My son has autism....

[spycej]

My 6 year old that will be finishing up kindergarten has Asperger's. He was dx'ed in Aug '15. I've been looking at HOD curriculum for awhile now, but I wasn't sure it was a good fit for him or us. I'm really just learning his learning style and understanding what works and doesn't. I have a few other curriculum choices for reading and math but I was thinking of using HOD (specifically Beyond) for bible and history. Although, I'm worried about the reading and what it all entails. His reading comprehension is poor and we are working towards improving that. Plus, he's very visual. Can this be used well for only bible and history? AND does anyone have any experience with a child with Autism (and yes, I know this will be hard as they all have different strengths and weaknesses)?

[StephanieU]

In the first four guides (Little Hands To Heaven through Bigger Hearts for His Glory), all reading is done by the parents for content areas. The only reading done by kids is in the reading box where Carrie offers a few options (LHFHG is phonics, Beyond is phonics or emerging readers, and Bigger is emerging readers or DITHOR). So, I wouldn't be worried about his reading comprehension at this point, since you will be deciding between LHFHG and Beyond anyways.
As for not using all of a guide, that is totally possible. For LHFHG and Beyond, I would do at least the Reading about History box, the rotation box, and the Bible box. The rotating box has art, dramatic play, thinking games, and science for LHFHG and art, science, geography, and a history activity in Beyond. All of these activities are tied to the history lesson for that day. I would also consider at least reading the rhyme/poem for the unit, as it is also related to the history (rhyme in LHFHG and poem in Beyond). This is everything on the left page of each day in the guide. The right page is not tied into the left page really. The only tie is in Beyond, where the copywork suggested is the poem for the unit.

[Jennymommy]

I would definitely recommend the science as well for a visual learner. My own experience with a highly sensitive ds has been that he is very "at peace" with the layout and order within HOD. He knows what the flow of his days will be (no surprises), and he can see very clearly what is expected of him. And the activities are fun

[bethelmommy]

My oldest ds has Asperger's and HOD works very well for him. We started with LHFHG and are now in Bigger. When ds was younger, I used a picture schedule for the day's activities as well as for the order of the HOD boxes. Now that he is older, we just look at the guide together. The layout of the boxes provides a nice visual for him and coordinates well with his orderly approach to things. I know you mentioned that you are planning to use only part of the HOD guide and I think that can work fine. However, my experience has been that Carrie's resources coordinate so much better for a balanced day. I originally used a few other resources, but quickly dropped them as I found using all HOD recommended resources helped my day run much smoother. I particularly like the variety of skills built into each box/activity. Some play to my ds's strengths and others challenge him in a good way that I would not if I were skipping those boxes in lieu of other things. Every child and family is different, but this has been out experience so far. We adore HOD !

[Nealewill]

My son has auditory processing disorder and HOD has done wonders for him. I would just recommend that you go at your child's pace. In addition, with your child being so young and depending on his skills, I might consider using Little Hearts in stead of Beyond. I do know that you know your child best. But this would give your child an extra year to mature into the guide. The skills ramp up quickly in each level and I believe the skills taught are what actually make HOD a true gem of a curriculum. Yes, the books are wonderful but most curriculums have interesting books. It is the coordination, balance and activities that HOD provides that makes this curriculum truly amazing. With my son, I have him placed him in the middle of the guide's age range currently but he realize that as time goes by he may thrive better being on the oldest end of the age range. In addition, the last part (almost half) of Little Hearts is very similar to the beginning of Beyond. If your son struggles with comprehension, the reading segments are a bit shorter in Little Hearts in comparison with Beyond. This will help give him time to grow into narrating and make it a bit easier to tackle narrating the content read.

I will say this - I am amazed at the strides my child has made using this curriculum. We started last year and he is already like a new child (at least to me). Some of it obviously is natural growth but I do firmly believe that HOD has spoken straight to his learning style. I do the guide and materials pretty much as is. It has been wonderful to see how he has grown. And just some background on my son - he had a 15 word vocabulary at age 4. Needless to say communication, reading, and now writing had a ways to develop. I am happy to report that while my son is not the best at narrating every time, he can consistently spout out enough, with occasional gentle help and encouragement, information that you can fully understand what was read by listening to him narrate it. He also just loves the books. They are extremely engaging. He is more than happy to fully listen to what is being read because it is interesting and meaningful. When we started this process, I would have him narrate information from only one or two paragraphs at a time. It bit was rough and disjointed on my end. But it was just what he needed. I can now read a whole chapter in a book and he can communicate it back verbally. It is absolutely great!

So be encouraged that while every curriculum isn't for ever person, HOD has been very engaging and wonderful in this family. All of my kids have very different learning styles and this curriculum has touched and benefited each one.

[spycej]

Thank y'all so much for the replies. They were all very helpful I hope that y'all can help me one more time since I am new at this

When you get your guide you have to have all the necessary items in the economy package to start right? Then I have to pick out a phonics program (i.e. like Abeka, I like abeka ), handwriting (we use HWT right now), and finally a math program (right now I have Life of Fred, but I'm not sure it's working for my boy) - I will look into Singapore. Am I right in assuming all of this?

[spidermansmum]

My son has autism too and HOD has been such a blessing to him . He also has auditory processing disorder and some learning delays. Its been a while since I bought Beyond.
You will need Science. If you are going to follow to the letter -then the CD and devotional would be good. You also wilp need phonics or readers and maths.

[StephanieU]

Thank y'all so much for the replies. They were all very helpful I hope that y'all can help me one more time since I am new at this

When you get your guide you have to have all the necessary items in the economy package to start right? Then I have to pick out a phonics program (i.e. like Abeka, I like abeka ), handwriting (we use HWT right now), and finally a math program (right now I have Life of Fred, but I'm not sure it's working for my boy) - I will look into Singapore. Am I right in assuming all of this?

For LHFHG, you would also want to consider the devotional, one of the story Bibles, science (the K book is easier to implement, so I would buy that regardless of age), and the music CD. These aren't necessary, but they are helpful. I would say the Bible is almost necessary if you want LHFHG to be open and go.
If you use Beyond, I would again consider the devotional, science, and music CD. Again these aren't required, but they are helpful. The deluxe package is for the storytime box. We loved Carrie's choices, so I would consider it as well. But, we used library books for Beyond, and it worked just fine.
In later guides, there are more choices as well, so you just move down the boxes on the website until you have covered each box.

[my3sons]

Such amazing help and encouragement here already - I'll just second... and third... and fourth... every great piece of advice shared already! Oh, and IMHO, substituting HWOT... sure... and substituting phonics... sure. I would suggest give Singpare Math a whirl though, especially as your ds is on the starting side of Singapore, and especially as your ds is visual - the hands-on math activities Carrie has written are wonderful. Also, if you get a chance to click on 'spidermansmum' and check out her past posts, there is a wealth of information there from a wise lady who has walked in your shoes and made leaps and bounds. I think you will love HOD. It is a blessing in our home, and I've enjoyed visiting with many, many moms with dc with special needs who are finding joy in using HOD. I pray for a God-blessed journey ahead!

In Christ,
Julie