What in Preparing might be issue for delayed reader/ writer

[water2wine]

I am doing the hokey pokey a bit or perhaps I should say I did a U turn, nothing major all within the realm of HOD. We had planned on doing a mini tour of Preparing quickly and then go right into CTC. The idea was to get more on track age wise with my kids and in particular my oldest. Our year had some unexpected stuff and we got delayed last year, bottom line is we lost the extra time we thought we would have to accomplish this as easily as I had planned. Plus my dd with learning delays did not progress as far as I had hoped. She did well, but I am realizing another year would be a blessing for her and for me teaching her. I don't care that I have already ordered CTC, hehehe! It's actually a blessing that it is paid for in truth and we are sold on HOD for as long as they write them anyway so that is just like buying gold as far as I am concerned. I just want to go with the best fit and I love what Preparing has to offer us as well so it is win/win for me. In truth the more I was trying to rush through Preparing to get to CTC (which is going to be beyond awesome I know) I was starting to have pangs and the closer we got to going through it fast the more Preparing started to call me as well. I think God might be calling me to slow down and just smell the roses this next year. And it is the old adage I know is true that it is infinitely easier to beef up for my older child than it is to tone down for my dd with special needs. I am pretty sure this has to be God because in my heart I am all about jumping at CTC yet feeling peace in not doing it. So I think I need to listen to this thing that says don't rush through Preparing we need the time and it has things we really need to learn.

Ok that is my confession. Whew! I am so set on how to beef up Preparing for my oldest because Carrie has covered that so well. Plus I have her already beefed pretty well already. What I am wondering is what might be an issue for my child that reads beginning third grade level (but not fluently if that makes sense) and writes on about the first grade level. She narrates like nobodies business and can understand what is read to her well. I am going to have her do the lower extension pack for reading independent I think she can do that and if we have to go slower on that it is fine. But I am wondering what might I need to adjust for her otherwise if anything comes to mind. I am trying to catch ahead anything I can in advance that we might need to do differently for her in particular. Thanks for hearing my confession and any advice you might have.

[LynnH]

I will also be doing Preparing this year with my ds who has writing challenges due to his CP. Carrie gave me some ideas and guidelines because I was concerned about the amount of writing in Preparing. There really is quite a bit, but it is spread out over the week. Carrie suggested I have him do one cursive passage a day and that is all, so I plan on doing that. His hand will be wiped out after that since some of the passages are long. Looking thru everything I can tell you what I have decided to do and see if that helps. The things that concerned me most were the Poetry writing assignment each week and also the amount of writing he may need to do for Draw and Write thru history. I have decided that for the Poetry I will let him dictate it to me as I put in on the white board and then will let him copy it or type it. Typing tends to work pretty well for him. For the Draw and write and I am going to see how it goes, but I am open to letting him type that also and I will then just put that in his binder with the drawings. In Science I noticed one day a week where he has to write the answers out to several questions. I will probably let him dictate those to me. The only other thing I noticed as a concern is where it has them write in cursive on paper without lines. Seems like a little thing, but for my son that could be really tough. I am going to let him try it, but if it is too tough I will let him type it out and then I can cut and past it on the page it needs to go on.
Again I haven't done Preparing yet, but like you I want to be ready for any challenges that may come up and have it figured out how I am going to handle it so he doesn't get frustrated. The big thing we deal with is his hand muscles just wearing out quickly when he is writing so I am trying to make sure I balance the day with writing, typing and him dictating to me what to write.

[water2wine]

oops double post!

[water2wine]

Thank you so much for replying. I wanted to ask was it mostly challenges in actually being able to physically write or mental challenges with that. My dd can write physically pretty well she just is not too advanced at actually being able to spell words so everything she writes needs to be rewritten several times to get something that just makes sense and has real words. She can do copywork interestingly but composing something on her own is where we have issues. So having to write answers and or compose things are issues. I guess I am just going to have to proceed and wing changing things for her as needed. It is what I mostly do anyway but just wondering I guess if there was a major red flag that might require some forethought is all. It sounds like from what you are saying Draw and Write is something I need to look at and I will be honest with you, duh, I had not even thought about that. And the poetry I would not have thought to look at so I will see how we need to adjust that. And you remind me of something else which is dictation and I can pull that from Bigger. In all honesty it is not something I have done yet from HOD because truly she was not to that level yet but this year I think Bigger dictation would be good for her.

Thanks for taking the time to help me organize some thoughts.

[LynnH]

My sons is mostly physical that keeps him from writing although because that has been a challenge for him he struggles with the composition part of writing some also. Definitely look at the poetry writing assignment that is once a week. It starts out easy at the beginning of the guide but I noticed it gets more advanced as you go along. I could see that as being the toughest thing for her from what you have said. Draw and Write is copywork so she should do fine with that. I am sure you will figure things out as you go along and how to adjust things for her. I think as moms of kids with challenges we get very good at that.

[water2wine]

Yes you are right I am used to figuring these things out. Just wanted to see if there was something I might be missing. I am looking forward to a smooth year.

[my3sons]

water2wine - It sounds like this is going to be a good fit for your dc next year. It helped my ds when I wrote his ideas on a markerboard for him. That way, he could think creatively without worrying about thinking about proper spelling. He then copied from the markerboard. Eventually, I just wrote the harder words to spell on a markerboard, and finally he took it over. Maybe this would help your dd too? I can see this working well with the poetry. As far as dictation, it's a good idea to do the beginning level of it first and let her grow into it. For grammar, doing a good portion of it orally/on markerboard will also help. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[water2wine]

Thank you Julie that does help a lot and it makes a lot of sense. I appreciate it! I pm'd you a message about something else while you were answering this. I am thinking Preparing might be the perfect bridge for her to get more on track with being a little independent. We're excited about doing it. It's an important year to me to get that overview. I think a 4 day schedule is going to help a lot too because it gives me time on that fifth day to work more one on one with her and I need to be doing more of that. So one more power year and we should be ready for CTC next year. It also allows us to finish up our NT reading and be ready for the OT as well. So it is all good. I make plans and God has His own. Thanks for your suggestions they are very helpful!

[Carrie]

water2wine,

I'm also wondering if you may need to plan ahead on the written narration portion on Day 4 of each week? You may just want to write her narration on a markerboard and have her copy it (all year long). Make sure to limit the narration to the number of sentences suggested within the Preparing Hearts guide, so she doesn't end up with an overwhelming amount of sentences to copy.

She'll most likely need a modified version of the science lab sheet once weekly as well. Possibly, she could copy the question, dictate her guess to you to write, draw the experiment, and dictate her conclusion?

On a sidenote, I'm actually excited that you'll get to do a trip through Preparing Hearts. My son and I loved it so much last year, and he grew by leaps and bounds so that I can see he's ready for the rigor of CTC now this upcoming year.

Blessings,
Carrie

[water2wine]

Thanks Carrie. I appreciate your help. That sounds like a great idea for her and it makes sense because I want her to be able to get the thought process and not be bogged down with the writing. Then we can just focus on writing when that is the main event. I am going to go through and look at the manual with this in mind. I am excited about doing Preparing as well. It just became evident we needed to slow down. It was best for my dd who has delays and still good for my two in the middle the only one it affected was my oldest. And looking at it beefing up is just always easier. Plus my oldest probably needs this overview the most since she had the most ps influence. God has a perfect plan and we are all really excited to get going with Preparing and Beyond this year. I really have peace about it being the right thing for us. I do appreciate your working with us to get it right!

[Carrie]

It sounds like you have a terrific plan. You are so right that the Lord knows best! When I'm writing the guides, they always change A LOT from my original plan. However, I know (that as the Lord leads) His plan is better than anything I could come up with on my own! I am so glad that He has given you peace with your decision.

Blessings,
Carrie