Again...another question about dyslexia and HOD

[Tracee]

Hi There,

I'm beginning to second guess my decision. When we started HOD, ds was struggling. I knew something was going on, so we had him tested, and he is severely dyslexic. So basically, he struggles with language processing, recall, memory for auditory things, but scored superior/very superior on the tests for visual spatial skills. To put this in perspective, he scored at the age of a 12 year old, he was 6 and in the 95 percentile. According to the psychologist, ds' strengths are going to be in the area of math and science.

On the other hand, I'm that auditory sequential learner. I learn from words, and I'm deficient in visual spatial abilities. I absolutely love HOD. We all enjoyed LHFHG especially the history through the bible. By the time we got to history of the early church, I started loosing ds a bit. We were learning about a new person everyday, and it was just too much. He couldn't retain anything. It took us a while to do LHFHG, because during that time we were just in a discovery process of finding out what was going on. I have all of the Beyond stuff, and looked at American Pioneers and Patriots and it's awesome! I think it will be a much better fit for us.


A few days ago, I had someone mention to me that ds would do great with a Unit Study approach. She said that for dyslexics, they just learn better that way. Honestly, I don't like the unit study approach. I'm a very linear thinker, and unit studies are just way too scattered for me. I like the immersion approach where we concentrate on one area of study for an age appropriate length of time...exactly like the history in BLHFHG.

So, I guess my question is, do you think a literature approach is the best way to educate someone with a language processing disorder. I was thinking of adding more hands-on activities and allowing more time for BLHFHG. For example, when we read the first page in Pioneers and Patriots, ds started asking about how sails work, what the people ate if they didn't have refrigerators and stoves. I figured if I did a little bit of planning, I could add some things like taking him on a fieldtrip to a sailing school, make meal like one that might have had on the ship. I don't want to change the way HOD is written, but I feel like a have a special situation. I love HOD's structure and approach.

If you are dyslexic, have a child that is dyslexic or just have some advice, I'm all ears : ).

Tracy

[lmercon]

My ds is severely dyslexic as well. He doesn't have trouble with auditory processing, though. However, your ds is still going to HAVE to rely on his auditory skills because of the reading disability. I think HOD is an awesome way to build those skills. The readings are short enough to not be overwhelming. I would read very short sections and have him narrate what he remembers. Increase the amount you read between narrations as he progresses. There's a lot of hands-on learning with HOD from the projects to the notebooking assignments. Plus, there is predictability to the kinds of assignments and activities. Teaching a severely dyslexic child can be very exhausting because of the extra work we must put into them. A program like HOD that provides moms with all they need to cover all the bases in creative and interesting ways is such a blessing. Many unit studies require the mom to scurry around collecting resources and materials.
hth,
Laura

[Tracee]

Thanks Laura!

I think moving my son to Beyond is going to work for us. I've been reading the Pioneers and Patriots, and I know my son will love it. I read a little more on Charlotte Mason and that helped me also. It really doesn't take long to get our school work done, so ds has plenty of time to explore the things that interest him. Thanks for your reply. It helps knowing that I'm not alone in this journey.


Tracy

[mamas4bugs]

Just as a quick word of encouragement, both my boys are dyslexic, and they are thriving with HOD. I know standardized tests aren't the end-all-be-all of learning measurement, but they both have done very well (above grade level in most subjects) on the state tests the past two years. HOD does work beautifully for dyslexic kiddos!