Well, we tried sending my 4 year old off to PreK. We had to withdraw him after 3 and a half days. I know he is probably ADHD. I can just feel it, you know? And of course there is the whole symptom thing. Thing is doctors won't diagnose until he's 5. So I've decided to take the leap to homeschool him. I know this will be a challenge but I really feel it's the right thing for him. Plus he's compeletely traumitized from school now. Who knew 3 and a half days could be so bad? His teacher just didn't have it in her to handle him. Anyway, I need some good book recommendations for homeschooliing a child with ADHD. Thanks!

I homeschooled! It is too late to go into details, but I think 4 years old is way to early to send a child to school ADD or not. My son is 25 and I took him out of kindergarten when the teacher and I realized he was shutting down and not adjusting at all. He needs to be a kid right now-and no schooling-just lots of reading to him, art exploration, teachable moments with nature, and lots of parent time just talking and being together. Too much too soon just leads to problems.

More later!

RADD

I H.E. my son for 2 years when he got excluded because of his behavour and the schools inability to deal with him. He too was completely stressed out and it took me 4 months to regain the child i had sent to school. He started mainstream in March at the age of 7 and attained all his SATS (national tests). On his report the one phrase that was constantly used was 'good background knowledge'. I provided him with early reading books, pen and paper, craft bits and went for walks in the woods. He played and learnt as he went. I found due to his behaviour it was impossible to be a teacher and his mum. But by giving him the tools he still leant to read. I read to him every night and eventually he started to read back, no pressure.


So my advise would be not to worry too much at this young age, work on those social skills, give him the oportunity to learn, choose his toys with this in mind and most of all try to enjoy his company. Having him home was tough, but its something i really value now.

sammy

I homeschooled! It is too late to go into details, but I think 4 years old is way to early to send a child to school ADD or not. My son is 25 and I took him out of kindergarten when the teacher and I realized he was shutting down and not adjusting at all. He needs to be a kid right now-and no schooling-just lots of reading to him, art exploration, teachable moments with nature, and lots of parent time just talking and being together. Too much too soon just leads to problems.

I agree with that RADD, but there is always the other foot, ya know...if I had not sent the Kid to a daycare type program at age 4, I honestly do not believe she would have had any socialiasation skills at all...:o not that hers are terribly swift at almost-11 anyway! Then again you know the Kid a bit better than many here; she really is MiniMe, so she tends to pull no punches, regardless what happens.

Nice to see ya again What, I wondered what had happened to you :). Maybe you can find a nice daycare half-day program, or a HeadStart type thing (may be sponsored or free, depending on the situation) just get him a bit more socialised? Did my Kid a world of good; and last I heard they could diagnose by age 4. Maybe a trip to the Dr. is in order too?

I homeschooled! It is too late to go into details, but I think 4 years old is way to early to send a child to school ADD or not. My son is 25 and I took him out of kindergarten when the teacher and I realized he was shutting down and not adjusting at all. He needs to be a kid right now-and no schooling-just lots of reading to him, art exploration, teachable moments with nature, and lots of parent time just talking and being together. Too much too soon just leads to problems.

More later!

RADDthanks for the advice but i'm looking for a book that will help me homeschool my child who will be 5 in about a month. do you know of a book? that was kind of the advice i was looking for. a book that will help me homeschool my son who possibly has adhd.

Have you searched the web yet What? Or perhaps the forum? Might be some stuff here already :) if not Scatt is good at tracking down books.

I agree with that RADD, but there is always the other foot, ya know...if I had not sent the Kid to a daycare type program at age 4, I honestly do not believe she would have had any socialiasation skills at all...:o not that hers are terribly swift at almost-11 anyway! Then again you know the Kid a bit better than many here; she really is MiniMe, so she tends to pull no punches, regardless what happens.

Nice to see ya again What, I wondered what had happened to you :). Maybe you can find a nice daycare half-day program, or a HeadStart type thing (may be sponsored or free, depending on the situation) just get him a bit more socialised? Did my Kid a world of good; and last I heard they could diagnose by age 4. Maybe a trip to the Dr. is in order too?


haha, i've been dealing with alot over here. i wish i can send him to a half day program or even mother's day out but i'm afraid i've ruined even that for him. he won't let me drop him off anywhere but grandma's house. i wanted him to hopefully learn better social skills but he didn't take well to the prek program at all. he didn't like all the kids in his class. he didn't like kids sitting next to him. he didn't like kids laying next to him at nap time. he couldn't sit still. didn't listen to the teacher. when they sent a note him that he would start being sent home after just 3 and a half days i pulled him out. i've enrolled him and his sister in an art class i can be with them at that starts next month and i also enrolled him in a tae kwon do class that's only 30 minutes that i can also be with him at. he will be 5 in october. if things haven't mellowed out by may next year i'm taking him in for testing. if he turns out to have adhd as i suspect he does then he will be homeschooled. even teachers are aware of the problem many don't want to deal with it. a classic example is with my nephew. his teachers know he has adhd but they still treat him as a problem child. i don't want that to happen to my son. he'll be dealing with enough already.

Have you searched the web yet What? Or perhaps the forum? Might be some stuff here already :) if not Scatt is good at tracking down books.yes. unfortunately there is only one that i've found.

haha, i've been dealing with alot over here. i wish i can send him to a half day program or even mother's day out but i'm afraid i've ruined even that for him. he won't let me drop him off anywhere but grandma's house. i wanted him to hopefully learn better social skills but he didn't take well to the prek program at all. he didn't like all the kids in his class. he didn't like kids sitting next to him. he didn't like kids laying next to him at nap time. he couldn't sit still. didn't listen to the teacher. when they sent a note him that he would start being sent home after just 3 and a half days i pulled him out. i've enrolled him and his sister in an art class i can be with them at that starts next month and i also enrolled him in a tae kwon do class that's only 30 minutes that i can also be with him at. he will be 5 in october. if things haven't mellowed out by may next year i'm taking him in for testing. if he turns out to have adhd as i suspect he does then he will be homeschooled. even teachers are aware of the problem many don't want to deal with it. a classic example is with my nephew. his teachers know he has adhd but they still treat him as a problem child. i don't want that to happen to my son. he'll be dealing with enough already.

Yes, any sort of socialization is good. Sports can be a good fit for the hyperactive type. Also try the library; often they have some free programs too. For others who are in the same boat and know that there kids are ADHD, especially those kids who are hyperactive, talk with the school before their first day. A gradual introduction and reduced day is good. Remember that they are often more emotionally immature then their peers and can have difficulty handling what their peers do. Having them go 1/2 the time that their peers do is a progressive idea and I'd hope that the school would go for it. It is in the child's best interest. I had to press the issue with my daughter's school, she needed more 1 on 1 learning time.

Finally if your child is really Hyperactive they can be very difficult to manage. Best to make a behaviour plan with the teacher and go for a school based identification. Any sort of transition or unsupervised parts of the day are often times when they misbehave. You can plan for this to some degree.

My wife uses these books for our kids during the summer, so they do not forget what they learned in the past year.

Summer Bridge Activities: Preschool to Kindergarten by Julia Hobbs.

Here is another book I found on Amazon.

Preschooler's Busy Book: 365 Creative Games & Activities To Occupy 3-6 Year Olds (Paperback)

Another one:

Preschool Play and Learn : 150 Fun Games and Learning Activities for Preschoolers from Three to Six Years

To me preschool is all about learning to share, wait your turn, stand in line etc... It does have some real school to it but really if you concentrate on the basics (letters, numbers and the like) and have him do some activity where he is involved with other kids, he will do just fine in Kindergarten. By then he may be diagnosed and can have some of the stimulants. I am sure there are lots of things to do with him that would help social skills like soccer, gymnastics, swimming lessons, etc. He won't know he is in a "class".

To me preschool is all about learning to share, wait your turn, stand in line etc... It does have some real school to it but really if you concentrate on the basics (letters, numbers and the like) and have him do some activity where he is involved with other kids, he will do just fine in Kindergarten. By then he may be diagnosed and can have some of the stimulants. I am sure there are lots of things to do with him that would help social skills like soccer, gymnastics, swimming lessons, etc. He won't know he is in a "class".Good point Jayhawk! This is exactly the type of program I put my almost-11 year old in when she was 4. Now granted, she was never the "H factor" combined type, but she cannot sit still when she gets bored, and was always a good deal larger than her classmates (about a full head taller than even the boys). She is very brilliant and enjoyed the letters and numbers as long as it was fun and colorful...and did not last an eternity. Otherwise it was all about sharing and taking turns, et. al.

There are so many homeschooling books on the market-I would go to the bookstore alone and just sit by the shelves and read through them. It would be imposssible to recommend one particular book because you and your child are a unique combination. It would very much help to know what kind of book you want. There are many approaches and many wackos out there.

I found I wasted my money on most of the how to home school books. I cannot remember any-and that is not how I am with books. I was an eclectic home school mom-I tried the formal thing-didn't work. We were not formal at all-lots of books, read out loud, lots of art materials, exploring, talking, watching history channel, PBS, and other educational stuff. Taught handwriting, and reading, and math. But only at the appropriate age and interest level- My children all became honor students! My son did not learn to read until he was 8-even though we worked with reading skills all the time. He learned by himself in 2 weeks-based on our earlier work with phonics.

As an experienced home school mom of two, I was basing what I shared with you on my experience. I spent a lot on books-I love books, but there is not a definitive, if you do this you will be home schooling correctly book out there. And as a child development teacher and a person with ADD too, I would recommend you spend that money on books to read with your child. Let him pick them out! Great fun for kids!

Just sharing my experience and thoughts on this. Sorry you didn't like my answer on my first post. I do hope the information will help you though.

RADD

Yes, as some say, socialization skills are important. There are many other ways to develop them other than school! And some kids-especially those in poverty with poorly educated parents need programs like head start-but that is for a different time and place.

Well, we tried sending my 4 year old off to PreK. We had to withdraw him after 3 and a half days. I know he is probably ADHD. I can just feel it, you know? And of course there is the whole symptom thing. Thing is doctors won't diagnose until he's 5. So I've decided to take the leap to homeschool him. I know this will be a challenge but I really feel it's the right thing for him. Plus he's compeletely traumitized from school now. Who knew 3 and a half days could be so bad? His teacher just didn't have it in her to handle him. Anyway, I need some good book recommendations for homeschooling a child with ADHD. Thanks!Hi What! I home school my ADHD daughter from K - 2nd. This year she just started 3rd in private school and is doing well. In fact, she is one of the best readers in the class (amazing after the slow start she had). A couple of things that I found very helpful were the Hooked and Phonic and Hooked on Math. Those programs are designed very nicely, easy to implement, and have lots of reinforcers which ADD kids need. The reading was going nowhere fast, even though I'm trained as a reading education specialist until we started the Hooked on Phonics and then she just took off. We also got her a number of nature videos and these days she sounds like a guide and the museum of natural history. ADD kids learn best (actually all kids do, but for ADD kids mental stimulation is essential to "turn their brain on") when they're very interested. Sometimes it takes some experimenting to find what works best with your particular child, but homeschooling allows you that option. We also enrolled our child part time at a local church school which allowed her to take music, PE, computers, art,and such. Those classes were interesting and she learned how to behave for shorter periods in a classroom setting. Music is also a good devise for focusing the ADD brain and has been shown to help with developing math skills as well. Plus get him lots of exercise -- physical stimulation also increases the blood flow to the brain!

Good luck to you!
Scattered

Your situation is exactly why I didn't put my 3yo DD in preschool this year. We've been going through the process of trying to figure out what her issues are (possible ADHD and sensory integration dysfunction) and until I know that she's going to be all right I'm not sending her. Homeschooling is not an option for me as a single mom with a full-time job so I can't afford to experiment and see what happens.

If I were you I would find a different doctor. I've been taking my daughter to see a child psychiatrist at Children's Memorial and she has her on a trial of Focalin to see if it helps with her impulsivity. We don't have an official diagnosis at this point but her behaviors were too dangerous to do nothing while we wait for her to grow up some more.

Good luck with the homeschooling!