I have a 9 year old in 3rd grade. His reading level is 1st grade or a little above at best. In addition to the dyslexia he has a language disorder. His Psycologist said we need to put him in a school that had a dyslexic program, and get additional help with occupational therapy, and language therapy. He has a hard time with Spelling. He can do ok in an oral spelling test immediatley following a review. His math concept is there if I go over it for a while before he starts and read everything to him. He cannot get the multiplication. I read on a handout from his Psycologist. If they struggle for a long time on X’s tables who is the slow learner? Get them a calculator. If they get the concept?… Someone did tell me about the X’s tables the fun way at http://www.citycreek.com I plan on trying it. They use a story telling concept that you can read to your child with pictures. He was in a private school since pre K He started private pre K at age 5. I knew early on he had some sort of disability. He did ok until last year. He was doing average and below average in some subjects, and because Abeka (the curriculum he has had) is so advanced. (Well, compared to our public shcools in our area.) I wasn’t that worried. I figured if he was average with Abeka he would be in the normal range with the public school in our area. When I decided to homeschool I realized how many difficulties he had. I was having to read everything to him. He is definatley an auditory learner. I was lucky to have someone who had homeschooled 7 children for advice, but none of her kids had any major learning disabilities. She said if they can’t get it move on to what they can get and introduce the hard subject at a later time. (Makes sense)
Through my research I have decided there is no dyslexic homeschool program, or I would have come across it already. If I was the owner of it I would have a huge advertisement on this and many other web sites.
My question to all of you is has anyone used any of the normal products out there and mabye modified them in any way? Like Hooked on Phonics? or I have recently looked into the Alpha and Omega online school. Has anyone used this approach? Alpha and Omega has a CD Rom program called Switched on Schoolhouse. Has anyone found any success with any CD Rom shooling. It seems like it would work being visual, auditory(because now Switched on Schoolhouse has a way to have everything read to them) and hands on which is what most dyslexics need.?
I am just as desperate as the next mom. I want to homeschool. We have 3 private schools within a 45 mile radius. The finances will be very hard to come up with. ( wouldn’t we all work two shifts for our little ones) I have one public school within a 30 mile radius I have heard they will help me but, I really want to homeschool. After the diagnosis you are so overwhelmed trying to find the “right” book to find out about your childs disability, then you are overwhelmed with trying to find a way to teach your child at home. I believe in intuition. The Dr. said I was doing all the right “Stuff” already with what I had. I definatley need to find somthing better. Thank you for anyone with any input.
Sincerely,
Betsy Havard
Re: Homeschooling with Dyslexia
In my experience, an awful lot of homeschooling materials assume that reading will come easily for a student. (One book on Classical HOmeschooling rubs it in rather painfully: “Reading is easy. Reading is easy. Reading is easy.” … and it goes on from there :-(()
It’s best to find a program (like abecedarian) that is really designed for those folks for whom reading *isn’t* almost as natural as breathing, instead of trying to adapt something.
One of the many neat aspects of homeschooling is that you can adjust instruction all around, so you can go slowly through reading, and then find ways of teaching content areas that *don’t* depend on reading skills but let your child advance and learn at his/her pace in other areas, too.
Re: Homeschooling with Dyslexia
One good source for help with dyslexia is the Scottish Rite Masons. A great many of their chapters offer O-G tutoringing, which has a long history of success in providing partial if not full remediation for dyslexics.
Good luck to you!
Re: Homeschooling with Dyslexia
I used the SPIRE reading program to homeschool my son 3 years ago. He has dyslexia, and was in 4th grade then. SPIRE was designed for kids with reading disabilities, and it is comprehensive from phonological processing exercises to text reading for comprehension. We liked it particularly because the short readings were often about science and social studies topics, which my son really likes. I think the program is excellent, and the “teacher’s manual” is very easy to work with. Good luck to you.
Re: Homeschooling with Dyslexia
SPIRE is a good, Orton-Gillingham program; Patterns for Success in Reading by … I think… Henry is another. Both are designed for students wtih dyslexia.
Homeschooling Students with LD-Dyslexia
Check out Lindamood-Bell: www.lindamoodbell.org
I homeschool my 5th grade, 10 yr old, Dyslexic son.
I took him for services and was trained in their math program as well. It is awesome! GREAT results.
Nancy3
I would suggest that you join the dyslexiasupport2 email list at http://groups.yahoo.com. A number of parents there homeschool and can provide detailed advice about programs they have used successfully.
Switched On Schoolhouse often gets poor reviews from parents whose children are not dyslexic. I would definitely not recommend it as a first choice for a dyslexic child.
I would suggest that you borrow the book “Reading Reflex” by McGuiness from the library (or purchase the book for under $20 at any bookstore). Read the first three chapters and then give your child the assessments in the book. Whether or not you decide to use the book to teach reading, this will give you an excellent overview of the subskills necessary for reading and where your son’s skills are. I really like the approach outlined in this book and recommend trying it. If you don’t see significant improvements within about 15 to 20 hours of one-on-one using the methods in the book, then it may not be providing enough repetition. In that case I would consider using SPIRE or hiring an Orton-Gillingham tutor for reading. If “Reading Reflex” works but you do not feel comfortable using it, consider using a Phono-Graphix tutor (http://www.readamerica.net).
I do recommend supplementing any reading program with the Sound Reading CD from http://www.soundreading.com. This computer CD is about $60, and your son can use it independently once he understands how it works. Call the company to make sure you order the appropriate version for your son. This CD is *excellent* for developing the phonemic awareness skills that tend to lag in dyslexics. It is mastery-based and assumes nothing. It starts at a pre-K level and works up to about a middle-third grade level. It does not constitute a complete reading program
Most dyslexics can grasp math concepts fairly quickly, but have a hard time memorizing math facts. If Math Facts the Fun Way works for your son, you might want to follow up with QuarterMile Math software (http://www.thequartermile.com). Using this for 10 minutes a day (preferably with you doing the keyboarding so more practice is packed into that ten minutes) is very helpful for most kids who struggle with math facts.
Website for Math-U-See is http://www.mathusee.com. This and RightStart math (http://www.alabacus.com) are two highly recommended homeschooling programs. Even these don’t work well for all families, though. Many people have to try several programs before they find one that works well for them. Moving With Math (http://www.movingwithmath.com) is often specifically helpful for dyslexics.
Nancy
Nancy3
One more thing….. In my opinion, it doesn’t make any sense to work on spelling with a child who is reading on a 1st grade level. Once the reading level is at a 3rd grade level, you can introduce spelling.
Also, I would recommend that you consider doing a cognitive skills training program at home, such as Audiblox (http://www.audiblox2000.com). This program works on strengthening the underlying skills necessary for academics. Most dyslexics are weak on some of these basic skills, such as sequencing and directionality.
Nancy
Trying looking at the Teaching Reading and Teaching Math forums on this board. For the reading challenges you are describing, many parents have done well with “Reading Reflex” or a newer, similar program “Abecedarian,” which is said to me more parent friendly. You may wish to supplement this with the CD Rom from Sound Reading Solutions, which assists kids with sound discrimination. (The reading program the company offers, however, has not received good reviews.) For math, the most recommended program seems to be Math-U-See, which many homeschoolers use successfully. The City Creek product has received mixed reviews—but some have reported good success with it. Personally, I would work with the fundamentals first that you would get with Math-U-See before going the City Creek route. Another forum you should try for further information on home school programs is on thewelltrainedmind.com. Look especially at the forum for special needs. I would not bother with either Switched on Schoolhouse or Hooked on Phonics. The programs mentioned above are structured, sequential, and multisensory, and have a proven track record with children that are not typical learners. That is not true for either SOS or HOP.