Next Year's HS ideas

Noah

Typing program  (Free) www.powertyping.com/qwerty/lessons
Math TT 5    ($99.95)
Literature books and vocab and spelling (free from the library)
Pilgrims Progress
Ben and Me
The Swiss Family Robinson
The Trumpet of the Swan
Farmer Boy
The Indian in The Cupboard
The Five Little Peppers and How they Grew
The Magician's Nephew
Stuart Little
The Secret Garden
Write an essay per day about what you read (bible or literature)
Bible - New testament
Science and History - look up and write 2 paragraphs about 8 sentences.
Power Point - Presentations
Cursive without tears ($15.50)
Piano
Sportz Kids AZ ($200/year)

Graham

Dianne Craft phonics program (already purchased)
readers from library (free)
Spelling City (free)
Math??? maybe TT3, or Saxxon home school 5/4 (borrowed from Doni)
Bible on CD ($35.95 Amazon)
Microsoft Word documents on Science subjects ($8)
Moezart ($200)


Braxtyn
Abeka Math 1 (22.15)
Explode the Code ($65 online or $26 for all books)
Spelling City (free)
Moezart ($200)

Total school materials - $207.55
Total extras - $600


Bible on CD

Learning new ways to teach a child with Dyslexia

Alphabet Arc : Dictionary Skills

Here in this Dyslexia Blog article is a useful strategy if your child has trouble looking words up in dictionaries and other reference books that are arranged in alphabetical order.

Make an alphabet arc using a protractor.

First draw an arc onto a piece of card.Divide the arc into 4 roughly equal sections..

Write the alphabet in the four quarters :
A- F
G- M
N- S
T- Z

You could cut the arc out and fold it along the lines into quarters if you want.

They can carry it with them in their school bag.

It makes looking things up quicker and more accurate, and your child won’t have to start from the beginning of the alphabet for each word.

You could make up a mnemonic to remember the first 4 letters in each section eg : All gorillas need tomatoes

Play some games with them to test their skills.- eg they have to find a word within a certain time.

This can even be used with older students.

resources

http://www.readingsuccesslab.com/

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It’s easy for a parent to worry over every little bump or mispronounced word. We find ourselves wondering, “Did he bump his head too hard?” or “Shouldn’t she be able to say that by now?” Worrying is a normal part of parenthood, but we need to learn which mispronounced word and learning difficulty are worth worrying about and which aren’t. As homeschoolers, we spend more time with our kids than most parents and so we have the perfect opportunity to observe and diagnose any problems early on – when there’s still time to do something about it! Dyslexia is one of those disorders that can easily slip by unnoticed – but when caught early by an observant parent there’s so much you can do! The latest studies are slowly proving that Dyslexia cannot only be managed, but can actually be entirely overcome through early childhood intervention. Schools across the country, however, are slow to do screening that can ultimately affect the 20% of Americans that have a reading disorder, according to the International Dyslexia Association in Baltimore. In almost all cases of early detection it’s a parent, not a teacher who notices a problem. Dyslexia Defined What is Dyslexia? Simply put, Dyslexia is a disorder that affects the way your child perceives reading and language. According to research, faulty wiring in the brain causes this disorder. A dyslexic person hears a word as having only one sound instead of hearing it as a combination of sounds. They hear the word car as “car” while others hear it as “c-aa-rr.” Because of this, when your child is first learning to read and trying to distinguish the sounds that letters make and combining those letters to make simple words, they’re fighting a battle that’s almost impossible for them to win alone. How dyslexia slips by unnoticed If your child is really struggling with schoolwork, there might be a good reason why. Many children can simply get by guessing and memorizing their way thru the first years of reading. This may work at first, but the more complex the reading; the more you and your child will begin to realize that this approach is coming to a dead end…fast. Early intervention can actually change the way your child reads and hears sounds. According to a new study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), early intervention can actually alter the pathways of the brain. Simply put, with the right professional help and at a young enough age, dyslexia can be correctable! I Spy a Red Flag: What a problem looks like Preschool-Age Warning Signs: Trouble remembering the letters of the alphabet. Inability to learn simple rhymes. Trouble remembering what word to use in a sentence. Mispronounces words (like busgetti for spaghetti). Spelling their name with the letters switched a different way every time. Kindergarten thru Fourth Grade Warning Signs: Unable to associate sounds with letters. Skipping over and confusing small words (like at, to, and in). Mispronouncing long, unfamiliar words. Having a great fear of reading aloud. Confusion over right and left. Some write numbers or letters backwards. Difficulty following two or three step directions. If your child has some or all of these reading problems it doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily dyslexic. It just means that you should keep an eye on them, learn more about the disorder by looking into our Dyslexia Resources, talk with their pediatrician, and maybe even consider getting them evaluated for dyslexia. So Now What? Early intervention is the key. If you feel like your child may have dyslexia, actions speak louder than words. The first step is to get your child evaluated. You can talk to your local school district about professionals in your area that offer testing or you can look into the alternative at-home testing offered by many professionals online. According to the Individuals with Disabilities Act, a public school is required to provide free testing upon a parent’s written request. Does this include homeschoolers? Considering that the private in person evaluations can cost anywhere up to $2000, I would do my best to convince your local school’s principle that it does. I had my own son tested for a learning disability at a preschool age, because at three he was not talking and was becoming more and more aggressive. I contacted my local preschool and they informed me that the school district is required to test if I feel it’s necessary and give good cause for it. I was provided with some phone numbers and before the month was done, my son was sitting in front of a group of professionals employed by the public school system. They were under the impression that my son would be attending their school for kindergarten and I never corrected the assumption. Shoot for the Moon No matter what challenge you and your child face, just remember to keep your head up high and lead by example. Explain dyslexia to your child and help them to understand that although they’re different, there’s nothing wrong with that. They just think differently than most people do and although there may be some drawbacks they’re also a step ahead of many people. They’re born with the natural ability to look at things in a whole new way. The possibilities and potential of their achievements is endless. Many wonderful and extremely talented people were and are dyslexic. Here is just a small example of many Famous People Born with Dyslexia: Leonardo DaVinci (artist, inventor) Sir Winston Churchill (statesman, prime minister or Britain) Albert Einstein (physicist, inventor) Thomas Edison (inventor) Pablo Picasso (artist) Charles Schwab (founder and chairman of Charles Schwab Corporation) Tom Cruise (actor) Cher (singer, actor) Jay Leno (comedian) TM & Copyright 2011 Planet Ocean Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Next year's schooling ideas

Noah:
Teaching textbooks grade 3 - online independent study $119.00 (re-usable CDs)
Learning Language arts through literature - doing this but fourth grade/prefer the literature
Science project co-op
History of the world
Pilgrims Progress

Graham:
Math - Saxxon (need to order the student books)
Five in a row for literature
Science project Co-op
Story of the world

Braxtyn:
Math - Saxxon 1
Five in a row for lit
Science Co-op
Story of the world

What's working, what's not this year

Braxtyn - All the Abeka K-4 is working for her, she loves to sit with the boys and take in history and science

Graham - Saxxon K was a bust. So boring! I ordered the Abeka K and he is doing great! He loves it and it is something he is successful at each day.
Things Graham has accomplished this year so far: Kindergarten (6yrs.)
1. writing his name on his own
2. Writing all his numbers 1-20
3. All the vowels and there sounds
4. Blending vowels with consonants
5. SLOWLY - reading three letter words of the consonants he knows
6. Consonants are slow and he only knows about 8 at this point. Still knows there sounds better than the name of the letter.
Writing without tears is good, Explode the code is the perfect slow pace and repetition that is helping him to know letters. We are not at K level yet, we are still at pre-K, Abeka ladder book of vowels is a great repetition for him.
Giddy UP Round UP is good but its hard to fit it in the schedule sometimes.

Noah - Abeka English is easy this year, mostly review from 1st grade. Spelling is still tough for him it takes a lot for him to remember some of the special sounds. He is great at Saxxon math 2, he is almost ready for Saxxon 3. He is reading third grade level books quietly to himself and retaining the story. Abeka science is lame this year, we are looking into a coop with a science teacher. History of the World is great for everyone, we all enjoy it. He is doing cursive this year and doing great, his handwriting is improved. He is typing with his spelling words, using Spelling City.com, that has improved both his spelling and keyboard use.

Breakthrough!

I have stopped working with Graham on schooling, other than a few special projects and a little un-schooling. This has seemed to relieve some of the pressure and is allowing him to shine. Happily he is now copying the letters that are in his name and working on their order. He has memorized his birthday and today, I brought him into a math lesson with Noah. We were doing weight measuring and estimating weights of items found in our house with small blocks. We measured four objects and tracked on paper how many blocks each item would weigh. We first guessed how many blocks we thought it would weigh and then recorded the actual weight. We then used our data to see which object we collected weighed the most and which object weighed the least. To my delight, Graham was the best estimator! He could easily guess just by feeling the objects in his hands and looking at them how many blocks he would need. He also remembered which item weighed the least! He was very proud of himself that he knew something Noah did not. Noah is very factual and only used the numbers to make educated guesses, Graham relied on his very developed common sense to figure it out; making him a much better estimator! I love it when he is able to do projects that allow hi abilities to shine. I am realizing that when things matter to him he can answer very quickly. A few weeks ago we were drilling him on numbers and letters and seemed like he didn't even know the difference between the two, however, today he was watching soccer on TV and when the score popped up he was able to tell us very quickly that the score was 4/1.

I am working on a new unit study to start with him in September, he will be 6 and will need to be learning to read. I am a little nervous to start this process and I am trying to begin with something that gets him excited. So, the unit study is called Gidee Up Round up. It is an entire study about the Wild West, using western books like, The Three Little Javalinas and Jalapeno Hal. I hope that this will help him to realize that letters make words, and words make stories and stories are fun...