Visualizing and Verbalizing OR Idea Chain & Why?

[rafiki]

.

[peacefully]

So what did you decide? And why?

 

Just curious... Then again, I'm always curious about the VV and IC threads. :lurk5:

[merry gardens]

Yes, tell us what you decided.

 

Either way, I think you will be happy. :) They are both good programs based on similar principles and research.

 

I went with IdeaChain because it had phone support. Plus, I bought the whole IC program for the cost of the v/v training materials alone.

 

I have some v/v materials and we "dabbled" in v/v before I bought IC to go through the program start to finish. V/v has several products and books devoted to the later stages of visualizing paragraphs and stories, while IC ends after the sentence level. IC has a few other features to help develop memory that set it apart from v/v.

 

We probably will use some of the v/v workbooks simply as reading comprehension workbooks next year or at some point in the future. I like Lindamood-Bell products. (I use portions of their LiPS and Seeing Stars programs at home too.) If I buy some more v/v products in the future, it's not because I'm unhappy with IdeaChain--because I'm very happy with IdeaChain. Since IC does stop at the sentence level, we spend time building the critical steps of linking mental pictures with words and words with mental pictures. We skipped those important earlier steps when working with v/v materials previously because it's easier to rush through them or skip them altogether with v/v products. For my children (two whom struggle to get the right word more often than they should) I believe IdeaChain was a good choice. Plus, I wanted/needed either the phone support or more training.

[rafiki]

.

[PeterPan]

Merry, did you buy your IC stuff used??? It's almost $300 now with shipping, ack!

[merry gardens]

Merry, did you buy your IC stuff used??? It's almost $300 now with shipping, ack!

I bought it new. I got the whole IC program including phone support, for less than the cost of the v/v training dvds alone, (which I seriously considered buying.) The v/v kit without the training dvd's is around $400 plus shipping, compared to around $300 for IdeaChain. I went with IC's payment plan, which split the cost into two payments over two months.

 

While both these programs are expensive, it is still much cheaper than hiring a tutor. Part of the cost for the dyslexia programs I use includes teaching me how to teach my child. It seems less expensive if I look at these pricey special educational as "teacher training." Even those costly v/v training dvd's that I thought about buying are far cheaper than university teacher-training classes on special education.

 

IC offers phone support too, so I justified part of the program's cost as "consultant fees" in my mind. I've called Jane Wilkinson a couple of times to ask questions, like if we're ready to move on to the next lesson. I've discuss my children's progress with her program a bit. She's always been great to talk to, and she's either answered the phone right away or returned my calls promptly.

[PeterPan]

Ahh, makes sense! And yes, that's where we're at with therapy stuff too. It's just too expensive to pay someone else to do stuff we can do ourselves if they just teach us HOW.

[merry gardens]

Oh, dear. Well, after MONTHS and MONTHS of pondering, taking time to clear my head, and coming back to it. I KNOW it's what my ds needs.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with either. I basically went with my instinct on what would fit US best.

 

I really, really wanted to try IC. However, I was hesitant due to not being able to see ANY samples, even with their money back guarentee and the fact that I had emailed them a couple questions and got NO response. I was leaning that way because it's supposed to be more user-friendly. I didn't have anything concrete to compare IC and V/V, other then knowing IdeaChain only goes through the Sentence level and uses hand gestures. My ds is very resistant to change and transitions, so I wanted to pick something and stick with it. V/V simple went further and had more options to customize it for him as he progresses.

 

I watched the You Tube V/V video - twice once just watching, the second time taking notes. So I have an overview of the program. I have the Gander Publishing Catalog in hand, have read that over and over and the Gander Publishing Website has even more samples.

 

I saw lots of possible ways "do" V/V.

 

I could order the:

Picture to Picture Easel

Word Imaging Easel

and Imagine That! Giant Set!

All of which have scripting on the back. This would take us through paragraph level visualizing. It would cost $100 less than IdeaChain as well. I decided against this because the Giant Sets are grade specific (I have three kids who will likely use it.), and I don't believe the Giant Set has HOTS.

 

By looking at page 22 and 23 in the catalog I could see what the flow of the program would be using the V/V kit, workbooks, and Giant Books. That was quite helpful as the kit appears more sequential and complete.

 

What I ended up deciding was to buy the pieces of the kit that I would use, not the "helpful" misc. pieces.

So I bought the V/V manual

Picture to Picture Easel

Word Imaging Book (Easel)

Sentence by Sentence Easel Books.

Set of Storeis 1-3 that go from grades K-8 and has HOTS (Be careful if you do this to get the set as it's cheaper that way then adding each individually to the cart, but it's under a different tab on their site.) So I saved $66 off the price of the kit, but cutting out my own felt squares and writing the structure words on index cards myself.

 

More info than you probably cared to read. Now I sit and hope I made the right choices.

That sounds great! Enjoy using them with your family!