Melissa in Australia Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 How necessary is the IEW parent training seminar? it is $200. Can I just pick up and go with teacher and student combo pack of a themed book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 forgot to add it is for DS14, we have done all the WWE levels, some Writing strands etc. very poor reader, profound dyslexia needs something that has lots of handholding and micro steps. very very low initiative to write anything writing is HARD for him. I thought the rockets/robotics unit might interest him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 How much does it cost to ship to Australia? I have mine for sale. :) Pam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 I have never shipped anything form America as postage is outrageous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 is the training necassary? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 is the training necassary? I did some IEW with my older dd years ago. I don't remember doing a SWI. I think we only went by the TWSS together. Then I just purchased again for my 10, 12, & 14 year old boys. I got them the SWI B and the TWSS for me. We were all watching our parts of the program. I really don't know if you can do the SWI without the TWSS. I didn't do it enough to find out. I hope someone more experienced in it chimes in. I know they're out there! :) Pam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Yes you can do the program with just SWI or just TWSS but I honestly am not a fan of only doing a theme book without either SWI or TWSS because things can be confusing, especially if you are not used to teaching writing with this system. On the flip side, I have heard others were able to make it work with just a theme book so hopefully someone who has done so can weigh in. My question at this point is what have you used to work from the dyslexia end, do you have technology supports in place, how well does he do when you scribe for him, and how good are you at teaching writing? IEW is a great program, especially for someone that needs mirco steps and a lot of handholding, but I needed TWSS/SWI combined instruction and support to help me teach my kiddos with dyslexia and I only attempted IEW after they had both been remediating with a reading/spelling/writing program specifically designed for dyslexics. If you struggle with teaching him writing, he struggles with writing, and he struggles with reading, I do not know if just working from a theme book will help either of you. Which stinks because it IS expensive to get these materials. In your situation I think you would be better off either getting SWI and a theme book or TWSS and a theme book. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) I agree with One. You can do the SWI or TWSS, but definitely don't do it with the theme books. Heck, I have used the training and STILL don't always have success with the theme books. I found one of them to be particularly disappointing. That said, I highly recommend the training. Edited January 9, 2018 by SparklyUnicorn 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 He does all his writing on the computer. He can do dictation fine as long as I only dictate 2 words at a time. If I scribe for him he has no words. His older brothers have Dyslexia and they were great with me scribing, not ds14. He doesn't even talk much. We have done intensive phonics for his whole live and still are. he knows all the phonograms, just misuses them as is typical for Dyslexics. I am having a dumb moment and cannot work out what TWSS or SWI mean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Student Writing Intensive oops..though..the TWSS is the main program ....so I don't mean that....I mean the SWI...those are ready to go without the teaching stuff 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 Because we have struggled so much with writing over the years his motivation is nil. that is why I thought a theme book might be more interesting. We haven't done theme writing before I am not a fun person and cannot come up with interesting or fun by myself. The school year will start here in 2 weeks. I am tossing up continuing with Writing strands ( not really working) tying Writeshop ( $100 expensive to try something unseen that might not work) or try IEW ( I thought it would be an OK price but the training package is putting me off for something that may not help at all either) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 He does all his writing on the computer. He can do dictation fine as long as I only dictate 2 words at a time. If I scribe for him he has no words. His older brothers have Dyslexia and they were great with me scribing, not ds14. He doesn't even talk much. We have done intensive phonics for his whole live and still are. he knows all the phonograms, just misuses them as is typical for Dyslexics. I am having a dumb moment and cannot work out what TWSS or SWI mean Might he also have Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD)? Has he ever had a speech evaluation? I hope you can find something that works. This can be such a frustrating process. Add in the horrific costs for shipping to Australia and I can see why tracking down something that might work gets infinitely trickier. :grouphug: I know for my own kids DD did not do well with any phonics based instruction for neurotypical kids but started taking off with reading/writing/spelling once she had remediation with a program specifically targeted for dyslexics. DS? He had other comorbid issues and needed other support systems to help him out. Just straight phonics was not useful for application and phonics based instruction for even a dyslexic was not useful until he had had remediation in other areas first. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) Yes we have had speech evaluation. We are dealing with a severe problem. DD treed himself and it took an hour to get him down before he could be tested. He did the testing over 2 days and came out as extremely low for everything This was done 3 years ago and there has been some improvement ( namely he now understand what he reads he couldn’t comprehend written word at all when he did this assessment) receptive coding 0.4 percentile expressive coding 0.4 percentile phonological coding 25 percentile morphological decoding 0.4 percentile verbal working memory 2nd percentile pesudowords decoding 0.4 percentile sentence structure 37th percentile RAN 0.1 percentile Summery severely impaired reading and writing skills Extremely poor orthographic coding Poor rapid automatic naming which is more sever with letters than numbers Phonological and language skills intact but low I have posted these results before on the disability board a few years back, and we have incorporated a lot of technology based on recommendations from that discussion Edited January 9, 2018 by Melissa in Australia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) Yes we have had speech evaluation. We are dealing with a severe problem. .................................... I have posted these results before on the disability board a few years back, and we have incorporated a lot of technology based on recommendations from that discussion I remembered you posting but not the specifics. Sorry. Lots of kids and lots of posts over the years. I am sorry that this is such a hard process. Honestly, with the reminder of what you are facing, I really recommend if you go with IEW that you get SWI or TWSS. You could pair with a theme book but I think you are going to need the scaffolding of Pudewa's lectures. SWI is for the student to watch and you to scaffold. TWSS is the program for a parent to watch and teach from. Some use both. Some use just one or the other, sometimes paired with a theme book. While some can use a theme book on its own, I just don't think it will work in your situation. Huge hugs. Edited January 9, 2018 by OneStepAtATime 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 you suggest I get SWI and a theme book ? that would add up to $185 that is possable, I could do that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Yes you could probably do it with just SWI and a theme book. There are parts that the TWSS has that SWI does not but SWI would be easier to use. It covers fewer components so you don't have to go at a fast pace, it provides several sources for writing passages that you could pair with the theme book assignments for additional practice, it will walk you through the pacing and the lessons and you can watch the DVD lessons together. You will need to read through the materials and set up a notebook for both of you. With what you are facing I would suggest you watch the videos yourself first then again together. What worked well here was brainstorming together on the dry erase board and writing the first assignment of each lesson together. I will be honest, though, my kids are not facing the issues that your son is and writing has still been challenging for them. I suggest you stretch out the pacing significantly and keep lessons short. Maybe 4 days a week over the course of a year and a half. What may work well with this system is that the student does not have to come up with their own words/writing out of whole cloth. They are significantly scaffolded throughout the process. I would also suggest (if it doesn't automatically come with what you order;sometimes they give them away and sometimes they don't) that you get this book if you can swing it. The vocabulary words are organized into different themes and it helped so much with the kids finding appropriate vocabulary to add to their writing. Frankly I think this thing is brilliant. http://iew.com/shop/products/word-write-now 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 10, 2018 Author Share Posted January 10, 2018 thank you so much. You have convinced me. I will print out your post for all the helpful advice thank you 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 I assume you have tried second hand locally? I got mine from sell and swap on this board but NZ post has a forwarding service whereas Australian Post doesn't as far as I know. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 thank you so much. You have convinced me. I will print out your post for all the helpful advice thank you welcome If you need help along the way, start a thread. There are so many who have used this system successfully that I am sure there will be some great ideas on how to get through, over or around a hump in the road. :grouphug: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 (edited) Late to the party but a few thoughts: Student Writing Intensive (SWI) is for a specific age range, and is Andrew Pudewa teaching your student how to write. It is split into 3rd-5th, 6th-8th, 9th-12th. You take the SWI only once. After that, you move to a continuation course or do a theme based. Teaching Writing Structure and Style (TWSS) is a teacher's course for you, so that you can learn to teach the nine units of writing. You can design your own writing curriculum using the principles from the TWSS. IF you buy a SWI course and a theme based, you need to be careful that they are not too repetitive. For example we accidentally did All Things Fun & Fascinating (AFF) and SWI Level A. It was *very* repetitive and my kids were frustrated that we were covering the same ground over again. I would chat with or email IEW to make sure this doesn't happen. Also, be aware that those two products (a theme based plus a SWI) will equal two years of writing. One year for SWI and one year for the theme based, unless you accelerate it. If you cannot afford TWSS, you can do SWI, but be aware that the SWIs do *not* generally cover all of the writing units (who wants to write a formal critique in 3rd grade?), but the TWSS does. So long term, IF you like IEW, the TWSS is the better choice in my opinion. It will carry you through high school. Some options: people sell TWSS pretty frequently. Check on FB boards, the IEW for sale board on their website, etc. I see that you are in Australia. Maybe there is an Australia specific homeschool board. Or, consider seeing if you can borrow it from a friend. Depending on what theme based you use, you might only need to watch three or four discs, and leave the rest for later. Treat it like an intensive, watch the videos, and return it to your friend. If all you can find is the old TWSS, watch the price but know it will be just fine. It won't be the same exactly as the newer videos but it will be what you need. Edited January 13, 2018 by cintinative 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 Agreeing with cintinative that TWSS is the core program that teaches a teacher to teach at all age/grade levels of IEW's writing system. It would probably be the most helpful long term if you decide to work with IEW through High School. I will say, though, that SWI was such a help to me. I do have TWSS and it has been great to have that backup but I used SWI more on a daily basis. The kids watched the videos and all of us did the assignments. I wanted to say I don't think I explained myself very well with pairing SWI and a Theme book. They are each a full year's worth of writing instruction. Melissa, since you are dealing with some deeper issues than a parent with a neurotypical child is facing, I was thinking what might work best would be to read through both, use SWI videos and its writing examples as the intro to a writing concept, then use the theme book for additional practice on that one thing. Then do the same for the next. Spend time on each one since this is such a deficit area for your child. I would not normally recommend that because as cintinative said they basically cover the same thing. It might get repetitive and boring. I think you could make it work, though, if your son is interested in the topic from the Theme book and he may very well need the slower pace and additional practice. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 Agreeing with cintinative that TWSS is the core program that teaches a teacher to teach at all age/grade levels of IEW's writing system. It would probably be the most helpful long term if you decide to work with IEW through High School. I will say, though, that SWI was such a help to me. I do have TWSS and it has been great to have that backup but I used SWI more on a daily basis. The kids watched the videos and all of us did the assignments. I wanted to say I don't think I explained myself very well with pairing SWI and a Theme book. They are each a full year's worth of writing instruction. Melissa, since you are dealing with some deeper issues than a parent with a neurotypical child is facing, I was thinking what might work best would be to read through both, use SWI videos and its writing examples as the intro to a writing concept, then use the theme book for additional practice on that one thing. Then do the same for the next. Spend time on each one since this is such a deficit area for your child. I would not normally recommend that because as cintinative said they basically cover the same thing. It might get repetitive and boring. I think you could make it work, though, if your son is interested in the topic from the Theme book and he may very well need the slower pace and additional practice. Thank you. That is what I was hoping we could do. We are going to need as much practice with everything as we can. Ds has become an extreme avoider of writing because it is just so hard for him. He will be starting 9 th grade in one week. I have ordered SWI B and the theme book, plus the helper book thesaurus thingy mentioned. Thank you all so much 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 :hurray: Good luck! I hope it goes well. Sending positive thoughts your way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 We have just done a theme unit due to the expense of the whole package. I actually didn't realise when I ordered it that it was a follow on. We have paid to attend some of the live Webinars as well as listening to the podcast. These have helped heaps with figuring out how to do the units however it has been quite challenging and I think would be easier to start out right. However that would have made writing use most of my curriculum money for the year and we already have Singapore math which takes a fair chunk too! So yes it would be much easier with the correct stuff but it is doable with a bit of research time and effort without. The approach has made a huge huge difference to my reluctant writer who is now writing full page essays. Definitely listen to as much of the podcasts etc possible as they are so helpful. Especially the one about boys and children who would rather build forts all day! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 23, 2018 Author Share Posted January 23, 2018 So my books arrived, I have almost completed watching all the DVD's..... I was getting excited....... then DS saw the big stack of folders.. and freaked out... He tells me adamantly that there is absolutely no way he is going to do that curriculum. Did I mention that he is extremely stubborn . School starts next Monday. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: I feel like I am beating my head against a wall :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegs Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 So my books arrived, I have almost completed watching all the DVD's..... I was getting excited....... then DS saw the big stack of folders.. and freaked out... He tells me adamantly that there is absolutely no way he is going to do that curriculum. Did I mention that he is extremely stubborn . School starts next Monday. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: I feel like I am beating my head against a wall :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: Oh, no! :( 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 So my books arrived, I have almost completed watching all the DVD's..... I was getting excited....... then DS saw the big stack of folders.. and freaked out... He tells me adamantly that there is absolutely no way he is going to do that curriculum. Did I mention that he is extremely stubborn . School starts next Monday. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: I feel like I am beating my head against a wall :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: Can I suggest something? The techniques will work no matter what materials you use. If you have time, watch the videos and learn the technique for unit 1. Grab another piece of writing you can use for unit 1 - I think from memory it's Key word outlines? Try to pick something he's interested him. Teach him the technique or even just do it for him to demonstrate. That way you are still getting the benefit of the Iew method but he doesn't need to know he's doing all those folders. You are just presenting him with a single piece of paper. Also if you have time to listen to the podcast Andrew really emphasises going at the kids pace. Even if you totally do it for them a few times until they start to learn the technique. One other thing that works for mine is bribery. He didn't mind the writing but hated doing the final draft. Anyway we set up a sticker chart for each final draft paragraph. I know that sounds little kiddy for older boys but because he was very invested in the reward I offered (a fishing outing) he not only did the work but did extra to get it faster. And it was worth my time taking him because it saved so much nagging time. If you didn't want to use stickers it could just be a tick chart for an older kid. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 23, 2018 Author Share Posted January 23, 2018 thank you for the ideas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 I'm confused. What folders? I never had any folders for IEW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 23, 2018 Author Share Posted January 23, 2018 folders - the big binders. not sure what the USA equivalent term is https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/c/office-supplies/binders-binder-accessories/lever-arch-files-folders some of it was ebooks that I had to print out and put into big folders. it made quite a stack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 23, 2018 Author Share Posted January 23, 2018 Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 Oh ok. Three ring binders. Sorry. Mismatch in vocabulary. I actually just had the reference sheets in a small notebook and presented the stories one at a time. No huge binders were visible. I had a copy of the one page story in front of each of us but we worked on the one story together using an upright rolling dry erase board and did everything collaboratively. Slowly over time they started doing more things independently but we still just had the one story to work off of with just the reference papers. I did keep three ring binders of all their writings and the system material but the kids didn't see them until we were more comfortable with the system. I'm sorry he got so stressed. There was some really good advice upthread. I hope it helps you to help him. Hugs 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 They have great customer service BTW. I lost one of the discs and I was able to get a replacement for $7 just by calling. Not bad... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 (edited) I have watched TWSS and plan to watch SWI A but so far I have just started key word outlines using the free copy of Writing Through Ancient History I got last year. We are on break now but we were doing a couple of paragraphs a day. He would choose the key words and I would write them down then he would retell using the KWO and I would write that down. When we have got that down pat we will move on. Eta. Just tell him the all that suff is your work not his. It has the advantage of being mostly true. Edited January 25, 2018 by kiwik 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 I have watched TWSS and plan to watch SWI A but so far I have just started key word outlines using the free copy of Writing Through Ancient History I got last year. We are on break now but we were doing a couple of paragraphs a day. He would choose the key words and I would write them down then he would retell using the KWO and I would write that down. When we have got that down pat we will move on. Eta. Just tell him the all that suff is your work not his. It has the advantage of being mostly true. thank you for this advice. :thumbup1: sounds like a great idea and might help him get over his fear of trying a new program 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 today was the first day of school ( high schools in my state start the school year today) I am so frustrated in my lack of ability to help my child that I wept. He seems so depressed. He tells me there is absolutely no point in him doing any writing program........................ that nothing can help him...........................: :crying: :crying: I sat a whiteboard up in front of him while he was at the kitchen table fixing a remote control car and said all he has to do is just look for 3 minutes. then I did the Key Word Outline. It was my idea for him to fix the car. He focuses better if he is doing something with his hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 Oh I forgot to add we tried the first lesson about Sea Wasps but he was so frustrated that the correct name of Box Jellyfish wasn't being used that we went on to the Plug in Satellites form the other book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 There is nothing he is interested in at all, nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 life in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 Legal requirements are very very lax in my state. just have to justify that you are covering the 8 key learning areas He needs the schedule. I think He is depressed, he needs things that he has to do. He just feels so completely inadequate and stupid that he doesn't want to even attempt things anymore. We just had 6 weeks summer break. We already have a very relaxed day for him.. We are running out of years....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 (edited) He is good at any practical thing he puts his mind to. He , like all my children can fix just about anything under the sun effortlessly. to him it is normal, he doesn't see it as something others cannot do, that it is something special. even though I have pointed out this to him. his favorite subject was Science. He loved science especially when we worked through all of the Readers Digest How the series over several years. BUt then they were all done. We are now doing Apologia BIology _ He insisted on doing this book as his older siblings did it. His love of science is completely destroyed now. It is all just words words words ( that have to read aloud to him as his reading is not up to it) and not any experiments......I don't know any other curriculum for higher grades science. So I did what I have always done and fallen back to recommendations in WTM. I have bought him every science kit that I come across that I think he might be interested in. but he finds them silly and childish. I got him a Raspberry Pi - but I don't know what to do with it. We have been working through the tutorials that came with it but so far it isn't very fascinating to either of us - seems at the moment to be just like one of the silly science kits............... Editid to add good suggestion I will post on highschool thread suggestions for a different science curriculum Edited February 1, 2018 by Melissa in Australia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 We also live remote. there is no extracurricular things available here like STEM homeschool groups . there isn't any homeschool groups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 :grouphug: It sounds like he has such profound deficits in written language that any writing program for a neurotypical child is just not going to help him right now, especially since he is so down on himself. On the flip side it sounds like he has some real gifts as well. Unfortunately, he is not recognizing those gifts. Since he has no other kids to compare himself to (since siblings are apparently also really good at these things) he has no outside source to help him become more aware of just how gifted he is in his areas of strength. That's a tough position to be in, then couple that with everything else going on and I know this is a tough place to be, for both of you. I'm sending huge buckets of sympathy and understanding. Personally, I would drop the writing part for now. I would focus every ounce of energy into finding ways to support and expand on his strengths. His mental health is critical. It is exceedingly difficult to stay motivated to work on profound areas of weakness, especially weaknesses that are neurologically based, when you can't find anything within yourself or the world around you that gives you true joy and confidence and genuine purpose. My own son taught me that. He actually TOLD me that, even if it wasn't exactly the same wording. DS, too, has trouble with certain aspects of written language and because of our location and specific circumstances he ended up isolated for quite a while. His weaknesses were impeding his ability to do things he wanted to do and many of the initial materials we were using were not actually helping. He stopped seeing his strengths despite my best efforts. He only saw his weaknesses. Teenage hormones compounded the issue. His depression increased exponentially. As depression increased, desire/motivation to try anything hard dropped like a stone. He already felt bad. He didn't have the mental energy to keep beating his head against a wall. Why try when you know it won't work and only reminds you of what a failure you are? What is slowly turning things around is that I dumped the really hard stuff for quite a while as I worked even harder to tap into his areas of strength. And because of his age (tween to early teen) I started working HARD to provide him with any opportunity to be with peers in settings where his weak areas are not relevant. That including inviting people over and scheduling social events at our house. We dropped formal writing lessons altogether for a long time while I worked to help him find his strengths again. Now that he can tap into his strengths again and has others outside of this house acknowledging his strengths and a good (if very small as in 2) group of friends to be with, his motivation has taken an uptick and he willingly engages with lessons in even his weak areas most of the time. He is also sleeping better and eating better. I know you have a lot on your plate and you probably feel like you have done everything you can locally to help him. What about on-line resources? Maybe something like Outschool classes? In areas he is interested/good at. As for engaging materials for science specifically, would an on-line hands on class help? Or the Conceptual Science materials? https://conceptualacademy.com/ :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 What if he were to teach a hands on class in basic mechanics to kids that might live within driving distance? Nothing written. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 What if he were to teach a hands on class in basic mechanics to kids that might live within driving distance? Nothing written. other kids would be needed and most importantly that would involve talking to others - something that he is avoiding at all costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 other kids would be needed and most importantly that would involve talking to others - something that he is avoiding at all costs. DS started avoiding people at all cost, too. He just felt too bad inside to engage with others. He met a boy that is older than he is through his sister (sister and the boy were in the same extra-curricular for a while but it unfortunately ceased to exist). I offered to teach some lessons to the boy and DD to help out the boy's mom. Eventually DS and the boy started talking and became tentative friends (it took time). That boy had another friend who is actually a young adult who started coming over (I was inviting them over). We then started doing board games together, movies together and Dungeons and Dragons. It turned so much around. The boys are both older but accept DS and respect his gifts. It meant so incredibly much to his mental health to have these two young men listen to him and admire his strengths and WANT to hang out with him. That in turn gave him confidence to once in a while meet with other people who are friends with these two people. I'm just thinking if there is NO one living anywhere near where you are (wasn't sure how isolated) then maybe taking on-line classes might give your son a chance to tap into his strengths and get positive feedback from an outside adult and possibly other students. Honestly, DD has made some good friends on-line through on-line classes and she is an introvert. Not sure what else to suggest. I'm so sorry I don't have better ideas. :grouphug: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 (edited) his favorite subject was Science. He loved science especially when we worked through all of the Readers Digest How the series over several years. BUt then they were all done. We are now doing Apologia BIology _ He insisted on doing this book as his older siblings did it. His love of science is completely destroyed now. It is all just words words words ( that have to read aloud to him as his reading is not up to it) and not any experiments......I don't know any other curriculum for higher grades science. So I did what I have always done and fallen back to recommendations in WTM. I have bought him every science kit that I come across that I think he might be interested in. but he finds them silly and childish. I got him a Raspberry Pi - but I don't know what to do with it. We have been working through the tutorials that came with it but so far it isn't very fascinating to either of us - seems at the moment to be just like one of the silly science kits............... Editid to add good suggestion I will post on highschool thread suggestions for a different science curriculum I haven't looked at the other responses, but my first thought was to try to do a key word outline based on a "how to fix___". First do some brainstorming on a white board. What do you know how to fix? Okay, let's talk about the who?what?when?where?how? best?worst? Problems? solutions? questions for that (this is really the Unit 7 inventive, but it will at least help you with key word outlining). So you write down the stuff he tells you in answer to those questions, and you talk about how you could arrange the information. For example, maybe all the things that have to do with problems with fixing item X. Then show him how to put those things into a key word outline and write from that. ETA: Maybe consider doing all the scribing. Let this be an oral exercise. Take pictures of the white board. On the science, have you looked at either How Things Work on Coursera or the actual college lectures by the same author? See links below: https://www.coursera.org/learn/how-things-work http://rabi.phys.virginia.edu/1050/2014/schedule.html http://rabi.phys.virginia.edu/1060/2015/schedule.html I have watched most of the lectures from UVA and they are really good. I am not a physics oriented person but the way he explains the concepts really helps me to understand them. I think this might be something worth trying. I also have an older text that goes with this course (the newer one is pricey!). Edited February 2, 2018 by cintinative 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 I'm not totally sure of the background - is he learning challenged or dyslexic at all? It sounds like sorting the depression might be the most critical starting point. Is he seeing non family people at least once a week, getting enough exercise outdoors and sleep? Three healthy meals? If that stuffs in place and the depression isn't budging can you go through the medical stuff to make sure there's no vitamin deficiencies etc and look at treating the depression? I have some suggestions for writing strategies but I think sorting mental health is more critical. Also this kid is a teen right? Just asking because with younger kids I have absolutely no issues with insisting that they do certain school things even if there's no interest. Often the boost to self esteem when they've managed is so helpful. But with a teen you need different strategies obviously as that's more likely to backfire. As one other suggestion how would he be at creating a YouTube channel videoing how to fix stuff. They are really helpful to other people and getting hits etc might help give him a bit more confidence? Plenty of them aren't super professional so it wouldn't need to be too fancy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 Also if you haven't consider doing a free Myers Briggs testing - helping him understand his personality type might help him appreciate his strengths more and help him feel better knowing that others share the weaknesses. You could administer it verbally and fill it in for him if his literacy level isn't there. It might help identify forward paths/ career options to work toward that harness his strengths. Also I know you other guys are forestry fire fighters? Can you get him into cadets or something? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.