Writing Instruction for Dyslexic 7th Grader

[hands-on-mama]

Hi all!

 

I am tutoring a 7th grade girl. She is dyslexic and struggles with comprehension with reading. We have been using audiobooks to help combat that. We have been using ELTL for 3 weeks. I might just need to give it more time but I have a feeling that it's just not going to be a good fit for her. She just came out of private school that used Abeka Grammar and composition. I think she needs something that gives more step by step directions for writing. I'm not really interested in IEW. I need something that suits my style. I was thinking maybe Writing & Rhetoric but I'm not sold on that for her either. If I do decide to move, I was thinking that Growing with Grammar might be a good spot to put her for grammar. The pages are very clean and I think the level would work nicely for her. Any input?

[OneStepAtATime]

Has she had any targeted remediation (OG based) for reading/spelling?  

 

Has she been evaluated for CAPD?  If she has an auditory processing disorder, which can sometimes be co-morbid with dyslexia, then audio books may be hard for her to glean a lot of info from.  Her brain may not be able to process the sounds into something meaningful at the same rate that she is hearing the words.

 

For writing with a dyslexic I would normally suggest IEW since it is very systematic and structured and will give her a very clear set of guidelines to follow.  She will probably need something like that so she doesn't bog down with too many things to juggle.  Since you aren't interested in IEW, I don't know.  Maybe go a completely different direction and use Brave Writer if you can scaffold her...?

 

As for Grammar, I am using Fix-It with DD (dyslexic) but I don't know much about Growing with Grammar so I don't know how well it would work.  Hopefully someone else can chime in.

[Jess4879]

BJU English has worked very well for my oldest (dyslexic).  We use it with a mish-mash of BW & Writing Skills.  BJU lays everything out, step-by-step, uses graphic organizers (which my natural writer hates, but my 12 year old needs), has solid samples, etc. For the past two years we have only used the workbook.  We don't use the grammar, but it's like $24 US for the workbook, so I find that pretty inexpensive for a writing course. 

[hands-on-mama]

Thank you so much for the replies. I think part of the issue is jumping into very classic books and just not being ready for it. I think we need to start lower.

 

I will definitely look into BJU English and also IEW some more! Thank you!

[hands-on-mama]

And yes, she has had wonderful intervention that was OG based. She graduated from that program and can read quite well. She does still have some hurdles to jump though.

[OneStepAtATime]

Good luck and best wishes to you both.  If you run into additional issues later on you might consider posting on the Learning Challenges board... :)

[Ellie]

For writing only, Writing Strands. It is *only* writing, whereas BJUP, ABeka, and other school publishers books usually also include grammar and other things. So if you want only writing, then Writing Strands. It is simple and to the point.

[mrshomework]

What about Wordsmith Apprentice and Wordsmith I just found out about these and am waiting for my copy so I can't say about using them but something to look into. 

Edited July 30, 2016 by mrshomework

[*LC]

We have liked this writing curriculum. http://www.verticylearning.org/