Placing A Dyslexic Child

[Bamatina]

I am trying desperately to find something that will help my 7 year old dyslexic son see that learning can be fun! He is so turned off on anything that even remotely looks like schooling. My biggest concern is placing him so that he will not be bored, will be challenged and yet not frustrate him with the difficulties he faces with reading and writing. We have an Orton-Gillingham reading program that I want to continue using for his reading. Is that a possibility with HOD?

[StephanieU]

It is definitely possible to continue with whatever you are using for reading with HOD. HOD specifically lets you pick your own math and reading/literature if you like, even though they make recommendations. Those areas aren't tied to the rest of the material, making substituting painless basically.
As for placement, how is he at writing? Writing can be a key component in placement. LHFHG, Beyond, and Bigger might all work. But, if reading is truly a struggle still, I would not place him in Bigger probably. The guide after Bigger (Preparing) has students reading some of their own subjects, and that builds in all of the future guides. So, I would personally probably look at Beyond and see if that is a good placement. My daughter (just turned 7) is loving Beyond. The history and storytime really are interesting for both of us, and it doesn't feel too much like school at all. We did LHFHG last year, and it was a blast as well. But, it might feel a little young for your 7 year old.

[psreit]

My daughter has dyslexia. She is 11 now. We did Little Hearts in first and Beyond in second grade. That was before I knew what the problem was. Although her reading was not progressing, she did enjoy the history, science and storytime books. In third grade we started Bigger. Then the frustrations began to mount. My daughter also has even more challenges in math. So, we were dealing with multiple issues. We ended up stopping Bigger about halfway. That put me on about a two year journey trying to find help and find curriculum that would help her. In fourth grade I took her to an education consultant who specializes in dyslexia and math. She is the one who pinpointed my daughter's problems and recommended special programs for the dyslexia and math. We did use Barton for a while, which did help her reading. Then it got into too many spelling rules that was too much for her to process, so we are no longer using that program. To make a long story short, in November we came back to HOD. I realized that to make it work, I needed to step back to Bigger (we had tried Preparing in 4th). She is now in 5th grade. What inspired me to do this is a post on here from a mom with a struggling high-schooler who is using CTC. Anyway, we just finished unit 3 and it is going well. If you want to continue using your OG program, that would be fine. I just want to encourage you to not think about the age/grade of your son when deciding which guide to use. You don't want to place too high. I have to remind myself to not feel we have to rush through Bigger to 'catch up'. I am going to let her work at a pace that she will enjoy. (She has hated school because of the struggles and frustrations) Her attitude is getting better. Just don't do what I did and stop HOD if frustrations come. Let your son enjoy the work in HOD at a relaxing pace while you are concentrating on reading. My daughter still is not reading much independently, but she is making progress. It does get better. Parental patience is pertinent, and I didn't do well in that area. The Lord is helping me do better and Angie is happier. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

[Nealewill]

psreit - I love your post! You are always so encouraging about meeting a child where they are!

[psreit]

Daneale- Thanks for the vote of confidence. I've been learning as I go, and it took me a while. Hind sight is 20/20. I wish I would have been at this place 2 years ago. It would have spared us a lot of frustration and tears. Given my impulsive nature, the Lord has been very gracious in getting me here. I know there will still be some struggles, but I'm not budging. It will have to take some serious prompting from the Holy Spirit to move me now. I have not had this calm and peace about curriculum since Feb 2010, when I first discovered HOD!

[Bamatina]

Thank you all for the responses! About writing...he absolutely hates writing and it is a struggle for him just as reading is. He is dysgraphic as well as dyslexic. For some reason he seems to like writing on a whiteboard better than writing on paper. I don't have him write much because he has to put so much thought and effort into the physical act of writing that he can't get his thoughts together or comprehend much. So I am his scribe for most things. He is required to spell 10 words and write 2 sentences in his reading lesson but I do let him write those on a whiteboard. We are to the point that he just hates school and that is just heartbreaking for me. I can see that he is a very smart little boy. He excels at math and is working a grade ahead in math. He is an absolute whiz kid with Legos, he can take a set designed for 9-14 year old kids and put that thing together faster than I could! He loves for me to read to him and loves all the stories we have read together. He really enjoys doing science experiments and learning about science. But he has struggled so much with reading and writing that he just almost shuts down when it's time to do school. I really want to find something that will be more fun for him so that hopefully I can find a way to help him realize that learning can be fun. I'm a little torn on where to place him. Beyond might work or it might be a bit too hard for him. While Little Hearts might work better but would he possibly see it as too 'babyish'? The fact that he is a big boy is a very big deal for him! Thanks again!

[bethelmommy]

With the amount of writing he is already doing it looks like he places in Beyond. Using a whiteboard for a lot of the writing is fine. Beyond has daily spelling and copy work which it looks like you are already doing through your reading program. So, in addition to that I think there is only a once a week timeline entry and copying a narration sentence. As he gets more comfortable with writing, you will want to have him transition to notebook paper for some of his work so he is ready for Bigger the following year. My kids loved Beyond and thought it was a lot of fun.

[psreit]

Honestly, I think your son would enjoy the books in Little Hearts. The only things that may seem babyish are the rhymes. I can't remember exactly what they were like. I think there are options for the motor skills book. The 3 R's can be adjusted if need be. The Bible devotion book in this guide is also an excellent source for children. I really appreciated how my daughter was taught from the ground up by starting with LHFHG. I'm glad she is back in Bigger, even now at age 11, because I know she places well in that guide. It is also fulfilling for me, because I didn't want her to miss anything, which would have happened, had I skipped her to Preparing. Also, it was a more gentle way of helping her develop at least a 'like' for school. I really don't think you would be disappointed using LHFHG. HOD book choices are wonderful. If your son's having difficulties with writing, this would give him time to work on that skill before getting to a guide that requires more writing. You could do copywork in LHFHG. I'm sure Lynn, whose son has dysgraphia, would be willing to give you some advice in that area.

My daughter has reading and math challenges, but she loves to write, although her spelling is poor. It's good you are aware of your son's difficulties at this age. I had no clue what we were dealing with until my daughter was 9 years old. I feel we lost some time because it wasn't caught earlier. But, she is making some progress now, which has helped me be able to just settle into the guide and enjoy it. You will have your ups and downs, but it does get better.

[Nealewill]

If it were me, I would probably place him in Beyond and go at his speed. Beyond has some copy work but it isn't overwhelming. I am doing Little Hearts this year and from what you have said about your son, I personally do think he would take better to Beyond. If you did Beyond, you would have him do only a little bit of copywork each day from the poetry. You could spend about 1-2 minutes a day on it. Not much at all! My son could hardly write last year and struggled so much!!!! We did Beyond and it was a wonderful fit. None of the activities are boring or babyish at all. Even my oldest - who was completing Preparing last year - would love to come and listen to me read the history portion. And the hands on activities they do are going to really help with fine motor skills significantly. You would keep on with the reading program that you have and spelling program you have. My oldest has mild dyslexia and my son has Auditory Processing Disorder. Both used special products for reading and still use special products for spelling. But I found I was easy able to substitute both of those areas with no problem and not much change to the volume of my day. Beyond is still very gentle but your son would probably enjoy this level more IMHO.

[psreit]

I guess I have a tendency to lean toward the lower guide because of what we have dealt with. I know your situation is not exactly the same, so maybe you could do LHFHG full speed or maybe go to Beyond and work through it slower. LHFHG is for 7 year olds, so I don't think it would be too babyish, if that is what you decide. You would just need to adjust the 3 R's. Either one could be an option.

[my3sons]

Welcome to the HOD Board, Bamatina! Thank you for sharing about your ds - that helps so much! He sounds like he has some wonderful talents with small fine motor skills, such as lego building, etc., which could lead into improved writing skills and/or typing skills as he matures. As you can see, there are usually several good placement options within HOD, and it just depends on the specifics of each student's and family's needs to determine which will be best in each individual situation. Obviously there are good points to both placements (LHFHG or BLHFHG). The ladies have done a super job of working through this and of sharing the pros to each! So, in trying to further consider the best option between the 2, I'm going to ask for us to have more information. A few questions that may help to know the answers to...
When will your ds turn 8 yo? What grade are you counting him as this year? How long has he been using the Orton-Gillingham method, how is it going, and how long does it take him to do each day? What is he doing now for other subject areas (history, science, Bible, copywork, etc.), or has he been solely focusing on reading/writing? Finally, how long is his typical school day right now? Thank you so much! Your answers will help everyone give even more specific advice. I think you and your ds will love HOD! It's so worth taking a little time for placement to be the best possible fit.

In Christ,
Julie

[Bamatina]

Thank you so much ladies. Now, to answer Julie's questions:

When will your ds turn 8 yo? He does not turn 8 until the end of October.
What grade are you counting him as this year? 1st Grade this year
How long has he been using the Orton-Gillingham method, how is it going, and how long does it take him to do each day? We got his diagnosis of dyslexia and dysgraphia in May and started OG as soon as I got the materials, so sometime in June of 2014. He is definitely making improvements. It's a very slow, methodical approach but it is working. How long it takes to do it each day is a hard question. If he's in a cooperative mood, we get done with the OG stuff in about 30 minutes. If he is having a bad day, it can take an hour. If we are having a horrible day, I just put the schoolwork away and choose to try another day. I don't go over 1 hour for OG and it is the first thing we do. I have found that he needs to do it first because it gets harder if he is mentally tired.
What is he doing now for other subject areas (history, science, Bible, copywork, etc.), or has he been solely focusing on reading/writing? For Bible, we have a children's story bible and we read a bible story and then just talk about the story. No history yet. Science we just find fun experiments, etc. and our library has these wonderful books that teach anatomy one area at a time. He's very interested in that so we've been reading those books and talking about how the different body parts work. We just did the lungs and it really helped him to understand what happens with me when I have breathing difficulties. I have asthma and get bronchitis quite often. Math we are using Mathematical Reasoning. He is doing 2nd grade math. Math just seems to come easily for him. We also use Life of Fred and he loves those books. So I guess really the only super structured things we are doing are reading and math.

Finally, how long is his typical school day right now? Typical day is 2-3 hours.

Thank you so much for all your responses!

Tina

[my3sons]

Thank you so much for patiently answering my questions! I really do appreciate it! One more question, would you be starting now in January, and using this for primarily his first grade year? Or, would you be starting later and using this primarily for his second grade year?

Also, considering these suggested time allotments for each box of plans in each of the 2 guides we're considering for your ds, what are your thoughts about which seems to fit him better (factoring the above question, and the fact that he is going to be doing Orton Gillingham alongside the rest of his school day?

Approximate Times for boxes in LHFHG...
Left side of plans:
Reading about History: 10 minutes
Rhymes in Motion: 5 minutes
Rotating Bottom left box (Science, Art, Dramatic Play, Thinking Games): 10-15 minutes
Bible Study: 10 minutes (add an additional 5-10 minutes on Devotional days)
Corresponding Music: 5 minutes

Right Side of Plans:
Fine Motor Skills: 5-10 minutes
Phonics: 15 minutes
Storytime: 10 minutes
Math: 10-15 minutes

Approximate Times for boxes in Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory...
Reading About History Box: 10 min.
Poetry and Rhymes: 5-10 min.
Bible Study and Music: 10 min.
Rotating Bottom Left Box (Artistic Expression, History Activity/Timeline, Geography, Science twice weekly): 15-20 min.

Language Arts Box: 15 min. (spelling/grammar)
Reading: 15 min. if doing the Emerging Readers and 20-25 min. if doing DITHR 2/3
Math: 15-20 min.
Storytime: 15-20 min.

In Christ,
Julie

[Bamatina]

Thank you so much for posting the approximate times for each section. That helps me tremendously!! We will be doing this for 2nd grade. I want to get him comfortable with a little more reading for the rest of this school year. We school year round with breaks where we need them so we will probably be starting HOD in May or so. Having those times for each section makes me lean toward LHFHG. I really like getting him started at the beginning anyway so it fits well. Once again, thank you ladies so much. I am excited to get started with HOD. It looks like maybe it will be what I need to help my son realize that learning can be fun!

[my3sons]

Thank you so much for posting the approximate times for each section. That helps me tremendously!! We will be doing this for 2nd grade. I want to get him comfortable with a little more reading for the rest of this school year. We school year round with breaks where we need them so we will probably be starting HOD in May or so. Having those times for each section makes me lean toward LHFHG. I really like getting him started at the beginning anyway so it fits well. Once again, thank you ladies so much. I am excited to get started with HOD. It looks like maybe it will be what I need to help my son realize that learning can be fun!

Oh good!!! I'm so glad that the approximate times helped! I was leaning toward LHFHG as well, based on your answers to the questions I posted. I think it will be a super follow-up to what you've been doing previously! As it is a 1 year sweep, it will begin with Creation using one of the suggested story Bibles (our favorite was "The Family Time Bible" - but "101 Favorite Stories from the Bible" is excellent as well), and then it will move him along to listening to longer readings with less pictures as you read through "History for Little Pilgrims" and "History Stories for Children." The 1 year sweep of history gives students the broader picture of history before they begin American History within Beyond Little Hearts... and Bigger Hearts..., so they better understand where American history actually has its place within the scope of history. I like that ds will have the time he needs to focus on his Orton-Gillingham reading program, as LHFHG takes a little less time to do than Beyond. This will help your ds be fresher for his heavier reading instruction each day, and looking forward to his fun LHFHG day! As for the rhymes in motion, which you'd mentioned wondering if they'd be a little young for ds - you can see from the above time allotments that these only account for 5 minutes of the day. They do teach important large gross motor skills, like skipping, hopping, left/right movements, etc., so I found them not only fun to do, but also important to do due to the coordinated movements and brain activity associated with those movements. I did them with my dc, and they loved that! So, you can clip along with them, planning only 5 minutes for them, but I do think they are good to do. (On a side note, my next oldest ds who at the time was in 4th grade when my youngest did LHFHG, would often sporadically break from his work in PHFHG to join little brother in his Rhymes in Motion in LHFHG! He STILL loved doing them! I think getting up and moving is a love of most boys. ) I also love that your ds will have a little more time before he gets to "Bigger Hearts for His Glory," which is a program that has dc do more writing, as well as before he gets to "Preparing Hearts for His Glory," which is a program that has them do more reading, both as in formal reading instruction within "Drawn into the Heart of Reading," and in reading within history and science. I think he'll be ready by then and be able to more fully enjoy those guides! Hooray - now all that is left to do is order! You can do that online or by phone, and you can always ask questions here for help too! I can't wait for you to start!

In Christ,
Julie