Letter Help, Again Please

[glperky]

Julie,

We also did all three of the Explode the Code books, called Ready, Set, Go.

[lmercon]

My ds was diagnosed as a severe dyslexic when he was 9. I did not want an IEP or the district's involvement. We paid for a private screening by a trained specialist. This site is fabulous. It provides a lot of information and a checklist. We found a Barton tester who was local. It was a little expensive, but really worth it. We used the Barton program for several years. I will pm you the website as I don't know if it would be in bounds with the rules of this site.
hth,
Laura

[Nealewill]

Imercon,

I think what the original poster is saying is through out this forum is that in her state, if she has her child tested, no matter what, it will be reported to the school (because it is required by law) and she is trying to avoid that. I know in my state, there are certain things where I live that will be reported to different agencies (like for example, I had my child tested for lead and they reported us to the health department and that was a miserable experience. It was a program created to "help" people but really, it was horrible and stressful and I could go on and on.....it was down right shameful of the government to call that "helping" people). So anyway, I can understand her hesitation in contacting a specialist at this point.

I think I would just serious look at a product made for dyslexic children. And then I would try it for 1 year. If after that year you see no improvement, then I might get worried. If you see improvement, then I would keep persevering through. I personally feel like find that All About Learning was easier to pick the different areas you wanted to study and focus on. And I felt like I could better pace myself to do reading at whatever speed I wanted. And spelling could be done at whatever speed I wanted as well. I know Logic of English is more of a complete program. The include handwriting, spelling and reading but I think it is all interconnected. I don't know if they include grammar or not but they might. And obviously, you can modify any program to meet your needs. I just felt like AAR and AAS were easier to modify.

Daneale

[glperky]

Imercon,

I think what the original poster is saying is through out this forum is that in her state, if she has her child tested, no matter what, it will be reported to the school (because it is required by law) and she is trying to avoid that. I know in my state, there are certain things where I live that will be reported to different agencies (like for example, I had my child tested for lead and they reported us to the health department and that was a miserable experience. It was a program created to "help" people but really, it was horrible and stressful and I could go on and on.....it was down right shameful of the government to call that "helping" people). So anyway, I can understand her hesitation in contacting a specialist at this point.

I think I would just serious look at a product made for dyslexic children. And then I would try it for 1 year. If after that year you see no improvement, then I might get worried. If you see improvement, then I would keep persevering through. I personally feel like find that All About Learning was easier to pick the different areas you wanted to study and focus on. And I felt like I could better pace myself to do reading at whatever speed I wanted. And spelling could be done at whatever speed I wanted as well. I know Logic of English is more of a complete program. The include handwriting, spelling and reading but I think it is all interconnected. I don't know if they include grammar or not but they might. And obviously, you can modify any program to meet your needs. I just felt like AAR and AAS were easier to modify.

Daneale

Yes Daneale, you are right on. Thank you for trying to help me make it clear why I don't want to have him tested.

[my3sons]

Thank you for sharing about your ds! There is much wise advice here to help. The ladies have excellent thoughts moving forward! I can empathize with your situation in regard to testing. That is tricky! I do think you could find a specialist outside of the school setting who could do some testing, however, I know choosing that person can be difficult. I am wondering if you would mind sharing just a few things, and I am so sorry if you have shared this in past posts, as I can't remember the details. Did your ds ever do "Little Hands to Heaven?" What has ds done for phonics programs, and was he able to complete any fully? How specifically is ds doing the Beyond spelling words over 2 days? (I am trying to figure out what is working well there to recommend what may work well for a phonics program.) If ds was given a set of letter flashcards one at a time, could he say the letters or sounds of any/some of them? If ds looks at letters/words, is he able to copy them correctly when looking at that model, or is he unable to write at all (other than his name)? One last question - have his hearing and vision been tested lately? Has he had a tympanogram for his hearing? I am very sorry for all of the questions, but I'd like to gather more information and discuss this with Carrie too. Thank you!!!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you Julie for responding. I don't mind answering the questions becuase I need help and value the input from your, Carrie and all the helpful ladies here.

I could find a specialist here to test him but if he needs help, they are still suppose to turn it into the school district and then they get involved even of we stay with the specialist.

We never did Little Hands. We started with Little Hearts. As far as Phonics goes. He has done Leap Frog, McRuffy K Phonics, and we have tried The Reading Leason. He has not gone through any of them because he just shuts down when/if we get to blending. Oh we also tried Child 1st. It didn't work, at all.

For the Beyond Spelling words, here is an example. We take list 1 week 1 and do the day one activity for a couple of days and then we do day two act. for a couple of days, and so on. Since we started doing this, he has learned more letter sounds, more so by doing this then anything we have tried. Often though, I have to give him hints for the sounds from Leap Frog.

As far as the flash cards go, he would know some but not even half, I would say.

Writing- he LOVES copy work. It takes a lot of effort but usually he copies the word correctly. Sometimes he will leave one letter out. He does write his letter diffenetly all the time. For example sometimes bottom to top then top to bottom. Or he will write a "O" going right one time and left the next.

Haven't had his hearing or eyes checked yet. That's also a big issue in this state. He will be tuning 7 in Nov. so I will be bringing this up at his Well Check. I called in the summer to see if I could get some referrals but they would not until this well check and if they don't see a problem, they will not refer him.

Thank you for your help and any input. If you need more information please ask!

Thank you for so patiently answering all of my questions! More information such as you've given helps so very much, so your answers are greatly appreciated. I was able to sit down and talk with Carrie about what you've shared here. We try to do this sometimes, as we want to make sure the advice we are giving is the best we can with the information provided and usually, two heads working together are better than one - that is the hope at least! From what you've shared about ds's phonics experience, we both really think that it would be a huge help to ds to help him learn his letters/sounds by getting his body involved actively. This is the #1 thing we think he can do right now to move forward in his learning. This kind of physical connection while learning letters/sounds provides excellent brain training that can often bridge the gap between auditory and visual disconnect in learning. Tactile connections and intentional body movements, incorporating left/right and top/down etc. movements with the hands and the body can help dc make connections they may not have made otherwise.

To help ds learn his letters and letter sounds using hand and body movements that involve a tactile approach to learning them, we have kind of an unconventional idea. We think it would be best to do the Letter Activity, Rhymes in Motion, and Fingerplays each day from Little Hands to Heaven, moving through them one day at a time. This would replace phonics right now. This is a very tactile approach that will involve ds's hands and body in movements to bridge the visual/auditory disconnect he is experiencing. Even if some of the activities seem juvenile, he should do them as they will be involving his hands and body to learn the letters/sounds. For example, putting objects on a taped letter on the floor as if he is writing the letter starting, the right place, following the right 'path,' and finishing the right place; hopping on the letter in the proper start/direction/end; gluing objects on a letter at the proper start/direction/end; using his finger to draw the letter in the write way on a ziplock bag filled with water/dishsoap; bodily doing the actions with the Fingerplays and letter flaschards; writing the letters with his finger on carpet; etc. - these all are things that can help ds make that bodily connection to learning his letters and sounds and are worthy of doing.

Along this same line of thinking, the physical activities that provide brain training for left/right movements, forward/backward movements, etc. in Little Hearts for His Glory would be very beneficial and would hopefully also help this kind of 'bridge' to develop. As ds is only 6 yo, he could do LHFHG again, but this time with Grade 1 Handwriting, Gr. 1 Math (depending on what he is currently doing), Gr. 1 Going on Eagerly and Just Thinking and Choosing, and Gr. 1 Science. Until he has completed the LHTH plans for Letter Activity/Rhymes in Motion/Fingerplays, he would hold off on phonics, and probably do phonics along with Beyond the following year. A body/hands-on approach to phonics would be best to use then, but we will see where he is at when he reaches that point. We think moving through both LHTH (just the previously mentioned areas) and LHFHG (making sure to do all of the physical portions of it up big) could be the answer if done for an entire year. At that point, it would be great to hear about ds again. We know this may seem an unconventional approach, but If ds continues as is, we fear he will be misplaced the whole way through, resulting in frustration for both of you - which we don't want! Having tutored a lot of dc at the age of your ds, what you are describing is what worked for us, often times so well that dc were doing phonics in a year with very few bumps in the road, when previously it seemed they need would. Also, the top/down/making letters different each time etc. is not that much of a concern at ds's age, and was actually quite common in school in the younger years. Please consider this idea with patience and prayer - I KNOW it seems like odd advice, but I truly do think it could do wonders! I love thinking about all the wonderful, happier days ahead that it could possibly provide!!! I love thinking about you two really enjoying each day and looking ahead to ds being able to fully enjoy each guide in the years to come! Ok - if you are still hanging with me - what are your thoughts???

In Christ,
Julie