To the HOD ladies who have children with LD/challenges

[striving2Bprov31]

I would love to hear from you who use HOD for children with mild (or major) learning disabilities/challenges.

My son fits into this category (we think). He is way ahead academically in all areas. NOT because I have pushed him, he just excels naturally......except in handwriting. I suspected when he was 7 that something was not right in this area. I have given him a few years for him to mature (fine motor skills, vision,etc.) to see if that would help his handwriting. He can do complicated math in his head, yet cannot remember how to write a number (even though we work on it everyday). Here is a typical day......."Mom, the answer to this problem is 54, but do I write the 5 or the 4 first? I can't remember." Then when I help him, he writes both numbers backwards or cannot remember how to make the 4. He loves to learn. He gobbles up books. Its just the handwriting!! Anyway, this is just one small example
I would love to hear from those of you who are dealing with any of the learning disabilities...dyslexia, dysgrahpia, etc.

I'm rambling....

What I want to know is...what are the practical ways that you deal with this on a day to day basis with HOD???

HOD is working great for us even in his challenges. I just adjust the handwriting to fit his needs.

But what do you do???
Thanks!

[lmercon]

My 9 yo ds was diagnosed with severe dylsexia last Sept. He is much like the way you described your ds - very bright and eager to learn. I feel so grateful to God that he led me to hs my ds because I can't imagine what school would have been like for him. I knew that there were reading "issues" with him, but because he is so bright, he was able to find alternate ways to figure out words. But there was no denying this year that he had a problem. His spelling was horrible and he needed a lot of help reading. I figured that the reading would just "click." Boy, have I learned a lot about dyslexia and common misperceptions! We learned that he had basically no independent reading level and was at a preprimer spelling level. It also explains poor recall of mult. facts and other rote memory things. Dyslexics have poor retrieval of memorized things. He is incredibly bright. He comes up with strategies for solving math problems that are even better than Singapore's! He does not have the dysgraphia that you mentioned, though that is very common with dyslexics. His handwriting is very nice, and his drawings are wonderful!

I feel incredibly blessed to have found HOD because it is a wonderful program to use with dyslexics - any child, really! My ds's education hasn't been hampered one bit by his dyslexia because so much of HOD focuses on the reading of living books to him. He loves to listen to books and narrates really well. He loves the notebooking, drawing, and science experiments. We are now in Preparing. He is not able to do the independent reading portions. I tape record those books, and he listens. I do that so that he has independent working time. I have to spend more time with him then I would if he could read. We are not able to use DITHOR for now and have shelved the dictation. We use a reading program that was designed for dyslexics. It is a very slow, tedious process. My heart aches for him as he struggles with EVERY SINGLE word. I try to encourage him, but we both get frustrated sometimes. Every once in a while, I'll find him just sitting holding a book, longing to be able to read it. Someday.

Laura

[Tansy]

Well since he knows the answer it is perfectly ok to do the work orally.

have you used Demme's Number street to explain place value since it will give him a concrete place to put the numbers (inside the house). It may help. This works especially well with base ten blocks and such.. have him build the number and place them in the right houses (he can't get it wrong... ) then write the number in the houses on his paper.

I would let him use his gross motor skills and see if he does better such as writing the answer really big on a white board or chalk board. (to give success, if he still mixes them up don't bother.)

also try sand paper numbers for him to use, and or a tray with sand in it and he uses one finger to write the number.

write the number on his inner arm skin or his back. Then he writes it big or small on paper, the tray, in pudding, etc.

For me higher protein, and whole foods in my diet really helped me focus more. I don't know why it just did. It maybe having less "junk" in my food saved my brain from clogging... there is some research that shows when a child has a confused dominate side if you push for the correct dominate side the dyslexia will go away. For example I was ambidextrous till I was 13 or so and still am for many things. I have dyslexia. My kids therapist keeps telling me I can fix myself. I just have to convert myself to be a lefty and it will go away... I'm just not ready to take that step atm...

[Melena]

I am brand new to HOD using LHFHG with my 6 year old. We homeschool our five children ages 6 -17. My 14 dd and 11 ds both learned to read at 9 1/2 years old. Both are bright, but if tested would probably both have a diagnosis of dyslexia. My 14 y/o has sensory integration issues, and 11 y/o was diagnosed with "severe phonological disorder" (speech disablitity). Even though both can read the KJV Bible, neither find reading easy or enjoyable. I used Spell to Write and Read with both of them. It is an excellent program. I have read a lot about children with delays in reading especially boys. Some don't learn to read until 11 or 12. David Quine's son of Cornerstone Curriculum did not learn to read until he was almost 12. He is now an attorney, and hopes to be a judge in Dallas, Texas one day. Keep on teaching using living books, discussion, and hands on activities. I believe HOD may be perfect for this approach. You are doing a wonderful job! Marie

[Melena]

I forgot to mention that Home School Legal Defense Association has great resources and recommendations for children with learning difficulties. Check out their webpage and give them a call. Marie

[Tracee]

My son who was diagnosed as severely dyslexic and dysgraphic does the exact same thing. When we do his math, I have him tell me the answer, and then we both write it in the air. I also vocalize what we are doing. For example: He says, "the answer is 54" Ok, watch, then I put my finger in the air and say, "5, across down and around, 4 down across and down, 54" I make him do it in the air before he writes it.

Just recently, I felt like my son was going backwards in handwriting, and it was because he needed more practice like we did in kindergarten. He just has a hard time remembering where to start the number or letter, which way to go, and we have pencil grip issues. Basically during this first grade year, I just had him do the book, but it just isn't enough for him to get it embedded in his head.

Also, I took one of my old cookie sheets and poured some colored sand in it. I have him write his letters in the sand to reinforce how the letters are formed. These multisensory activities might seem "babyish" or a waste of time, but I'm finding that they are essential in helping my son remember. I'm actually going to a Handwriting without Tears seminar this weekend, and I'll share whatever I learn there.


I hope that helps,
Tracy

Just a side note. I'm not sure how much you know about dyslexia and dysgraphia yet, but you should look into a multisensory approach like Orton-Gillingham. Overcoming Dyslexia, by Sally Shaywitz is a great book to explain what dyslexia is and all the recent finding about dyslexia. Did you know that dyslexics actually have 10% more brain than those without dyslexia? They also found that dyslexics process language in a different part of the brain, thus making it harder for them. Also, the neural pathways are different. Through an Orton-Gillingham approach or something similar, you can actually change the neural pathways and the place where they process language. They will always have dyslexia and still struggle in some areas, but they can overcome a lot. Also check out http://www.dys-add.com It has great information on dyslexia.

[water2wine]

My daughter has cerebral palsy. She might be mildly dyslexic as a result because she does exhibit some of the symptoms. I can't give a lot of wisdom because her LDs are different but one thing that might help is to do copywork and have him read aloud a lot. I do not know if this is an issue for you but my dd mixes up what she sees as well as writes. I have her first read to herself and come to me with any words she does not know then read aloud to me. Any writing that she does I correct immediately and have her recopy the correct version. Any word she misses I have her write 5 times. That has seemed to help a lot. Not much but thought I would just put it out there and see if it might be of help.