Is Elemental Science the Logic Stage too Advanced for Dyslexia 5th Grader?

[KBunn]

I have a dyslexic 11 year old who I will be moving mostly to 5th grade next year. He just did a DORA assessment and is working on a 4th grade level in reading comprehension and oral vocabulary However, he has fluency issues and it takes him at least 30 minutes to read a short passage. He is working on a Kindergarten level in site word recognition and scored very poorly in phonics, we are doing remedial programs in those areas. While he can read and can understand what he reads when given an unlimited amount of time, it is tedious. Therefore, I read most of the other core subjects such as science and history to him for the most part.

 

Because he can understand grade level material, I don't want to hold him back in these other subjects. So, for those who have used it, do you think Elemental Science the Logic Stage would work well if I were to read the encyclopedia passages to him for the most part? I know there is some writing, but I imagine it can be shortened if needed. I like that it has an experiment each week with an optional activity at the end of the week as well. He loves hands on stuff and would be extremely interested in the dissections and other activities with his brother. I was also going to supplement each week's lesson with a Bill Bye the Science Guy episode or other science video to help add to the fun and auditory factor.

[TraceyS/FL]

Have you joined their Yahoo group?

 

I'm going to be doing Grammar Physics with the child that I talked about in your other post. I have the Kingfisher book if the Usborne isn't enough (or if she wants more info), but there is a HUGE jump to me between the two. I don't think my DD could handle the logic level of ANYTHING yet, but I see it in our future. I actually only had the Kingfisher Science until this week ('er, friday it arrives), I just think it is too big of a jump for her.

 

We also have Grammar Earth and Space for my PS 2nd grader. It is a bit too easy I think for her (I picked on subject matter - she wants to do this one), I will use older books for her than what they recommend.

 

Be sure to email Paige and ask her too - she is great about responding!

[jeninok]

I am using it, but with some minor changes. I found a couple books that are less busy on each page but still give great information, we use those whenever possible and I just note the change on his weekly assignment page.

We also use a journal type spiral where he does a sketch or diagram for each 2 page spread and then writes a few facts down. We do not do a writing assignment in science.

 

The best thing I have done though is add the TOPS Radishes unit for the plants. He was hating every minute of it and bored silly. The TOPS plus the book work is a perfect balance.

 

 

[KBunn]

Thank-you both for your replies. I looked over the grammar ones and the content seemed too easy, but then I only looked at the biology one, maybe I should look at the others and see if we should start there before moving up to the logic stage. I was just going to have him do a one paragraph summary or just a narration review of the material instead of the long writing assignment they recommend.

[jeninok]

The biggest thing I have to do with DK and sometimes Usborne books is to number the sections on the page in the order in which he should read them Sometimes all the disjointed chunks of text all over the page are the biggest problem for him.

[TraceyS/FL]

Thank-you both for your replies. I looked over the grammar ones and the content seemed too easy, but then I only looked at the biology one, maybe I should look at the others and see if we should start there before moving up to the logic stage. I was just going to have him do a one paragraph summary or just a narration review of the material instead of the long writing assignment they recommend.

The one thing I figure is that we go into is as maybe something that is a bit "easy" - BUT, with a bunch of "stuff" to add to it to make it more. I already had the K'nex stuff (my oldest didn't have a lot of interest) so the fact that it schedules that is huge - and I expect to be a springboard into the other kits we have. I figure it was easier to add in more when we hit an interest spot for her - as opposed to starting to high and having to lower it.

 

This weekend I will know more - today is a trip to IKEA and then the books can get organized and I will have a spot to spread it all out and see how it goes.

 

For me though, going with the easier to read material means she won't be intimidated totally by it, and will feel like she can spring off on her own. Oh, I see that bio is the first book - yes, that would be wayyyyy to young for my DD. Each level increases, so do look at the 2 older levels. I actually will probably do Chemistry with her after physics, and then jump to logic bio. I think anyway! :p

 

(and, her reading is only where it was because of speech and language therapy with OG materials, and we are going to start AA level 1 to reinforce and keep that going)

[RootAnn]

I'm not sure I'd use the Kingfisher even if I was reading it aloud. It is busy & the text is sometimes confusing (for me!). If you could find other books that have the same type of info on each subject, I think you could definitely do ES's Logic Bio. For example, if you have a good library, I'd do read-alouds on each of the weekly subject matter.

[KBunn]

Thanks so much for the input. After hearing the responses and going through the grammar level books, I have chosen the grammar level physics for him for this next school year. It has more of the type of experiments he wanted to delve into anyway and it will give him at least another year before moving onto the logic stage books.