Your Ideal Curriculum for Children with Dyslexia

[cherylswope]

Everyone,

As time permits ...

 

What would your "dream curriculum" for children with dyslexia look like? For early childhood through confident reader, what elements would you include? What would you intentionally exclude?

 

Feel free to add requests for dysgraphia, dyscalculia, processing difficulties, and more, if you would like.

 

 

I am very new here, but I already notice on this forum an impressive collection of moms who experienced (for better or worse) a variety of programs for children with dyslexia and other learning challenges!

 

 

For children with mild to moderate special needs, many existing programs such as WTM, FLL, WWE, and SOW can be adapted quite readily.

 

 

But as Heather noted elsewhere, for children with more significant special needs, we are developing a literature-based curriculum for children ages 2-21. The first three readiness levels released this summer.

 

The next early academic levels will require special care. Your input would be very helpful.

 

Thank you-

Cheryl

 

mom to boy/girl twins with autism, learning disabilities, severe mental illness

Simply Classical: A Beautiful Education for Any Child

 

[PeterPan]

I'm not meaning to be rude, but can I ask why you're asking??  You're wanting input so you can give advice to MP on how to develop curriculum packages?

 

See, I had a question earlier today, and again I'm not meaning to be rude, but can you tell us more about your background?  I *briefly* looked over your book at the MP booth while flipping through grade levels.  It seems like your experience is with a dc with severe both LDs and intellectual disabilities.  I was reading your comment in another thread on your success with WWE, and that's AWESOME.  Things have changed so much (availability of full levels of WWE, vs. the old days when we implemented WTM on our own, with our own stuff, hehehe), and where something like that would have wigged out my dd (labels but bright by IQ) I don't know how it would be for my ds (apparently 2E with what we think is a higher IQ and more LDs).  And yet, for neither of my kids did your book really resonate with me.  

 

Now I'm not a good one to comment on books, cuz I read like a hare on speed and get bored and jump a lot.  Your book probably had some awesome gems.  I'm just commenting that a population with a particular label is not *homogenous* and that there could be a terrific discrepancy in what is appropriate even for people within a label, depending on the dc.  I think my ds will get dyscalculia and dyslexia labels in addition to some other things eventually.  I could be wrong, but that's what I think so far.  I used the MP K5 and 1st grade enrichments this past year for K4 and even then we had to work very hard to take them out of the box and do things our own way.  MP tends to be WAY too in the box for my kinesthetic learner.

 

So whatever.  Whoever picks books over there has terrific taste and I wish you good luck.  I'm just saying the population is not homogenous, therefore I'm not sure how you accomplish this.  I think you'd do well to bring onto your team of contributors an OT (for the dysgraphia issues) and someone who understands addressing multiple modalities since there's NONE of that in MP stuff.  I say none, and yet I found bits here and there (a few activities in the Guerber guides, etc.).  There are things I'd LOVE to make work from them that I COULD if they had more than just reading and writing for everything.  They're WAY too one-dimensional.   :svengo: 

[PeterPan]

Well foo, I just lost a bunch of what I had typed.  Must not have been very important.  :)  Seriously, I was keen on the concept behind some of the science modules you've put together, but again when you take the content that fits the IQ and bring it down, there's nothing in the guides to make it work with a more kinesthetic, ootb learner.  I love MP's Guerber redacted, but the guide was only going to give me a few helps.  

 

Have you seen Lit Wits?  Jenn here mentioned them, and they're about where I think we'll end up for lit.  

 

For history, I have a pile of activity books and a library of 7K books.  I intend to feed him with anything that engages him and do whatever catches him.  I suggest, since your market is SN, that you think to multi-level guides for topics so people can flex things to catch the interest of their dc.  MP's guides are so persistently one-dimensional, and yet with their awesome taste in books they COULD have blown in out of the water.  When you get asynchronous kids, you can't just print grade-leveled materials and have it work.  

 

If I'm not your market, ignore me.  :)

[prairiewindmomma]

OhE raises some great points (as always--although the hare on speed comment caused me to snort my diet Dr. Pepper!)

 

Who is your target audience? Significant special needs is a big broad box filled with lots of different people... You mention specifically dyslexic children.  Are you aiming at dyslexic kids with average or above average cognitive function or are you aiming at children with significant intellectual impairment for whom reading is also a challenge? When I look at MP's descriptions of their new SN curricula, I'm a bit confused as it seems aimed at lower functioning children.....and yet not.

 

 

 

 

[cherylswope]

Thanks, Elizabeth.

 

Some background -

My background is a master's degree in special education (Learning Disabilities) and a bachelor's in special education (Behavior Disorders). Anyone interested can find a full bio with audio interviews on my small website, cherylswope.com. Most of my time currently is spent caring for my own 19yo twins.

 

Our own adopted twins came to us as 1-year-olds. We had waited a long time for those babies, and I wanted the best possible education for them. I began researching. I wanted more than just special-ed techniques.

 

Early articles on classical education resonated with me. Then, when my twins turned 4, the first edition of the Well-Trained Mind appeared. One of my best homeschooling friends and I read the book. We carried our copies everywhere, even to our local homeschool group which was thoroughly "progressive."

 

My friend's boy/girl children had strong bodies and strong minds. Her choice was obvious. She pursued the WTM model.

 

My children evidenced autism spectrum (both), early learning disabilities (both), language disorder (her), strong verbal skills (him), attention deficit (him), CAPD (him), and other challenges. When I attempted to enroll them in a classical school for kindergarten, the school turned them away. I wondered whether I could bring a classical education to these twins in a homeschool setting. I am naturally a homebody, so homeschooling appealed to me. But I knew I was not as disciplined as Mrs. Jessie Wise, and I knew my children could never be bright, academically inclined, linear thinkers like Susan! Yet I wanted to bring truth, goodness, and beauty to these children. The full story is in Simply Classical.

 

The intent -

My children have graduated. In addition to the early challenges, both now struggle with schizophrenia like their biological mother. Both are on a last-resort medication for this. Yet, gratefully, I see glimpses of benefits of a classical education in their lives even now.

 

Because of this, I want to share the message that parents can modify for their children with special needs, if they would like to do so. Some choose not to do so. This forum intends to help those who wish to bring a classical education to special-needs children, so I am here.

 

As Elizabeth indicated, some who try to modify existing MP curricula (or PHP curricula or CAP curricula, etc.) do not always succeed. Similarly, the new special-needs MP curriculum will not solve everyone's educational challenges. Nor does it intend to. I hope to bring just another tool to the fight for an elevating and even beautiful education for children with special needs.

 

Why dyslexia? -

I mentioned dyslexia in the thread title, because several recent threads indicated such a strong knowledge base here. However, we hope to provide a curriculum to help children academically despite language disorders, speech and language delays, Down Syndrome, and other learning challenges. Other programs exist for specific remediation, but this is primarily an academic program. Certainly many children will benefit from simultaneously supportive occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physical therapy, and other specific interventions.

 

Within the MP special-needs packages, we increased the amount of multi-sensory, multi-modal involvement. We integrated the subject matter more intentionally. We slowed the pace not only for children with intellectual disabilities, but also for children with attention or learning difficulties who cannot sustain academic focus. Upcoming levels will address early reading for children with learning challenges.

 

Input -

For anyone wanting to help other parents, especially those not so far along as many here, this is an opportunity to share from experience. This might help not only the development of this curriculum, but also any classical publisher seeking to accommodate the needs of struggling learners. This is on the radar of classical publishers, so perhaps other options will emerge.

 

Benefits beyond the curriculum -

I created the book to encourage parents who wanted to bring a classical education to special-needs children. However, a surprising benefit has been the effect on classical education in general. Some families with special-needs children thought their children would be excluded from even the earliest exposure to poetry, music, Latin, or the mathematical arts. But as more of us embrace these elements for our children, even as we seek to help the other areas of their lives, we can "confound the critics who say classical education is for only the elite."

 

Full circle -

I could not find such a message when I started with my own children. I grew discouraged and almost stopped. Then I found historical precedent for classical education with special needs. And I witnessed benefits to my own children and many others despite so many varied needs. So now my message is simple: if you want to keep going, even in a modified way, you probably can.

 

 

Thank you for your question. I should have provided some background prior to posting.

 

Your good suggestions so far:

 

-Enlist the help of an OT. Great idea.

-Be more VAKT.

-Use the good MP book selections, but allow for multi-level instruction.

 

Thanks-

Cheryl

 

[PeterPan]

OhE raises some great points (as always--although the hare on speed comment caused me to snort my diet Dr. Pepper!)

 

I aim to please.  :D

[Plink]

Your question is far too broad for us to be able to give you any reasonable responses. As the others have stated, pick a target audience and we might be able to give you a more clear direction.

 

Personally, any material geared toward the learning disabled in general would not be something I'd bother looking at because it obviously would not address nor even understand the dynamics of these kids in any way. One targeted toward dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, APD, autism, or any of the other specific struggles would capture my attention more.

 

That said, you MUST do your research, and do it well. Bring in multiple specialists, and make sure that you are putting out a quality product. We are very used to doing a lot of footwork for our kids, and most of us would see a special education blanket degree as not enough of a speciality to grant expert status in writing curriculum.

 

If I sound mean, I'm sorry. I'm just rather cynical about the idea of being able to address all special needs with one generic swoop.

[PeterPan]

Cheryl, thanks for sharing all that.  I very much respect the work you've put into your kids and the effort you're making to connect with the hs market.  SN are very diverse and there's room for all the choices as people find what works for them.  That's great that your materials are helping fill a need for people.  :)

 

I thought it was interesting that having a classical education was so important to you.  I too started with WTM in-hand at the beginning, but I'm so rogue, for me it was more just inspiration.  I guess that makes me a nothing homeschooler, since I've been doing it 10 years and haven't got a philosophy or label I hold to, lol.  Anyways, it's just interesting how people use WTM, what they take from it, what they value.  I was able to use chunks of WTM as inspiration that we could then modify to make work for us, taking into account the need for creativity, engagement, etc.  With dd I used it as roadsigns to know if we were sort of going the right way.  Ds is so off in his own land and own path of things, I'm afraid to use somebody else's roadsigns.  I think for him, I think I need to use the roadsigns in his country, not transport him to someone else's.  

 

So your comments made me stop to wonder whether in this case that classical bent in content is important to me, and I realize it's not.  And yet I totally see your point on why it's a valid and great choice or fits the values of some people, kwim?  And I guess it's a funny thing to hang on a classical board and say I'm not trying to teach a classical paradigm to my kids.  To me I latched onto the values behind the specific recommendations in WTM, and I felt like I could resonate with the *values* even if the specific recommends or sequence flopped.  Values like the virtue of exposure and a generous education, the importance of foundations and not getting distracted, knowing what skills you need to work on and what skills can wait, the ability to say that I could choose to connect content and skills the way WTM does or disconnect them entirely as a better choice for our situation.  So at least my choices were intentional, even if they were rogue.  I've always found WTM inspiring and helpful in that sense.  But to say I feel this strong need to be follow WTM strictly and somehow bring down classical whatever to my kids, nope.  It happens I did do a lot with dd, but it was only because it fit her.  If it doesn't fit ds and he needs to see the world through a different prism, I don't care.

 

What I love most about the WTM boards is that people are very *intentional*.  They know why they're doing something and research and think it through, even if their specific goals or values vary.  :)

 

I definitely respect what you've done and wish you luck!  :)

[PeterPan]

I'm where Plink is btw.  The stuff I was looking at this time from MP was multiple grade levels ahead of ds' age grade.  It gets to dry at this point, so I gave up and bought BJU instead.  People are aghast, but at least it comes with a hands-on activity for every single lesson and is arranged into units that I can bring to life.  At least I'm going to try it with him and see what happens.  But actually my first choice had been topical kits like MP's and these box kits I found at the convention.  Wow they were cool, but they just blew the budget with their coolness.  I always struggle with the need for structure and ease of implementation vs. my need for the stuff that makes it connect to the student.  Usually one or the other wins, because it's seldom I find them together in one.

 

Btw, I found your SN level guides mentioned on the apraxia FB group, so apparently they're resonating with some people.  For the *right kids* they're probably going to be spot on.  

 

You know, just a a total aside and trying to work with you here for a minute, let me ask, what is it you want these levels to do?  You want them to be readers for budding dyslexic readers, or you want them to be sort of a read-aloud driven core content approach for dyslexic non-readers and kids not yet ready to learn by reading?  The latter would actually be really intriguing to me.  The only thing even comparable is SL, and somehow the SL read alouds haven't been calling to me for my ds.  I haven't a clue why they don't call to me.  Hmph, I really don't know why.  Again, I need to be a mind-reader!  Seriously, that's a lot of what I find us doing, just reading and exploring together.  For instance I have *most* but not all of the COFAs.  I figured we'd just start reading them this year.  I got a timeline from geomatters and a cork board to mount it on and printable figures.  I figure we'll just read whatever we want, do activities we want, and put up figures.  It's classical in sort of a deconstructed way.  It's knowing why I'm doing that and that the *order* didn't matter, that engagement creates retention and pegs, that pleasure results in learning not mere coverage.  So it's rich and broad, just different.  It's not so anal thinking all content has to be covered in the order the teacher says because the teacher said.  

 

Wow, total rabbit trail there!

 

Back to topic.  I'm not sure how a sequence of grade leveled readers for dyslexia would work out, because it seems to me you'd have kids at such a variety of ages as they come into their reading.  But a sequence of beautiful read alouds, that would be different.  For instance, I think anyone whose dc has apraxia finds the picture book Lentil (used by FIAR) to be much more touching than it is to the average person.  Lentil has apraxia, which the author doesn't tell you, and that's why he can't single, whistle, etc.  So you're dealing with kids who *appreciate* and notice and ponder differences, what it means to feel good about yourself or be confident.  You sometimes have kids who are ultra-sensitive to danger and themes.  They don't necessarily resonate with really abstract themes.  They benefit from pictures a lot longer, even though chapter books tend to go over to all text pretty quickly.  So you get something like Mr. Popper's Penguins and there's just not a lot of connect.  I tried to read that to him and it totally fell flat.  Couldn't even believe it.  But Follow My Leader (a boy with disabilities) he could identify with.  Peter Pan  worked, but it has pictures and weapons, but plusses, lol.  

 

I guess your best bet is the fill the needs you yourself felt with your kids and see if those needs resonate with others.  Now you've got me pondering the whole read-aloud thing and wondering why some connect with my ds and others don't.  Narnia does.  Anything with eloquent language he can memorize does.  Anything with his major thing of interest (weapons) does.  But who knows?   :)

[cherylswope]

Thank you, Elizabeth. Yes, read-alouds (without demands of written output) work well for my children too. They can absorb far more than they can produce!

 

 

Thanks for the specific title suggestions and for the encouragement. Very much appreciated.

 

Have a good day there --

 

Cheryl

[prairiewindmomma]

I have been pondering this all day thinking about this with my own experiences between my kids (dysgraphia, dyscalculia, add, adhd, capd, dyspraxia, TBI-induced muscle contractures, low vision, CI, and so on)....

The short version: I suggest that you really need to look at finding a way to suggest a variety of different ways for students to output information. You could perhaps differentiate these by different symbols so it's easy for a parent to jump to those that are appropriate.

 

The longer version:

 

Have you ever looked at Peak with Books? I'm going to put in a google books link... http://books.google.com/books?id=u0V0qbFwb60C&printsec=frontcover&dq=peak+with+books&ei=9KbRSKurBpWKyQT44OjpAw&sig=ACfU3U2SoHFWaG8Znw6H9I3pxztXGZeg_g#v=onepage&q=peak%20with%20books&f=false

 

Peak with Books gives a variety of examples of how to work language arts concepts into books...and provides a lot of motor activities similar to what you've created in your program for kids 2-5. This really worked for us in the early years. Fingerplays and rhymes aren't really appropriate for older kids, but having an initial reading, finding a way to do an appropriate narration (the questions in Peak with Books or with the Story of the World activity guide are so helpful in helping a child learn to narrate, or in finding a way for an adult to summarize and give organization to the material!) and then building on that material.  When you attack the same material from different directions, usually we can find a pathway or two to get that material into our children. In the Story of the World activity guide books, SWB gives a buffet of things to choose from--additional books (so that you can cover the material from a different perspective, or as a gentle review that is less boring that re-reading the material), hands-on activities at a variety of levels (something a child can do to engage as they are being read to, something more complex for children to do laterwho are kinesthetic, etc.), and something FUN to look forward to when the material is just hard (encouragement to persevere).

 

The thing *I* struggle with is how to do that with older children.  History and science are pretty easy to adapt.  Math, you find something that works... Language arts= so killer. The problem with trying to apply the Peak with Books model generally speaking (and the reason why your initially released material wouldn't/won't work for any of my kids) is that it's very rare that you find a SN kid who is not asynchronous.  In other words, my daughter who had low vision and couldn't read, and couldn't write because of muscle contractures, could very easily narrate back to me. Another child of mine struggles to process things orally, reads just fine, but struggles with any type of written output even though he comprehends the material. Another child of mine struggles to connect ideas, but loves to do hands on projects and can remember anything done with their body. I think of my good friend with twin autistic sons. One is apraxic, the other is just needs articulation work. One has severe sensory and fine motor issues, the other will cut/glue/play with clay.  I think most parents of SN kids realize that everything will require adaptation, but it's offering enough good stuff to justify the price, and keeping it simple enough that parents recognize the time savings from trying to do it all themselves.

 

I suggest that you really need to look at finding a way to suggest a variety of different ways for students to output information. The "outside of the box" threads have been really helpful here....  You could perhaps differentiate these by different symbols so it's easy for a parent to jump to those that are appropriate.

 

Some ideas:

*oral narration questions (with answers for parents typed in)

*analysis questions--for those kids who just have written output blocks, I think being able to do oral analysis is so key. I think RWP does a great job with thinking about Bloom's taxonomy and writing appropriate questions: http://www.rfwp.com/series/suppose-the-wolf-were-an-octopus-guides-to-creative-questioning

*hands-on activities (building models/diramas/sensory bins, making paintings, recreating recipes from the book, etc.)--I think of Discovering Great Artists, Artistic Pursuits, SOTW, Janice van Cleave, Apologia elementary series notebooks....all of these are really good at presenting material, and then presenting VARIED ways of doing hands-on projects

*http://www.pinterest.com/pin/43065740159802778/

 

 

I think there is a balance between trying to input knowledge and trying to build skills. When you have a very broad target audience like you are suggesting, I think you're going to struggle with defining scope. The most severely disabled SN kids aren't going to make it past the K level material, so I'm assuming you're actually aiming at those who are cognitively somewhere in elementary school for your next books. The posts here on WTM about how people have had to break down skills in order to bridge over the gaps that our various SN kids have may be helpful to you. I do see some common themes--learning to mindmap for those kids who aren't ever going to be sequential thinkers, learning to chunk information or various other tips for increasing working memory--(what DO you do with you can't ever give a dictation beyond three words?), learning to utilize and strengthen auditory skills--I have one kid who can access memorized information in song, but not just in his normal brain--he has to sing to bring it out)...it seems to me that when you match the skill building with the content material, THEN you have a good product.

 

Summary of my suggestions:

*remember the kids who receive input just fine (or well enough), but struggle with output

*come at the same material (input) several different ways--offer additional books instead of just re-reading a la Five in a Row

*vary the output--think of 5-8 ideas that are different in their modality and that would work for that wide range that you are aiming at

*balance skill with content--skill should prevail, imo, as I believe that's what the classical model is about.

 

[cherylswope]

Excellent contributions! Thank you.

 

You write:

I have been pondering this all day thinking about this with my own experiences between my kids (dysgraphia, dyscalculia, add, adhd, capd, dyspraxia, TBI-induced muscle contractures, low vision, CI, and so on)....

 

Yes, this is exactly the challenge, especially in the later years, as you note.

 

I will look more closely at the SOTW activity guides, as they appeared after we read SOTW in our homeschool. MP carries SOTW, so perhaps partnering to utilize (or adapt) the guides might be possible in upcoming levels.

 

Very good. I appreciate your pondering all day!

 

Cheryl

[prairiewindmomma]

I would love to see the MP book selections adapted to a manual designed for SN students. I agree with OhE when she says MP does a great job choosing classically minded books. Just reading them aloud isnt enough for my SN kids...what I need is adapted literature analysis/enrichment. There are so many more versions of these books designed as picture books for older readers (or with audio available!) than there used to be, but it's so much work to put everything together yourself...

 

I truly do wish you the best and I am excited to see what you come up with.

[VeritasMama]

I appreciate you trying to reach out to the SN community, it seems that MP is really trying to fill a need. I am no expert in this area, but I am a parent who fell in love with the idea of classical education only to find that the ideal wasn't possible for my SN student, and struggled to find away to adapt this ideal to the need of my student. So I will give you my (limited) perspective.

 

As others stated, and as you know, meeting the needs of the entire SN community would be next to impossible to do with one program, but I think you can do it in such a way as to cast a wide enough net that it would be helpful to a majority of the SN community. I'm assuming you want input as to how to do try to accomplish this in a way that parents in the SN community will find useful.  I think prariewindmomma's post is a great starting off point. I like the idea of a curriculum that lets me know specifically what skills are being worked on, then lists a variety of activities with varied output targeted at specific types of learners and needs. I think the idea of using a symbol coding system is a good one, and of course there always will be some overlap in this area and in practice it might turn out to be too complicated.

 

I'll just say some things that would appeal to me as a parent in the market for a SN classical curriculum. My son has ADHD and dysgraphia, he was also a very late reader and struggles with spelling, though he is not dyslexic. I also have a son who is gifted, several children who are neuro- typical, as well as a son who I believe is on the spectrum, but is very high functioning and so my ped declined a diagnosis.  So I do have experience with a range of abilities.

 

If I were going to buy a comprehensive curriculum, I would want to see an "OT" style approach to reading and writing. HWOT was very helpful for us, though I know it doesn't work for everyone. But the OT approach in general is important for dysgraphic children. The way they incorporate gross motor into the lessons early lesson is so important, I started my son in the Kindergarten book when he was a struggling 2nd grader, it made a big difference. He still struggles, but he advanced further in three months of HWOT instruction then he had after three years of other instruction.

 

As for reading, I would want a multi-sensory approach, such as Recipe for Reading, "Multi-sensory" is one of those buzz words that makes me cringe, it has become so overused as to be almost meaningless, but this curriculum is excellent and works for a wide variety of learners. We implemented it in a school I taught in, and the results were amazing. Our dyslexic students were able to cut back on their one on one tutoring, their needs were being met in the regular classroom, but our average and gifted students also excelled. The fact that this program incorporates gross motor as well as fine motor movements is very important.

 

Another important aspect for me would be the quality of the read alouds, which MP does well. I love that MP continues to schedule picture books all the way into 2nd grade. I would include a variety of read aloud suggestions at different levels to make it easier for parents to find something that will work for their child.

 

Also, I agree that including plenty of songs and poetry for teaching content would be another way to cast a wide net, especially if gross motor is also incorporated. This would make a program appealing to me.

 

I think including "multi-sensory," "kinesthetic" and "project based" approaches would cast the widest net.

 

I hope that helps, I'm not the most knowledgeable parent here, but I thought I'd try to give you a perspective from an average parent who has a children with mild disabilities.
 

[Heathermomster]

Technology to me runs utterly counter to a classic education; however, the use of technology has enabled DS to follow WTM's logic stage history recs.  DS types everything except mapwork and uses mindmapping software and the word processor for notetaking, narrations, and definitions.  DS can read but still uses audio books.  Timeline software has been extremely helpful.  Using a globe, documentaries, models, lap booking, and visiting multiple historical locations/museums have heightened the history experience.

 

Technology can be critically important to these kiddos.  It can turn a dreaded, tooth wrenching experience into something kinda fun and painless.  If technology is required, I say incorporate it sooner rather that later.  Incorporate the basics early so that it becomes no big deal.  In 7th grade, DS could have spent a few days stumbling and struggling to hand write a report about the process of cellular mitosis.  Instead, he designed and scanned pictures, incorporated everything into a power point slide, and provided a lecture to his father.  Early on, I put off typing and now wish we had embraced it 4th grade.

 

If there is some way to at least free the parent's mind to use technology where necessary, I recommend you do that.  I don't know whether that would even be possible.

 

 

 

[Princess Ariel]

Thanks for your interest.  I have not used any of the  MP resources yet as they are grouped by grade level and for my two dc, that doesn't ever work! They are all over the place having most  of the learning disabilities you mentioned plus ADHD for one and ASD for the other.  For my ds 15,  two huge  weaknesses have always been reading and writing (even the physical act of writing) and so much curriculum is focused on those two areas. Technology has to be part of it for him.  However, he tends to get really distracted on devices as he knows what else he can do with them and he is way ahead of me in the technology dept! So I need to be on my toes constantly. ( But that being said, he still really  needs an audio component for reading if it's going to get accomplished in a reasonable amount of time.)

 

As someone mentioned above, it would be helpful  to just have subject areas to choose from  (rather than grade levels)  and a teacher's  manual for special needs where there would be many  suggestions for adapting the materials, with a broad  variety of  suggestions for making it work for those who have, for example, dysgraphia, dyslexia, etc. Someone mentioned symbols, which would be great! Of course, I am looking at older dc who may not have abilities equal to their age, but who don't necessarily want to do what they would consider "baby" work. My dd 13, with ASD and developmentally delayed, possibly some of the  things geared for younger kids  may work for her but at the same time I don't want to underestimate her abilities.  Although she is probably at a very beginning 5th grade level in some areas, she would probably love staying at a lower level forever (even though her IQ is average).  She doesn't comprehend well, hates to read, doesn't like being read to, but is very visual (movies have always held great appeal for her). She also struggles with fluency. She still loves picture books, though. She doesn't like to stretch herself at all unless it is art related.Due to the ASD, she gets stuck a lot.

 

So that is my recommendation if it makes any sense!LOL :confused1:   It seems that by the time anything like what you are talking about is available, my dc will be past that point. It has been a long road that I am still trying to figure out and I have to say I would love something less teacher intensive but I realize for dc like my own, that is probably not a reality. This mom is kind of in survival mode after a particularly difficult school year. :crying:

 

I really appreciate all you are doing! :hurray:  Good luck to you!

 

[cherylswope]

Thank you, ladies! These are very good suggestions. Research is important, but your information "from the trenches" is the most valuable.

 

Every bit of input & encouragement helps tremendously and will make the programs stronger for special-needs and struggling children.

 

 

Princess Ariel, I hope your next year is a little easier. If it is any consolation, your child sounds like my son. For years I wondered if I would need to sit next to my son his entire life. Now, at 19, he has a measure of independence. (Both of us give thanks for this!)

 

Susan Wise Bauer's classic talk on creating an independent learner applies for our special-needs students, especially if we inch toward this goal even more incrementally.

 

Thanks -

Cheryl

 

Simply Classical: A Beautiful Education for Any Child

[Student Mommie]

My dream curriculum for my dyslexic child would be a super FUN remediation portion, and a longer portion that catered to typical dyslexic STRENGTHS, drawing out the development of his unconventional thinking :)

 

Everyone,

As time permits ...

 

What would your "dream curriculum" for children with dyslexia look like? For early childhood through confident reader, what elements would you include? What would you intentionally exclude?

 

Feel free to add requests for dysgraphia, dyscalculia, processing difficulties, and more, if you would like.

 

 

I am very new here, but I already notice on this forum an impressive collection of moms who experienced (for better or worse) a variety of programs for children with dyslexia and other learning challenges!

 

 

For children with mild to moderate special needs, many existing programs such as WTM, FLL, WWE, and SOW can be adapted quite readily.

 

 

But as Heather noted elsewhere, for children with more significant special needs, we are developing a literature-based curriculum for children ages 2-21. The first three readiness levels released this summer.

 

The next early academic levels will require special care. Your input would be very helpful.

 

Thank you-

Cheryl

 

mom to boy/girl twins with autism, learning disabilities, severe mental illness

Simply Classical: A Beautiful Education for Any Child

 

[cherylswope]

--

 

... sort of a read-aloud driven core content approach for dyslexic non-readers and kids not yet ready to learn by reading?  The latter would actually be really intriguing to me.    a sequence of beautiful read alouds...  For instance, I think anyone whose dc has apraxia finds the picture book Lentil (used by FIAR) to be much more touching than it is to the average person.  Lentil has apraxia, which the author doesn't tell you, and that's why he can't single, whistle, etc.  So you're dealing with kids who *appreciate* and notice and ponder differences, what it means to feel good about yourself or be confident.  ... Follow My Leader (a boy with disabilities) he could identify with. 

 

Now you've got me pondering the whole read-aloud thing and wondering why some connect with my ds and others don't.  Narnia does.  Anything with eloquent language he can memorize does....

 

Yes, beautiful read-alouds quickly became the heart of our own homeschool and of these curricula. Thank you to everyone for all of the replies!

 

So far:

• VAKT/movement/"multisensory"
• beautiful read-alouds
• classical education's emphasis on eloquent language, history, literature, and beauty (not necessarily bound to a 4-year history cycle)
• technology -- or at least, as Heather says, give the parent permission to integrate technology whenever needed
• the special-needs child's unique perspectives and strengths

 

Thank you to all who have shared ideas.

 

Other favorite read-alouds?

 

My daughter (dyslexia, dyscalculia, autism, lower I.Q., schizophrenia, other) is a "poetess" whose own poetry can be quite touching. She writes in a way I never could. We like the book about a little mouse named Frederick, by Leo Lionni, who helps his family not by physical labor, as the others do, but by creating poetry.

 

 

...which links to superlotto's request:

My dream curriculum for my dyslexic child would be a super FUN remediation portion, and a longer portion that catered to typical dyslexic STRENGTHS, drawing out the development of his unconventional thinking

 

 

Thanks again -

Cheryl

 

Simply Classical: A Beautiful Education for Any Child

 

[cherylswope]

Btw, additional requests are welcome. We will begin writing the next levels this fall.

 

Thank you!

Cheryl