8th Grade Placement for Student with Delays

[turtlemama]

Hello! I keep going back and forth on best placement for my son who will be in 8th grade. We were going to use HOD this past year, but life got crazy and we did the bare minimum this year. The couple of weeks that we were using HOD guides, I put my 13 year old and 10 year old in Preparing. That guide seemed to bore my 13 year old and he wanted to move at a faster pace than my 10 year old, who needed me with him for all the boxes in Preparing. So this year I am doing Bigger with the 10 year old to give him one more year to strengthen his skills before working independently, but I am at a loss as to where to place the 13 year old. More about him:

He WANTS to do independent work, but he's delayed in fine motor skills. Although his Occupational Therapist and I discussed getting him tested for dyslexia because the OT said at this point his hand strength is almost caught up to his age, he's just struggling with flipping letters/numbers still and he only writes in capitals. I have not taught him cursive because I kept waiting for his print to strengthen...which it clearly hasn't.

He reads ok, but when I ask him questions afterwards he can't answer them. If I ask him to narrate, he tells me that his mind goes blank after reading, like he hasn't read it at all. I can get him to draw a stick figure picture afterwards and that helps him explain some things to me.

He actually CAN draw really well when watching a video of someone drawing. It seems that as long as he has a guide in either forming letters or drawing pictures, he can accomplish them. But when he has to picture something in his mind, he is unable to.

If I ask him to read a passage to me outloud he just skips over any words he doesn't instantly recognize, he will not attempt to sound them out at all.

He cannot spell. He doesn't even get close to the correct letters sometimes. His hearing has been tested numerous times in the past 2 years and it is perfect. When he was tested for receptive language, he scored at or above level. So he is hearing and understanding, there just seems to be a disconnect when it comes to the actual output.

He cannot even write a sentence independently. He can speak in full sentences and he can copy up to a paragraph of work before tiring, but if I ask him to write a sentence about what he read, I usually get something like "He di[e]d" or something similarly simplistic.

Age-wise I would put him into Revival to Revolution, but skills wise he is probably way lower. Maybe even Little Hearts or Beyond if we're talking spelling/writing/narrating ability.

But he will be in "high school" during the 2024/2025 school year. So I don't know what to do this year to help him gain independence, improve in skills, but also not be overwhelmed. And then I don't know what to do once high school comes, but I figure whichever guide I choose this next year he will just move into the next guide next year.

For additional context: I am teaching the 13 year old, the 10 year old (Bigger), and a 7 year old (Beyond). I also have a baby who will turn 1 at the end of November. I am the sole homeschool teacher, my husband doesn't do any of the teaching. We have Occupational and Speech Therapies outside the house for a couple of hours on Mondays and Thursdays. I also have ADHD and HOD has been the perfect lesson set-up for me to be able to use consistently so I have decided to just stick with it long term. Thank you.

[daybreaking]

First of all, congratulations on finding HOD and choosing to stay long term. You won't regret your decision! You not only have an excellent curriculum, but the support HOD provides is outstanding. Whenever I have called with a question, Julie has talked with my extensively, giving me great advice. I'm actually very sad that I only have a few more years left using HOD. I don't want to stop. I've loved HOD and the company feels like family.

Back to your quesiton ... I don't know if this might help, but I noticed the HOD main page recently added a "Grade" tab. Here is a link to the one for 8th grade: https://heartofdakota.com/8th-grade-chr ... urriculum/

Of the three options listed, I wonder if "Option 3: Resurrection to Reformation" might be a good fit for your son. Here's the explanation:
"Finally, let’s consider whether Resurrection to Reformation is a good match. This guide is ideally targeted for students in grades 5-6, but it can be extended to fit students in grades 7-8. If you want to combine an older and a younger student, or you have a struggling learner, then this 8th grade curriculum extension might be just what you’re looking for!"

We did RTR when my daughter was older than the age range and it still was a perfect fit. She grew tremendously over the year, gaining many skills and learning so much! I don't think your son would be bored. RTR is very meaty.

If you look at the sample of the first week, you will get an idea of the writing involved. Students need to do weekly narrations, but you could modify where your son dictates to you and you type out his narration. If necessary, you could break the reading up into smaller sections and have him narrate after each, rather than having to keep the entire reading in his head. Little by little, the sections can be lengthened. Thankfully, HOD is easily modified to accommodate student's particular situations. It is possible for your son to get the richness of HOD, even if his writing is below level. If you have a chance, check out posts by LynnH on the board. Her son has CP and she did a lot of modifications to help him through the programs.

Hope something in this helps you!

[christianmom]

I think your idea of sticking with HOD long-term could be a good idea. It will take planning off your plate, and it will give you structure, goals, achievement of goals, and consistency.

Does your 10 year old place in Bigger? Or, does he place in Preparing except for independence? The reason I ask is because generally it isn’t recommended to teach Beyond and Bigger at the same time due to the time it will take for mom. I tried it once with 4 kids with 1 or 2 under age 5, and I ended up dropping Bigger and just doing Beyond. If you call HOD they may be able to help you figure out a good plan for the 10 & 7. You may even be able to do one 1/2 speed until everything is going smoothly. I realize this wasn’t your question, but the Beyond / Bigger plan with 4 kids and a 1 year old stood out to me. Maybe, Preparing 1/2 speed until independence develops? Or, maybe Beyond 1/2 speed if your age 10 places squarely into Bigger since age 7 is in the middle range for Beyond? I don’t want to discourage you; I want to encourage you to get a solid placement plan so you can have the long-term success with HOD that you have chosen.

Your real question though is your 13 year old son. You mentioned that he can read okay, but that he might even place in Beyond or LHFHG for spelling, writing, and narrating even though his age is Rev2Rev. You also mentioned that he cannot write a sentence. You further mentioned his desire for independence, his OT, and High School.

I would encourage you to teach to what he needs rather than his age while keeping his age in mind for interest level.

I think I would place him where he can succeed. You said he was bored in Preparing. How was he doing academically? Could he write the narration? Could he read independently? Could he remember what he reads? Did he need more, less, or was Preparing about right? How was he doing in Rod and Staff? How much has he progressed since last fall?

I hope your answers to those questions helps you decide on a placement where he will have success.

[turtlemama]

Thank you both for your encouragement, suggestions, and ideas!

I did take a look at Resurrection to Reformation and skills-wise it seems a bit too advanced for the 13 year old.

I did not realize that Beyond and Bigger were generally not recommended to be used at the same time. When considering my 10 year old, I was thinking since he could solidly place in Bigger skills-wise I may want to do that and give him some of the boxes to do independently. Perhaps Preparing at half speed may be the better choice. He did seem to enjoy the content of it and is much improved with his focus. He may be ready to pick back up with Preparing overall.

The 13 year old is hyper-aware when people are making things easier for him so I do not want to place him so low that the content would make him feel like it's babyish.

I had my oldest son "repeat" 8th before we began keeping a transcript for high school, but he would have graduated at 17 if he had moved forward. Instead he graduated this week at age 18. So I am considering just having the 13 year old "repeat" 7th grade this coming up year. Then he would be 19 at graduation. There was a young man in the homeschool graduation this year who was 19 so it's definitely something to consider.

When I asked in a Facebook group Creation to Christ was suggested for him. I couldn't seem to get past the feeling that it wasn't "8th grade" level, but I think if I look at it for a 7th grader, it is probably the best fit for my 13 year old skills wise, with some minor adjustments to how he will complete the independent work.

So now I'm considering Beyond for the 7 year old, Preparing (1/2 speed) for the 10 year old, and Creation to Christ for the 13 year old. I'll sit with these for a bit and see how they fit for each one.

Thanks again!

[daybreaking]

I did take a look at Resurrection to Reformation and skills-wise it seems a bit too advanced for the 13 year old.

I think I misread your first post. I was thinking you were considering Rev2Rev, which is why I recommended RTR, as it would be less advanced. As I re-read your post, I think you were just saying that's where he hit age-wise. Sorry for the confusion!

So now I'm considering Beyond for the 7 year old, Preparing (1/2 speed) for the 10 year old, and Creation to Christ for the 13 year old. I'll sit with these for a bit and see how they fit for each one.
Thanks again!

I think this sounds like a great plan. It will give your son a chance to be successful while continuing to move forward at his own pace. It would be so much better for him to take an extra year, than to be working beyond his ability year after year. FWIW, my son was quite advanced (99%ile on most standardized tests), but we still had him graduate at 19 AND take a gap year after that!! He entered college so much more prepared than he would have, had we not waited. He felt badly at first, but now definitely recognizes the benefit. I know many students who enter college at 18, graduate on time, but then take years to get established. In the scheme of things, ten years from now, no one will question what age someone was when they entered college.