CM & ADD/ADHD

Hi, Betty:

I am new to the CM Forum.  My 9 year old, who was recently diagnosed with ADHD-Inattentive and is under evaluation for APD, is currently in public school but I am hoping to begin homeschooling soon.  I would recommend the Leap Frog DVD’s for phonics/reading.  Despite months of small group intervention and countless hours of help at home inf first grade, my son just could not consistently read.  He would read non-fiction books about sujects he was interested in but “could not” read fiction.  After watching the DVDs and then reading, my son was able to become more fluent.  He still dislikes fiction, but can read several grade-levels above in non-fiction.  My son seems to only like reading when he is interested in the subject matter, anything else is just tedious and he tunes out.  Maybe try a non-fiction approach using animals or weather or any other subject your daughter is interested in learning about.  We also use ZooBooks and National Geographic Kids.

Also, the most life-changing book I have read to help my son (and myself) was “Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World” by Jeffrey Freed, M.A.T. and Laurie Parsons.  The visualization techniques in this book have dramatically changed the way my son does his work.  We still have a lot of struggles, mostly in trying to remediate and keep up with 4th grade.  I gained a new perspective on my son’s learning process and have been able to reject methods that do not coincide with how my son learns.  I also have a new appreciation for my son’s abilities and struggles.  I would also recommend consulting with a psychologist to get an accurate view of what your daughter’s attention/focus and abilities are.  There is a computerized test that the psychologist can administer that can test attention and focus.  When my son was tested, his attention level was at less than half what an average child his age’s attention was (he was able to focus for about 5 minutes out of every twenty).  It is a continuous process to teach him (even and especially with public school during the day) but it is just a balancing act of trying to determine ways to involve and interest him.  Which sometimes means we work for 10 minutes and then take a break!

I do not have any experience with the CM method yet but hope to adapt some aspects for my son.     I personally know how difficult and draining this can be.  But I will tell you that although I was a 4.0 student in HS and college, my son is a hundred times more intelligent than me.  He makes connections and comes up with solutions that do not even occur to me.  He asks questions that I have never considered.  He is more empathetic than anyone I have ever met and as such is more sensitive to things, like tone of voice.  I have only one child so I cannot imagine how difficult it is for you to have multiple children to teach. 

I hope some of this helps. 

Stephanie

I want to present another angle, that we just discovered today after coming back from chiro app’t who is involved with nutrition etc. My 7 yr old son is high functioning autistic but he has extreme hyperactivity as well. My 14 yr old is very lethargic and we have always thought she had comprehension issues…

Today the dr. tested them both and the 7 yr old has parasites which is causing the hyperactivity. and the 14 yr old is suspected of having an underactive thyroid. We had to take her for a blood test that will confirm it…

so yes, the 7 yr old has a bigger issue, but the hyperactivity level in our house has been unbearable for the past 3 years, that we were understanding why people choose to medicate… The 14 yr old with the thyroid issue has the sweetest spirit of a 14 yr old you could ever imagine, but we were constantly changing curr. that didn’t work and now to find that the brain fog has a different origin, I feel so blessed that we found this dr. in our rural area and the fix is so easy compared to what we had been thinking… So when you describe your daugh it felt like you were a fly on the wall in our house looking at our daugh… Maybe just maybe there is more going on.. Oops , I re-read your post and realised the loudness part does not pertain to our child. thanks but no thanks , the 7 yr old.s hyperactivity is enough for our house … but the social aspect, learning aspect fits like a T…

KK

I also forgot to mention “Reading with Rover” as an option to help younger children read.  In my area, the local libraries offer this (usually during the spring and summer).  You can sign your child up to read to a service dog, which helps the service dog in its training.  It also removes the pressure from the child as the dog won’t correct the child and doesn’t pass judgment on how the child is doing.  In my son’s case, he hates to not get things right, so this program was great for confidence building.  Plus, it is a great opportunity to teach children about how service dogs work and helping those who are visually impaired.

For my son, if his hyperactivity seems to get too high, I know that he is overstimulated (since ADD kids notice every sound).  Having a T.V., video game, computer free week is the best thing EVER to do to regain a controlled atmosphere.  It is difficult to do, because everyone in the house has to be on board.  My aunt actually homeschools and is involved with a co-op, the entire group (and me the public schooler) tested this “T.V. free week” out on our children and the changes in atmosphere for all families was insanely noticeable.  We do not have to do it often and for sensitive kids you have to reinforce that it is not a punishment but it really helps.  We did games, read, did plays, art activities, took walks.  I try to do this every six months just because it is great to reconnect and make household atmosphere more relaxed.

On the Leap Frog DVD note, I know many families with struggling readers who the DVDs have worked really well for.  They also have Math DVD’s, I believe with a circus format.  Great for number sense.