taken off his diaper, pooped in his hand, and was trying to show everyone. Just lovely. He's 20mos old.

Was this ? to me or to Kim?

For me, there is not one single person in this state who is really qualified to diagnose AS who will take Medicaid. Not one. Our pediatrician diagnosed him, but he was very very skeptical and hesitant. He felt much better about it when our OT, who only works w/ spectrum kids, said the diagnosis was correct. For a long time my ped insisted he was just immature, etc.

There is the autism clinic Riley Children's in Indy, but their waiting list is over a year long. My husband will be graduating this fall, so hopefully we'll move somewhere where there are better services. ANd we'll surely have insurance, and even if it's not covered, we'll be much better able to afford paying out of pocket than we are now!

You're in Indiana? Get out as quickly as possible. We lived in the Carmel-Clay school district and my son was diagnosed by the Tri-Counties school place, it's in Noblesville. That was to get him in the school system. I don't know what districts will do for an older child there. Is there anything in Bloomington? or with one of the universities that can help you faster?