[Frustration breaks recommendations]

I just started doing short breaks between hard subjects especially. I have him do something physical he can do like bear walking, crab walking, push ups, cross crawling(marching while tapping the left leg with the right hand and vice versa).

[Juggling more then one kid with challenges]

Two are reading well since running through Webster's this summer. One recently took the DORA and limited out the decoding section. One is a strong speller and could be independent with that. The challenges are comprehension especially with science and history and math with one. Writing, spelling and getting things done verrry slowly with another and handwriting, reading and motor planning for the other. I thought of combining writing for the older two and adjusting for the handwriting and spelling for the one that needs that. One of my kids loves audiobooks but non fiction ones would not work for the one who is weak in comprehension. We cannot afford any hired help.

[When do you decide to try Barton?]

I really have been wanting a big magnetic whiteboard for the table like that for math. I would be even better if they have a blank side and one with writing lines for spelling. I should do a sticker chart. They do that at school and she really gets excited about earning prizes with that sticker chart.

 

Oh and when I said 3 levels for a school year don't level 1 and 2 go faster then the other levels? So I would need level to get level 1-3 pretty fast right?

[When do you decide to try Barton?]

It is a public school. She passed the Barton screening when I gave it recently. She has an IEP but not related to reading. I am not sure what she sounds like reading at school since it is not her first read through but they said she is not the worse. She is doing retained reflex activities at home but it is slow going. She is slow at rapid naming and I just recently added some rapid naming cards from TPT.

[When do you decide to try Barton?]

She is doing well in math and is ahead of grade level there but timed facts could be a problem. She can solve them by picturing what happens but I never timed her before and if you add in handwriting it could cause issues. She is managing to fill her 100 chart in school in enough time though.

[When do you decide to try Barton?]

She struggled with learning letter sounds and basic phonemic awareness like rhyming, hearing the difference in similar sounding sounds, hearing syllables etc. We did hear builder over the summer which was hard for her but there was an improvement in phonemic awareness. Now she is in kindergarten and I have been doing Phonics Pathways and her school does Spalding. She is having a hard time. We did blends and other endings in PP and they started CVC readers at school and even with CVC readers she is making mistakes and doing some guessing. The blends and adding s and stuff like that has been really difficult for her to say in sentences with a few especially. She reverses letters and has poor handwriting so it is hard to tell if she is spelling simple words ok or not. Some she can. She can blend simple words in isolation especially if it is big but sentences are really hard.

 

She does have motor planning challenges. She is delayed in motor skills related to motor planning. Her vision checked out well but she does have eye movements(saccades) and tracking challenges. She likes princesses well enough but she has another character she really loves that I do try to incorporate at times.

[When do you decide to try Barton?]

She is 6 but will be almost 7 at the start of the next school year. My hesitation is how intense it is and what if we do not need that intense or it still does not work. At least the cost factor is defrayed if I officially homeschool although I do not know if they will like ordering 3 expensive levels in a row.

[When do you decide to try Barton?]

I am considering homeschooling my youngest for the next school year. She is now doing well in math now but reading is such a slog. She failed the Barton screening at 5.5 and we did hear builder this summer. She passes now. I am going to wait a few months to really see if she just needs some more time and because I will get funds from an oversight group once we officially start and Barton is expensive.

 

How did you decide to try Barton? I know about the CTOPP but there is no cheap way to run it here. The tutors charge a lot to run it here.

 

How long does Barton take each day? What about other language arts areas like grammar?

[I HATE DECIMALS!!!]

Does CTC give a good conceptual explanation on the math or is it more procedural?

[Juggling more then one kid with challenges]

I went through the IEP process and he did not qualify for anything at all. He has ADHD, a slow processing speed and most likely dysgraphia. He is not behind academically anymore and actually tested very high in reading both with comprehension and decoding. He is a little weak in spelling. He could not keep up in the classroom. School was not working for him at all. I already pulled him.

[Juggling more then one kid with challenges]

One did fine in school behavior wise but really did not like the chaos of a classroom. He really does not work well with his siblings in the room and does not respond to the herd effect of siblings. One is very compliant another gets used to routine at least and is ok once we start. Two get along mostly well. I thought one was ok in school and they were mostly ok until recently but things have just gotten worse and I do not know what to do.

[Juggling more then one kid with challenges]

I pulled one kid from school to homeschool and I am contemplating what to do next year with my 3 kids. I know I could manage two kids at home and just switch off but having time for 3 kids seems like it would be very hard to manage. They all have areas of challenges that will need one on one time and two are very slow workers.

[Could these be early signs of dyslexia?]

My dd was very similar at the same age with having difficulty learning letters and numbers and the other things you mention. She did not mess up the names of condiments or meal times but she did but mix up pronouns. With everything else she was in the same place at that age. The 13 and 14 thing was because she could not even hear the difference in the sounds. She also had difficulty with rhyming and other phonemic awareness stuff. We did a lot of stuff with substidizing once she got her numbers and counting down and now she has a good number sense and is doing well in math and even above grade level. She is still having to work really hard at learning to read and is struggling there at 6. I thought of it as a red flag and I really worked on phonemic awareness and number skills.

[Draw 3D with Mark Kistler]

Thank you! I saw his stuff on Amazon and thought it pretty looked good.

[Second Grade Math]

This video has it with c-rods and an abacus towards the end. The stuff they have with the egg carton or a ten frame for adding with 20 and making tens when adding will help to do first. http://www.educationunboxed.com/adding-within-100/

[Phonics Gurus -- Is this right?]

Er is definitely its own sound not short e plus r. Er is a phongram. Even in programs without phonograms I see it together.

[Second Grade Math]

My child using process heavy method cannot actually picture what is happening in her head. She can do just the process. She is getting lost in math. My other children actually have a much better number sense. Some kids can naturally picture things but a lot of kids can actually benefit from seeing what is happening. Just like most kids benefit from phonics but dyslexics really do best with a multi sensory phonics but some kids will read without needing it and do not want it. It is similar with math. Some just pick it up easy but a lot will benefit from seeing what is going on. Kids with a weakness really need to experience and do math to understand it. Using manipulatives for counting is not as helpful as being able to just see the numbers. It can take a while to learn.

 

Education Unboxed shows different things you can do in action and some games to make it fun. The c-rods are similar to mortenson blocks.

[Second Grade Math]

Thanks for the link! I was totally unaware of that site. She explained addition the exact same way as MUS, but with ten frames instead of the blocks. It might be enough of a difference for it to click with dd.

 

I think MUS seemed comfortable because the workbook looks a lot like what I grew up with, but with the blocks. The thing is, dd is not really into the blocks, and I got so I stopped pulling them out because she would say, "I don't need those." I do however pull them out for MEP occasionally, and she is fine with it. Go figure.

 

Thanks for including your friend's review. That was an extremely thorough comparison.

The ten frame really works well for regrouping. It can take some time but it does really help to show the concept. I actually wish I used manipulatives more in the right kind of ways with my oldest. It is making a difference in the ability to picture math in their mind for the children I used them with.

[Paging Dr. Hive for my 10 month old - Update in 1st post]

One time my youngest daughter was crying about her leg hurting when she had a fever. It scared me a little because it seemed a strange symptom to have with a fever. We took her to the doctor and they said she looked fine. She had the fever and complained and cried about leg pain for a few days and then it got better.

[Grade 5 Teacher is a One-Woman Show - need ideas]

I agree that I want access graded work so I can see what exactly is happening. I like when teachers get back the work that has been graded in a timely manner so we can go over them when they still remember doing it. I would not like never seeing assignments. I do not know schools that do not send the assignments home sometime after they are graded.

[Reflexes]

I am looking for personal experiences and to see if anyone went through similar. I know I can call and we see the provider once a month.

[Reflexes]

I been doing exercises for retained reflexes and it has been going ok but it is getting very hard to fit it in and we are starting to get very frustrated with the same activities. I feel like we have been doing duck and pigeon forever but she still needs the mat. We do the movements together but she is nowhere near being able to do the active ones. The stuff with bean bags and hitting balloons is still hard and she is not learning to use her eyes rather then her head. Somethings are not bad like the flashlight thing, cross crawl or bubbles. Part of me wants to throw in the towel but then I feel bad because maybe this can help her a little.

[Subtraction Facts That Stick is released]

I know people on here liked Addition Facts that Stick. The Subtraction version was released today. I am looking toward to using it with my youngest and I feel the addition version helped put her in a good place math wise.

[Webster's Speller Vs. AAS]

Webster's definitely improved the decoding levels of the dc I used it with but I did not feel like it was as good for spelling even though it is Webster's Speller. My one child just would not be able to write out that huge list of words and it would have taken much longer. I almost finished the multi syllable words with them this summer and then stopped. I recently had one child read some from it after a few months if not using it and it was easier this time. I think the decoding level might have went up even after not doing any more lessons. It did work for many who used it back in the day so I guess it could not hurt to try.

[Selling a house while kids are still living in it]

Moving first was not an option for us when we moved a few years ago and our place took a while to sell because it was during a slow market and the type of place we were selling was especially slow. We were able to get lots of stuff moved out and the clutter out of the way and the place really cleaned but it really was hard to keep up week to week so it could be show ready in 2 hours then to need to get an animal and kids out of the house during showings. I do not look back on doing all that fondly but it was not just for a short period of time so that added to it too. I think it would have been ok if it was just a short time frame.