One of my colleagues has an ADHD son with some other medical conditions. Usually I'm not an advocate for home schooling, but this child just keeps regressing in public school because of his disruptive behavior issues. Has anyone seen a successful online home school program that parents/childcare providers can easily monitor?
I don't have an opinion about a particular homeschool curriculum. My advice is for the parents to pick whichever one they want for the academics and then join a (good) local homeschool association. A good association can provide things from resources to social networking opportunities. They offer sports teams and band practice among other things--some have cooperative learning groups or offer used resources at a discounted rate. Sometimes it just helps to know other people who are going through the same thing. The parents can still control their amount of involvement too. There is also some measure of accountability there so the parents and child more easily "stay the course."
I am an ex-social worker and too readily remember cases where the intention was good and the cause justified but the child and parents got sidetracked and the child learned nothing of signifigance and fell hopelessly behind. Good luck to your friends.
Last edited by Lottalove; 05-20-2008 at 01:26 PM..
I was homeschooled from 4th to 12th grade and my parents have always homeschooled my sister (now in 11th grade), so I do have some experience.
I'm not sure there is an online homeschooling program. The essence of homeschooling is that the parents actually teach the children using resources that they order from publishing companies.
Your colleague may have trouble finding resources without a blatantly Christian message - I don't know if that's a problem for your colleague or not - just saying. Most of the curriculum I know about comes from Christian publishers. There is high-quality curriculum out there, but it does require a lot of work from the parents in order to ensure that learning is taking place.
A Beka Books (Pensacola, FL) does produce a "video school," which consists of DVDs of classes filmed at their academy. This is for junior high and high school, though. A Beka produces textbooks for all grades, but again, your colleague would definitely deal with a quite conservative perspective, not to mention a traditional/behaviorist approach to learning.
I believe Saxon Math still produces material for homeschoolers, and I'm not sure of the level of religious influence there. I've heard that they have high quality materials, but I'm not that familiar with them.
I hope I helped - I'm not really a homeschooling advocate either, though I came from that background - a lot depends on the individual situation. Hopefully your colleague can find something that works for the child.
Thank you. There are a few online tutorials that help the students with programs and prints out a report for parents that gives them an idea of what they need to continue working on 1 on 1 with the child. It's just a very tough situation
Try www.k12.com. I think it might be considered a charter school, but it is like homeschooling because kids do it online with the paents' support. I know some people that use it with their kids and love the flexibility. I am actually very pro-homeschooling because I am very dissastisfied with the way education is going, especially in Nevada. I hope you find an answer for your friend.
I work at a private school that caters to ESE kids. We have several students on a "modified" schedule in which they pick up their assignments biweekly and complete the work at home with the assistance of a parent. Some kids are on this due to behavior problems, severe ADHD, etc. while other do it so they can work during the day as many of our high schoolers are bearing the responsibility of supporting their families. This works out well for most of them. We offer tutoring services after school, so if they are struggling with a concept and need teacher help, they can come in at their convience to get the help. Perhaps your friend could find a school in your area that has a similar program?
PS -- the state in which I live offers scholarships to students with an IEP to go to a private school and to pay for other services (Speech, PT, OT, etc), maybe your state has a similar program to help offset the cost?
I believe that the videos are now available for all grades. A friend who uses them with a younger student says it seems like a classroom where the child is just one of several kids in the class.
a friend of mine pulled her boys out in 4th and 6th grades due to a medical condition the older child had that required them to travel quite frequently. She used the homeschool program through Calvert School. They do an assessment test and then base the curriculum around the results. The program is expensive, but they use textbooks and give you play-by-play lesson plans. It really is a very nice, complete program. If I were to homeschool without an education degree, it is most definitely the program I would use!
Actually, I think homeschooling might be a good one-on-one type of option for such a child. However, especially if the "H" part of the ADHD is prominent, I don't think an A Beka or other textbook based or video-based program is best. That kid needs to WIGGLE. Something more hands-on would probably produce better results. It might SEEM a little less organized and would require more from mom than opening a book, but it would probably let him learn better.
For such a wiggly, misbehaving child, I'd recommend a hands-on program like:
The Weaver
KONOS
My Father's World
There are others too. These are the ones I am aware of. They are Christian. Don't know if that's a problem.
If the child is really an "auditory" learner, Diana Waring (do a search) has history tapes and "Lyrical Life Science" (and Lyrical Earth Science) are some science programs.
Other good programs for wigglers would be:
Math U See (hands-on and short lessons)
Apologia Elementary Science (lots of projects)
A kid like this needs to wiggle and not sit in front of an A Beka video.
05-20-2008, 08:36 AM
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