Ottakee Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 My friend just took in a delayed just turned 6 year old little boy with severe medical needs. He is slated for public school 1st grade in the fall but she is going to push for repeating K. He is between 4-5 in most things but has gaps so is missing some younger preschool things as well. I am going to be getting her the I See Sam books/materials to slowly start with. What other resources, books, apps, etc would you suggest? They have a 1:1 aide for him this summer so things she can do with him would be awesome. Library books that are "must reads", preschool workbooks, idea books of crafts/activities for fine motor, etc. Child can NOT eat orally and can NOT get wet....other than a standing water table type thing due to his ports. He knows his colors and shapes but not concepts like over/under/behind, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nature girl Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 I think place prepositions (oner, under, behind) are best taught in person, since it's harder to absorb place in 2-D. For fine motor, we loved the simple Kumon workbooks for cutting, folding, tracing and coloring, and we did a lot of preschool-level mazes. Leapfrog videos for numbers and letters are fantastic, and fun for kids, and once the basics are mastered dot-to-dots using capital and lowercase letters and numbers are great for fine motor and to reinforce the skills. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 They want this to be very hands on.....so even suggestions of books with ideas for the caregiver to use would be welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Light Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Has she adopted the child or providing foster care? Is he motivated to learn? What doe he enjoy doing? What are his strengths? What skills has he developed in reading, writing, speaking, and arithmetic? Is he an older or younger 1st grader? If he has a one-on-one aide, 1st grade could be the best fit. From the post, it sounds like he will be getting appropriate, consistent, structured, and sequential instruction at home too. Children learn a lot in a short period of time with that type of instruction in a one-on-one setting. For teaching reading, I recommend Riggs (The Writing and Spelling Road to Reading and Thinking), or Logic of English, or All About Reading, programs that include grapheme cards/phonogram cards and morphology teaching to make great gains in vocabulary development. Blend Phonics is very helpful as well, and is free to print on Don Potter's website, found by his name. The teaching of letter formation I recommend is Riggs, Spalding, (and Peterson Handwriting), where students are given a list of checkpoints, use a clock face for special orientation, learn letter sounds while practicing letter formation, work on fluently writing (not lifting pencil when not needed and going left to right, top to bottom), and are taught vocabulary for names of the lines on the paper, names of the lines used to form the letters, etc. Chalk boards are good to use for writing because they give more feedback than white boards, and Riggs has paper that makes writing instruction easier. Use of an abacus, Cuisenaire rods (videos on youtube that are great), and base 10 blocks, and anything that's fun to count (like Nurf gun bullets) are excellent for teaching arithmetic skills. Monkey Math can be fun too (on the computer). And just talking math (date, times, money, fraction of bread eaten, points earned, points needed to be earned etc.) is great, and teaching a child how to form/write numbers fluently. Dots not needed to teach letter formation (can finger paint with pudding, trace in sand, use white paper and multiple types of writing utensils, chalk on side-walk (all great for using larger motor skills when beginning to form letters, but then in same day, go to paper and paper with lines, giving example, then oral instruction without child copying a picture) ) and if tracing letters or numbers, trace with finger, not with a pencil (go to Peterson Handwriting site for explanation of that). Study what interests the child, and use those studies to prompt lessons/practice in forming complete sentences orally, syllabicating words (put hand under chin and count number of times mouth opens), spelling new phonograms from words (like ar from shark) and when appropriate, spelling words, like shark, and then sentences with those words, and looking up words like wring, and compare to wrestle, as both start with wr, and can ask why, and find that out (morphology study), as well as more common affixes (ed) and other morphemes (mono or poly, of monopoly). Recite poetry (can memorize), act out poetry, and can use for the development of many skills. Read to child and review parts of the story or what it was about, and give opportunity for child to orally daily summarize what was read. Legos are good for working on fine motor skills, and can look up games for that purpose too (using tweezers to accomplish tasks, etc.) so can do less cutting, as that seems to be done a lot in school. Study animals and talk about where they live, what they eat, etc. Record what you learn, and give appropriate tasks to child, like writing titles on the page, a sentence for each topic, drawing a picture to show, etc. Buy books with beautiful pictures (artistic and inspiring), and talk about the pictures, or read the book :). Plastic or foam letters for the fridge can be helpful and scrabble letters can but fun to use to spell/read. Don't ask the child to read words he had not been taught how to read, or to spell a word he has not been taught to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Memoria Press has a SN program called "Simply Classical" that looks good. I don't HS my SN child so I have no personal experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 Little guy has lots of holes in his background. He is foster for now. Chances are he will be missing a great deal of school this year due to medical appointments, illnesses, possible transplant, etc. His 1:1 aide isn't a school aide but a medical aide as the slightest things can send him to the emergency room/hospitalization. He has to go to public school per foster care rules. He attended K last year but in no way meet the standards for completing K (meaning knowing what he needs to know to move on to 1st grade). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Can he do home bound instruction via the school? Or online virtual school, so minimize missed stuff? Otherwise, maybe the "what your preschooler needs to know"? And contact the school he will be attending and ask them what skills he needs to start 1st? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Montessori has very hands on/ tactile materials. While the true Montessori apparatus is pricey, there are now much less expensive alternatives. There are manuals/ guides also available through various sources. The letters, for example, are made textured with sand so the child can trace over them with his finger. This helps in learning to write the letters as well; modelling for the child proper letter formation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 To clarify, I have read books about Montessori and her approach. I have used elements of her approach with my two, and own and have used elements of the 6-9 NAMC LA manual. They are a bit pricey though, which was why I did not mention them. There are other sources for manuals out there as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted June 29, 2018 Author Share Posted June 29, 2018 Thanks for more ideas. Little guy is currently hospitalized so everything is on hold. If they can't make some amazing progress very soon he will be going on hospice care. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 ? That is really sad news! I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 On 6/28/2018 at 9:59 PM, Moved On said: ? That is really sad news! I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers. He ended up with a procedure Friday that was successful so right now things are looking much better. It is still very touch and go but he is home now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Thank you for the follow-up, Ottakee. The little boy has been on my mind and I have been praying for him. It is so good to hear some promising news, and especially that he is at home! He will remain in my prayers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 5 hours ago, Moved On said: Thank you for the follow-up, Ottakee. The little boy has been on my mind and I have been praying for him. It is so good to hear some promising news, and especially that he is at home! He will remain in my prayers. Thanks. Due to his situation I can't give his name or his medical needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobblygook Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 Praying for this little boy. I have a 6 yo whose needs are similar so this hits close to home. My son will be entering public K in the fall but we have used some of Memoria Press' Simply Classical stuff and it is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 21 minutes ago, Ottakee said: Thanks. Due to his situation I can't give his name or his medical needs. Oh, no worries at all! I wouldn't expect you to! God can see in our minds and in our hearts. He knows who the prayers are for ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 Hoping and praying the little boy has shown more improvements. No pressure for a reply. I just wanted to let you know he is still on my mind and in my prayers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.