Can we talk about streamlining school work because of therapy

[calledtobehome]

I'm sure this has been discussed before but the search engine is making it difficult to find :).

 

In less than 30 days my son who's 4 months shy of turning 11yrs old will began speech therapy 2xw(6 months) and vision therapy(10wks). I'm trying to organize his academics around therapy. I know we will have therapy homework for both.

I can pack work for his 9 yr old brother to do while we wait so that shouldn't be a problem.

I'm thinking we should at least stay consistent with Math, Phonics, All About Spelling, and our read aloud time. Maybe use apps, watch documentaries, etc.

 

Suggestions would be helpful!

 

Thanks

[Momx3]

Be very sure he actually needs these therapies. While speech is justifiable, vision therapy is one of those grey areas. My pediatrician wasn't a believer in vision therapy so we skipped it...good call as many special issues will ome around, just later. Just me but I would streamline the therapies, not the academics. Some of these experts are just happy to take your money forever..

[Goldberryhill]

Ok.  I hardly ever respond to anything on these boards for lack of time, but I cannot keep silent regarding your question and the only reply you've gotten so far.  My daughter could hardly read The Foot Book before vision therapy at age 10 yrs.  She did vt for a whole year, and it was very demanding physical therapy for her eyes.  If I had doubts about it, we would have given up.  I saw huge improvement in her reading, her focus, and her attention by 10 weeks into therapy.  She finished vt in the spring, and that summer read all Louisa May Alcott's books!  I call that success.  She also made huge gains in math (although she still struggles most in this subject).  She can line up numbers now and hold things in her memory longer.  Her visual memory is her strength, but it was non-existent before vt.  I do wonder if one of the reasons vt may not be successful in some cases (besides the differences in doctors/therapists) is because it is so very demanding on both student and parent.  I could see a lot of folks giving up.  We stripped our schedule to the bare minimum that year of schooling.  I had bought MFW and was very excited to use it, but had to postpone it until the next year.  Motivating my daughter to keep persevering and doing the hard work of vt was plenty hard.  We had to offer lots of incentives and rewards, along with just stating she HAD to finish it daily.  We had to split the exercises up during the day.  They were supposed to only take 15-20 min. a day, but it was more like 1/2 hour in the morning and 1/2 hour later in the afternoon.  The headaches and tired eyes then required rest.   But let me tell you, I would give my right arm to go through all the whining, crying, persuading, etc. again for such wonderful success.  Her eyes and her brain are not the same.  It was worth it. 

[clemota]

I think you're got the right idea, OP - anytime there is something that takes away from a more "robust" homeschooling, the advice on these forums is always stick to the basics and add in the rest WHEN you can - and if that means doing so by video, by all means do it!  You're planning on sticking with math and LA, so it sounds like you're set there.  As much as we love to have our kids doing all the extras - hands-on science and engaging history, sometimes life gets in the way.  Take advantage of the library and YouTube.  If you have Netflix or Amazon, that's also handy.  

 

Stick to the basics - the rest can be done in more detail (if they haven't already picked it up from videos) when the therapies are done.  We held off on starting K for my middle because she needed occupational therapy and speech therapy and I though that would be too much for her to handle (this was before I discovered the beauty of homeschooling).  It made it a much better year for all of us.  Now we are in the process of getting her tested for dysgraphia/stealth dyslexia, and I'm certainly planning on backing off the academics a bit if we need to focus on another therapy.  It just makes sense to back off when really, it's for such a short period in their entire academic career!

 

For suggestions we like:

 on YouTube:

PBS Digital Studios - lots of different science/discover /art videos here.

Horrible Histories

ASAPscience

National Geographic

Ted Talks

Crash Course History/Crash Course Science - these depend on the maturity of your kids - you may want to screen them first.

MinutePhysics

 

For free apps:

Bill Nye has an app that shows short clips from his videos

The exploratorium has two free apps - Color Uncovered and Sound Uncovered.

National Geographic Today - an app with amazing free pictures and comments daily - could lead to a quick easy geography , history, science or social studies lesson

NASA - also updated regularly

Kids Discover has a Galaxies one for free.

Ocean Science

Oresome Elements - silly game but familiarizes kids with the periodic table.

Creatures of Light

Brainpop and Brainpop Jr both have an app that allows a video or two free each day.

Today's Document from the National Archives - shows a new piece from the archives daily - could be a good conversation starter for a quick easy history lesson.

 

I think that's more than enough suggestions from me!  :p

 

I think you're doing the right thing by planning ahead to take it easier for a bit.  And I hope you find a nice low-stress balance for the next 6 months!

 

 

 

 

[calledtobehome]

Momx3- I totally understand where you are coming from but the speech is definitely needed and we are willing to give VT a try.

GoldenBerryHill and Clemota- Thanks for all the suggestions and encouragement. One of my sons favorite subject is science. I'm sure we can get experiments done on the evenings and weekends.

[EKS]

Regarding the comment that VT is a crock--people who believe this are misinformed.  It is not the answer for everything, but for certain things it works beautifully.  There are well respected professionals out there who are absolutely convinced it works.

 

As for schooling through therapies, I agree with the others who said to focus on the basics.  I'd make sure that reading, writing, and math get done regularly and for history, science, and literature, I'd do read alouds (and videos where appropriate) when you have time.

[prairiewindmomma]

Is there any way to move the vt appointment to the afternoons? Ds's eyes were tired for a few hours after vt--it was impossible to do any sort of near vision work. Movies were ok afterwards, as was audio stuff, but even some apps were too much work visually.

 

I'd make math the #1 priority. Phonics/writing would be right behind there. I'd cover history and science orally when needed and add videos where appropriate.  A tip for writing....this is a great chance for him to narrate an outline or main ideas and capture that on paper and then work on typing skills if he isn't already fluent on the keyboard.  With phonics, if his eyes are tired, go on to oral work and spend some time on prefixes and suffixes.  You can memorize those orally with a tiny amount of vision work if dyslexia, etc. isn't also in the mix.

[geodob]

While vision therapy can correct a vision issue.  The other side of this correction, is to learn how to see, in a way that one has never seen before?

So that you could rather use academics to explore and support his new way of seeing?

A sort of academic therapy?

[GoVanGogh]

DS is 6th grade and goes to occupational, physical and speech therapy weekly. ST will hopefully only be six-nine months, but we are told to expect another 3-5 years of OT and PT. (Until he is finished growing.)

 

A few things we have always done that are paying off now:

1.) School year-round, taking advantage of days with nothiing on the schedule.

2.) Make the most of quality field trips, especially educational travel and weekend opportunities.

3.) We think that most of lower level education is just building the foundation and children/adults can learn everything they really need to know in life in much less than 12 years. We have always taken advantage of learning opportunities and worked on building that foundation to appreciate learning, not just learning for the sake of learning.

 

A few things we are now doing, with a long-term sentence to therapy:

1.) I am outsourcing two totally unneeded classes. Yes, it adds to the drive time and schedule craziness, but the classes are back-to-back and give me a much needed 4 hour break once a week. It also gives DS a break from me. :lol:  And he is pushed to work harder (and put into practice everythiing he is working on in therapy) for another teacher.

2.) Language arts - something I never thought I would do - we are using Switched on Schoolhouse this year. Yes, it is a major "just get it done" approach. But it was needed. (Also, DS works at two vastly different levels in LA and I had hoped SOS would help to pull up his lower scores. That hasn't happened, but we are still enjoying this approach for now.)

3.) Math - we are using the peck-away theory, doing a bit every day, weekends included. DS understands advanced math concepts, but struggles with math facts, so I don't think going slower through math will hurt him long-term.

4.) DS loves science and literature. Next calendar year, we will focus on those subjects and (for the most part) take a year off of history. I am hoping to focus on his stronger subjects for fun while we continue with intensive therapy.

5.) Take advantage of quality videos - Teaching the Classics, The Teaching Co, etc.

6.) Drop subjects that we can study elsewhere - dropped composer studies as DS take music lessons already, dropped art studies as we visit art galleries often.

 

"Simply Classic" (available through Memoria Press) is an awesome read on homeschooling special needs.

[Julie of KY]

Your looking at a 6 month period of time - not forever. I'd keep up with things that build on itself like math. Consider his strengths and weaknesses - are there areas that need daily practice like spelling or is he a good speller. I try to prioritize math and English and I'll let other things slack if needed. Don't only do the hard school work, but do some fun stuff as well - read-alouds, experiments, etc. Don't fret too much over not getting everything done. He's 11 and has lots of time to learn science, history, etc. Keep your eyes on the goal and remember that you can't add all this therapy without cutting something.

[scbusf]

My DD is Kindergarten age right now and goes to speech therapy twice a week (she has a repaired cleft lip/palate).  We focus on the basics - math and reading for now.  She tags along on DS's science and history.

[PeterPan]

Well I'll be more radical than all the others, just because sometimes you need a Fairy Godmother saying that's ok.   :)

 

I would drop all school work and do field trips and holiday crafts.  You're going into the holiday season.  Normal people are already stressed then, and you're ADDING to that therapies.  The kid is 5th grade by age.  You can lose the entire year of 5th grade and NOT BLINK AN EYE.  I should know, because my ds was born around that age for my dd and it FELT like the lost year.  She read, did a BF geo study (only part), did I mention read, assembled Snap Circuits, listened to audiobooks...  She STILL grew!  

 

Yes people, life can go on even without formal school work and the child will STILL grow and mature!

 

I didn't say do nothing, so don't misunderstand.  I just described a rich environment.  I'm just saying be realistic.  Maybe your holiday season good and make this experience a pleasure.  My dd was WAY too dead with VT homework and VT sessions to do a ton of school work, so actually we lost a lot time to do work then too.  And you know what?  She's STILL fine!!!  I test every year, and her scores are still the same percentages they were, actually better.  So do NOT be freaky about this.

 

We were doing OT at the same time as the VT.  Actually, at one point we did OT and VT *and* ST.  That was nuts.  I gained weight, ate too much fast food, lost my mind...  Don't do that.  :)

 

When I look at your school list, I see remedial stuff that you're probably having to do because of his vision problems.  (That's assuming you have a good, honest VT doc and he needs it.  You hang here, so we're pulling for you that you did the homework and got a good one!)  My dd had a huge surge for about 6 months after VT.  She had changes that were so radical 1-2 months into VT, that I'm telling you you're WASTING YOUR TIME AND BANGING YOUR HEAD UNNECESSARILY right now.  They told you 10 weeks.  That means you get through the holiday season and start back into your phonics with his new vision skills in place.  You don't have to get all the way through even.  Maybe just get into January and then start back up.  I'm giving you permission.  I'm telling you when that visual memory kicks in and the tracking and convergence, you have more to work with and the chance to finally have something STICK.  Don't bang your head now and don't ruin this special season.

 

VT was very hard for us, but we have happy memories of all the field trips we took.  We'd do our day of therapy and then just go blast off somewhere.  One time I thought we were going up to a carousel in one city, had the name wrong, and ended up in a totally DIFFERENT city touring this small house museum and this amazing tomb of a president I didn't even know was there!  Go figure!   :lol:   Another day we did an underground caverns tour at a place less than an hour away that we had never gone to.  I'm sure there are tons of things where you never make time to go that would be fun and worthwhile to do.  What else are they going to do with a headache and their brain worn out?

 

Ok, now the speech.  I'm not sure what you're hitting there, but my ds is whooped after ST.  Like he does a double session (1:40) and then sleeps for the almost 3 hour ride home.  This is the kid who DOES NOT nap.  ST is hard work and VT is hard work.  Maybe your kid is going to be one of those kids for whom it's all pretty painless, with no headaches, no fatigue, no frustrations, and you wake up, do an hour of work real efficiently, and then do your therapy homework stuff and everyone is cool.  If that works for you, do it!  If you can only get ONE THING done, do math.  But if you can get nothing done, the world will STILL go on.  

 

Worthwhile things to do in addition to field trips?  Well at some point in that VT they're going to start doing some visual processing, hopefully.  When they do that, you can help by playing fun games with him that work the skills.  They might ask you to play SET.  I spent a lot of time doing *puzzles* with my dd.  When we started, even doing something simple like a 50 piece puzzle was a challenge.  She got to where she could do 250 piece puzzles as a race with me also doing one.  That was fun!  You might come across my post where I was so happy on the boards here that she was finally able to do puzzles!  Anyways, that takes time.  You can play GAMES and bring in your SPEECH skills into the games.  I do this with my ds all the time.  So when you carve your time and make room for puzzles and games, you're reinforcing the therapy stuff and having a good time and building happy memories.  Treat yourself to this.  Don't be afraid of it.  

 

Do you have the game Ticket to Ride?  You might look on the chit chat board for game lists people have given.  Buy some games like that and use them as rewards for compliance. We used lego sets.  So then you've got compliance, happy memories, and reinforcing speech and VT skills for the price of a small kit.  Oh yeah.  And it's WAY more fun than doing more AAS.  There's a time for more phonics, but it's after you get the vision kicking in.  If you were looking at a year of therapy and prime schooling time, I might answer differently, kwim?  But 10 weeks over the holidays when you're going to miss half the time anyway?  Just stop the circus and enjoy what you're doing.

 

Keep us posted on how it goes!   :)

[Tiramisu]

Be very sure he actually needs these therapies. While speech is justifiable, vision therapy is one of those grey areas. My pediatrician wasn't a believer in vision therapy so we skipped it...good call as many special issues will ome around, just later. Just me but I would streamline the therapies, not the academics. Some of these experts are just happy to take your money forever..

 

I've edited this post.

 

Momx3, please don't take my comments personally, but some of the points you touch upon are worth talking about. It's true that natural development can take care of some issues and not every difference is a pathology. But, at the same time, taken to an extreme, this type of thinking discourages people from getting the help that could make a huge difference in the life of their child. I've seen cases where development, patience, and the right learning environment have taken care of things and cases where they haven't.

 

As far as VT goes, we also got warnings, particularly regarding the fact that the person who does the eval is also the person who makes money from providing the therapy. We went to a COVD doc who could very easily see I would have tried anything to help my dd, and he DID find a visual processing problems. But did he recommend therapy? No. He honestly told me that VT would not be helpful for her problem. Then he told me what kind of things we could do at home, that would help her as much as he could help her. 

 

I think many, though certainly not all, of these experts get into the fields they do because they care about children and, therefore, would not want to put them through unnecessary grief and boredom. Besides VT, were were also spared OT, because the specialist thought it more beneficial for her to focus on other things given her stage in life, and PT, because our PT believed our dc would get the same results from real life activities. We did have one OT from outer space, but it was rather obvious her findings did not correspond with what we were seeing in real life and we were able to forgo the therapy without guilt. (Thankfully, all these stories do not involve the same kid!)

 

We have to use our common sense. I would not do a CAPD eval before age 7 because the auditory system is not fully matured, but it seems that the visual system is different as there have been many VT life-changing success stories about younger dc shared on this board over the years.

 

It is very important to remember that many "special issues" won't "come around". The effects of them can, in fact, become much worse as the years go by, the work gets more difficult, and the expectations are higher. Having had a dc who was dx'd as a teen, I would not often recommend taking that chance.

 

The effects of these issues aren't limited to academics, they affect life and relationships. There are cases where VT was recommended, the families decided against it, and many years went by and the problems were still there. In one family I know well, the kid became so demoralized. He developed behavioral issues which affected the entire family, and, on top of that, he was embarrassed even with his friends. 

 

When it comes down to it, many of us spend lots of money on things that don't last and matter so little in the grand scheme of things. I would rather take the chance, even on something in a "grey area", and risk our money and time and effort on something that could last and make my dc's life better.

 

 

[PeterPan]

Our ped is pretty hip and up-to-date actually, but I'm not sure he knows diddley about developmental vision.  He also never mentioned PROMPT, even though it's the best, most effective therapy for verbal apraxia.  I'm not going to skip the best therapies I can find through specialists just because my generic ped doesn't happen to know about them.  He's awesome, but he's not omniscient.

[Tiramisu]

I'm sure this has been discussed before but the search engine is making it difficult to find :).

 

In less than 30 days my son who's 4 months shy of turning 11yrs old will began speech therapy 2xw(6 months) and vision therapy(10wks). I'm trying to organize his academics around therapy. I know we will have therapy homework for both.

I can pack work for his 9 yr old brother to do while we wait so that shouldn't be a problem.

I'm thinking we should at least stay consistent with Math, Phonics, All About Spelling, and our read aloud time. Maybe use apps, watch documentaries, etc.

 

Suggestions would be helpful!

 

Thanks

 

I haven't exactly been in your position, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt. I would prioritize the subjects that YOU THINK you should be consistent with. So, if math is first on the list, I'd start with that and go to the next most important thing, and the next, etc. At least, on the days that your ds can manage it, he will have made some progress in what's most important to you.

 

OR, more radically, you could do what he likes in order of most favorite, next favorite, etc. There are benefits of this, too.

 

In any case, you could start working with whichever approach and when your ds has had enough, stop and feel good about it. 

 

Honestly, though, I'm with OhE's recommendations. :)

[PeterPan]

Clemota, I love that list of apps!!!  :)

[mommymonster]

We just started vision therapy today. We are also finding ourselves in the car much more than last year due to VT and outside classes.

 

We are using our time in the car to listen to classical music and talk a bit about composers and music structure. We also are big fans of SOTW on CD. I know people recommend focusing on the basics, but my son loves history and science, so we are trying to find ways to make them happen without too much pain and suffering.

 

We are also becoming rabid fans of books on CD. If you have a drive to get to therapies, the drive itself may be a way to add a bit of enrichment...

 

 

[PandaMom]

It seems like we are always going to therapy.  DD does 2 hours of ABA on Tuesday and Thursday mornings followed by and hour and a half of ST/OT.  On Monday and Wednesday afternoons she does an hour long ST/literacy program.  My best advice is to take it day by day.  There are some days where she falls asleep on the way home and we don't get as much done as I would like.  Fridays are the day where we try to get most of her schoolwork done because we don't leave the house!!!  I do work with her here and there and if it doesn't get done I don't stress out.  I am trying to go the year round approach so that should help.  It helped this week when I called it a "Fall break" and closed the school room door :thumbup:

 

Susie

DD(8)

[PeterPan]

We just started vision therapy today. We are also finding ourselves in the car much more than last year due to VT and outside classes.

 

We are using our time in the car to listen to classical music and talk a bit about composers and music structure. We also are big fans of SOTW on CD. I know people recommend focusing on the basics, but my son loves history and science, so we are trying to find ways to make them happen without too much pain and suffering.

 

We are also becoming rabid fans of books on CD. If you have a drive to get to therapies, the drive itself may be a way to add a bit of enrichment...

I'm trying to remember, but we were probably doing the VP self-paced online history around that time.  

[GoVanGogh]

Be very sure he actually needs these therapies. While speech is justifiable, vision therapy is one of those grey areas. My pediatrician wasn't a believer in vision therapy so we skipped it...good call as many special issues will ome around, just later. Just me but I would streamline the therapies, not the academics. Some of these experts are just happy to take your money forever..

 

I skipped over this reply the first time I read this thread, as the person only has a few posts. But after thinking on it and knowing that people read the boards w/o ever posting, I feel like I need to reply.

 

I know my opinion is heavily influenced by our experience with pediatriicans, but I would never, ever believe a pediatrician when it comes to learning issues - vision and speech issues included. We tried since our son was approx 18 months of age to get a diagonsis. Some of the physical issues were diagnosed and treated as unrelated to the bigger picture. Some of the physical issues were brushed off due to child being a wiggly little boy. None of the learning issues were ever addressed by the pediatricians, no matter how much we asked about them. It took ten years of asking the pediatricians for referrals, being sent to the wrong specialists, having the issues diagnosed around before the elephant in the middle of the room - CP - was ever addressed. Now our child has missed ten years of much-needed therapy.

 

Yes, some special issues may come around, but - having been burned - I would never, ever take that chance again.

Yes, some experts are just looking for an easy buck. That is why parents need to research the therapists and the therapy methods. In our experience with physical and occupational therapy - we could start to see little improvements within a few short months - so what is the harm in trying? If we didn't see improvements, we would know to look into other issues.

 

I do agree that some therapies can be streamlined, which is why I am very happy we are doing OT and PT at the same facility and the therapists work together to streamline our home program. That is why our OT and PT are aware of what is going on in ST and vice versa.