How far to push son w/ADHD (LHFHG)

[mommyofmany]

We have started our LHFHG program. We've been doing it sort of hit and miss to say the least. My son who turned 5 in April doesn't want to do some of the work. He loves to write in a notebook (for HOURS everyday)- just random things he comes up with but when it comes time to do handwriting for school he moans and groans about it. He knows how to write all his letters upper & lowercase but he doesn't want to do it the way the book says.....like it's too exhausting for him. I've been having him do very minimal practice on each page to keep it as short as possible and still he acts like it's such a chore. Is it too boring for him since he already knows how to do it? I got the first grade Reason for Handwriting book to make it more challenging since I anticipated this problem coming up. What would you do? I was so looking forward to starting HOD but now I find myself putting it off cuz I don't want to deal with struggling with him. He also seems to get tired during his reading even though I feel it is appropriately challenging (we are doing BLFHG emerging readers). We are hsing for many reasons, one being that he would probably be labeled a trouble maker and stuck in a corner if he was going to ps. I know this is what is best for him but I'm having trouble with the follow-through. Any advice???

[cirons]

Hi there,

I have similar problems with my young son and I have been homeschooling him for 2 years now (he is 7). Your son is very young and I think it would be better to take the approach that it is better for him to have consistency and enjoy the process rather than 'achieve and conquer'. I would aim for small amounts every day and let him do the things he enjoys otherwise it ends in tears for you and your son! Just aim to do very small amounts of the things he finds tiring....for eg. if a whole page of handwriting is scheduled I only ask my son to do 2 lines, if we have a 12 page reader to get through, I might do 3 pages at a time and let him know that before we start so he knows there is an end in sight! It takes longer to get through but I find this it is more important to build his confidence in short consistent bursts rather than make him feel like it is all too much. I am finding after a few years of this approach, his confidence is now a lot higher and he is asking to do more than the minimum because he loves the praise that comes with achieving more. With his handwriting, I do ask him to do it neatly, but if it is not, I don't make a big deal of it....but when it is good, I praise him and do smiley faces on his page and I have some stamps which he loves to have on his work when he does it well. Some days he does not care...other days he does!

Praying that you will have some wisdom and insight for what is best for your son....

blessings,

Corrie

[MamaPajama]

What about having him practice on a chalkboard or dry erase board, or in sand, sugar, shaving cream, etc?

[my3sons]

Well, I have 3 sons, and I have to say boys are just busy little fellows all around! Since Colton is 5 yo and an active little guy, I would switch to doing LHFHG half-speed. I would do the left side of the plans one day, and the right side the next day. Many moms are doing this, and here's a thread where they describe how:
How does half-speed look in your home?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5600&p=41232#p41232

I have one of my 3 sons that is especially busy physically. For him, when he was 5 yo, it was important he ran around outside before we started school to blow off some steam, or even just playing with one of his brothers for the first 45 minutes of the day. That made a HUGE difference for him. I do think it is important right from the start that dc understand that school is not something to barter about, or make a deal to do (the habit of work needs to be established from the start or it may not ever develop on its own ). It is something that needs to be done in a routine, orderly fashion because learning is important. So, I think if we first take time to consider what we truly can expect of a child, due to their age/maturity level/learning ability, then we need to stick to our guns and expect them to do it. I think expecting your ds to do half-speed LHFHG and half-speed Beyond ERS is an expectation your ds can meet. Half-speed LHFHG took us about 45 minutes to do. Routine in the order of boxes made a huge difference for me ds too, and clipping along (a.k.a. me NOT drawing out the boxes because I enjoy that and like discussions ) made my very wiggly 5 yo able to happily do everything in LHFHG half-speed. (We did the Beyond ERS with him too, sounds like our ds's have much in common). Anyway, I used to describe my little sweetie as a "rocket ready to launch", as he sat on his haunches and could leap off the couch at any given moment. I want to encourage you this does get better! Now that he's 7 yo, he sits quite nicely for reading times of school (though I just reminded him again this morning for breakfast to sit on his bottom. ). HTH!

In Christ,
Julie