littlemeadow
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Posts posted by littlemeadow
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I think that chorus, choir, drama, public speaking or debate might fit your needs and your son might enjoy them more (or not ;) ). Speech therapy is great but when your child isn't in the speech class he needs to apply what he has learned all the time so that he makes changes just not in class. Given that he knows what he needs to do (does well in evals) than it sounds like he needs a place that he has to apply what he already knows.[/QUOTE]
You are right about the bolded.
I was thinking of eventually getting private voice lessons of some kind for him, because he is everything science and technology and not at all interested in choir, drama, or debate.
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We switched to voice lessons after DS was "graduated" from speech therapy, and I have to say it was a much bigger improvement than the speech therapy ever was. That might reflect more on the speech therapist than anything else.... :glare: or on the fact that he didn't have a problem making the sounds when he thought about it, just on remembering to actually do it...
The other thing we've done is emphasize foreign languages to an extent we wouldn't have otherwise. Paying attention to his foreign language pronunciation has helped him pay attention to his English pronunciation.
This was kind of what I was thinking, too. Since he doesn't have trouble making the correct sounds when he is thinking about it, I just need to help him with replacing his poor speech patterns, Reinforcing the good speech patterns through constant awareness and reinforcements is what I think would work best.
When you say voice lessons, do you mean singing voice lessons or acting voice lessons or some other specific type of voice lesson? I ask because I want to know exactly what I am looking for when I start looking. Thanks.
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Honestly I've never heard of inexpensive professional speech therapy help, unless it was some kind of tax supported program such as the schools, early intervention, or a university speech pathology training program.
If you google you will find businesses that do offer online speech therapy. I've never known anyone who has used them since we have nearby providers.
One advantage to a diagnosis is some insurance plans cover speech therapy. Some therapists will work with you so that you can work on things at home. I would think it would be harder with a teen, as speech is more easily worked into daily routines with games, routines, etc. Teens know when they're being worked on. ;)
Good point.
Yes, I was hoping to get a diagnosis, because we can get speech therapy for him with a diagnosis. But the speech therapist said his speech was fine (which I told it her it would be unless she could make him forget his was being evaluated for speech) and then went right into trying to start a diagnosis for Asperger's and Sensory Processing Disorder.
We are almost certain he does not have either one of these other disorders, and we do not want him labeled as such. If I allowed her to do the evaluation for these, and then allowed her to proceed with working with him for these conditions, she would fit speech/communication with others in. But I don't want to go that route, because I think the labeling would do him more harm than good. As of now, he doesn't think anything is wrong with him, and I don't want him to start questioning that. I'm afraid he gets enough of that from me with his speech and a few other things.:)
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In situations where the problem is situational, it's good to bring in a recording or video of the child, taken when they aren't aware.
Have you tried your local public school district? There is one outstanding speech pathologist at our high school who specializes in the unique speech needs of teens such as your son. The school even has communications classes for kids that emphasizes social awareness and helps prepare them for the future (ie job interview skills).
The communications class sounds like a good idea. I would love this for him. If it is a regular Monday through Friday class, we would have a hard time being able to attend, as we live so far out of town and can't afford the gas to go to and from town five days per week. But I will at least look into it.
If not, I was thinking of a class like the one you have described but online. And affordable. I am probably dreaming, though.
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Poetry memorization and reading aloud are both working here to get him to focus on speech.
My son has a bit of the same issue. Well, he has true errors but he articulates much better when he is focusing on it (one reason I have him read aloud every day). We just started with a new SLP who is having us do exercises to strengthen his tongue and stabilize his jaw. Apparently he keeps his mouth mostly closed because it is weak and he uses his jaw to help his tongue. I had no idea. You can google oral motor exercises and have your son try them. If any are difficult, then work on those.
Thanks for the suggestions.
He does read-aloud sometimes, and he does better with this, but he tends to rush over his words. I guess I really need to emphasize the importance of s-l-o-w-i-n-g down.
I really the poetry memorization suggestion. I have never tried this, but I bet it would help since he would be presenting it to me (he usually does well when giving presentations).
I also like your last suggestions for exercises to strengthen his tongue and stabilize his tongue. I will try to google for information about this. Is there a specific word that describes this condition? A diagnosis of some sorts that would make it easier for me to find on the internet?
Thanks again.
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That's the thing. I know he can make the sounds. When he is talking passionately about something, he speaks strong and clear and even articulates his words. His speech sounds really good.
But when he is not speaking passionately about something, he either mumbles or speaks without almost no movement in his mouth area and with his voice held back. It is so hard to listen to, and it is so hard to stop. He doesn't mind me reminding him about it, but I don't want to remind him in public (he is almost 14 yo so I don't think it would be appropriate). And even though I remind him at home, I can't seem to remind him enough. By the time I can interrupt him in order to remind him to focus on his speech, he has already spoken in his poor speaking manner...thus his bad habit is constantly being reinforced.
I live 40 minutes outside of a small town. As far as I know, there is nothing out there around here that can help him. I was hoping to find out about something online or in DVD format. Free would be nice, but I don't think that that is going to happen.
So what do you do/have you done to try to help your kids with their speech?
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My almost 14yo ds needs help with his speech but I don't know where to go. I have tried getting him help through regular speech therapy twice, but both times my son did very well when he was being evaluated. The first speech therapist didn't think he had a problem, and the second speech therapist said his speech was fine but got all happy about trying to diagnose him with Asperger's and Sensory Processing Disorder instead (I don't want to get into this now because it will take me a LONG time to explain it, but I feel pretty certian that he does not have either of these).
He is capable of pronouncing words well --- sometimes; he is capable of projecting his voice --- sometimes; he is capable of speaking strongly --- sometimes. But most often, he does not do any of this. He has a very bad habit of holding his mouth and lips and tongue very still, so that there is not a lot of distinction between his words and it sounds like he is actually holding in his words.
He doesn't do this when he is being evaluated, because then he is very conscious of how he speaks and does really well.
I've tried to explain this to both of the speech therapists that have evaluated him, but they don't see it so to them the speech problem doesn't exist. That's understandable. But it does exist, and I really want to get him some help, but I don't know where to turn.
He is very intelligent, but I am afraid that his poor speech habit will be a disadvantage to him in his life. Already people tend to tune him out when he starts talking like this. I have a hard time listening when he is talking like this. The poor speech seems to drown out anything that he is saying.
Any ideas on what I could do to help him? On where I could go to get him help?
Thanks for any help you can give me.
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There was one thing that I thought of after reading your post that I didn't see anyone say anything about. Realizing I was in college 15 years ago, the people that were far and above ready to be there were those that had spent time in the workforce and had come to decide that they were going to get an education with a real end goal in mind. There were lots of people just out of high school who did fine and a some did really well, but all of the people that were there after having worked did really well. This was my experience in an engineering major. There are lots of pros and cons to going to college after having worked.
Thank you for this. I know I can't set in stone anything about HIS future. It is his, after all. I guess I just don't want him to have to rush towards college IF he is not ready. And from some of the posts in this thread and from other sources I have read, it sounds like some older students are more focused and directional, but that younger students can be that as well.
It is great to know that we at least have the option of extending the high school years if he so desires.
Thanks to all of you.
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Thank you, JanOH, for sharing with me. It is great to know that this is a possibility for us if our homeschooling journey takes us in this direction. I am glad things worked out so well for your son.
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If you google gap yr, you will probably find quite a bit of info.
FWIW, I have a couple of kids that would have been smothered under that approach. Our oldest should have been born in a different century b/c he was ready to be his own man at 16. :) I have 1 that will probably live w/us forever (or a very long time anyway) b/c at 20 he is very far from any resemblance of the level of maturity required for independent living.
What you see 13/14 is normally far removed from the young adult at 17/18. They change radically during those 4 yrs. Think in terms of the stages you have already witnessed: the difference between 2 and 6 or 8 and 12. (For most of my kids the change has been the more radical difference of the between 2 and 6......very different levels of maturity and independence.)
I thought that a gap year was when the student took a year off between high school and college??? What I am thinking about is extending the high school years.
Would you please explain what you mean by "I have a couple of kids that would have been smothered under that approach"? In what way do you mean? I definitely don't want to smother either of my kids.:001_smile:
Good point about how quickly they can change. At this point my husband and I just want to know our options. Even though we have homeschooled both of our sons from the beginning, we are starting to get into homeschooling territory that we are much more ignorant about (high school and college and all that goes along with that). We want to start thinking about how all this high school-college stuff works now so we won't be hit with too many "uh-oh" surprises later.
Thanks for any more information you can give me.
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My oldest decided to take a gap year after his Senior year (well, we called it a super-senior year). He had two sports that he loved that he had not been able to participate in for a few years early in his high school career (no opportunity) that a way opened up to play on an organized team for the last two years of high school. He choose to remain in high school an extra year and played one more year. For him that was the best decision and we have no regrets. He became a leader instead of a follower that year and as he has started college this year we can see that the year of extra maturing he experienced has really helped him but that wouldn't have been the right decision for every kid.
My oldest dd has started college right away - she's 18 and to be honest, she struggled much at the beginning of the year, to the point that I was wishing she had taken a gap year! She's adjusted fine now and is doing very well but the first six weeks was a bit stressful. Probably normal, but stressful. I think part of the issue is that she went through a very normal adjustment to the rigors of college life but since her older brother was going through it at the same time with absolutely no issues, it made it harder on her to have a pretty normal struggle with a new routine and new expectations.
All that to say, you probably shouldn't decide at this point what their 17-18-19 years will look like. So many things can change and opportunities arise at that age that it's just not possible or wise to plan very specifically what life will look like for them at that point. I have a sophomore in high school now and I honestly have no idea what he'll choose to do at that point. I'm having a hard time imagining him in college because his writing skills are still a struggle for him but he's got two years to mature. My goal is to get my kids ready to graduate on a normal time schedule but if one of them chooses to do something "weird", either graduate early or later, we'll work with them at that time.
Thank you so much for sharing the experience you had with both your son and daughter, JanOH. This is exactly what I am looking for...if it can even be done and the logistics of it.
I would really like to know more about how this worked with your son. Do you mind answering a few more questions?
With your son, was it a gap year, was it a five-year high school plan, or was ita four-year high school plan, dropping his initial first year of high school out of the transcript picture.
How did you do his transcript? Did you have to list by subject, or did you do it by years? Do you think that adding in that Super-Senior Year affected his ability to get scholarships?
I don't think my kids will not be "scholastically" ready, although I do know we are still a long ways off, so that could happen. I think I am just more concerned about their ability to handle the whole experience. We live far away from town, and although we discuss life outside of our home with them, they don't get a whole lot of experience with dealing with it. I was thinking that an extra year (or two?) might give them time to mature a little bit more and thus be better able to handle college life. Also, both of them are very self-motivated, so I could envision both of them furthering their education in their own interests during that time.
You said that I probably should not decide at this point what their 17-18-19 years will look like. I agree that it probably shouldn't be set in stone because as you said, "changes and opportunities arise", and as another poster pointed out, the students might not want to do this. So I wonder...is this something that can easily be adjusted to? I mean, if we start the high school years following a four-year high school plan, but then later decide to do the five-year high school plan, do you think this would be something that we would be able to easily change? Likewise, if we decided to start out following a five-year high school plan but then decided to follow the four-year high school plan, would this be easy to do?
The other thing I want to mention is that, as of now, my oldest son is thinking about studying physics. He also likes mechanics. My husband and I were thinking that if he took longer to finish high school, he could complete a mechanics course during this time, if he wished. Since high school students get dual credits, I was wondering if doing something like this would be possible???
I think that my husband and I are mostly concerned with how doing something like this could affect his ability to get scholarships to a four-year university and his ability to get into a four-year university of his choice. Any ideas?
Thank you again for your response. It was really helpful.
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I would have hated this. I was ready to leave home when I was 18 - probably at 17.
I can't imagine doing it to any student on purpose. Some need it to happen due to varying things going on in their life (often medical), but those can't be helped. The vast, vast, majority of students are mentally and physically ready to move on at 18. (Moving on doesn't always mean moving out - just moving on past high school.)
They can always opt to stick around and go to a local college, get a job, or even take a gap year or two before deciding what they want to do, but purposely deciding they must take longer might be something they adamantly disagree with you on later in life.
Scholarships for college are generally offered to freshmen. It doesn't matter if the freshman goes straight to college from high school or takes a gap year. There are also a few scholarships available to transfers from community college pending which 4 year school is chosen if you later opt for these routes.
Thank you for your response, Creekland.
Yes, I do realize that my child/children might not want to stay in school and/or home in longer than what is "normally" required. At this time, I just want to know my options, how it could potentially work, and anh pros and cons that would come as a result of doing it this way.
A few days ago I read an article from a college professor who had been homeschooled. She (?) said that many new college students weren't truly ready for college. She said that her older students seemed more serious about their schooling, more directional, and more eager to learn than her younger students. Even now both of my boys seem directional, but her article just made me wonder what the benefit of going to college following the "normal"schedule would be. And, it made me wonder if there could be a benefit to waiting until the student is a little older. What pros and cons do you foresee happening as a result of taking one's time to complete the high school years?
I do see your point that they might be ready to go to college. Again, I wouldn't try to hold them back if they wanted to follow the "normal" schedule for going to college.
If they did like the idea of taking a little longer to complete high school, do you see any potential disadvantages? And do you think completing high school in five years instead of four years could hurt their chances of getting scholarships?
One more thing...you also said that there were a few scholarships available for students transferring from a community college. What do you mean by a few? Are there not near as many scholarships for these students as there are scholarships for students going directly from high school to a four-year university?
Thank you for any help and insight you can give me.
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Well, that might or might not work and one of the reasons why is that they seem really young NOW but you're going to see SO much growth over the next few years. If you do decide to, you can do it several ways: wait to start high school work, do high school work over 5 years and list by history, math, etc. rather than by years (some unis will not allow this, nor will NCAA), or graduate and then do a gap year. All of those have pros and cons. And what might be a good choice for one will not necessarily be a good choice for another student.
Thank you so much for your response, Margaret in CO. Homeschooling in the high school years and toward college entrance is something very foreign to me, so I really appreciate any information you or anyone else can give me. If you don't mind, I have a few questions stemming from your response.
1) You said I could wait to start high school. If the student were okay with this, what do you foresee as any potential problems, if any, with schooling this way?
2) Also, you said that I could homeschool the high school years over a five-year period. Again, what potential problems may arise because of doing it this way? It sounds like I would need to do the transcript differently than how it is "normally" done. Would I have to do the transcript differently? I mean, would it "look bad" to have my child go through high school in five years instead of in four, especially if they were to cover more material? And just curious, do you know why some universities will not allow the transcript to list "by subjects" instead of what sounds like to be the normal "by years"?
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but...lately I have been thinking about extending my ds' at-home education. Currently my oldest is in 8th grade and my youngest is in 5th grade. Neither one of them is "behind". I have just started wondering, "What's the rush?" "Is there a benefit to rushing through high school graduation and immediately entering college?" I feel like they would be better prepared and more able to handle any situation that they may encounter in college IF they were a little older than 17 or 18. I men, theoretically they would be more mature, right?
But I don't know if this is "allowed". And I don't know how doing this could effect their ability to get scholarships. Do any of you have any experience with doing something like this? Or do any of you have knowledge that could help me understand the consequences of making a decision like this.
Of course, in the end it will be up to my boys. If they want to "graduate" on normal schedule, I will totally support that. I just want to present delaying high school graduation as another option for them. And before I present this to them as a viable option, I need more information.
Can anyone help me?
Thanks
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I think that we can look but not lust or ogle. If I see a man who is obviously built and attractive, I am going to notice that. Like someone else said, I'm married, not dead. But if I am openly staring, flirting, going over inappropriate scenarios in my mind, that is wrong.
The Bible says that "as a man (woman) thinketh in his (her) heart, so is he (her)." It also says that if you look on someone to lust after them, you have committed adultery already with them in your heart. We are to keep our minds pure.
So, it's ok to notice, but not to dwell on it. That is not respectful to your husband. You are communicating to him that he is not good enough if you are ogling other men. That is how I would feel if dh was constantly checking out or staring at other women.
You can appreciate beauty in another person, be it man or woman, without crossing the line.
The above is quoted from one of the other posters, but it doesn't look right because apparently I don't know how to work the features of a forum...I don't forumize very much. My apologies to the poster who wrote this if it looks as though I plagiarized your reply.
I agree with the above quote. And I also wanted to say that I think we probably all notice beauty in another individual. It is the dwelling stage that is being questioned, I think. For me personally, I don't feel right if I linger on someone else's beauty, man or woman. If it is a man's beauty, then I feel a disloyalty to my husband. If it is either sexes beauty, I still don't feel right, as I feel like I am objectifying that individual.
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I just bought SWB book The complete Writer: Writing with Ease Strong Fundamentals. We have used WWE workbooks in the past and I didn't feel like they were working. I have half heartedly tried some other programs and nothing seemed to work. After reading and asking on the board, I bought this book...it is great. I finally understand why things weren't clicking for ds. This book also recommends where to started an older student and how to assess the level and area of work that they need. So my recommendation would be to buy the book and go from there.
I think I have that book. Actually, I really like the Writing With Ease books and my son does well with them, too. His writing seems to be organized and complete. So I do plan on continuing with them, but I want to do more. We do Sonlight's Language Arts, ,too, and that's what makes me worry. He has a very difficult time getting started on ANY writing assignment that I give him. It is almost as if he does not know where to even begin. Then, when he finally does begin, he doesn't seem to know where to go from there. His sentences are short and simple - no details, no meat.
I think I have the book that you are referring to, but I am not certain. I will check. I think I remember reading that many children have trouble coming up with something original to say, so that would mean my child is "normal". However, he is twelve, and I would think he would have something to say...anything.
I guess what also concerns me is knowing his character. He is a very cautious and conservative child. He often "waits" to be told what to do instead of taking the initiative and just doing it. Part of this is his character, and I think part of it is that he so much wants to do everything "right". So I so much want to help him build confidence in this area early, especially the area of coming up with what to say and then saying it in detail, confidentally, completely and uninhibited.
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Hi,
I am trying to decide on a writing program for my children. ages 12 and 9. At this time I am especially concerned with my 12 year old's writing ability. He seems to have no clue on how to express himself through writing. Oftentimes when I give him a writing assignment, he seems to have no idea how to get started. Furthermore, his sentences are very short and usually have very little detail. To me his efforts seem weak, but at the same time I wonder if maybe he is just totally clueless on what to do.
The only writing programs we have used thus far are copywork (okay this is not a program, but we have done a lot of this), Writing With Ease halfway through Level 4, and Sonlight's Language Arts (although we have skipped a lot of the writing assignments partly because of his hesitation, partly because I felt the assignments seemed difficult and dry for such a young age, and partly because of time.
I am not a strong writer or verbalizer, so I really need a program that will hold my hand while I help my son, one that is really spelled out for me. Or one that will allow my son to do some self-teaching, as usually he is pretty good at this if instructions are made clear. So I would love to get feedback from homeschoolers who have used other writing programs, such as The Lost Tools of Writing, The Write Source, Writing Strands, or any other program, that you have really liked and have thought has made significant improvement in your childrens' writing ability, including their ability to know how to create something to say and to be able to express what they say clearly and completely.
Thanks in advance for any help and guidance that any of you can offer.
DS ~14 needs speech help, but where?
in General Education Discussion Board
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He has been in 4h, and he did well on his demonstrations, but I haven't looked into the speech/communications projects yet. I will look at those.
How wonderful to have your son's speech improve with his martial arts class! My son did take taekwondo for awhile, but his teacher had to stop teaching the class. But then again, his teacher wasn't the type to stress strong responses and eye contact, either. I will keep this in mind, though, in case the possibility of any future classes come up.