My summer enrichment, part 2

Ok, so, I have been slacking, and if I do have any faithful readers out there, I am so sorry!  This has truly been a crazy summer.  I have 2 kids in “ESY” or Extended School Year.  My 3 year old (almost 4 yo) son, gets on his bus at 7:35 am.  That is pretty darn early!  Five days a week, for 6 weeks!

Amy goes 3 days a week, for 45 minutes, from 8:15-9 am.  I am very lucky.  My husband drops her off on the way to work, and a neighbor (whose son is in her reading group) brings her home 2 days a week.  I pick her up, just once a week.  So, that works out. 

But, I am a creature of habit.  I feel like I waste my day, by not showering and getting dressed, so, I wake myself up at 6 am, to do so.  I will have about 2 1/2 weeks of reprieve (minus the one day a week that I work).  So, this is not a restfull summer!  And, when I do nap, my lovely 3 year old son pokes me, and tells me, “Mommy, WAKE UP!”  Darn kid!  And, I must say, that I have been known to stay up too late.  (hobbies, you know, scrapbooking and my new one, well, I only went once, Basketmaking- how sad is that?  I am trying to get started on playing golf, too)

Anyway, I digress, as I sit here, drinking coffee at 3 pm, as I am going to another class tonight, discussing Dyslexia, symptoms and solutions.  But, here is the rest of my first summer enrichment, and in a few weeks, we can go off topic and discuss Wine Appreciation, for beginners….(needed it to counteract the Orton Gillingham stuff)

The second part of the class continued to cover the different types of syllables in words.  There are 6 types.  And, apparently not all teacher education programs in colleges, even teach this to aspiring teachers.  They belong in this “CLOVER”.  Once you know the different types of syllables, you can pretty much help a dyslexic person, break down the word to read it, or to help them spell.  I am not going over all of these right now, but, if there is any interest, I can write about it.

(I asked our instructor, why the teachers don’t even learn about this in school, as it would seem appropriate for them to learn, in order to teach reading…she had no idea, as she never had it until after she became a teacher, and agreed that it was silly that it wasn’t taught in all programs)

We worked on syllabication, too.  How to break words apart into their syllables, and yes, there are many different patterns, that good readers can do with out difficulty.  So, then we learned how to teach this to our children/students.

Then, we got to watch a pretend “Texas Scottish Rite” OG based lesson.  And, it is systematic, and builds upon what was learned already, to what needs to be taught.  And, it really works. 

We also played some card games that our instructor brought.  They were so much fun!  Quibbler, and My Word.  I am going to definitley look for them. 

I am sorry that this is not as detailed as my last post, but, I did want to say, how great it was to really be able to learn how to carry over some techniques used in school, and gives me great strategies to use at home, to help Amy! 

If I learn anything exciting tonight, I will let you all know!

My summer enrichment

The english language, is very complex.  And, the teachers that must teach children, with learning disabilities how to read, really have their hands full! 

To better understand how to help my daughter, and to understand the “teacher speak”, I enrolled in a 2 day, 8 hour total course, that discusses the Orton-Gillingham approach, to teaching reading.  We started this past Saturday.  In the class, are 4 students.  Two are teachers, and two of us are parents.  The other parent, though, is also a teacher’s aide in a special education classroom.  So, I am the only Non teacher!  Our instructor is wonderful!  I know that she is a great teacher, because she is able to clearly explain all this information to us. 

I am learning so much.  There are things that I did know.  For example, the Orton-Gillingham method, has many different programs that utilize the methodology.  The methodology includes: visual stimulation; tactile means; kinesthetic (large body movements) means; and auditory means of teaching and learning.  We have been doing this since the first grade, when we first started with our tutor.  We also discussed that dyslexia involves not only difficulty “decoding” what is written on the paper, but, a person with dyslexia has difficulty processing words phonologically.  Or, according to Sally Shaywitz:  “Dyslexia is and unexpected inability to read.”

So, to help teach a child or even an adult with dyslexia, you utilize various sensory methods.   By doing this, you teach the child in various methods, so that you repeat what you are teaching, and so that the information is processed in various methods through the sensorineural system.  Everyone is stronger in learning by certain techniques (visual, auditory are the two big groupings used). 

Tactile:  There are special flashcards that you can buy, with the letters made out of a sandpaper feeling paper, then you can trace that letter with the child, and name it.  While they look at it, and when they close their eyes.  You can make your own flashcards- by writing on index cards with a dark marker (letters, or letter blends), poke through the back with a push pin.  Let the kids do this, it is fun!  Turn the card over, and you now have a tactile learning experience.  Other messy suggestions (and these are coming from my line of work, as and Early Interventionist)- writing in shaving cream in the tub/shower, finger writing in the sand or dirt or grass, writing and spelling in pudding, on the carpet, etc.  I am sure that there are many other suggestions out there, and feel free to share them!

Kinesthetic learning, is learning, by moving the body in large movements.  Did you know that large motor movement is the strongest learning modality?  I never really thought about this, and, I am the gross motor person (a Physical Therapist).  But, as I look back, our motor development, and the way our body develops those skills is the foundation for how we visualize our envirionment, then, how we learn to support our heads, and learn how to eat and speak.  We must first develop head and neck control, then, as we strengthen, we develop shoulder and upper body strength.  As this progresses, we are able to swipe for toys, then start to use finer motor movements to manipulate our toys.   As we work on our upper arm movements, we start to strengthen our trunks, and learn to sit up.  And, then our hips get stronger, and we push up onto hands and knees, then, we get up into tall kneeling, then we stand then we walk.  So, the ability for us to stand up and walk, is not the first thing that we must look at, we need to look at how strong the body is.  And, we experience learning, by moving our body in big body movements. 

So, off my PT stepstool!  How do we encourage kinesthetic learning?  Write large letters in the air.  Work on refining those letters.  Say the name as you write it.  Progress to syllables, then to whole words.  Have your child close their eyes, and say the word as they write it.  Don’t ask them to spell it, but, to write it and say it.  When we sit down with a book, we don’t spell the words in our heads, we actually say the word.  Makes sense, right? 

Orton-Gillingham programs, include many versions.  They are Orton-Gillingham based.  They all follow the basic teaching strategies set forth by Orton and Gillingham. 

These programs include:  Project Read; Wilson System; Lindamood; Reading Assist; Stevenson; Alphabetic Phonics; Language Tool Kit; Slingerland; and Texas Scottish Rite.  They are all multisensory reading teaching methods.  You can ask your school if they have a teacher/teachers who are certified to teach in any of these methods.  If your child has a diagnosis of dyslexia, you can have a recommendation from that diagnostician that your child be taught in a “multisensory” approach.  Then, the teacher can use any method that they are certified to use.  They are all structured.  You want your child to learn in a less challenging way, review what they have already learned, and expand upon that, then at the end, they learn something new. 

Hopefully, your child can start to become confident in their own abilities.  They can have a new set of “tools” to help them to learn.  And, they will want to learn!  I know that this is just an overview and I am not an expert by any means.  I want to learn how to help my child, so that together, we can open the doors to reading!

Keep an open line of communication with your childs’ teacher.  Ask them what method they are using.  See if they can sit down with you, and show you how they utilize it, and what it includes.  By understanding how your child is learning in school, you can help apply those same methods at home, to be consistent and to provide positive carryover of skills. 

And, you can join the International Dyslexia Association- the link is in my sidebar.  Each state has their own chapter.  There are meetings annually, and each chapter may have their own annual conventions.  It can provide you with the knowledge, and the ability to understand all that Teacher Speak.

Thank you, for The American Girl Doll Books!

 

 

Our plan this summer, is to go to our library, weekly, or almost every week.  All three kids, yes, there are 3 of them (9 year old Amy, 5 year old Anna, and 3 year old Andrew), have signed up for the summer reading program at the local library. 

Amy surprised me, by signing up to read 11 (eleven) books by the end of the summer.  I don’t think that is a plausible goal, but, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, and left her to her own goals.  So, for the past 10 days (we didn’t get a chance to go back this past week), she has been reading EVERY SINGLE DAY!  Amy found a series of books, that she can read, and that interest her.  She has decided to tackle the American Girl Doll series, this summer.  Of course, she had to start with Meet Kit Kittredge, because of the movie that just came out. 

She will read, and then, stop and tell me all about what she had read so far!  She is so excited about reading.  You do not know how big this is for us.  This is a child who has struggled so long, with reading, that, I had almost given up hope of her knowing that joy, when you open a book, and become absorped into that world in between the pages.  Knowing, that you should have turned the light out hours ago, but, you just want to read one more chapter, then, hours later, you only have a few to go, so, you want to finish the book, even though it is almost 3 am.  Finally, having that ability to be able to read those funny characters in that book, by herself, has opened up that door!

So, thank you, Kit, and your American Girl Doll friends!  I hope that we learn all about each of you!  I hope that Amy picks up the Little House on the Praire books, and gets to read all of them, and The Boxcar Children are more than welcome anytime.  Later, Nancy Drew, are you still around?  Maybe even one day, she can read the Harry Potter books that I totally devoured over the past winter.  And, Heidi, oh, I hope she can read all about you, too!

Reading is more than being able to get through school, it is a neccessary part of life.  And, it can be a wonderful recreational, relaxing activity.  I have so many wonderful memories, of all the books that I read as a child, and as an adult.  I can get lost in a book.  I hope that Amy will continue this wonderful new adventure!

I am going off topic, today, for Lisa at Clusterfook

Update:  On this same day, I posted, Lisa was able to get an appointment at Sloan Kettering!  Yeah Lisa!!!!  I am so happy for her!  I hope that this is the beginning of many opportunities for her, to get the appropriate and neccessary care that she needs!

 

I have been reading Clusterfook for several months.  I started, when, another friends blog had a link to this auction, to help Lisa at Clusterfook be able to take her family to Disney.  You see, Lisa was recently diagnosed with cancer for the THIRD time in several years.  This most recent diagnosis, was on March 31, 2008.  She didn’t start chemo until a few weeks ago, and now has had 2 rounds.  BUT, what makes this entirely crazy, are the following:

1.  She has a rare cancer, with out a name, in her abdomen

2.  She is now fighting the insurance company.  Apparently, they closed her cancer case, on 4/18/2008, even before she got treatment for it.  Who wouldn’t love to say that was a fast cure?

3.  She had an appointment at Sloan Kettering, or so she thought.  They don’t accept her insurance, and the scheduler won’t even put her in for an appointment, after the oncology department had already tried to get her in.  Her current oncologist wants her to go to S-K, as her cancer is so rare, they don’t have a name for it, may I repeat myself here!

4.  She has been denied disability and unemployment (read her blog for that fun stuff!), because the temp agency she works for, told the feds that she refused to work, and she never said that, she just was upfront and told them that she needed Thursdays off for Chemo.

5.  She has 2 wonderful girls, and a wonderful and supportive husband, who deserve to have her around for a long time.

So, what can we, the bloggy world do?  I don’t know.  But, I do know that if we all make a big fuss about this, maybe, just maybe we can bring attention to Lisa, and help her out in that bloggy world way!  Read her blog, post about Lisa, encourage your readers, to go to her blog and post about her.  If we can spread the word, maybe we can make a difference for one person (actually, a whole family).  I am not good at setting up auctions, or fundraisers.  But, I can talk! 

So, please, take 15 minutes to stand up for Lisa!!!  http://clusterfook.com/