Claire, I have another question

[Stirsmommy]

Ok so we have covered the reading aspect of school. I have already gotten a copy of RR and am going to be ordering Abecedarian soon. Is there a math curriculum I should be using that would be better. We have horizons and professor B. We haven't tried the professor B yet. I know we have to work on his number automaticity as well. So when you first get the info you need on your child is your head suppose to feel like it is going to explode?

Melissa

[Claire]

As much as possible, take one step at a time. This is a *lot* of information to try to assimilate. It takes time to become comfortable with a new approach. It is going to take several sit-down sessions actually using ABeCeDarian to start feeling comfortable with it.

 

For math, I need a little more information. Remind me how old your son is? Also, what do you mean by number automaticity? Are you referring to recognizing numbers ("23", "32") or to math facts ("1+3" "4-2")? What grade level of math are we talking about?

[Stirsmommy]

He is seven. He grasps concepts well and understands what we are saying when we do it but he doesn't automatically know what number when he sees 32 or 23. I hadn't even thought of it extending into equations (duh!) which would why he can so quickly work a problem with manipulatives with out really counting but is slower with written work.

Today he has been "writing" while I read RR. He will also listen and color for history in a while. He is wondering why I haven't run the "regular" school program today. So my question is can I use RR until the Abecedarian arrives or should I just wait? I went with the short version of A as he really would freak if he thought in order to read there would be that much writing even though he is becoming more confident in his writing and starting to show it off to who ever will look.

Melissa

[Claire]

He is seven. He grasps concepts well and understands what we are saying when we do it but he doesn't automatically know what number when he sees 32 or 23. I hadn't even thought of it extending into equations (duh!) which would why he can so quickly work a problem with manipulatives with out really counting but is slower with written work.

Today he has been "writing" while I read RR. He will also listen and color for history in a while. He is wondering why I haven't run the "regular" school program today. So my question is can I use RR until the Abecedarian arrives or should I just wait? I went with the short version of A as he really would freak if he thought in order to read there would be that much writing even though he is becoming more confident in his writing and starting to show it off to who ever will look.

Melissa

 

You can definitely start with RR until ABCD arrives. Be sure to invest in a small whiteboard/marker/eraser for him to do his writing on. Kids that age tend to do much better with a whiteboard than paper. It's more fun, plus it requires fewer fine motor skills.

 

The kind of number recognition difficulty you have described seems to me to be a pattern recognition problem, probably made worse by weak directionality skills (which comes first, the 2 or the 3?). These are both cognitive skills that tend to be responsive to training. The PACE program we did includes exercises that work on these skills, as does LearningRx programs. However, I don't know of a home program currently on the market that would address this.

 

Does your son have any difficulty differentiating left and right? If so, I can describe a couple of exercises you can do at home to work on this. I can also give you some ideas on how to construct games and exercises to work on improving number recognition. Have to give this a little thought, though, and will need some time to post.

 

I really wish Cognitive Calisthenics was on the market already, as that program will probably incorporate many of the exercises you need.

[Stirsmommy]

Actually he is quite good with left and right when talking but has trouble picking a writing hand. I would love to know what to do for that as I am always hearing "No your other right". I don't have a dominant hand and although I am much better than I was as a kid I still make wrong turns and look the wrong way when following directions.

I feel like I am at a loss at the moment because it is obvious that I need to rethink what I am doing and re think it fast. It was funny when I read about the auditory issues in connection with the decoding and encoding because his sister has remediated auditory processing disorder. I have spent the evening trying to find my earobics cd that she had seven years ago.

Part of me wants to sit down and cry because this wasn't "my" plan. I pretty much had a plan to get us to fifth grade until he just didn't learn to read.

Thank you for all of your help and I am sorry I am getting whiny.

Melissa

[Claire]

Here's a trick to help him find his left hand. (Just saw this on an episode of Jericho the other night!) Have him stretch out his hands, palms down, four fingers together pointing away from his body, thumbs stretched out and touching so the thumbs form a straight line. The hand that makes the L is the left hand!

 

Here's an exercise that works on directionality. Make a large poster with arrows pointing randomly up/down/right/left, but arranged in rows (like rows of text). He stands in front of the poster and jumps up and down. As he jumps, he points his arms in the direction of the next arrow and calls out the direction. For example, if the first arrow is an up-arrow, he raises his arms so his hands are in the air and calls out "up". If the next arrow is a right-arrow, both arms swing around to point right as he jumps and calls out "right". (Try this exercise out yourself first so you know how to do it.) Ideally you want him to develop a smooth rhythm as he does this. He might need to think quite a bit at first, but you want him to practice until he is automatic. If you suspect he has memorized the sequencing, or to provide additional practice, make a new poster with the arrows again randomized. Alternatively, buy a magnetic whiteboard to dedicate to this poster idea and just change the direction of the arrows periodically. (You might have to make your own arrow magnets, though. Easy enough with magnetic thingies from Michael's and the arrows could be cut out of heavyweight construction paper.)

 

Once he is pretty good with this exercise (which uses gross motor/kinesthetic memory to help imprint directions), you can switch to a paper exercise. Print up a sheet of paper with rows of arrows on it, again randomly up/down/right/left. Have him start out by simply reading each arrow in order correctly. If he makes a mistake, correct him *immediately*. When he can read the entire page pretty consistently with only 1 or 2 errors, post here and I will explain how to take the next step.

 

For reading, did I mention calling Sound Reading to find out if you can get a copy of their "Intervention" computer software CD? (About $60.) That is very helpful to beginning readers. It starts at a pre-K level and works up to about mid-3rd grade level. I would use Earobics only if your son has difficulty with the Sound Reading CD. Earobics works on a very, very foundational level of phonemic awareness (fine for pre-school children and older children with auditory processing disorders, but extremely boring for most children 7yo and older).

 

My dd upset all my plans for her. :)

 

Your son may be ambidextrous like my dd. If he has difficulty choosing a hand for writing, my advice is to encourage him to use his right hand, especially if he is right-eyed. Because my dd ate with her left hand, I thought she was a leftie and should use that hand for writing. I knew she was right-eyed, so I figured she was mixed-dominant. When dd was 14yo I took her to a Handle professional for assessment, and it became very obvious that dd is actually right-dominant and ambidextrous. She would have been able to write better and more easily if she had been trained as a right-hander.

 

To find out your son's dominant eye, make a hole the size of a quarter in the middle of a sheet of paper. Have him hold the paper with both hands are arm's length and keep looking through the hole as he brings the paper slowly to his face. The eye that the hold ends up on is his dominant eye.

[Stirsmommy]

He is left eye dominant. But to be honest I thought he was like the other two have encouraged the whole right handed thing. It wasn't until October when I noticed he was drawing two handed that I stopped him and asked him what he was doing. When asked why he write right handed he said "because you told me to mom". When I asked which hand the pencil was most comfortable he said neither. So we did the eye dominance test with him and sure enough he came out left dominant. He still most frequently picks up the pencil right handed. I am kind of afraid to have him switch now that he has begun to write better. I know I write with both but I am quicker and prettier with my left because my grandma picked which hand I would use so I wouldn't get confused. Being ambidexterous runs in the family and so she just decided that my dominant writing hand must be my left like her brother's?!

I picked up a white board tonight. I am going to make the poster now. He will be thrilled with jumping for class tomorrow.

I have emailed sound reading and got a response that they needed to know where I lived so that can put me in touch with a sales rep. I responded so hopefully I will hear something tomorrow.

You are an amazing resource. Thank you.

Melissa

[Stirsmommy]

I had the poster ready to go first thing this morning. He loved the movement of it and I got to see how he did with the whole left right thing. For the most part it wasn't bad but he was definitely stumbling occasionally on the left/right. He never got them wrong but he definitely would occasionally stop think and twist like he was deciding which way to go.

 

Also I got a message back from SR. Does this sound like the right CD if so I will get it ordered right away. "Yes, the software can be purchased separately. Currently our 2-user CD is priced at $100.00.

On average it takes a child 12 hours to complete the software, working from 20 - 30 minutes at a session. There are 275 brief, but engaging exercises on the CD that are presented in a predetermined sequence."

 

Thanks,again.

Melissa

[Claire]

Also I got a message back from SR. Does this sound like the right CD if so I will get it ordered right away. "Yes, the software can be purchased separately. Currently our 2-user CD is priced at $100.00.

On average it takes a child 12 hours to complete the software, working from 20 - 30 minutes at a session. There are 275 brief, but engaging exercises on the CD that are presented in a predetermined sequence."

Thanks,again.

Melissa

 

That sounds like the right CD. I was able to order it online for $60 about 6 years ago. It's not surprising that the price has gone up if they've gone to sales reps. The "Intervention" version is the one that has the most flexibility, IMO, because older children can use it as well as younger. "Primary" is the same but has a lot of graphics in it that can make the process seem babyish to older kids.

 

Glad your son liked the jumping! If you are careful, you can also use a small trampoline for this (about $30 at sports stores). With the tramp you just have to watch that he's consistently jumping on the middle so he doesn't get hurt. It's good to get a consistent rhythm going, and the tramp makes this easier. You can start out with a jump in-between each call. That keeps it slow and rhythmic. Then you can move up to a call on every jump.