My kids are dyslexic, and as such the curriculum I have chosen meets that need. However, I believe that the curriculums are solid options for any child. If you have any questions about dyslexia I have a few posts about that subject:
When an Otherwise Bright Child Struggles to Learn
My Recommendations for Parents Homeshooling their Dyslexic Child
It's important when choosing curriculum that you know your child's learning styles. Dyslexic kids usually do best with multi-sensory methods, which means activating learning using as many senses s possible. Since reading and writing are a real challenge, they will retain more if the content is presented visually, dynamic discussion (auditory), and hands-on projects. To balance the struggle to master basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skill, I have to organize our school around their interests and help them to excel in their areas of strength.
Here are a list of some of the types of learning styles that will drive your curriculum search:
- Visual Learning
- Auditory Learning
- Reading & Writing
- Kinesthetic (hands-on)
- Verbal Learning
- Social and Interpersonal Learning
- Solitary and Intrapersonal Learning
- Self-Led Learning
- Interest Driven Learning
Here's what has worked for us:
ELA: All About Learning Press — which includes All About Reading and All About Spelling (I use All About Spelling after age 9 for continuing skills development if needed after finishing All About Reading levels 1-4). This program is based on Orton Gillingham instructional models, uses systematic multisensory phonics instruction. It’s fantastic for dyslexic readers but it’s just as solid and effective for any child.
LOTS OF READING TO YOUR CHILD FOR FUN! Use Audiobooks too!! Help them love stories. Improves grammar and vocabulary as well as the character development if you make your literature choices in a thoughtful way.
In Early ED focus on storytelling, let your child dictate their stories to you. Play story telling games, expose them to great children’s literature. Don’t worry about teaching writing mechanics until at least 8 years old. They will pick that up much more easily at 8 and up and these skills can be solidly developed in only a few years (4 at the most).
Writing Skills by Diana Hanbury King is my favorite writing skills program for its simplicity and effectiveness with dyslexic kids. Developed by a 30 year teacher at a private school for dyslexic students wrote this systematic incremental approach to developing competent technical writing skills. A fantastic program that transformed my son’s writing abilities in a couple years.
IEW and Fix It Grammar are also solid programs. (But I don't start formal writing training until at least 8)
If handwriting is an impediment to developing writing skills, treat handwriting (penmanship) as a separate discipline and allow your child to do their writing exercises auditorily. I let my dyslexic/dysgraphic son use voice to text to complete writing exercises, you can use an app like notability to keep all their work in one place.
Handwriting Without Tears. — LetterSchool App has the HWT style for fun practice. For continuing penmanship development in upper elementary: The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting Books. They have enough handwriting books that you can have your child continue to practice penmanship through high-school if need be.
Math Inspirations: For parent training in quality math instruction and hands-on math development for early/elementary ED. I used the things I learned in this program to build a solid hands-on math program in early Ed that I credit with creating excellent problem solving skills and excellent numbers sense which are the foundational skills for higher level math work. I transitioned to teaching textbooks later, but the foundation math inspirations helped me create continues to pay dividends. Teaching Textbooks has been excellent as a transition to more traditional math instruction at 3rd or 4th grade. Remember, keep early Ed off the computer, make it hands on and multi-sensory.
History: For kids 4 to 7 years old:
Don’t do a formal history curriculum. Instead read story books that tell the stories (real or make believe) of kids living in different periods of history and in different cultures and countries throughout the world. Talk a lot about what it would have been like to be a child then or there. Help them connect to different times and places through make believe, music, food, and learning about children around the world. Don’t worry about chronology. If you have a kid who is a little more advanced, a great idea is to play the card game timeline and they can begin to learn about events in a timeline.
8-11 years old: Story of the World is a nice read (do it like story time, or listen to the CD’s, Jim Weiss narrates the books and he is awesome!) There are 4 books but it doesn’t take 4 years to read through them. I don’t recommend the story of the world work books. What I recommend is that you zero in on stories and events your child is interested in and do unit studies for them (Homeschool in the woods has some great unit study printable with activities and hands-on projects to make world history fun.)
Homeschool in the Woods also has a very comprehensive world history timeline that you can buy the download.
Science: Dr. Jay Wile, Science in the Beginning
Fun and simple experiments, easy to read aloud text you can do with your child that is enjoyable. A solid foundation!
Followed by his 4 volume elementary science curriculum, starting with Science in the Ancient World.
I love this science for several reasons, 1) Science in the Beginning is a wonderful Early ED science primer that uses the 7 days of creation to classify basic scientific principles across earth science, physical science, and biology — with easy to understand text that is insightful and respectful of faith in God — lots of fun hands-on experiments that are easy to do at home with common household supplies. (I took two years to do this book. 2) The 4 volumes that follow are organized in a spiral method by spiraling through science history, giving your elementary/middle schooler a solid science foundation that promotes a true understanding of what science is which inculcates a healthy scientific humility which comes naturally when you understand the history of how we came to know what we know. This 4 volume science goes well with the 4 volume story of the world books for history. Together they create an opportunity to build a holistic cross-disciplinary approach to education in your home.
GO SLOW… repeat lessons or levels as often and for as long you need until they are comfortable. Stay patient.
Some of my Favorite Classic Children's Books
- Curious George, the originals
- Winnie-the-Pooh
- The Marvelous Mouse Man, by Mary Ann Hoverman
- Thomas the Tank Engine (originals)
- Chris Van Dusen Books
- Usborne Illustrated Classics
- Stuart Little
- Charlotte's Web
- Little House in the Big Woods
- Farmer Boy
- The Narnia books
- Trumpet of the Swam
- Heidi
- Beatrix Potter
- The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
- Father's Dragon
- "The Book With No Pictures" by B.J. Novak
- Any Thornton Burgess books
- Little Toot
- The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge
- Gail Gibbon books
- Catwings
- My Father's Dragon series
- The Mouse and the Motorcycle
- How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head
- Abel's Island
- Basil of Baker Street
- Amos & Boris
- The Nutcracker based on the original Hoffman story
- The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
- The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen
- Elsa Beskow books
- Little Britches
- The Brambly Hedge series
- Flicka, Ricka and Dicka; Snipp, Snapp and Snurr
- Peter Pan
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- More Quality Reading Recommendations
OTHER RESOURSES FOR EARLY & ELEMENTARY ED:
Apps I like the most:
- Endless ABC
- Endless Reader
- Endless Numbers
- Phonics Farm from 22Learn
- TallyTots
- Bob Books Apps
- Quick Math Jr.
- Phonogram Sounds: All About Learning Press
- Duck Duck Moose Apps: all the apps in this family of early ed apps are great the ones that you start with are
- Letter School App: This is a handwriting app that has the Handwriting Without Tears font as well as two other standard programs.
- MakeChange App: For learning money
- TT Clock: For learning time
Activities that help prepare a children for reading and math:
- Leaf Frog Alphabet Magnet Toy
- Leap Frog "Letter Factory" DVD (other Leap Frog Videos)
- Word World program on PBS (Streams on Netflix)
- Read out loud to them!
- Doing Puzzles
- Learning Patterns (string beads in patterns), they make large wooden beads for toddlers
- Coloring; some toddlers won’t tolerate coloring and building things, painting, or clay would be better.
- Cut & Paste activities (and other small motor activities), Legos words for fine motor skills as well.
- Connect the dots; again, some toddlers and young children, especially kids who are likely dyslexic will not tolerate this kind of activity.
- Storytelling Activities
- School House Rock: all of the old stuff
- Explode the Code Primers
- Handwriting Without Tears
- Math Manipulatives, such as, base ten blocks, cuisenaire rods, abacus, teaching clock
- Math Inspirations Method
Games we Love:
- Sequence for Kids
- Monopoly for Kids
- Rummy Card Games
- "Chunks: The Incredible Word Building Game" by Smart Kids: (for beginning readers; age 6)
- Bananagrams: You can use this for lots of early learning activities and you don't have to play the intended game. Early on I would have Charlie put a set of random letters together and we would try to sound out the word he made. Most of the time the words were a jumble of sounds, but it was funny and helped him understand that letters need to be placed in the order with vowels to make sounds and words we can understand.
- Learning Resources "Pop for Letters" game: All of their games are fun.
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