ADHD & Classical Education

[Growing2Fast]

Hi!  I'm new to this group.  I just pulled my 1st grader out of school the beginning of December and have started homeschooling him.  He has autism (high functioning) and suffers with ADHD.  I also have another child that is 4yrs old and will be starting Kindergarten the fall of 2010. She attends a part-day enrichment program 3 days per week and I work with her at home as well.  My husband and I have really been researching curriculum and different methods of teaching and we have both been drawn to the Charlotte Mason method and, of course, classical.  We are looking into enlisting both of our children in the local Classical Conversations program.  We have been to the seminar and read up on it.  We know our daughter will love it and will probably do well in the program.  However, we are concerned about our son.  Do any of you have children with learning issues or do you know of other children who have participated in the Classical Conversations program that had autism and/or ADHD?  Did they do well or did it just lead to frustration?  I would truly appreciate any feedback.

Thanks!

[jenl123]

Hi - and welcome!!  I believe homeschooling in a classical style, especially with a program like Classical Conversations, can be one of the best options for a child with learning challenges.  It's like the program is customized for each individual's learning capabilities, with a high success rate and at the same time challenging each child in an appropriate amount.

You probably already know this, but CC takes a child's natural God given ability to soak in loads of information and uses it for his acedemic benefit.  Each child will be unique in how much information he can absorb and to what extent.  He will also be unique in how that info gets into his little brain.

With the support of CC you can find so many differnt ways to help him grasp concepts and remember info.  And the beauty of attending the classes is they are set up to make each child feel successful, whether or not they have actually learned their weekly material at home or not.

I probably sound like a commercial, but I have witnessed first hand the amazing benefits to homeschooling classically, and I think if the parents are ready for a commitment, as it is a lot of work, their children will reap the rewards.  Make sure you communicate with your CC director about your child's learning challenges so she can place him in the appropriate class.

Feel free to ask me any more questions you might have, and good luck with your endeavor!    :)

[Growing2Fast]

Quoting jenl123:

Hi - and welcome!!  I believe homeschooling in a classical style, especially with a program like Classical Conversations, can be one of the best options for a child with learning challenges.  It's like the program is customized for each individual's learning capabilities, with a high success rate and at the same time challenging each child in an appropriate amount.

You probably already know this, but CC takes a child's natural God given ability to soak in loads of information and uses it for his acedemic benefit.  Each child will be unique in how much information he can absorb and to what extent.  He will also be unique in how that info gets into his little brain.

With the support of CC you can find so many differnt ways to help him grasp concepts and remember info.  And the beauty of attending the classes is they are set up to make each child feel successful, whether or not they have actually learned their weekly material at home or not.

I probably sound like a commercial, but I have witnessed first hand the amazing benefits to homeschooling classically, and I think if the parents are ready for a commitment, as it is a lot of work, their children will reap the rewards.  Make sure you communicate with your CC director about your child's learning challenges so she can place him in the appropriate class.

Feel free to ask me any more questions you might have, and good luck with your endeavor!    :)

Are you currently or have you been in the CC program?  At the seminar we attended, the person I spoke with afterwards seemed like she was kind of a stickler for keeping the kids with other kids their same age.  And with Sam's concentration issues, I'm just really not sure about if he'll be able to memorize as efficiently as his peers.  I know this is something I need to air out with the program director prior to signing the contract and putting down our deposit.  I was just hoping to get some feedback from others that aren't vested in this areas program.

Thanks for your response.  I appreciate it.  The CC program does seem very promising.

[jenl123]

We were in a group last year and are doing CC at home ourselves this year.  We are hoping to be back in a group again this fall. 

Yes, they generally keep kids close to the same age in the same classes, but I remember at least one family who had a special needs child and he went into the younger kids class which was more appropriate for his mentality.  I would think your director will be accomodating in this area.  It is her desire for each child to be as successful as possible.  Be honest with her about your child's challenges.  (That being said, children often amaze us at how much they really can accomplish!)  But yes, definitely talk it out with her.

I also think the class time is not so much about how much the children have memorized.  It really is set up to mostly give parents tools to use at home, and to allow each child to feel successful in the classroom setting.  You will find a wide variety from child to child even in the same age group, and even from week to week for that matter, of how much he may have gotten accomplished at home.  I would think if your son functions at age level socially it shouldn't be an issue either way.

[higgins30]

Hi there!!!! I also have a son with high functioning autism and ADHD! He is 6 years old. We have been doing classical conversations for a couple of months now and love it. We don't go to the weekly classes though, because I have 5 children and 3 of them are 3 and under, so it would be very difficult to go to the classes. Not to mention very expensive. I joined the C3 online community and get all the work online, It cost $60  a month and you don't have to commit to it if you just want to do it for a month at a time you can and see if you like it. I did that and I love it. On Monday I put all the memory work up on the big white board in the classroom for the week and we all learn this together, even my three year old does it and loves it! When we are done memorizing the weeks work we then work on our own projects like reading and math worksheets I use Accelerated achievement for my printouts. it's a k-12 curriculum on a CD ROM for $99.00 and it is also classical education. doing classical conversations online has been wonderful for me. I looked up on YouTube to see how the classes are run and basically got an understanding of how it all go's. I have been homeschooling for 4 years now with my 5th grader and so I am confident with homeschooling on my own. I'm sure the classes are wonderful and when my children are older I would love to get them involved in them especially or the high school years. As for my son with autism, his fine motor skills are really poor but he has an awesome memory and so this really works for him, I do have difficulty getting him to pay attention but I find that if I use m&m's as a reward for memorized work it helps motorvate him to do the work. I can also give him small breaks inbetween or make a game out of the memory work by allowing him to stand up and act like the animal we are talking about etc. You can really customize this program to work well with your child, If you have any more questions please feel free to email me. I would be glad to answer any more questions, thanks, Kelli

[jenl123]

Quoting higgins30:

I joined the C3 online community and get all the work online, It cost $60  a month and you don't have to commit to it if you just want to do it for a month at a time you can and see if you like it.

Kelli - I should mention for the next time you sign up for the C3 community, you can email CC and ask for a discount, and they'll give you a code for a non-members discount.  It's really worth it!

[higgins30]

Thank you!!!!! I will definitely do that!

[Growing2Fast]

I appreciate the responses.  You ladies are a great resource for advice.  It's nice to see there are others with my same situation having success with this method of teaching.

Thank you,