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My daughter is 10 years old and has dyslexia. I try to not give her too much writing, but I want her to be able to at least write a few sentences, whether for grammar or spelling. More often than not, she forgets to start her sentences with a capital letter. I feel like I am constantly having her correct that error. She has major difficulties in spelling, so I have to sit and spell many words for her when she is writing something.(except spelling words of course) Next fall, we are planning to begin Preparing and I would like her to be a little more independent in some things. I'm not sure what areas I should be most concerned about for independence. Her reading has improved, but there are still concerns about independence in that area. But, her writing is a major concern because of her spelling mostly and also training her to use capital letters when needed. She's good about using periods and question marks, but does not use capitals where needed most of the time. What can I do to help her remember that? Or, does it come eventually just by doing it? Do I have her correct it right away, or do I wait until the work is completed? I'm not sure what is expected of her in Preparing, as far as independent work and writing. If there is a lot of writing in Preparing, I'm afraid we will have problems. I'm not sure what she will be able to handle on her own, but I want to prepare her for Preparing as much as possible. We are doing work in R&S 2. I are no longer doing Barton Reading and Spelling System for the dyslexia, but I do have her still doing some phonics to help with the reading and also spelling. She is also finishing the ER books. What should I focus on for getting ready for Preparing's independent work? This is the main reason I felt we couldn't begin it before next fall. Any advice is appreciated.

It's has been several years since we did Preparing but I remember that the writing was mostly in the form of copywork. If she is doing copywork does she still struggle with the capitalization? At that age I always wrote any verses or poems etc that he was to copy up on the white board in cursive so he would have a good model. My ds also really struggled with capitalizing for a long time, but what seems to have helped with that the most is studied dictation. I thought I had pictures of Preparing in my blog, but I started that with CTC. The pictures I did for Preparing would be back in the week in review in 2009. Not sure how you would find those easily.

Thanks Lynn. In the earlier guides I wrote things on the white board for Angie to copy, but I wasn't sure what was involved in Preparing. In copywork, she is good about the capitals. I guess I should be putting even her English work on the white board for her to copy when she dictates to me the answer. e.g., like writing a sentence to answer a question. She did very well with copywork in the other guides. Unfortunately, in Barton, she was not writing. That would have started later this year if we had stayed with the program. There were some benefits to doing a program like that, but there were also some aspects of it that probably set her back a little. I know the independent work in Preparing involves reading, but I'll just have to wait and see how well she is reading when the time comes. I was looking over the first week in Preparing. I'm really looking forward to it. I need to get back to the structure of the guides. It will be good for both of us.

We are in Preparing now, and like the pp said, a lot of the writing is copywork. Here are some things I do that will probably help.

Science - I have ds use two small sticky notes to outline the text in his Bible to copy for the notebooking page (once per unit). The day we do the experiment I highlight the question for him to copy down ahead of time. The day they write answers to questions I use the whiteboard a LOT (because he is not up to par in spelling) and he copies from the whiteboard. I also do the reading with my ds since he is younger. I am not ready to make that part independent yet.
History - There are different ways you can do the written narration, as outlined in the back of the guide. I have him dictate his written narration to me and I type it on the computer and print it out for him to copy. For the notebooking, usually the guide has written out what they are to write and I highlight it. I highlight different instructions in different colors.The timeline cards I highlight in the guide and vocabulary we do together with a whiteboard. There are times when something is copied into the common place book, and I always highlight it for him.
Bible - I use the same sticky note process for the day he writes the text in his common place book.

I think you will find it will be ok once you get into it.

Countrymom - Thank you for the tips and the info about Preparing. Other than not knowing if my dd will be able to do much reading independently, I think she will be able to handle the written work as you have described. I'm excited about starting Preparing, but I have to hold myself at bay, and wait until fall. I just feel that giving her time to improve in her reading skills will be a huge benefit. One day at a time.

Riley didn't write consistently with capital letters in PHFHG either, nor did he in his written narrations in CTC until the last half. Dictation really helped him, but it took some time and steady progress through the passages for it to carry over to his own writing. The written narrations in PHFHG begin with students dictating 1-3 sentences to you to write on the marker board, and then they copy them, so this naturally helps dc grow into this skill slowly and surely. I agree that much of PHFHG has copywork or visuals to help (i.e. the dictionary for vocabulary work, the science book for notebooking, the Bible for Bible verses, etc.). One thing that has helped Riley remember to write with capital letters is me reminding him, "Remember to write with capital letters and punctuation. Every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with punctuation." I said this daily. Then, before I worked on editing it with him, I'd say, "Did you remember capital letters and punctuation?" He didn't usually, for quite awhile, and then I told him to try to add them in before I worked with him. He often put them the wrong place, but at least he tried. I then read his sentences out loud and paused where punctuation should go, having him add the punctuation and the capital letter for the next sentence as we went. He now is at the end of CTC and consistently writes with capital letters and punctuation, though now we are working on quotation marks for dialogue. Wyatt struggled more with spelling - Riley really doesn't, but for Wyatt, I just had him write the best he could, reminding him to use his book as a reference for words he didn't know how to spell. I had him start to look up how to spell what was spelled incorrectly in his book (i.e. if it was a person in his history reading whose name he misspelled, I had him look it up in the history book and helped him do that). Or, I put a sticky note next to his writing and just wrote the right spelling next to the line it was spelled incorrectly in if the looking it up was going to be too frustrating. Or, I wrote the correct spelling of words in order that they were misspelled on a marker board and had him fix them from that. I tried to switch it up a little, and all of these things along with HOD's awesome dictation and copy work helped make him an excellent speller today. Hope something here helps, but I think you will find Angie will do well with PHFHG, and that you will have enough tips for helping her when she needs it! I'm excited for you two to begin.

In Christ,
Julie

Julie-Thanks. I guess I will know what works best when we actually get Preparing started. I just get a little nervous with certain things, because of what was happening last winter. I know it had nothing to do with HOD, but it was a very rough time for both of us. I really needed these past 8-9 months to understand Angie's educational needs. She has improved in the areas that are concerning to me. I need to concentrate on 'now', but I want to be somewhat prepared for what lies ahead. Maybe it is the fact that we quit the programs my consultant had Angie doing, which definitely helped us over some hurdles. I was confident about stopping them, but sometimes I second guess myself, and I start thinking we will hit a roadblock again. I just need to maintain the confidence that we can accomplish what is needed without those special programs. This second term, Angie will complete Cheerful Cursive. She will also do some writing in R&S 2, and I will have her do some Scripture copywork. Will that be sufficient to get her ready for the writing in Preparing?

Thanks for the help and encouragement on this board. Anticipating the start of 2014 brings me more excitement about being here actually working in a guide once again. I just need to keep trusting the Lord for His wisdom.