Favorite science for children with dyslexia?

[Love_to_Read]

I'm trying to figure out the most realistic science curriculum that we can get done with the least teacher-intensive accommodations.  Both of my two children with dyslexic tendencies are science-oriented, so it needs to be high-priority that I feed that strength, but in order to accomplish that alongside all of the remediation that needs to be done one-on-one, something has to give in terms of being more independent.

 

Math-U-See works well for us, because the video frees me up to be teaching phonics to a sibling, and both the video and manipulatives are memorable. We use audiobooks for Story of the World and for Sonlight literature/history when I want them to work independently in those subjects, so that I only need to read aloud the extra books that aren't recorded, and help with written projects, and supervise the hands-on stuff....it's busy, but there's enough independence that it's not all on me. 

 

But science...I find that most books need to be read aloud because of the advanced vocabulary to decode, and most written work needs to scribed, and most experiments need to be supervised...and that means that it all has to wait for mom to help, and that's not efficient for two kids that I want to immerse in science as their go-to favorite subject.  Is there anything out there that you like that can be found on audio? With a substantial video component?  With manageable written work?  Hand-on experiments that the kids enjoy?  Curriculum that satisfies that big picture desire to understand everything?  I don't need it to be completely independent--I love teaching science--but I need to be able to turn them loose to explore on their own more often, and I need it to be actual curriculum rather than Wild Kratts, Magic School Bus, etc.

 

One is in elementary, one is in middle school, and high school is not far down the road.  And who knows whether the preschooler will have the same issues.  So I'd welcome suggestions for any age.  If no one has any favorite recommendations, maybe we can at least chat pros and cons of what we've all tried?

[OneStepAtATime]

This has been a struggle for us as well. My daughter also really has a hard time with gaining much from watching videos. Thankfully DS does great watching videos.

 

Have you looked at Supercharged Science? Pricey but she has videos that teach to the student. There is the online monthly subscription or the boxed sets with DVDs and most of the science project/experiment materials included. If you intend to use her system for several years the box sets are cheaper but you pay for everything up front. LOTS of money upfront since it is supposed to take a student up into High School level science.

[PeterPan]

OneStep, have you tried putting headphones on her for the videos?

 

LtR, have you looked at the BJU online science?  

 

Adding: like Heather's ds, my ds seems to benefit from lots of hands-on.  I try to have a variety of things to make up for my own variability.  What I aspire to do and what I get done can be very different.  I like having back-up plans so we have options.  ;)

[Heathermomster]

My dyslexic DS listens to his audio science texts as he reads.  I download the textbooks from Learning Ally.

 

DS has always loved hands-on science.  DS has dissected, built cell models, growth experiments, set up ppt presentation of mitosis, used the spectroscope, microscope, and built a bridge to study structures.  For physical science, I purchased a premade science kit and we completed experiments.  DS loves Derek Owens.  The more hands on the better for DS. 

[Love_to_Read]

Heathermomster, which science texts are you finding on Learning Ally?  Any of the homeschool ones, or are you using public school publishers? I let our Learning Ally membership lapse because we were finding most of the literature to be better recorded professionally on CDs from the library or Audible downloads for about the same price when I added up our year...but I'm starting to regret it for the books that haven't been recorded elsewhere.  I might have to look into renewing that for next year if it means having science be more doable.  I just can't afford to pick something they don't have, buy two textbooks, mail one in, and wait for the recording to be produced, if we can't figure out what they have already that would be something we could get ahold of in print as a viable curriculum for us.

[Love_to_Read]

OhElizabeth-- Hmmm...I haven't looked into BJU's online options.  I have friends that hate BJU and A Beka materials, but that may be more of a religious vs. secular issue than a comment on format.  I tend to be leery of school-based curricula myself in the sense that I don't want a curriculum that is designed for classroom usage with a heavy written load of seatwork, but if you find BJU online to be reasonable in that respect, maybe I should at least give them a closer look to see whether they'd meet our needs.

 

 

I agree about hands-on.  Mine are definitely kinesthetic learners.  I've given serious thought to just buying a book of experiments and going from there.  But I don't want to create gaps by neglecting to read theory.  And I live in a fairly strict state, so I try to declare somewhat standard textbook choices when possible.

[Love_to_Read]

OneStep, I might go with Supercharged Science.  Have you ever used it? Do you find that it explains things systematically enough to give kids a good foundation, or does she enthusiastically wander off on cool rabbit trails to the extent that kids miss the main idea?  We've watched some of the free lessons where she hawks her wares, and it was hard for me to get a good sense of whether the paid material would be solid and interesting, or flashy but scattered.

[OneStepAtATime]

I found her website and e-courses somewhat confusing.  Maybe lacking in the big picture guidance I need?  I do have some of her DVDs and have found them useful.  I canceled our e-course.  Too expensive for what we were actually taking the time to do with it.  However, I have had several friends who LOVED the boxed versions paired with the DVDs and the on-line videos.  They did have to come up with a kind of schedule and help the kids stay on track but they loved it.

[Heathermomster]

Heathermomster, which science texts are you finding on Learning Ally? Any of the homeschool ones, or are you using public school publishers? I let our Learning Ally membership lapse because we were finding most of the literature to be better recorded professionally on CDs from the library or Audible downloads for about the same price when I added up our year...but I'm starting to regret it for the books that haven't been recorded elsewhere. I might have to look into renewing that for next year if it means having science be more doable. I just can't afford to pick something they don't have, buy two textbooks, mail one in, and wait for the recording to be produced, if we can't figure out what they have already that would be something we could get ahold of in print as a viable curriculum for us.

 

Go to the website and search to see whether the textbook is available. You can do that without being a member. I have downloaded the green Holt Integrated Science text, the Holt Life Science, and the CIA PS text. I have also downloaded some ps history texts over the years. Last year, DS sat in a an Apologia Bio class, and we used the audio CD put out by Apologia. He also attended a Landry Academy Lab. Last year, I signed DS up for Bookshare to get an informal logic book that wasn't available through Learning Ally.

 

ETA:  DS is comfortable with using text to speech sw and will listen to books that way while reading and using his older Kindle.

[Dmmetler]

One of my friends uses Uzinggo with a text reading program for her DS who is science-minded and dyslexic, and it seems to work well. Uzinggo has a lot of video content as well as written content. It's focused at a middle/high school level. SD accelerate is another video-based option, although it's less interactive-it has videos and a text transcript on screen at the same time. We spend a lot of time in the car and waiting, so I'm always looking for things that DD can learn from which are portable, and both work well on my iPad with the Puffin browser. The digital Uzinggo labs also work well for a kid with motor skills issues as a way to pre-teach the process before doing them physically (or, in some cases, to replace labs that don't work well at home).

[Heathermomster]

Heathermomster, which science texts are you finding on Learning Ally?  Any of the homeschool ones, or are you using public school publishers? I let our Learning Ally membership lapse because we were finding most of the literature to be better recorded professionally on CDs from the library or Audible downloads for about the same price when I added up our year...but I'm starting to regret it for the books that haven't been recorded elsewhere.  I might have to look into renewing that for next year if it means having science be more doable.  I just can't afford to pick something they don't have, buy two textbooks, mail one in, and wait for the recording to be produced, if we can't figure out what they have already that would be something we could get ahold of in print as a viable curriculum for us.

I just wanted to add that DS was sitting in a classroom when we started using LA and that was 5 years ago.  LA is what enabled DS to remain in a classroom.  Basically, DS learned to adjust the pitch and speed of the audio book.  The Eides and Foss all recommend dyslexics learning to listen to audio at a high rate of speed, and so that is what DS does.  No matter who reads the book, they all sound chipmunk-ish after a certain point.  Now that DS is home, he chooses whether to simply read a text or read and listen simultaneously.  I don't pressure him either way unless there is a time constraint. I just have the books available so that he has options.

[1shortmomto4]

A few options but not much guidance - crash course on Khan has some science but this would be the helpful video portion - still lacking a textbook/experiment material(s).  This year Apologia came out with a video option with their Biology course - that along with the read-along disc for the book might be an option.  This is one I'm looking into for my high schooler next year.  There's a chemistry one, too, but at the moment I can't remember who came out with the video to make that work.  While I like BJU, the upper grades are truly for the student that is very science oriented and liked a challenge.  That being said - anything that Mrs. Vick teaches is wonderful and remember - just because the TM or the course work assignments provided by BJU say to do x y z and more .... you can assign what you want accomplished (or rather what the student can accomplish).  This past year my ds spent his time working through the crash course videos for health, chemistry and now astronomy and hey, I'm giving it an Applied Physical Science credit and calling it done.  We're also working on snap circuits - for lab experience.  Thus far, my older kiddos in college have not had the big challenges in their science coursework that leads me to make the high school sciences any more complicated than they need to be.  But, again, your mileage may vary.  Don't forget that computer science courses are also "science" and might have a place in your course planning - and that might be an avenue to explore.

[PeterPan]

OhElizabeth-- Hmmm...I haven't looked into BJU's online options.  I have friends that hate BJU and A Beka materials, but that may be more of a religious vs. secular issue than a comment on format.  I tend to be leery of school-based curricula myself in the sense that I don't want a curriculum that is designed for classroom usage with a heavy written load of seatwork, but if you find BJU online to be reasonable in that respect, maybe I should at least give them a closer look to see whether they'd meet our needs.

 

 

I agree about hands-on.  Mine are definitely kinesthetic learners.  I've given serious thought to just buying a book of experiments and going from there.  But I don't want to create gaps by neglecting to read theory.  And I live in a fairly strict state, so I try to declare somewhat standard textbook choices when possible.

I know what you mean.  And I'm not saying BJU makes for the amazing vision I have in my head, kwim?  I have great visions, oh yes, great visions.  I met this mom at the zoo who read library books with her (kissing ASD) ds for science for years and years.  He's now 12 and just conversant on everything.  That and hands-on would be my ideal approach.  Then I sort of hit this reality of not getting everything done, and I go "Hmm, that BJU video class is kind of cute!  And if I bump it up a couple grade levels he LIKES it! And if I get the ebook and the ipad can read it to him or I read it to him with the online e-text included free, he's getting some traditional skills!"  

 

So it's sort of a compromise position.  You asked about a path to give you a plan for high school, and it would be a way, at least through junior high.  At that point, Apologia or TOPS with Hewitt or something else would be more sane.  I don't think my ds will do the BJU physical science, because the math is vicious.  I used the physical science labs with my dd, skipping the text.  I got the online videos, and they're great. For her, we didn't finish them.  Time, time, time.  They run $99 deals around christmas, so if you have a little flex it's a good way to *try* it at an affordable price.  That's why I tried the BJU on my ds, because I was able to get the grade 2 videos, both heritage studies and science, for $99 total.  That seemed a good way to try it, just to see, kwim?  In the lower grades, those courses are semester courses, not a full year.  Maybe around 5th they bump up to a full year.

 

BJU fills in terms and things my ds might not catch if we were just reading books.  Because of his language issues, he benefits from repetition.  The BJU repeats words over and over and over for whatever the emphasis is of the lesson.  For his language issues, this is fabulous.  So it gives me an option for days when I don't feel up to something AND it's more effective than it would be for me to read him books (because of his language problems).  

 

Is that enough caveats?  BJU also has hands-on demonstrations.  They're in the tm.  But I agree, on its own you're probably not going to say wow, that was everything I dreamed of!  But in my world, nothing is what I dream of.  I just look for tools, things that can help me a percentage right now.  For the $99 I paid, it's a helpful tool for our mix.  If I had the energy, I'd be reading him tons of science library books.  I'm thinking about buying him TOPS lentils or get a grip.  I really don't know how that will go over.  I have quite a few TOPS books saved in a stash from over the years, and my dd never liked them as much as I thought she would.  (Frankly, she refused to do them.)  So if he LOVES TOPS, that will be an easy way to have a hands-on plan going forward, kwim?  You can correlate the upper ones to Hewitt's Conceptual Physics.  I have a file someone sent me for that.  Lots of options.

[Love_to_Read]

 

BJU fills in terms and things my ds might not catch if we were just reading books.  Because of his language issues, he benefits from repetition.  The BJU repeats words over and over and over for whatever the emphasis is of the lesson.  For his language issues, this is fabulous.  So it gives me an option for days when I don't feel up to something AND it's more effective than it would be for me to read him books (because of his language problems).  

 

 

That sounds very helpful!  My oldest is great on concepts, but struggles to be conversant on a subject due to word retrieval/pronunciation. It doesn't help that she's probably already misread the terms in anything she's read silently and thus has the word stored incorrectly to begin with. So yes, something with audio that repeats the vocabulary over and over would be more useful to us than just a library book mentioning it once and done.  

 

So many of our "this would be cool!" ideas have needed to give way to "this would be doable!"  I appreciate you know what I mean about making compromises.

[Amy Jo]

AO's science has been working (there is mostly nature observation in years 1-4,years 6-8 (atm) have more science with year 5 more transitionary). Anyway, my eldest is finishing year 7 science. Some of the books I read out loud, but several he is able to buddy read. Life of the Spider has audio on librivox, although we are now buddy reading it.

 

The books are interesting, but I think the big thing for him is the science notebook. It's a free-form notebook (his is a bound sketchbook) that he basically narrates into. BUT he doesn't have to write, he prefers to draw and label. I think that is so much better than ME writing for him, or him just orally discussing. It really picks up his strengths (he is good at sketching) and gives him confidence. Plus, there really isn't a wrong way to do it, as long as it is accurate. Oh, sometimes he is drawing from the book (Life of the Spider) and others from his own observations (Adventures with a Microscope).

 

So I guess I'll agree with others here - it is the hands on component that is good for him. I completely agree on who frustrating it is when he can read a large portion of the text BUT he cannot read them solo because the more specialized vocabulary trip him up. I've tried to preread and cover vocabulary in advance, but if I have more than 3-4 words (which I always do) I can see his eyes glaze over. :(

 

Someone else I know mentioned Apologia as having audio available for their books.

[FairProspects]

And you don't want to go in a documentary direction? There were a couple of years I had older ds watching Nova and/or some series aimed more at adults, like Extreme Engineering, and he learned a ton, including vocabulary from this daily exposure. Reading with audio (and increasingly without) is also something he does but at his age he still needs some adult help to complete his bigger projects and experiments (I like to observe the soldering and hot glue gun usage for safety reasons, for example). What about Plato middle or high school science? That can be done on computer and has read aloud features that are helpful for dyslexics.

[Love_to_Read]

We've done a fair number of documentaries.  There was one year we watched a LOT of How It's Made, How Did They Do That?, etc.  And we have watched virtually every animated science show ever made in younger years.  But for reporting purposes, I feel better about listing a curriculum and including those as extras, rather than writing up a plan declaring that we're going to base the year on documentaries.  I worry about leaving gaps by organizing the year according to whatever topics a documentary series happens to cover...I feel like it would be a disservice to my science-oriented kids to not give them the broad overview of how it all connects together by using some sort of curriculum as a spine. I definitely want to collect ideas for documentaries to give them a chance to learn about topics in specific detail and depth, but in my mind I see that as branching off a general understanding.

 

I don't know. Maybe it would be better for my child to get hooked on documentaries in an ideal world. It's very difficult to take any sort of approach that leans toward unschooling, child-led, etc. where I live.

[pitterpatter]

If you don't care about the four-year cycle, you might give Studies Weekly a look. I just learned about it this morning in a history post. In additional to a cheap magazine/newspaper subscription, you get access to the same material and more online. From viewing a video on their homepage, I learned that there is an audio component to it. It looks like you just click the button and the computer reads the material to the child. I'm unsure whether the computer reads the comprehension questions and games, but you could e-mail customer service. I asked a few questions regarding the history program and they were very prompt. It also said the child can click on specific words. Apparently, some of the audio uses voice character actors. There are links to short videos, and labs as well for each article. Now, you might want to look at what different states and grades offer. The social studies programs vary a good bit, as they cater to various state standards. I ended up subscribing to Missouri Fourth Grade for Missouri History and Alaska Fifth Grade for history from the Civil War to present. I don't have access to the online component yet or I could tell you more.

 

https://www.studiesweekly.com/resources-tools

 

https://www.studiesweekly.com/ - Scroll down for the videos. If it wants you to log in, just click on the logo at the top.

[FairProspects]

If you don't care about the four-year cycle, you might give Studies Weekly a look. I just learned about it this morning in a history post. In additional to a cheap magazine/newspaper subscription, you get access to the same material and more online. From viewing a video on their homepage, I learned that there is an audio component to it. It looks like you just click the button and the computer reads the material to the child. I'm unsure whether the computer reads the comprehension questions and games, but you could e-mail customer service. I asked a few questions regarding the history program and they were very prompt. It also said the child can click on specific words. Apparently, some of the audio uses voice character actors. There are links to short videos, and labs as well for each article. Now, you might want to look at what different states and grades offer. The social studies programs vary a good bit, as they cater to various state standards. I ended up subscribing to Missouri Fourth Grade for Missouri History and Alaska Fifth Grade for history from the Civil War to present. I don't have access to the online component yet or I could tell you more.

 

https://www.studiesweekly.com/resources-tools

 

https://www.studiesweekly.com/ - Scroll down for the videos. If it wants you to log in, just click on the logo at the top.

 

Sorry, but I can't recommend these for a science loving kid. We found the content to be ridiculously low on the science ones at least. I ordered either 5th or 6th grade for older ds's 1st grade year and we didn't even read them once because it was it was such a waste of our time and money. YMMV.

[pitterpatter]

Oh, well never mind then. We are just using the social studies ones as an introduction to each topic (kind of like we would the Usborne history encyclopedias) and I'm hoping the video clips will be worth it so I don't have to go pull up my own snippets on YouTube. There is a teacher resource guide and I thought the sample for social studies seemed to offer some useful writing assignments and activities that I thought DD would enjoy. She doesn't like the act of writing, so I thought the online questions would be good for her. Maybe it will be a total bust, IDK. There's next to nothing out there for grammar school for American History from the Civil War to modern times.

 

Sorry, but I can't recommend these for a science loving kid. We found the content to be ridiculously low on the science ones at least. I ordered either 5th or 6th grade for older ds's 1st grade year and we didn't even read them once because it was it was such a waste of our time and money. YMMV.

 

[PeterPan]

And you don't want to go in a documentary direction? There were a couple of years I had older ds watching Nova and/or some series aimed more at adults, like Extreme Engineering, and he learned a ton, including vocabulary from this daily exposure. Reading with audio (and increasingly without) is also something he does but at his age he still needs some adult help to complete his bigger projects and experiments (I like to observe the soldering and hot glue gun usage for safety reasons, for example). What about Plato middle or high school science? That can be done on computer and has read aloud features that are helpful for dyslexics.

Ooo, I hadn't seen Extreme Engineering!  That's a good next step for ds!  So where does he like to find his hands-on stuff?  

[PeterPan]

I feel like it would be a disservice to my science-oriented kids to not give them the broad overview of how it all connects together by using some sort of curriculum as a spine. I definitely want to collect ideas for documentaries to give them a chance to learn about topics in specific detail and depth, but in my mind I see that as branching off a general understanding.

 

Yes, it's almost like you have to have gone through the grades to realize in hindsight how much flexibility you had.  :)

 

Junior high is when you hit these survey, pull it all together, catch the detail, courses.  If you do that approach over and over in elementary, you're cutting off this massive taking in our kids try to do.  Our kids spread their nets of learning much wider, and want to take in much MORE information, and process it.  They are compiling YEARS of these bits and pieces.  Then in junior high and high school you start pulling it together.  You don't have to do that in elementary.

[Χά�ων]

I am going to have DS try http://www.explorationeducation.com/advanced this year. 

[prairiewindmomma]

A fair amount of Apologia is on Bookshare if your children can tolerate the computer voices. Mine can.  I try to give one of my children a good mix of video and audio and then I make time to do the experiments.

[PeterPan]

A fair amount of Apologia is on Bookshare if your children can tolerate the computer voices. Mine can.  I try to give one of my children a good mix of video and audio and then I make time to do the experiments.

Apologia said they will send you the audio cds (properly read, not computer!) for free if you send them documentation of the disability.  I think they just wanted shipping.

[ssavings]

Apologia said they will send you the audio cds (properly read, not computer!) for free if you send them documentation of the disability.  I think they just wanted shipping.

 

That's good to know. 

[LLMom]

Learning Ally has some of the Apologia science books (at least the elementary ones) and some ABEKA science books.  I am having dd do that and then I will do the hands on stuff with her.  Frees me up a bit.