Homeschooling Kids with ADHD - Tips from an OT Mom

Summary:  Expert tips for homeschooling your child with ADHD or sensory issues.  Here's how we did that with ours, who now is a college grad.  #homeschooladhd #homeschoolelementary #homeschool2e

Do your kids struggle with attention issues?  

Or are they very active, have difficulty concentrating, or show signs of ADD, or ADHD?

When my daughter was young, she was a very active child who had ADHD tendencies.  (She was also 2e)  She had difficulty concentrating on verbal directions. She also had sensory processing issues, and was a sensory seeking child.  

My husband and I worked to meet her needs as best as we could.  I used my OT background, and experience with special needs kids, to find ways to meet her learning needs.

Homeschooling was ideal for her, as it allowed us to adapt things to the way she learned best.  With her difficulty with auditory processing, ie concentrating on verbal directions, listening to the teacher talk in public school, would have been all wrong for her. We wanted her to have the daily support of learning at home.

We did a number of things to facilitate her learning, and through the years, her issues became less and less of a problem.  How we went about homeschooling her, when she was young... that is what I would like to talk about today, starting with how we set up our days.

How we set up our Days

My little one did better with short learning periods, such as 15 or 20 minutes at a time.  I gave her a break between each session, where she played, watches an educational show on tv, etc....  But when she was on a roll, then, of course, we continue.  And we did a A LOT of hands on projects, too.

Kids with attention issues often do better some structure. My daughter liked that I wrote out our schedule, which she decorated. That way she knew what was to happen next.  This can be a comfort for kids with anxiety issues, too.

She also liked to earn stickers, which she chose each week or two from the book store.  Earning stickers gave her a concrete reward. We always went over her sticker chart at the end of the week, to give her extra attention for her efforts.   Not every child is a sticker kid, but ours sure was.

Next, I'd like to talk about following verbal directions.....

Following Verbal Directions

My daughter struggled with verbal directions.  She tended to have difficulty remembering what was said.  Whenever there are directions to be given, she played with a small toy. This helped to lessen anxiety and improve concentration.

We also used a lot of hands-on activities, and found that handwork was a great way to teach concentration and increase attention span.

When there were more complex directions to be given, I would say the direction first, then ask her to repeat it.  Later, when she was older, she preferred to write down any directions that were given. That technique helped her all the way through middle school.

For her lessons, I set her work up so that she could learn visually. She loved using workbooks, following the written instructions. Oak Meadow was one of our favorite curriculum publishers.

During our days, active breaks were very popular!

Taking Active Breaks 

My daughter loved one to climb all over the couch, and do handstands off of it.  She loved spinning in her dad's desk chair and jumping on our small trampoline.  We even found a nice plastic spinner at a consignment store.  I watched how much spinning was done, so as to stay within her limits.  

During our homeschool day, we built in active breaks often, to meet her sensory needs.... running around the backyard, spinning in our spinner, jumping on a small trampoline, and doing cartwheels across the living room.

These were done in between lessons.  Sometimes we would also use a large exercise ball. Bouncing on the ball was very popular for study breaks.  Great sensory input! 

Experiment with your child, and see what kind of sensory activities are best for them.  If this is hard to figure out, consulting with an OT with experience in Sensory Integration may be a help.

Some kids do well actually sitting on a big ball to do a lessons or two.  Sitting on a ball may help some kids focus and do better  Click here for an article on that.

The important thing for us was to fit in these active breaks, and then help our daughter to move back into the learning activity at hand.

Then, sometimes, there was the opposite need....

Taking Restful Breaks

When there was anxiety of some sort, and a need to calm, my daughter would grab a blanket, and a book.  Sometimes she spent some quiet time with our cat, sometimes it was time for a quiet read together on the couch....for snuggle time.  

We found that providing deep pressure, as explained below, helped our daughter to calm and relax her sensory system.

Blankets and Vests

Blankets can provide deep pressure for your kids, which could be very calming.  That's because it provides deep tactile pressure to the muscles and the joints.  Some kids even benefit from having a favorite weighted blanket,   

We just used a regular blankets, which my kiddo liked to stack up and let them rest on her lap. OT's can help with deciding what kind of weighted blanket to use for your child, if you have any questions.

How to make a DIY weighted blanket has an entire weighted blanket tutorial, by Maryann at Mama Smiles blog.

Other kids may benefit from wearing weighted vests, which also may help for calming.  

"Weighted vests provide constant even, deep pressure input to your child when his body is craving this important calming and organizing proprioceptive input."  (www.sensory processingdisorder.com.) 

And finally, here are some ways that we were able to activities that helped to....

Turn Limitations into Strengths 

Since my daughter was so active, we started kid gymnastics classes when she was young.  It was a super great fit!  This helped us to turn her need for physical activity into a strength, and she loved it.  She continued with gymnastics for many years, building self esteem, physical strength and friendships along the way.

Then she tried an irish dance class...She loved learning the irish dance steps.  This became a great way for her to she develop direction following and listening skills. Since it involved physical activity, she was more comfortable, so following verbal directions was easier for her in this setting.  

And her listening skills improved, while she enjoyed participating and learning irish step dancing.  This is just one example of this.

Our daughter is now in college, and has no trouble following the teacher's verbal directions and lectures.  This has improved over the years, but if it doesn't....

Some kids benefit from the adaptations available for learning issues at their college, through the American Disabilities Act.  They are entitled to accommodations to allow them to succeed in college, if they have a diagnosed learning disability or learning issue.  

Most colleges have ADA or accommodations counselors who can be a great help or at least can be negotiated with, to get the needed note-taking help, tape recorders, extra time for testing, etc. 

While homeschooling, we can provide those arrangements for our kids/teens...

Isn't that one of the reasons that many of us with gifted/e2 kids, or kids with ADHD decide to try homeschooling?

I was recently asked to write for the top special education site on this topic.  I invite you to click 8 Tips for Homeschooling a Twice Exceptional Student for more ideas and encouragement.

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is retired O.T, homeschool blogger, and most importantly is mom to her 2e college grad, whom she homeschooled through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school, college and 2e.  

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Helping Struggling Readers Focus

Summary:  Here is a help that I found for children and teens who struggle with reading.  It is called the Reading Focus Cards and there is also an app that can be used on computers, too. It has already helped 1,000's of kids/teens.  #readingfocuscards #strugglingreaders


Do you have a child or teen who struggles with reading?

Do they forget what line they are on, or have trouble concentrating?  

Or does your teen get distracted by the other words on the page?

I have recently found out about a helpful and clever device that could help your reader, called the Reading Focus Cards (Patent 7,565,759).

These specially designed cards help eliminate distraction, and improve reading in a number of ways, by guiding your reader to focus on just the words at hand.  

This device has helped 1,000's of kids and teens with: 

-ADHD 
-dyslexia 
-autism 
-visual processing issues 
-and other learning issues.  

They are made to work with all kinds of books, from picture books to novels,  and come in two different sizes, with filters included.

Below is a picture of one of them.

The Reading Focus Cards are specially made with specially made filters to help the reader focus.  

They were developed by Mrs. Joan Brennan, a special education teacher who has worked with kids and teens for over 20 years.  She is a big supporter of homeschooling and started Brennan Innovators, LCC.  

With these tools, her challenged readers significantly improved a number of reading skills, including their:

-focus 
-tracking
-fluency
-reading rate
-comprehension 
-word attack
-and retention.

The way this reading tool works is simple.  

It is designed to train the reader to focus on individual words and text lines, guiding the eye appropriately from left to right. 

In this way, this educational tool helps promote more focus, improve important reading skills and eliminate distractions such as other text lines on a page and the white page backgrounds.

from Mrs. Brennan @ Focus and Read Blog, where there is much more information on the Reading Focus Cards and how to use them.

She also offers an app that works on computers.

To read more about that and how it helps with digital reading, please click here - Reading Focus Cards App. ((Patent 8,360,779) 

I have a complete review of the Reading Focus Cards on Tricia's site called The Curriculum Choice.

What have you found that helps your kids who struggle with reading?  Please share in the comments.

This post was shared on What to Read Wednesday and was featured!  Thanks!!

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her now college grad, whom she homeschooled through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, highschool, 
college, gifted/2e and wrote -Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, 2nd Edition,   She offers homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting,  and has had some of her articles picked up by the Huffington Post.

Want to stay in touch?

Subscribe, Pinterest, Facebook 

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Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

How to Make Your OWN Homeschool High School English Course - and Follow Your Teen's Interests

Summary: Making your own homeschool high school English course is not hard to do.. Then you can craft it to your teen's interests! Affiliate links to products that we used or would use in our homeschool may be included in this article.  Please see my disclosure policy. #homeschoolhighschool #homeschoolhighschoolEnglish #choosinghighschoolcurriculum

There are many ways to homeschool high school English.  Many families use established courses by homeschool publishers like IEW  or Apologia. 

Another way is to make your own course.  I like how you can use whatever books your teen is interested in reading when you make your own homeschool high school English course.

That can be so wonderful, instead of having to use whatever the prepared curriculum says they need to read.

Talk about following your teen's interests.  That way, they will likely be much more motivated to read and then analyze what they have read. 

But what is needed in a homeschool high school English course?  

Today, I'd like to share seven things that we included in our homemade English course.  

We focused on literature and composition, but you could add in grammar review and vocabulary, if you like. Some teens do well to also have spelling in their courses.

Most colleges tend to look for literature and composition in an applicant's high school English courses, but don't specify what type of lit to include.  That gives us homeschoolers lots of leeway.  

Our homemade English course was accepted by each of the colleges that our daughter had on her list.  And she was well prepared for college writing.  (Even though I worried about that during high school, lol)

Making your own Homeschool High School English Course

1.  Choosing Literature or Books

Choosing your own literature, ie books to read can really be fun, and that can include some free reading books, too. It all depends on what your teen needs and where you think they are heading.  The reading does not need to be only typical high school literature selections. 

We focused on what my teen was interested in reading.

2.  Include lots of Writing Opportunities

I encouraged my teen to write..a lot.  

First, I assigned essays to write, related to her reading.  But we did a variety of other writing, too, when she wanted to do something else.  The important thing is to help your teen get comfortable with the written word.

Sometimes I gave her the choice to write in whatever way that she felt motivated to do....such as:  Write about a newspaper article, write some dialog to a short story, write how to's - such as a recipe, or how to find a good deal on cell phones, etc.  You

If your teen is interested in writing fiction, I would encourage that. 

Writing fiction is a great way for kids to learn the components of literature - setting, point of view, characters, plot, etc.  That is the basis for literary analysis, discussed below! Resources for creative writing are here.

It is also helpful to introduce your teen to different types of essays, if they are college bound, eg, narratives, expository essays, persuasive essays, etc.  Time for Learning has a great resource for that here. 

The topics were always teen-led in our house. If you want a guide for what is involved in high school writing, there is a listing of writing standards for 11th and 12th grades here.  Oak Meadow and 7 Sisters Homeschool also offer lots of resources for writing, if you are looking for some guidance on that.

3. Practice the Steps of Writing

Time for Learning has a simple outline of these steps here, which include:

1.  Prewriting/Making an Outline 

2.  Drafting 

3.  Revising 

4.  Editing 

5.  Publishing 

Taking writing projects step by step gives your student a structure to follow, from start to finish.

4.  Do Literary Analysis

Why do literary analysis?  

..Because it is a great way to teach critical thinking skills which will be needed for whatever your teen will be doing.  And that is especially important for our college bound teens.

 But what exactly is it?  

"Literary Analysis is the practice of looking closely at small parts to see how they affect the whole. Literary analysis focuses on how plot/structure, character, setting, and many other techniques are used by the author to create meaning....." from Arrowhead High School.  Click on this title for more info on literary analysis.

Below are some homeschool high school resources that can help you teach literary analysis, if you like.  These are not needed if you feel comfortable with literary analysis.

-- 7 Sisters Homeschool English and Writing Courses

If you want to use a prepared course for help with teaching literary analysis, I invite you to check out 7 Sisters Homeschool, as they have lots of literature courses using a variety of literature.  They offer both complete year long English courses and also separate Literature Guides for over 40 novels as well.

 We loved using 7 Sisters Homeschool for English, with so many quality choices there.

American Lit

American Lit by 7 Sisters

This American Literature course is a full year long course which included both literature study and composition. They offers a number of other year English courses including:

-  Chronicles of Narnia

-  British Lit

-  Great Christian Writers

-  Lit and Composition I and II

-  British Poetry

 -- Rainbow Resource English Resources

Rainbow Resource

 Rainbow Resource also offers tons of literature guides for specific literature and books as well.

 Ambleside Online also has a great sample list of narration questions as well.   

The best thing about our homeschool high school English courses was the time we spent together, discussing literature.  That is how my kiddo learned the critical thinking skills that she later needed in college.  Join your teens in pondering the why's and how come's of the story, the plot line, how the setting impacted the plot, etc. 

 

5.  Write Research Reports

 Research Writing

Knowing how to research and write up one's findings is of course, important to most careers.  

Research reports are just an extension of book reports, using more than 1 source.  One year my daughter was very interested in airplanes, so we made her research report all about that.  It doesn't matter what the report is about.  It is just the experience in researching and putting the report together that matters.

If you are looking for help in doing that, I recently looked at and loved how Vicki Tillman, MA, put together her course on research writing.  

Click here- 7 Sisters Research Writing to read about it.

Two other options for report writing help that we liked are at Oak Meadow, and an online option is at Time4Learning.

6.  Take Inspiration Breaks

Taking a break not only helps with writer's block, it also can give your teen something new to write about.

Recipe writing is good practice for writing, too.  One day we made applesauce together.  Learning to write the procedures needed in a recipe is good practice for other "how to" writing assignments, such as writing out the steps for a plumbing problem, or how to repair an air conditioner, or a business email at work.

7.  Add in the Fun with Movies

Would you like to add movies into your Literature course?  

7 Sisters has a super easy way to do just that.Movies as part of high school Language Arts credits not only add in the fun, but can add depth to your teen's studies.

More Resources for Homeschool High School English:

Here are 4 fun high school writing projects that you could show your teen, and let them pick their favorites to do:  

4 Yearly Writing Projects, by our friend, Vicki

The homeschool moms and curriculum writers at 7 Sisters Homeschool have a great practical guide to high school English called - An Authoritative Guide to Literature for Homeschool High School English.   

Are you not yet feeling confident about making your own English course?  

If not, there are a lot of well done complete English programs out there.  You already know about 7 Sisters Homeschool English courses above.  There one year high school English courses are very frugal and avoid any busywork.

Would your teen prefer an online course with a teacher?

Meryl, a veteran homeschool mom of 4 from Funda Funda Academy has 3 online English courses that she talks about in her article here: How to Create Your Own High School English Credit.   

Are you homeschooling high school and wondering about transcripts, assigning high school credit, and all those other important details for high school?

After helping my teen get into each of the colleges she applied to, I wrote the book below - and it guides you through planning high school at home and helping with college application process as well.

Homeschooling High School with College in Mind

 2nd Edition 

If your teen is college bound like mine was, the thought of hiring a college counselor to help was not ever a thought, as not frugal at all. 

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,


Betsy

Betsy is mom to her now college grad, whom she homeschooled through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, highschool, 
college, gifted/2e and wrote -Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, 2nd Edition,   She offers homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting,  and has had some of her articles picked up by the Huffington Post.

Want to stay in touch?

Subscribe, Pinterest, Facebook 

No spam ever.  
Just encouragement for your homeschool 
in your inbox.

Unsub anytime.

 Revised 2022 @ BJ's Homeschool

Copyright All Rights Reserved

9 (Fun) Ways to a Mature Grasp

Summary:Many kids struggle with grasp.  Sharing playful and fun activities to help teach your child to use a mature grasp.

Does your child struggle with handwriting?  

Or do they hold their pencil with their whole hand, hold their pencil tightly, or just in an awkward manner?  

Many kids struggle with grasp, but there are also many ways to help.

Today, I would like to share 9 playful activities to develop a mature grasp. 

Hi, I am Betsy from BJ's Homeschool, a veteran homeschool mom of one homeschool and college grad, and a retired O.T. 

But first, let's talk about grasp.

How Kids Develop Grasp Skills 

Little ones will naturally begin coloring by holding the crayon with the whole hand.  This is normal for preschoolers and for some kindergarteners, too.

Some kids gradually move to a mature grasp pattern over the years, as they grow.....but some kids don’t.  But there are many ways to encourage a more mature grasp. 

What is a Mature Grasp Pattern?

As you see in the photo below, a mature grasp looks like this:

photo credit - Draw Your World

Holding the tip of the pencil or pen with the tips of the thumb and first two fingers – that’s a mature grasp or a tripod grip.

Now, there are many different ways to hold the pencil.  My daughter's grasp is not the same as mine.  

But once your child has some type of mature grasp pattern, writing will be a lot easier.

Using other grasp patterns are common as your child begins to learn a mature grasp.  

Theses often occur from using excessive effort.  As they practice, they will most likely begin to relax.  

Now let's go on to look at 9 FUN and Easy to Do activities to build a Mature Grasp

Here's 9 Fun Ways to Encourage a Mature Grasp: 

1.  Color Crayon Trick

Coloring with very short crayons can encourage your child to use his first three fingers, instead of the whole hand! 

When coloring with short crayons, there is more of a chance that your child will grip with the first three fingers only.  

There is no room for the other fingers to fit on the crayon!

2.  The Puff Ball Trick

First, get a pencil and a little puff ball, or a cotton ball, or even a small eraser.

  

- Have your child hold the puff ball with their little and ring fingers, curling the ball into the palm.

3.  Add a Pencil to Puff Ball Trick

 Then give them a pencil, and they will likely grasp it with the thumb, and next two fingers. 

4.  Alligator Fingers

Make "alligator fingers" using the thumb, index and middle fingers to make an alligator's mouth, as in the picture below.

5.  Clothes Pins Play

Grasp a clothes pin, then line them up on a string, or make little puppets with them, and use them in play. 

Pinch the clothes pins with your alligator fingers!  

6.  Tweezers Play

Pick up little things with tweezers, using the first three fingers. Use them to pick up small pieces of macaroni, beans, etc.  

OR Squeeze glue onto a paper plate, and add macaroni with the tweezers, to make a design!  

7.  Playing with Tongs

Kitchen Tongs are great for strengthening the muscles for a mature grasp.  Have your kids use their alligator fingers.

OR With an egg carton, pick up the objects such as and small toys,legos, beads, or beans.  Then put them into the egg carton, with the tongs.  

8.  Push Pin Play

 
Above, I just placed a paper napkin onto a piece of cardboard. 

Then, with the index finger or the thumb, the child pushes the pins into the napkin to make a design.  This is great for strengthening.   
 

9.   Play Pinching with Clay

Photo Credit - www.oakmeadow.com

Pinch the playdough or clay, using alligator fingers. (see # 4.)  Make a pinch pot!

OR Make a clay pizza, and adding small shapes to it, by squeezing clay to form pepperoni, onions, etc.

One more idea:

Writing on a slanted surface, also can help kids use a mature grasp pattern.  Here's an extra idea to try. 

Use a large ringed notebook on a table, so that it creates a slanted  surface, facing your child.  

Writing on a slanted surface naturally places the wrist so that it is straightened out, just where you want it for ease of writing.  

Some kids enjoy having their paper taped to the frig, above shoulder height, and writing there. Really!

This helps to not only place the wrist properly, it also helps to strengthen the wrist muscles!

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her now college grad, whom she homeschooled through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school & college and wrote Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   She offers free homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting,  and has had articles picked up by the Huffington Post.

Copyright, 2022 All Rights Reserved