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Date Posted: 07:37:20 09/19/02 Thu
Author: Sharon
Subject: We deal with the same thing
In reply to: Liann 's message, "Any of you have a dyslexic child or a child with writing problems?" on 20:56:37 09/18/02 Wed

Liann,

Brittany is also dyslexic. Not major, but enough to cause a problem. She couldn't read until she was 7, and now, even though she can read, she still struggles with writing. Last year all our reading selections related to our unit study I did as read aloud. I wanted her to get the information which I knew she could comprehend, even if she couldn't read it. This year she does some of the reading, but a lot I read to her.

Writing is a struggle. I know that it's important for her to be able to write well, but like Kris said, I'm not sure if it's necessary at an early age. I compensate by having her do reports that consist of pictures with just a little text. She's very artistic and can convey the same message through art rather than words. I also sometimes have her dictate while I type in the computer. For instance, this year for our first six weeks she wrote a Braille Herald newspaper report and she just dictated the articles and helped me with layout and I did the typing. This six weeks she created a diarama to go with her inventions book. We've also done comic strips and we do alot of exercises orally. We even do things like grammar orally where I call our a sentence and she must tell me orally what is capitalized and where punctuation goes. I've also found it sometimes helps to do work on a chalkboard rather than paper.

I know that eventually we have to move towards more conventional writing all the time, but for now I'd hate for her to dislike writing, so I just try to make writing as enjoyable as possible. That's what I like so much about unit studies and what I hoped to accomplish with PP. I wanted something that allowed for differences in children, where they could succeed even if they struggled in areas.

The same holds true for math. We do a lot of math orally with math bees or baseball or else on the chalkboard or at least where I write the problems. I rarely have her write the problems because it is such a struggle for her. I'd rather her concentrate on solving problems right now.

It sounds like right now you're struggling more with writing than reading, but if you are worried about reading, one thing that has really worked well with us is using old Dick and Jane style readers. I know that many experts dislike them saying they're boring, but we've found the exact opposite to be true. We both find them delightful. What helps is that they have a limited vocabulary which they use over and over and that really helps a struggling reader. She's not constantly bombarded with new and unfamiliar words. This year we're reading an Alice and Jerry book called Five and a Half Club that is a third grade reader. It's about a group of kids who form a club and fix up an old shed for their clubhouse.

Hope all this helps. Just don't let the writing get you down. Back off writing if you need to. Obviously, as a writer, I think writing is important, but the most important thing is that writing be enjoyable. If it's not now, hold off or just do minimal writing until it is a little easier. If a kid enjoys writing, he will write. Along those lines, Brittany suddenly decided last week that she wanted to start writing everything in cursive, and even though it's a struggle, because it was her idea, she's been writing notes and letters almost constantly (We won't mention the spelling or punctuation or capitalization. It will come with practice.)

Oh, and one more thing. It really encourages Brittany to know that many famous people, including inventors, were dyslexic. When she gets discouraged, we just talk about Thomas Edison and how he couldn't do well in school, but was able to accomplish so much. We're always excited when we read biographies to discover just how many famous people struggled with reading and writing.

Happy Homeschooling!
Sharon

>HELP!!
>We started school last week and ever since my 9 1/2 yo
>son (4th gr) has complained any time that he has to
>write. He still reverses letters and numbers in
>reading and writing. I know that there are a lot of
>relatives on his bio. dad's side with dyslexia. I
>also found out that my aunt and cousin have it. I am
>considering having Gabriel tested with a special SOI
>(Structure of Intellect) testing which is done by a
>homeschooling center not too far away.
>
>He is the one who loves inventions. He is the reason
>that we specifically picked PP vol. 2. I am just
>wondering if any of you have dealt with this or have
>any suggestions. Sharon, I thought that maybe you
>would be of some help since you are the author of the
>curriculum. We really really need to focus on math
>and writing this year. He is behind in both skills.
>It is the physical issue of writing rather than the
>creativity that is the problem. Spelling is a problem
>too and he gets frustrated with that too. His reading
>has improved dramatically since last year. He is
>reading The Boxcar Children now and read Childhood of
>Famous Americans, Thomas A. Edision this summer. It
>took him the whole summer to get through the book, but
>it was worth it. He doesn't read for pleasure like my
>8 yo. son.
>
>Usually Gabriel can be found working on an invention
>or riding his bike or scooter. He is very good
>mechanically and has already been taking bikes apart
>and putting them back together.
>
>My question is what have you done with this problem.
>His eyes are often red and kind of glassy looking. He
>has had a through eye exam with tracking included, but
>it showed no problems. I am thinking that maybe he
>has a visual processing problem of some sort. I don't
>know if any of you are familiar with hand/eye
>dominance, but he is right handed and sites with his
>left eye. From what I have learned that means that
>handwriting is not automatic for him. According to
>the specialist Dianne Craft who talks about this, He
>needs to stop writing for 3-6 months in order to work
>on a special exercise. How can I do that and still
>work on school work? We pulled him from school in
>first grade because he was struggling then and started
>a year behind at the time. We have been working hard,
>but he is still struggling. Anyway, just wondered if
>any of you could help and specifically if any of you
>knew how to tweak the curriculum. Thanks.
>
>Blessings,
>Liann

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Replies:

Re: We deal with the same thing -- Liann, 20:45:53 09/19/02 Thu