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allymom

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Posts posted by allymom

  1. I do intend to continue SYS but I thought I might supplement with something else and/or do a spelling intensive in August before we begin our normal schoolwork.

     

    In answer to some of the questions...we did do the Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading Level 1, 3-4 years ago and that REALLY helped with their reading. I bought level 2 but ended up not using it because it was very tied to a few novels (cross-curriculum) and I really only wanted it for reading and spelling. I do still own these though so that is an option.

     

    Also, I have 5 more kids coming up through the ranks, so if I purchased AAS, I could use it with them, so the price does not really concern me if it would be very beneficial. Would I need the student books with my older kids or would a teacher's manual be enough?

     

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  2. I tested my dd's this past month (rising 6th and 8th graders) and they did very well across the board with the exception of spelling. My 8th grader is dyslexic and has always struggled in this area and was very low. My 6th grader was just low average (30 or 40ish percentile). We've been using Spelling You See for 2 years and I have seen huge improvements in their spelling. And we will continue.

     

    But I was considering maybe doing AAS at a fast pace or something similar as well, as a review of the rules. I'm not sure what curriculums are out there. Any thoughts? Would LofE or Apples and Pears be better?

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  3. If I used the Key To series with LOF, would I need something else for all the other math skills that should be reviewed periodically?  i.e. Measuring, long division, long multiplication, how much time has elapsed, etc.  I liked the looks of the Key To books but I was afraid both of those math choices might be too specific in the skills practice.

  4. Thank you for the ideas.  I have 2 friends who use those LOF books as a complete math program for the year.  They lean toward the unschooly or relaxed schooling side, so I wasn't entirely sure if it would fill a whole year or not.  It felt too light to me, but I thought maybe I was expecting too much of my children.  I'm glad others here seem to have the same thoughts as me on this.  I will look into all of these different suggestions.  

  5. I've really struggled to find a good fit when it comes to math with my rising 5th grader.  My older dd uses MUS and it's been a great fit for her all along, but this child was bored to tears with MUS.  She gets math concepts easily but it's really not her favorite subject.  Last year she did Oak Meadow math 4, but it really was too easy for her and I wasn't that thrilled with the overall program.  I let her look at several different programs and she really wants to do LOF.  I'm planning on her doing LOF Fractions as well as Decimals & Percents.  She loves to read so this should be a good fit for her.  But only 6 practice problems just seems a little light to me.  So I was looking for something to supplement it a bit.  Singapore has been suggested to me, but that's really a full program on it's own, isn't it?  MCP math looks like it could be a good fit.  And it wouldn't cost me a fortune.  If you all have any better suggestions, I'm open.  I'd like a program that will compliment LOF, and not over-burden dd.  And she needs something that isn't just numbers.  Words, graphics even, are good for her.  She's a doodler, a little ADHD maybe, but straight boring clean pages (like MUS) make her a bit crazy.  

  6. I bought the manual on Ebay for $100 and made up any manipulatives I needed.  Some you could even copy from the manual (it wasn't intended for that, but there are pictures in there for the instructor to know what is going on, so I copied and whited out and copied some more.  It worked.)  I was very pleased with the program just with the manual.  My girls learned so much from it, it really helped us along in our learning to read journey.

  7. My daughter who is now 10 and in 5th grade can read whole novels very quickly when she silently reads.  About 2 years ago, she still had great difficulty reading picture books aloud.  But one day she rapidly read a passage to herself.  I didn't believe that she had read it, so I quizzed her on it.  She answered every comprehension question right.  She started reading to herself a lot more after that, realizing that she could and that it was a great deal easier.  She could tell me everything about the book later on.  Reading out loud was still painful for her, but my dyslexic husband said that the process of getting the words from the book to your head to your mouth was more difficult than just reading silently.  He encouraged me not to push reading aloud for awhile.  Now she reads to her siblings picture books easily.  And she will read science/history passages easily aloud, so I guess it worked for her.  Learning to read was pure drudgery for many years though.  It's only been in the last year that she's truly taken off, consuming whole novels rapidly.  She reads faster (to herself) than I do.  

  8. Thank you all for the responses.  I'm taking it all in and watching the videos and looking at websites.  I'll look into all the books suggested too.  My husband is dyslexic, but with a high IQ and never struggled with learning to read.  His difficulties were in other areas.  Reading came so easily to me that I've really struggled with why my girls can't seem to latch onto this.  My oldest is reading well (in her opinion) and has great comprehension, but her out loud reading is difficult to listen to and with the problems I mentioned above.  So I do think she could use some remedial reading work, again.  

  9. I'm feeling VERY frustrated with teaching my older two girls to read and spell.  I don't think it's me, but there's this nagging doubt that I'll not be able to teach my younger children to read either.  My oldest (10, 5th grade) has been evaluated and definitely has dyslexia and some auditory processing issues.  My 8 year old has not had any evaluation, but I wouldn't be suprised if she was ADHD and dyslexic.  Last year we started with the LIPS program, we only did the first portion, and then moved to The Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading for actual reading/spelling instruction.  I drilled the phonograms daily and they really seemed to have them down.  Spelling went okay.  My 10 year old seems to be able to memorize lists well if she practices it.  My 8 year old is a bit more random and never got 100% on any of the spelling tests.  Now after a few months off from that program...their reading/spelling skills have gone way downhill.  My 10 year old reads fairly well, but when she reads out loud I find her substituting words that look similar, all the time.  Like chair and chart, sometimes, they don't even have to be that close.  Or a completely different word that has the same meaning, like "cooked" for "She prepared breakfast."  Basically, her reading and spelling skills are good enough to get by, but not great.  My 8 year old is doing much worse, though no worse than my 10 year old was doing at her age.  Spellings for words are kind of sounded out, but she still uses "f" for "v" or "th" sounds.  She speaks them correctly now, but must be thinking them wrong.  I don't think autocorrect would be able to figure out most of her spellings.  She has trouble sounding out words even though we drilled the phonograms into the ground.  She can read words she has memorized easily and stumbles through the rest.  I'm not sure where to go from here.  I feel like I'm failing them and not sure how I'll even have time to ever teach my younger children.  I'm considering/looking into/researching Barton, Apples & Pears, Dancing Bears, All About Spelling...and anything else you guys might suggest.  I have also sent out an email to the Barton people about tutors in my area.  I'm not sure if that's something we can afford, but I'm very frustrated with this area and about ready to hand it off.  

  10. I will have an older kindergarten age student this next year. We'll be starting AAR 1 soon and we loved the pre-level so much that I have no inclination to change to any other program. But I've been looking at the IEW stuff and thought it might be nice to add in the Primary Arts of Language Writing part of the program. I can't find too many reviews online, however, and thought maybe some of you could tell me if you like it or not. The samples look fantastic! Would it be overkill to do AAS 1 at the same time?

     

    (I did not put this in the K forum since I thought people might be using this for 1st and 2nd grade as well)

  11. (((HUGS))) Briva. I'm not sure what your exact struggles are since I have been having my own questions and struggles through this process and have avoided this board for some time. But do know that you're not alone, your question about praying for the "orthodox christians", I have had many similar questions in the last few weeks. I also truly believe that we are all one body, the Catholics, the Protestants and the Orthodox. I truly believe that I have been baptized into the body of Christ and will go to Heaven. And it bothers me that the Orthodox have different beliefs on this stuff. It's hard for me to attend as an inquirer knowing they believe that I still need to be "be baptized for the remission of sins" in order to be saved. I hope this is not offensive to anyone, this is just where I'm at in the process. I fully embraced and devoured every Orthodox resource I could find for 2 or 3 months and now I'm back to the other side of questioning, I need to questions Orthodoxy from a protestant perspective. If I can get through these questions, then I will feel like I can truly embrace Orthodoxy. My husband is not at the same place as me, he's fully embraced Orthodoxy and seems almost offended at my questions. But I have explained to him that I'm not trying to offend anyone, I just really need to search this out and know for sure where I stand on everything or I will feel like a fake in the church.

  12. Aimee, your DD should begin to gain weight since people with undiagnosed celiacs aften have trouble with being underweight. I think a lot of people who lose weight from going GF may be because they are declining snacks when in public since most are made of wheat, therefore, eating less calories overall. Or they are eating less processed foods.

     

    I'm going to give another vote for Tinkyada pasta, it's our favorite! In fact, the gluten eating members of our family don't even care for regular pasta anymore.

     

    Here's our favorite pizza crust recipe: http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2009/12/thin-buckwheat-pizza-crust-gluten-free.html Namaste makes a very yummy pizza crust mix too. After those two, our next favorite would Bob's Red Mill pizza mix. I buy a lot of my GF grains and starches in bulk through Azure Standard. They have drop points once a month throughout most of the west half of the U.S., so that may be an option for you depending on where you live.

  13. There is a phonological awareness game in every lesson. That is when you use the puppet--to teach the games. SO FUN!

     

    For me, it was absolutely worth every penny, and I recommend it to everyone I know. I used it with three kids, and when we finished, they were already to read. It was open-and-go, no prep, and FUN. That was exactly what I was looking for in a letters/reading readiness type program. It was perfect!

     

    I agree 100%. My kids don't seem to "just learn" their letters with videos. This has been worth every penny for us! We love the program and recommend the puppet as well. ;D

  14. Well, we've spent money on trying to get diagnoses twice, but have not managed to get such specific diagnoses as you are mentioning Tiramisu. When we did testing 3 years ago, they said her auditory processing disorder was like when you are talking on the phone to someone and it cuts out every so often and your brain has to fill in the blanks, but sometimes it's hard. My husband has the same issues and I asked him what he thought about the program for her, but he wasn't really sure. Honestly, she's made such huge improvements regarding her LD's and her education this past year that I think she probably could handle it. I know she would really like the independence of it. She gets frustrated having to wait on me all the time. She's a very motivated child and, given a list, would knock out all of her school work and chores, easily, before lunch. We've been using the Phonics Road to Reading, and she's done really well with it, but I'm not sure how much has transferred to every day use. She remembers the rules and the spellings of the words for that week during the week, but in every day application, she seems to forget. I wonder if the repetition of hearing the rules would help her remember? She listens to audiobooks all the time (at least 2 novels a week), but not with headphones. I would think headphones would make it easier to hear. In fact, when we did our testing/assessment several years ago, that was one of the things they suggested as an aid in helping her concentrate and to make for less "static", making it easier to hear all the sounds of all the words and not have it "cut out". I think it could be a good fit, but I'm a little nervous to try a new program.

     

    Thanks for the replies!

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