Homeschool program recommendations please!

[kaffinito]

Hi all,

I need some homeschooling program recommendations please. DS17 is high functioning ASD, and is flunking out of high school. I want to try homeschooling him, since he still needs a lot of one-on-one interaction in order to stay on task and complete his work.

I've looked at the K12 program and Keystone online - has anyone on here tried them?

Or, can anyone recommend a good program for us?

TIA
Karen

 

[skoi]

Howdy.

We did K-12 briefly with our two older kids through a cybercharter, but they were very young (3rd and 4th grade for dd, K for ds). As a former history instructor at secondary and university level, I loved it. DD did as well, but ds struggled mightily with it, especially the daily evaluations at the end of the lessons, which made him very anxious as he wasn't catching on very quickly. I don't know what it's like in high school, but we're very used to homeschooling and having a free schedule, so wouldn't use it ourselves.

I'd also appreciate some insight into this question, and any other curriculum advice. Our youngest ds (almost 6) is adopted and also has cleft palate (since repaired), and hearing problems. Our local school district didn't fill me with confidence that they could address his needs, so as with his older siblings, we're homeschooling. He has major language delays, and the cognitive delays that go along with that, but is making some progress.

 

[Schmeck]

Check with your school district on the language delays - even if you homeschool, he could be eligible for some speech/language therapy.

 

[jmartinez1895]

We use the Abeka, but I'm not sure if it would work for you. Our son ( 1st grade, going into second) loves it and we are a Christian family so we enjoy how it brings God into all of the subjects. Abeka even has a DVD program you can buy that has the teachers inside a classroom teaching class, so your child gets to be part of a class, but you can stop and remind when needed.

 

[GoofyG]

I'm just now looking into curriculum for DD6, but I found ACE http://www2.aceministries.com/ and it's accredited, i'm really liking what i've read. I hope to find more out next week, but this is probably what i'm going to use.

 

[disneymom3]

With high schoolers it's really important to look at what your goals are for them as well as what their own goals are. It is more work but putting together your own curriculum based on the needs of your child may be your best bet. Or piecing together math from K-12 with language arts from Abeka and that kind of thing. Is there a topic your child is inteterested in that he could use as an elective? What about a time in history he would like to learn about or that would really get him going/

 

[worm761]

Ds is 14 years old and is high functioning Autistic/Asperger's. We virtual school through the state. Florida uses the K12 website for their virtual school. It is great. They have to meet all the requirements of the state. All work is graded by a real teacher. Not that homeschooling parents (or parents in general) aren't real teachers but you guys know what I mean. They are certified. Anyway, they self teach. There modules with homework type assignments and tests. DS does very well with this. We tried traditional homeschool at first. It worked when he was small but wasn't working for the older grades. He had gone back to school so this was a good alternative. It is also free through our state. You might want to check on that too. I don't know what state you live in but several states offer free courses through k12. Another really good part, by doing the virtual school we are automatically compliant with all homeschool laws since technically it is a public school in our state. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. I don't wander over to this part of the disboards often. I should but I don't.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

I have 2 in college and a 16 year old whom I have homeschooled the whole time. We did use Abeka exclusively through eighth grade. It is considered advanced and is very good.
In high school we switched to Teaching Textbooks for math and it is wonderful. Your son would watch the lesson on the computer. There is another cd set that explains how every problem is worked if he is confused on anything. This curriculum explains things so well that my son got a perfect score on the algebra part of the ACT. They offer Algebra I, Alg II, Geometry, and Precalculus.
We did use Abeka for Biology and Earth Science.
For Chemistry we switched to Apologia. I like the format of 18 modules. It disciplines the kids to plan their study time in preparation for college classes.
Instead of being assigned certain pages to read each day, they know they have two weeks to read the unit, work the problems, do the review, and the test. They also offer a course in marine biology which my DD (and I) loved.
Abeka has great social studies for the high school years.
All Abeka studies offer a student text, lesson plans, test/quiz books and answer keys, etc---everything you need.
We also use Abeka for language arts and literature. I supplement the lit because they do not include some classics because they have objectionable content. The grammar books are very good in reinforcing concepts learned through the years--my DD could not believe an upper level college course she was in spent 3 days going over its/it's, their/there, lie/lay, set/sit, etc.
Kids just are not learning it when they should!
You should go to hslda.org to see the homeschooling laws for your state. We came from the midwest and they did not want to be bothered with parents notifying the district. Here in TN we have to register with an umbrella school that keeps our records. Laws vary from state to state.
You can also find the homeschool chat on the family thread here.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
Good luck!

 

[tinkslite]

I have 3 kiddos (15 dd w/ ASD, 14 year old son w very very mild ADD, and 12 year old son with immune deficiency issues coupled w major food/environmental allergies and ADHD). We have tried traditional bricks & mortar public schools, a private Montessori method school, homeschooling (for several years), and are currently using Connections Virtual Academy which is a state charter school where I live, but is also offered as a private national academy in others.......
Connections is similar to K-12. I have really liked some things about the program for my special needs crew (home based so the classroom stimulations are not a distraction, social group issues are separated from academics (nice for my AS kiddo). Every lesson doesn't end in quiz or test, which is a bit different from k-12 from what I understand..... The program is one we really like, but it depends on the kid/family. I am used to and prefer being extremely involved in the kids day to day school program, so if your preference is very low involvement I am not sure this would work.
You can check out the national website at connectionsacademy.com
We may try out k-12 for daughter in the upcoming school year, we'll see.....

 

[lovethattink]

My 16 year old just started homeschooling. We are using the computer based Switched-on program by Alpha Omega. I like it because it is a self taught program. I only have to grade 15% of the material, everything else is graded by the computer. I set the parameters on the computer. It is working well for us.

My son will be in 11th grade. He has mild CP, and issues with handwriting. This computer based curriculum allows him to use the keyboard instead of a writing utensil.

Sometimes his eyes spasm, and the Switched-on has a function where he can highlight the text he is to read, and it will read it to him instead.

He started 7 different subjects through Switched-on this summer. He is getting all A's which is a huge improvement!

The program figures out the lesson plans and how much needs to be accomplished each day. My son learned quickly how easy it is to fall behind, and how hard playing catch up can be. Hopefully he will continue to stay on track. We decided to stretch his curriculum over 210 days instead of 180 days.

 

[lovethattink]

Oh, and my 16 year old son is using teaching textbooks for Pre-Calculus.

My 6 year old son may have to homeschool due to health problems too. We would go with the Abeka Kindergarten DVD school for him, if we decide to homeschool him.