Autism Homeschool Success
Curriculum: Elementary
There isn't any one curriculum that I think is great for all autistic kids. In fact, I generally just use most curriculum programs as a base, and alter them to add more visual supports, less content presented at a time, incorporate student interests, and use supplemental activities to review concepts. That being said, here are a few that I've used and like for some students. These are just the ones I've used. There are lots that I haven't tried. Parent groups are a great place to ask for more recommendations.
Shiller Math
I like Shiller Math for younger students, as it is hands-on and Montessori-based. The activities are very short and simple, so they can accommodate students with varying attention spans. You can do as many or as few lessons at a time as you need.
https://explore.shillerlearning.com/products/math-kit-i-pre-k-through-grade
Math-U-See
As the name suggests, this curriculum is hands-on and visual. I feel like it works best for students who have higher verbal skills because it uses lots of verbal explanations and stories to teach the content. Another benefit is that the program goes all the way through high school, so if it works well for your child, you'll be able to keep using the program as they grow. It also comes with video demonstrations of each lesson. You can have your child watch the videos, or you can use them as a guide for yourself to teach lessons.
Danica McKellar's Math Books
These books make math concepts really easy to understand. Your student can read the books directly, or you can use the books to create your own lessons. Danica uses fun characters, comics, and great examples to show each math concept.
The potential downsides for autistic students are that there is a lot of content on each page, so it might be a little bit visually overstimulating and they require a high degree of language to comprehend the stories presented.
Get the books from bookshop.org here and support local bookstores.
All About Reading
All About Reading is a ready-to-use, minimal-prep curriculum that incorporates multisensory and hands-on elements for approximate ages of preschool through fourth grade. The stories are fun and the kits come with a variety of materials to practice skills in lots of different ways.
Read my review of "All About Reading" here.
All About Spelling
Based on the same approaches as their reading curriculum, they made a spelling one too! I haven't used this one as much, but I have found it helpful for some students.
Starfall Online Games/Activities
I love the Starfall website! It has simple, but very engaging and educational activities designed for special education. You can access a variety of interactive learning activities for various skills in math, language arts, and social skills/social studies.
Many of the activities are free, but the annual fee to access all of them is very affordable.
There are three sections, arranged by age:
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Pre-K/Kindergarten
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Grades 1, 2, and 3
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Grades 4 and 5
Time4Learning is another online program, but this one is a little more like a full curriculum. It has online learning activities for every subject, and you can create a profile with grade level settings for the different subjects for each of your children.
Pros are that the activities are very engaging, educational, and cover a wide variety of topics. It also has lots of parent features to give you control.
Cons might be that the students who use it need to have very high spoken language comprehension skills, as the activities are very centered on presentation through "lecture" style lessons (presented by cartoon characters in fun context, but they still have a lot of verbal explanations). I also don't necessarily like the idea of students spending this much time on screens for their learning activities, especially when it's so hard for us as parents to keep them off screens.
Want more ideas and supplements?
I've been putting together a directory of free printable special education activities that you can use as supplements to any curriculum or as stand-alone activities to help your child work on specific skills. The activity directory is organized by subject, so it's easy to find activities for your academic goals. You can access the directory here.
