heartofdakota.com

I had a meeting with psychologist from the charter school a few weeks ago. She challenged me why I am focusing so much on Language Arts. ( Heart of Dakota- Preparing 5th grade) My son, is probably dyslexic, though it hasn't been officially confirmed yet. He was screened for scotopic sensitivity & scored in the severe category. He will be re-evaluated soon by the charter school. My daughter loves to read,it's is a perfect match.

The charter school psychologist suggested we cut out the extension package & science reading. My child is smart and reading is not the only way to learn material. I have been reading to him and looking up videos to learn the material. I chose HoD because it incorporated hands on activities, although he rarely wants to do these activities ( go figure)

I want to focus on his strengths, but also want him to love reading. He has improved immensely in last couple years, but not sure he loves to read yet. I'd love to hear about anyone doing HOD with a dyslexic child.

I do not require lengthy written narrations. I significantly shorten the number of sentences and require instead that the narration make sense and communicate the point that she wants to share. I don't remember if Charlotte mason herself required certain lengths for her students written narrations or not. My dc do plenty of writing in other areas of the curriculum so sometimes I become their scribe.

Another modification is that sometimes I read the material to the student where they are supposed to read it for themselves or have them listen to it on CD or iPod or online at librivox.

The important thing is to remember that the curriculum is not your master. Sometimes we need to meet our children where they are. If that means making modifications or beefing up then that is what we must do. I stead of the curriculum mastering me, I make it my slave so that it can help my student as much as they need helped.

Many times I omit or add things for a certain child that I wouldn't do for another child. I want them all to be successful but that success will look different on each child. That's they beauty of homeschooling?

My daughter has dyslexia, along with vision problems due to strabismus. We were in our 3rd year of HOD (Bigger) and ended up stopping because of frustrations due to reading and math. It wasn't necessary. We met with an educational consultant and she recommended a certain program for math, as well as the Barton Reading System for dyslexia. I could have used those for language and math and kept doing Bible, science and history in HOD. My dd10 is not reading independently. In fact, she is only to do controlled reading with Barton, and is not really supposed to do writing until we get to a certain level in Barton. She loves to write for fun, so I can't stop that, but I'm concerned about that because her spelling is not good at all. I'm counting on Barton to help in that area as well. She was wearing prism glasses for a few years, but recently was taken out of them to prepare her for surgery to fix her eyes. I can tell that is interfering with her reading also.

For the vision problems, you may want to get your ds checked for eye convergence (tracking problems). My dd's eye problems run deeper than that, but many on this board have said their child had this problem and with vision therapy their reading improved.

As for HOD, if your ds is struggling, I would agree that you may want to stop the extensions. But, I would not stop the science. You read it to him. If he is really struggling, don't require too much or he will hate it. Get those visual problems dealt with and go from there. My dd loves to be read to. I will do that as long as I need to. I am planning to come back in a year and do Preparing with my dd. I may still need to make adjustments for her. I will tell you what I was doing in Bigger ( and wish I would have continued). Map work was out, because my dd can not make sense out of maps at this point. So, for history, I had her do a notebook where we printed off a picture of the person we were reading about and a few lines about that person, and basically did cut and paste. She learns best by pictures, so having a picture helped her to internalize. For science I had a notebook where she would write the Scripture verse stated in the guide and then we would find a picture to go along with the topic. Some she would draw. The experiments we just did orally. I did not have her write them out. I am hoping in a year her reading and writing will be improved greatly, so she can utilize more of the guide. We'll see.

So, don't feel you have to stop HOD, or even cut out certain subjects. As the PP said, adjust it to fit his needs. If you can find videos on a certain topic, great! My consultant said to teach my dd in pictures as much as possible. That is how dyslexics learn best. Look into a special reading program if you are convinced it is dyslexia. Have him checked for eye tracking problems. And, read to him if need be. That will keep him learning the subject as well as increase his vocabulary. I was told to alternate hard(reading), easy, hard(math), easy in my dd's day. Also, I was told to have her do 30 minutes of strenuous activity every day, in which I have not been consistent. So, don't cut out things that your ds enjoys. I hope something here helped and I hope you find something to help with the reading difficulties. I've been there and it is frustrating, because you do want them to love reading. My dd does want to read, but I know it is going to take a while for it to become independent. PM me if you have any questions.

I read extra, and allow my child to draw extra pictures.

For us the condition is mild, and once I began working on right brain therapy things picked up.
(He has gone from reading pre-level books, and writing 1 sentence to 3rd & 4th level books, and a bit more writing since July.) The extra time I spend on this is only about 15 minutes a day, plus the extra reading. We are, however, doing the last 6 units of Bigger half-speed to work extra in those areas before we get to Preparing.

Each child will be a little different, and we tried several things to see what would work for us. I also evaluate about every 3 months, to see if he is ready for a little bit more.
If not, I really don't mind continuing the way we are. I would not want to quit HOD, unless I had to for therapy's sake. I prefer to keep working to get a good fit for my child, while not compromising skills taught.

Thanks everyone! I don't plan in quitting. Reading your responses helped! I think his dyslexia is also mild but he doesn't like reading at all. We have done right brain exercises daily & Diane Craft reading program. He's improved at least two grade levels, in then last year but still considered "behind" in LA . We started him in Beyond, and we're now in Preparing.

I thought, I needed the extension package with Preparing. However, getting to read a total of 41 books this year, was excessive for him. We only covered about 17 of those. We're in unit 20. We will break for summer and while continuing to work on Math, spelling and writing. He wants to read baseball books over the summer.

Then, we will finish Preparing until October or November before moving on to CTC. My daughter will do the Science part as written. My plan is to direct him to videos in the subjects we're studying instead of reading. He will do a life science co-op class with experiments ( so he will have at least 2 weekly experiments) I could do the science questions orally as well. Taking a big breath!

Hi Mibellesmom! You received good advice from ladies in the know already. I really like your plan here...

Mibellesmom wrote:...We're in unit 20. We will break for summer and while continuing to work on Math, spelling and writing. He wants to read baseball books over the summer. Then, we will finish Preparing until October or November before moving on to CTC. My daughter will do the Science part as written...

As far as the reading and writing goes, helping ds do a little of each, each day, with you sharing that role by taking turns as needed, would be a good way to help him keep growing in this area without overwhelming him. Copying an amount that is manageable for him from a markerboard you've written on for a portion of his writing each day will help keep this skill intact and moving along. I'd try to start with what he can comfortably do and slowly as you can see he is able add a tiny bit more throughout the year. Dropping the extensions is a great idea! PHFHG on its own will be enough. I just wanted to chime in as I did this when I tutored dc with dyslexic tendencies, and gradually saw great improvement and growth in LA skills as well as confidence. Hope something here can help, but I think you should celebrate the growth your ds has already made from Beyond until now! The two of you are a great team, and I think you have a super rest of the PHFHG guide ahead of you! Oh, and if he loves baseball books, why not run with that and get some that are on an easier reading level for him that he can really enjoy, and have him read aloud to you, even 5 minutes a day this summer? This really does help and is not hard to do when time is kept purposefully short!!! One other thing that can really help dc grow with reading is listening to an audio book while following along in the book. Dc can use an index card to put under the lines and move down as they listen too. This, along with bite-sized daily reading practice, is the most successful way to help dc grow in their reading skills. Those are just a few ideas to consider, but I think you have a really solid plan.

In Christ,
Julie

Aw thank you Julie, I appreciated your post! Encouraged

Mibellesmom wrote:Aw thank you Julie, I appreciated your post! Encouraged

Glad to help!!! Thank you back! I am now encouraged as well.

In Christ,
Julie