Need curriculum advice: AAR alternatives for *possible* dyslexic, definite attention issues.....

[poppy]

My daughter was diagnosed dyslexic, but, I'm not sure she truly is.  With 6 months of tutoring at age 7, she quickly went from not being able to decode early readers to reading grade level chapter books with great relish.  It was a dramatic leap.

 

The tutoring was Wilson, at her school.

 

We are homeschooling for 3rd grade. I was planning AAR.

 

According to the placement tests she should be in All About Reading Level 4.  Which is....... quite pricey. She's basically reading at grade level now.  I'd LOVE to do the most fun and engaging possible reading program for this kid. She has a short attention span and is immature for her age.  If AAR is the right program, I'll invest.  But I've only been looking at OG programs.  Is there another option for a child at her reading level that would be good?

 

I don't know the grade level for AAR 4 but my *guess* is that she is on target for early 3rd grade level.  She's a bit sloppy, goes too fast and messes some words up, but her comprehension and story recall are just fine.

 

Thank you for any advice.

[Storygirl]

I don't have a curriculum suggestion for you, but I wanted to comment about the possibility of a dyslexic child being able to read and comprehend on grade level. My daughter could do this by the end of second grade, after a great struggle learning to read, even though she is dyslexic. Suddenly she could read chapter books to herself and understand them. She has very high comprehension skills, so she can read a text and understand it, but she may struggle to read those same words in isolation on a flashcard. And her spelling is horrible. She also reads very fast and makes mistakes when reading aloud. Sometimes good comprehension skills can mask the underlying phonological impairment, so watch for that and keep working on the decoding.

 

Are you looking more for a phonics and decoding program, or a reading program, where you read stories or literature? We used CLE Reading for grade three, which is not a learn to read program.

Edited September 16, 2016 by Storygirl

[poppy]

I don't have a curriculum suggestion for you, but I wanted to comment about the possibility of a dyslexic child being able to read and comprehend on grade level. My daughter could do this by the end of second grade, after a great struggle learning to read, even though she is dyslexic. Suddenly she could read chapter books to herself and understand them. She has very high comprehension skills, so she can read a text and understand it, but she may struggle to read those same words in isolation on a flashcard. And her spelling is horrible. She also reads very fast and makes mistakes when reading aloud. Sometimes good comprehension skills can mask the underlying phonological impairment, so watch for that and keep working on the decoding.

 

Are you looking more for a phonics and decoding program, or a reading program, where you read stories or literature? We used CLE Reading for grade three, which is not a learn to read program.

 

Wow, that's exactly my kid. Thanks for writing that out ,it helps.

.

I've pretty much settled on AAR4, and I've just ordered AAS1. Brand new homeschooler here and still figuring stuff out!

[zaichiki]

I agree with Storygirl.  My daughter with dyslexia was reading above grade level by 2-3rd grade. All About Spelling was what we used when she was at that reading level. (No more "reading" instruction, but phonics is included in the spelling instruction.)  It made a huge difference in her spelling and her ability to sound out unfamiliar multi-syllabic words.

[macmacmoo]

I balked at AAR price as well. Eldest has dyslexic tendencies. I went with logic of English essentials. It proved very beneficial to use. We did everything for a few lessons but ultimate streamlined to just spelling no grammar. Working on spelling really helped with his reading.

[MerryAtHope]

 

I don't know the grade level for AAR 4 but my *guess* is that she is on target for early 3rd grade level.  She's a bit sloppy, goes too fast and messes some words up, but her comprehension and story recall are just fine.

 

The AAR levels are not the same as grade levels because the words are not in "grade-level" order. Instead, AAR groups words in a logical manner based on similar rules or patterns. AAR 4 takes kids up to highschool level word attack skills (that doesn't mean a student is ready to read at high school level with regard to vocabulary and sentence-length/complexity, but they learn the decoding skills to sound out those words). 

 

I would just encourage you to double-check the placement. Level 4 may be the correct placement, but you really want her reading the earlier words fluently and confidently, without having to sound out most of them. Check both the placement test and the sample stories from Level 3 to make sure she's beyond those. 

 

Level 3 covers prefixes and suffixes; syllable division rules for reading multisyllable words (these start in AAR 2 and are continued in Level 3); many literary terms like alliteration, similes, synonyms, antonyms, onomatopoeia, idioms, and personification; words containing the new phonograms, such as paint, play, boat, third, purple, soon, mean, light, match, budge, flew, wrong, know, sleigh, toe and action; words with the “pickle†syllable such as bubble and table; and 2-5 syllable words such as armadillo, auction, banquet, celebration, butterscotch, chimpanzee, contraption, examination, education, government, hibernation, instruments, objection, mildew, migration, safekeeping, paperweight, semicircle, uneventful, wristwatch, spectacles, thermometer, and so on.

 

HTH some as you decide how to proceed!

[Pistachio mom]

I like the AAR website too. It has so many great articles and research tips.

 

In my opinion, if your child is reading at 2nd - 3rd grade level - you do not need a formal reading (phonics) kind of program.  Just teach phonics as needed for harder words. This is the time to add in vocabulary, maybe a words roots program, and just good literature books. You want some books to be a little harder ( instructional level) and others to be easier to build fluency and confidence.

vocab - Evan Moor or Prima Latina

word roots - see the Critical Thinking company books

 

Things to try: Beautiful Feet history through literature program is a great way to get extra practice reading, cover history content, and have the freedom of time to really enjoy the books. I used this with one of my girls for 2nd and 3rd grade. We did the early American Primary pack and Geography through literature. The teacher guide gives very good guidelines for teaching with the books, you're not just reading a pile of books. There is a plan. It is a flexible plan that allows room to make substitutions.

http://bfbooks.com/Info-FAQ/Get-Started

 

Memoria Press Literature program: It starts early with a set of great books and guides. The guides give you guidance with comprehension, applied grammar and language skills, vocabulary, and just learning literary concepts such as character, plot, etc. Memoria has sets that correspond to grade level. You can go up or down a grade without too much trouble.  I do not do guides for everybook. Just a few. We used the ones for Story Time Treasures (first - second grade level back then), The Courage of Sarah Noble, Farmer Boy, Greek Myths from the history section among many others. This year I am planning to use King Aurthur and Robin Hood after Christmas.

https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/literature-and-poetry/

 

Other ideas for titles: Veritas Press, Sonlight, My Fathers World type of literature-history based programs. I like to get title ideas from these. Obviously, I have to adapt someone else's list to my child's reading level. Veritas tends to be advanced for grade levels with lit books. I use these as "more of guideline" for ideas. I also do web searches for grade level book lists.

 

BJ Press also has very nice literature program that would include anything you need. I have the 3rd grade one in my files. The stories are great, and the workbook seems to be well done. (I have not used it yet - I like to link my lit titles to other content. So, I may pick and choose.

[Pistachio mom]

If you think the dyslexia or any other visual processing issues might still be going on, I recommend checking out Dianne Craft's website for the exercises that can help a child overcome these. They have been a help in my home. I used her Brain Integration Therapy Manual.

 

http://www.diannecraft.org/language-arts-reading-program/#1

http://www.diannecraft.org/dyslexia-how-do-i-teach-this-child/

http://store-2a930.mybigcommerce.com/books/

[poppy]

The AAR levels are not the same as grade levels because the words are not in "grade-level" order. Instead, AAR groups words in a logical manner based on similar rules or patterns. AAR 4 takes kids up to highschool level word attack skills (that doesn't mean a student is ready to read at high school level with regard to vocabulary and sentence-length/complexity, but they learn the decoding skills to sound out those words). 

 

I would just encourage you to double-check the placement. Level 4 may be the correct placement, but you really want her reading the earlier words fluently and confidently, without having to sound out most of them. Check both the placement test and the sample stories from Level 3 to make sure she's beyond those. 

 

Level 3 covers prefixes and suffixes; syllable division rules for reading multisyllable words (these start in AAR 2 and are continued in Level 3); many literary terms like alliteration, similes, synonyms, antonyms, onomatopoeia, idioms, and personification; words containing the new phonograms, such as paint, play, boat, third, purple, soon, mean, light, match, budge, flew, wrong, know, sleigh, toe and action; words with the “pickle†syllable such as bubble and table; and 2-5 syllable words such as armadillo, auction, banquet, celebration, butterscotch, chimpanzee, contraption, examination, education, government, hibernation, instruments, objection, mildew, migration, safekeeping, paperweight, semicircle, uneventful, wristwatch, spectacles, thermometer, and so on.

 

HTH some as you decide how to proceed!

 

She completely passed level 3 but there's no way she knows all those rules.  Thanks for writing that out, it helps!

 

[poppy]

I like the AAR website too. It has so many great articles and research tips.

 

In my opinion, if your child is reading at 2nd - 3rd grade level - you do not need a formal reading (phonics) kind of program.  Just teach phonics as needed for harder words. This is the time to add in vocabulary, maybe a words roots program, and just good literature books. You want some books to be a little harder ( instructional level) and others to be easier to build fluency and confidence.

vocab - Evan Moor or Prima Latina

word roots - see the Critical Thinking company books

 

Things to try: Beautiful Feet history through literature program is a great way to get extra practice reading, cover history content, and have the freedom of time to really enjoy the books. I used this with one of my girls for 2nd and 3rd grade. We did the early American Primary pack and Geography through literature. The teacher guide gives very good guidelines for teaching with the books, you're not just reading a pile of books. There is a plan. It is a flexible plan that allows room to make substitutions.

http://bfbooks.com/Info-FAQ/Get-Started

 

Memoria Press Literature program: It starts early with a set of great books and guides. The guides give you guidance with comprehension, applied grammar and language skills, vocabulary, and just learning literary concepts such as character, plot, etc. Memoria has sets that correspond to grade level. You can go up or down a grade without too much trouble.  I do not do guides for everybook. Just a few. We used the ones for Story Time Treasures (first - second grade level back then), The Courage of Sarah Noble, Farmer Boy, Greek Myths from the history section among many others. This year I am planning to use King Aurthur and Robin Hood after Christmas.

https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/literature-and-poetry/

 

Other ideas for titles: Veritas Press, Sonlight, My Fathers World type of literature-history based programs. I like to get title ideas from these. Obviously, I have to adapt someone else's list to my child's reading level. Veritas tends to be advanced for grade levels with lit books. I use these as "more of guideline" for ideas. I also do web searches for grade level book lists.

 

BJ Press also has very nice literature program that would include anything you need. I have the 3rd grade one in my files. The stories are great, and the workbook seems to be well done. (I have not used it yet - I like to link my lit titles to other content. So, I may pick and choose.

 

Thanks for these ideas.  Based on this thread, I am now leaning towards working on just spelling and adding vocabulary or grammar. Or at least, add spelling and see if I need AAR3 or 4 in addition. 

 

 We are doing Build Your Library , so there will def be a literature component. And like you, I also always read up on other programs to get title ideas..... over the summer I  bought just about every Sonlight fiction title suggested for her age at thriftbooks.com. Lots of stuff I hadn't heard of but it is almost universally excellent.

[Jess4879]

I don't have a curriculum suggestion for you, but I wanted to comment about the possibility of a dyslexic child being able to read and comprehend on grade level. My daughter could do this by the end of second grade, after a great struggle learning to read, even though she is dyslexic. Suddenly she could read chapter books to herself and understand them. She has very high comprehension skills, so she can read a text and understand it, but she may struggle to read those same words in isolation on a flashcard. And her spelling is horrible. She also reads very fast and makes mistakes when reading aloud. Sometimes good comprehension skills can mask the underlying phonological impairment, so watch for that and keep working on the decoding.

 

Are you looking more for a phonics and decoding program, or a reading program, where you read stories or literature? We used CLE Reading for grade three, which is not a learn to read program.

 

:iagree:   

 

You are very likely to hit another "hump" when she gets into the next level of reading as well.  Multi-syllable words could very likely be a struggle.  AAR 4 is very good for this. Another we've had recommended and plan to start in the next few weeks is Rewards Reading.  If she's dyslexic (and I'd trust the testing that she is) just reading isn't going to be enough.  You will want to give her tools to break long words apart.    Using a notched curser will also help her slow down when reading and focus on each part of a word. 

 

My oldest is dyslexic, but she's made steady progress each year in her reading.  She needs to see things multiple times for them to stick.  We used to think she couldn't memorize well, but it turns out she actually can - what she struggles with is being able to instantly recall the info that she's memorized.  She knows her phonics inside out and backwards, but can't always pull the info from her memory quickly when she is reading.  The more times she sees the info, the quicker her recall is and the more fluently she reads. 

[MerryAtHope]

She completely passed level 3 but there's no way she knows all those rules.  Thanks for writing that out, it helps!

 

 

If it's mainly the literary terms she doesn't know, I wouldn't worry about that--level 4 includes many also, and she'll also have exposure to those as you continue to teach her through the years. Those are a nice "icing" on the cake, but not a reason to hold her back if she can read the advanced words fluently too. 

[MerryAtHope]

Thanks for these ideas.  Based on this thread, I am now leaning towards working on just spelling and adding vocabulary or grammar. Or at least, add spelling and see if I need AAR3 or 4 in addition. 

 

 We are doing Build Your Library , so there will def be a literature component. And like you, I also always read up on other programs to get title ideas..... over the summer I  bought just about every Sonlight fiction title suggested for her age at thriftbooks.com. Lots of stuff I hadn't heard of but it is almost universally excellent.

 

If you keep her reading, she may be fine. Have her read something out loud to you daily (at least a paragraph) so that you can continue to help her with word attack skills. That's the best way to know if she needs more in depth instruction. All About Spelling will fill in any gaps with relation to phonograms and rules, just at a slower pace (because spelling is more difficult than reading). 

[kathkath]

Barton

[poppy]

Barton

Even for a kid who can read and comprehend 3rd grade level?

[Storygirl]

My daughter is enrolled in a private dyslexia school this year. Their whole program is Orton-Gillingham based. They really work on remediating the phonological issues, even as they move forward with their grade-level curriculum. They teach them very specific rule-based spelling and decoding.

 

If I were homeschooling still, I think I would be using Barton.

 

Someone upthread said don't worry about phonics any more. That is the wrong approach for dyslexia. The problem with relying on context clues and guessing at words, instead of properly decoding them (which is what DD does with her excellent comprehension skills), is that in their academic life (and in real life), they will eventually have to read things that they can't guess and get right. Physics textbook with scientific terms? Math textbook? Adult level literature introduced in high school? They can't guess their way through those. And so even if reading seems like it is going well now, they will hit the wall later. They need to be able to decode properly in the long run, or they will fall behind and struggle.

 

I suspected dyslexia in DD when she was preschool age. Learning to read was brutal. And then suddenly she could read!! At the same time, she couldn't. I knew she was guessing. And I found it really troubling. That's when we finally got the dyslexia diagnosis (wish we had done it sooner, but we didn't know how).

 

Anyway, don't give up on phonics. AAR might be enough for your child, but if it's not, you might try Barton. Or hire an O-G certified tutor, which is what we did last year.

[PeterPan]

Just coming in late here.  You're seeing her IQ and that it can mask her disability.  You'll want to get the DORA to get some exact scores, but probably there's a significant spread between her spelling and reading levels right now.  We had my ds re-checked, because he was not reading, in spite of significant instruction (Barton 4).  He has all three SLDs, btw, and at age 7 his reading level was 5th/6th grade.  His spelling level, 1st grade.   ;)

 

Is your dd WRITING anything?  It's all fine and dandy that my ds can now read random text, but he can't get anything he's thinking onto paper/screen.  You might want to up-prioritize spelling to enable her ability to write to keep up with her IQ.  I agree with not dropping instruction, but I think you could shift emphases or priorities to get her skills into balance.

 

Fwiw, if she was doing well with Wilson, I would continue something intervention level.  Barton, buying and selling the levels as you go, would cost you less than AAR or AAS.

Edited September 18, 2016 by OhElizabeth

[Pistachio mom]

about phonics: I did mention that I stop teaching it systematically once my children were reading well - by this I mean reading double vowel combinations, blends, digraphs, suffixes and prefixes, compound words, and multi-syllable words. I do continue to teach sight words from off of the lists.  We would also review any phonics patterns that came up as needed. My right brain learners have trouble remembering the more complex phonics rules for harder words. Learning these in a word family pattern was more effective for them. And yes, I see the guessing thing happening in second and third grade reading too. I have to model and guide my girls in learning strategies to read one syllable chunk at a time, or sometimes back out of the word by reading the suffix first. Then we re-read the sentence. We just read out-loud part time to work on these weaknesses, and silently also to work on comprehension.  I require narration for silent reading. For my children, using real children's literature classic books was a more motivating way to work on these skills. 

 

I am thankful for many methods available, as well as access to good research. One of my children had an eye dominance and audio processing issue that was affecting her fluency. This is why I pulled back her 2nd grade year to combine lit and history to spend extra time on reading skills.  I have to teach everything very visually to this child - getting the information to "stick" with pictures and color. Now, 3 years later she is doing really well!

 

PBS Online also has some very good online professional development classes. Their class on Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Development was a dramatic help to me in learning to use children's lit to teach reading. Any course like this will have a syllabus with links to good research articles that would be a help to any parent. Many times, you can see the syllabus without actually enrolling in the course. The AAL website has a very nice resource section with this kind of information too. The most helpful articles for me were on Dianne Craft's website. I put the link above.

 

Obviously, with the history of dyslexia for your child, you will want to research and experiment which method is right for your child.  Some people do improve from dyslexia characteristics. Others struggle longer. You have some great ideas to think about and investigate in the posts above.  I wish you well!

[poppy]

Updated.  Ordered All About Spelling 1.  Read more posts, panicked, decided to get Barton.  Tried to cancel AAS1.  Was unsuccessful.

 

So we will try AAS1!  Fate and "it's already gone to the warehouse" guided this decision.  Spelling to teach phonics, sorta.

If it's too fast, I will bite the Barton bullet.

 

I'm also going to work on writing this year.  Most Wonderful Writing Lessons Ever + a little Bravewriter Jot It Down.  With me scribing.

And cursive.  She hates anything putting a pen to paper, at all, so prettiest workbooks I can find.

 

Will hold off on grammar or maybe get something fairly simple like Nose Tree towards the end of the year.

Vocab, will just work on reading.  We do tons of audiobooks and read alouds.

[MerryAtHope]

Updated.  Ordered All About Spelling 1.  Read more posts, panicked, decided to get Barton.  Tried to cancel AAS1.  Was unsuccessful.

 

So we will try AAS1!  Fate and "it's already gone to the warehouse" guided this decision.  Spelling to teach phonics, sorta.

If it's too fast, I will bite the Barton bullet.

 

I'm also going to work on writing this year.  Most Wonderful Writing Lessons Ever + a little Bravewriter Jot It Down.  With me scribing.

And cursive.  She hates anything putting a pen to paper, at all, so prettiest workbooks I can find.

 

Will hold off on grammar or maybe get something fairly simple like Nose Tree towards the end of the year.

Vocab, will just work on reading.  We do tons of audiobooks and read alouds.

 

 

Well, they do have a 1-year guarantee, so if it's not what you need and you ordered from AALP, it is returnable. It's a complete phonics program, but doesn't cover reading instruction if you also need that (that would be in AAR). Anyway, hope it goes well!

[PeterPan]

Updated.  Ordered All About Spelling 1.  Read more posts, panicked, decided to get Barton.  Tried to cancel AAS1.  Was unsuccessful.

 

So we will try AAS1!  Fate and "it's already gone to the warehouse" guided this decision.  Spelling to teach phonics, sorta.

If it's too fast, I will bite the Barton bullet.

 

I'm also going to work on writing this year.  Most Wonderful Writing Lessons Ever + a little Bravewriter Jot It Down.  With me scribing.

And cursive.  She hates anything putting a pen to paper, at all, so prettiest workbooks I can find.

 

Will hold off on grammar or maybe get something fairly simple like Nose Tree towards the end of the year.

Vocab, will just work on reading.  We do tons of audiobooks and read alouds.

 

Fwiw, using AAS doesn't preclude using Barton.  When you say she's reading on grade level, is that her decoding or reading comprehension?  I took my ds recently to get his testing redone (CTOPP and DAR) and there were big differences there.  Because his vocabulary is very high, his reading comprehension is multiple grades ahead of his decoding.  So that's something you can parse out using your data.  His spelling is multiple grades BEHIND his decoding, lol.  

 

Julie in KY uses AAS for spelling and Barton to drive decoding, which is something I've considered doing also since I have AAS1-6 in my closet.  

 

No matter what, I think you'll want more than AAS to make sure her decoding continues to go forward.  I LOVE the Barton app.  Way more efficient than tiles or the AAS paper tiles. 

Edited September 28, 2016 by OhElizabeth

[poppy]

Fwiw, using AAS doesn't preclude using Barton.  When you say she's reading on grade level, is that her decoding or reading comprehension?  I took my ds recently to get his testing redone (CTOPP and DAR) and there were big differences there.  Because his vocabulary is very high, his reading comprehension is multiple grades ahead of his decoding.  So that's something you can parse out using your data.  His spelling is multiple grades BEHIND his decoding, lol.  

 

Julie in KY uses AAS for spelling and Barton to drive decoding, which is something I've considered doing also since I have AAS1-6 in my closet.  

 

No matter what, I think you'll want more than AAS to make sure her decoding continues to go forward.  I LOVE the Barton app.  Way more efficient than tiles or the AAS paper tiles. 

 

Most definitely comprehension, not decoding. 

So I could do Barton and AAS concurrently, maybe. Hmmmmm.    I really kid of dread Barton. Hours of videos - where am I to even find a DVD player?  But naturally I'll do it it's necessary.

[Ellie]

My daughter was diagnosed dyslexic, but, I'm not sure she truly is.  With 6 months of tutoring at age 7, she quickly went from not being able to decode early readers to reading grade level chapter books with great relish.  It was a dramatic leap.

 

The tutoring was Wilson, at her school.

 

We are homeschooling for 3rd grade. I was planning AAR.

 

According to the placement tests she should be in All About Reading Level 4.  Which is....... quite pricey. She's basically reading at grade level now.  I'd LOVE to do the most fun and engaging possible reading program for this kid. She has a short attention span and is immature for her age.  If AAR is the right program, I'll invest.  But I've only been looking at OG programs.  Is there another option for a child at her reading level that would be good?

 

I don't know the grade level for AAR 4 but my *guess* is that she is on target for early 3rd grade level.  She's a bit sloppy, goes too fast and messes some words up, but her comprehension and story recall are just fine.

 

Thank you for any advice.

 

Or you could do Spalding, and you'd make a one-time purchase of the manual (Writing Road to Reading) and a set of phonogram cards. She'll write a new spelling notebook each year.

[poppy]

Or you could do Spalding, and you'd make a one-time purchase of the manual (Writing Road to Reading) and a set of phonogram cards. She'll write a new spelling notebook each year.

I will look into that.

 

Just scored a cheap complete 3rd grade MCT set used... Guess I should wait a bit on that huh?

 

It feels odd right now when reading is her biggest challenge -- but it's what we spend very little time on each day while I figure this out. So far just a littler cursive every day plus 20 minutes on AAS. Level 1 was *definitely* the right place to start. Oh and read aloud s, plus she has her nose in a book most of the time (right now Judy Moody).

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[OneStepAtATime]

Most definitely comprehension, not decoding. 

So I could do Barton and AAS concurrently, maybe. Hmmmmm.    I really kid of dread Barton. Hours of videos - where am I to even find a DVD player?  But naturally I'll do it it's necessary.

FWIW, Barton now has a way to watch the videos on-line.  Not sure what you need to do to access it.  Also, it really isn't hours of videos for each lesson.  The videos aren't bad (but they are a bit dull). I do recommend watching the Level 1 and Level 2 videos just to get used to the program and how it is done.  You might not need to watch all of the videos for Level 3, just for certain lessons, since you should be pretty solid on the basic system at that point.  I only watched lessons for select ones during Level 3 and 4.  In fact, after Level 4 I stopped watching the videos altogether.  I didn't need them anymore at all.  The TM is brilliantly done and that is all I need for each lesson.  If Level 4 weren't so complex I would probably have quit watching the videos after Level 3.  Some people don't need the videos at all, by the way.  I know I did but maybe you won't.

[PeterPan]

Yes, if you bought your kit directly from Barton, she already sent you a link to get started watching the videos.  I enjoy them, and I never watch them ALL, mercy.  Just watch what you need.  Late at night.  With something warm and comforting.

[poppy]

So I had her read the AAR level 3 screening reading, and........ she did really well.  Got 95% of the words, laughed through the story.   http://downloads.allaboutlearningpress.com/samples/AAR-L3-Shipwreck-Sample.pdf

 

The words she didn't know, she wasn't close to figuring out on her own ("bestow", "trumpets"). But would it really be worth it to do AAR3 just to help with that issue?

 

And her read aloud abilities are not good, she rushes and mumbles. But  I think that's normal for dyslexic kids, and hey she is 8.

 

 

So if all kids should get

1. decoding

2. spelling

3. writing

4. grammar

 

Do you think it would be reasonable to

1. Do AA3? Do AA4? decoding --- knowing she reads often , both books for pleasure and novels I give her (Tale of Desperaux right now)

2. spelling, start at level 1

3. writing, maybe do some projects? I have Jot It Down.

4. grammar, I have MCT, maybe in the second half of the year?

 

Reasonable or dumb?

 

I recently saw a friends WWE and man, was it elegant. If I ever homeschool a non-dyslexic that is what I'd like to do.

 

 

 

 

[MerryAtHope]

So I had her read the AAR level 3 screening reading, and........ she did really well.  Got 95% of the words, laughed through the story.   http://downloads.allaboutlearningpress.com/samples/AAR-L3-Shipwreck-Sample.pdf

 

The words she didn't know, she wasn't close to figuring out on her own ("bestow", "trumpets"). But would it really be worth it to do AAR3 just to help with that issue?

 

And her read aloud abilities are not good, she rushes and mumbles. But  I think that's normal for dyslexic kids, and hey she is 8.

 

It would depend on which words and how many she stumbled on--words like bestow and trumpets are words that are taught in level 3. Did you have her try the extra words I posted above? That included some more of the words taught in this level--I'll copy it here:

 

Level 3 covers prefixes and suffixes; syllable division rules for reading multisyllable words (these start in AAR 2 and are continued in Level 3); many literary terms like alliteration, similes, synonyms, antonyms, onomatopoeia, idioms, and personification; words containing the new phonograms, such as paint, play, boat, third, purple, soon, mean, light, match, budge, flew, wrong, know, sleigh, toe and action; words with the “pickle†syllable such as bubble and table; and 2-5 syllable words such as armadillo, auction, banquet, celebration, butterscotch, chimpanzee, contraption, examination, education, government, hibernation, instruments, objection, mildew, migration, safekeeping, paperweight, semicircle, uneventful, wristwatch, spectacles, thermometer, and so on.

 

You may want to look through more of the online samples too, to get a feel for it. She may be ready for level 4 though, if there's really not much she can't read from 3.

 

With regarding to rushing, mumbling etc..., one of the things AAR works on is having them read with expression (which is one way to help her slow down and speak more clearly). Either level would have you work on that. This article on reading too fast has ideas too.

[Storygirl]

She needs to learn strategies for sounding out words that she cannot read via context or previous exposure. I didn't use AAR, so I can't answer whether it would be effective or not, but I will say yes, it is worth doing reading instruction so that she can decode unfamiliar words.

 

Otherwise, how will she learn to read them? She's going to be faced with figuring out many, many words over the course of her life. She needs tools to succeed.

 

If I could go back in time, I would use Barton with DD. (She gets OG instruction at a dyslexia school now, and we are no longer homeschooling.)

[poppy]

Thank you for the detailed and (and sometimes repeated) advice.  It is really marvelous to have this resource to help me from getting stuck in my head over this.  Buying AAR3 today.