Son just dx w/ Dyslexia...not sure what to use. Help!

[DaisyMay]

My 12 yr. old son was just diagnosed with dyslexia and I'm searching for what to use with him.

 

Just to give a little background... he can read and loves to do it. He's currently re-reading the PenDragon books. His comprehension is good, but he glosses over many words. He cannot read large words well, but is smart enough to figure out what they mean. When he reads aloud it sounds very choppy.

 

His spelling, writing (composition), and handwriting are all terrible.

 

We are currently doing level 4 of AAS, and have just started on MegaWords, level 1. He's doing HWT. We've been doing BJU English & Reading, but I don't think it's really sticking.

 

I'm looking at possibly Wilson, Rewards, or ABeCeDarian. Barton is way too expensive. I don't really know much about any of those programs, or whatever other options are out there. I also am looking for a grammar/writing program.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

Thanks so much!

Gayle

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[lisabees]

My 12 yr. old son was just diagnosed with dyslexia and I'm searching for what to use with him.

 

Just to give a little background... he can read and loves to do it. He's currently re-reading the PenDragon books. His comprehension is good, but he glosses over many words. He cannot read large words well, but is smart enough to figure out what they mean. When he reads aloud it sounds very choppy.

 

His spelling, writing (composition), and handwriting are all terrible.

 

We are currently doing level 4 of AAS, and have just started on MegaWords, level 1. He's doing HWT. We've been doing BJU English & Reading, but I don't think it's really sticking.

 

I'm looking at possibly Wilson, Rewards, or ABeCeDarian. Barton is way too expensive. I don't really know much about any of those programs, or whatever other options are out there. I also am looking for a grammar/writing program.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

Thanks so much!

Gayle

 

HUGS Gayle. My 13 year old son is dyslexic and it takes a while to research about the condition, as well the curricula out there. For your son, I would not do Wilson or Barton. How wonderful that he can read and loves to!

 

My son was reading at a 4th grade level in the summer. We used REWARDS Secondary with great success - he jumped by 2 grade levels. It will work with the multi-syllabic words and fluency. It does touch on vocab and comprehension. Shari is selling it on the Sale Board. I think you would still need to buy the workbook.

 

Along with doing REWARDS, I reviewed phonograms daily and had him read Don Potter's Blend Phonics Reader with a notched card (using the notched card for only a week or two). I also used nonsense words. My ds needed to retrain his brain to actually read the words, instead of making them up or skipping over them.

 

For spelling, I use Megawords and Spelling Through Morphographs. His spelling has improved greatly. I bought STM on ebay - it has really been wonderful for him. More than Megawords. It uses a multi-pronged approach, which is what he needs. Oh - we also do copywork and dictation every day (this will help with handwriting as well). Whatever you use, make sure you also have him spell the words out loud, as well as naming the words that YOU spell out loud. Very important to teaching him sequential order.

 

We struggled with writing, until recently. We used IEW, but we both needed more handholding and I just didn't see any difference in his writing. Write Shop has been awesome. We have only been using it for a month, but he has already written three fabulous paragraphs. It is so explicit and incremental and gives him the exact tools needed to craft great sentences. More importantly, it gave me the direction with which to guide him through the process. Some have a problem with the Teacher's Manual, but I really haven't found it to be a problem at all. I LOVE this program.

 

I also use Thinking in Threes and Killgallon's Sentence Composing for Middle School.

 

Hmmm. Grammar. We are using Junior Analytical Grammar. It is a struggle for him. We tried the regular AG, but the vocabulary was way too difficult. Many recommend Winston Grammar for dyslexics because of the visual learning via cards.

 

Good luck. It can seem like a long road. ;)

[Mom-ninja.]

If you go with ABeCeDarian you'd proably just need level C and D. We are doing level C right now. C goes into multisyllable words and prefixes/suffixes. Level D goes into Greek and Latin roots. I'm on the ABCD email list, and many recommend doing REWARDS after finishing ABCD. So depending on your son's ability you may be able to go straight to REWARDS.

[EKS]

REWARDS is fabulous. I'd follow up with some fluency reading (The Six Minute Solution and Read Naturally are examples). Does he know how to type? If not, I'd work on that. The difference in my (dyslexic) son's ability to express himself in writing when he uses the word processor is astounding.

[ElizabethB]

You could try my online phonics lessons and Webster's Speller, they're free!

 

Also, I have spelling rules and syllable division exercises that might be helpful linked at the end of my how to tutor page.

 

Some of my remedial older students like my phonics game, it makes nonsense words, which as Lisabees mentioned, can be helpful. All my adult students like the game, but some junior high/high school students think it too young for them.

[*~Tina~*]

I used Wilson (NOT Fundations), we took a short break to complete Rewards Intermediate after the completion of Step 4, then went straight back to Wilson. We are now working through Megawords, which has been a great follow-up, keeping with the same teaching of the structure of language, and serving as a perfect continuation and reinforcement.

 

This is a link to a post comparing Wilson and Barton, it might give you a little more information on Wilson.

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13713

 

And I have a review of Rewards on my blog. . .

 

http://seasonsoflearning.blogspot.com/search/label/Curriculum%20Reviews'>http://seasonsoflearning.blogspot.com/search/label/Curriculum%20Reviews'>http://seasonsoflearning.blogspot.com/search/label/Curriculum%20Reviews'>http://seasonsoflearning.blogspot.com/search/label/Curriculum%20Reviews

 

I thought all of the programs above meshed well together. While not all kids needs so much ongoing instruction, those that struggle with memory and retention need all the continuation and reinforcement they can get :001_smile:

 

 

Blessings,

¸.·´ .·´¨¨))

((¸¸.·´ .·´ -:¦:-Tina ~

-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*

http://seasonsoflearning.blogspot.com/

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HeartofReading

[scrapbookbuzz]

My daughter is dyslexic, as well. I have her use Scrabble tiles to do her spelling (since she's also a kinesthetic (hands on) learner and it's hard for her to write sometimes. She spells much better, I think, using the AVKO (Sequential Spelling) books and spelling with the tiles. Sometimes I also have her do her math worksheets on mathfactcafedotcom as it's easier for her to read vertical equations than horizontal equations. AND I give her lots of 3 to 5 minute breaks, to give her brain a break! :^)

[my4boysmom]

Hugs to you is the first thing I want to say to you. I have two dyslexic boys and I tried Wilson and found it overwhelming. I never tried Barton but have access to it. It was an expense that we couldn't do.

 

I'm using Phonics Tutor, it was referred by a friend and it has been great. I found it used. It's super simple teaching reading in a completely different sequence and all the info is sticking. It starts at the beginning and goes up from there. We started at the beginning but you can go over the beginning to see if he has all of those words mastered. It's possible that his skimming may be because he hasn't mastered some of those words or can't remember. I am not sure but this is what my 10 yo did and later he told me it was because he couldn't remember. I think it's truly wonderful he reads and loves to read. It's great.

 

We used scrabble as well but the words didn't stick for us but it's a great way to review words that have been mastered as it's kinesthetic and that works for us. The other thing that works well for hands on learning is writing on a small chalkboard for spelling. It makes it fun to write but with your son being 12 he may not like it. My 10 yo has awful writing and we use HWT too. We do spelling tests orally and talk about the meaning of the words. He does awesome at tests that way. My older son does also.

 

I've learned a lot from my 19 yo because he's a self advocate and does well explaining how he learns. He taught himself math. lol

[Flaura]

We were in a similar situation with my son. We did REWARDS and that helped tremendously. We are currently doing Megawords and spelling through morphographs. I love STM and highly reccomend it. I am not sure about writing, I haven't found anything that works yet. We do daily reading outloud to check his decoding skills and get him out of the guessing habit. Winston grammar is supposed to be good. JAG was just too difficult for us.

 

Hth

Laura

[DaisyMay]

Thanks so much for all the helpful replies! I've been really in kind of a daze since the dx because I've been in denial that my ds has a problem. I kept thinking he would outgrow it.... we could just work through it.... etc......etc..... I didn't want to face that there was a real issue.

 

I think the AAS is working, although it's getting much tougher for him. He's just in the first book of MegaWords, but I think that will help him as well.

 

I'm leaning toward trying AbeCeDarian C & D, and then moving to Rewards. I think Wilson might be a step backward since he is already reading. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but we started AAS from level 1 and he zipped through levels 1, 2, & 3.

 

I really appreciate the advise from those who have btdt!

 

Thanks!

Gayle