Help make curiculum decisions, please!

[Suzybearybake]

I have been researching curriculum choices for my ,not yet tested but more than certain to be diagnosed as dyslexic/ dysgraphic, 9 year old fourth grade son. We just started this current year three weeks ago and are going to break for six weeks so that I can figure out where we are with testing and product choices. We were using primarily Abeka (math , science, health, English) and BJU ( history, reading). I would like some feedback on my options for fourth grade.

 

English- Shurley or Easy Grammar?

Spelling- Apples and Pears or All About Spelling ?

Writng- IEW

Math- Mastering Mathematics

Vocabulary- Wordsmart

Reading- Wilson, Barton, Abecedarian, Rewards,or Reading Reflex?

History- ? ( We already went throughthe SOTW series)

Science-Apologia Zoology 1?

 

I have tried to narrow it down, but am stuck without seeing them . Can you help me make the final cut. I have All About Spelling but wonder if the other choice is better? I want something to try and make it so that we are not doing school all day. I so appreciate and depend on your suggestions. Thank you for your input.

[homewithtrinity]

English- Shurley or Easy Grammar?

Spelling- Apples and Pears or All About Spelling ?

Reading- Wilson, Barton, Abecedarian, Rewards,or Reading Reflex?

 

 

Shurley has a lot of jingles that are great for auditory learners while Easy Grammar lessons are short and to the point. Either would make a good choice.

 

Sequntial Spelling isn't on your list for spelling. It was designed to use with dyslexic students. You might look into it.

 

I have used Reading Reflex with dyslexic students I was tutoring. It worked quite well with them, but they were not even reading on a first grade level when we started. Rewards worked well with older students (jr high and high school) students I tutored. Rewards requires a lot of teacher participation to work correctly but is an awesome program. I haven't heard about the other reading programs you mentioned.

 

Hope this helped.

[Laurie4b]

Suzy,

 

I'm responding based on this post and your post below.

 

Here are your priorities: Remediate reading and writing. Keep up in math. Do the therapeutic activities that the OT, etc. recommends. These will take time! Do some things that are fun. I know of no one who does more while successfully remediating. You will slow down the whole remediation process by trying to do too much. Because he's not remediated, the other subjects will not go well. You will, in short, accomplish nothing but stress by trying to do too much. You've really got to believe that. Your student will fall further and further and further behind if you keep trying to do too much. He will make progress when and only when you let some stuff go and focus.

 

Grammar and vocabulary can be incorporated while you are remediating writing and reading. He does not need to know the parts of speech, etc. yet. As a tutor, I incorporate certain aspects of grammar into my instruction, bit by bit. As a dyslexic kid, he's going to have a lot of difficulty with punctuation, capitalization, etc. You will have to address that step by step, working for SUCCESS each time. Additionally, working on capitalization and punctuation outside of actual writing or dictation is often a waste of time for dyslexic kids because they don't generalize well. Vocabulary is an unneccesary subject for most elementary school students anyway. Any vocab he needs can be taken from what you are working on in reading. Even spelling is typically part of several remediation programs, such as Barton, Wilson, and I believe ABCDarian, though I haven't seen that program. I would not do a separate spelling program yet until you've decided on the reading program.

 

History and science: You are fine to skip these for a while or to cover them through videos or audio CD. Or do science experiments. Read books to him aloud that cover science and history once or twice a week and check it off your list.

 

I have never heard of Mastering Mathmatics, so can't comment on that.

 

Each of the reading programs you've mentioned is good. Part depends on what your son's particular profile is, and part depends on you and what you can get your head wrapped around. The core of remediation is NOT curriculum; it is technique.

I would check around for reading tutors in your area for two reasons:1) tutoring is a great jump start to a child who has struggled for a long time. You will get someone who knows what she is doing and why. You can learn from her and follow her lead. Later, you can use her as a consultant. Search for Doran's recent post and you'll see what effects a tutor can have! 2) You can actually see the program in action. Reading tutors typically use : The Phonographix approach (that's akin to Reading Reflex and ABCDarian), Wilson (then you could see how it works), or another Orton-Gillingham approach. Both Wilson and Barton are from the Orton-Gillingham family. Barton is expensive, but provides the step by step instructions that are necessary for remediation at home. I tutor using Wilson but I had 70 hours of training in it on top of a professional background in special education. Based on your posts, I would recommend this to you only if you could find a Wilson tutor to work with your son 1-2 times a week, and you reinforce it at home. One great aspect of Wilson for dysgraphic kids is the letter tiles that can be used for spelling in place of writing. I have used Reading Reflex but not ABCDarian. From what I've read, it's the same technique, but laid all out for you. What you would need to find out is how much handwriting is involved. If your son is dysgraphic, that may not end up being the best choice.

 

IEW is a great choice. The video tapes will give you very good instructions on how to teach writing. He has a great system so that the student always succeeds. That is the other key to good remediation. An experienced tutor, occupational therapist, etc. is always working at the level and in a way that ensures that a child succeeds. Success breeds more success. Failure breeds more failure. If you follow how he says to teach writing, it will be a good thing. However, your son may not be ready for paragraphs yet (which is where IEW starts.) He may be ready for dictation only. That is fine. If he succeeds at dictation, then you can move to IEW. I would suggest attending an IEW seminar at a homeschool fair. You will get the positive flavor for how to teach.

 

If he is not doing well in handwriting, it's likely he needs to start to learn to keyboard. We use Typing Instructor.

 

I would not recommend ordering all his stuff for next year right now. Get the evaluations done. Order materials for the next step only. I would strongly suggest "in real life" help with planning and presenting lessons so that your son experiences success every single day, every single subject. Yes, there will be mistakes, but with good technique, these are immediately addressed in a way that does not feel like a failure. You stay with one skill until he's mastered it to the level of automaticity before moving on. That is the core of good remediation: success.

[Suzybearybake]

Cost is definitely an issue. I don't know that a tutor is an option. If it came to that we would have to reevaluate whether or not ps would be a better option. From conversing with them I get the impression that they would put him in a classroom , pull him for remedial instruction, and make concessions for him in the class. That really is not what I wanted for him.

 

If I concentrate on reading/spelling, math, and writing ; how long should I wait to reintroduce history and science before I risk him falling behind? I don't want to be responsible for causing him to flounder. I am still seeking out resources in the community in hopes of finding some way to cover this. I hope the insurance will come through, but we are still attempting to speak with a real person. I have six weeks to get my ducks in a row a figure out what our strategy is.

 

I feel overwhelmed and am not sure how to do what needs to be done with out short changing him or his siblings. His brother will be starting allergy shots, which means a minimum of 2-3 hours twice a week out of our school day. Mondays are already shot because of speech therapy and piano. I am also responsible for taking care of my father -in -law. My husband is out of town overnight 2-3 days a week. All three boys are each involved in one sport.When is there time for school? How am I going to do this? I need to make it work. I have no family for support and am stretched thin financially, emotionally, and physically. I wish there was some way to delegate , but there isn't. I just need to find a way to figure this out, but my brain is begining to fizzle. I don't know that I have a point I am just on a ranting kick this week I guess.

[Kathy in MD]

I agree with Laurie. You need to focus, Focus, FOCUS on remediation. Everthing else will be an unnecessary struggle until that is completed.

 

But you still need to cover other fields of knowlege. Here are my thoughts:

 

Grammar: I don't know the 2 programs you're considering. But I've used Junior Analytic Grammar and Voyages in English with my ds. For a poor reader and handwriter, I'd go with JAG. It's fast, 15-20 min a day for 11 weeks and has minimal writing. It also avoids a lot of the fine points, such as subject-verb agreement. The writing portion is diagramming and labeling sentences using abreviations. You could reduce the writing in the diagraming portion by copying the sentences and cutting out the individual words. These could then be arranged in diagram form or glued down if you can't watch him work. The only possible problem would be his reading level. Call the authors for their imput. They are very helpful with mild LD type questions.

 

Spelling: Personally, I wouldn't worry about a spelling program at this time but I don't worry much about spelling with spell check. If you want a program, I like Sequential Spelling. It can be done in 10 minutes a day and is low stress. I haven't seen the others.

 

Writing: IEW jumps straight into paragraphs. Chances are your ds needs sentence level work. The program to use between dictation and IEW is Sentence Composing for Elementary School. To benefit, the author says the child must recopy the entire sentences themselves, no short cuts. I imagine that you could have your child type his work instead of handwriting it. The big advantage is that the child starts by analysing good authors's sentences and works up to imitating them. The analysing is led upto so gently that the child can easily succeed.

 

Math: I'm not familiar with this program. Is it manipulative driven? If not, I'd look for one that is. Unfortunately the ones that are, are frequently very teacher intensive.

 

Vocabulary: At this time, I'd just work on words that he came across in his reading. When you do read-alouds, remember to stop to define words. When you are ready for a formal program, consider Wordly Wise instead of WordSmart. I like it for my language-stuggling and memory-challenged son because it makes him focus on the various meanings one word may have. However it is reading and writing intensive. I'm also considering changing to WordSmart because of it's speed, but my ds has had several years of Wordly Wise.

 

History: Get Story of the World on CD and lots of videos. Add in some read-alouds. You might add in making models (clay doesn't require much fine motor control), coloring historical pictures, field trips and a timeline using pictures (my ds has decided to write all his information instead of using pictures.) History is optional unless your ds loves it.

 

Science: Toss the curriculum. Find children's nature and science programs in your area. Study nature. Go on nature walks. Keep a nature journal. In it, record the day, time and weather conditions. You can develop a symbol system to minimize writing. Then have him record in drawing and words what he sees. Set up a bird feeder and bird bath very close to the house. Give him binoculars and a bird guide and let him learn. Then let him watch and rewatch The Life of Birds with David Antenbourgh (sp). Your ds is learning vital science skills - real observation and recording those observations. He's also learning lots of info on birds. You can add in additional science videos, but the Life of Birds is outstanding.

 

For info on animal classification and other science terms, check out a Montessori supplier or ask a Montessori school for some of their old and damaged manipulatives. The classification for lower elemetary grades should be affordable. The Montessori system for teaching science terms and parts of plants is excellent, but time consuming to make (I've made them for my ds's teacher).

 

But as Laurie stated, focus on remediation and the bare minimum in academics. I gave you a lot on other stuff, but I tried to keep it light, fun and with minimal reading and writing.

[Laurie4b]

I totally understand that feeling of being overwhelmed.

 

To answer your question about your son falling behind: in content areas like sceince and history, it is very easy to get right back on level once you can read. Truly, IRL, kids forget nearly everything they learned in content areas the year before in school. So how long do you have? About 2-3 years and then you can get him back into structured history and science, and of those, I'd go for science first. History could wait till high school. BUT you won't have to wait that long. Just put it off your worry list, and do some of the things that have been suggested and he will be absolutely FINE.

 

Honestly, a lot of tutors are suckers for a hard case where a kid is in need and the family has limited resources. In fact, I don't think I know any who don't do some pro bono work, lower fees, etc. They care about kids, which is why they are tutors and not IBM execs. You don't have to have the $$ to pay for a year's worth of tutoring, but ask around and see if you can get a free consultation with a tutor who uses either Phonographix, Wilson, or Barton. (Don't go for an Orton Gillingham tutor for what I"m recommending.) Explain your situation and ask what can be arranged. For instance, you could watch for 2 sessions, prepare it and do it yourself under the tutor's supervision for 2 sessions, and then do it at home with a consultation every 6-8 weeks. That would be 4 paid sessions, plus paying for the consultations, which shouldn't run more than 1/2 hour.

 

Public school can be a very good option, depending on who the teachers are. Accomodations in class are not a bad thing. He may need them his whole life. I know a very successful financial planner who has to use voice recognition software for all of his writing because of LD's. One of my sons will need accomodations on the SAT, and into college, if not into the workplace. I think he'll succeed though. If the teacher who does the remedial work is good (often they are Wilson trained around here), you get free one-on-one tutoring. He doesn't have to stay in school forever. It could be for a semester or a year or until the allergy shots are done.

 

Do you by any chance have a tendency to be a perfectionist? That can cost a lot of time!

 

It is very overwhelming when you first start really, truly seeking help for a child with disabilities. You go through grief, confusion and uncertainty, and a feeling like you can't do it all. (Actually, as I typed this, I felt pretty much the same way each time I had a new baby! How on earth would I go to the grocery store, etc? ) But if you take it one day at a time, in babysteps, you will get through and back to an equilibrium. Right now, you just sound worn out. I would focus on looking for resources as your priority right now. If something doesn't get done in the school day, so be it. It honestly won't make a difference in the long run.

[Suzybearybake]

Ok, here is what I am thinking.

Science- Lyrical Life Science audio tapes:thumbup:

 

Math- Mastering Mathematics:thumbup:

 

Easy Grammar, IEW, All About Spelling, Reading?:confused1:

 

Would Abecedorian replace all of the word related subjects listed above? Is there something that does? What would I use to get him up to speed in these areas? Do I need something to work on in addition to this? Do I want to push the weak areas or go lighter on them? Should I put off IEW for a year or so? Should I wait on grammar? What do you guys think?