I’ve shared many times here about my two older boys, one with autism and one with dyslexia/ADHD, and how I wished that Simply Classical had been around for me to use when they were in the primary grades. Now I will get to use SC after all—my 5th child, son just turned 7, struggled through and never finished MPK last year and is switching to SC.
We did JrK after his 5th birthday, since he barely knew the alphabet, and not for lack of exposure. That went well, so I was hopeful he could manage MPK. But he reminded me in many ways of his older brother with dyslexia & ADHD. He started strong with MPK, but by mid year was really struggling with the amount of material in the recitations, the pace of the phonics plans, and the amount of writing in FSR.
He hit a wall with FSR D and the readers after Fun in the Sun, which is the same spot (with a different curriculum) where I realized something was going on with his older brother. Per Cheryl's advice we are switching from MP1 to SC2 for math and SC1 for phonics & writing. I need to reteach FSR with more multisensory activities, for one thing.
He has some coordination delays and needed PT as an infant. He does not have a lot of stamina for challenging tasks or exercise. He did learn to ride his bike this summer though, and that is the one form of exercise he will do every day without complaining. He's got a very low pain tolerance, extreme anxiety about getting sick/tummy aches/doctor & dentist visits, and he still sucks his thumb a lot--like whenever he's not using his mouth or hands in some other way.
He is a very sweet and affectionate boy, who wants to like school, and I was so sad to see him get pretty discouraged by the end of kindergarten. Now I am waiting for the SC materials to arrive and trying to decide where to put everything. I've always disliked using a lot of manipulatives because I have such a hard time figuring out storage, and because I have almost always had a little one underfoot. (My son has amazing visual-spatial skills, but he did not inherit them from me. :-)) But I definitely remember that working with the color-coded letter tiles from All About Spelling made such a huge difference for my older dyslexic son in learning to read and spell, so I am going to override my prejudice towards simple paper & pencil and get the materials on the SC1 supply list.
My 18 month old is a real challenge to work around, even if I can keep the manipulatives up high. He is my most active toddler after my son with autism and is extremely amusing and distracting to my 7 year old. I may need to do the schooling during my toddler's afternoon nap, but of course everyone is always fresher in the morning, and I have always used the nap time for discussions with my older kids. I don't know if there is an answer to that problem other than hiring a mother's helper. My older kids can help some, but they have their own difficulties as well as schoolwork to complete.
I would like to say that I feel completely ready to tackle another challenge again. My older sons are doing pretty well now, but I feel like we barely made it through those years by the seat of our pants and only by the grace of God. I am also aware that I am already tackling the challenge of special needs in this child--because that is what is involved in raising him, and getting real about his challenges and changing course with his curriculum is only going to move us in the right direction.
My main concerns are,
Finding the best space/time of day to work with my son so that he can concentrate on our lessons
Finding a few excellent manipulatives that we will actually use
Finding some sensory toys or tools that will help decrease his thumb sucking during school
Thank you so much!!
We did JrK after his 5th birthday, since he barely knew the alphabet, and not for lack of exposure. That went well, so I was hopeful he could manage MPK. But he reminded me in many ways of his older brother with dyslexia & ADHD. He started strong with MPK, but by mid year was really struggling with the amount of material in the recitations, the pace of the phonics plans, and the amount of writing in FSR.
He hit a wall with FSR D and the readers after Fun in the Sun, which is the same spot (with a different curriculum) where I realized something was going on with his older brother. Per Cheryl's advice we are switching from MP1 to SC2 for math and SC1 for phonics & writing. I need to reteach FSR with more multisensory activities, for one thing.
He has some coordination delays and needed PT as an infant. He does not have a lot of stamina for challenging tasks or exercise. He did learn to ride his bike this summer though, and that is the one form of exercise he will do every day without complaining. He's got a very low pain tolerance, extreme anxiety about getting sick/tummy aches/doctor & dentist visits, and he still sucks his thumb a lot--like whenever he's not using his mouth or hands in some other way.
He is a very sweet and affectionate boy, who wants to like school, and I was so sad to see him get pretty discouraged by the end of kindergarten. Now I am waiting for the SC materials to arrive and trying to decide where to put everything. I've always disliked using a lot of manipulatives because I have such a hard time figuring out storage, and because I have almost always had a little one underfoot. (My son has amazing visual-spatial skills, but he did not inherit them from me. :-)) But I definitely remember that working with the color-coded letter tiles from All About Spelling made such a huge difference for my older dyslexic son in learning to read and spell, so I am going to override my prejudice towards simple paper & pencil and get the materials on the SC1 supply list.
My 18 month old is a real challenge to work around, even if I can keep the manipulatives up high. He is my most active toddler after my son with autism and is extremely amusing and distracting to my 7 year old. I may need to do the schooling during my toddler's afternoon nap, but of course everyone is always fresher in the morning, and I have always used the nap time for discussions with my older kids. I don't know if there is an answer to that problem other than hiring a mother's helper. My older kids can help some, but they have their own difficulties as well as schoolwork to complete.
I would like to say that I feel completely ready to tackle another challenge again. My older sons are doing pretty well now, but I feel like we barely made it through those years by the seat of our pants and only by the grace of God. I am also aware that I am already tackling the challenge of special needs in this child--because that is what is involved in raising him, and getting real about his challenges and changing course with his curriculum is only going to move us in the right direction.
My main concerns are,
Finding the best space/time of day to work with my son so that he can concentrate on our lessons
Finding a few excellent manipulatives that we will actually use
Finding some sensory toys or tools that will help decrease his thumb sucking during school
Thank you so much!!
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