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Suggestions, encouragement for 11 yo w/ LD's


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I could write 20 posts today with all the ?'s I have in my brain , but I decided to focus on the first priority:)  Quick background, this is my 4th year homeschooling, but only 2nd with all 4 kids.  They have all been in PS and pulled home gradually.

 

All of my kids have learning issues.....mild to significant.

 

My DD11 was in special education since age 4.  She came home last year In 4th grade.  She can read decode on a high 3rd grade level.  She is finishing up AAR3 and is in AAS2.  Her biggest issue is comprehension, plus she hates to read.  She receives OT and PT and is on the waiting list for speech.  She also is in VT. 

 

I do not feel that I am giving her what she needs.  She struggles so much with auditory....but so much of our curriculum is that way because of read alouds.  I do SOTW but that is auditory and she is TOTALLY lost after I read.  Yes, there are hands on activities but I don't always have time for them because my day is so long and full with the 4 kids ( I spend 2 hours a day just teaching spelling and reading...my 8 year old still can't read).

 

I have her read to me for 20 minutes  a day for her all about reading lesson and then I tell her 15 minutes of quiet reading.  It's always a book of her choice which is always on her kindle and usually a non fiction book.  She uses the text to speech.

 

She's in 5th grade...and I struggle with thinking I'm not pushing her enough to letting 15 minutes of independent reading be enough because she hates to read. 

 

We do free journaling everyday, but I'm trying to start IEW once a week (Bible Heroes) but she is already really confused on how to KWo.  We use daily grams but that is not her favorite either. 

 

If it was just her and I at home I believe  I could tailor her curriculum so differently, but I struggle keeping up with the needs of all my kids.  I think she would thrive with unit studies but then I would be back to doing 2 curriculums because I dont' know if my oldest is ready to totally soar with no teaching from me (he is in 7th but learns best by listening to read alouds...so he LOVES that we do history together) and I don't like having to adjust curriculum for a 7th grade level and a 3rd grade level. 

 

I'm rambling.....I just feel frustrated because I don't feel that she is learning anything well. 

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That's tough. I only have half as many kids with needs and many days are very rough.

 

But (and speaking gently here), it doesn't really matter if you like planning multiple lessons at different levels for a topic if that is what she *needs*. You have to meet each child where they are with what they need. The more kids you have with needs, the more difficult this becomes. I'm not saying it will be easy, but if you want her to progress, you will have to put in the time to design or find the curriculum that will work for her or you have to hire a tutor or put her in a class that will do the same. She will not progress with the wrong kind of instruction for her needs because she *can't* not because she doesn't want to. We have lots of moms with tons of experience here who can help you figure out what kinds of instruction she might need, but you are going to have to find the time and energy to make it work or outsource it to someone who can. Her needs don't become less because there are other kids with needs too and only one of you.

 

:grouphug:  It is hard. I know. I'm constantly trying to make the schedule work for my kids too and we sometimes have very long days.There have been years I've had to run 2 completely separate science programs, which was not very fun for me but it was what was necessary at the time based on abilities. You can do this but there might have to be some adjustments or different choices for everyone.

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Well, I am still trying to figure out how she learns best.  I've only had her home since last year.  I DEFINITELY know that auditory is NOT how she learns.  I believe she is a mix of visual and kinesthetic...the caveat being that she has a lot of fine motor and gross motor issues...and she also has visual processing issues...lol 

 

My 7th grader...though dyslexic is doing VERY well .  He has HORRIBLE spelling but his reading has come a really long way . He chose Abeka science for this year so he is just reading through the text on his own and taking notes and his doing WELL on the tests...which are not easy. 

 

Since it is just SOTW I know he could handle it himself but he said that he does enjoy that group time together (it's the only time he is with us). 

 

I have 2 other kiddos 2....my 8 year old can't read and my other 8 year old is pretty much on track.  She does fine with SOTW. 

 

 

As far as after school...I have no idea.  It's not that I don't think about it....but it's easy to let your fears overtake you:)  I don't have college in my vision for her but who knows.  She likes science...which is something else I feel terrible about...I haven't added that into the rotation this year....we do the history 2 days a week, bible study the 3rd day and the last 2 days I spend reading picture books during the time we normally do history.  Which doesn't leave me time for science. ...but I need to reprioritize for that after Christmas.   

 

It's my time that feels so limited. I guess I probably need to change my perspective on how long a day NEEDS to be for me.  I am schooling from 8:30 to 3....my kids don't have a day that long....I do...LOL  Maybe I wouldn't get as frustrated if I change my expectations...I just won't be able to have a 9-12 day like I see on so many blogs:/

 

She is not a big one for fiction... even as read alouds.  Though she seems to like biographies and she loved the book Follow My Leader.  She enjoyed Little House too.  She just doesn't like history :)

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If what you are doing is working for the 3 other kids and just not this DD -could you do mini-unit studies at her level that is related to what is happening in STOW (and would possibly work for the other kids too?)

 

 fwiw STOW wouldn't work well for my older DD either - the style of writing is the kind she has problems with (whether read aloud or read to self).   Too many names and facts (even if they're interesting ones) and not enough story for her to hang on to.   That is not meant as a ding against STOW - IMO it's just part of trying to cover a lot of history in a reasonable time frame, even when trying to make it more interesting and story like as STOW does. 

 

If it were my DD in this situation - I would have to find a way to bring in more stories (preferably with a 'high level' overview I could attach the stories too).  I have found short/picture book stories work best - otherwise it takes too much time to get through one story (also videos of course - but it is hard to find 'story' based videos for a lot of the time periods)

 

Regarding the amount of required independent reading - that seem reasonable to me for required 'free' reading - but I think you could also 'assign' easy history or science books that were specifically related to your studies.  The time cost for you would be in finding books at her level/ability- preferably something she could complete in a day or two.   Also for my DD, 'not liking to read' pretty much means 'this is very hard' -and that late 3rd grade level was the hardest for finding easy enough books that were interesting to her.

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That's tough. I only have half as many kids with needs and many days are very rough.

 

But (and speaking gently here), it doesn't really matter if you like planning multiple lessons at different levels for a topic if that is what she *needs*. You have to meet each child where they are with what they need. The more kids you have with needs, the more difficult this becomes. I'm not saying it will be easy, but if you want her to progress, you will have to put in the time to design or find the curriculum that will work for her or you have to hire a tutor or put her in a class that will do the same. She will not progress with the wrong kind of instruction for her needs because she *can't* not because she doesn't want to. We have lots of moms with tons of experience here who can help you figure out what kinds of instruction she might need, but you are going to have to find the time and energy to make it work or outsource it to someone who can. Her needs don't become less because there are other kids with needs too and only one of you.

 

:grouphug:  It is hard. I know. I'm constantly trying to make the schedule work for my kids too and we sometimes have very long days.There have been years I've had to run 2 completely separate science programs, which was not very fun for me but it was what was necessary at the time based on abilities. You can do this but there might have to be some adjustments or different choices for everyone.

YES!  Thank you for that reminder.  I know not to compare my kids with other peoples, but I do get envious on how much fun everyone's homeschool seem and it feels like all I am getting through is math, reading and spelling:)  She does thank me almost Everyday for homeschooling her now.  She says that she loves it so much more than school and she constantly tells me that she feels she learns more.  Maybe that's God's way of encouraging me:)  I guess the other thing that I'm rethinking is IEW.  I LOOOVE IEW.  It has been a blessing for my oldest son....but I don't know if it's going to work as well with her.  I don't know what else to consider.  It's hard to know if something needs time or if it's not going to work. 

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My schoolday runs from 8-5 many days with an additional math session with oldest from 9-10pm after the younger kids have gone to bed. I spend from 6-7am every morning at the gym walking and praying and thinking through the day. I will try to chime in later with more practical thoughts on how to make it work but I am making dinner right now and I am on the iPad.

 

A few questions:

1. How does she do with educational videos?

2. What have you done that is hands on? How did that go?

3. Are you a naturally organized person? Are you operating from scheduled lessons?

4. What are you using to remediate the dyslexia?

5. Who in your house has been trained to cook, clean, do laundry?

6. What does your school day look like now? Are there regular interruptions to your day?

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My schoolday runs from 8-5 many days with an additional math session with oldest from 9-10pm after the younger kids have gone to bed. I spend from 6-7am every morning at the gym walking and praying and thinking through the day. I will try to chime in later with more practical thoughts on how to make it work but I am making dinner right now and I am on the iPad.

 

A few questions:

1. How does she do with educational videos?

2. What have you done that is hands on? How did that go?

3. Are you a naturally organized person? Are you operating from scheduled lessons?

4. What are you using to remediate the dyslexia?

5. Who in your house has been trained to cook, clean, do laundry?

6. What does your school day look like now? Are there regular interruptions to your day?

Agree with all of the above questions.

 

To add to this, what evaluations has your child had?

 

Is there anyone in the local homeschooling community that could come help you maybe set up a plan that allows you to prep everything in a couple of hours over the weekend?  Sometimes there are homeschoolers who are really good at helping with this type of thing.

 

Also, what about restructuring school so that it mainly occurs 4 days a week and you use the 5th day to review, play some education games, do some field trips or a project together and just catch up on anything that might need to be finished up?

 

Can you outsource anything to an on-line class or a local co-op or a tutor?  Even another homeschooler, maybe a teen that wants to go into teaching and could do a lesson or two with the youngers once or twice a week?

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Both my boys are 2e. Auditory is their weakest point, along with processing speed issues. We do hands on stuff regularly. They create things with playdough or kinetic sand while I read SOTW or make puppets from the famous figures book. Having something visual to connect the information to helps. We worked heavily on memorization, dictation, and narration to slowly improve their ability to hold auditory information in slightly larger pieces and for longer periods of time. I never read an entire story through and then talk about it. I pause regularly throughout it and discuss what I just said with them. They need it broken into smaller pieces (although those pieces are getting bigger with time).

 

They both just finished having new psycho-eduactional assessments last month. There is a LOT out there to support the visual-spatial learners.

 

Brainpop was a great resource because there is a lot of visual stuff happening. k-nex education kits have been great (and cheaper then lego). Science videos are soaked up like crazy around here, and if there is a movie made from a book they have read, we always watch it after the book. It's amazing how much they will suddenly remember from the book with stuff from the movie helping pull it out visually. Then we spend time comparing the book and movie. 

 

 

 

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