HIGH SCHOOL EDITION #22
By Heather Idoni
Added Thursday, July 01, 2010
==========================================================Vol. 11 No. 34, July 1, 2010, ISSN: 1536-2035
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© 2010, Heather Idoni - www.FamilyClassroom.net
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Welcome to The Homeschooler's Notebook!
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IN THIS ISSUE:
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Notes from Heather
-- Arts Appreciation Plans
Helpful Tip
-- Free 4th of July Download
Winning Website
-- The History Net
Reader Question
-- Learning Difficulties & High School
Additional Notes
-- Newsletter Archives
-- Sponsorship Information
-- Reprint Information
-- Subscriber Information
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Notes from Heather
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Music and Art Appreciation for High School - Lesson Plans
Dear Readers,
I found a great website/blog with free downloads for high school level music and
art appreciation lesson plans. Some plans are available for purchase and, should
you like what you see with the free offerings, are also very affordably priced.
The website is Harmony Fine Arts. According to the blog, these arts appreciation
courses are simple and easily accomplished in just a few hours per week.
Especially if you have a teen who is not particularly musical or artistic, music or
art appreciation are great electives to add some pizzazz to their transcript!
-- Heather
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Do you have comments to share? Please do!
Send to: mailto:heather@familyclassroom.net
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New from Barbara Frank!
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Helpful Tip
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Free Download for Fourth of July (USA Independence Day)
FamilyAudio.com is offering a free audio book of the National Anthem and
Founding Documents. I would encourage everyone to download this and listen
with your children this 4th of July.
We are so blessed to live in this country... we must pass on this heritage
to our children and grandchildren. Hearing these documents read is powerful.
If you have a facebook account I would encourage you to add them as friends
as they often offer a free download of pertinent books.
For the full month of July, you can download, FREE, The United States is
Born: Our Founding Documents, exclusive to FamilyAudioLibrary.com
Simply add the product to your shopping cart, then type RWB7410 in the
coupon box and hit recalculate. (Sometimes I have had to recalculate twice.)
Enjoy and Happy Independence Day!!
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Do you have a website, tip, idea or experience to share with our readers?
Send to: mailto:HN-ideas@familyclassroom.net
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Winning Website
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Daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles. Something from almost
every period of history! High school level (Adult level current events and
history forum discussions, so not intended for younger children).
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Last Issue's Reader Question
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High School for a Struggling Learner
"I have a son that has Asperger's, OCD, high anxiety, learning disabilities
and trouble with memory retention. Needless to say, my son hates school.
He is a Sophomore. Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas about the best
curriculum I should be using with my son? I have done SOS, Life Pacs, and
making up my own curricululm. I still feel like I'm not getting through to
my son. Because school is so difficult for him, he wants to avoid it. Math
and English classes are extremely difficult. If anyone has any ideas as to
the best way to teach my son what he needs to know to succeed in this
world,please let me know. Thank you!" -- Sharlynn
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Our Readers' Responses
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"These are a few ideas we have used.
1. Try pairing working on school work with listening to music on an MP3
player. Many students with Asperger's are very sensitive to sound and
can block out other sounds by listening to music while they work or even
using ear plugs. You want his brain relaxed and alert. Something he
enjoys listening to can keep those brain waves in the right zone.
2. Try a standing desk. We purchased ours at Amazon.com for around $200.
It has a bar that students can use their foot to move. It is height
adjustable, again keeping the brain active while learning.
3. Try an exercise ball. We have used this instead of a chair for
sitting so that his brain stays active.
4. Try Barronseduc.com for their E-Z math books for high school. They
have every subject available. They are consumable and have the answers
and are around $15.00 a book. You can order direct from them. They have
trigonometry, geometry, math, algebra, business math, etc. They provide
very direct teaching. We are using them in all the subjects for high
school along with some other textbooks.
5. We have gone to a system of working year round so that we can divide
school work up with music and working out at the YMCA. We split up the
day; my son feels the working out really helps control the anxiety.
Good luck." -- Debby
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"Hi, Sharlynn --
My son has a nonverbal learning disability. We pulled him from public
schools after his fourth grade year because his progress was minimal. I
would suggest starting off things a little at a time. With my son, we
started with one row of math and one paragraph of reading in his subjects.
He would read things aloud to me (this would help him with the retention),
and then I would ask him questions to help him review what he read. What
also helped jumpstart him, before anything, were 'mind-bender' exercises.
This could be a word search, a word puzzle, a numbers game, etc. This
helped him to readjust his focus and prepare for school. We also reviewed
what he learned the day before to keep yesterday's lesson fresh in his
memory. I treated refusal or 'shutting down' (as NLD kids do when they
are frustrated or overloaded) as noncompliance. I used this time to
teach my son to express whether he was frustrated, needed help, or needed
a timed break. What is your son's learning style? Is he hands-on, visual
or auditory? Does he have any type of speech, occupational, or physical
therapy? If not, you might want to check into those things as well. Does
he have sensory issues that might interfere with his learning that may
need to be adjusted? Your child may need a very clear and strict routine
with visual cues. Also, create a behavior plan for your child with
tangible rewards and then increase or decrease as needed. Here are a
couple of websites that might help:
http://www.schoolbehavior.com/conditions_aspergertips.htm
http://homeschooldiner.com/specials/special_needs/aspergers_homeschooling.html
Best wishes." -- Elizabeth
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Answer our NEW Question
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"Can anyone recommend a site or vendor for trading curriculum?" -- Susan H.
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Would you like to let Susan in on your best curriculum trading secrets? :-)
Please send your email to: mailto:HN-answers@familyclassroom.net
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Ask YOUR Question
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Do you have a question you would like our readers to answer?
Send it to mailto:HN-questions@familyclassroom.net and we'll see
if we can help you out in a future issue!
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