Grammar suggestions for 8th grade (vision issues)

[Suzannah]

Cross-posted from K-8 main...

 

Hi all!  I haven't posted in quite a while, but am just checking in to see if there are any grammar options I might not have already considered.  I just graduated my oldest (HS all the way through with WTM, YAY!).  Last year, with a senior, a move, a death in the extended family and all the other craziness of life, DD's grammar studies sort of fell by the wayside.  

 

She used FLL through 5th grade, then Abeka.  We liked FLL because of the format which seemed to work well for her given her vision issues.  She does read well, and enjoys reading books by sight for fun.  But it is a strain and is very slow (most reading is via audiobooks).  I'm not asking about vision therapy (thank you, but she is not a candidate).  Just wondering if there's anything out there which would allow her to work independently and doesn't have very small print or cluttered-looking pages which contribute to eye strain and fatigue.  I would be willing to consider video or computer-based options (she uses Phonetic Zoo and Teaching Textbooks and Apologia Science with audio) but would like to keep the cost down as much as possible.

 

Any ideas?

[merry gardens]

One thing we used was a book on commas by Randy Larson from a series called "Teaching the Boring Stuff". We'd done a lot of basic grammar programs, but standardized tests for 8th grade asked a lot about commas so we spent time later (after his standardized test score came back) going over commas specifically. The book was called, "Commas: Teaching students to use commas correctly without boring them to tears". It attempted to add humor into the comma lessons.There are other books from this same series to cover other specific areas of grammar. I learned of this series on a website for therapists, but it was simple and easy to use.

[OneStepAtATime]

You might look at Fix It grammar (new version) since the student only works on one sentence a day. Instruction in the student book is pretty clear and pretty short. You could even enlarge that part.

 

I have vision issues and DD is dyslexic so we bought a large print dictionary, which I am loving.

[Suzannah]

Thank you!  We did something like "Fix-it" this year after it became clear that Abeka wasn't a good fit.  And by that I mean, neither of us was making much of an effort to follow through with it.  Targeting specific grammar points sounds like a neat idea too.

 

 

[provenance61]

Hi Suzannah...my daughter is younger, but has multiple vision issues and is legally blind.  I'm not sure if your DD is vision impaired or not.  Ours is only 7, but we have magnification like the iPad, CCTV, magnifiers, etc.  We are also teaching braille.  But as far as print, we've found the iPad and online curricula to be great, since she can automatically change size to what works best.  Some of the magnifiers also have options where you can change print/background color and this is helpful.

 

If magnification helps, you could try that.  I'm sure you have Bookshare (if a child has a print disability they are eligible for free access), but it sounds like you are interested in print options.  The other suggestion I could think of is that if it is difficulty getting through cramped lines of text (which is a HUGE issue for us), and it's not something vision therapy could help with -- could you try switching fonts?  I've heart that a new font has been created specifically for dyslexia which makes it much easier to read.

 

If it's possible I'd try to tackle the print access issue rather than just find grammar, only b/c this issue will come up again and again, and will be harder to tackle when she's in college.

 

Hope this helps -- good luck!

 

[Suzannah]

Thanks provenance!

Yes, it is a visual impairment--legally blind in one eye, greatly reduced vision in the other.  (complications from cataract surgery and resulting glaucoma as an infant)  My husband has similar, though less severe vision issues and relied heavily on LOC and Recording for the Blind audio textbooks as well as large print texts from elementary through law school.  DD loves audio books (CD, audible and NLS BARD, but also enjoys visual arts (she draws lovely pictures).  We do have an enormous computer monitor (by most standards) where she does computer work.  And she has a magnifier lamp which she uses when she's drawing.  So, while it's not so much that I'm looking specifically for print options, I'm happy to go in any direction that is useful and affordable.

 

Back when DD was in Kindergarten (or maybe earlier) I did a lot of digging to try to find resources for low-vision kids.  There wasn't much that I could find which seemed very useful to us in our situation.  After some searching I was able to choose mainstream curricula for her which worked well.  Since she has done well academically, I stopped searching for outside help.  

 

This is the first I've heard of Bookshare.  Thank you!

[provenance61]

Wow, Audible can be pricy.  Here's the link to Bookshare:  https://www.bookshare.org/cms/bookshare-me. It is free for qualified print disabilities.  We initially had this set up by school, but we have homeschooled for almost 2 years now and have had no problem renewing DD's membership. 

 

Are you families with the group Blind Homeschoolers?  It is for either parents homeschooling a blind child or blind parents who homeschool.  The group is a wonderful resource.  It's a Yahoo group but also on FB.

 

Are you getting any services for the vision impairment?  In some states your agency may be able to help.  For us, no -- they refuse to help if you are outside the public school system.  Of course, there are other ways to get info.  Do you have a low vision optometrist?  They may be also able to work if the better eye is still in the 20/72-20/200 corrected range.  Ours has been so helpful.  They are kind of like specialists in using whatever vision there is.  So even though we go to an opthal, and even when we had a TVI (when we were in system up to kindy) -- it was the low vision specialist that can come up with the ways to make up for lack of vision (specific magnifiers, different glass prescriptions).  We have to pay ourselves, but that charge every couple of years is worth it's weight in gold.

 

We also use a mainstream curriculum, and just adapt it to work.  Our DD does well with more structure.  She also likes art, and I would guess she may go into it one day!  She just gets very close to what she is doing.  And strong reading glasses.

 

We've heard about most things the hard way, or through other families, so would love to help in any way I can.

 

 

 

[Suzannah]

LOL!  I almost didn't mention Audible.  My husband subscribes and gets a couple of books a month I think. So we've gotten some classics that way (Like the version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" read by Jim Dale which we listen to every year, and I LOVE).  Mostly DD's books are from the library or NLS BARD or gifts.  
 

I was in the Blind Homeschoolers group for several years.  I had some very good back and forth with a blind mom who is homeschooling her kids, and a few other suggestions.  But mostly it wasn't very active and the topics weren't often useful to us.  I did look into free services when DD was in Kindergarten.  But we were able to find so many mainstream curricula (science, FLL and SOTW read out loud or on CD, Saxon Math 1-3 is large print, then we moved to Teaching Textbooks on the computer...we just didn't need much, so I didn't push too hard to try to get services.  I do pay the extra $$$ for a large print version of the Stanford test each spring.  It costs a lot more, but she tests very well in almost everything (except spelling...that's always going to be a challenge I'm afraid.)

 

She has both an opthalmologist and optometrist.  We love the former.  The latter is "eh".

 

Interesting that your daughter is also likes art.  DD has been drawing since she was itty bitty.  As she got older she started putting lots of detail into things like fabric and hair.  And yet faces were often kind of blurry.  I think that must be an indication of how she sees things.  A few years ago we did Drawing with Children, then we got her some books on how to draw specific things (fruit, faces, etc.) and she's taken off.