An open invitation to parents of learning-challenged kids (xposted)

[Susan Wise Bauer]

We are gathering material for an update of The Well-Trained Mind (as some of you mentioned in the curriculum-discovery thread). A number of you on that thread--and many parents over the last ten years--have asked for specific advice on following the classical program with learning-challenged kids.

 

I have my own opinions on this subject :001_smile:, and I'm not sure we can get an extra chapter into any later edition of the book, but I'll pitch the idea at my editor and see what he says.

 

In the meantime: would those of you who deal with this challenge be willing to post your own thoughts? If I were to include a chapter in TWTM, I'd want the voices of experienced parents to be heard. I will, of course, ask your permission before including anything written on this board.

 

So let me know what you think.

 

SWB

[Elm in NJ]

My ds(12) has Asperger's and is completely spelling-challenged. Apples and Pears , though expensive, has been great for him. I have also found that workbook type activites has been good. We have used CLE maths and CLE reading. He tolerates these but they are getting the job done. He also used the PASS guides in Middle School(history and Science) and Paradigmn Accelerated Curriculum agian History and Science). Writing has been a challenge but this will be his third class with Home2teach and so far, he is holding his own. For high school next year, I am at a loss at the moment, but Math Relief is looking good.

 

Elmeryl

[Stacy in NJ]

I think it's a difficult challenge to recommend curriculum to parents teaching kids with LD's. They vary so much, both the kids and the LD's, that what is a solid program for one is inappropriate for another. That said, here are some publishers that specialize in remedial/intervention programs that are widely used both by homeschoolers and schools:

 

SRA McGraw Hill - Spelling Mastery, Corrective Reading, https://www.sraonline.com/products.html?PHPSESSID=ce34cc4cdc1df84f879772bce51eaa92&tid=9

 

Sopris West - REWARDS program for reading intervention, http://www.sopriswest.com/

 

Curriculum Associates: http://www.curriculumassociates.com/default.asp?Type=SCH&CustId=2287290217306210954123

 

EPS Books: http://www.epsbooks.com/

 

Adding some additional information:

 

International Dyslexia Association: http://www.interdys.org/

 

Schwab Learning: http://www.schwablearning.org/

 

 

I think what might me most helpful within TWTM is a qualifier, a section explaining that not all the recommended strategies and curriculum are going to be appropriate for all students, that developing an underlying understanding of your child's abilities is as important as the curriulum/method you use.

 

Also, I think relating personal experience helps to inspire others. If you have or know a child that has some struggles and have worked with them, including YOUR experience would be helpful. Rebecca Rupp in her resouce book tells about the difficulty her middle son had learning to read.

 

HTH, Stacy (teaching ds11 dyslexic, ds9 ADHD/Tourettes Syndrome)

[genie]

Another huge Apples and Pears fan here. It has worked for my spelling-challenged daughter like no other program out there. Rewards by Sopris West helped her with reading, too.

[EKS]

I think it would be wonderful to include a chapter on classical education with learning challenged children. I would expect that much of the chapter would be about general modifications that could be made, such as reading *everything* aloud to a dyslexic child (except for reading lessons, of course) until they can manage on their own.

 

Two specific programs that have helped my 12 yo (who has dyslexia) are Sequential Spelling and the REWARDS reading program (by Sopris West). SS is easy to implement and seems to be working. REWARDS actually caused his reading level to improve by 5 grade levels.

 

My son has overcome many of the challenges that his dyslexia poses for him specifically because of the advice I have received (and overheard) on the Special Needs board. He would not be where he is today if it weren't for those folks over there. I am grateful to all of them and also to you for providing a space on these boards to address special needs in the context of a rigorous education.

 

I guess my point is that there is much that is worth quoting on the Special Needs board and a chapter in TWTM on special needs, even if it wasn't able to address much in the way of specific curricula, would serve to give parents of special needs kids "permission" to modify, sometimes quite radically, what is in TWTM to suit the needs of their children.

[stephanie]

Math U See solved ds13's problems here! It was exactly what he needed! He's ADHD/SPD and has what diagnosticians call a Language deficit. MUS took things slowly, breaking them down which was just what he needed as opposed to a spiral approach. He's absolutely confident in his math abilities now as opposed to feeling defeated. I've found that he does much better even on his old math curriculum when I pull it out for review. I think it's a mixture of being confident in his abilities as well as just fundamentally understanding math now.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

We are gathering material for an update of The Well-Trained Mind (as some of you mentioned in the curriculum-discovery thread). A number of you on that thread--and many parents over the last ten years--have asked for specific advice on following the classical program with learning-challenged kids.

 

I have my own opinions on this subject :001_smile:, and I'm not sure we can get an extra chapter into any later edition of the book, but I'll pitch the idea at my editor and see what he says.

 

In the meantime: would those of you who deal with this challenge be willing to post your own thoughts? If I were to include a chapter in TWTM, I'd want the voices of experienced parents to be heard. I will, of course, ask your permission before including anything written on this board.

 

So let me know what you think.

 

SWB

 

I have found that the dd who's dyslexic benefited from continuing copywork and dictation much longer than typically recommended. An emphasis on poetry and famous speech excerpt recitation through the middle grades was highly beneficial as well. IEW's (??) Phonetic Zoo was amazingly helpful in improving spelling across the board (not simply with words studied). I think the listening component, particularly via headphones, made the difference. And finally, the study of Latin (not just roots and stems) gave great confidence that she would not be a hopeless foreign language learner because of the (optional) absence of the spoken component.

[Kelli in TN]

I don't know that I need curriculum specific advice as much as I need guidance on how to modify. I very much want my son to be able to follow the same course as his siblings, but I know that I have to made modifications. It would be hard to make a lot of specific curriculum guidelines when special needs covers such a huge variation of learning weaknesses and strengths.

 

Some of the advice I have received through this board about having a paper trail and knowing how and where to seek help and therapy might be good for a chapter on special needs.

[abbeyej]

One thing that I think is mentioned or at least alluded to in previous editions, but that was really important for my younger sister has been the use of audio books. She struggled mightily to learn to read and later to become fluent, and even now (about to begin her senior year in high school), she must read aloud to herself if she really wants the information to transfer from the page to her brain...

 

My mother was committed to reading aloud to her, certainly, but S did not have the years and years of reading real books to herself that most of us believe to be so vitally important for our kids. So my mom supplemented that deficit with audio books. Not "every now and then" as I do with my (voracious reading) kids, but *constantly*. They used the library, they used eBay... She listened to picture books and children's books and classics, and she listened to her favorites over and over again, memorizing whole chapters with little effort.

 

Even though the act of *reading* was an enormous -- almost physical -- challenge to her, through endless audiobooks, she gained the love for story, the ear for good language, and a tremendous vocabulary that most of us think comes in large part from reading to oneself.

 

By the time she got to high school, she could read whatever she wanted to, though still more slowly than her peers. (And, as I said before, she continues to rely on hearing it aloud -- even if it's her own voice -- to really grasp complex material.) She has gone to a classical high school and won awards for her writing, which Mom attributes almost entirely to her internalization of so many wonderful books -- many more than Mom could ever have read aloud to her, or S could have read to herself in those early years. She received the highest score in her school on the writing portion of the PSAT. This is so amazing to us all, after watching her struggle for years...

 

I think often times we think of audiobooks as "second best", or as a "poor substitute" for "actual reading". And perhaps, in some cases, that may be true... For my sister, I think she can attribute a huge part of her education to audiobooks... Certainly her vocabulary, her love of story, her own ability to structure words into good writing...

[hsmamainva]

Thank you so much for considering this!!!

 

I have two children on the autism spectrum - one who is 14 and one who is 6.

 

I'd love for it to include alternative resources. For example, if your child has a disability which makes it hard for him to study Latin using "xyz" curriculum, perhaps "abc" would be a good alterative (i.e., instead of Latina Christiana, perhaps Vocabulary from Classical Roots would be appropriate).

 

Another suggestion would be in the area of learning how to read. My oldest son could *not* tell the difference in the phonetic sounds, so he struggled through every phonics-based reading program I tried. We found success with AlphaPhonics, which uses a word-ladder approach for reading (ball, call, hall, tall, wall, etc)

 

Handwriting Without Tears has been a wonderful resource for handwriting (and it was designed by an occupational therapist).

 

Natural Speller has been terrific for spelling because it also uses a word-ladder approach for spelling vs pure phonetics.

 

Math-U-See worked well for my son during his younger years, and he's doing beautifully in the upper grades with Teaching Textbooks.

 

Rod & Staff has worked well for him for English, because there's so much review and the black and white pages aren't distracting for him. (A child who is distracted by color, and needs a lot of drill, might also consider Rod & Staff for math as well).

[happygrrl]

I want to second Math-U-See. My ds has difficulties with transition, so the spiral approach of math programs was torture. Sometimes I have no idea why a curriculum bombs with us. My ds took a serious dislike to Cheryl (or was it Leigh?) Lowe on the Prima Latina DVD's. Perhaps it was an inaudible-to-us echo in the production? At any rate, we had to work hard to explain that the problem was not with Latin itself, and one does not have to hide under the couch when the word 'Latin' is uttered. We are doing Lively Latin now and it is working great. Ds does not love it, but he is retaining it! History is a subject of obsession around here. We like the SOTW books (thank you, SWB) and also the history encyclopedias (like Usborne and Kingfisher). Rod and Staff grammar has also been great; the simple straightforward approach and B&W layout works well. When I see my son diagramming sentences I get all misty-eyed (OK, he will only write the first letter of the words in the sentence, but they are in the correct position on the diagram!! Whoopeee!)

 

I agree that *permission* to change the program is important. There are so many complex emotions a parent goes through when choosing curriculum for their LD child (A parent might be afraid to try classical ed. because they don't want to set their child up for incompletion i.e. failure, or they are still fighting their fears about the diagnosis, etc.). When all of that settles, the knowledge that there *is* an education path that is good for the child... wow! That is really liberating.

[oceandaughter]

 

I think what might me most helpful within TWTM is a qualifier, a section explaining that not all the recommended strategies and curriculum are going to be appropriate for all students, that developing an underlying understanding of your child's abilities is as important as the curriulum/method you use.

 

:iagree:

 

Yeah, what she said.

 

Jo

[oceandaughter]

Another parent of a non-phonics user.

 

We haven't had a formal diagnosis yet but it is more than obvious that phonics instruction just will not work for my son with learning differences.

 

Also a few words about where to turn for help (especially secular homeschooling for special needs groups, I've yet to find one) would be good. We've used our local school system and a local therapy center (speech, occupational, and physical). Perhaps book reccomendations as well.

 

I think it wouldn't make sense to mention all learning differences (I prefer that term to disabilty) or try to briefly explain them, but just some ideas about where to turn and some reassurance that while one method might work really well for a lot of children, (like say phonics) it doesn't work for every child and that with careful searching and advocating for your child, you can find a way to help them learn the way that works best for them.

 

Forgive my grammatical errors. You get what I'm saying I hope.

 

Jo

[swellmomma]

I have 3 learning challenged kids, I have found the biggest obstacle to a classical education with them was my own expectations. As a mother I always want the very best for and from them. It took me time to step back and realize they were doing the best they could with their specific needs and I needed to slow the bus down and work with them rather than pushing them too hard. I think more than giving a list of specific resources the chapter(if you can fit it in) should emphasize teaching the child at the pace that is suitable for the child, not pushing the child too fast. For example, my oldest son is entering grade 5, and should theoretically be moving out of the grammar stage, HOWEVER given his particular needs he is delayed by as much as a couple years in the development of those thought processes and is not ready to leave the grammar stage just yet. My youngest son, has SPD with fine motor delays, I will have to do 95% of his work orally until his skills catch up, which means a delay to things like copywork/dictation, spelling, etc. and that is okay.

[happygrrl]

I have 3 learning challenged kids, I have found the biggest obstacle to a classical education with them was my own expectations. As a mother I always want the very best for and from them. It took me time to step back and realize they were doing the best they could with their specific needs and I needed to slow the bus down and work with them rather than pushing them too hard. I think more than giving a list of specific resources the chapter(if you can fit it in) should emphasize teaching the child at the pace that is suitable for the child, not pushing the child too fast.

 

What she said! I actually had a huge mourning process, complete with all the "stages of grief", after reading TWTM the first time! It was great, and caused me to snap to reality. Reality: my ds' path will be different- no better, no worse, just different- than what I expected. When I really "got" that it made a radical difference.

[Stacy in NJ]

One thing that I think is mentioned or at least alluded to in previous editions, but that was really important for my younger sister has been the use of audio books.

 

Yep, audio books are a big part of our life. They are expensive, but, fortunately, most libraries have a decent selection, not to mention audible online.

 

Abbey, congratulations to your sister on her PSAT writing score. :001_smile:

This kind of victory is doubly sweet.

[Quiver0f10]

 

Some of the advice I have received through this board about having a paper trail and knowing how and where to seek help and therapy might be good for a chapter on special needs.

 

And also when to seek help. I remember thinking my son would just get it one day. Better late then early etc. I feel like I wasted time instead of seeking help earlier.

[Jen500]

I think what might me most helpful within TWTM is a qualifier, a section explaining that not all the recommended strategies and curriculum are going to be appropriate for all students, that developing an underlying understanding of your child's abilities is as important as the curriulum/method you use.

 

 

I agree--and this applies to gifted kids too. I avoid many educational resources because they don't even seem to acknowledge the special needs of gifted kids.

[Tammyla]

My experience has been with a delayed reader who is mildly dyslexic.

 

Delaying the schedules in the WTM helped tremendously. However, there was always a feeling of being behind. Copy-work also works well along with Mega Words, SS and lots of practice. Latin never clicked here, but EFTRU was helpful and not stressful.

 

We are gathering material for an update of The Well-Trained Mind (as some of you mentioned in the curriculum-discovery thread). A number of you on that thread--and many parents over the last ten years--have asked for specific advice on following the classical program with learning-challenged kids.

 

I have my own opinions on this subject :001_smile:, and I'm not sure we can get an extra chapter into any later edition of the book, but I'll pitch the idea at my editor and see what he says.

 

In the meantime: would those of you who deal with this challenge be willing to post your own thoughts? If I were to include a chapter in TWTM, I'd want the voices of experienced parents to be heard. I will, of course, ask your permission before including anything written on this board.

 

So let me know what you think.

 

SWB

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

One thing that I think is mentioned or at least alluded to in previous editions, but that was really important for my younger sister has been the use of audio books. She struggled mightily to learn to read and later to become fluent, and even now (about to begin her senior year in high school), she must read aloud to herself if she really wants the information to transfer from the page to her brain...

 

My mother was committed to reading aloud to her, certainly, but S did not have the years and years of reading real books to herself that most of us believe to be so vitally important for our kids. So my mom supplemented that deficit with audio books. Not "every now and then" as I do with my (voracious reading) kids, but *constantly*. They used the library, they used eBay... She listened to picture books and children's books and classics, and she listened to her favorites over and over again, memorizing whole chapters with little effort.

 

Even though the act of *reading* was an enormous -- almost physical -- challenge to her, through endless audiobooks, she gained the love for story, the ear for good language, and a tremendous vocabulary that most of us think comes in large part from reading to oneself.

 

By the time she got to high school, she could read whatever she wanted to, though still more slowly than her peers. (And, as I said before, she continues to rely on hearing it aloud -- even if it's her own voice -- to really grasp complex material.) She has gone to a classical high school and won awards for her writing, which Mom attributes almost entirely to her internalization of so many wonderful books -- many more than Mom could ever have read aloud to her, or S could have read to herself in those early years. She received the highest score in her school on the writing portion of the PSAT. This is so amazing to us all, after watching her struggle for years...

 

I think often times we think of audiobooks as "second best", or as a "poor substitute" for "actual reading". And perhaps, in some cases, that may be true... For my sister, I think she can attribute a huge part of her education to audiobooks... Certainly her vocabulary, her love of story, her own ability to structure words into good writing...

 

I will second this.

[Kelli in TN]

And also when to seek help. I remember thinking my son would just get it one day. Better late then early etc. I feel like I wasted time instead of seeking help earlier.

 

:iagree: I kept thinking "Kelli, come on already, he is your sixth child. You know what you're doing, he'll come around in his own time." And he will, but we still needed some help to get him on the right path!!! I wish we had started much earlier too. I cried when we first met our speech therapist and apologized for waiting until it was "too late". Of course she assured me that it was not too late, but I felt like we had wasted precious years.

 

So, maybe a simple list of "warning signs" to help distinguish between a true "late bloomer" and a child who needs some extra help?

[ClassicMom]

We are gathering material for an update of The Well-Trained Mind (as some of you mentioned in the curriculum-discovery thread). A number of you on that thread--and many parents over the last ten years--have asked for specific advice on following the classical program with learning-challenged kids.

 

I have my own opinions on this subject :001_smile:, and I'm not sure we can get an extra chapter into any later edition of the book, but I'll pitch the idea at my editor and see what he says.

 

In the meantime: would those of you who deal with this challenge be willing to post your own thoughts? If I were to include a chapter in TWTM, I'd want the voices of experienced parents to be heard. I will, of course, ask your permission before including anything written on this board.

 

So let me know what you think.

 

SWB

 

I accidentally posted this information on the other thread since I didn't see this post.

 

Dianne Craft has some amazing products for children with special needs. Autism, ADHD, LD, etc.

-Phonics

-Math

-Writing

-Nutrition

-Behavior

-even Therapy at Home

www.diannecraft.com/

[holdinon]

I don't know how qualified I am to answer. We haven't started "official" school with my dd4 (other than what she picks up from older sibs). But I will give my thoughts....She has an autistic spectrum disorder and epilepsy.

 

Dd is my fourth child. As I have schooled my older ones over the years, I have seen "how it works" with neuro-typical/"normal" children and see that there are many adjustments that will need to be made for her, but that in the long run, she will still turn out "fine"--even if we don't do it like everyone else.

 

I may (will probably) retract this statement when we really get into schooling, but right now, I think we are ok as far as *me* being mentally prepared to handle the many challenges and understanding the limitations. But, if she were my first child, or if we were new to homeschooling, and I had read WTM, I would probably have been very discouraged and felt it was all hopeless, knowing there was no way she was going to be able to do "all that".

 

I don't know if you can get away with an entire chapter. But maybe an appendix with some recommended resources and hints that others have found helpful with specific issues. I think that would be very helpful...if nothing else, to let parents know that every child doesn't have to "fit the mold" to get an excellent education and that there are alternatives.

 

just my 2 cents!

[Michelle T]

I have a 12 yo DS with raging ADHD, non-verbal learning disorder, and dyscalculia.

 

Some things I think would be helpful -

Simply stating that LDs/ADHD are REAL, not conditions that are made up by the PS. A child with true LD's is NOT going to be helped just by a different "learning style". It still amazes me how many in the homeschool world don't believe that LD's are real, and think getting an official "label" is some sort of kiss of death.

 

Reassurance that it's okay for kids with learning differences to be "behind" or need to use materials that are on a lower grade level. My DS might be the age of most PS kids going into 7th grade, but he is on a roughly 3rd grade level in math, the same for spelling and writing, and reads on grade level. Obviously I cannot expect him to do all his work at a 7th grade level.

 

Understanding that typical kids might enter the logic stage at around 5th grade, but many, if not most, kids with learning issues are going to be a lot older than that.

 

Understanding that many of the materials recommended in TWTM just aren't going to work for LD kids. Also, the pace of the work will often need to be adjusted, for example, my son STILL can't do the amount of writing TWTM would expect of a 4th grader. I can't tell you how often I've felt like a homeschool failure reading about other parent's school schedules here on the boards. Kids who do an hour of math a day, spend an hour on grammar, learn latin and another language...... none of that will happen in my house. It's not that parents of special needs kids should have LOW expectations, but they do need to have REALISTIC expectations. And that might be that their child is simply not going to learn latin, or advance into algebra 2, or be able to write their own narrations in 3rd grade, or do physics in 4th grade. Everything needs to be tailored for the specific child's needs.

 

Reassurance that sometimes materials that are definitely NOT the usual classical ed curriculum are what work for a child. For example, my DS is doing better using a special ed math curriculum, and special ed science textbook. I felt bad about this for quite awhile, but it's what works for him. No shame in using a textbook, or workbook, or whatever gets the job done.

 

In terms of actual curriculum, as others have said, it's much harder to recommend specific curriculum for special needs kids than typical kids. But I always love seeing what others use successfully for their LD kids, so I'll list what works for us.

 

Successes

SOTW for history. We are on the ancients book, and he enjoys it. I just ask him a few questions about each chapter, no written narration, no outlining, nothing fancy. I plan on going through all four books, although I will be expecting a lot more from him by book three. I'm not doing a year per book though, we are going much faster.

 

Apples and Pears spelling - great for LD kids. It uses copying, dictation, and plenty of repetition. My DS has made huge strides with this program.

 

Allowing DS to use the computer to do all writing other than spelling. He has extremely poor fine motor skills (part of NVLD) and handwriting is a huge struggle for him.

 

Allowing DS to use a calculator for simple calculation once he understands concepts. He has dyscalculia (similar to dysexia, but with math) and it is unlikely that he is ever going to entirely memorize math facts. No point in holding him back forever because of this. DS also has free use of multiplication and division charts, and a number line for addition/subtraction.

 

Giving up on hands-on activities. These are distracting and overwhelming for DS, and he has little ability to make the connection between the concept being taught, and the hands-on portion. This has to do with his very poor visual processing abilities. Everything must be verbalized for DS.

 

Special ed texts for certain subjects. Science and math are going better since I caught on to that. Weiser Education is a great publisher of special ed materials.

 

SHORT LESSONS. Can't emphasize this one enough. No hour-long math lessons here.

 

Year round schooling, Monday through Thursday. DS forgets everything otherwise.

 

Okay, this is probably the longest post ever! I'm sure I could keep on going, but don't want to overwhelm you! :svengo: Plus, I've been writing this for over half an hour, and I'm worn out!

Michelle T

[Peela]

I have a now 12yo LD son who has only recently been diagnosed with dyslexia. The woman who tested him was amazed at how well he could read and spell, for someone who has distinct signs of moderate to severe dysexia and she put it down to homeschooling and told me no school could do what I had done with him, and just to keep going (in other words she didn't want to design a program for him since he had come so far with what I was doing anyway).

 

I have struggled no end with this child, mainly with his self esteem, and just getting him to be willing to try to do something new has been a major achievement, he was so afraid of failing- he has a very capable sister only 17 months older. His strong point is now his reading which helps him feel a bit better about himself.

 

I have really only bumbled my way through though, with TWTM as my foundation or sometimes just inspiration for the last 5 years- much of it has been "too much" for him.

When we used Rod and Staff English, we did most of it orally, and used only the worksheets for written work. I then moved on to programs with much less writing- programs where he just needs to mark up sentences work better than ones where he needs to rewrite them. For Latin and French, we do most orally. Much more is covered orally than I would have preferred, or needed to do with my other child, but it allows us to cover more material.

 

We have done LOTS of copywork and dictation and we have continued to do that right up to the present and will probably continue through highschool. Apparently dyslexic kids cant visualise very well if at all....after listening to your (Susan's) tape of writing over and over, I just got the message that this inner visualisation of words is vital, so I kept working at it with him, not even knowing he was dyslexic, just intuitively feeling this is what he needs, and I think that has been a key for him.

 

We have used Spelling Power (for a long time, we did it orally, then with Scrabble tiles). Spelling workbooks were a waste of time and he really doesn't handle any type of workbook, which makes many of WTM recommendations not workable for him. It was when he started taking an interest in spelling correctly that his spelling improved, and I also think its part of his high reading ability. His vocabulary is fantastic.

 

Programs like Writing Strands don't work for him because he has to think too much about content. Imitative writing programs have worked wonders- so CW Aesop was fantastic,( Homer got too much) but also just having him rewrite something in his own words has been great. Then we work on the grammar, spelling etc.

Typing has been essential for getting the quality and quantity of his writing up and just this year he has gone from being able to write half a page to one and a half pages- so, a big leap. He taught himself to type.

Oral narrations have been fantastic as a stepping stone but we still do them and don't write for every subject every week.

"Freewriting" has been a great way to get him to feel less inhibited about writing in general, particularly creative writing or writing about something from his own experience. He loves fantasy fiction and freewriting has helped him write some great stories and helped his self esteem about his writing. He enjoys creative writing, sometimes.

Outlining has been a surprising success because he likes the minimalist concept!

 

All in all, I think your foundational suggestions for writing have been great- copywork, dictation and narration (outlining has never been an issue for some reason)...but we continue to do all three, with oral and written narrations continuing. And we will continue to do them as long as I feel he is benefiting. His oral skills are excellent and in seems like a good idea to strengthen what is one of his strengths, particularly if he is always going to be weak in written skills.

 

I have found it is better for me to translate/filter writing exercises for him rather than try to get him to follow instructions. This last month he has worked on writing a 5 paragraph essay- but I have broken it down for him and explained it to him. He couldn't have done it from reading instructions at this stage but he responded well to my "teaching".

 

With maths, translating word problems is an issue, as he tends to only "guess" what they are asking him to do, so helping him break them down into parts, even using a highlighter, has helped him.

 

Logic programs- I thought they were ridiculously easy, so did dd, but not for him. Very difficult.

 

And lots, and lots, of one on one attention. There seemed little point in having him work alone, if he was only going to get it wrong or do it badly and then feel bad about himself, even if I knew he was capable. Helping him to focus and take his time, take the stress off, feel he was supported, and also having me "teach" him rather than learn things from the books, have all been important. It has frustrated me no end. Having a diagnosis has made me more patient and understanding.

 

Now he is 12, he is working much more independently but still needs lots of hand holding, whereas his sister worked independently at that age.

 

Your advice about writing a bit each day, which we also did with reading, rather than 'waiting until maturity' as is so often recommended in homeschooling circles, has been very valuable and I really took it to heart and am grateful for it. I have friends who left it till later and can now just not get their teenage sons to do anything, least of all write or read. I am so glad I have just patiently and consistently plodded along with him...

 

Susan, thankyou for asking. I am sure many of us are touched that you have asked. TWTM sets such a high standard it can feel very disheartening to have a child who struggles with basics and most of us are 'just' mums and don't have anything to compare our kids to. It really helps to accept your own child for who they are and help them with where they are, rather than compare and idealise. The last thing my child responds well to is me pushing too hard, and it has been such a journey to learn not to do that.

[Sahamamama]

In the meantime: would those of you who deal with this challenge be willing to post your own thoughts?

SWB

 

My children, so far, are not learning challenged, but I worked in special education classrooms and tutored special needs children for years prior to becoming a parent. I also was a social worker for years, and assisted adults with learning challenges.

 

I can't speak to the daily pressure that parents face, whether their special needs child is schooled at home or elsewhere. But from what I've learned as a tutor, I firmly believe that homeschool (or tutoring) can, in many situations BE the answer, simply because many of these children NEED ONE-ON-ONE ATTENTION.

 

This would be my number one recommendation -- not any particular curriculum or resource, but one-on-one teaching. In fact, I have taught some "hopeless cases" with not much more than paper and a pencil. What counts is a teacher who will lovingly, firmly, patiently, and humorously guide the child (or adult) into acquiring a solid foundation in the basics.

 

Now, when I say "basics," I do NOT mean that the scope and sequence should be dumbed down in any way. What I mean is that if someone does not know how to read, and read well, then moving on to a cross-stitch elective or a video-editing course is probably NOT going to lay a foundation for life. I have seen so many young people who cannot read passed along to "fluff" courses, and it so completely and utterly ticks me off. :angry: I know that these kids can read and write and learn. Aargh.

 

It DOES anger me, though, when I see special ed teachers letting 6th and 7th graders play meaningless video games and watch DVDs in class all day because "they haven't gotten it yet, so what's the point?"

 

THAT TICKS ME OFF. :mad: Okay, I think I'm calm now.

 

One example is my nephew, Mark, who is now 11 years old. We have worked on him this year ;), and he is so proud of his progress. Epilepsy = missed moments. Again, one-on-one can catch these absence seizures and make them less disruptive to learning. "Mark, did you just have a seizure?" "Yes, Aunt Beth." And then I give him some recoup time, we go back a bit, repeat, and move on. We review. We memorize. We recite. We dramatize. We do copywork. We read aloud with expression, the same book again and again, until he "owns it." Mark is a hambone. :D

 

I love these students. I believe that they should be challenged and maybe tutored by tough old (loving) women like me. I really have a heart for them, underneath the Drill Sergeant Exterior, and they know this, so it works for learning. My contribution to the discussion is to emphasize that for these kids, especially, the teacher matters.

[Kelli in TN]

 

I can't speak to the daily pressure that parents face, whether their special needs child is schooled at home or elsewhere. But from what I've learned as a tutor, I firmly believe that homeschool (or tutoring) can, in many situations BE the answer, simply because many of these children NEED ONE-ON-ONE ATTENTION.

 

.

 

This absolutely fits with what we were told by the pediatric specialists who helped us with my little guy.

 

They were delighted that he was homeschooled because they said that if he were in school they would go through all the trouble to write a plan for the school to give him one-on-one tutoring, knowing that the school would lack the resources to actually implement that.

 

I was told to use whatever I used with my other kids, to sit with him while he works and to let his abilities (not his mood, but his abilities) set the pace.

 

This has worked beautifully for us. I cannot imagine he would be where he is now if left to bumble through a classroom setting. The little bit of time I have spent in schools for speech evals has been very enlightening. I just don't think they have anything to offer that he needs.

[summer]

It was clear to me from my version of WTM that certain subjects are frosting basically. So if you have to let something go by the wayside, which were more important. Maybe it just stuck out to me as I had noticed so much about how it is done in schools. But basically, I hear a lot of parents with a learning challenged child having a very hard time keeping a bunch of history and science and so on in the curriculum. I have seen people give up on homeschooling because they could not fit all that in by the time they got through the basics. But I think people need to know that if need be, it is ok to just do the very basics. In school, they will cut down to reading, writing skills, and arithmetic when need be.

[Sunkirst]

This thread is just fantastic!

 

My oldest is dyslexic. We (finally) had him tested when he was an old 9, and when the results came back, he and I were both thrilled. There was a reason!!! I wasn't just a lousy teacher, and he wasn't just lazy (my perception) or stupid (his perception). I feel disgusted with myself to even publicly admit that I thought my son was lazy, but his intelligence was apparent, and I truly thought that he just wasn't putting his mind to work.

 

I will also admit that his dyslexia made me stop using TWTM, as I felt so terribly behind. I remember telling a HSing friend that he wasn't reading "early and well," (to paraphrase a bit of TWTM), and so what was the point of continuing with TWTM approach?

 

What would have helped me early on:

 

-- Info about when (and when not) to be concerned. When I finally started to read about dyslexia, I was surprised to see that so many of his "issues" were actually indicators of dyslexia.

 

-- Not just permission, but encouragement to use alternative resources, and progress at a different pace. (I will note here that I have flip-flopped between asking for too much, and not expecting enough. I find setting the bar high encourages my son now, but it was crippling when he was younger).

 

-- A compendium of the board's many fantastic suggestions for how to adapt to your child's situation. Just reading Abbeyej's post about audio books almost made me cry. My DH and I have disagreed for years about DS listening to audio books. I see my son enjoying books and getting all of the typical benefits of reading (increased vocab, a good ear for writing). DH thinks that the audio books are a crutch, and that removing them would force DS to read (DH didn't learn to read until almost 10, and he feels that this was only because he fractured his skull that year and had to spend 3 straight months in bed. The family only had 1 TV, so DH HAD to read).

 

-- Information about how to proceed once you know that there is a problem. We got a diagnosis, but the Dr.'s advice about how to proceed was iffy (an extra 2 hours of phonics drill daily, preferably done by his wife's company...) We found it daunting to read about ALL of the different therapies; which to choose!? Granted, this research is necessary, but it would have been great to know what book was recommended as the top layperson's guide to understanding dyslexia.

 

We have ended up using "The Gift of Dyslexia," by Ron Davis. We also took almost 4 months off of reading to work on large motor skills (an approach recommended by a Waldorf focussed therapist. DS's reading improved during those 4 months even tho he didn't read at all).

 

As to curricula, we use Sequential Spelling, lots of copywork and dictation, and plan to start CW Aesop in the fall.

 

Thanks again SWB for the thread. This sort of addition to TWTM will forestall so much misery.

[Heather in Neverland]

Things that work for my ADHD/SID/Gifted child:

 

MathUSee

Phonetic Zoo Spelling

SOTW on cd

Lego Robotics

[Chris in VA]

Hi Susan,

 

First, let me join others in thanking you for considering this addition in the revised WTM. Sometimes it's a little lonely and intimidating, to be the parent of a child with learning challenges and differences. As you may know, many, many of us have to face people who discourage us from homeschooling our kids--maybe even more so than parents of kids without similar challenges.

 

My son may or may not be an Aspie--although that diag. wasn't supported by the testing we did in 4th grade, there are differences in his social and academic skills that fit closely with autism. I think if they extended the spectrum by 3 feet, he'd be on it!

 

He is now 18 and doing so very well. One little recommendation I can make is to use Omnibus by Veritas Press for high school. It is a way for kids who may never make it to a truly rhetoric level to experience the Great Books. (I am speaking specifically about the first two Omni texts.) I found it much easier to approach these books with the support and "hand holding" of the Omnibus texts. They are certainly Reform in worldview, but I think that can be adapted to meet the needs of the family. And, we didn't read all the books on the list, either--we substituted several, and didn't even do the secondary reading the first year.

 

Thanks again for the request.

[Angel]

My dd13 has Asperger's and we are homeschooling now because of that diagnosis and the sweet lady who was working with us at that time. I read The Well Trained Mind in our second year of homeschooling (6th grade for dd) and realized early on that we could never do a full classical school. My biggest hang up was the writing. So I would like to add that it is ok for the child to not do all the writing required. Writing is difficult for my child, the physical act because of fine motor skill issues and the actual thinking act of getting what is in her brain down onto paper. We do many of our assignments, especially English or comprehension questions of any sort, orally. Narrations are usually dictated to me and then retyped by her. If relieves stress for dd, not having to worry about neat handwriting and it is easier to talk to me than form the thoughts to put on paper. Things that are not done orally are usually done on a whiteboard. I think it is important to let others know that it is ok to modify the work.

 

I would also like to add that for us, it has been ok to work below grade level in a subject. I would love for dd to learn some Latin. We school shorter hours to keep her engaged and to prevent overload and so we have to pick and choose very carefully what can reasonably get done. I decided to go with a children's Latin program for my dd even though she was in middle school because I thought it was important to give her some exposure without the stress of a full load. She is getting Latin exposure, at a pace she can handle and that's great.

 

Programs that have worked for us have been:

 

Apologia's Jump In Writing - it's short lessons are just right to prevent overload from the stress of trying to get thoughts to the paper

 

Latin for Children - young enough to not be overwhelming, but full of information on Latin and written to the child

 

Rod and Staff English - very black and white, is easy to adapt this and do it orally and it has plenty of review

 

Rod and Staff Math - doesn't jump around all over the place and has plenty of review to cement the topic (we would probably have went with Math U See but didn't find it to the 3rd year of homeschooling and dd was very comfortable with R&S)

 

Thanks for your consideration in putting this topic in the new edition. I know that I still use a mix of Classical along with Charlotte Mason because of your book. It would have been nice to know at the time I read the first edition that there were other ways of making the Classical Ed work for us. Thankfully this board has been an invaluable resource and we've figured out what works.

 

Angel

[Niffercoo]

I haven't read the other posts, so I may duplicate everything already said, but here is my .02:

 

1. Don't be afraid to trust your intuition. If your child's behavior or learning is causing you to be concerned, seek an outside evaluation. If you've been working diligently on phonics for a year or longer, and your child is still struggling to read... it's OK to seek outside help! If you are consistent with discipline and your child doesn't seem to "get" it, it's OK to seek outside help! I personally let myself believe that I was a dreadful parent to a lazy child, when there was something much more serious going on (autism spectrum). If my children were at school, it would have been diagnosed much sooner. You really have to be more aware when you are homeschooling.

 

2. It is OK to take a classical education, including the one laid out in the WTM, at a slower pace for your child with learning differences. It could be that your child doesn't "graduate" from your home school at age 18. That is every bit as acceptable as it would be for a child to "graduate" at 15. When they are done with the program you have designed for them, they graduate. Learning is a lifelong pursuit. An education worth having is worth however long it takes!

 

3. It's OK to let some things to take a back seat when you have a child with learning differences, but IMO, it doesn't have to be fine arts, music, poetry, etc. I think those things are absolutely essential for a child with learning differences. It can be tempting to spend all of your time "remediating" or "tutoring" the 3 Rs and you have no time left for anything else. I think this is unfortunate.

 

4. It's also OK to take a season (or longer) and let the 3 Rs be secondary to your therapy program. I can only speak to autism spectrum disorders, as that's where my experience lies. But just this year, we had to back off our academics this year while I learned how to implement our therapy program at home. It was very frightening for me, and we have lost some academic progress. However, the developmental progress has been amazing, and I think our academic progress will actually be faster this coming year because of the developmental strides from this past year.

 

5. As far as curriculum recommendations, I think those would only apply to something like dyslexia or something else that has a specific remediation technique. I know for Aspergers, what works for one child may not work for another. For instance, lots of moms with Aspies rave about IEW for writing, but it doesn't work for my Aspie. Perhaps a suggestion to not be afraid to modify the curriculum to work for your child. I know I switched a number of things early on because they didn't seem to "work". Of course, we didn't know then that Austin had Aspergers. I know I have been more successful with Reece and curriculum because I know what I'm dealing with and I'm comfortable modifying the curriculum to HER needs. I do that with Austin NOW, but back then it was different.

 

6. Some general encouragement about homeschooling for children with learning differences would be wonderful! When you have a child who doesn't fit the mold (1-2 spelling books per year, 1 math book per year, etc), and/or who produces the sort of test scores that make a mama want to cry, you need encouragement that homeschooling is STILL worth it and it CAN work. Moms who are hsing children with learning differences are generally not going to be getting much support from the professionals who see their children, especially at the beginning of the diagnosis process. It can be hard enough to go against the flow by homeschooling at ALL, then you add a child with special needs into the mix and it can be downright frightening! At least it has been for me! ;)

 

I think I'd better stop there! That's probably way more than .02! LOL

[RebeccaC]

Education for the child with true LD issues in not something that can be boxed in by one professional or one theory of thought. The LD experience is so individual that it really has to be tailored to that child alone. I know a lot of folks like Diane Craft or Joyce Herzog but neither of what those very well informed women would have helped my boys learn to read or learn anything else.

 

My oldest son was brain deaf, mute, with severe SI and vision problems at 3 going on 4 when I began hsing, home therapy, and medical treatment. Both my kids had an autoimmune disorder called Landau-Kleffner Syndrome variant that needed medical treatment and the remediation for the LD issues left after the LKSv was gone. Both have gifted IQs, non verbal IQ is higher than verbal but both are high.

 

However I have not enjoyed the advancement in academics folks with gifted kids usually see in part because the LD issues have slowed down the stages that most kids go through. So the grammar, logic and rhetoric stages just do not apply like they would with neurotypical kids.

 

English was not my oldest son's first language, vision and then movement were. He tests as a visual spatial thinker and learner as does my younger son. Anything connected with language has been a struggle, reading, writing, grammar and math. Visual memory is as close to perfect for my oldest son as it can get or so all the IQ tests he has taken show his auditory memory has improved greatly over the years. I think that IQ testing was a help for us because it showed me my boys strengths and helped us come up with strategies for their weaknesses.

 

 

I made certain priorities first when it came to our homeschool. For several years learning to read and building auditory skills were the bulk of our hs. My boys both read above grade level now and can sit through a full sermon and retain 90% of what is said. Their writing skills and math tho need to be caught up. So the bulk of our hsing for the last 2 or so years has been writing and math. Fine motor for my oldest is still a struggle but he does ok.

 

These are the programs that have worked for us;

 

 

• Reading Reflex (I took the advance training to be able to use it right tho)
  
• Phonics Pathways was adapted to RR techniques
  
• Reading Pyramid
  
• Both volumes of Phonics through Poetry was used after the boys had finished basic RR.
  
• Moving with Math
  
• Noble Knights Of Learning was the only way my oldest son was able to truly understand the 4 basic math operations.

 

 

These are the programs we are using with great success this year, which started in April.

• Life of Fred
  
• extra practice from Lial's Basic or Moving With Math
  
• Sentence Composing for the Elementary School
  
• Story Grammar for Elementary School, A sentence-Composing Approach
  
• Easy Grammar
  
• Sequential Spelling
  
• Vocabulary Cartoons
  
• Story of the World III and out lining and then STOW IV in the fall with out lining
  
• Apologia General Science
  
• BJU Geography
  
• And BJU 8th grade American History used in order with SOTW III.
  
• Progeny Press Guides for Middle School
  
• Classic Middle School Literature
  
• Movies as Literature
  
• Fallacy Detective
  
• Teaching company Lectures, History Channel, PBS, Discovery/Science channel, and Ken Burns documentaries on whatever subjects hit my boys fancy or to pull up content in Science and History to the rhetoric level
  
• in-depth conversations at rhetoric levels
  

 

 

Hopefully in the fall we will begin Algebra using LOF with Teaching Textbooks for my oldest son and continue with LOF and Video Text for my youngest son. I have The Art of Styling Sentences and I will begin adding it in the fall. focus will stay on sentence writing until all kinds of sentences can be written with ease. Just since April tho I have seen a huge improvement.

 

I guess my approach has been remediation and then to see mastery of the subject of most importance and then move to the next area. The subject that had the highest priority was reading because I felt without that nothing else mattered. I wanted my boys to read phonetically and they did but it took years of hard work and prayer to make that happen. My approach might mean that my oldest does not finish 12th grade until he is almost 20 but for us that is OK. I think he will be ready for CC at that time. Which is a major victory for us because at 3 going on 4 two doctors said he should be institutionalized and that there was no hope that he would ever speak or learn anything.

 

We were blessed in that our boys responded well to medical treatment because with out that, they would not be where they are today. I guess another point that I would stress is looking for the underlying cause of any LD issue and treating that cause and then remediating the LD issues. The cause of LD might not always be readily found but that does not mean that a good medical work up should not be done by a team of docs who know the field.

 

I hope this is what you were looking for. Maybe if they will not add the chapter to your book you could add it on to the WTM site. I think it would be of help to many parnets of sn kids to read that you understand what they deal with and what your views on using the WTM method are when it comes to sn kids.

 

Blessings,

Rebecca

[Sugarfoot]

with so much of what's already been said. Our son was diagnosed with "dyslexia, moderate to severe" a month before he turned 9. The psychologist who tested him was so impressed with his knowledge and abilities, and she encouraged us to keep homeschooling him.

 

We knew something was wrong, but it was still hard to accept. Here are some of the things that have helped us:

 

Becoming an "expert" on his particular challenge

 

Not giving up on a challenging education (suited to his capacity)

 

Knowing that I could give that to him

 

Accepting that "independent work" would likely not be a big part of our days

 

Not being afraid to change something that wasn't working

 

Not making his learning challenge an excuse to not do things

[RebeccaC]

One other point that I might add is the benefits of year round hsing for sn kids. Any time that I have taken off more than 2 weeks I have regretted the break. We began hsing in march of 96 and we have pretty much schooled year round with the exception of the year 9/11 happened an another summer when I worked as a reading therapist. Both times there was academic ground lost and for my boys it just works better to keep at it year round with two week breaks sprinkled through out the year.

 

Good Luck,

Rebecca

[ClassicMom]

One other point that I might add is the benefits of year round hsing for sn kids.

 

:iagree:

[Tami]

I have an 11 yo with severe ADHD. The biggest thing that has worked for us is slowing down. I have her work through the same history rotation, but over six years. This enables us to have shorter lessons with more time for reinforcements like notebooking, writing, projects, reflection, discussion etc. Rushing a special needs student simply to meet a curriculum model is counterproductive. Generally, we do the same things that any classically-leaning family would do, but at a slower pace, and with more enrichments. It is extremely important for me to streamline our curriculum, choosing fewer books of high quality.

 

I have also found that review, review, review is the key to retention of skills, and have chosen CLE Math and Language arts because it is the single best curriculum we have used for her. We use 1 year 'behind' grade level. CLE drills without being overly tiresome.

 

We have also found daily copywork and dictation to have more 'bang for the buck' than any spelling program. Phonics was a waste of time here, but immersion in writing and reading via copywork coupled with dictation have been very successful and low stress for us.

 

My guiding principles have been to keep standards very high, but slow the pace down. Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce. Take time for enrichments and projects. Some consider them 'busy work,' but my dd can recall major historical events by the projects and lapbooks we did! Enrichments can be so valuable to special needs students.

 

I have heard one Joyce Herzog advise parents not to spend more than 50% of the day on weaknesses. Spending all day on areas of weaknesses will only serve to discourage a special needs child. It is important to find areas of strength and make time for those. Special needs children can be successful with Classical education, as long as a parent's expectations and workload are reasonable.

[Tami]

One other point that I might add is the benefits of year round hsing for sn kids. Any time that I have taken off more than 2 weeks I have regretted the break. We began hsing in march of 96 and we have pretty much schooled year round with the exception of the year 9/11 happened an another summer when I worked as a reading therapist. Both times there was academic ground lost and for my boys it just works better to keep at it year round with two week breaks sprinkled through out the year.

 

Good Luck,

Rebecca

 

Yes, yes, yes!!! Retention and attitude are so much better when the academic routine is not disrupted.

[Cheryl B in VA]

My 13 yods has ADHD. In 4th grade most math curricula switch from workbooks to textbooks. This means that a student has to do a lot of back and forth between the textbook and their own notebook and make sure all of their numbers line up. For the second issue, there are many different sizes of grid paper online to make sure that in an addition problem the ones column is in line, the tens column, etc. But the first issue was a biggie for my highly distractible son. If he is having a bad focus day, even with the help of medication, transferring problems into a notebook would more than double his time spent on math. There are several curricula that use workbooks through 8th grade. We have found success with ACE Paces (Accelerated Christian Education). There are 12 Paces, or booklets, per grade level with a test in every Pace. The student feels great accomplishment when they finish a booklet and get to begin the next. There is also plenty of review throughout the program without compromising practice on a new concept.

 

The next two recommendations I have not used yet but, being his teacher since birth, believe that they are a match for him. Next year he will be using Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1. I spent a lot of time reviewing different algebra programs and reading the high school message board to narrow down choices that he could be successful with. When he interacted with a sample lesson online I knew, and so did he, that Teaching Textbooks would be a perfect match. Some videos or online tutorials go back and forth between seeing a teacher and a math problem. Some even have the teacher in an inset while the problem sample is being shown. With Teaching Textbooks the teacher is talking through the problem and your visual focus is on the problem being worked out on the screen. Guess what that means? Less distractions for the highly distractible. Even though there has been controversy about this curricula not being challenging enough, I am very confident that if we go through precalculus all concepts will be covered.

 

My last suggestion deals with handwriting. I used Handwirting Without Tears with this son but at 13 his writing is atrocious. HWT is an outstanding program, my 9yods has wonderful handwriting. With Conner, though, a handwriting program for older student intervention is needed. I had been considering Callirobics for over a year when I met the author, Liora Laufer, at a dyslexia conference in which I was exhibiting (Usborne Books). After seeing many before and after samples and talking with her extensively, I bought her program for ages 7-14. I plan on using it when Conner returns home from camp in two weeks. His handwriting can only improve but I am eager to see how much it improves.

 

Thank you, Susan, for requesting input. When the new edition is released it will join the first two in my library of resources.

[Lori D.]

Thanks so much, Susan, for considering adding this kind of info! Just echoing what many have already said here, but below are some ideas of what would have been helpful to us (mildly dyslexic son who is mildly ADD and is a very visual-spatial learner). Thanks again! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

 

Value of homeschooling

Reaffirmation that even though as a parent/teacher you feel ill-equipped to homeschool your special needs child, it can be the very best thing for that child (depending on your circumstances and the child's special needs). Being able to one-on-one tutor our son who was delayed in the language arts and math areas helped him to not "fall through the cracks" as he would have in a school setting, and also has allowed him to develop at his own pace so that he now loves reading, and does well with math. If he had been in a school, he most likely would have ended up hating both and then stubbornly refusing to try anymore.

 

 

 

Value of outsourcing

Reaffirmation that you as parent/teacher are NOT a failure if you outsource some or all of your special needs child's education. It can allow you to get precise help/tutoring/therapy that you would not be able to provide yourself. Also, some children are UNwilling to receive help from their parents -- and if so, the special need would not be addressed.

 

Examples: One friend's son struggles with writing and spelling; he refused to allow her to help, and also refused to work for a tutor. Putting him into school has been the solution for him -- he will work for teachers in a way he would not for his parent during homeschooling; this has had the added benefit of taking the stress off of the parent/child relationship and allowing mom and son to develop a close and loving relationship. Another friend's daughter with language arts disabilities refused to work for her mother, but has gained ground in that weak area by working regularly with an outside specialist, and is able to still homeschool with her mother.

 

 

 

Diagnostic type of information

* Checklist to differentiate between a child who is a "late bloomer" vs. a child with actual learning disability/disorder.

* Information on various possible disorders and what to look for (ex: child is late in reading, could be: needs glasses; has a visual (brain) processing problem; dyslexia; etc.)

 

 

 

Testing information

*Where to go for testing

* How to find testing in your area

* General range of prices you can expect

* How to get testing through public school system;

* When to get testing (age of child or list of "symptoms")

 

 

 

Resource list

* Organizations

* Books

* Websites

* Specific curriculae or programs

 

 

Learning Styles and Brain Hemisphere Dominance

I know people differ on the value or even the validity of learning styles, and I myself have done only a limited amount of reading on the subject, so I can only go on our own experience.

 

Our experience with our special needs son has definitely shown us that there seems to be some validity to the idea that some people take in information more easily in certain ways (learning styles -- kinestetic, auditory, visual), and also tend to process that information in certain ways (brain hemisphere dominance -- right = random, concrete, whole-to-parts, intuitive; left = sequential, abstract, parts-to-whole, logical). More specific research now leans towards labeling of VSL / ASL (visual-spatial learner / auditory-sequential learner).

 

We have certainly found this to be true with our special needs son, especially at a younger age. As he has grown and matured, he has become more able to intake information in a variety of ways, and, has become more able to process more logically. It is rather like an extremely left (or right) handed person learning how to more often and more ably use the other hand, even if their natural inclination would be to use the "dominant" hand.

 

 

 

 

For what it's worth, here are some pecific programs that have helped us meet our special needs:

 

- Math-U-See (Old Intermediate; Delta thru Pre-Algebra) (visual presentation thru manipulatives makes abstract concepts concrete)

- Stevenson Blue Spelling Manual (visual presentation of vowel patterns)

- Megawords (spelling attack by breaking large words into smaller "bites")

- Wordsmith Apprentice (very gentle -- kept writing "do-able" for our writing-deficient student)

- Institute for Excellence in Writing (key word outlining technique helpful in teaching a random-thinking student to structure thoughts)

 

 

 

For what it's worth, here are some specific techniques that have helped us:

 

- use of whiteboard

- read aloud together/think/discuss rather than workbooks or working solo

- outloud back and forth practice of spelling words

- dictation of short, simple sentences (helps student to think/write/spell simultaneously)

- WIDE range of critical thinking/puzzle types, games, etc. (visual, logical, spatial, mathmatical, verbal, patterning, sequencing, etc -- this has helped our son "shine" in strong areas (intuitive and visual and 3D puzzles/games, and helped strengthen his weak areas (logical, verbal) in a non-threatening non-school-like way, and I believe it has helped develop brain connections and strengthen his his brain hemisphere "cross-talk" so that he has been able to develop in the language arts and math areas that he previously lagged in)

 

 

 

For what it's worth, here are a few resources that we have found helpful:

 

WEBSITES:

 

- Dyslexia: The Gift -- Strategies for the Visual Spatial Learner

http://www.dyslexia.com/library/silver1.htm

 

- Hoagie's Gifted Education Page

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/visual-spatial.htm

 

- Article and Checklist to Identify Learning Type by Leslie Sword

http://www.nswagtc.org.au/ozgifted/conferences/SwordVisualSpatial.html

 

- Gifted Development Center: Visual Spatial Learners

http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/Visual_Spatial_Learner/vsl.htm

 

- Auditory Learning (list of how they learn best)

http://www.cuyamaca.net/eops/DSPS/resourcesaud.asp

 

- Auditory Learners (checklist for identifying auditory learners)

http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~cwong/auditory_learners.htm

 

- Study Skills (techniques to help all learning styles)

http://www.adline.co.uk/samples/study/start.html

 

 

BOOKS

 

- How They Learn

- Every Child Can Succeed

by Cynthia Tobias

(First = an overview to learning types; Second = gives learning environment strategies, esp. for jr./sr. high ages.)

 

- How to Get Your Child Off The Refrigerator and onto Learning

by Carol Barnier

(Specific learning strategies for very active, kinetic, or challenged learning styles.)

 

- Games for... series of books

by Peggy Kaye

(Specific ideas for K-3rd grade students to introduce math, reading and writing topics from fresh angles.)

 

- 100 Top Picks For Homeschool Curriculum: Choosing The Right Curriculum And Approach

or Your Child's Learning Style

by Cathy Duffy

(Specific program recommendations for specific learning types.)

 

- Upside Down Brilliance: The Visual Spatial Child

by Linda Silverman

(Detailed overview of visual-spatial and auditory-sequential brains

for intaking/processing information.)

 

- Right Brained Children in a Left Brained World

by Jeffrey Freed

(Specific learning strategies for jr./sr. high ages.)

 

- Unicorns Are Real: A Right Brained Approach to Learning

Barbara Meister Vitale

(Specific diagnostic tests and learning strategies for elementary ages.)

 

- Gift of Dyslexia; and Gift of Learning

Ronald Davis

(Both books are geared for dealing with specific, more extreme issues such as dyslexia, disgraphia, discalculia, ADD, etc. But some of the ideas can be helpful for any child.)

 

- Change Your Brain, Change Your Life

Daniel Amen

(Specific diet, food allergies, prescribed drugs, and mental exercises/strategies for managing/minimizing AD(H)D; anxiety; depression; OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder); and angry.)

[chiguirre]

I suspect that special needs kids are a fast growing segment of the US homeschool population. It's the reason that we took the plunge and very often when I meet another non-religious hser it turns out that their child has special needs. As a bit of confirmation of this trend, I read the following article in the Financial Times Weekend Edition this Saturday:

 

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/af6bb258-3f2a-11dd-8fd9-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

 

Here's a quote of the relevant statistics:

 

"So why have the numbers of the home-educated grown so quickly over the past five years? In the UK, home-educating religious and ethnic minorities - Muslims, Romany travellers, Presbyterians, pagans - have grown in number, but they have not been the recruiting sergeant for home education they are in the US. Bigger factors have been the increasing number of children diagnosed with special needs, parents fleeing the British state sector's testing and targets, the ready availability of teaching materials on the internet and the doubling of private school fees in a decade.

 

But a survey of 34 local authorities showed that by far the most significant factor was bullying: 44 per cent of parents cite it as the reason they withdrew their children from school. In this less deferential age, parents are less willing to trust teachers - and when faced with a problem such as bullying, they sort it out themselves."

 

A lot of secular parents love the WTM approach because it's not specifically religious (a rarity in hsing circles). It gives very solid recommendations about what and how to teach. Even if you end up modifying everything (like, umm, me) it's still a valuable resource as a road map for your hsing adventure. A bit of reassurance that it's okay to go slower or take a different route would be a big confidence boost for new hsers.