Language arts for dyslexic student

[Jenn in CA]

Hello everyone. I feel lost in the curriculum world. Could someone direct me towards LA materials, specifically grammar and writing, that would be appropriate for a dyslexic student?

-bite size chunks, lots of repetition

-6th grader who needs to start at the beginning with grammar and writing but doesn’t want babyish material

-predictable daily or weekly routine 

-support for learning new vocabulary (words such as nouns, verbs, paragraph are all sort of mind boggling)—maybe I need to do this separately?

-pretty independent after an initial run-through of the instructions with me... she does not do well with a long oral lesson or discussion, but can read well enough to get through the rest if I go over directions

She is good with beginning with capitals and ending with punctuation, otherwise everything else needs to be learned!

I love the look of SWB’s Writing with skill but am not sure if outlining will be too difficult... I suppose it needs to be covered eventually tho.

[Terabith]

Honestly, I would look at Verticy, a program from Calvert designed for learning disabilities.  They separate their reading/ spelling curriculums and their grammar/ writing ones.  

[Jenn in CA]

I tried but it’s gone from their website... I wondered if they’re discontinuing it.

[Terabith]

Well, phooey.  Call them and ask?  They're pretty receptive to phone calls.

[Melissa in Australia]

I am finding IEW is working for my ds15 with profound dyslexia. We have been using it for about a year. Before that he could not really write a sentence that expressed a well developed thought. Now he can write a paragraph.

 He is getting really really good at taking notes . We haven't moved on to much writing form the notes yet. though he can change the notes to make a very funny paragraph.

 the absolutely biggest help to him is doing all his writing on the computer with spell check and grammar helper switched on If he gets the word wrong the computer gives him immediate feedback and he corrects it straight away.

For spelling AAS is working wonders - again we do it all an the computer- he is in book 6, we do not use the tiles

 

We have done years and years of grammar , mostly orally. we do the purple Grammar For the Well Trained Mind book 2 times a week and Vocab form Classical roots 3 times a week

with my older boys I did Rod And Staff- started with the 4th book for my then 10 year old ( that is when I  pulled him out of school). It wasn't babyish and has heaps of repetition each year all the topics are gone over and over. it is pretty religious though.

for reading I have abridged books of our literature list. He is funny about books the font has to be just right and there needs to be occasional pictures to help him with the meaning of the text otherwise he has great difficulty reading. He is not as bad as his older brother though who had to have a certain type of paper as well

 

[Sugarfoot]

Both of my sons are dyslexic. Straight-forward programs work the best here, We worked through Junior Analytical Grammar and IEW's SWI-B on dvd after getting spelling and reading solid and then continued with IEW through high school.

Also, diagramming. Both of my sons are very visual-spatial people. Once they are familiar with the basic parts of speech, diagramming is a good way to see how those parts work together. 

Star Wars Mad Libs have been a fun and painless way to make grammar more familiar, too.

Take heart - my oldest just graduated cum laude from college.  He did wonderfully in every class that required large amounts of writing.