Actually, I was thinking on reading the text *to* them. I didn't even think too much about them reading it independently. Hmm. This is probably because back when I did Apologia Astronomy & Botany, they were younger and I wouldn't have given them the book to read on their own... but I was also thinking of reading it aloud because the little ones might also listen in (until they get bored). That is a good question as to whether I will keep them together with science all the way through. I'm kind of hoping so since I have 4 more kids coming up through the ranks besides these oldest 2. I can only handle even overseeing so many courses at one time. I think 2 high school science courses sounds crazy, on top of teaching the younger ones.

My kids really enjoy Sonlight books. My oldest is always reading Sonlight books over again from YEARS ago. If you do Core E this year, I will be right along with you. I have a 12 and 10 year old who will be doing Core E since it's the exact period of time I want to cover and I already have the books. I will only use their History, read alouds, and readers, though. Might not use the LA (which I think comes with the Core IG now, if I remember right?). Anyhoo, if you want history through stories and you want your kids to catch a love for books, Sonlight is the way to go, IMO. However, sometimes it can almost be tooo much reading if you're not used to it. Might want to consider the 4 day schedule. You'll still get all the great books, but the optional ones will be left out (plus it will be cheaper).

I'm considering planning my entire year ahead. I've never done that. I've only created a general schedule (1 chapter of this per day, 2 sections of that...). But actually going through every single lesson and "planning" it out for an entire year, I have never done (and sounds incredibly daunting). But as much as I want to be a "plan a month at a time" person, it isn't happening. I end up just doing the next thing and always missing the activities I would have thrown in if I had seen stuff coming. What do you use to plan that far ahead? I'm thinking about ordering one of the popular paper planners. BUT I foresee a TON of erasing if i realize my plan for one subject is all wrong (say we are moving too slow or too fast through it and I need to adjust). Ugh. Not sure what the magic answer is for me.

I know that Apologia recommends their "General Science" course for 7th grade. However, I will also have a 6th grader and I would like to teach the same course to both of them. Does anyone have an opinion on how challenging the General Science course is? I'm torn between wanting to make sure my oldest (who will be in 7th) will be well-prepared for high school science, and making sure that my 6th grader won't be above his head. Thoughts on which course may be appropriate? Anyone know what kind of work the General Science course requires?

I didn't make it clear in my original post, but ironically, it was not the dyslexic son who bombed the math portion of the test. My dyslexic scored quite a bit higher overall and math was fine, Lol. Thank goodness there isn't a spelling portion!!! I'm sure they both would do better with untimed tests, though. This has definitely solidified that in my mind.

I already have an account with Seton, too, so that will make things even easier!!

Genius, RootAnnn! The abbreviated battery of the Stanford test is brilliant! I don't want to spend a lot more time on this second round of testing but I just want to get that bomb of a math score up to reasonable, so this sounds perfect. Getting results online within 2 business days is even more awesome! :hurray: Thank you so much for this suggestion! I have the PASS test in my cart as we speak but was going to wait and see if there were any better options. So glad I didn't order yet!!! Any idea how I could do a whirlwind prep with my son for the Stanford abbreviated battery? It does say what is covered, but only generally like "math problem solving" - not *what kind* of problems. This late in the game, I would like to make sure he isn't surprised by unfamiliar material, ifyaknowwhatI'msayin. :glare:

What test do you use, and where do you get these practice tests? All I've known about for the CAT (and I'm not sure if it's the CAT-E) is a Spectrum test prep workbook but it seems like mega-overkill and is like adding an entire subject to your homeschool called "test prep". I didn't want to do this and thought it probably wasn't necessary (LOLOL) A practice test would be a lot more efficient.

I *think* the composite IS the overall percentile (averaging all the portions of the test together). Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think that's the case.

I need some practical advice AND hopefully someone can also make me feel better, lol. (Sense the panic...) I gave my oldest boys (6th and 5th grade) the CAT-E from Seton Testing. I live in NY so I have to turn these in this year. Their composite scores have to be in the 33rd percentile or better or the district *could* put my homeschool on probation. Well, my kids aren't geniuses in every way and I am not delusional about their abilities, but I am fairly OK with where they are at academically (other than my oldest struggles with spelling big time due to dyslexia). ANYway, I opened my 5th grader's test results online and just started laughing immediately when I saw the incredibly huge discrepancies between his so-called "achievement" in some areas compared to others. I anticipated that he did very poorly on the math section only because he ended up only finishing about 7 problems out of 20 (!!!) on the math computation section. I think it was because he was having trouble concentrating, plus he was thrown off by some concepts (fractions especially) that he hasn't learned much about yet in his math program (Teaching Textbooks), so he spent way too much time mulling those over (and probably getting them wrong) than just skipping them and doing the problems he DID know how to do. Therefore he only got like 4 right on the entire computation part (out of the 7 that he attempted). Youch. I wasn't sure how much it was going to pull his overall score down but it turns out A LOT... His "composite score" is 25. Gulp. The district can (not sure if it HAS to though?) deem a test score inadequate if the student has a composite score under the 33rd percentile. Ummmmm Now the really infuriating thing is that I teach the kid every day and I oversee his math program and I know that he is doing FINE in math. I don't even let him get less than 90% on his math lessons in order to go on to the next lesson (and TT has automatic grading so this is not subjective). It doesn't even bother me that TT may not teach certain items that happen to be on this test until next year OTHER THAN it makes me/him look bad and brings his score down. Ugh!! But I didn't know what these would be until I got the test. Dh says as I was looking at the results, "Why didn't you prepare him for the test?" :( Because I wanted to homeschool, not prepare for "tests". Incidentally, my other son would be in the same boat if he froze in the same way as his brother did on the math part. But I think he was thinking more clearly and took my advice to just skip it if he didn't know the answer and just do the ones he did know. However, in a similar fashion, I know my oldest's vocab is completely average or ABOVE average as he reads a lot and have no concern over that, but of course it was the first portion of the test I gave him and afterward he said he didn't fully realize he was being timed and, again, was moving slowly and didn't even get half the questions done. So of course his vocab score is not what it should be, IMO. (Can you see what my opinion is of these tests, by the way? Completely useless when it only tells you how well the child was concentrating AT the time you gave them the test, if they fully grasped they were being timed and would have to move it, and whether they are "good at taking tests" in the sense that they don't get nervous and can plow through and skip ones they don't know and still concentrate on answering the problems they DO know. What is the freaking point, I ask?) ANYWAY, but all the district is going to see is *the score* in black and white. And now I am worried about what the district will say and if I should A) Test him AGAIN with the same or different test (ugh) and try to get it in by June 30, OR B) ... explain what happened and hope for the best?? (which makes me nervous), OR C) Is there a standardized test I can give him that is JUST on math so as not to put him through this again and then I can include those results along with my explanation to say, "See, he is not an epic failure in math. See enclosed test results from X test" ?? Advice? Thoughts? Compassion? (lol) Anyone in NY who has been in this boat?

Anyone know off the top of your head how much this would be new? Curious

Since my son is 11, and because Barton is hard for me to afford, I'm wondering if I can start at Level 3 or 4 instead of Level 1? Obviously no matter how old he is, I will have to make sure he has mastered the skills in those first few levels. I do know we has trouble with the Silent E so we would definitely have to start with that level, at the least. But is there any way to "place" your child initially into a level other than Level 1 of Barton? Reeeally hoping I can bypass a good $500-800 worth of levels if he is able...

Just an update for anyone who is interested: I looked up a bunch of psychologists in my area. According to the descriptions of services on their websites, the vast majority of them didn't deal with educational / learning issues. I was getting worried. But then I found ONE, only a half an hour away, who clearly listed educational and LD issues & assessment under "services". I was thinking, Thank God!! So I called them up and left a message for the doctor. The doctor called me back and I told him my situation, that I homeschool my son, his age, his difficulties, especially with spelling, etc. And although I was very happy in a thank-goodness-you-can-help-me kind of way at the beginning of the conversation, I realized by his responses that he was really snippy, snarky, and basically downright condescending. I wanted to price the services out and make sure that I could afford it before I committed to making an appointment since I wasn't necessarily done looking for providers. So I asked if he could give me an idea of how it would work... how many tests he would do, or ballpark idea of how many visits (since I'll be paying a co-pay every visit) it may take. He said in a huffy tone, "Ma'am, I haven't even met your son." (No, I mean pretty darn snarky. So however you said that in your head just now, add another heaping Tbsp of Snark and try again.) UMMM okaaaayy.. I thought that was really rude. How about, "You know, it's actually really hard for me to estimate since it depends so much on the first visit or two. I wish I could tell you but I really can't say"??? I also said I would have to call my insurance company and ask how much they would cover and how much I'd be paying, etc. To that he said really snarkily, "All you have to do is look on your card. Look beside 'specialist' and it will say your co-pay." OKaaaayyyy, thanks for the tip. I don't go to "specialists" much. I didn't realize it was on my card. So what. Again, why he decided I was an idiot and to treat me as such after talking to me for 3 minutes, I'm not sure. Somehow I'm wondering if it has to do with him not being a big fan of homeschooling. He seemed to sigh or huff after I told him I homeschooled my son and after he asked how old my son was... (maybe it was a shocker that he was 11 and not, say, 6.) The conversation ended with him saying to check out my insurance and give him a call back. I said OK. But after I hung up the phone and reflected, I was thinking no way in heck am I calling that guy back. I was soooo deflated. Here I was so happy to talk to this doctor, thinking he was going to understand, and he was going to HELP me, and he treats me like I'm a moron. So the next day I called my pediatrician. I made an appointment with him and he was very nice and heard my concerns (and didn't treat me like an idiot) and gave me one name. He said he would look for other names to refer me to over Thanksgiving and to give him a call after the holiday. I will probably call the lady whose name he gave me, on Monday. It says "child study" at a local college, though... I wonder what that means exactly? Anyway, not off to the best start, but hoping we land on someone helpful soon. Worst case scenario I call Dr. Snark's office back and ask to talk to the OTHER doctor (I believe there are 2) who deals with learning issues and hope for the best. But that would be awkward since I already talked to the other one and would probably have to explain why I don't want to talk to him again even though he already contacted me... ANYway... :willy_nilly:

Ohhhh ok, I see. To answer your question, we can't use just *any* test. It has to be a "norm-referenced standardized test." The usual ones I know about are the California Achievement Test (CAT), Iowa Test of Basic Skills (IBS), Stanford Achievement Test, etc. A different test (especially oral) is something I will keep in mind, though! I'm not sure about the Woodcock Johnson. It sounds familiar and it is listed on this page, so I think it would be accepted. Awesome idea! http://www.hslda.org/strugglinglearner/sn_testFAQs.asp

OH, another question: What is required in order to legally allow my son accommodations on tests? Obviously as his homeschool teacher, I can let him do some exercises orally instead of written, and things like that, at my discretion. But I am worried about the fact that he is due for a standardized test this year (we live in NY state and it's mandatory). I worry that he will get a low score from getting questions wrong that he KNOWS in science, or history, etc, just because of inaccurate reading of the question. Would we need an IEP just for me to legally give him testing accommodations? The irony is that nobody would even know if I read him the questions, LOL, since I give him the test at home and that is completely fine and legal. But in the instructions of the test they are pretty strict in that you read a set of instructions and then the child reads and answers the questions (like the SAT). I would be "breaking the rules" of the test if I read him the questions. The kinds of accommodations I think he needs: Use of a multiplication table to do the math questions (he has trouble remembering math facts) Someone to read the questions and answers to him Possibly someone to be his scribe if there is a written portion (I can't remember if there has been in the past or not) What's the procedure here??

I'm finding people who review Recipe for Reading are saying that it is no help with spelling, even if it is fine for phonics & remedial reading instruction. :glare: Sigh

I will have to look at these!

So here is my plan. 1) Google neuropsychs and psychologists in my area to see if I can find the big names / who is respected. 2) Call my insurance to see if they cover learning disability screening 3) ask for a list of psychologists and neuropsychologists in my area that are in network. 4) see if any of them are recognizable from my google findings 5) Call and ask them a bunch of questions to get a feel for how qualified they are, what they plan to do, prices, etc. 6) Make an appointment with one 7) In the meantime, decide what program to start for the time being, so that I'm not just sitting on my hands. 8) IF my insurance doesn't cover the private screening and I find that it's so expensive we will have to put it off, THEN I will discuss calling the school district and asking about free evals. Hopefully this plan makes sense. PHEW!

Yes, this is what I'm aiming for. Just workable. Doable. Non-humiliating spelling will do!!! Trust me, I would be THRILLED. Right now it barely looks like English. So helpful!!!!! Thank you! I just really need the steps spelled out for me sometimes. (No pun intended! :laugh: )

By the way, I just saw the previous 3 posts and don't have time to read them thoroughly yet. Thanks so much for putting up with my madness with this and helping me out. I have been doing a lot of reading and crying and reading and praying, trying to figure out what the heck to do. It's really overwhelming to me.

VinNY, Thank you so much for answering all my questions! :) It won't let me quote you for some reason, but I responded in blue. Here's my situation: My homeschooled son is 11 and in 6th grade. The only subject he's behind in is Spelling and he's VERY behind. I determined that he is spelling on a beginning of 2nd grade level (4 grade levels behind). I've tried AAS, Spelling Workout, Sequential Spelling, and a couple other programs. He is trying but has made very little progress in spelling and makes classic dyslexic mistakes like leaving out vowels and whole syllables, and spelling super phonetically, but not correctly. Dysgraphia is also a big issue. He does have reading issues (mainly new words, names, pronunciations, and skipping small words/inaccurate reading), but these pale in comparison to his abysmal spelling that never improves. I'm at the point where I NEED to do something drastic to help his spelling... something VERY different than anything we've ever done. I had my heart set on Barton (I love Susan Barton and her website as it really helped me identify what was going on and learn more about dyslexia). But I was sad to realize that I cannot afford it. I looked for it used and still couldn't find it. So now I'm considering whether I should seek services from the public school. I have no experience with dealing with schools other than sending in my homeschool paperwork. Now what?? My questions are: 1) Are there any other highly recommended OG methods like Barton that ARE affordable? Do tell!! Recipe for Reading Manual $25 is O-G DIY , then Sopris West REWARDS for multisyllabic reading strategies @$200, Six minute Solution ( for fluency) free here: http://haslett.k12.m...p?sectionid=745 Typing: free Dance Mat Thanks! I will have to look all these suggestions up! 2) What about the more "alternative" methods like rainbow writing, sculpting words with play-dough, or associating words with pictures? I'll try anything! lol Are these worth a try for a kid who struggles a LOT in spelling (not mildly dyslexic)? Apples and Pears Spelling I actually can't find this. Do you mean "Apples" spelling? 3) Should I tell the school district about my son's dyslexia? If so, how? If you are looking for evaluations, you can write a letter to the Director of Special Ed saying your son has learning issues in reading fluency and spelling and you would like him to be evaluated. OK, thanks! I will think about my options. 4) Am I *legally required* to inform the district about a diagnosed or suspected learning disability? No Oh good! :hurray: Considering I've been aware of an issue on some level for years. 5) If I do tell them, what are the possible repercussions for my homeschool, or for my son's "record"? In order to receive an evaluation he will have to be registered in order to get a CSE#. Not a repercussion per se but with the increase in data points being collected in NY I don't know where that information will end up. My dtr is enrolled at the PS now (not dyslexic but language impaired) and we have no idea who will be privy to her info in the future. Very good point. This is the kind of thing I'd like to avoid. 6) I know that public schools are legally required to provide services to those who request it, but are they generally even equipped to provide remediation for dyslexic kids? (One of my fears is making it "public", it going on his record, getting involved with the school, getting an IEP, and THEN finding out that all they do is work with him on spelling once a week or so and aren't even trained in dyslexia remediation or use an appropriate method... since that's the whole point. Generally, most of your PS are not equipped to remediate dyslexic and language impaired kids especially older ones. Some have had exposure to O-G but can not give the intense instruction needed. That is why many families use tutoring services or hire a lawyer who gets the school district to pay for the instruction. The schools by me are good with helping with comprehension and some fluency and providing accommodations and modifications. Forget spelling help. My dtr has been in PS for over three years and still is spelling way below grade level. Any gains she made was from me starting Apples and Pears last year. So can I get evals from the school (which is synonymous with testing/screening?) and then take those results and do my own thing such as Barton or private tutoring if I want to WITHOUT reporting back to them?? Can I just use them for the testing part?? But with the above comment about having to be registered to get the evals from the school makes me want to avoid that if possible. 7) If I did get him an IEP would he then have an IEP for the rest of his school career? No 8) It's very obvious that he is dyslexic as he has MANY classic signs, but is a diagnosis required in order to get an IEP? I think I read that diagnosis isn't required, but a "need" is required. Is that right? Technically yes, but dx goes a long way for help in school or future testing accommodations etc For example, my understanding is that the school does not diagnose, but the school is required to assess whether a child is *eligible* for services. So doesn't that mean that I don't need to go through the whole diagnosis process prior to getting an IEP if we went that route? ok. 9) If I didn't get an IEP but instead got private tutoring or tutored him myself, am I still legally required to tell the school district about his learning disability?? No Anything else I should know? Did you ever have him evaluated? Does he have language issues? Are you sure it is dyslexia? Some kids have Auditory Processing Disorders for example. The school can do a psychological. They will do a reading assessment and ask for a TOWL (written language assessment that will show spelling and written expression issues). Speech and language testing can be done by an SLP. As a homeschooler (especially of a child who is struggling academically) I worry about getting involved with the schools if I don't have to. What is a psychological? What does it entail? Who does it? Would I be committing to anything like *their* remediation or following up with them after the psychological and/or reading assessment?? What's an SLP? Any other options I'm not thinking of? Are you looking for accommodations down the road for College testing? That is definitely on my mind. Also, being in NYS, I have to give him a standardized test every other year (THIS year is one of those years). I worry that he will get a lower score than he should because of reversals (esp. math) or mis-reading the question (or answers). What are the requirements for getting accommodations for testing? Diagnosis? Or just eligibility for special services from the school? Or both? Another point of confusion for me. Oy. I really need to get on a "road" and I'm so confused about which one to take at this point!! I'm reading books about dyslexia and how to deal with schools, but they never talk about how it relates to homeschooling so I feel like there's a big gap in my understanding about where to go from here. Even HSLDA doesn't seem to provide much info. Does you son write well (forget spelling)? Meaning can he express his thoughts coherently and sequentially? Does you son follow the general rules of grammar, capitalization and punctuation? Are you doing lessons orally? You say he is doing well in all his subjects but spelling. Does that mean he isn't having issues with word problems in math? Can he tell time and work with money? Is he on grade level with SS and Science? If so, I would work on his reading fluency (there is reading naturally.com also or see above) and spelling with A&P carving out a 45 minute "tutoring time. Otherwise work on typing and also look into speech to text programs out there. I think he can write well, but the spelling overwhelms his writing and he doesn't use the computer much (except for math) so it's super work-intensive and he hates it. Sometimes I will have him write a "rough draft" in which he doesn't worry about anything but putting his thoughts down and then he reads it to me while I type it up. When we do this, he's pretty good at writing. But even that rough draft is hard for him to get through so I make his assignments shorter so it's no so overwhelming for him (if the lesson plans say fill 2 pages, I will assign him 1 page). He can tell time on a regular clock, but may have trouble if it's not close to the hour or half hour. I'm not totally sure as I haven't quizzed him on that in a while. He knows the puntuation rules, but often forgets to use capitals at the beginning of a sentence, etc. He *knows* it though, so I don't know if his brain just can't remember that in addition to getting the words down, etc. Some assignments we may do orally. Like "chapter checkpoints" at the end of the chapter. If he didn't have issues I may have him write complete sentences to answer the questions, but with my son I just ask him the questions orally. He is completely fine with comprehending his history and science information, especially if it's read to him. He does read a lot of his assignments but I just have to make sure that he becomes familiar with any big, new words because he can't sound them out and will start a habit of saying some nonsense word and just basically skipping that word while he reads the rest. But he's great at understanding *concepts*. Even with math, he doesn't struggle with concepts at all. Teaching Textbooks minimizes reading a word problem wrong (it is read to him), and also catches his number reversals mistakes. He does get problems wrong sometimes when he carries a double-digit number in the wrong order (carried the 1 in 41 instead of the 4). He loves to learn about science and nature. Thanks in advance!! Tara So I'm leaning toward getting him privately evaluated to avoid registering him with the school or putting a "red flag" on our homeschool. Now if I only knew who to call! Is insurance more likely to cover one professional over the others?? WHO is the most appropriate person to seek out? And WHY?? The differing opinions are really frustrating to me just because I want to be confident that I'm going to the right place and am going to getting him tested with someone who is QUALIFIED to diagnose dyslexia since that is what I highly suspect. Thank you all so much!! Your suggestions and advice are really helping me to think things through!

Sigh. I'm so overwhelmed lately. I've been reading books about dyslexia, watching videos, reading websites, and learning about laws. It's so much. Yeah, of course I would get screening if I had 1) any money, and 2) any idea where to go, 3) any confidence that the person actually could diagnose dyslexia. The reason I stopped worrying about getting a diagnosis was because I read Susan Barton's website and watched her videos and she says to not wait for a diagnosis if your child has a lot of the symptoms on the checklist, which my son does. She said a lot of professionals who may screen for dyslexia aren't actually qualified or trained to do it, don't understand what it is, and sometimes don't even believe it exists. I asked her for a list of qualified dyslexia screeners and there are NONE anywhere close to me. They are hours away. So I have no idea where to go to get him screened. On top of that, Susan Barton says that "nothing mimics dyslexia except dyslexia". So Susan says, since there is a major lack of qualified screeners, don't wait for a screening if your child has a lot of red flags... just start the Barton Reading & Spelling System. (Of course, she would, right? hehe But I trust her...) I don't know anything about the vision issues you're describing, but it seems unlikely to me that my son could have all the symptoms he does from a visual problem instead of dyslexia. It's not just spelling, by far, but spelling is the area that I foresee impacting his education, life, and career the most, and the thing that scares me the most. Not to "prove it to you" but just FYI, if you're curious, these are things that describe my son that are all on Susan Barton's dyslexia checklist: had a problem with stuttering when he was younger late establishing a dominant hand trouble learning to tie shoes trouble memorizing address & phone number dysgraphia (spacing issues, used to put "tails" above the line repeatedly, mixed up capitals and lower-case in writing. Now he sometimes starts writing halfway across the page, doesn't have automatic handwriting, makes a's as ball and stick sometimes, sometimes not, r's are two strokes where he lifts his pencil up, etc) letter or number reversals past first grade. (He's in 6th and reverses ALLLL the time.) slow, choppy inaccurate reading skips prepositions when reading can't sound out unknown words guesses based on shape or context (he makes up nonsense words with similar consonants when he can't sound it out) terrible spelling can't remember homonyms (bahahahahaha Silly Susan, he spells them all "thar") trouble memorizing multiplication facts large discrepancy between verbal skills and written skills Also: he reverses letter pairs in writing (rian instead of rain) he mixes up numbers (writes 04 instead of 40, or 61 instead of 16) for the longest time he literally could not tell the difference between 20, 12, and 21 leaves out vowels in spelling has trouble copying sentences from the board (slow, inaccurate copying, has to look up repeatedly) He also has trouble pronouncing words sometimes. When I told him I was quite sure he had dyslexia when he was 9 he told dh, "Mom says I have dicks-loosia and that's why I have trouble with school!" lol YET, he clearly is of at least average intelligence. There's a huge discrepancy between what he knows and can tell you and what his written work, which is an obvious marker of dyslexia. I totally hear what you're saying about getting a diagnosis if I'm going to be spending a lot of money on Barton, just in case. What's the point of not getting a diagnosis because it's hard to afford if I'm then going to spend hundreds of dollars on Barton? Gah. But, like I said, the other issues is I just don't know where to go. To start with, I get differing advice on who to even LOOK for! I've heard: a psychologist a neuropsychologist a developmental optometrist an opthamologist a certified dyslexia screener a reading specialist the public school (who won't diagnose anyway, right? So I don't understand why I would want an eval unless I want an IEP?) I'm so confused. :banghead: :confused1:

Sounds like your dh's job happens to not require much writing by hand, but many do. My dh fills out all kinds of paperwork all day. He has to write on a whiteboard daily, as well, which is displayed on the wall to communicate info to each other. But long before issues of writing on the job, there are many activities that kids do where they would naturally find themselves in a situation of "having" to write by hand... Sunday school ("lets all write something we are thankful for"), faith formation classes at church, homeschool co-op classes, boy scout projects... heck, even playing a board game. I was just at a halloween party where we all played a game where we wrote down phrases. Baby shower games. All kinds of social situations, nevermind job applications, doctor office patient forms, etc. Those of us who have no difficulty don't think about it much. And I suppose a lot of these activities could just be avoided for fear of being humiliated, but obviously I don't want to keep him from all of these things. That's a bit of a tangent, but my point is I think it's a valid concern. I'm really hoping to get my son past the point of humiliatingly awful spelling but right now, so hopefully he won't be a young man in this situation (he's 11.5 right now), but it worries me because I have seen little to no improvement in his spelling skills no matter what I've tried so far. Also, it's possible that you don't understand how terrible of spelling I'm referring to. :unsure: We went to pick up daddy from work today and I told him he could text daddy and tell him "we are here." He asked me how to spell "are" and how to spell "here". And I just downloaded Ginger (which seems awesome) and I typed in something that my son actually wrote and it wasn't able to fix the spelling because, I'm guessing it wasn't close enough to even tell what word he was going for. Ouch. Oh, Barton, don't fail us now. :bored: Yes, I definitely hear that. I think he could be a creative writer and actually LOVES literature. He listens to the Chronicles of Narnia every single night before he goes to bed for about a year straight. He also reads novels over and over. So I think with his love of stories, he would enjoy writing if the process wasn't so difficult for him. Right now, when he writes by hand, not only is it super slow and laborious, but I'm sure that he doesn't write things he otherwise would, or avoids writing certain words because he just wants to be done, or because he knows he can't spell it and doesn't feel like asking about every single word. -_-

OK, I'm picking up on a vague theme that makes me think typing may benefit dyslexic kids. :P j/k BUT for these kids who learn to type to compensate for terrible spelling due to dyslexia, when they write on paper, do they still spell TERRIBLY? I mean, really, really bad? And are you OK with that?? I hear some say that typing can help spelling skills in general, but if you just use it as an accommodation so they can write assignments without worrying about spelling so much (which I get), do you just resign to the fact that whenever your child writes something (even as an adult?) they are going to spell so terribly that people may laugh at them and they will be embarrassed? Just curious...

Interesting! I have never heard of that method. No, he doesn't really do any typing on the computer right now. I haven't taught him typing yet so it would take him forever to type anything. I also would rather him not develop a bad habit of pecking at the keyboard before he learns how to type. What did you use for teaching typing? Maybe I should get on that.