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SandyKC

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Everything posted by SandyKC

  1. EXACTLY.. And I 100% agree that is NOT disobedience or wanting to be contrary. And I agree 100% that kids WANT to learn and do their best, but our kids have been broken to the point if thinking they "can't". I don't think outright defiance even comes into the formula until a child is older and has been pushed down this road so long that he will fight rather than try one more time. Even then, I think the kids still WANT to learn and be successful--it just takes so much more to pull them out of the depths the longer they've been failing over and over. When a child is angry, combative, has a meltdown and any desire to try has been crushed, it takes so much love and encouragement to rebuild their willingness to give it another try. They've been knocked down so many times, it's easy to understand why they now think there is no point in even trying again. Us mommas have to play part child psychologist and part educational detective along with our home teaching role! ;) You WILL regain your DS's childhood, and you'll see the child you sent off to school in kindergarten slowly emerge again.. Homeschooling is Sooooooo worth it for the sake of our kids. :D
  2. AWESOME!! Hope that it functions fabulously all the way through! :-D YAY!
  3. As I was having my quiet time this morning, I was thinking about you and this thread. It came to mind that I should also share the ugly so you won't be blind-sided when you do start homeschooling... So here's the bad side: During the first six months of homeschooling, I probably cried more than my son. I felt incompetent, wondered, "WHAT was I thinking?" and was on an emotional roller coaster ride with my DS. You see, DS's self-esteem was pummeled in public school and he truly believed he could NOT learn by time we started homeschooling. When we were in those early stages of working on phonemes, when he couldn't remember things, he would throw himself down and cry out, "I CAN'T! I CAN'T DO IT!" Being aware that the poor child had no self-esteem whatsoever, and wanting to make sure I encouraged him, I was determined never to lose my temper with him or say anything negative. So I always put on my "happy face" and told him he could try.. that was all I required was that he try every day and we would figure it out together. I had to work at convincing him he could learn by pointing out all of the things he had already learned, and that although this was HARD for him, he would eventually learn it if we practiced enough. It was very revealing to me about how much he had held in his emotions at school so as not to come unglued in front of classmates. Homeschooling also showed me how much he needed the one-on-one instruction. For me, It was painful to see how devastated his belief in himself was. It was difficult to maintain patience day after day and re-explain the same things over and over, including issuing encouragement that he would learn it. Inside, I wasn't sure myself because I had never done this before. Therefore, I'd often tell him to go ahead and have a good cry or tantrum and get it all out, then we would practice calmly. I never let him off the hook for his daily work on reading skills, but I frequently went to my bathroom, shut myself in and had a good cry myself. It WAS HARD. BUT, it was from dealing with all of the emotional stuff that we were feeling--my son's certainty that he couldn't ever learn to read and my own insecurities about what I was trying to do. Within about six months though (Around December of our school year), all of the drama had left and we were into our routine of calmly working on reading skills and we were making progress. I didn't realize how MUCH progress until we had our end-of-year testing and it showed my son's reading grade equivalent had gone from 0.9 GE from the prior spring to a 6.2 GE!! That was our "WOW! AWESOME!" moment!! :D From there on, it was all so fulfilling and uplifting.. My DS' self-esteem was slowly recovering over time, I was encouraged knowing I had indeed been able to do better than the Public School, and we were on our way to our total success story. ;-) So there you have it.. the Good, the bad, and the ugly! LOL! It was ALL worth it.. every moment. Even those tantruming moments gave me an opportunity to develop and practice patience, and they helped our mom-son bonding. We have such love and respect for one another these days because we fully understand--together--where we came from and how far our journey together has carried us. ;) Hope that adds a reality of insight to the picture for you and doesn't scare you off.. Just know with your commitment to your son and what is best for him, I have no doubt you'll be successful, but you may not start out being so sure about that yourself. BIG HUGS! :D
  4. Just found their UPDATES page.. wonder if it would help ? http://www.lexialearning.com/support/otherlexiaproducts/index.html
  5. Know what I've been sitting here doing? Writing a letter to the Lexia folks to ask if they'd be willing to transfer the old Lexia program to Learning Abled Kids. MY DH is a computer engineer and my BS is in computer science. Between the two of us, maybe we could update the program and offer it on the market again.. It was a good SOLID program and I hate to see it go by the wayside because of changes for the public school market. Who KNOWS.. maybe, just maybe they'd be willing to let us have the old code. Say a prayer! ;-)
  6. GLAD to hear of your experiences with Keyboarding Without Tears! I saw they offered that as a new program and wondered how it would work and if kids would like it. Having a keyboarding program geared towards kids who have LD issues was needed. Having a program that inspires additional interest is AWESOME! :-D I've been doing research.. I'm Thinking I need modify my website and books (BIG UGH.. difficult with the print versions) to issue a caveat for the new Lexia programs.. Tell people to look for an old version if their kids have any issues with processing speed. Do you think the programs would have additional problems for kids who have working memory problems? I'm Wondering now how much they've changed other important aspects of the program that functioned well in the older version. Thank you for sharing your experiences and insights.
  7. This is SOOOOO MUCH the same place we were. We have the Schenck School about an hour from us, but driving that far in rush hour traffic every morning and afternoon, along with homework, etc. didn't seem like a good idea to us. The cost was a huge factor too. The time to go through the time, effort, and definitive drama with lawyers wasn't worth it for us. We "won." For the next year, with our hard-earned IEP, I felt like I was on vacation, but when that IEP expired at the end of the year, the school backed off of services and the following year really wanted to drop most of them even though our son still hadn't made any meaningful progress. We figured we'd have to go through due process every couple of years to get our son through school, but even that wouldn't matter if the school didn't provide the programs PROPERLY. If you live in a large metro area, or even if not, check out the Support Groups in your area to see if you can find a group to get involved with. Socialization isn't as hard as I thought before we started homeschooling. It was actually a LOT better for my son because the kids were there JUST to socialize. They didn't know or care who had learning struggles. I know it's scary.. very scary, but you can do so much for your DS at home. If you just start with the key areas.. reading, writing, math, and cognitive enhancement (to help with LD issues), that is enough. A program like maybe Fast ForWord through Gemm Learning for dyslexia, Reflex Math for math fact fluency, Handwriting without Tears, and maybe Brainware Safari, and you'd be good to go at the start. We began with remedial instruction, a science "project" book and lots of DVDs from the History Channel, National Geographic, etc. checked out of our library. We watched one video each day as our other instruction, and then had time to play. Our stress levels dropped for everyone in the family. ;-) MEGA HUG! BTDT!
  8. No, please don't take anything about direct instruction personally.. What I mean is that I thought maybe the direct instruction programs themselves might be a good or bad match with Lexia... Like kids being taught with AAS might not do well with Lexia, but kids being taught with Barton may do well with it. It may make no difference whatsoever, I was just wondering if the direct instruction program choice made a difference. Given what you've said about them adding a timed element, I doubt it would make much difference about whether a child used AAS or Barton---DEFINITELY having a timed element would be a frustration factor for a large number of students. I ran through a demo of the new re-worked Lexia and it "looked" fine, but I didn't encounter the type of exercise you have revealed. I was comfortable still recommending it even though it had been worked to be more "public schooly", but I may have to rethink that too. UGH. The prior Lexia was research proven and ideal... sad that it has been undermined as an appropriate program.
  9. Wondering if Fast ForWord might be a better option for your boys.. There is an online option for FFW.. http://www.gemmlearning.com/fast-forword-software-program2.php. Sorry Lexia wasn't a good fit. :-(
  10. Yes, Lexia has been reworked to include all aspects of reading instruction, which includes vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension, but it still contains the core phoneme instruction at the starting levels. I don't like that it isn't purely a phonemic awareness, reading decoding program anymore. The alignment with common core basically amounts to the addition of the other components of reading instruction that make a "skilled" reader. Not sure what you mean by having them do tasks in the "opposite" way recommended by the neuropsych.. Could you explain that so I understand what you mean? Right now, I know of at least three kids with dyslexia who are using the current program successfully, so it makes me wonder if it matters what direct instruction program is "coupled" with Lexia's use. Since Lexia isn't designed to be a stand-alone product, and is designed to be coupled with one-on-one direct instruction, that may be a factor too. As with all curricula, any given program will work with some kids and not with others, but that doesn't make the program a bad program. I would like to do some detective work though to figure out what specific aspects of the program are problematic and for which kids. Anything you are willing to share about how your boys used the program, what additional programs you were using, and if you can recall specifically what put them into tears would be helpful. It makes me think back to our attempts at using Singapore Math that left my boys in tears and hating math.. It was NOT a good program for us. Math-U-See was our "perfect" program, but some other people's kids don't like it.
  11. From the members of my online support group, I can tell you that the O-G programs people like best are ABeCeDenarian, Barton, and All About Reading. Your son probably isn't going to "like" any of them because he has dyslexia and the programs are going to be difficult for him. There is no way around that, but acknowledging the work is hard, but he'll have to do it if he wants to read can go a long way with kids. Before jumping into any of the programs above, it is really important to look at your son's level of phonemic awareness (PA). Depending upon his PA skills, he may need a preliminary program like Lindamood Bell's LiPS program or HearBuilder. Also, study data shows that a combination of direct teaching combined with an computer-based repetition & practice program yields the best results. For that, I recommend Earobics and/or Lexia Reading. LexiaLearning's reading program takes a child up to a sixth grade reading level and it is a great program. We used both of the programs along with my do-it-yourself Orton-Gillingham program (I completed an O-G training course). As to the question of what works and what doesn't, that TOTALLY depends upon your individual child, his specific needs, his learning style, whether he has any underlying cognitive issues (like working memory or processing speed deficits), if he has additional physical barriers like ocular motor deficits or scotopic sensitivity.. Deciding which program will "work" isn't as easy as picking what works for anyone else. Unfortunately, some of it is trial and error, and some of the choosing requires keen insight into whether a program truly "isn't working" or whether the child is blocked from learning for another reason. The more you can or are willing to share about your child's specific neurology and learning style, the more focused recommendations can be. ;-) Feel free to email privately to share more specifics if you don't want to share publicly.
  12. BTDT.. With DS in school first. I used to spend all of my time advocating, studying IEPs, Wrightslaw, IDEA, went through due process, and in the end--terrified and shaking in my shoes--ended up homeschooling. Homeschooling WILL alleviate a GREAT amount of stress you are currently under. It will give your child time to be a kid because you'll "just" have homeschooling. You won't have homeschooling followed by homework battles at home.. You could have homeschooled by now. ;-) You're also right that the amount of difficulty will depend upon your child's needs.. whether he "just" has dyslexia or has other LD issues too. Our first three years of homeschooling were very teacher intensive during our school days, but even with working on remedial instruction for two hours every day, and doing science, social studies, and math, we were done around 2:00 each day and for the FIRST time in his schooling life, my DS had TIME to be a kid!!! Before we homeschooled, he'd go to school all day, come home exhausted, then we'd do homework plus whatever work the teacher sent home that he hadn't finished, and for a period we went to tutoring too. His life was school, schoolwork at home, and sleeping..Plus there was all of the stress of bullying, not having his needs met, constantly being reminded of him not performing "up to par," etc. Truly, homeschooling was the BEST decision we ever made! I posted a link to our story on your other post.. Truly, I hope it is an inspiration to you. Homeschooling can make an awesome difference in the life of your child. ;-) I know it's a difficult decision to make.. My only regret was not just going ahead and homeschooling sooner! I hate that we wasted all that time trying to make public school work--it didn't and I don't think it ever would have in our case.
  13. Before you go to the school, it'd be wise to find out what the special ed climate is in your area. Some schools are great, some will do a great job, others will do a lousy job, and others will cause you all kinds of grief if they don't think parents should be homeschooling a child with any special learning needs. There HAVE been cases of schools taking parents to court to terminate homeschooling and some of them have succeeded.. It wouldn't be worth the hassle if you're in one of those areas. The quality of evaluations vary widely geographically too.. In our area, they don't test for processing speed, working memory, etc.. just the basic reading, writing, and math issues. I don't think our area evals are worth the paper they are written on. You can call a neuropsych and ask about a "Limited evaluation" and specify you'd like your child evaluated for ADHD and Executive Functioning only.. maybe add in processing issues too. Since ADHD and EF are frequently combined, having them evaluated makes sense. An intermediate eval could include "cognitive functioning" and you could explain that academically your DS is on target. A lot of times they will do limited scope evals.
  14. Feeling confused and overwhelmed when you get your feedback is TOTALLY Normal! It's almost always a lot to process, almost always some of it is expected and some of it is surprising. Take your time to let everything sink in. Will your NP be following up by sending you a comprehensive report? If so, read through it once just to read it. Put it down for a week, then make a copy, and read through it with a highlighter and pencil in hand. Highlight anything that stands out to you and make notes as they occur to you. That's always how I handle the NP reports for parents of kids I'm helping. It's a lot to digest on behalf of each individual child no matter how many reports I've read!! Take the words spoken by your son's teacher to you in passing to heart. If she told you they probably can't meet his needs--she means they can't meet his needs. I've had teachers tell parents one thing and say something totally different in an IEP or eligibility meeting, then turn around and talk to the parent later one-on-one saying the original thing again. Most teachers WANT kids to get the best help they can get, and the teachers know whether their schools have it where they need it or not. If your DS' teacher says she thinks homeschooling would be good--then she has confidence in you as a mom-educator and knows the school will either cause delays or fail to adequately meet your DS' needs. I trained for a year in special education advocacy, and can tell you that teachers often "slip" their REAL thoughts to parents in passing, but they have to "play the game" in IEP meetings when administrators are present. Some schools are very political when it comes to special education and IEPs. I've learned to trust what teachers tell parents privately--I've never known one to steer a parent wrong. ;-)
  15. Research shows one-on-one, direct instruction combined with an online practice program is the most effective means of overcoming dyslexia. Yes, remediating dyslexia IS teacher intensive, but it isn't rocket science. It mostly requires a lot of repetitive practice using a variety of ways of teaching a child. The best online program I know of, written specifically for kids with dyslexia, is LexiaLearning's reading program. There are others I recommend in my book, but Lexia and Earobics are the two we used, and the two I continue to recommend. HOWEVER, if your child has significant phonemic awareness issues, it's better to start with something like HearBuilder. A lot of what you should use will depend upon your child's specific "flavor" of dyslexia. There is more to overcoming dyslexia than just buying a program--you have to know what your child's individual needs are and meet those specific needs. As an example, one of my DSs had severe dyslexia with a slow processing speed, ocular motor deficits, executive dysfunction, and secondary ADHD. Since I have my Master's Degree in Instructional Design, I evaluated his learning needs very specifically, put programs into place for each need, and we defeated his dyslexia in a mighty way! If you want encouragement, you can read our story at my website. We came from dire predictions by our school administrators to graduating from college, Magna Cum Laude! Homeschooling was a HUGE KEY to being able to meet his needs effectively.. Simply put, he would not have gotten the one-on-one help, the reinforcement programs, vision therapy, cognitive enhancement, etc. that we provided if we had left him in public school. It just wasn't going to happen. THANKFULLY, the programs we pulled together were the key to my son's success.
  16. On what "looks like a seizure," and the quivering with writing, I'd highly suggest a neurological workup for absence seizures, other types of seizures, and to determine if there are neurological impulses that are causing his body to "lock up." Absence seizures can have a significant effect on learning. Processing speed is separate and a child's processing is generally fast or slow and that is not affected by ADD or directly by memory, particularly if working memory is fine. So, yes, processing speed probably is seriously that slow. Keep in mind, his IQ being in the "normal" range is a composite of the subtests that measure intellectual functioning. You don't say what his subtest scores are, but if a child scores at 145 on one subtest and 65 on another and then 100 on the other two measures, then his composite IQ will be "average." However, THAT is NOT an accurate reflection of the child's intellectual capability. Typically the memory and processing speed indexes reflect cognitive "efficiency." The Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Reasoning indices are more of a measure of a child's direct learning. They are all factors in a child's ability to learn and use the knowledge, but the highest of the verbal and perceptual measure is most often the best indicator of a child's learning ability--particularly when learning deficits are remediated and assistive technology to circumvent learning deficits. For any child with a very high IQ who is highly frustrated by extremely low areas of functioning, the level of anxiety and frustration can become an issue because the child is intelligent enough to **KNOW** something isn't right. Getting counseling is often a godsend if you can get a really could provider who understands twice exceptional (Gifted with LD) kids. 2E kids can have their own unique set of anxieties and insecurities. ;-)
  17. YAY FLL!! :-D We have FLL trophies and LOVED FLL! Dyslexia was not the "problem" when we were participating, but I LOVE that this year's challenge is focused on learning. I ALMOST posted an idea because I have a good one that involves robotics, but since part of the challenge requirement is for the kids to be completely autonomous in coming up with their own ideas, I'll just offer a hint: The kids could research what dyslexia really is, how kids are taught to overcome it, and think about ways a robot could perform the tasks required in teaching. ;-)
  18. OhElizabeth said so much so directly, that I don't feel like I need to add a lot. I will say, "AMEN!" to everything OhElizabeth said. It sounds like there are issues and you KNOW there are issues. There is nothing keeping you from testing other than "uncertainty".. about what? I guess I'm not really sure why there is any question about whether testing would help you figure out what your DD needs. I'd agree whole-heartedly with you that private testing is the route to go. As OhE said, it can be really easy.. find a neuropsychologist, make an appointment, and go. When you get your evaluation report, you don't even have to share it with ANYONE. You can read it, gain insight into your DD's cognition, and then work with her exactly where she is and provide her exactly what she needs. I copied your questions and thought I'd answer them: Is it worth it for us to get her tested? DEFINITELY. Without testing, you don't REALLY know what's going on. You can make guesses, but you won't have accurate answers without a comprehensive evaluation. Knowing our sons' diagnoses was critical for meeting their individual needs. They had some similar symptoms, but the root causes of their LD issues were quite different, which required totally different approaches with each of them. You just don't know exactly what's going on without testing. Do we keep her in PS (which she does love) even though we have a tenuous relationship with her current teacher and know that she is having significant downtime. Not unless you don't mind "The Matthew Effect" where a child's achievement across all subject areas falls year after year for as long as the child's academic needs are not met. For example, my oldest son scored in the 80th & 90th percentiles when he entered public school. EVERY year his achievement test scores fell for the five years he was in public school. By time we pulled him out in fifth grade, ALL but one of his achievement sub-test scores was below the 50th percentile except for one score that was in the 60th percentile range. Did my son get dumber?? NO! That was "The Matthew Effect" in effect. When we started homeschooling, his scores started going up year-by-year again. When he took the ACT exam, he scored in the 92nd-99th percentile range other than on one subtest (can't remember what it was right now, but I know it was above the 60th percentile) Do we pull her out mid-year, deschool for a while and then homeschool for 3rd grade? You could do that. You could bring her home and work on areas you know she needs to work on using some fun programs, or let her delve into Watch, Know, Learn and learn whatever she wants to learn. You could leave her in school while you line up and get an evaluation, but I'm not sure what benefit there would be in leaving her there. Truthfully, being in 2nd grade, it isn't going to set her back to pull her out mid-year and if school "ends" for break, unless you tell her or remind her, she may not even notice when school starts back after the break. If she's involved in learning and activities at home, it could just be a natural transition if you pull her out over the holidays. I've got a mom who did that with her child, and it was exceptionally easy--I think it is always easier when they are younger. SO, in many ways, the sooner, the better, especially if you do it at a natural breakpoint, like a major school holiday break. ;-) I know it's a gut-wrenching decision at times, but I'll tell you--my only regret was waiting and sticking with public school for as long as we did. We were always hopeful things would get better, but they never did and they reached a point of devastation for my son's self-esteem. You can read our story at: http://learningabledkids.com/articles_about_homeschooling/overcoming_learning_disabilities_through_homeschooling.htm. Yep.. My only regret was not homeschooling sooner!!
  19. Often the "mommy gut" is the best measure there is!! Since you know your DD better than anyone else, it sounds like you're doing the perfect dance of requirement and backing off. GOOD JOB! :-D Not asking for any reason other than curious about what has been working--but did wonder, are you using any kinds of programs with your DD or are pretty much letting her freewheel it? Mostly curious because it could provide valuable insight for parents I may encounter who have kids with stubbornness or anxieties that cause them to shutdown when faced with academic tasks. It's so important for each parent to listen to that gut instinct, and I'm glad waiting has worked for your DD and you! CONGRATS! :-D
  20. I've been exactly where you are!! Our neuropsych said spelling is one aspect of dyslexia that is the most resistant to remediation. Let me ask, since you've done Barton, does your DS remember the rules when asked them? If so, it might be really helpful to use what is called "Self-Correction for Spelling." When my son had been taught all of the phonemes and rules, but couldn't remember to apply them, I went on a research quest to learn "what works for spelling in kids with dyslexia?" Self-Correction is what the research proved WORKS -- WHEN -- a child knows the rules and can recognize the correct spelling if presented a list of words. Seeing the right word in a list allows the child to use his memory-recall pathways to recognize the word. The more he exercises that recall pathway, the more likely he is to remember the correct spelling in the future. We used the Self-Correction with our son along with a Franklin Speller, and he ended up making great progress. You can see samples of his progression at: http://learningabledkids.com/learning_disability_ld/grade-by-grade-progress.htm. Progress wasn't overnight, but it worked!
  21. ROTFLOL at that comment.. Fearless climbing, running, flipping, etc., however we garnished a Frequent Visitor's card to the ER! DS had a high tolerance for pain to go with his fearless energy, which was not a good combination. On the bright side (maybe), when he put his teeth through his bottom lip, he just sat there and let the doc sew his lip back together. Gruesome and unbelievable.. I had to let my DH handle that one! Pros and Cons for evaluating, you ask? Pros: You find out if your child actually has ADHD. You find out the severity and type of ADHD. You will learn which specific cognitive or executive functions are weaknesses for your child. You can then use precise solutions to remediate the specific weaknesses your child has. You can look at the results and determine your child's learning strengths and build those up. You can follow the recommendations of the NP as to how best to teach your child. You can get an early start on any additional Learning Disabilities (and there are often multiple issues) rather than waiting until your child is struggling and falling behind. You will have early documentation of learning disabilities, which is helpful when you want/need to seek testing accommodations later on. Depending upon the presence of and severity of your child's ADHD, you can better gauge whether medication might work better than non-medicated management. You can get a diagnosis and keep the results private to yourself--no one else need know your child has even been evaluated. Having your child evaluated will give you a better understanding of your child's neurology, which often leads to more effective parenting and education. Cons: It's expensive. You may not get results you feel you can work with. At your DS' age, there will be fewer of the cognitive development tests that can be administered with solid results. There are tests for younger kids, but not as many. A lot of the evaluation instruments have lower age limits of 8 or 9, so you might get a more limited eval now, and still need a more comprehensive eval later. On the topic of meds, we didn't want to go there and didn't for years. When my DS was a senior in high school and turned 18, he flat out told us he wanted to see if meds helped. The first day he took them, he said, "MOM! We should have done this a LONG time ago!" I felt guilty that my DS had struggled to get his school work done all those years, but at the same time, we did not want to give him meds at a young age. Since ADHD is a brain chemistry imbalance, there are things we can do to help improve the brain chemistry, but the quickest and most consistent option is meds when a child has clinical ADHD resulting from the brain chemistry imbalance. So, depending upon how easy or difficult you currently find your DS to work with academically, and given his age, you might want to consider going with the flow for now. When academics become a bigger issue, when more reading and writing are part of your DS' day, then you might want to go for an eval. Just my thoughts, for what they're worth.
  22. It's a sad statement on public education when you and I, and I'm sure others, come to homeschooling because of that thought. Knowing it'd be difficult to do worse than the PS was my encouragement during our early homeschool years!
  23. Yes, they let me observe. I made myself a blank pie chart with five minute slices to correspond to the clock. I sat in the back corner, observed quietly, and just made notes every five minutes about what the kids were doing, particularly my son. They spent 10 minutes coming in, hanging up their backpacks, getting their materials, etc. The spent 10 minutes at the end of class putting things away and getting ready to leave. That left 30 instructional minutes. The teacher divided the kids into two groups of three children. She worked with each group of three for 15 minutes while the other three "read" silently--since it was reading resource, those kids were daydreaming, fiddling with stuff, and looking around. Since they couldn't yet read, there surely wasn't any reading going on! While my DS was working with the teacher and the other two students, she would take turns and explain things, but when it wasn't one of the kids' turns--they were not necessarily listening. They'd be looking at the other kids, looking at something on the wall, etc. Yep.. Six minutes my son appeared engaged with the instruction. NOT a whole lot of learning going on! The study article was by Delquadri.. I was able to access the article through a research database provided by our public library system (the Galileo Databae). I don't recall the precise citation--WAIT!.. Had a thought.. Went and did a screen shot of the References in my book, then uploaded it at my website. You can see the full citation at: http://learningabledkids.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/delquadri-citation.jpg. The other study by Ensign that is listed is worth reading too. ;-) Yes, I do happen to live in the southeast.. Atlanta area! :thumbup1:
  24. What I just posted made me also think of a question to ask.. "How much direct instruction or therapy time is your child actually receiving with the services provided? What is the ratio of time wasted to academically engaged time?"
  25. One of the huge problems we found with the PS provisioning was that the amount of time alotted for OT, Reading Resource, etc., includes arrival and departure greeting, putting away and getting out materials, etc. Thus, the actual therapy and instructional time becomes mere minutes when you do a classroom observation of what actually occurs during that time. I was astounded!! Out of a 50-minute reading resource period, my son received 6 minutes of direct instruction. SIX!!! It was NO WONDER he was making zero progress in reading at school. When we pulled our guys out and I made sure my DS got significant, one-on-one instruction in reading daily, he soared. I felt like we wasted five years of his schooling trying to make PS work. Once we started addressing his needs, and we were able to provide content in alternate formats (videos, DVDs, computer programs, hands-on), then he began to move forward again with his achievement results. For every year he was in PS, my son's achievement test results got lower and lower. He wasn't getting dumber, the school was simply failing to educate him at all across all subjects. Thankfully, he was still fairly young when we pulled our boys out and we were able to make up for lost time, then soar ahead! :-D LOL! Thank you for putting the books in your cart! The Overcome Your Fear book is an easy read and not too long of a book (it's quite a bit shorter than the other two). Overcome Your Fear focuses on the pros and cons of homeschooling, particularly for LD or 2E kids. It pulls together all that I unexpectedly discovered when we started homeschooling. It was one thing to read the research and rhetoric, but a whole different thing to actually live it. There are many benefits that you don't even realize until you start living the homeschool lifestyle. If I'd known back then what I know now, I surely wouldn't have hesitated one minute to homeschool!! I will tell you, one of my biggest fears was that I wouldn't be able to teach my boys--that they wouldn't learn or make progress. I entered homeschooling with the comfort that I couldn't do any WORSE than the PS because my oldest hadn't made any progress or learned to read in five years and his self-esteem was devastated by time we began homeschooling. However, one reasearch study I quote in my book found that one-on-one teaching is the most important factor for making educational progress for children with LD/attention issues. The study pitted moms with high school diplomas homeschooling their kids against PS teachers with Master's Degrees in small-group, special ed settings with similar kids. Guess what? The kids taught at home by the moms made more progress and were more academically engaged than the kids taught in PS by a teacher with a Master's Degree. The conclusion was that the one-on-one teaching and NOT teacher training was responsible for the difference in academic progress. The parents are much more astute at determining whether a child understands the content and is much more focused on that child's learning at that moment, so being more in tune to the child enables the parent to teach the child exactly where the child is. ;-) Shall I come to your house and give my sales pitch for homeschooling to your family? HA HA!! :-D
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