ChocolateCake
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Posts posted by ChocolateCake
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I'm reading some of my 9th grader's books to her. She says she likes how I read faster than a typical narrator. When she reads literature, it's usually a Kindle book with whyspersync (words light up synced with audio) and she plays it at 1.5-2x speed.
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We used Lifepac. It leans easy and is Christian but not too preachy.
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I wouldn't require him to make up the assignments now. I would give him an A if his completed work was A level work. The amount of assignments due is up to the teacher and as a homeschooler you have the final say as to what works for your student and what his grade should be. It's not his fault he has executive function issues and it's not his fault his uncle passed away. I would give him grace and as a mom you need to give yourself grace too. You've been through a tough time momma. Hugs to you.💕
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I have no idea what the college will think (if they will think anything at all) but we are really enjoying Berean Builders Earth Science this year. I am having my 9th and 11th grader do this together. It's a bit easy for the 11th grader but due to executive function issues, he wasn't doing science (biology) on his own so we had to make a change. I think the Chemistry is supposed to be for kids that have already completed Algebra I. I already have the Bio and Chem books and we plan to use them after this. My kids are smart but have disabilities so they will go to community college first. I don't think anyone will care what science they did and in what order as long as they did some lab sciences. I have skimmed the bio book and started to skim over the chem. They look like they are formatted similarly to the Earth Science so I think experience with the Earth Science will make the chemistry easier. The first chapter in the Earth Science and Chemistry books are all about the math conversions the student will need to do for the course. There is actually some chemistry in the Earth Science book but it is explained very well. We are also watching The World of Chemistry on You Tube (plus some random Earth Science videos) which help to tie everything together.
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Grade 3
Language Arts:
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Pentime 3
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Rod & Staff English 3
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Spelling (using Wilson Reading since I already own it)
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American Language Readers, Ginn Readers, LLATL readers, some readers from Sonlight lists
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Explode the Code
Math: Math With Confidence and CTC
Social Studies: Geography & World Cultures unit study
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lapbooks from homeschoolshare
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doing some activities with older sis (gr.9 doing Guest Hollow Geography w/ some MFW ECC resources )
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map skills workbook
Science
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local Earth Science homeschool class
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she may participate in some of older sister’s science activities (Berean Builders Earth Science)
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God’s Design for Chemistry & Ecology w/older sis (just as a read aloud since she has the lab class)
Golden Children’s Bible, A Child’s Book of Poems, music and art study w/older siblings
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Grade 11 (ASD)
1.0 U.S. History II (second half of Land of Hope with student guide, supplementing with Modern States videos since the ones by the author were boring us to tears)
1.0 Chemistry (Discovering Design with Chemistry) with an in person chemistry lab class
We started biology late last year so I’m not sure when he will start the chem book. The lab class does not require homework so we can do any book with it.
1.0 Algebra II (A Fresh Approach)
1.0 Spanish I (Lifepac w/younger sis)
This wasn’t getting done last year after a late start so we will try it this way. It’s a bit easier since they can practice having a conversation together.
1.0 English
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LLATL Gold British Literature (part)
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MP As You Like It, MP The Hound of Baskervilles
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Jensen’s Format Writing (final ¼ of book)
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Grammar review book
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Lantern English writing class (essay writing)
1.0 Intro to Java (online via Grand Canyon University)
0.5 World Geography (Guest Hollow)
This will be w/younger sis, he won’t do all the activities she does but he will still do some map work and discussion of the text.
6.5 credits
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Grade 9 (Dyslexia, Dysgraphia)
1.0 English/Comp.
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R&S English 7
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Wilson Reading System (for Dyslexia…should finally finish this year)
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Wordsmith
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Literature-MP 8th grade lit with Vita Beata Discussion Group (Tom Sawyer, The Wind in the Willows, As You Like It, Treasure Island, Poetry & Short Stories)
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Read and narrate literature to tie in to geography studies
1.0 Math: Algebra I (CLE and CTC)
1.0 Social Studies: Geography & Cultures (using the Guest Hollow book as a spine)
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World History Detective
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Some activities from MFW ECC & Pinterest w/younger sis
1.0 Science: Earth Science (Berean Builders)
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in person chemistry lab enrichment with older bro
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God’s Design for Chemistry & Ecology w/younger sis
1.0 Fiber Arts I (self taught…constantly working on projects)
1.0 Spanish I (Lifepac w/older bro)
0.5 P.E. (hiking group)
6.0 credits
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2 minutes ago, MagistraKennedy said:
I know this is an old post, but I'm wondering about your experience with Denison Geometry?
He thinks Mr. Denison talks too slowly. Mr. Denison says things like "Remember to do your work EVERY day" repeatedly. My son feels like he is talking down to him. I would change to something else but my son is almost done with it so I told him to try to just get through it. We will probably switch to A Fresh Approach for Algebra II because my son says he hates videos now. My daughter looked at the sample video and said there's no way she would try it either. I would say have your student watch a few sample lessons and see what they think before purchasing.
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There's quite a few sample pages you can print out for Math With Confidence (of the previous grade). I'm using them in combo with what I already have (RS, MM, CTC) to prep my dd to switch in the fall.
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My teens enjoyed the MIT Museum.
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1 hour ago, kbutton said:
Not the OP. We bought this curriculum, but then my son ended up with a tutor instead, so I can't say what if would've been effective for him. For my son, it was too much reading (he has a language disorder and is incredibly quirky with math), but for a child that prefers to interact with text vs. a person or video, it does have a lot of explanation and is in a "tutor" sort of voice.
If they no longer offer a downloadable first chapter sample, I can take a picture of a few pages if you need me to. I have Algebra I and II but not Geometry. (You'll need to PM or tag/quote me.)
Thanks. We probably don't need it because he looked over the online sample and liked it. This is the site I found it on.
http://www.algebraforhomeschool.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=3
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I know this is an old post but I have the same questions. May I ask what you ended up going with? My son hates videos and would prefer a text that he can use to self-teach.
Thanks!
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Grade 10 (ASD)
1.0 U.S. History (A Land of Hope with guide and Hillsdale course)
1.0 Biology (Discovering Design with Biology)
1.0 Geometry (Denison)
1.0 Spanish I (Lifepac)
1.0 Literature & Composition
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Jensen’s Format Writing (2nd half)
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LLATL The Gold Book: American History (part), MP Tom Sawyer, MP The Scarlet Letter
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The Social Survival Guide for Teens on the Autism Spectrum, You Have a Brain, Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying (read & write chapter summaries)
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The Perfect English Grammar Workbook
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Vocabulary From Classical Roots D & E
0.5 Computer Science (HSLDA Academy)
0.5 Study Skills & Career Exploration
0.5 P.E.
6.5 credits
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Grade 8 (Dyslexia/Dysgraphia)
Social Studies-U.S. History/Medieval (books will all be read alouds)
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A Little History of the United States
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SOTW 2, Outrageous Women of the Middle Ages
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documentaries and field trips
Math-Pre-Algebra (CLE Algebra Skills, Key to Algebra, Geometry Basics, Math Mosaics)
Language Arts
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Wilson Reading System (for Dyslexia)
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Pentime 5
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Rod & Staff English 5 (2nd half)
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Wordsmith Apprentice
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Daily Life Skills Workbook
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Touch Type Read and Spell
Literature
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Memoria Press grade 7 literature with guides (Anne of Green Gables, The Trojan War, The Bronze Bow, The Hobbit)
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VIta Beata discussion group
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She may also just read and narrate some books to tie in with history (almost all her books are available on Whispersync so she can read and listen to audio at the same time)
Science-Exploring Creation with Anatomy & Physiology and Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics (with audio)
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Grade 2
Language Arts-
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Explode the Code workbooks 4-6
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American Language Phonics Workbook 2
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American Language Readers (second half) and Sonlight Grade 2 booklist
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Pentime 2
Math-Right Start with some SIngapore workbooks and a little Life of Fred for fun
Social Studies-American History (I may loosely use my old personal lesson plans from MFW Adventures as a guide)
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mostly just listening to read alouds about famous Americans and a book about the 50 States
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doing some history-related crafts and activities
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doing some history-related field trips with older siblings
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geography workbook
Science-Human Body, Chemistry and Physics (tagging along with older sis using Apologia books)
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Guest Hollow Little Kid’s Anatomy and Actions and Reactions booklists (as read alouds)
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some related Pinterest activities
Bible:
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The Beginner’s Bible (we did this last year and now she is reading some of it on her own so we will continue with it this year)
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Leading Little Ones to God
If we have time, I may add in MP Enrichment since she enjoyed it last year
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I would only use the success version if he has a math disability and you know he can't complete the regular version. My 15 y/o son is doing Denison Geometry and does not have a math disability but he is autistic and needs very clear explanations.
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33 minutes ago, PeterPan said:
Is she actually hyper-responsive? My dd was like that, and the interoception approach was still important. If her system is getting overloaded, she'll tend to shut down just to stop the onslaught. Anecodatally, an SSRI can help with that.
She's not but the OT said my son is both hypo/hyper in different situations. It's something for me to learn more about.
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1 hour ago, kbutton said:
I would definitely find a good SLP who specializes in the literacy, reading, and writing. It's entirely possible that something like this can be hard enough to completely jam up the works and cause ADHD-like symptoms.
Both my kids have narrow but deep language issues (only one has dyslexia, but both have disorder of written expression), and one can still function, but the other one could write nothing except sentences (and wrote AMAZING compound complex sentences that were crystal clear). It was very weird, and a lot was blamed on his ADHD, which was very well-controlled by meds when he wasn't asked to do academics that were beyond his ability. When he got language help, he engaged and progressed amazingly. My other kiddo has also done really well with language therapy, but his was for totally different issues (looked similar on paper but not in real life).
Did you see the thread about Rooted in Language offering free "office hours" online? There is a schedule and Zoom information--they are a well-regarded SLP practice that could help you figure out if their materials would be helpful to you, and they would also be able to tell you what to look for in a literacy-based SLP. I have not found their materials to suit my personality and way of working, but they ultimately cover a lot of the same skills as other materials that I do like (Mindwing Concepts is the bomb). I would try their office hours if I were you. I have spoken to them in person and have friends that have used their in real life services (they are about maxed out), and they are wonderful people.
Thanks! I think I get what you mean by the RIL not suiting you as I have looked at their page before and can't wrap my head around it. I can't use anything too detailed (breaking something into lots of parts) as my brain doesn't work that way.
I have Deepening Discourse sitting next to my exercise bike but I've only gotten a few pages into it. It's on my list of things to do along with pre-read rising 10th graders history, plan his literature, sell my house, give attention to the 7-year-old and move to another state. I will get to it though!
Time for some dark chocolate, LOL. 😁
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9 hours ago, PeterPan said:
I've seen 3 different audiologists now for APD stuff with my kids, and all three approached the testing differently, radically differently.
https://www.proedinc.com/Products/31050/differential-processing-training-program-3book-s.aspx I did a lot of this set with my ds and now an SLP is doing
https://www.proedinc.com/Products/37614/the-central-auditory-processing-kit.aspx with him.
I don't know if those programs would catch her holes, but they've been good here.
Developmentally you want the retained reflexes integrated to let the language and other pieces come together.
How was her processing speed? Did the neuropsych do any testing on language like a word retrieval score? A neuropsych did that testing with my dd and came up with crazy low scores. When you pair poor word retrieval and low processing speed, a lot of what you're seeing in real life starts to make sense.
Some of this is straight EF and interoception. This means it will respond to work on EF (targeting working memory and the prefrontal cortex) and direct interoception work.
You might look at the samples of those APD programs I linked and see if you think either would catch some holes with her. If her phonological processing was weak and she did it focusing on visual, the APD work will have her going back to do it with auditory.
It's a grungy stage when you realize some things aren't going away.
Thanks for the list! I will have to look into those. Her word retrieval, phonological processing and rapid naming are all in the average range. We're almost done with our Interoception curriculum. I actually didn't get it for her but more for her 15 y/o brother (recently diagnosed ASD) but I do it with all my kids. Her interoception is really good actually. She will say that the audiologist said there wasn't a problem, but there's obviously a problem. She is very aware.
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-She had previous diagnoses of SLDs or those were suspected?
Yes. Dyslexia and Dysgraphia and they were confirmed
-What did the new evals say and who did them and what tests and tools did they run?
Neuropsych.
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Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement- Third Edition (KTEA-3) – Form B - selected subtests
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NEPSY- II -Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment – Second Edition (NEPSY) -selected subtests
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Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing- Second Edition (CTOPP-2) - selected subtests
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Test of Orthographic Competence (TOC) - selected subtests
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Integrated Visual & Auditory Continuous Performance Test- (IVA)
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Conners’ Behavioral Rating Scales – Third Edition - Parent and Teacher Long Form (Conners’-3)
The only low average/below average scores were relating to reading comprehension, writing, spelling and auditory attention. The main advice was to see an audiologist to rule out APD. She was tested a few months ago (SCAN-3). The audiologist said that the test usually takes at least 2 hours but that my daughter was done in less than an hour and needed no breaks. She said we can re-evaluate in a year but after some prodding by me admitted it is unlikely she will be diagnosed with APD based on her high scores.
-What are your current symptoms and how have they changed?
Once puberty hit I noticed some forgetfulness and inattention (mostly during schoolwork). She will ask a question and then 5 minutes later ask it again and say she forgot what I said. She forgets to do chores and drink enough water.
-What seems to make the problems better or worse?
Background noise or someone speaking from another room can lead to misunderstanding. She thinks you said something that rhymes with what you actually said. This happens multiple times per day. If her sister is in the room or she sees a butterfly out the window she focuses on that and not her work (unless it is work she likes).
-Is there a pattern like fatigue?
No
-Was there any discussion of depression or anxiety?
No
-Was there anything kind of discrepant or odd in the testing, even if it didn't result in a diagnosis? For instance, maybe a subtest that was outlier from everything else…
Only that there is a problem with auditory processing…which we already knew. This was also in the report she got 3 years ago by a psych.
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Well, I got the test results and there's no ADHD or APD (she scored above average on almost everything...not even borderline). So, do I just have her evaluated by an SLP and OT? I can't think of what else to do.
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1 hour ago, PeterPan said:
Fwiw, this doesn't seem like the hill to die on. The physical act of writing was probably not essential (unless it was a handwriting page), so you could have moved to dictation with tech or scribing. That would allow you to further work through whether the issue was anxiety, EF (an initiation hump, organization), language, fatigue, growth spurt/hunger, whatever. How old is she? At 12 you have to add hunger/fatigue/puberty to the list, lol.
Be flexible on what doesn't matter. Do you have more data to share on what works/doesn't work? Anything unusual with motor planning, anxiety, narrative language, language/speech development, etc.?
Are your SLD diagnoses from a psych? I can't imagine they got that far and didn't diagnose the ADHD. You may need to update psych evals. Maybe some anxiety or depression will be apparent at this point too. Not to be morbid, but at this age that's what you're watching for. Is she literally "floppy" as well? Those people end up with not only OT issues but methylation, etc. which will affect her energy and make her *look* like she's having attitude issues. Like I said, complex, taking the time to work through, not one single explanation necessarily.
What kind? Doesn't tell you about her VMI and how visual motor integration is affecting her ability to do that school work. Doesn't tell you about her convergence either. Only tells you she is probably highly visual spatial. Have you read Dyslexic Advantage? You're working to her strengths?
I honestly wasn't thinking ADHD when she saw the psych. Puberty hit and WOW, I see it now. She's a bit floppy but it only seems to be during work time and it's not if she is doing work she actually likes. Her cursive is beautiful and she has neat handwriting if she puts in effort. If she doesn't put in effort, well it looks like cute butterflies or something. She spends most of her free time crocheting or sewing. She created a puppy out of yarn for a friend without a pattern and it looks great. I don't think she has convergence issues but we may ask about that after we move (optometrist said he didn't see any need for vision therapy). I'm hoping to take my kids to a therapy place with multiple therapies so that we can get help for different areas of need at the same place. Yes, I read Dyslexic Advantage and cried when I realized it was describing her. Until that point I couldn't tell what was going on. I mean, she had phonemic awareness at age 2 (without me teaching her) and she would make up rhymes. So, I didn't realize she was dyslexic until age 10.
Back when she went to preschool at age 3.5 her teacher told me she was the only kid in the class that paid attention, LOL.
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58 minutes ago, PeterPan said:
Anything come of this?
There's no reason not to do an OT eval, but you may need a different OT, someone with more experience with emotional regulation, self awareness/interoception, ADHD issues, etc. Most kids with complex disabilities are not going to have *one* thing factoring in but multiple. So I like that she's using sensory input (wrapping a blanket around her arms) to adjust how she feels. What you don't know from what you've described is how vision, anxiety, motor planning or VMI (visual motor integration), etc. are factoring in. It's why the ps does multi-factored evals.
So yes it's avoidance, but with limited information you don't know if it's because of EF, anxiety, motor planning, what. You gave some diagnoses, so has she had psych evals? What does that report say? I would start there and get some more evals to look for things that got missed. SLP, OT, vision, that basics. It's probably a mixture, which means you will probably need a mixture of things (meds, supports, accommodations, interventions).
So, she decided against the SLP eval simply because we are moving to another state in a few months and she would rather just get it done over there. I had her tested for APD recently but she scored at the high end of normal so the only thing I could think of to help her is the SLP eval. She has trouble understanding language but no problem expressing herself (talks a lot). I use Wilson with her and we do Rod & Staff English (1-2 years behind) mostly orally. I am using the Interoception curriculum (Kelly Mahler) with my three kids. She is in puberty and I just noticed signs of ADHD a few months ago. She just turned 13 this week. She is super happy and easy-going personality wise. I had her evaluated by a psych about 2.5 years ago (SLD Reading and Written Expression) but the person wasn't that great at giving me strategies to use with her (she just said to do some work orally). I will get her reevaluated in 2.5 months (for learning disabilities and ADHD) with a neuropsych that is evaluating her older brother. Her older brother (age 14) will have an OT eval in a couple of weeks. I can talk to the owner (an OT) about her some more if I have questions.
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My dyslexic daughter used to do this. She just wasn't ready yet. If he is resisting, I would respect that. Maybe you can work on something else for a while. You could do phonics games if you still want to do work on phonics. Maybe counting toys for math. He's still little. Maybe just play learning games for now. 🙂
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Curriculum choices for a dyslexic child
in The Learning Challenges Board
Posted · Edited by ChocolateCake
I have a dyslexic/dysgraphic high schooler. I still read some books to her. She mostly reads literature books on whispersync (kindle books with the audio synced to the text). We all enjoy audiobooks as a family and listen to them in the car almost constantly. All 3 of my kids listened to audiobooks on a regular basis in elementary.
Curriculum is just a tool. You can use it as much or little as you want. So, if you are using something with a long booklist feel free to pick and choose the books. There can be books he reads, books you read and books he listens to. He is learning via all those methods. You can do whatever works for you and your student. 😀