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Can I just share with you all something that I hope will encourage some of the moms who have kids with learning differences and or special needs? My oldest daughter came to me tonight to announce that my ten year old dd with CP read to her a pamphlet I had never seen on The Fruits of The Spirit she got in Sunday school a little over a year and a half ago. It was just after we pulled her out of ps. She could not read then beyond hat, sat, cat and those only with the "visual cues" the special ed teacher used on cards and even then she would forget it. So she has apparently had this pamphlet in her room waiting for the day she could read it. Well tonight she decided to try to read it to my oldest dd and she did great!

Here is a little bit just to give you an idea how far we have come, here is a small bit from what she read:
Then I told Tobin that the Fruit of the Spirit is Jesus making us all wonderful inside when He lives in our hearts, and we obey His rules.

I told my dd how proud I was of her and she said, "I didn't learn anything in public school. I could not read and I could not even add. All they did was tell me I was doing good when I knew I wasn't, and gave me tons of candy for nothing. If I was still there I know I would not be reading."

I am not an expert. I am not very patient. I knew nothing about teaching my child. But I will say this, now I can tell you clearly HOD is great for special needs kids. They can still get the information while you work on their weak areas. I think the excitement of just loving what we are doing is helping her. She wants so desperately to read the DITHR book. And she has made another jump in her learning in the short time we have been using HOD for her.

So just wanted to share with all of you that are thinking about taking a child who is receiving special ed out, if I can do it you certainly can! Even fumbling it's ten times better than what we got in ps. I'll be honest, it is time consuming and sometimes frustrating. But just so you know, it's worth it! And besides you are not just using any program you are using one that an experienced teacher wrote and actually used with her own kids.

water2wine wrote:I am not an expert.

Oh, I would beg to differ. I learn something new from you everyday. And, you ARE the expert when it comes to your children!

That is a great story. I don't have any children with ld's but I still wonder if my ds will ever be really reading or enjoy it. Your story keeps my hopes high! Thank you for sharing!!

That is just what I needed to hear!!! My oldest has a LD and we had him in ps for k and 1st. He couldn't read by the end of 1st so I started 100 easy lesson when school was out and he was starting to read within two weeks! That was when I thought he needs to be home. My thrid oldest is developmentaly delayed and recieves therapy at preschool and he can contiune to recieve it next year to but I really want to keep him home and do LHTH with him and my soon to be 3year old. Hearing your story was so great! You are a great mom to be so dedicated to all of your kids and seeing them achive something that they have worked so hard for is priceless. How many of these kinds of things would we miss if they were in ps? They probably wouldn't even get that far. I know when my son was in the special ed class it was kind of the same thing. They labled him and just decided he couldn't do certian things so he didn't think he could either. And now what a improvement he has made. Keep up the good work and thank you so much for your great story. God bless you.

Sheila mom to five very active kids who can not wait for the snow to melt so they can play outside all day ( or is it mom who can't wait) LOL!

Oh W2W, what a beautifully written post. You are such a wonderful, WONDERFUL Mommy and this testimony just goes to show that we don't have to be the expert, we just have to KNOW the EXPERT, Jesus Christ!

He will give us everything we need for daily living, amen?!!!

God Bless You my friend,
Mary

MamaMary wrote:just goes to show that we don't have to be the expert, we just have to KNOW the EXPERT, Jesus Christ!
He will give us everything we need for daily living, amen?!!!

That is the quote to live by for the year!

how awesome!! for all of you!!! (((W2W)))
that's such a great story!! I don't have anyone with a diagnosed LD, but there's days I wonder about a couple of my boys.

How awesome for you and your child!!! I'm sure you gave her a big hug and kiss and told her how proud you were of all her hard work. Tell her that the mama's here on the board are very proud of her too!!!

Sarah

W2W, what a wonderful post! I had up until now resigned myself that my oldest will always be behind and have trouble learning. It just seemed like he would. Well, this past week, he's proved me wrong and I know in my heart that it's because of the one-on-one time he's gotten with mommy that he would not get in school, along with the wonderful lessons.

How exciting that your dd has made such huge strides in her reading! Her CP might make things a little hard and frustrating sometimes, but there's no doubt in my mind, you've got one smart cookie there!

Ok...I don't know how to quote someone.
Mary, your response was very well put.  W2W - what a testimony to God's blessing on you & your kids as you seek to obey Him in your family!
So happy for you! Kathleen

W2W,
How awesome!!! Give her a big hug from all of us!!!!

Laurie

W2W, I am so happy for your dd. It's so wonderful when they realize they can read. You have done such a wonderful thing by taking her out and giving her the time and tools she needs.

Tell her we're all proud of her.

Kathleen wrote:Ok...I don't know how to quote someone.
Kathleen

Kathleen, look at this thread....
http://www.heartofdakota.com/board/view ... ht=quoting

Oh wow! That just brings tear to my eyes!! How beautiful and to know that your dd saved a Fruit of the Spirit leaflet is so touching!

Oh ladies, you have me tearing up at the keyboard, and I am not a weeper!

Thanks so much for sharing your mountain-top experiences as you go, because there are always the valleys that strive to pull us down! The sharing of our joys helps all of us go on even when our own day may be a valley.

Blessings,
Carrie

I so needed to hear this!!

My littly guy is 5 and not talking (much less reading) and can't keep his colors straight, having trouble holding a pencil (and switching hands). I keep having this little thought - Am I doing him a diservice by keeping him home? Woudl he do better with more therapy in the shcools. Right now they won't help him (therapy wise) unless he is in the school. I can get private therapy (which is incredibly hard to fnd because the school system does so much of it) and it costs so much and waiting lists are so long. So he is in an augmentitive communication therapy right now and the therapist is very anti-homeschool. Maybe her comments have sunk in my head giving me doubts...but this really made my day!!

We are going to keep inching along with his skills and with his LHFHG.

Thanks!

mom2every1 wrote: My little guy is 5 and not talking (much less reading) and can't keep his colors straight, having trouble holding a pencil (and switching hands). I keep having this little thought - Am I doing him a disservice by keeping him home? Would he do better with more therapy in the schools. Right now they won't help him (therapy wise) unless he is in the school. I can get private therapy (which is incredibly hard to find because the school system does so much of it) and it costs so much and waiting lists are so long. So he is in an augmentitive communication therapy right now and the therapist is very anti-homeschool. Maybe her comments have sunk in my head giving me doubts...

I had one special ed teacher convince me that I was not qualified to teach my child, convinced me that it would be abuse not to put her in ps. This was a family friend and also an adoption expert, so that weighed on me heavily. Well it was three years later when I was told by my daughters special ed teacher (a different one that actually worked with her) that I was doing a better job than her and hsing would be best. This was after I pulled her out for a month in protest of them not following her IEP and she started to make progress with me hsing. You still need the speech therapy and all that so call all the special ed support in your area (I would call the babies can't wait people and work your way up) but one on one basic learning far out weights what can be done in a group setting with ten kids with all different learning abilities and issues. The special ed teachers are trained but not super human. So pray for God to shut the other voices out. And think about this one thing as well. There is no Christian education in school either. I can't think of a more important life skill for LD than knowing God intimately. And also know that the experts can't know what is best until they do it both ways themselves to actually see. They worked years to be specialist to hand it over to an "untrained" mom is not edifying.