mktyler
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Posts posted by mktyler
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I was against the vaccine until my kids got it.
My dd6 contracted chicken pox from somewhere and it went through my family. My asthmatic son got antiviral and that helped. The possible complications for those with asthma can be severe. My oldest, who had already had the vaccine (when she was one) and chicken pox from the vaccine, got it twice, which means she could have exposed others. She also had strep throat at the time so she got the antiviral as well
My dd6 was lethargic for several days. Wouldn't eat, wouldn't move, just cried. She now has several very large scars on her face - hopefully they will heal in time.
Frankly, I would get the vaccine and the boosters. What is so different about putting the virus in their bodies via a syringe or exposing them to the disease via contact? The complications can be severe, either for your children or someone else's children.
Best of luck!
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(5) ds(1)
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From your description it seems that the I See Sam books might be a nice fit. You can find them at roadstoeverywhere.com. A good description of the pedagogy of the books is found at piperbooks.co.uk.
This program is solely book based and for some kids works wonders! Its been a while since I read the background info, but I believe they take you to a 3rd grade reading level.
If your son is having trouble remembering sounds and blending them, then I would suggest doing some prep work before starting the books. Work on two sound blends:
a n an
m i mi
then build to three sound blends:
s a t sa t sat
when these are comfortable you should be good to go with the books.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(5) ds(1)
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I would suggest working with two sound combinations, first. I tried several programs with my dd6 with little success until I took the instruction incrementally. You can use a wipe board or make up pages something like this:
a n an an an
s e se se se
when she seems comfortable with this, move on to pages with just two sound combinations:
an se mi na ec
ti es ga po
When these go well, then try three sound words:
a n t an t ant
m e ss me ss mess
These pages will train her left right tracking so when you go on she will be set with the basics. I don't know of any program moves this slowly (Phonics Pathways introduces two sound combinations, but doesn't give much practice), but for some kids its essential. If you'd like, I can send you an alphabetic word list. Once she is comfortable reading 3-sound words with the alphabet, you can try a couple of different programs, such as Phonics Pathways, Abecedarian, or I See Sam books.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(5) ds(1)
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A common eye problem (with an inexpensive remediation) is that the brain "reads" as clearly from the peripheral vision as from the foveal or central vision. The brain then gets all this information confused. The notched card, developed by Hilsie Burkard in the UK, is a simple way to correct this problem. Cut out the top left corner of a business card or index card. Expose each spelling one at a time and have your son say the sound. When the whole word is exposed have him read the word. Studies out of MIT (and anecdotally with my daughter) indicate that intensive use of this for a week can correct the problem. This may not be your son's problem, but its a cheap option to try.
Are there other things that worry you?
I noticed you are using ABCD with him. What part of the lessons are not working for your son?
While ABCD is based on good research, its pedagogy, that is, the sequence and it activities, may not work for everyone. We had to slow down and teach each correspondence one at a time, rather than as a group, to get anywhere.
Anyway, if you share some of how things are actually going in the lessons, we might be able to suggest some programs or modifications that could help.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(5) ds(1)
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Thanks for the link!
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(
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I would like to read "The Courage of Sarah Noble" next year with my 1st grader; however I would like to tame some of its non-PC language with a book from the Native American perspective of first contact.
I don't feel that the book is negative per se; it reflects accurately the view colonists had towards Native Americans, and on a larger scale the struggle to overcome cultural, ethnic, and linguistic differences experience by all such contacts. That being said, I would like to show my daughter the other side of the story.
There is a lot of information about what not to read, that is, what is stereotyping or degrading to Native Americans, but not a lot of info on what to read. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd (10) dd(6) ds(4) ds (1)
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I highly recommend the History of US by Joy Hakim. Very readable with lots of primary resources.
For your little one, I would suggest focusing on biographies. This has been much better for my little girl who is not an avid listener. She seems to connect better to a single person than to a narrative of events and places. US history is a great subject to do biographies from as there are loads of children's books.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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The Oxford University Press books are wonderful. We will be starting them next year for my daughter's 6th grade history. They are written in an engaging style, the pages are well laid out, the information is up to date and interesting. Each book has 24 chapters with primary sources, maps, and a timeline. Currently they only have up to 1750, but I'm hoping they will have a modern times set by the time we get there.
There are currently two sets: The world in ancient times and the medieval and early modern world. The ancient times set has 7 books plus a primary resource book; the medieval times set has 6 books and a primary resource book.
I am building my lesson plans with these books myself, but you can buy study guides through Amazon to go with them.
Here's a link to one of the titles: http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Roman-World-Times/dp/0195153804/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238340548&sr=8-2
In addition, these seem to be well made books so they can be used again.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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But the initial idea was to reward great post. So I'm sending you "virtual rep."
Bill
Thanks!
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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This post make we wish we still had "rep."
Could you explain this for some of us newbies?:)
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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The split digraph is a way of conceptualizing final-e words without referring to rules. Basically, instead of saying that the vowel changes its sound to its name when an -e is added, it would say that the vowel and the final-e work together to spell the sound. This concept was meant to address these issues:
1) the silent-e rule only works in about 2/3 of words, with the percentage of words following such a rule decreasing as word length increases.
2)it is clear from child development research that children on the whole do not use rules well. Not only do they struggle to remember the rule but they also struggle to remember in which environment to use the rule.
Bill asked:
I wondered how American programs deal with silent e vs split digraphs?
Only two American programs that I am aware of teach the split digraph: Reading Reflex and ABeCedarian (which is based off of Reading Reflex, which is based off of the British-born educational psychologist Diane McGuinness' research). Many British programs, both home-based and school-based, use this concept. The concept of the split-digraph has become linked with the British Gov't's mandated form of initial reading instruction--Synthetic Phonics.
Incidentally, there is another option for teaching these words, though it is not currently used in any programs I have come across and gets only a brief mention in Ruth Beechick's work. It is to teach that the consonant and the final-e spell the sound of the consonant, while the vowel letter spells the vowel sound.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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The meaning of dyslexia is fluid. In languages that are more regular (one letter or letter group for a sound), dyslexia represents accurate but slow, laborious reading. In English, where the correspondence between letters and sounds is more complex, the definition can include issues of accuracy as well. The problems with accuracy can be traced to instruction. Most phonics programs teach only a fraction of the code.
The benefits of testing are that you will be able to pinpoint your daughter's strengths and weaknesses. If she is weak in memory, then you know instruction will take longer as it will take more repetitions for mastery. If your daughter does not generalize well, that is, take a specific example or skill and apply it to other situations, you know you will have to teach much smaller units and practice the skill or knowledge in more examples.
However, you can find these things out just by working with her. Abecedarian or the I See Sam books are both quality programs. You may need to tweak your instruction dependent upon your daughter's weaknesses. For example, my older daughter did not work well with the grouping of information in Abecedarian in which the letter sound correspondences were taught by sound ('o', 'oa', 'oe', 'o-e', 'ough' for the sound /oe/). By separating the correspondences and teaching them one by one, she did much better.
Even a program like Phonics Pathways could do the trick. It has relatively good, thorough information. You can practice the information from the book or use games and flashcards to teach the correspondences. Its main drawback is that it gives the impression that things go really fast, when, in fact, you might spend weeks on one page of words. If you decide to go with one of these programs, the program forums can be helpful in adjusting the program to work with your daughter.
Many phonics programs teach a lot of sight words. Sight word reading can in fact hamper reading because it requires a different, much less efficient pathway for word reading than left-to right-tracking. Ottakee's suggestions are really great! Does your daughter read words sound by sound, left to right or does she guess and skip words? If she guesses and skips, the notched card can be invaluable for learning the right reading habits. It may take some painful practice, but will result in much better reading.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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Deeinfl stated:
He has never understood phonics, never, and I tried after that. I was even told by some that his dyslexic problems were because of the fact that I didn't use a phonics approach with him, so we tried many phonics methods...he just didn't and doesn't get it.
My dd10 had the same experience. We went through 12 different phonics reading programs before I figured out what she needed:
1. Instruction that only taught the phonemic layer--no word families, word parts, silent letters or whole words.
2. No rules--she went batty when I gave her a rule that only applied some of the time. There are no rules that apply 100% of the time. I needed to speak in terms of patterns and try another sound for a given letter.
3. Explicit instruction, with lots of practice, all the way through the code. That meant lessons on things like 'et' for the sound /ae/ as in ballet, beret, buffet, etc.; 'ar' for the sound /or/ as in award, quartz, wharf, etc.; 'ch' for the sound /sh/ in chef, machine, etc. I ended up teaching over 300 sound-spelling correspondences (a letter or group of letters that represent a sound).
4. No book reading till she knew enough to read without mistakes. She is a perfectionist so it was better to not frustrate and upset her with asking her to guess at words.
Abecedarian is a solid program. Our problem was in the way the correspondences were taught. In Abecedarian and Reading Reflex, they are presented in groups based on sound. So, for the sound of /oe/ would be 'o', 'oa', 'oe', 'o-e', 'ough', etc. my daughter could do all the activities but not apply the knowledge. It got better when I separated the teaching and taught each correspondence one at a time, then did the sorting exercises. Abecedarian has the advantage that it also teaches the morphemic (meaning) parts of the language such as prefixes, suffixes, and roots from Latin (I believe their adding Greek roots). These units can really help speed up reading and improve word comprehension.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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Coke has produced some flavored waters with it and there are plans to produce a Sprite-like drink and a cola with it. However, they will not be 0 calories as Truvia has some caloric content, just a lot less than sugar.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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My husband has been a lead developer of Truvia for Cargill. Truvia is all natural, basically they removed the parts of the stevia taste profile that caused the bitter taste (I couldn't use it because of the flavor and it made me feel weird). I'm lucky because we get samples free and I think it is great. Let me repeat: It is all natural in the sense that it is the real flavoring from the stevia plant. They do add some natural fillers to round it out, but I don't know what those are as my husband can't tell me. However, to get the "all natural" label requires a lot of work because it has to be all natural from start to finish in the manufacturing process. My husband worked on this project for last two years!! So it isn't like Splenda at all. It is a manufactured product but so is any sweetener not eaten of the bush! If you have any specific questions about it, post and I'll ask my husband.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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My 10 y dd has really struggled with spelling and so I ditched all the curriculums and have gone to only dictation. It has done wonders. We have tried list-style programs only to see 100% on the tests and error in her writing. Her confidence has dramatically increased as she has to write a paragraph each day. Here is the general idea:
I pick out passages of 2-4 sentences. She reads the passage several times and notes which words might be difficult for her. I am working through selections from Hilyer's A Child's History of the World.
The passage is:
At first, however, our world, or Earth, was nothing but a ball of rock. This ball of rock was wrapped around with steam, like a heavy fog. Then the steam turned to rain, and it rained on the world, until it had filled up the hollows and made enormously big puddles. These puddles were the oceans. The dry places were bare rock.
First day: She reads the passage several times. Then I dictate it to her. She misses these words: however, wrapped, heavy, hollows, enormously, puddles. We talk about the words: however is a combination of how and ever, wrapped (double the consonant when adding past tense -ed, I chose not to teach her about "short" and "long" so omitted discussing it at this time), -ous of enormously means "full of" so the word means full of enormity, etc.
She studies the words. I have her underline the spellings for each sound: wrapped would be wr a pp ed. She says the sounds as she writes. I have her write the words 5-10 times. Then she copies the passage, including all the corrected spelling words. This takes 4 tries. (She's a tough, lovable, brilliant, nut to crack!)
Second day: Dictate the passage. She misses: wrapped, hollows, enormously. Study again. Copy again. Oh, she can now say the passage verbatim.
Third day: She starts throwing in some omission errors: tured for turned, seam for steam, etc. and misses enormously. We talk about ways to remember enormously and she decides to read it as /e-nor-mouse-ly/as she studies the word. Studies words. Copies. Require her to reread her writings by sound then word rather than by word alone (I know that doesn't make much sense, but it sounds like /a/ /t/ /at/ /f/ /ir/ /s/ /t/ /first/ /ou/ /r/ /our/ . . . she hates it but she catches her letter omissions that way)
Fourth day: Gets it right. Now I am going to through her for a loop and have her write some sentences with the words she missed over the week. Misses hollows as "hollowes." We talk about adding -s for plurals (again).
Fifth day: Dictation and sentences. Gets them right.
Add another passage next week. I throw some old passages in on occasion for review.
This actually gets her learning more words than the list method, which at most I was doing 20 words a week. Some words she just has to go over and over and others she learns more quickly. I can see that this is working much better because her general writing is improving. She is also wanting to write more, I think because she is feeling more confident. She has to write so much now that it feels natural.
The list method worked as far as a spelling test went but would never seem to cross over into her writing. With the dictation method, it is, because she is practicing what she needs to be doing: writing words in context.
The benefits of this method are:
1) The words are learned in a meaningful context. Meaning and spelling are linked.
2) It is efficient. It eliminates the work that is not producing effect (lists and tests) and has them practicing the skills spelling is meant for (using the words in context).
3) Its free!
4) It focuses effort on the words the child does not know. Patterns and rules can be addressed as they come up, in a word specific way. For example, my daughter had the word 'edition' to work on and she missed the spelling of 'tion'. We talked about the meaning of the word-part 'tion' in which it changes a verb to a noun, connecting it to the word 'edit'. The /t/ sound of the word 'edit' helps remind her that the /sh/ sound in 'edition' is spelled with a 'ti'. If you don't feel confident with breaking words down yourself, a rule based spelling program used as a supplement would work. Just use the rule parts, not the spelling list parts. Keep track of the rules in a notebook and then you can refer to them as you work through words.
5) Frequently needed words are written over and over and over and over because they are in all the passages.
Melissa
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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The book Vocabulary Through Morphemes is well-designed. It is published by Sopris West.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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The reason is that some children will confuse the letter names and sounds. This will slow their acquisition of smooth blending as they are apt to make more errors while reading. As an earlier poster suggested, some children will not have trouble with this. Conscientious program designers address this to eliminate an easy source of confusion and help more kids move along more quickly.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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Any solid, intensive, thorough, phonics program could be an alternative. How old is your daughter? What are your concerns about her reading? If we have more info we can give better tailored suggestions.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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He spends hours each day looking at books, mostly way above his reading level.
The important thing is he reading those books. If you have him read aloud to you, and he
1) reads most words comfortably, and
2) when he comes to a word he doesn't know he works through it (either sound by sound, or chunk by chunk) from left to right and gets the word or a close approximation of it,
then he's probably just a self-teacher. Phonics is not a subject, it the nature of reading. Some kids get it without much or any overt teaching, others require years of incremental and thorough instruction. If your son does number 2 with words he doesn't know, then he understands the underlying logic of the written code.
The point of teaching phonics is so that the processes inherent in reading, mainly letter-sound relationships and left-right-and-back-again tracking, become automatic. In a language as complex and vast as English, everyone is going to be constantly encountering words they have not previously seen or heard. Phonics instruction gives students the ability to work through a word and thus not miss out on the important meaning of that word within a given text. If your son has picked this up on his own, great. I would still continue having him read aloud to you as he progresses to check that he can read more and more difficult text, and is not skipping and guessing his way through.
He writes alot using "creative spelling"Its wonderful that he is so comfortable with writing. Your lessons may indeed change focus, from reading to spelling, if he is reading well. Spelling is somewhat harder than reading, as there is one right way to spell a given word. There are many quality programs, including All About Spelling, Apples and Pears (a British Program), Spelling Power, Spelling Workout, etc.
Any of these would be great to transform his "creative spelling" into correct spelling.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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If you're bored with phonics lessons, I would suggest the I See Sam books. They are a phonics program in disguise! You can find them at http://www.roadstoeverywhere.com, http://www.iseesam.com, and http://www.piperbooks.co.uk.com
A few points about your concerns:
I am constantly worried that I'm missing something, and that we are not progressing much.Its important to remember that the beginning skills of reading each sound once , from left to right, all through the word, is critical. OPG is fairly thorough in its information--but there are lots of other things you can do with that information. Use the words to make up your own sentences, play memory or bingo, have him read the words and find a picture in story books illustrating the words.
I know ds will sky rocket once he can get reading something real, and not plodding along just reading strings of words.The problem with trying to get him into something "real" quickly is that guessing, picture "reading", and skipping--all maladaptive habits--can set in when the basic skills and knowledge are not practiced enough, and the text requires more of him than he knows. One of the great blessings of homeschooling is the ability to adjust instruction appropriately--either speeding up or slowing down.
Phonics Pathways is another quickie, one-book program, that has sentences and good information, but eliminates some of the extras in OPG. Spalding has the advantage that it clearly teaches one of the complexities of English, that is, that each spelling can represent several sounds. I find the marking system irritating and confusing, however. ABeCeDarian is another solid program that illustrates another complexity of English, that each sound can be represented by different spellings. If none of these appeals to you, repost and we can point you in some other directions.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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In Nathan's parable to David, he did not condemn the having of many sheep, but the taking of another man's sheep; in fact, it was the murder of Uriah that broke the law (Do Not Kill), not having many wives. It was perfectly acceptable to have more than one wife concurrently at that time. Look at the stories of Hannah, Samuel's mother; Abraham and Sarah; Jacob, Rachel and Leah--there is no condemnation of polygamy.
David lost the good will of the Father when he committed the sin of murder; his and Bathsheba's first child died as a consequence. So David's sin was not overlooked, it was punished in a painful and poignant way.
Also, the consequences of sin are not always temporal. Sin separates us from the Holy Spirit and thus an understanding of the Father's will for us. Many people sin and are never punished, but we are assured that all wrongs will be righted. All will stand before God to be judged of their thoughts, words, and deeds, and face the eternal consequences of their choices. Thankfully, if we repent, that is, have faith in the infinite atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we will be able to stand joyfully before our Father and hear Him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful aservant: thou hast been bfaithful over a few things, I will make thee cruler over many things: enter thou into the djoy of thy lord." (Matt. 25:21)
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
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Another good book to read to get a different perspective on reading problems is "Why Our Children Can't Read and What We Can Do About It" by Diane McGuinness.
I second Ottakee's suggestion of the I See Sam books and the use of the notched card. Several studies from MIT confirm that this type of intervention, that is controlling the visual input as a student is reading, is extremely helpful.
Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)
Looking for suggestions for remedial phonics
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
My 10 y dd has really struggled with spelling and so I ditched all the curriculums and have gone to only dictation. It has done wonders. We have tried list-style programs only to see 100% on the tests and error in her writing. Her confidence has dramatically increased as she has to write a paragraph each day. Here is the general idea:
I pick out passages of 2-4 sentences. She reads the passage several times and notes which words might be difficult for her. I am working through selections from Hilyer's A Child's History of the World. Here's an example:
The passage is:
At first, however, our world, or Earth, was nothing but a ball of rock. This ball of rock was wrapped around with steam, like a heavy fog. Then the steam turned to rain, and it rained on the world, until it had filled up the hollows and made enormously big puddles. These puddles were the oceans. The dry places were bare rock.
First day: She reads the passage several times. She copies the passage. Then I dictate it to her. She misses these words: however, wrapped, heavy, hollows, enormously, puddles. We talk about the words: however is a combination of how and ever, wrapped (double the consonant when adding past tense -ed, I chose not to teach her about "short" and "long" so omitted discussing it at this time), -ous of enormously means "full of" so the word means full of enormity, etc.
She studies the words. I have her underline the spellings for each sound: wrapped would be wr a pp ed. She says the sounds as she writes. I have her write the words 5-10 times. Then she copies the passage, including all the corrected spelling words. This takes 4 tries. (She's a tough, lovable, brilliant, nut to crack!)
Second day: Dictate the passage. She misses: wrapped, hollows, enormously. Study again. Copy again. Oh, she can now say the passage verbatim.
Third day: She starts throwing in some omission errors: tured for turned, seam for steam, etc. and misses enormously. We talk about ways to remember enormously and she decides to read it as /e-nor-mouse-ly/as she studies the word. Studies words. Copies. Require her to reread her writings by sound then word rather than by word alone (I know that doesn't make much sense, but it sounds like /a/ /t/ /at/ /f/ /ir/ /s/ /t/ /first/ /ou/ /r/ /our/ . . . she hates it but she catches her letter omissions that way)
Fourth day: Gets it right. Now I am going to through her for a loop and have her write some sentences with the words she missed over the week. Misses hollows as "hollowes." We talk about adding -s for plurals (again).
Fifth day: Dictation and sentences. Gets them right.
Add another passage next week. I throw some old passages in on occasion for review.
This actually gets her learning more words than the list method, which at most I was doing 20 words a week. Some words she just has to go over and over and others she learns more quickly. I can see that this is working much better because her general writing is improving. She is also wanting to write more, I think because she is feeling more confident. She has to write so much now that it feels natural.
The list method worked as far as a spelling test went but would never seem to cross over into her writing. With the dictation method, it is, because she is practicing what she needs to be doing: writing words in context.
The benefits of this method are:
1) The words are learned in a meaningful context. Meaning and spelling are linked.
2) It is efficient. It eliminates the work that is not producing effect (lists and tests) and has them practicing the skills spelling is meant for (using the words in context).
3) Its free!
4) It focuses effort on the words the child does not know. Patterns and rules can be addressed as they come up, in a word specific way. For example, my daughter had the word 'edition' to work on and she missed the spelling of 'tion'. We talked about the meaning of the word-part 'tion' in which it changes a verb to a noun, connecting it to the word 'edit'. The /t/ sound of the word 'edit' helps remind her that the /sh/ sound in 'edition' is spelled with a 'ti'. If you don't feel confident with breaking words down yourself, a rule based spelling program used as a supplement would work. Just use the rule parts, not the spelling list parts. Keep track of the rules in a notebook and then you can refer to them as you work through words.
5) Frequently needed words are written over and over and over and over because they are in all the passages.
Melissa
Reading Program Junkie
dd(10) dd(6) ds(5) ds(1)