Advise on Curriculum Choices for ADD/Dyslexia/Dysgraphia

[5onthemove]

I have a 9 1/2 year old that has many issues including ADHD, suspected dyslexia and dysgraphia (no official diagnosis yet...long story), and other learning disabilities (slow processing). Anyhow, her reading and handwriting are way behind grade level but she is beyond grade level in her ability to grasp concepts and understand things in science, history, literature, etc. I have her at grade level in math. She loves to listen to books! I read aloud to her a lot and she listens to audio books like crazy. Her comprehension of what she listens to and what she reads (which is very small amounts) is exceptional. I love to let her listen to audio books and watch educational videos (her fav stuff is on the National Geographic Channel). My question is, do any of you rock star mamas have any curriculum or other materials that could help me teach her at her level without it requiring of her to read (or me to read constantly) or write? I have a typing program for her but haven't had time to put that into our schedule yet. I hope to start integrating that in soon (I also am homeschooling my 7 year old and my 4 year old likes in on the action too). I look forward to hearing all of your great ideas! :thumbup:

[PeterPan]

Warning: little to none of what follows is exactly what you asked for. If it's not useful, apologies.

 

Your label is from a ped or psych? If it was psych, why no conclusion on the dysgraphia and dyslexia? If it's just a ped and the rest are assumptions, then start moving on the psych eval.

 

You know as far as the reading, the FIRST thing I'd be doing is get that kid in to get her EYES checked. Sure it could be dyslexia, but there could just as easily be a vision or other reason behind it. COVD is where you find a developmental optometrist. That's what you want and a good one. Sometimes they'll have some extra things they can do, like PACE/Learning RX, where they tie together visualization, working memory, etc. etc. Sometimes the kids need some extra things to get reading to come. Don't assume it's intractable till you know what's going on. They even say a % of girls diagnosed adhd are actually getting incorrect labels and that it's CAPD. So definitely pursue those evals.

 

What have you done so far for phonics/reading?

 

Has she had an OT eval for the handwriting? She may be low tone or have other correctable things they can help her with. If it's any consolation, my dd's writing is now getting better (8th gr). When we did her psych eval, he said indeed the motor control was not automatic, but he didn't label her dysgraphic. Go figure. I think it's just that the DSM has really specific things it means. Whatever. It's finally coming together for her. She did invented shorthand writing for about a year this year, and now just in the last two months she has started working a dab each day on her own, actually rather decent, elvish looking script. Her issues with the pain and getting worse as she wrote more were because of the low tone. We finally did OT. That helped the pain, but the lady was hairbrained and we quite before we made any headway on automaticity. At this point, like I said, it seems to be improving with her own personal efforts and the added maturity she has to give to it. When she was younger and we worked on it, sometimes the problem was actually her EYES. Very hard to close your circles and have them look nice when the images are blurring and not converging properly... But anyways.

 

Things I wish I had done more? Well we did a lot right. We did SWR (maybe you need to step up to Barton) and focused on the basics in trim sessions while giving her lots of time to explore the gravy stuff. Lots of hands-on. She remembers hands-on stuff really well from what we've done over the years, even though I wouldn't consider her a kinesthetic learner. Definitely do lots of hands-on. This year we've been doing only the labs from our science. Seriously. Do lots more than you even think you should, lol.

 

I wish I had gone to Hobby Lobby and bought cool kits when she was that age. I didn't think of them as school and realized my error when she was too old for them. Get them now. They're super cool. Lots of doing and learning in them, and you can use the 50% coupons!

 

I wish I had no written off as personality weird things she shied away from like puzzles and coloring. We had to go back and DO those things after we did the evals and therapies for the underlying issues. When a kid is diverging from age norms, there's a reason.

 

I'm glad we played games, did puzzles (later, after VT), and had hours and hours of read alouds, sculpey, crafting, etc. The Veritas Press online, self-paced history has been fabulous for us. Shurley has short lessons (the way we do it) and worked out well. The whiteboard, LOVE using a whiteboard. Writing Tales was good. Don't get caught up in doing things too soon. Some things are better done LATER but done WELL. For instance I would suggest you try one of the Writing Tales levels now with her. Well not now. If she's still uncomfortable getting thoughts onto paper, do some fun writing prompts, narrations where you write for her, etc. With WT2, the stories got really long for my dd. I ended up letting her retell just one paragraph or one section if the story was really long. It was pretty much her choice whether she wanted to condense the story down or pick one section she really liked and tell just that section fully. So you're seeing that creative slant to everything, lots of doing and creativity.

 

Sorry, you asked for curriculum. I know you're busy. All the rest are younger than her? You've been homeschooling all along or pulled her out? What have you tried? Does she have a daily list so she knows the plan? Does everyone (all the littles) have a daily routine so they know the plan? Typing on the computer could go on that list, shouldn't require you to happen at all. Try to make her a daily list of her work, her plan, and divide it up with things she can do on her own without you and things she needs you to be able to do. Then try to put in some independent things (do a puzzle, do something for finger strength like play with PopArty beads, color a page in a Dover book, Flashmaster, typing, blah blah) so she's accomplishing those goals.

 

I own a ton of curriculum, but it's not particularly useful. It helps give you an outline, but I would focus on doing. Anything she craves or seems very into, do more of. Videos are fine for content. Focus on skills and getting things evaled to figure out what's going on. History Channel, Magic School Bus, Moody Science. Google your topics. Disney Imagineering, Newton science, blah blah. There's just tons out there.

 

Btw, you're going to see this in other threads, but Dvorak (an alternate keyboard layout) made a huge difference for my dd. It's a simple toggle on some computers. They can't peck, because of course your keyboard isn't labeled for it. It's more efficient and has less midline crosses, which helps with the motor control stuff. It was a pretty nasty stage when I realized my dd neither had acceptable handwriting NOR was succeeding at typing. :w00t: Dvorak with the Mavis Beacon lessons, and switching her over to her own user acct where she COULDN'T use QWERTY and revert to pecking, took care of that. That was last year in 7th. Some things take time. You sound like you're working very hard to figure out things. You'll get there. We all make mistakes and it just takes time to work through stuff.

[Tokyomarie]

I guess what I'm thinking of, other than audiobooks, reading aloud to her, and appropriate educational videos is educational software. Since my son has gotten past the elementary age programs, I'm not sure of what is all out there for that age range. My son used the Jump Start and Reader Rabbit type software which added to regular curriculum. Homeschool Buyers Co-op's specialty is group buys for educational materials, mainly online and CD/DVD software.

 

Are there specific subjects/topics that you want to know about?

 

You say it's a long story about not yet having a diagnosis for the reading and writing difficulties. Are you pursuing any avenues to get evaluations done? Honestly, at this age, your number one priority should be to have a plan in place for remediating the written language difficulties. It sounds like you've already accommodated her well in content areas- maybe there are things you want to tweak- but what are you doing at this point to deal with the weaknesses? I say this as one who is trying to read between your lines but not make too many assumptions. I have been there on the "long story" comments. It took me 6-7 years beyond the point at which I knew we needed professional help to actually get to the point of getting help. My number one regret in parenting that child is that I didn't make it my number one priority to make sure the child got professional evaluations and proper identification. There are difficulties we could have prevented had I put on my big girl panties and advocated, even though it would have caused short-term problems for me.

[Heathermomster]

Make typing a priority. Use a timer and set aside 20 minutes each morning after breakfast, Mon-Friday. Give her a break in the middle...just do it...

 

Look in your area for a Scottish Rite Learning Center. Contact them and find out their fees for dyslexia testing. Sometimes the testing is free...Use the diagnosis to join Learning Aly, which costs about $120 per year. Download the audio books from Learning Aly. Check the library and Librovox for audio books. DS uses the text to speech option with his Kindle when reading.

 

Gems has been recommended for hands-on science.

 

Barton for reading.

 

Absolutely, follow up testing with a COVD.org eye exam and get the NP testing done.

[GoVanGogh]

Anyhow, her reading and handwriting are way behind grade level but she is beyond grade level in her ability to grasp concepts and understand things in science, history, literature, etc.

I will reply more later, but wanted to say that I have a child that is 2e, mixed skill levels. We are taking this year for therapy, but I am filling in with some fun stuff like videos from The Teaching Company.

You might need to prescreen some, depending on maturity/interest level. Also, watch for sales or chieck with your library. DS started watching some at at 10 and loves them!

He is currently watching their series on the history of great structures - includes history, geography and science.

I know they are thought of for high school/college level, but if you have a child that grasps concepts beyond grade level (like mine) they are great.

[prairiewindmomma]

Fwiw, bookshare is free with diagnosis. It is text to speech rather than a human voice, but there are textbooks there, and you can read a text while the audio is playing.

[3monkeys]

One thing that comes to mind that really works with my ds9 is the daily practice Evan Moor books. They make it in writing, math, geography etc. It doesn't require a lot of reading and you answer only a few questions per day. This helps with attention and not overwhelming them with lots of writing. Here's a link to the geography we're doing this year. I will say I don't use these as a complete curriculum but I think it's a easy way to keep them at grade level without overwhelming them. http://www.evan-moor.com/p/115/daily-geography-practice-grade-3

[Pen]

How much / what level can she actually read? And what is trouble? Decoding? Fatigue?

 

Without knowing her reading level, it is hard to suggest any curricula that she might be able to manage on her own.

 

I agree with above pps that you need a diagnosis, to help know what to do--and because it could allow you to get Learning Ally, Bookshare etc.

 

I liked Highnoonbooks.com for learning to read. Others use it for having high interest/low level readers (for example history and biographies) that are reasonably interesting for children reading below grade level.

 

In addition to typing there are dictation software programs, but without knowing what the problem is, it is hard to know what direction to go in. My son has Typing Instructor for Kids Platinum--it is fun: he does it as a game, no need to have it on a schedule.

 

My best hs purchase this year was a Netflix subscription which put lots of documentaries into our lives. Should have gotten one sooner.

[Plink]

You and I are living the same life. I have found that video based instruction has been the best match for my girl who is fabulous at content/comprehension, yet struggles with reading and processing speed. BJU for Math and Language Arts, and Veritas Press self-paced for history are our favorites.

 

 

[5onthemove]

Thanks for all your suggestions! My "long story" short is that I've been trying to get her tested through a variety of places but as soon as we get an appointment we end up moving away (military family...my 9 year old has moved 9 times). We are currently stationed in Germany and our options are quite limited due to what is offered and the language barrier. My husband and I have talked about maybe pursuing testing in the area our families live so we could maybe take her while visiting but then follow-ups and therapies would be impossible. She was under the care of a developmental pediatrician when she was 2-3 and we were able to have PT and OT then. She has always had tracking issues and wore glasses at one point but then when we moved and the new doctor said she didn't need them. She went to a PS in Kindergarten and received OT there. I pulled her out to HS her starting in 1st and was able to continue her OT until we moved at the end of that year. Since then she hasn't had any OT since then but since I try to learn along with her, we still do exercises at home. She loves puzzles and actually loves art so she is usually doing one of those things daily. Her handwriting is very hard for her though. She does the random capital letters in the middle of words and cries a lot. HWT apparently hasn't met a child like mine! ;) We started cursive this year and I'm really glad we did because she seems to be doing better but it is VERY slow progress. She gets tired very quickly and writing one sentence can take an hour. I did find a reading tutor that specializes in dyslexia but honestly I feel like I'm doing the exact same stuff at home so the verdit is still out on the effectiveness of that. I've just been feeling like we spend SO MUCH time focused on the stuff that is hard for her (reading, writing, sometimes math) that the stuff she loves to learn about is being pushed to the side and given small amounts of time to enjoy. I want to encourage her in the areas she is naturally passionate about without losing ground gained in the areas she struggles (that is so not strong enough of a word...it's more like agonizes).

[Plink]

5onthemove, I just wanted to encourage you. Many of the above posters sound as if we are giving you a hard time, but I'm sure that isn't anyone's intent. Having a SN kid is hard, and the more tools you can fit into your back pocket the better. Waiting for a NP appointment takes a long time, so I can see how that would be hard with moving often. You sound like you are doing your very best for your daughter.

 

Unfortunately, she probably isn't going to be your independent student any time soon. Here are a few more ideas that work for us, although most of them require lots of mom-support:

 

 

Reading/Spelling

- Barton is worth the money. It works. We also use

dyslexia specific apps

on the iPad

 

Handwriting

- You are right to switch to cursive. Next year switch back to print (translating phrases written in cursive), then move on to calligraphy, always something new so it isn't "baby work"

 

Geography

- Evan Moor is simple. It isn't great, but in addition to verbal discussion throughout our other studies, it works well.

 

History

- Lapbooks (for the coordination that cutting develops) along with lots of fun hands-on projects, in addition to the Veritas program I mentioned above. Don't feel as if she needs to write in all those little tabs. She can type, or you can be her scribe.

 

Processing

- Daily review of multiple kinds of flash-cards: clocks, money, addition, sight words, phonics. The game

Blink

is great at creating a fun way to increase the speed of recall.

 

Bible/Read aloud

- require coloring while listening. It helps develop those hand muscles.

 

Science

- it sounds like you have a handle on this, but fwiw, we like the conversational tone of Apologia, rotated with the practical but short Real Science 4 Kids by Gravitas

[PeterPan]

When she got OT and PT way back then, did they look at tone, sensory integration, and retained primitive reflexes? And that adhd label came from you, a ped, or that developmental ped? They don't usually diagnose adhd at age 2-3, and you may not have the right label there. You don't typically get referred off to a dev. ped just for adhd. What did he think was going on? Maybe you have a paper trail you can review?

 

Those tracking issues with the eyes don't just go away, and all the visual processing (visual memory, completion, constancy, blah blah) build on proper input. When the input is blurred or the eyes are alternating (one cause of tracking issues), you're not getting right input. So then what looks like an instruction problem is a vision problem. You could be paying for tutoring for something that isn't dyslexia and HWT for something that is a PT/OT issue. And until you've had the psych or new dev. ped eval, you don't know if you're dealing with adhd (what you think) or pdd-nos or nvld or something else. And when you get the right labels you can hone in on the right options. None of those affect IQ or mean she's dumb. You just need the right explanations at this point so you can know how to proceed.

 

If she has sensory integration problems (which may or may not have been caught in the earlier PT/OT) that can affect the ability of other therapies to stick. If she has low tone, you really need to know that. There are specific things you could do to work on hand, core, and shoulder strength that could make a difference in her writing comfort in just a few months. A fresh OT eval would help her a LOT right now. You've got to have somebody get their hands on her and determine exactly why she's having that level of pain and difficulty. It's time. Would they fail to treat her if she were in school?? Maybe they're blowing you off because you homeschool or you're blowing yourself off? Don't let it get swept under the rug by homeschooler insecurities. It's not normal, does need to be evaled again, and does need treatment. If you have to move back to the States for 3 months to get the appointments done, you move back to the States. It's time.

 

Where I am, the things you can get into in order of how quickly:

 

-VT doc (through COVD)--2 weeks

-ped (to get that screening and get referrals)--2 weeks

-OT--1 month

-neuropsych--1-4 months, depending on the doc, and it takes several weeks to get the results back

 

You could make them all ahead of time and be ready to go when you got here.

 

My dad was in the Navy, btw, so I grew up with military docs and understand how tricky that can be (quality, options, going through the system, waiting, blah blah). The thing is, Houston you HAVE a PROBLEM. If there's any doubt in your mind making you think this is an instructional problem or just a timetable thing or within the realm of normal or that if you tried harder it would go away or that if you got the right curriculum it would improve, well dispel that from your mind.

 

Some OTs and VT docs are better than others. The level you need depends on what's going on with her. I wouldn't chose your eval docs based on where your family lives. I would find good eval docs and go there. I know that's not practical or financially expedient. Nevertheless, it's something to think through. If they refer you to a good children's hospital in a state capital (Ohio!!), then you could get all your evals (psych, OT, PT, neurologist, etc.) under one roof. And while you're there, because it's a big city, you make an appointment and get in with a Fellow from COVD. Columbus has an AWESOME dev. optom. practice. Or if Ohio isn't where you want to be, another large city like that. :) Hit it all in one trip. And you stay 1-3 months and get some therapy going, get them to give you notebooks of assignments. Then you go home and keep up via email. Medical things have changed and you can now keep up with your practitioners via skype and email. Don't let things stop you.

 

Sorry to be so impractical. Btdt though, with putting off evals. We were frustrated for years by things that could have been identified and treated much earlier. A lot of these therapies are easy for a homeschooler to continue at home once they show you how. The trick is finding someone who will work with you and doesn't have a god-complex. Having the RIGHT terms can make a HUGE difference. You may be mis-treating now and ironically enough missing doing some easy things that would help. But you don't know what those things are because you don't have the right labels, the right info. It's gonna CHANGE YOUR LIVES. Get the evals. :)

[EKS]

My advice is to pick materials that you think will resonate with her, that she will enjoy as much as possible, and that will challenge her at her intellectual level. Then modify them to accommodate her needs. The main modifications/accommodations I used with my son were:

 

Reading aloud to him (this was huge and, IMO, unavoidable)

Scribing for him

Copying math problems for him

Allowing him to use a keyboard

[Pen]

Thanks for all your suggestions! My "long story" short is that I've been trying to get her tested through a variety of places but as soon as we get an appointment we end up moving away (military family...my 9 year old has moved 9 times). We are currently stationed in Germany and our options are quite limited due to what is offered and the language barrier. My husband and I have talked about maybe pursuing testing in the area our families live so we could maybe take her while visiting

 

 

That sounds like a very good idea and one to start working toward today, finding referrals to good people, and making appoints for when you can next get her there right away.

 

 

 

but then follow-ups and therapies would be impossible.

 

Not with the tester, but it will help you to know how to follow-up and deal with the situation wherever you are.

 

 

She was under the care of a developmental pediatrician when she was 2-3 and we were able to have PT and OT then. She has always had tracking issues and wore glasses at one point but then when we moved and the new doctor said she didn't need them. She went to a PS in Kindergarten and received OT there. I pulled her out to HS her starting in 1st and was able to continue her OT until we moved at the end of that year. Since then she hasn't had any OT since then but since I try to learn along with her, we still do exercises at home. She loves puzzles and actually loves art so she is usually doing one of those things daily. Her handwriting is very hard for her though. She does the random capital letters in the middle of words and cries a lot. HWT apparently hasn't met a child like mine! ;) We started cursive this year and I'm really glad we did because she seems to be doing better but it is VERY slow progress. She gets tired very quickly and writing one sentence can take an hour.

 

I gave up on working on penmanship here. Way too much effort and distress for too little benefit, He can print enough to fill in a form (does anyone really care if caps and lower case get mixed? Architects do it that way.). He can print enough to do his math--though he sometimes gets me to scribe for him there too. He is learning to sign his own name. For us, typing was the way to go. And it is a typical IEP accommodation in schools here now to allow typing.

 

I did find a reading tutor that specializes in dyslexia but honestly I feel like I'm doing the exact same stuff at home so the verdit is still out on the effectiveness of that.

 

What is her current reading level and what are the problems?

 

I've just been feeling like we spend SO MUCH time focused on the stuff that is hard for her (reading, writing, sometimes math) that the stuff she loves to learn about is being pushed to the side and given small amounts of time to enjoy. I want to encourage her in the areas she is naturally passionate about without losing ground gained in the areas she struggles (that is so not strong enough of a word...it's more like agonizes).

 

I agree with these needs. You will probably be better able to do help this if you know the underlying problem(s).

[Pen]

PS, if she loves puzzles, she might like Balance Math and Balance Benders and other such materials from Critical Thinking Company--they have very little to read on those, but fit logic and math together as a puzzle.

 

Also, besides the typing I mentioned above that my son loves, there is www.talkingfingers.com which is part reading part typing and might be good for your 4 and 7 year old too.

[Ariston]

I am right there with you wondering when my dyslexic and ADHD son will be able to be more independent in his work, but I've come to the conclusion that it would not be beneficial to make that push now. I need to work with him almost all the time: reading his work to him, helping him stay on task, and scribing for him when needed. I tried him briefly in school and it was a disaster, so for now I take it as a major benefit of homeschooling that he can have a full-time aide to work with him (i.e., me!) This experienced help change my perspective--even though the longterm goal is for him to become independent, right now he needs a lot of help and I'm OK with that. Just because other kids can be independent at this age doesn't mean he can. I've decided not to push him towards independence for now. Its harder for me, but I figure its what he needs to learn right now. (Some theoies about ADHD maintain that it is similar to immaturity....so it might help to think of your child as needing the amount of help a 6 year old would to finish her work, even though she is obviously intellectually very capable.)

 

Regarding video options and educational videos, I wanted to mention that many of the books I've read about ADHD have stressed eliminating screen time as it can make the symptoms of ADHD much worse. My son does Spanish online and typing, but other than that I've cut about everything else out. It was painful at first because it is the ONLY time from sunup to sundown that he sits still and quiet. (I also wonder if video learning options may be counter-productive for his dyslexia issues.)

 

As far as what has worked for us, Barton has been fantastic. This year we are focusing mainly on reading remediation while keeping up with math.

 

For his ADHD, working with timers and routines has been instrumental. I set the timer for 60 minutes for math and he knows that is his time to focus. He also seems to have a big sense of relief since he knows how long it will last and that it will be over, and what to expect next. I've read that chaos and disorganization are extremely exacerbating for ADHD (which is a huge struggle for me, because I'm not naturally organized.)

[5onthemove]

Thanks everyone for your encouragement and suggestions! I have family in Ohio (Cleveland area) and Michigan (north of Grand Rapids). Any of you have anyone you'd recommend for assessments in those areas? After talking with my husband we decided to pursue getting a neuropsychological assessment in the states (paying out of pocket...ouch) and go back to the doctors here to get her reevaluated for PT/OT.

[5onthemove]

Also, besides the typing I mentioned above that my son loves, there is www.talkingfingers.com which is part reading part typing and might be good for your 4 and 7 year old too.

 

Thanks so much for the talkingfingers.com suggestion! I checked it out and bought a subscription and its a huge hit!

[5onthemove]

Also, besides the typing I mentioned above that my son loves, there is www.talkingfingers.com which is part reading part typing and might be good for your 4 and 7 year old too.

 

Thanks so much for the talkingfingers.com suggestion! I checked it out and bought a subscription and its a huge hit!

[PeterPan]

For Ohio, there are several popular in Columbus. Don't know about Cleveland. They have a great hospital up there, so you'll find someone. I found our doc by looking at names on the advisory panel for the Ohio Dyslexia Association (google for the exact name) and then googling those names to see how they often they appeared. You could do the same in Michigan. I also found ped referral lists by googling. Sometimes they're uploaded online. When you're making that much effort, try to get some feedback to know you've got a good one, someone who is good at sitting down with you and explaining how to USE the information.

 

Also, since you are going to be here, please get her eyes checked. Get a Fellow (or at least someone who comes well-recommended) through COVD. We're talking developmental optometrist, not regular. A regular optometrist won't do for this. The exam takes just a few hours, but it may turn up something. Sometimes when people think there's dyslexia there turns out to be (fixable) developmental vision problems as part of it.

 

Well keep us posted on how it goes! :)