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lettucepatchkids

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Posts posted by lettucepatchkids

    curriculum for art co-op

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    so I'm going to be teaching the k-3rd art class at our (small) homeschool coop.  I'm totally up to do it... but I honestly don't know much about art.  We used artistic pursuits at home last year, I liked it ok, but I'm not thinking it's a good fit for the coop

     

    I really want something to follow rather than trying to pull a bunch of projects together as I'm not super confident in art. It also needs to be more in the dry medium realm since we will not have a sink in the room... I'm thinking pencils, pens and maybe watercolors.  I'd love to cover basic art elements using various projects.  I have about an hour every week. Oh my my DD (3rd grade) will be in the class and has some talent for art... so I'd love to provide something for her to be challenged with, along with keeping the couple Kindy kids engaged.

     

    Anyone have any curriculum recommendations???  :confused1:

     

     

    complaining of 'glow' around letters/words

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    we saw our regular optometrist... so she'd need to see another eye doc then?  I will look into it... the thought of paying for another exam... ughhhhhhhhhh  :crying:

     

    I am slightly remember Susan Barton saying something about photocopying the student sheets onto blue paper in the training video... I will search for that tonight too.  I kinda glossed over it because my DD has never complained about it until this week 

    complaining of 'glow' around letters/words

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    My 8 year old (struggling reader, dyslexic, currently working on level 2 of barton) says there is a 'glow' around letters or words when she goes to read them.  She has had her eyes examined (and I did tell the dr the reason we were having her eyes checked was because she was struggling learning to read)

    she says she sees  a "ring of light" most of the time when she is reading from paper, or from a book... but only sometimes she sees it on the letter tiles

     

    Has anyone had experience with this type of thing?  

    Just completed Barton level 1... sell????

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    I think what I'm going to do is this... finish AAR pre-1 and then give Barton level 1 (first few lessons) a try with him.... it'll be a good way to solidify the phonemic awareness and test out barton with him.  

    So I'll keep level 1 for now... but looking at the cost of all the levels has me nervous... so selling may be a must, worst case is I'd sell and re-buy then sell it again.... still cheaper than the private tutoring option of $700 a month

    Just completed Barton level 1... sell????

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    NT means neuro-typical. 

     

    Are you looking at getting evaluations?  Both of mine have been diagnosed with dyslexia but they have VERY different strengths and weaknesses so I have had to teach them very differently, even when using the same system.  Having the evaluation helped me to understand their differences better...

    ok thanks!!!!

     

    We had an eval done at a tutoring center... which she had dyslexic tendencies/markers... but they can't give a full diagnosis and right NOW the full diagnosis is not something we are going to pursue.  Maybe in the future thought.

    Just completed Barton level 1... sell????

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    my gut is saying he doesn't need it... he is just barely 5, knows all the letters and is learning the sounds now... my DD when she was this age was working on the same program just could NOT keep the letters straight and could not remember the sounds.  He may end up struggling but I'm not seeing any signs right now.  but then if I'm keeping barton... and we already have AAR... I need to decide hahaha

    I think I will finish AARpre1 as he really wants to complete it... I guess I can just decide from there 

     

    what does NT mean?  

    My DD (the one we suspect dyslexia) did level 1 in a few weeks, I have a suspicion she will progress through 2 fairly quick... my guess is level 3 will be our hang up.

    Just completed Barton level 1... sell????

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    With the wonderful encouragement I got on this board a few weeks ago, I bought Barton level 1 and we just completed it today  :hurray:

    my daughter breezed through it (which I kinda expected since we had been using AAR for a few years and they are similar) 

    and I learned a TON... teaching training  while boring was very eye opening and I'm SO glad I went for it... hoping this will be what DD needs to make reading "click"

     

    anyhow my question... do I sell level 1 now?  I already have level 2 and I'd love to (need to) re-coup the money spent... but should I be so quick to ship it off?  I have 2 younger sons, should I use barton with them?  And WHERE would I sell it?

    Dyslexia... stick with AAR/S or Barton?

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    .  

     

    As for reading, yes, read to her.  Do it a lot.  Read to her at a more advanced level than her current reading level (as long as the material is still age appropriate of course :) ).  Expose her to more advanced concepts, vocabulary, complex grammar, etc.  Let her listen to audio books.  If you have any or can get some from the library, then get books you can pair with audio books and let her follow along as she listens.  Let her follow along in a book while you read to her if she is interested, but don't make her follow each word as you read.  And don't ask her to read anything out loud and don't ask her to sound anything out at this point.

     

    Does any of that make sense?  Having to type in a hurry.  Best wishes.

    yes it makes sense, read to her, don't ask her to read to me.  I read a TON here... like typically at least 2 hours a day... and a lot of audio books... so I'm feeling confident in that (one thing lol)

    Dyslexia... stick with AAR/S or Barton?

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    Read through the old threads I linked, especially the one regarding LiPS.  I explain about Barton in there in more detail.  It might help you visualize what you would be doing.

     

    I will... I have a list of sites/threads to look at tonight after I get my little people to bed.

     

    With regards to tutoring, my suggestion is you try doing Level 1 and Level 2 on your own.   If it is working out, great.  If not, then you can see about outsourcing.  That will save a lot of money right there and will give you a good basis for how to use the program and if it will work for you.  The higher levels are a lot more challenging to tutor.  If you started with a tutor first, then tried to switch to home tutoring it would be much more challenging since you would be unfamiliar with the program and would have a steep learning curve.  Does that make sense?  The DVD's and the TM are designed so that a parent with NO TUTOR TRAINING in this system or any other can still work with their children.  Just read through it ahead of time, watch the DVD, practice with another adult before you start your first Level so it will be smoother for both of you.

     

    Barton recommends NO outside reading and preferably no outside writing until after Level 4 unless the child picks up books on their own to read.  This is to undo any guessing and bad habits the child may have developed as well as prevent bad habits from forming as they struggle to spell/decode/etc. with material they have not been exposed to yet.  In other words, don't do any forced outside reading/writing practice while doing the lower levels of Barton so the lessons will actually stick.  There ARE leveled readers available that you can use for reading material.  They will be listed on the website and probably with the material that will come with the first level.

     

    After Level 4, you will need to include a writing program.  Barton recommends IEW but you don't have to use that.  We are actually going to start IEW and Fix-It Grammar in January, theoretically.  DD should be through Level 4 and starting Level 5 by then if things go well this summer.  DS is a bit behind because he still has some issues that are not directly related to the dyslexia so I am not certain if he will be ready yet.  We'll see.

     

    By the way, once you get to Level 2 and beyond there are a number of wonderful resources for extra practice pages, card games through Spelling Success, board games etc. that are specifically designed to work with Barton.  I use these for reinforcement, practice and on days when we are in a hurry or too tired to tackle a full lesson.  Also work great for keeping skills and concepts fresh while we wait for the next level.

     

    If you do keep tutoring on your own, once you get to Level 3 let me know.  I have some suggestions for organizing the student sheets, etc that someone else passed on to me.  I have found those suggestions tremendously helpful.

     

     

    Thank you!

    So how much teacher prep time (watching the DVDs) is involved?

    On the restricting readers... she is sick of the AAR readers, so I've been letting her check out anything she wants to from the library... I know she mainly looks at the pictures, but she does want to read them (junky disney princess books... sigh) should I just read them to her?  not let her look through them??  I have only asked her to try to read it to me once or twice... but I will not do that again... total lightbulb moment reading about controlled readers in the beginning.

    I've looked into IEW in the past... my church actually has an IEW co-op which is an option in the future.

    Dyslexia... stick with AAR/S or Barton?

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    So I bumped into a friend of mine who has tutored with Barton, and has her kids in this tutoring program... so I was able to really pick her brain, she was of the mindset that a tutor will make a HUGE difference... oh please tell me I can do this on my own.   She was very encouraging and is a HUGE believer in using Barton, and in the end did say that I could totally teach her myself, but she was really for tutoring.   :001_unsure:

     

     

    Is the scheduled language arts time in the daily schedule using other resources or using Barton? If you are planning on 30 minutes of possible distracted Barton lessons 3 days a week + focused Barton lessons of 45 minutes 2 times a week, then yes I think this is a good plan.

     

    Yes that is pretty much the idea, I have one-on-one blocks scheduled for each child, so for this DD we have 45 minutes daily to do math and any LA... Math takes about 15 minutes max, so I have a good 30 minutes to just work on LA, which currently all we do is AAR.  Then 2 days a week I can get away for a distraction free lesson time.

     

     

    By the way, I don't know if they explained this to you but Barton would replace ALL other language arts for the first 3 levels.

    So after Level 3 what would I need to add in?  She is currently doing AAR, AAS and HWOT cursive... she LOVES (and has amazing) handwriting.  I was figuring Barton would replace AAR & AAS.  She does no writing now... she is timid because she doesn't know how to spell the words she wants.

    Dyslexia... stick with AAR/S or Barton?

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    Oh, ladies what wonderful encouragement to wake up to and read (with a huge cup of coffee... not sure if snark is in here though :laugh: ) thank you all!

     

    Ok to answer some questions...

    Yes I am planning on tutoring her to begin with, if that doesn't work then I will look into (paying for) a tutor.  I have a fair amount of contacts who have used Barton through tutors and another friend who is a barton tutor, she has offered to train me in any way that I want.

    Right now my plan is to tutor her away from the house (library) 2 times a week for about 45m a sesson (we will be gone 1 hour total)... BUT also keep up my scheduled language arts time in our daily school schedule.  So she would get shorter (possibly distracted) 30-45 min lessons daily at home, and then twice a week focused lessons, at the library.  Do you think this would be a good schedule????  I can re-work it all too... my kids are (for the most part) pretty good/mellow, do have a rest time (nap for the baby) and my mom lives 7 doors down our street and is MORE than willing to help in any way (she is going to watch the other kids those 2 days a week)

    In my head I'm thinking of starting Barton, really devoting time to work on this... and if I'm not seeing progress to look into getting more/different testing.  This is just a start.

    Regarding starting Barton, I will do the pre-test for sure, but the tutoring place she was evaluated at did a pre-test and said she could start straight in level 1, which was encouraging to me.

     

     

    I think you all hit on my issues with AAR/S.  It is a WONDERFUL program, I really do love it, and plan to keep on it for my other kids (for now), but yes it doesn't seem to be the best fit for her.  I just have a gut feeling she just needs a program like Barton that is written for dyslexic students, something more focused... or maybe simiply a change.  I feel she is getting frustrated with AAR, she is beyond sick of the readers, and I am having a hard time figuring how to puzzle the parts together (like AAR with AAS with fluency games with extra readers... and finding extra readers.. sigh)

     

    Can you tell me more about metronome????  Maybe a link, I've never heard of this before.

     

    I know I have a bunch more  questions but I need to run off for a field trip.  I'll be back later.

    Dyslexia... stick with AAR/S or Barton?

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    So, my 8 year old DD has been struggling with reading from day 1. I started her in AAR pre-1 in Kindergarten, and she is in 2nd grade now (just finishing up) and still stuck in AAR 1 (quick backstory: I progressed her through AAR 1 onto last year, without seeing mastery... she could do the lesson on the day, but it wasn't sticking... so we went BACK to level 1 mid year this year... she is struggling through it and we are about halfway through level 1) I did start AAS with her, trying for some reinforcement, and we are about 10 lessons in. Anyway, we've been working on AAR for 3 solid years now, just waiting for it to "click"

     

    A few weeks back I started looking into dyslexia markers and was seeing a lot of signs, so we had her evaluated at a tutoring place, we just got the results today and while they can't officially diagnose she had some concerning scores.  I have copies of 2 of the tests (GORT and CTOPP) and while I'm not 100% sure how to read them (she just explained them to me) she has so/so phonological awareness, great phonological memory and very poor rapid naming,  basically she really struggles with fluency, rate and accuracy.  None of this is a surprise to me, exactly what I was seeing... but I guess I'm a bit shocked with how severe it seems (she scores in the 2% oral reading and would be labeled "very poor" reader) reading level K.  She gets how to spell (well at least the why of it where we are at in AAR and AAS) but transferring that to actually reading is just not happening.    

     

     

    Sorry this is long, I'm mulling over what to do next. The center that evaluated her suggested (obviously) we do their Barton tutoring program... but right now I just cannot do $500 a month. I'm able to get 2 afternoons a week for just her and I to go down to the library and do "tutoring" and I'm thinking I will give that a solid try before I figure out a way to pay for a tutor. I'm not sure I should stay with All About Reading/ Spelling, which I do like, and it is orton-gillingham based and good for dyslexic students or move on to Barton, which is an o-g program written FOR dyslexic students. Maybe she just needs something a bit heavier?  I am tempted by the "all in one" aspect of Barton (I'm kinda struggling with fitting the AAR, AAS, readers, supplemental games etc all together into one program.)

     

    Can anyone weigh in on switching from AAR to Barton?  Or any other ideas/suggestions/encouragement? I'm feeling really defeated, confused and discouraged right now  :sad:

     

    AAR and HWOT

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    thanks!! so i don't need to have it fit into a nice neat box lol

     

    I think I'll just move thorough each program in the order they lay them out... one to work on phonics/letter recognition etc... one to work on letter formation

    AAR and HWOT

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    anyone use these programs together? How does it look for you?

     

    IDK if i should follow Handwriting Without Tears letter introduction order, which is by stroke... or All About Reading, which is done in alphabetic order.

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