4Real Forums: special needs high school

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Topic: special needs high school

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LLMom
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Joined: Feb 19 2005
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Posted: Jan 09 2009 at 9:55am \| IP Logged

I didn't know if I should put this here or in the high school forum. In any case, I am struggling with my almost 16 year old son. Learning has always been a challenge due to ADD (inattentive type) and some visual processing problems. He is trying to do ALgebra I this year with Teaching textbooks. He is failing. Math has always been hard and I knew algebra would be especially difficult for him because of the attention needed (you know, not to loose those darn negatives). I don't have time to walk him through every subject when I have 6 other dc who need me. I was hoping TT would solve this problem because it works through each and every problem. I am wondering if he will make it through any hs level math. Have any of you done high school with a sn child? How do you modify it? He wants to go to welding school when he is 18, and they require a hs diploma. Where we live, there are no standards; set your own. Any ideas?

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Lisa
For veteran & former homeschool moms
homeschooling ideas

Anneof 5
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Posted: Jan 09 2009 at 12:13pm \| IP Logged

I won't probably be of great help here but have you tried the Key to Algebra books? I have one teen who was struggling with the TT Geometry book and I just put her in the Key to Geometry book and it is making more sense to her. It really breaks things down very simply. She has always struggled, too, but works very hard and also has some of the visual processing problems. It is just black and white and set up very simply visually. I may put her back in TT at a later time...not sure yet. She will probably not go to a 4 yr college and do some type of tech.school or 2 yr program. Good luck.

mom3aut1not
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Posted: Jan 09 2009 at 8:35pm \| IP Logged

Lisa,

I have had three kids with ADD/ADHD (and other issues like autism) graduate from high school via Clonlara.

With certain subjects, I just had to work one-on-one (math comes to mind). So I pick out what is *necessary* for me to work with her (my olders are all girls). I might work with her at night. It might be math or composition or religion or something else. But there was no way around it; I had to do some hand holding even in 12th grade with one of my girls.
Granted I have only four kids, but what is necessary is necessary. Just don't expect a perfect-looking from me.

With other subjects --- besides lot of reading (I made my own syllabi), I found that a different approach for each high schooler really helped.

With dd #1, online courses through Clonlara were a great help to me; I didn't have to work with her on those courses at all. Despite her ADHD, she did well with the online classes. IIRC she did math, biology, and something else. With dd #2, community college classes were just the thing. Dd #3 could not do either the online courses (she is the most impaired of the olders) or the community college courses. Dvd courses from The Teaching Company turned out to be just the thing for her -- for one thing she could repeat lectures over and over to absorb the material. I also used some of MacBeth's recommendations for science.

HTH.

In Christ,
Deborah

Btw, about the math problem -- have you seen the base ten material for algebra? It is so cool....IIRC the red translucent bits are positive and the blue are negative. You can factor trinomials in a hands on way with this stuff.

Key to Algebra is not a bad choice either. For one thing, you can try it for cheap -- each booklet is $2-3 each. It is considered a low-level algebra.

LLMom
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Posted: Jan 09 2009 at 8:45pm \| IP Logged

Thanks Anne and Deborah,

I will look at Key to. I don't mind doing some hand-holding, but I already have to help him so much on several things. I guess this might just have to be another, although I may never get sleep.

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Lisa
For veteran & former homeschool moms
homeschooling ideas

tntreefarm
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Joined: May 21 2007
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Posted: Jan 10 2009 at 7:33am \| IP Logged

Hi Lisa,

It can be expensive, but I, as well as some other local homeschoolers, have used Sylvan. Our local branch is homeschool friendly. I can't keep up the 2-4 hours per week that they suggest, but with only one hour a week I've seen some improvement with my daughter who is so math LD that 3+2=5 eludes her. They were also working well with my 18 year old who has Down Syndrome on reading.

What I like about them versus just a math tutor is that they have an organized hierachy to areas of difficulty. While they will tell you that they do not work with special needs their methods seem to be helpful. There is a lot of review until an area is mastered. They use manipulatives and a token reward system and try to make things enjoyable by doing things like writing on the desk with dry erase markers. There is always something appealing about writing on furniture.

Look for a coupon to decrease the cost of the placement testing.

Sometimes it's nice to step back and let someone else do the hard work.

I really love to teach math, but I used the DIVE CD for my 4th grader last year and I found the instructor to be clear and interesting. It took me a little more out of the loop with a smart but sometimes difficult child. Of course, 4th grade is a long way from high school algebra.....

With Hope,
Cathy

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