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I would love to see comments on what you can do for making sure you get everything you need done for a high schooler that has a special learning need or is a slow learner.

I see all theses threads on how to beef up RtR, Rev to Rev and MTMM for High School, but what if your child is in one of these guides and they are just at their level (and taking more than a year to finish the guide)? There is NO way I can beef it up for my high schooler as she can't handle all that reading! She has Expressive-Receptive Language Disorder which makes comprehension hard and narration (both written and oral) VERY difficult for her and struggles to recall even small amounts. At the beginning of this year (doing RtR for 9th grade) she could only remember WHO the passage was about....now she can sometimes remember a little bit about what the person did or where they lived (so some progress). For written narrations she is just starting to be able to take a few notes on the passage and then formulate those into a paragraph (I helped her with this for months)....again, progress for her. She will never go to college so I plan to continue to school for at least an extra year so that we can get in the WG guide. Oh we also school during the summer or it would 2 year to finish each guide!

I am am looking at the guides and trying to decide what we will be doing in the next few years to get in everything that we need to. It will also take up longer to do the guide than a year (we started in Sept 2015 and I am projecting finishing up in Nov 2016). Here in NY we need:

English – 4 units
Social Studies – 4 units
1 unit American History
½ unit Government
½ unit Economics
Math – 2 units
Science – 2 units
Art/Music – 1 unit
Health - ½ unit
Physical Education – 2 units
Electives – 3 units

I think the biggest issue is getting in the Government and Economics. If I read right, Government is included in Rev to Rev & Economics in MTMM. Will they be enough for the special needs child?

I am thinking that with WG I will also get the WH guide so that we can do the Biology, Fine arts and Health from that one. Not sure what I might need to skip in WG so that I can add that in (other than the science). The Logic might be too much for her (she is also mildly autistic). She will be done with Math so that will help. She is also interested in taking Spanish. She does love science so that is why we plan to do 4 years instead of just the 2 required ones.

Hmmm...I might have to do Health with MTMM instead of WG....that way I can have all of her requirements out of the way before that extra year (and get that letter of equivalency and not have to report to the school after that).

This is what we are doing this year:
9th Grade (this year) – Res to Ref
LA – R&S English 4; Write with the Best I; DITHOR 2/3 (1 credit)
Social Studies/History – World History (1 credit)
Math – finish Pre-Algebra, Algebra (1 credit)
Science – Astronomy & Earth Science (1 credit)
PE – 0.5 credits
Elective – Art Appreciation (0.5 credit) - She is also taking a art co-op class and learning how to paint with both watercolors and acrylics
Elective – Home Economics (0.5 credits)

Here is what I am thinking for the next 4 years (3 HS and 1 or more extra)

10th Grade – Finish Res to Ref in Nov, Rev to Rev (maybe half of it?)
LA – R&S English 4 & 5 (start 5 with Rev to Rev); WWTB & the one in Rev to Rev; DITHOR 4/5 (1 credit)
Social Studies/History – World History (1 credit)
Math – finish Algebra, Geometry (1 credit)
Science – finish Earth Science, Physical Science (1 credit)
PE – 0.5 credits
Elective – Art appreciation (.25 credits)
Elective – Music appreciation (.25 credits)
Elective – Bible (1 credit)

11th Grade – Mostly Rev to Rev, start MTMM in spring or summer
LA – R&S English 5; Writing program in Rev to Rev; DITHOR 6/7/? (1 credit)
Social Studies/History – American History (1 credit); Government (0.5 credit – add reading constitution?)
Math – finish Geometry (1 credit)
Science – Physical Science (1 credit)
PE – 0.5 credits
Elective – Music appreciation (.5 credits)
Elective – Bible (1 credit)

12th Grade - MTMM
LA – R&S English 6; WWTB II; DITHOR 6/7/? (1 credit)
Social Studies/History – American History (1 credit), Economics (0.5 credit)
Math - completed math requirements
Science – Chemistry & Biology (0.5 credit each)
PE – 0.5 credits
Health - (0.5 credit)
Elective – Bible (1 credit)
Elective - Spanish???

That should fulfill the HS requirements for NY.

Extra year-18 months?
World Geography with some electives from WH
LA – I would like to do the living Library, but do not know if we will do more than that. It will free up time to get the rest of it done. There will be plenty of writing in science and History. Maybe we will do the Literature study
Logic -Depends on if she can handle it...we might try it.
Social Studies/History – World Geography
Math – done with math requirements
Science – Biology (from World History)
Electives - Bible
Elective - World Religion & Culture
Elective – Fine Arts (from World History)
Elective – Spanish ?
Elective – Personal Finance (from American History II)

I think this guide will be a good one to finish off her schooling.

Any comments, suggestions??

I think you just progress along with her needs and her speed and not worry about what the 'requirements' are. If she were in public school, they graduate based on their level. In speaking recently with a school psychologist in the local high school special ed dept, she gave examples. The requirement is geometry--that could mean learning shapes and how to try and draw them depending on the child--that would count. If British literature was the requirement, it could be they show a map of England and pictures of Shakespeare and maybe read about him and some simplified stories about him.

Just an encouragement not to stress about these things, but to do what you want to do and what will be good for her.

Thanks Nancy. Yes, that does help. We just need to keep plugging along at her speed.

It definitely sounds like she would be on an IEP if she was in public school, so what is expected of her is different than that for the average student. I agree that you should just continue on the path you are going with the core subjects - math and language arts.

For science, make sure you hit the areas NY requires. Many states require biology, which you would be missing. But NY may not require that.
For history, again just make sure you hit any topics NY requires. This is easy since the guides you are using should meet all of the requirements without modification.
As for economics and government, to me it would depend on what she is capable of. If you think she is ready for more when you get to those guides, add in something to beef it up. But, if what is in the guides is all she can handle, then that is fine!
It looks like you have the electives well taken care of, so that just leaves a half credit of health to fit in. Again, if what is in the WG guide is going to be more than she can handle, find something geared to where she is.

Thanks Stephanie. Thankfully NY does not have any requirements for Science other than '2 units'. Also we already have the Health book as my oldest used it this year and she thought it was easy (and she has a hard time with science) so I am sure that Melody can handle it when we decide to do it as she loves anything science.

I am assuming you have had her tested and have the results of those tests if anyone would ever question you about your curriculum choices, so therefore I think you just keep giving her what she can handle and call it good. I am sure she is spending plenty of time on each subject to earn the credit as far as hours go.

One thought I had is that I think the logic might frustrate her. The answers in the Fallacy Detective are not always black and white due to the author trying to instill some humor. So when the student thought they were picking between 2 things the answer would be none and they would give a "funny" answer. I know it frustrated my ds and he just struggles with dysgraphia and short term memory/slow processing issues. The second book is more black and white, but very challenging.

The Economics in MTMM should be enough for a learner with special needs. I don't think Government is included in Rev to Rev. I haven't used the Constitutional Literacy course yet, but wonder if she could just watch it and discuss it with you and not do the workbook.