sixpence1978 Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I recently had to switch my moderately dyslexic DD from AAS to A&P for spelling. Up until now, we were also using AAS to fill in any holes in her reading, but it really wasn't helping with her spelling or her reading. She is now in third grade and reading on "grade level", but not very accurately. She still could use some review and work on some decoding skills. She went through Abeka phonics in K, Saxon Phonics 1 in private school for 1st grade, and then we were using AAS last year for 2nd grade. She has had extensive phonics, but nothing has really sunk in. She still will struggle with vowel teams. I was mostly interested in this program because she learns really well when things have a memory hook (like the phonetic farm) and lots of fun review (like the games). She is definitely a Sociable Sue and likes things to be interactive and fun. We are currently using Phonics Pathways, but not having a daily checklist or schedule doesn't really fit my teaching style. I do like having things laid out and activities already planned. So would this program move too quickly for someone needing mostly just more practice and review? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseofkids&pets Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I can't really answer your questions since we are still fairly new to the whole diagnosis of dyslexia. We are currently using Barton Reading and Spelling Level 1. I just wanted to suggest that you cross post this to the special needs board on WTM. I am really learning quite a bit as a "lurker" about dyslexia and what programs are out there for parents to use at home. There are many moms (and dads!) on this site who are very experienced and can offer you great insight into different interventions. Good luck to you:001_smile: Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpence1978 Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 Thanks Michelle. I do post somewhat more frequently on the Special Needs board. That is what led me to giving A&P a try when we were having so much trouble with getting AAS to stick. As far as I know, nobody that posts there frequently uses PAL, which is why I thought I would try here first. I seem to recall somebody saying that it was working well with their dyslexic 3rd grader. I briefly looked at Barton, but my DD just doesn't quite need that level of intervention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Ok, I'm drawing a blank. What's the name of the new spin-off program from SWR, the one written by a former trainer. She had what looked like a very good book of phonogram games that was only $15. You need to play some games with those and get them to the point of automaticity. Also, if you think she doesn't need all the way to Barton (and AAS was too slow), then I'd look at SWR or WRTR. Both are going to give her the phonogram-based approach she needs but do it in a faster and more affordable context. The other thing I did with dd that was vital was putting the words we had spelled and written together onto flashcards. You have her practice reading those flashcards to build automaticity. Read the Eide's book "Dyslexic Advantage." There's a huge gap between processing and automaticity in these kids, and it shows up in decoding and math. So while you want her to understand the process, you really have to take extra measures to build that automaticity. For us it was flashcards of the SWR words we had done together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my2boysteacher Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 How many levels of A&Ps did you complete? My son has had tremendous success with it, and we are only finishing the first level. It may not be 'confetti and streamers' fun, but it is effective, which is more important in my book. Have you had her vision tested? I thought my son had dyslexia until someone on the board here recommended a vision exam. Turns out his eyes were over converging, giving him a lot of the same symptoms of dyslexia. Now that he has completed Vision Therapy we are still using A&P, because even though we have seen tremendous improvement, I still suspect some dyslexia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 How many levels of A&Ps did you complete? My son has had tremendous success with it, and we are only finishing the first level. It may not be 'confetti and streamers' fun, but it is effective, which is more important in my book. Have you had her vision tested? I thought my son had dyslexia until someone on the board here recommended a vision exam. Turns out his eyes were over converging, giving him a lot of the same symptoms of dyslexia. Now that he has completed Vision Therapy we are still using A&P, because even though we have seen tremendous improvement, I still suspect some dyslexia. Yeah!!! I love hearing stories of people getting helped by VT. When the dc needs it, it can be life-changing. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Another Fast Track Dancing Bears user.:iagree: The stories are horrible!!! (which makes ds8 want to read them:lol:) The format of the decoding pages is working very well. My ds has known his phonics for a long LONG time, but couldn't read with any fluency at ALL! The Fast Track book is intensive practice using those phonics patterns, spiralling review as you go. It takes us about 10-15min a day, and his reading outside of those lessons is SO much better. He wouldn't stick out in a PS classroom at this point (for slow reading anyway...:tongue_smilie:). Word Mastery is very good too, and free. It's thorough, but Fast Track is better at the spiralling review (which is VITAL for my ds) and it has sentences (and weird stories). Ha, we are taking a break from A&P for a bit and using Word Mastery for spelling. We'll go back to A&P after Christmas (crazy times irl call for streamlining;)), but I do like Word Mastery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoGal Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 I think if she is reading on level for third grade, PAL reading would be too easy for her. What is she having trouble with? Instead of finding another curriculum, I would focus on just those things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpence1978 Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 We are just using A&P Book A right now. So far it is helping her see the patterns in spelling better. No matter how much review we did (and we did a lot), the rules in AAS just wouldn't stick. We do still use the AAS flashcards for phonograms, and she will say all the sounds without hesitation (except of a few). It's applying them to reading where she struggles. We also do quite a few games from Peggy Kaye books to further play with the phonograms. I did take a look at Dancing Bears and found it really interesting. I had mostly dismissed it because of the stories, but maybe it would be okay. Maybe I need to look a bit closer at it again. She is just such a story girl I was wondering if PAL would stick a bit better. She has gone through VT already. It helped her vision issues, but she still has dyslexia. We are also using HearBuilder's Auditory Memory software a few times a week and doing some other Auditory and Expressive Language exercises during the week. So I feel we have all those bases covered, but getting to the reading practice hasn't really been happening and I know that it is something we need to work on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 We are just using A&P Book A right now. So far it is helping her see the patterns in spelling better. No matter how much review we did (and we did a lot), the rules in AAS just wouldn't stick. We do still use the AAS flashcards for phonograms, and she will say all the sounds without hesitation (except of a few). It's applying them to reading where she struggles. We also do quite a few games from Peggy Kaye books to further play with the phonograms. We did SWR before finding Dancing Bears/Apples&Pears. Believe me, my ds8 KNOWS those phonograms.:tongue_smilie: Fast Track is kinda forcing their application, but gently enough that he can manage 10-15min of it (esp if he's rewarded with an M&M for every line attempted). You can skip the stories. The magic is in those lines of words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpence1978 Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 How far up does Dancing Bears make it? Right now she needs practice with vowels, but eventually we will also need some help with the more advanced phonics like ough, eigh, tion, etc. I am liking the 10-15 minutes a day idea. She doesn't need that much work, but she does need something consistent with lots of review. That's one of my problems with working through PP. I got it because we could just read a page or so a day, but there just doesn't seem to be quite enough practice and review for her without reading the same page over and over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 How far up does Dancing Bears make it? Right now she needs practice with vowels, but eventually we will also need some help with the more advanced phonics like ough, eigh, tion, etc. I am liking the 10-15 minutes a day idea. She doesn't need that much work, but she does need something consistent with lots of review. That's one of my problems with working through PP. I got it because we could just read a page or so a day, but there just doesn't seem to be quite enough practice and review for her without reading the same page over and over. Go to the website and click on the links underneath the pictures. You can see the entire books there and decide if it's something that will fit...and where you should start. Fast track starts with CVC words and *quickly* moves on to multi-letter phonograms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 You might want to try the School Phonics Workbooks, the 2 student books are all you need to buy since you've taught some phonics, the teacher's manual is only necessary for a beginning teacher. You can see some samples online: http://www.didax.com/shop/searchresults.cfm/BrandID/7.cfm It starts with long vowels, so you will be working with your trouble areas right away, but starting out slowly and gently and then moving along. Here are the sample pages from the 1st workbook, later on the sentences become stories. http://www.didax.com/schoolphonics/studentbook.cfm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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