Need Advice on Starting HOD

[dianemahon]

Hi everyone, I will be a first time user of HOD. I have 3 children, all adopted as a sibling group 5 yrs. ago. This will be my fourth year home schooling, on the advice of therapists who told us not to worry about the academics, but to nurture and heal our children. We have poured our hearts and souls into that, and feel like we are finally in a place where I can push them more academically this coming year, but they all have learning difficulties and challenges, and are pretty far behind their chronological ages. Without getting into everything, I'm hoping to get some advice on how to proceed in our circumstances. I have studied the program selection chart (ad nauseum) and am certain PHFHG is right for my 12 y.o. daughter. The problem lies in the younger two (both boys) and what to do with them.

My 9 y.o. son, although he is highly intelligent, is ADHD and dyslexic and struggles with reading so much, he actually received services from a public school special ed dept. 13 hours a week (I was only responsible for History and Science about 2 days of the week when he was home with us. I read everything to him and modified any writing to make it easier for him). I am assuming he will get as many hours this year, at least until his IEP review in November. He could keep up with the content of Preparing as long as I read it to him, but he will not be home obviously for a lot of it.

My youngest, at 7, is also very bright, but very immature (behaving more like a toddler most of the time still) and emerging as a reader. Getting him to do much of anything school-wise has been difficult. He was recently diagnosed ADHD, among other things (he's on the autism spectrum, but not autistic). I'm not concerned about pushing him through a full curriculum when he clearly is not ready. But perhaps I am wrong...surprisingly, when I read 3rd/4th grade books to them and I was certain he wasn't even listening, he could spit back almost exactly what I had read.

Because of these nuances, I have always taught them using a Charlotte Mason style, unit study approach reading good literature to them together and then doing work all on the same "topic" at their level. This has been very family nurturing, and efficient and I was hoping to do somewhat of a similar thing with HOD, however, now I'm reading on the board, and also have been advised by Mike that might not be the best thing. Could those of you with experience lend me some advice on how I might proceed? Do I need to buy a program for each child? Not knowing how it all plays out day to day yet, Idk if I would be able to successfully get through them with each if they are all different. Help! And thank you so much!

Diane

[psreit]

Diane,
Welcome to HOD. I won't be much help in answering your questions, but I wanted to let you know that you are not alone here when it comes to dealing w/ special needs children. My 9yo dd was adopted 6 years ago, and although she was young enough that she didn't understand what was going on, she did suffer some emotional effects as a result of her beginning. On top of that, we are dealing with CP, which has weakened her one side, eye tracking and visual perceptual and spatial processing problems. She has not been officially diagnosed, but she does have major struggles in the area of math, is an emerging reader, but resists reading independently because of eye tracking frustrations. She has very good reading comprehension, but I know it will be a while before she reads independently. She's very weak in her spelling skills, so she cannot do any amount of writing without my assistance.

We are just beginning Bigger in August, and I plan to do an average of 3 days a week. That way we have time to catch up on things we didn't finish in those three days, and also have an extra day for other activities. Maybe you could do something like that with your 9yo, since he will not be home all the time. Some do half speed, which is left side one day, right side the next, but do math everyday. As far as which guide(s) to use, have you looked at the placement chart? Given the situation with both of them, you could easily combine them in Beyond, and just put them in their own level of math. It doesn't sound like the youngest would be ready for Bigger, so that would be the only way to combine IMO. I think Preparing would be too advanced, and since Bigger is transitioning to a broader skill level, especially in writing, Beyond would give them time to mature before heading into that. You should not combine them with your daughter. It sounds like she is definitely more advanced. Combining the boys would at least keep you from going to 3 guides. Just an idea. I'm sure others who HAVE combined may have better advice. HOD is a wonderful program. Praying you will get it worked out.

[lmercon]

Because you said that your middle boy will be away much of the week, I think I would try to combine them in a lower level program so that you can really work on those foundational skills. Have you considered Beyond for them? It is a very gentle program that doesn't take long to complete. It might be a bit below your 9 yo, but it is easier to add a few things in for him rather than try to "water down" a higher program for your 7 yo. Beyond is a highly engaging program that I'm sure would keep your 7 yo's attention, especially if you build in a break time or two. Another option, which would require using three programs, would be to place your 7 yo in LHFHG, which takes very little time to implement, and put your 9 yo in Bigger, which may be a little closer to his skill level. A third option would be to combine your 9 yo and 12 yo in Preparing. I used Preparing with my 9 yo ds, and it was a perfect fit. You might just need to cut back on his requirements.

Just as an aside, my ds is severely dyslexic, and HOD is working beautifully for him. We need to take more time to complete the program, but that's fine with us.

Blessings,
Laura

[dianemahon]

Thanks for the advice. Just curious what you have used to teach your ds to read?

[dianemahon]

Thanks Pam, that actually was a help, I am going to thoughtfully consider what to do with my 7 yo apart from Preparing, and whether to try HOD or focus mostly on phonics/reading and math since its so hard to keep his attention.