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Shellers

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Posts posted by Shellers

    6 1/2 year old having difficulty reading...looking for suggestions

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    Ummm, while I respect that everyone has different experiences and different opinions, I just wanted to mention that the technique "look for clues in the pictures" is really a very successful strategy in learning to read.  Many scientific studies have borne this out.  In fact, many dyslexics find comic books and graphic novels far easier to read than a book because there ARE picture clues and they aren't bombarded with a TON of text on every page.  Working memory resources can be overwhelmed with too much text and an enormous amount of decoding. Beyond that, fluency, conceptual understanding, grammar, vocabulary, etc. all improve the more you read, but if it takes tremendous effort to just figure out one word, then the whole meaning of the passage can be lost and the process exhausting, which takes away any pleasure the child had in learning to read.  Wanting to read is a very important component, and graphic novels and comic books and picture books give many dyslexics exposure to text in a format that makes reading far less draining, and therefore more pleasurable and therefore something they may WANT to do instead of something they HAVE to do.  Children aren't cheating in using picture clues, and this process has not been shown in any study I have seen to slow the reading process down.  It does the opposite.

     

    The look and guess  or "look see" technique encouraged by my son's public school did not work at all for my son, but he has severe dyslexia, so maybe that's the difference?  I personally think if he had been taught to read books without all the pictures he would have started reading before the end of 4th grade.  Interestingly, my son could only read 9 words at the end of 4th grade, but he had memorized several Dr. Seuss books.  He knew the book word for word.  He became blind to seeing printed words, and refused to even look at the words.  I believe he may have "Dr. Seuss Dyslexia" or "educational dyslexia".  He's been homeschooling now for two years, and he's currently reading at a 5th grade level.  In two years I've taught him how to read which is something six plus years of "look see" and being in special education couldn't accomplish.  I'm absolutely POSITIVE covering the pictures had a great deal to do with it. 

     

    When I was teaching him phonics I had to use flash cards without pictures.  If I used picture flashcards my son wouldn't look at the letter on the flashcard, he'd instead look at the picture on the card and know the sound I was looking for.  If I covered up the picture on the card he had no idea what sound the letter made.  By using flashcards without pictures he was forced to look at the card and actually learn the sound the letter made.  I really liked having him use Bear Necessities and Dancing Bears.  There are very few distracting pictures in these books.

     

    Now that he's a reader, is is drawn to comic books, but I think most boys his age are.

     

    At any rate, the OP was looking for suggestions...

    6 1/2 year old having difficulty reading...looking for suggestions

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    My son was in public school for six years (he repeated K twice), and at the end of 4th grade he could read 9 words.  I homeschooled him over the summer, and when he returned to public school for 5th grade he was reassessed, and labeled "severely dyslexic".  His reading had improved so much over the summer, so I decided to remove him from public school.  He's now in the 7th grade and is reading at about a 5th grade level. 

     

    I used several programs to get my son reading, and whenever one got too hard, I'd back up and or use another program.  I used a variety of curriculum to get him reading.  He needed so much practice, and he's just now really taking off. 

     

    If your son loves Bob books, then give 100 Easy Lessons a rest for a month or so.  You can return to it later.  I recommend covering up the pictures in the books and only show them to your son after he's read the page.  This was a huge deal with my son, his public school had taught him to "look for clues in the pictures". 

     

    I really don't care for ABeCeDarian, but bought it out of desperation, when my son stalled out with Dancing Bears, and Plaid Phonics.  I don't care for the program at all, I don't feel there's much practice, but something about this program really clicked with my son.

    How will Obamacare affect those who already have good coverage?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I plug in and got $1,102 based on gross income. No difference if based on AGI. Excluding employer paid portion, family insurance cost us more than $300 every two weeks so still lower. Insurance and out of pocket have been going up year on year in our case. Now to see if empoyer contributions to health insurance becomes a taxable benefit to the employee.

     

    The calculator says I'll have to pay $2,250 a month for health insurance, which makes the $1,599 I'm currently paying seem like a deal. :001_unsure:

    How will Obamacare affect those who already have good coverage?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    We're not hiring as many people, we make a lot of use of temps, our healthcare rates are skyrocketing (we just dropped Blue Cross Blue Shield yesterday, they jacked our rates up 200 per month which would put us at 17,000 for my family) and we're taking it year by year...

     

    I feel your pain.

     

    My husband is self employed and a major oil company retiree. We buy health insurance through his old employer. That company pays a portion of my husband's premium as part of his retiree benefits. Our rates go up every year. We are currently paying $1,599 a month ($19,188 a year)! We can barely afford to go to the doctor, and definitely can't afford to do any lab work.

     

    When rates go up again next year we will probably have to drop our health insurance.

    This accomodation seems to be really working for multiplication facts with my dyslexic kid!

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    I did the same thing with my dyslexic son, except I had him fill out a new chart every day before he started math. I also had some flashcards and he'd do one set (7's or 8's, etc) everyday. Now that he knows his multiplication, he no longer has to fill out the chart. When he's doing his daily math lesson I still let him use a chart, but he's not dependent on it.

    Any experience with A Reading Program for Overcoming Dyslexia?

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    My son has severe dyslexia. He only managed to get to page 22, then the workbook became too difficult and frustrating for him. I've found that my son needs TONS of practice, he can't do one page and move on. He needs lots of repetition.

     

    He's at a point now where he could do the book again, but what we are currently doing seems to be working, so I'm not going to make any changes.

     

    The book was not a miracle for us, like it was for some Amazon reviewers.

    Rough IEP meeting

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    When my DS12 was in school (5-11) he had an IEP. He was label "speech impaired" and could not cross his midline. He's severely dyslexic.

     

    His teacher would put a ruler in front of him - lined up with his shoulders. Then she would ask him to draw a line using the ruler, and told him not to move the ruler. My poor kid, would switch the pencil to his other hand when he got to the midline. I asked his teacher if he realized what they were trying to make him do, she said he did not know. I didn't understand why it was such a secret. When I told my son what they wanted him to do, he could do it but he said it made his brain feel weird.

     

    My son's school ended up graduating him from OT, even though they said he still had midline issues. The OT woman said she'd done all she could do for my son.

     

    He's able to cross the midline now but he's still uncoordinated. I'm not sure if it's because he's 12, wears a man's size 12 shoe, and is 5'10" or it's because of midline issues.

    Keystone, American School, others ... what to do? what to do?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I just signed my daughter up for American School on Monday. We are waiting for her books to arrive.

     

    Here is a list of schools we considered. American School is what we went with because it's so affordable.

     

    American School https://www.americanschoolofcorr.com/whychoose

    Keystone http://keystoneschoolonline.com/

    NorthStar Academy http://www.northstar-academy.org/

    Indiana University http://iuhighschool.iu.edu/diplomas/index.shtml

    University of Missouri http://muhigh.missouri.edu/coursedisplay.aspx?l=h

    Laurel Springs http://www.laurelsprings.com/

    BYU http://is.byu.edu/site/programs/HighSchoolProgram.cfm

    Oak Meadow http://www.oakmeadow.com/

    Texas Tech University https://www.depts.ttu.edu/uc/k-12/

    Which correspondence High School is....

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Dyslexia/ Dysgraphia-What has worked well so far this year

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    We are having a fabulous year! My "severely dyslexic" son's reading is really coming along.

     

    He's working slowly going through Dancing Bears B. He acutally told me on Saturday (I was working in the kitchen and he was playing on his Nintendo DS), "Mom, I love reading!" This is from a kid I thought just two years ago would never read. Thank GOD for homeschooling or my boy would be illiterate.

     

    I have him reading from "Step Into Reading Books" level 3, he's really loving these books!

     

    Previously we had used Apples & Pears Spelling (which I love), but he needed a break from because the lessons just went on and on for him. Rod & Staff Spelling by Sound and Structure seems to be working well for him, but time will tell.

     

    He's just moved up to Climbing to Good English 2. I chose Climbing to Good English 1, because it had so much phonics practice. Now that he's in level 2, we'll see how the respite idea goes down. I'm not sure if this won't confuse him. If it does we will either skip those lessons or go back to GWG 3.

     

    I also have him doing Plaid Phonics. He's needs all the practice he can get.

     

    I need to give some credit up to CLE Math too. My DS12 had been through both TT5 and TT6, when I felt his reading was good enough to switch to another (cheaper) math. We switched to CLE Math and he's eating it up. No complaints here.

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