What to do with DS after he completes VT? (curriculuar)

[my2boysteacher]

DS just started VT for an over-convergence problem. Background: When he reads to himself, he reads well (at or above grade level) with great comprehension. However, he has a very difficult time reading aloud. He looses his place frequently and has almost no comprehension of what he read. He also CANNOT spell, and writing is very difficult for him.

I have decided to take a break from any formal spelling/writing curriculum while he undergoes 6 months of VT. He still enjoys reading silently every day.

However, after VT I'm wondering: do I start all over at the beginning with him doing letter sounds, phonics, etc, or should I continue with what we've been doing which is third grade level spelling and writing?

I'm just trying to get a feel for what curriculum I should plan for him to use next semester.

Thanks!

[rafiki]

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[my2boysteacher]

Your boy sounds so much like my just turned 11 y/o. He too over-converges. He is an excellent silent reader and enjoys reading. He does not like to read aloud and struggles with spelling and writing.

 

He's been making good progress with Apples & Pears and IEW's SWI, however we stopped them to focus on VT. I just reintroduced spelling in the past week, but at a slower pace) because he seemed ready for more schoolwork (he only has about 2 weeks left of VT), I'm holding off on writing though. He also reads (his choice of book for now) and does math daily in addition to the VT homework.

 

I'm not going to start back at the beginning with him, we're just going to pick up where we left off, gently at first, finding his pace and see how it goes.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll look into Apples & Pears. Is it a spelling program, or a whole Language Arts program? It is funny you mentioned IEW because I just pulled this out and tried the first lesson with him. I was trying to decide if he was ready for it, and he really enjoyed it. I think I'll add that to his line-up next semester. He LOVES to write, not the physical aspect obviously, but creating poems and stories. His goal for next semester is to write a book. : ) I think we'll need to teach keyboarding to make that a reality. Thanks again!

[rafiki]

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[Dobela]

DS just started VT for an over-convergence problem. Background: When he reads to himself, he reads well (at or above grade level) with great comprehension. However, he has a very difficult time reading aloud. He looses his place frequently and has almost no comprehension of what he read. He also CANNOT spell, and writing is very difficult for him.

I have decided to take a break from any formal spelling/writing curriculum while he undergoes 6 months of VT. He still enjoys reading silently every day.

However, after VT I'm wondering: do I start all over at the beginning with him doing letter sounds, phonics, etc, or should I continue with what we've been doing which is third grade level spelling and writing?

I'm just trying to get a feel for what curriculum I should plan for him to use next semester.

Thanks!

For my son it was very important that we begin again at the beginning with phonics and all that. This was for a kid turning 9 that had 3 years of phonics instruction prior to VT. His vision issues meant that while he could read sight words, he was unable to connect individual sounds to letters. Before vision therapy he rarely saw the same letter twice, or even the same word for that matter due to tracking, depth, and other issues. When we backed up to the beginning we were astounded that while he could orally tell us that "a" made the following sounds, when he saw that 'a' on paper he could not consistently prodice the correct sounds. He had some other odd phonetic gaps as well that we attributed to vision also.

[my2boysteacher]

For my son it was very important that we begin again at the beginning with phonics and all that. This was for a kid turning 9 that had 3 years of phonics instruction prior to VT. His vision issues meant that while he could read sight words, he was unable to connect individual sounds to letters. Before vision therapy he rarely saw the same letter twice, or even the same word for that matter due to tracking, depth, and other issues. When we backed up to the beginning we were astounded that while he could orally tell us that "a" made the following sounds, when he saw that 'a' on paper he could not consistently prodice the correct sounds. He had some other odd phonetic gaps as well that we attributed to vision also.

 

See, that is what I'm wondering about my DS. Is he going to see letters and words that much differently that we should start back at the beginning? Thanks for sharing your opinion. I guess we'll have to wait a few months and see what kind of outcome we achieve.

[Dobela]

See, that is what I'm wondering about my DS. Is he going to see letters and words that much differently that we should start back at the beginning? Thanks for sharing your opinion. I guess we'll have to wait a few months and see what kind of outcome we achieve.

Every child is different so I can't make a blanket statement but for our son his change in vision was so dramatic that waiting made a big difference. We began VT in March and started with his new reading tutor in July. By the end of August the reading tutor could tell such a difference in his vision she was amazed. That was also when he really started moving quickly thru the program. The tutor used the Scottish Rite program for dyslexics and told us to expect a minimum of 2 years to complete the program. Once he started moving thru it he finished in 16 months.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I hadn't considered that aspect. Ds hasn't 't up until now willingly read anything excepting Capt. Underpants. I guess i'll have to wait and see where we end up.