Teaching Advice Needed - Apraxia, Sensory, Dyspraxia

[noble]

I am looking for wisdom. I have been homeschooling my son since Dec. he is 9 years old and delayed a bit.    Previously he was in a school that has 9 children.  We pick the curriculum that is being used for each child, it is like being in an old school house setting.  

  Hi, I posted this on another board and they all told me that I should post over here.  They were very helpful but they felt like you all could help me more.  

Below is the first post and the second section is my response to some of the questions.  Thank so much.

 

Currently I am using Saxon Math 3, First Language Lessons, Writing with Ease, Explode the Code, Handwriting without Tears , All About Spelling.  I have also been using A Beka Language 2 and Letters and Sounds.  

 

As you can see it is alot, I feel like it is too much.  I guess the reason I continued using the A Beka was because I thought it has a good base for phonics.  I love Writing with Ease and First Language Lessons but I did not know if I should keep going with this list of work.    

 

I am tied up in knots when I think of what to do.  I want what is best for him, I need wisdom and wish someone could tell me what they think would be the best scenario.  I know that is hard as I am the one that knows my child but was not sure if anyone else is in a similar situation. 

 

As you can see I am not great at getting my words out on paper but hopefully someone out here has some wisdom.  

 

Thank you

It might help narrow down:

How is his reading? Reading is very good, he is currently reading a 4th grade book with A Beka.  

How is his handwriting? Handwriting is getting better.  We just finished book 2 and are now starting book three which is cursive but not your normal cursive that is very loopy.  This is much more like the Australian cursive.   Can he remember how to form his letters? Yes he can remember to form his letters.  Is he beginning to write his letters without thinking about how it should be written? I believe so.  When he writes a sentence for a worksheet in Abeka he may ask me how to spell a couple words but he does pretty well.  

How is his spelling? His spelling is doing pretty well as long as he gets plenty of time to go over them each day.   What level of AAS are you using? We are on level 3 of All About Spelling  How is he doing with the dictation section? Dictation for Writing with Ease has been very difficult.  I was doing it with him up to about week 15 or so but felt like we were not getting anywhere.  I would have to repeat many times and I felt like it was frustrating for him to have to spend so much time on writing one or two sentences.  

 

It does look like you have a lot of repetition and overlap in language arts that could be pared down, does he seem to be learning with any of these curriculum? He does seem to be learing, he loves the poems in First Language Lessons and does a good job remembering what a noun is , verb is etc.

 

Are you happy with Saxon for math? Saxon Math has been okay.  He does well with the first sheet for the most part but the drill sheets can be overwhelming, once he gets started he can get going with it and is able to answer questions.  We use a table with the numbers 0 through 20 and this has helped alot.  Then he can put his finger on 5 and count up 4 and get to 9 etc.  

 Does he seem to be learning and retaining from this program? I think he retains much but when it comes to the fractions and things it is harder.  I think that since they do not spend much time on it, it is hard to learn it.  

 

As far as OT they work on many things,  reflexes, helping him process, for instance talking about how to make and obstacle course, then doing the obstacle course and at the end talking through what he did.  they do excercises as well and work on handwriting.  

We live overseas as we are full time volunteers for a charity.  So we have the OT come to us which has been a huge blessing to our family.

We used to go once a week for 45 minutes and that was terrible as it takes quite a bit of time getting from point a to b.  So much faster where we lived in the US.  

Thank you all for your help.  I will definitely post this in the other group as well.  Blessings.

 

[PeterPan]

So am I seeing it correctly that you're doing a gr 2 phonics workbook AND the ETC workbooks AND AAS3 with a dc you feel is reading at a 4th grade reading level?  What are you trying to work on?  What's the skill hole you're seeing?  Because you've got him doing materials from gr 1-4, all in the same kid, all for the same subject.  Is he struggling with phonological processing and hearing the sounds in words?  Spelling?  Decoding?  What's going on?  

 

If he has a disability, you might be able to combine all those things into *one* product aimed at the disability that would be more effective.  If he is just behind on instruction, again maybe *one* product, at the right level.  

 

I asked in your other thread whether he has had a psych eval to diagnose learning disabilities, etc.  In the US, a person with dyspraxia might also get a dysgraphia (SLD Writing) diagnosis.  That might change how you do some of those tasks, especially the WWE dictation.  You might decide it's time for him to start *typing* some of his subjects.  But that depends on whether that's an appropriate accommodation.  

 

He's young and sounds like he's doing typically on his math.  Have you done any standardized testing to see if there are areas that are unexpectedly low?  As long as he's on track (doesn't have a learning disability in math), then I would say add more hands-on.  That's what you're missing in your Saxon.  Fractions in particular are nicely done with fractions.  RightStart sells a wonderful hardwood fractions puzzle.  You aren't going to want to buy one, since you're overseas, but you could use paper or cardboard or craft foam or whatever you have access to and make a version of your own.  

 

How long does this work take him?  Is it objectively a lot, or is it kind of a good amount that takes too long?  You could try alternating days on things you think are worthwhile.  I ALWAYS put my things onto a grid and assign times to them (15 min, 20 min, 30 min, whatever), so I can see whether my ideas are realistic.  I agree you have to be realistic.  He might also be wearing out or lacking structure.  Is he having any behavioral problems with this workday?  Is he doing anything fun that he looks forward to?  Have you tried alternating hard and easy?  Using timers?  I think if his behavior is good and he seems happy and is progressing in a reasonable amount of time (getting his entire workload done in 3 hours, which would leave another hour for quiet reading and/or read alouds), then that's pretty good.  But it might be you need to alternate some things, like maybe only doing WWE 2 days a week and Abeka's phonics 2 days a week.  Make sure he's doing some things that thrill his soul, not ONLY this kind of stuff.  LA and math should really only be about 1 1/2 hours of his day MAX.  Could be even less, but I'm just saying max.  Everything else, another 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours a day should be OTHER stuff, fun stuff, stuff he's strong in or prefers, like history, science, hands-on, craft kits, making things, read alouds, audiobooks while doing projects, etc.

[PeterPan]

I'll just throw out some things, and you can say what you think.  When we got my ds his first psych eval, turned out he had this very low single sentence comprehension.  It was showing up in very contradictory ways.  Like when I finally got him decoding, he didn't UNDERSTAND anything.  I thought it was my reading instruction, but really it was a LANGUAGE problem.  Is your ds verbal?  Has he had extensive speech therapy?  Has he had detailed language testing to see if he has holes in expressive or receptive language?

 

I'm just asking, because I'm wondering if maybe that explains why you're using so many programs that do the same thing?  What is going on there?  For us, it took detailed language testing to sort out what was causing the funky symptoms and thus figure out how to intervene.  And actually what we ended up doing was stopping Barton, which we loved, and working JUST on language using speech therapy materials.

 

So, if you're seeing contradictions or weaknesses, and that's what is driving your list, you want testing to sort it out and help you target your efforts.

[kbutton]

I agree about hands-on stuff for fractions. You can google Rainbow Resource for fraction tiles, fraction towers, things like that, and then you can make your own version of those things. There is a nice card game--Fraction Dominoes--that is about forming equivalent fractions. You could also make cards to play equivalent fraction Go Fish or something like that. If you have a set of cuisinaire rods (fairly inexpensive), you can also check out the free videos at Education Unboxed (www.educationunboxed.com). They are excellent for explaining math concepts, and they have many, many ways to use your rods over and over. They have a lot of math fact review games also. It's not to give you more to do, but to give you a one-stop resource for what to do with one simple hands on tool if you think hands on would help.
 

FLL and WWE both have dictation, right? Drop the dictation from one of them. I am not sure where all the overlaps are in each program since I've not see all the levels, but drop any duplication. 

 

Ask your OT how much handwriting is appropriate and how much he needs to continue making progress. Then, figure out how much of that is being accomplished by your curriculum--you might want to practice handwriting outright and do more writing for him in his daily curriculum work, or ask less of him for handwriting as a separate subject. Maybe you have handwriting practice just right--be sure your OT knows how much he writes besides his HWT curriculum. You can continue to practice the motor stuff--fine motor stuff to strengthen, large motor air writing and things like that to remember how to form letters. Not all handwriting must be directly to paper--the motor memory does translate. There are also apps that work on motor memory for writing that are not as tiring as actual writing. You have several options, but you do need to talk to the OT to know how much and what kind of work he needs to best maintain what he's learned and keep him moving forward.

 

You have too many full curriculum options for phonics and spelling. Are you worried about regressing? Does he forget how to sound out words without continual phonics practice? You mentioned that he has to fix his spelling. Is that during Letters and Sounds or during dictation? Are you seeing carryover from his spelling or phonics into his dictation, or is he not spelling well during dictation in spite of his spelling/phonics lessons? 

 

A Beka is an excellent phonics reference--you could keep the charts handy and visible to help with spelling and drop the actual work pages entirely (along with dropping ETC). However, if he forgets how to sound out words and things like that without continual phonics review, then keep the phonics and back off on the spelling--you could give him homemade spelling lists from his phonics rather than using All About Spelling, which is pretty teacher-intensive. The goal is that you use whichever of the two teacher-intensive programs that addresses your concerns the best. If you are concerned about phonics, keep A Beka and dump the others. If you are concerned about spelling, then dump the phonics, and keep charts and things for reference.

 

If you like WWE and FLL, but it's too much even after dumping either spelling or phonics, then you probably need to just take them at a slower pace while using the other resources. Or skipping small parts of lessons that overlap in all of your materials. 

If reading is solid, and spelling is reasonable, I think there are people that use WWE and FLL as their only LA, but since I have not done things that way, I can't speak to how that works. I think it's meant to be "complete" once phonics is solid. 

[noble]

I have to say you all are so full of knowledge and must have been doing this a while or having teaching backgrounds.  Thank so much for explaining the different areas of math and language arts.  I had thought about dropping All About Spelling and using words that I was seeing in his other book.  It makes more sense to be focusing on what he has in letters and sounds.  Since you are teaching the different sylables and special sounds etc.  

I had not realized that ETC was for reading, I thought it was a way for him to have independant work that he could do on his own.  

 

He has had evaluations, three actually. One was by a genetics doctor when he was about 3 and then he had another one 6yrs and then one just in the fall.  His most recent said this ....

 

scores also reveal significant impairment in many of the areas that comprise the conceptual domain of adaptive functioning (i.e. competence in memory, language, reading, writing, math reasoning, and the acquisition of practical knowledge). Adaptive functioning refers to an individual’s ability to meet community standards of personal independence and social responsibility. This term involves adaptive reasoning in three domains conceptual, social, and practical. While the current testing gives us an approximation of conceptual functioning, there is insufficient information to assess his reasoning in reallife situations and evaluate his current level of proficiency when performing practical tasks related to activities of daily living. As such, although his is considered to have an intellectual disability, the severity levels of both his diagnosis and the features typically associated with such a diagnosis are yet to be ascertained. Individuals with an intellectual disability may have many associated difficulties, none of which were directly evaluated. In addition to a more comprehensive assessment of adaptive functioning, a comprehensive evaluation of his ability to: use social judgment; self-manage his behavior, emotions, and interpersonal relationships; be aware of and adequately assess risk and motivate himself towards the accomplishment of self-imposed goals may be further investigated.The recommendations also include interventions that may help Josiah function closer to his cognitive and academic potential.

 

 

[PeterPan]

Wow, the more you explain, the more complex it is!  So he has ID and adaptive living issues.  Your curriculum choices make more sense in context.  

 

How is his speech?  My ds has apraxia, but his therapy has been successful and he is largely intelligible.  He'll need several more years of therapy, but it's effective for him.  So I guess it's not helpful to you if we make assumptions about your ds' needs without understanding more.  What do *you* think he needs to work on?  Are you looking for emotional support for you and a listening ear, or do you want to discuss how to apply the info from the new evals?  

 

When you say his load feels like too much, do you feel like part of it is that it feels *imbalanced*?  Like if he works all day on things that are always going to be weaknesses but doesn't work on life skills and things that would be relative strengths, then maybe his day feels without joy?  

 

I think your idea of working on independence is really important!  Sometimes with complex disabilities we lose sight of what they *could* do for themselves with support.  I think that's a really good goal!  And that can carry over to the academics and the life skills.  I print pages for my ds with the steps for things and then teach him to do them independently.  For instance I wanted him to be able to pack his bag independently for swim class.  I took or found online pictures of each thing then put them onto a page in order.  So it had the bag, the goggles, a towel, etc., all with pictures.  That was a good thing for him to be able to do independently.  Maybe you have things you'd like him to be able to do, like helping unload a dishwasher or putting away his laundry or taking out the trash...  And it can be school work.  You can set him up with a visual or written schedule (whatever works for him) and then reward him for beginning on his own and working through the steps.  I do use an independent work system as part of our day.  The behaviorist has us using it with a timer for breaks between things he does with me.  I think there are multiple ways to use it but like your thought process of having things he can do independently.  

 

The thing I'd add to that is to seek some JOY in that independent work.  For instance maybe he likes some things that are sort of useful but just really fun!  Like maybe there are some things his OT has suggested that he could do (find objects hidden in theraputty, small coloring, whatever) and you could rotate those through his bins?  I use 5 bins, so I try to have variety (puzzle, fine motor, etc. etc.).  Does he have something he'd enjoy that sort of nurtures joy?  Like maybe he likes dot to dots or word searches?  I knew a girl with some disabilities who LOVES word searches.  She's really good at them!  That gives her a sense of success.  And some of those kinds of things become lifelong pleasures, kwim?  Puzzles can be a lifelong pleasure, and of course they're very worthwhile.  

 

It sounds like you've had a lot of success with what you've done!  And how wonderful that you've been able to get evals!  Are they recommending services for the emotional regulation and social development?  Those are important issues.  In the US you'd either hire someone to use materials from SocialThinking.com with him or you'd buy and use them yourself.  What are you wanting to do there?  

Edited April 19, 2016 by OhElizabeth

[kbutton]

Does your son have problems with retention if he does not have a lot of review? I have a friend or two whose kids have intellectual disabilities or borderline intellectual disabilities. They do have to do a lot of review, and their progress is of the slow and steady variety over the long haul, and they need review built into the curriculum. If your son does as well, A Beka LA and Saxon math are likely pretty good choices. If that changes (I know you'll be running out of phonics eventually), you can ask around about other curriculums that have incremental instruction and spiral in review. 

 

With the additional information about intellectual disability, I would say not to drop ETC without some thought--if he needs independent work (to learn to work independently, because it's fun, etc.) and feels accomplished doing it, and if you feel like it confirms how well he knows what he's been learning, keep going with it. It is good independent work even though a lot of people use it for reading. If it's too much, but he enjoys it, you might slow down WWE or something to lighten his load. 

 

It sounds like you're doing a good job! I would add that you might want to help him cultivate hobbies if he doesn't have any. Some complaints I hear from people whose older kids have cognitive disabilities are that they have trouble getting them to stay busy on their own (rather than sit in front of a TV or tablet). Hobbies help with this, give them motivation to hone skills that maybe aren't as easy to learn in the academic realm, and give them common interests. My friends are also working on lots and lots of activities of daily living with their kids. 

 

If you are into blogs, there is a good one called Chosen Families. It's strongly Christian content, but if that's okay with you, it's a good blog for parents of children with disabilities. 

[noble]

If there is a holiday for a week or so it seems hard to get back in routine. He has a hard time remembering where we left off in math but after a day or so he is back on with where we are.

I love your idea about cultivating a hobby as he does not really have one. We started piano lessons about four weeks ago and he is loving it.

I really need to think about what curriculum to use for next year. I am going to a homeschool conference this summer but know that can be overwhelming.

Really hope the Lord will give me wisdom.

I will look into the blog too.

Thank you

[Lecka]

I am just going to mention this as a terminology thing, but "leisure skills" is the code word for "hobbies" that I hear.

 

So if you are ever in a situation where it comes up, you can sound fancy and say you want to "build leisure skills" or "increase leisure skills."

[kbutton]

If there is a holiday for a week or so it seems hard to get back in routine. He has a hard time remembering where we left off in math but after a day or so he is back on with where we are.

I love your idea about cultivating a hobby as he does not really have one. We started piano lessons about four weeks ago and he is loving it.

I really need to think about what curriculum to use for next year. I am going to a homeschool conference this summer but know that can be overwhelming.

Really hope the Lord will give me wisdom.

I will look into the blog too.

Thank you

 

Breaks are notorious routine killers for everyone. If you can get him up and running in a couple of days, I think you need to visit us after a break. :-) 

 

Not to downplay the frustration of getting back into routine--I just want to encourage you that you sound like you do a good job.

 

Conventions can be overwhelming. If you have the opportunity to absorb at the convention and actually buy things later, I encourage you to do so. If you are in a position where buying at the convention saves tons or money or hassle, then you will have to have a strategy--maybe focus on the most important things to get settled first, make yourself list some questions about what you'll probably see and hear, etc. It can be a great encouragement, but it it is a lot to assimilate at once.

[PeterPan]

I don't find much at conventions for my ds.  Maybe you'll do better.  Like Kbutton is saying, it might be better to use it as a time to *look* and compile lists, then order at home when you've had time to think.  It will probably save you some mistakes.  I hate the pressure of trying to decide at the convention on major things.  I usually make mistakes that way.  I buy small things and fun things, things I wouldn't have found otherwise.  But for major stuff, I look and buy later.  You can always get free shipping with Rainbow, and at the convention you're paying tax.  Might end up cheaper to buy later.

[kbutton]

As your son ages, you might find that you have to pull bits and pieces from a couple of different sources. Or you might find that taking things more slowly is fine. Some people really like remedial materials, but it's very individual. 

 

There is a social group for parents of older kids who have exceptionalities, and parents there have been finding remedial materials from these two catalogs helpful:

 

http://www.wiesereducational.com/

http://www.rempub.com/

 

A friend of mine likes the literature from this site that has both grade-level and remedial materials: http://www.classroomcompletepress.com/about.php

 

I thought you might like seeing what alternative resources are out there in case that gives you some ideas, or in case you need something different down the road. 

[noble]

Thank you all for this information. I have gone to a homeschool conference and have chosen some curriculums. I wondered what you thought. I also recently had a conversation with another homeschool mom who raved about classical conversations. Would this be a good choice?

Decisions decisions .....

Here is the curriculum I have but I am not married .

First Language Lessons

Write shop

Math u See

Apologia Astronomy

Story of the World

A Reason for Handwriting

[Kat w]

Hi there,

 

My boys have these things too, and more. We had evals get started at the new year . its very tough for me to talk about, haven't processed and sent entire family on meltdown ( sounds redic I know bit...is what it is).

Anyway, I have ALOT I could say recommend and give you our successes and failures but, cannot talk about it yet.

 

But, please don't use Saxon math. Ti use it with all 3 of my big kids and they were on grade level, they still had problems. Why? They dont teach to mastery. Your going to need a mastery based program and add in your own review. Your going to find, you have to tailor your curriculum to meet the needs of you DS.

Singapore math is an amazing mastery based program. I add in my review with their practice books and visual thinking books.

Highly recommend this .