I was part of the group pre-upgrade. When I click on Community and Social groups, I get: Sorry, there is a problem The page you requested does not exist Error code: 1S160/2

Thank you so much. That's very helpful for me. We started enlarging and color coding just because it seemed like a good idea to us. We had no idea it was actually a "thing." I'll read through the Rogers study summary and think about how to talk with the teacher. I'm not sure how receptive she'll be. She's really nice, but very much has her own system of how things work, and I need to think about a way to revisit this topic in such a way that it doesn't seem I'm challenging her expertise or instruction.

So my dd who was recently diagnosed with dyslexia just got told by her violin teacher last week that we should not have enlarged and color coded her music for her to help her read it. Instructor said that the music only gets smaller and more difficult to read and we'll just be creating a crutch that makes it harder to figure stuff out down the road. I can sort of understand her point, and yet this week dd refuses to practice violin. All out refuses. We had a screaming, crying tantrum over here today when I tried to force the issue. Instructor is well-known in town and seems to be very good and says she's taught dyslexics before... Could you recommend any good resources that we could print out and maybe take in to have another conversation about the issue?

One of my kids has corrected his own math since 1st grade, and it works well. One of my kids couldn't be trusted with the answer key, so I sit and do hers with her. Math is much easier for me to manage this in than writing, because there's not really an "answer key" that they can use to check their own writing, generally speaking. So I get behind in correcting writing...

My DS uses it completely independently. He even checks and corrects his own work in it. My DD needs me with her the entire time, reading her the problems, keeping her on task, and keeping her engaged on challenging problems. And there's not a snowball's chance... anywhere... that I would tell her that the answers are in the back of the book... That knowledge would definitely get abused.

So the scores are odd. She did so relatively well (well within the normal limits) on the rapid naming, but very poorly in the sections on phonological awareness and nonword decoding.... This child is always throwing me for loops! lol. She wrote "symbolic dysfunction" on the report, and I had to ask what that meant because I thought she'd told me she was going to dx dyslexia. She responded that it's just the "technical" term for a number of language based stuff, that includes dyslexia, but is the appropriate billable term, since "dyslexia" is sometimes contested by insurance companies.

Makes sense! I hadn’t really thought about that! :-)

They ended up giving her a "mild dyslexia" diagnosis. The SLP said that most professionals probably would not have given her that diagnosis, when her phonological processing scores were "only" in the low-average range. But she also said that, in the context of a child with low working memory, but very high scores in most other areas, it's the rather large gap between the majority of her scores and her phonological processing scores (three standard deviations in the standard scores) that merit her a dyslexia diagnosis, in the opinion of the SLP. A few of her subtest scores were as low as the 9th or 16th percentile, which the SLP said just doesn't line up with a kid who is scoring in the 99.5th percentile in other areas. Uneven development is one thing, but this is beyond the scope of what one would normally expect to see in a child's range, she said. I'm not sure I fully understand this, but so it is. On the bright side, apparently the mom of a girl I've been mentoring is certified in educational therapy and dyslexia therapy and is trained in OG stuff, amongst other things, and has offered to tutor dd twice a week at no charge, just as a way to bless our family. It was a very unexpected turn of events for us, but will be so good for dd, I think! She's one who really benefits from working with someone who's not "mom"... lol.

I read that just in the last month! I felt like I already *mostly* did what they talked about doing, but it really encouraged me to try to shore up the times when I was falling back onto me prescribing solutions! :)

… is this offer open to others?

Somehow, I missed this part of the post the first time I read it. It’s kind of interesting, because my husband and I were just discussing last night that we should start working on his core again, in preparation for swimming this summer, because his core really held him back from making the progress that he wanted to make in years past. And targeted work with an OT helped fix the issue one year, but then his OT said that he didn’t need to come anymore for a while, and I’m guessing his core is probably week again. But that would make sense if it also accounted for his struggles to write since those have been ongoing his entire life. Could you please explain to me exactly how course strength affects writing? I can imagine it, since it seems that course strength affects pretty much everything, but I’m curious about the details.

Ok. Thanks, all. I should've been more clear that it's not just hand pain. It's arm and shoulder pain, too, but only when writing for a long time. I've done everything I know how to do with the older child, and it's all been to no avail. I'm hoping to get something figured out with the younger child before it gets too awfully bad. Bad writing in a 5 year old can be forgiven. But when you're going on 9 and almost nothing you write can be deciphered and you don't have the stamina for more than a sentence or two, I feel like it's pretty bad... lol. FWIW, we're in at a place that does OT, and are on the list to start this summer when spots open up (they said that folks usually stop coming a lot in summer). Two of my kids are on that waiting list, though not the 5 yo mentioned above (the almost 9 yo and another one of my kiddos), and I think the OT will be great for them when they start. By then, we'll have finished some other regular appointments, though, which is nice.

Ahhh. So much good stuff. I actually stopped listening for now, because I talked with my husband about it, and we decided it would be best for us to just listen to them together and discuss. So we’re probably just going to listen to one or two each week for the next however many months . :)

My older child learned to read in German within just a few months of figuring stuff out in English and I didn't worry too much about any possible confusion with reading two languages. My second child is struggling to read, however, and was recently diagnosed with dyslexia, and I'm not sure what that means in terms of teaching her to read in a second language. I'm concerned that adding in a second language too soon will cause her even more struggles with reading, but another part of me hopes that maybe reading in German might help her figure out her reading a bit easier because it's so much simpler than reading in English. I guess I'm just not sure how dyslexia plays into reading instruction in multiple languages.

Yeah, I'm glad I purchased the pass, because there's no way I can listen to each days videos within 24 hours, but I've liked each one I've watched so far and I wouldn't want to miss any so far!

I suspect that two of my kids have dysgraphia (the almost 9 and 5 year olds). I also suspect that 9 is at a point where he just needs OT and that 5 is too young to know for sure. In either case, I'm really burnt out on running all over kingdom come for appointments, and am not ready/willing to pursue formal eval(s) or therapy at this point, so "knowing" it's dysgraphia is less important to me than actually just finding out some ways to help them. Up until now, I've tried to help the older one just by building up his writing muscles by having him write more and more each day (usually copy work, so he can focus on the mechanics alone). He knows proper formation, and can write very nicely (albeit slowly and very painstakingly) when it's only 5ish words at a time and I'm reminding him the whole time to start at the two o'clock, line letters start close, etc. Otherwise, his handwriting is atrocious and he complains all the time that it's hard and hurts. Correct posture is difficult for him to maintain, no matter that I insist on it every. single. time. Pencil hold is correct. The younger one is young, I know, but writes about as well as my 2 yo, despite finishing up an entire year of preschool where the teacher was very focused on proper letter formation and writing practice (only 10 min/day, but very good instruction during that time I know). She can't even write her own name legibly yet, after practicing it at least five times per week, every week, since last August, as well as lots of extra practicing at home when she was drawing pictures and wanted to label her pictures with her name each time. :) What are some basic strategies that I might be able to use to help them? Honestly, I'd just rather deal with this at home, if at all possible, but I'll pursue outside help if need be once things settle down and I get my bearings this summer.

Ha ha. Me too!

Isn’t it crazy how he went from special ed in his first eight years of school to normal high school and then on to Ivy League? Talk about being pegged wrong by the school!!

I would second looking around. In addition to the music classes offered at the local co-op’s, which are plentiful and relatively inexpensive even though they are individual instruction, the Salvation Army buyers actually has a music school that is super inexpensive, and the local university has a program where they partner with local middle schools and elementary schools to teach very affordable music classes in order to give music students experience teaching in a classroom Setting before they graduate. My son took an entire year of viola lessons, twice a week, for under $100 at the local elementary school in the afternoons. We also do Hoffman piano, and the only real expense there is the piano or keyboard itself. But if you start keeping a lookout on local Freecycle or craigslist websites, you can often score a free piano if you are patient, because people move and do not want to move their piano. We have scored at least 3 free pianos over the last few years, and given several away to friends. also, a basic guitar is not too expensive, and the basic ukulele costs even less, and there are plentiful curricula online for teaching yourself either of those instruments. A ukulele is easier to play, and you can often get started on your first song in your very first lesson, which is nice and encouraging for children. Recently Groupon had a years worth of ukulele online lessons for something like $10 on sale. I’m not sure if they still have it, but it would be very, very affordable way to get started with an instrument. Whatever instrument you choose though, it is helpful if someone familiar with music can offer occasional feedback and support at least. In our case, I am able to give some feedback on piano, guitar, and ukulele, but my oldest child is getting advanced enough in piano, that at this point I have a friend who is a piano teacher who is willing to watch him play for a few minutes every few months, just to make sure he’s not doing something small , But that will prove to be really bad habits in the long run. And I completely outsource strings, since I don’t know anything about violin or viola. So the student-teacher partnership with the schools was a really great thing for us!

No, we don't log. But the hourly requirements can be spun a lot of different ways: 42 weeks x 5 days x 5 hrs/day >1000 hours. Or 42 weeks x 4 days x 6 hrs/day >1000 hours. Or 48 weeks x 4 days/wk x 5.5 hrs/day > 1000 hours. And I feel like it's pretty easy to make the argument that we school at least this much. My older kid reads for at least 2 hours most days (halfway done!), practices music at least another hour each day, plays very active games for at least an hour every day (PE!), and spends some family time each evening doing read alouds and singing, so we're already up to 4.5-5 hours most days, even on very laid back days. Once you add in audiobooks in the car, crafts/art time (my kids spend an awful lot of time crafting), and daily hygiene (Health), it'd be hard to argue that we get less than 1080 hours in. :) On sick days, he may miss "PE", but he reads extra. And for my K'er who can't read well yet, but is still required to have >1000 hours, I do count the time she spends getting read to as "school", as well as the time she spends just looking at books, since she'd certainly be doing this in school anyway.

I agree. This looks great. ETA: After reading the descriptions again, we went ahead and got the all-access pass. I feel like I could watch it and get what I could out of it now, with my two definitively 2E kids now, but I have no idea what issues might be relevant for me in a year or two, since I have two more young kids who may or may not join the 2E ranks! lol. Thanks so much, Calbear, for posting this!

Thank you all for your thoughts. I just really want This to go well. :)

Yes, I will need to talk with the teacher. It is not a trained teacher. It is a homeschool mom who is retired from homeschooling because her youngest child is in high school now. She does have experience with special needs children, having three herself, but I don’t think any of them are ASD.

Yes, I realized in the shower this morning but this is definitely something I should prepare him for, even if I don’t expected to be a problem! You just never know!

No, the main reason for him being in the class is not social. The main reason is that he wants to learn the content. It just happens that the content is A type of math (hands on equations) and he excels at math and grasps the concept easily and quickly. He very much wants to take the class, and is looking forward to learning the content as well as getting to know the other boys better ( they’re all boys we already know from our weekly learning community .) He is in a social skills group, and has been for the last several months. We are also doing the Superflex social thinking curriculum at home, and his speech and language therapist is doing a social skills curriculum with him, with an emphasis on appropriate Social language and communication. So, in some sense, I am hoping he will be well prepared for this first foray into group learning, especially in a class of only four students, Since I think social issues might be easier to figure out in a small group. I’m just nervous too… Thanks for the tip about watching a movie clip. I always mean to do something like that, but i usually forget. Now I’m off to think about what sort of movie clip to find! :-)