Homeschooling the dawdling, impulsive, insomniac child

[Mom2Monkeys]

Any tips? Need some to prepare for this fall... DD will be 10, 5th grade, in PHFHG. She is a dawdler, and is capable of doing CTC academically, but she's not ready for that level of independence. She gets a quick thought, and runs with it, totally forgetting she has school sitting in front of her to do. No discipline has worked, nor positive reinforcement. We've put a desk in her room so there are no distractions, and that hasn't helped. She has major impulsivity, so much so that it affects her and us in many ways (including making friends and relating with others). She must take melatonin to sleep, or she'll be up most of the night restlessly laying in bed, or exercising her impulsivity to get into the kitchen cabinets for off-limits snacks! (spoonful of sugar, anyone?). She is seeing a psychologist now, and he suggested meds to help along with some tactics to use, but they mostly apply to non-christian, public school kids. I need better insight than that!
This also affects her ability to get along with siblings and neighborhood kids, she is excluded from most of the after-school fun outside on our street, and she has a huge issue doing her chores in a timely manner, doing them correctly, or doing them at all. It totally affects my mood, and I am to the point of easily being angered by her and losing my cool. We have been working on the same few chores for well over a year, trying to train her to do them well. If I doing tell her step by step, she "can't" do it. Same for showering-- she'll get out after I have to come tell her and she may not have even wet her hair yet-- half an hour after getting in. Toileting...she can't remember to flush and wash. She doesn't seem to be able to follow commands with more than one step. She also seems to have some auditory/sensory processing issues. She does have mild hearing loss, but no longer needs a hearing aid! (yay God!) I need help though, b/c I want peace in my home. He impulsiveness is making her brothers dislike her...she doesn't think through her actions, words, or anything. Just ACTS and generally doesn't regret it. Baffles me.

[blessedwith2]

Tamara,

I'm sure the ladies here will have some excellent tips for you. HOD is a GREAT program to be flexible with in terms of adapting it to fit a child's specific needs, while ensuring she makes steady progress as she grows closer to God through her homeschooling experience! The way the lesson plans are broken up into boxes makes it so easy to take "movement breaks" between subjects in order to provide the sensory activities your dd needs to help her to focus her attention more effectively.

I'll keep you in prayer as you seek the right fit for your dd's schedule of academic and sensory activities in order to increase her feelings of success throughout her day. God has placed her with you for a reason...you are the best mom for her and He promises to give you wisdom and patience when you ask for it! Take everything one day at a a time and start every day asking God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, in order to show patience with your dd (and yourself). (I'm speaking from experience as this is what has worked here with VERY similar issues!)

Try using a visual schedule and be consistent with it as she learns what is expected of her and gets trained by you in new habits. Looking forward to hearing about your successes in the upcoming year! God bless!

Delia