My apologies but the pain that caused one day off refused to go away. And the accompanying fatigue and brain fog left me with only enough energy for the mandatory things in life. So back to the topic.
This year is the first year that we are using several full, preplanned curricula. It's an experiment. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised to find the curricula had all daily lesson planning included which saved me a whole lot of work. But just because they're purchased, preplanned curricula doesn't mean that they don't need adaption.
My son is non verbal. While he does have some language and is gaining more, at this time, none of his language is functional for working on his school work. He also has great difficulty in writing which adds its own level of complications. In order to get his assignments done without making them too stressful, I use several tools. Schools call this assistive technology which is somewhat misleading because it makes you think of computers. I do use some electronic technology but, as you'll discover, I use a lot more simple stuff.
First is a communication program called Jabtalk. It's a free android app but it would be worth paying for. It offers many of the same things as most very expensive communication programs. In fact, the only thing it doesn't offer is a image library. This is perfect for us because I prefer to choose our own images. But it's also perfect for many others because you can use whatever image library you've been using elsewhere.
Jabtalk is installed on both his tablet and a much smaller android phone. I use it to make boards that he can use to "talk" when necessary to complete his assignments. This is a continual work in progress. And while I can get him to use it for school work, he doesn't really transition to using it for the rest of life. Most likely because the verbal vocabulary he has does work for most of that even if I have to resort to yes/no questions. Jabtalk is a tool that can be used in all of his subjects.
First/Then boards are great to a degree. When we first started out, I used them a lot. As we've gotten further along my son has learned to listen when I make statements like that. He's also learned to listen when I list multiple items, something I used to do with visible picture boards. Each child will move at their own pace but most can move beyond the need for those visible lists at some point.
In specific subjects it gets more detailed. For math, I use two sets of Melissa and Doug number magnets. I also print off sheets of numbers for use in assignments. A few sets are laminated but more are just cut apart and stored so that he can "write" his answers on his worksheets. You only need to do 0 through 9. And those bead sorters from the craft stores are a great way to keep these organized. You can also do math symbols. And yes, we go through a lot of glue sticks. Oh, and this year we are using the Math U See curriculum and it's accompanying manipulatives. My son loves the blocks so I'm hoping that it will help him grasp the concept of quantities.
For spelling, we use the Melissa and Doug upper and lower case letter magnets. I have multiple sets so that we have enough. The idea that he can "build" words is still very new for him so right now that is all we do. We "play" with building words. When it becomes more concrete, I will do the same thing for the alphabet that I do for numbers if it is still needed.
For reading, we do the same thing that many teachers do. I create a worksheet with blanks. Then there are pieces, with both word and image, that are used to fill the blanks. Sometimes I use JabTalk for those "blanks". Reading is still very simplistic right now. And this refers just to comprehension when we read a story together or complete a science summary for the week.
For actually learning to read, well that has been a challenge to navigate and test the last few years. This year we are using the Gemiini reading videos and their accompanying books. They are being paired with the LeapFrog Tag beginning readers as well. Actually, I'm making Gemiini videos for a lot of his subjects but in this one area they will be the primary tool, not an accessory tool. Because of the way that the videos and program are created, he can be fully tested despite being non verbal. He's made it more than obvious that he would like to learn to read over the past year so I'm hoping that this will help him to bridge the gap.
For science we are using a curriculum that was designed around the kid show "Magic School Bus" with some alterations. And I use all of the ideas above to let him interact with that curriculum. The only problem that has developed so far is that he doesn't want to watch the actual childrens' videos. So I may have to hunt up alternative videos. I'm going to give it another couple of weeks or so to see if the problem goes away or not.
Anyways, as you can see, I use a lot of assistive technology to give my son the ability to complete his assignments. These items can be used with any curriculum. I've used them with a few. So don't feel compelled to use only specific curricula. One thing I will warn about is to not get caught up in laminating, and reusing, everything. I was guilty of this until a friend pointed it out. You need to keep some basic proof and records so intact completed worksheets from your child are good things to have on hand. And remember not to aid them too much. It's hard to see them struggle, but all children struggle to learn and if you take that struggle away you limit their learning. Only assist/prompt the bare minimum needed to keep your child focused on the task.
As for the writing issues, the problem there isn't really fine motor control anymore. It's that he wasn't given any writing tutoring except for the random assignments throughout his school years. And almost every single time he was given completely hand over hand assistance. His writing skills have improved greatly since we started homeschooling but it's still very difficult for him. From a purely physical standpoint, his fingernails shaped differently because there was no continual writing and he has no writing callouses on his fingers. These are things that make it easier for the rest of us to write frequently. Anyways, writing is a "subject" which we practice for 15 to 20 minutes a day. I use a variety of writing surfaces and materials so that he can work on control with all of them. One day he will be able to use his writing skills as freely as you and I do.
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