homeschool resources for middle schooler with dyslexia & memory problems

[dfrecore]

I would definitely say to get your daughter out of the situation she's in ASAP. There's no point in that at all.

I have no idea about the test-anxiety thing, so I can't help with that. But I would ask what kind of accommodations can be made for a student with your daughter's problems. They are supposed to accommodate an IEP when testing. Our charter school said that they would accommodate my daughter, and she doesn't even have an IEP.

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I homeschooled both of my kids until this school year started, so boy, do I know curriculum. I also live in CA, where in spite of the fact that it's the biggest nanny-state ever, they have virtually no rules for homeschooling. So I don't know what you have to do in terms of particular courses you need to teach or whatever. But I can tell you what I did with my kids, to give you an idea on where to start.

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First, I have diagnosed my own daughter with dyslexia and dyscalculia, and they won't test her, because she is excelling in her charter school. Mostly because of the way it's set up (it's Independent Learning, and she is on campus 2x a week and at home 3x a week). Her main teacher knows she has some issues, and has been wonderful about helping her. The main thing I think that helps is she is very diligent about getting her work done, staying on top of things, etc.

She has had "issues" all of her life, but because we homeschooled until this year (9th grade), we were able to work around a lot of the problems. First, we spent a LOT of time doing things orally. Part of the dyslexia is that she can't really write as she goes along. She has to think about something, then say it out loud to me, then write it. It slows down the process a lot, but she's able to do it because there isn't some time-limit on getting things from her brain onto paper.

One thing that also helped over the years, was the Institute for Excellence in Writing program. The entire first year, they don't have to do creative writing. It's all about learning the program, using stuff already written, and editing and changing it a certain way. Both of my kids have been very successful using this program, but my daughter especially because she knows that she can "edit" things after she struggles to write it all out. It's more of a process to her, and it really works. She already started naturally using the tricks that she learned in IEW to do her 9th grade English papers, and her teacher is impressed, especially with her vocabulary.

For Spelling, we used All About Spelling. Manipulative-based, without feeling like it's for babies, which is good when you have a struggling older student. We are going to work through it again this summer.

For math, we used Math-U-See through 6th grade level (Zeta) and then switched to VideoText Algebra. Both video-based programs. My daughter loved using the MUS blocks to do everything, because that was the best way for her to learn and she instinctively knew it. My son hated them, and barely used them at all - he did it all in his head. But, aside from that, both kids liked the program, and it worked well for both. The only issue we had was that my daughter was VERY late to learn her math facts. We worked on them for years. But even though they highly suggest learning them before moving on to the next book, I finally just started moving on when she understood the concepts. Otherwise she would have been in the 1st grade book until 7th grade! She finally has most of her math facts down, and is in 9th grade Algebra 1 and doing fine (I think she has a B). So get a math program with manipulatives. I HIGHLY recommend Math-U-See (some of the others have manipulatives for younger kids but not older ones, so they are a little "babyish" which may annoy your daughter.

For science, there are tons of great hands-on programs. We've used Elemental Science, Noeo, R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey, Exploration Education, and Apologia. All were hands-on, and all were great.

For history, we used The Story of the World series, then The Mystery of History. Both are very story-based, short lessons, and lots of hands-on stuff in the activity books they carry. You can also get them on audiobook, which is fantastic. Listening to someone tell a story is a lot more fun than reading a textbook, let me tell you!

We did not do music. I think piano lessons would count as music? We did art classes here and there for my daughter.

You can learn a ton by going to CathyDuffyReviews.com to look at curriculum. She has a book out as well, but why buy the book when you can use the web?

And of course, there's the "homeschooling bible" The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. It's an excellent book, with tons of resources, but just take it with a grain of salt. We did not homeschool 6 hours a day, ever. Even my daughter now is taking 2 classes 2x a week for 2 hours each (so 4 hours a day), and then working on stuff at home the other 3 days for maybe 3 hours, and is AHEAD of schedule, and has been told that if she wants to look at graduating early, she can. She won't because she's playing school sports and loves it, so she has actually decided to slow down a bit. We are very happy with this program, and if it did not exist, we would continue homeschooling rather than have her in a traditional school program where she would be completely overwhelmed by the pace and requirements.

Keep asking questions, and most importantly, go to a homeschool convention to get a chance to touch and feel all of these programs. Here's one I found, but I'm sure there are more: Thrive! 2017 | North Carolinians for Home Education. When you get there, ask around and talk to other parents, and go to any of the workshops that are for "parents of struggling learners" (that's category L when you look at all of the workshops listed). You will find TONS of resources and people ready and willing to help you.

Good luck!