First the test mentioned that ADHD is often co-morbid with Dyslexia and we might want to look at that. She showed us an ADHD 'symptom' list and he has about half the items on the list, and not just the messy room type which I really think is fairly age typical. I've thought about it for awhile but I'm not sure it is something I need to worry about. I mean other than when I'm PMSing and the boy can.not. shut up. At that point I'm ready to try any drug, anything that will get him to shut up and just be for a bit. Then I think about how addictive stimulants are and what a crazy hard thing it is to get this boy to take medication. I really don't know that I have a reason to get him tested/diagnosed or medicated. He is learning (if we ignore the reading thing and he is getting better just very, very slowly) and able to show what he knows. So I have some thinking to do, some more thinking to do.
The other thing is the boy keeps mentioning how he wants a sibling. How happy he would be if I were to get pregnant. This is such a hard thing for me. I wish on so many levels that I could have given him a sibling. I never imagined having an only child, that was not part of my 'plan', I wanted more than one child for selfish reasons, I wanted him to have a sibling because I know how important my siblings are in my life. I had hoped to have a daughter to share girly things. The thing is it did not happen, we lost the only other pregnancy I had very early and have never gotten pregnant again. I'm actually ok with having an only child at this point, it has taken me years to get here but I'm comfortable here. It no longer makes me cry every month when I'm yet again not pregnant. I think this time of year is harder since this is when I lost my pregnancy 6 years ago, but I'm doing really well now. My family is good we are able to do fun things as a family of 3 that we would not have been able to do if we were a family of 4 or 5. The boy and I are going to try some blacksmithing today that if I had younger kiddos around I'm not sure I'd feel safe doing (yes I will try to blog the blacksmith experiment). Life is good.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
The weekend, the week, the tests to come...
Shall we start with the homeschool/dyslexia bit and then move on to other things? Or should I start with our newest family member and then move on to other things?
New family member it is, it works chronologically better anyway. ;) So when we lost Sweetie DH & talked about getting a dog for the boy next. He was very broken up that his pets had all died so early, his toad died early, his triops died early (what you don't know what a triops is or if you do know question it being considered a pet well first for those of you who don't know what a triops is here is a picture...
Now for those of you who would not consider this a pet, well let me introduce you to my boy, the one who loves all his stuffies, all animals and feels they are all his friends, until his is close and they are larger than he is) his hamster died early. He was feeling like he had bad luck with pets. We wanted to get something that was longer lived that meant bigger. He is also old enough and active enough that a dog is a really good idea for him, they could run off a lot of energy together. So we then found a doggie on Petfinder and well...
There she is, she is a little brown doggie. I've decided from now on when anyone asks me what kind of dog she is I will say "Brown" Her name is Honey and while she is a bit nervous meeting new people for the first time she did really well on Sunday at Easter dinner we had 13 people and 7 dogs. We are so happy with her. Last night she and the Boy were both falling asleep on the couch.
They love each other but somehow I've become her person in the house. Sigh, I don't know how that happened, I keep telling everyone that I'm a cat person not a dog person but she does not seem to care.
Now to the dyslexia testing front, we met with the tester on Friday, just DH & I. She wanted to see if it sounded like there might be another diagnosis that would mean we should to see a neuro psych rather than someone who is only qualified to test for dyslexia. She is an elementary teacher who works with the Barton System to teach dyslexics to read. I nearly told her to leave at one point in the conversation but she quickly redeemed herself at least partly. One of the assessments I sent her was his WPPSI-III results showing he was being considered for the G/T school and her first thought was a kid who is being considered for GT can't be dyslexic. So not true and I feel like every time I see those results they are SCREAMING at me that there was evidence of a problem 3.5 years ago and I've been letting is slide. Anyway, she then said as she was looking at the results she saw how much lower his processing speed score was than the verbal and performance scores and that dyslexia is a processing disorder. So we are testing in mid May and will have the report by the second week in June. It will give me time over the summer to read and digest it, figure out what I need to do for next year and get the things I will need.
On Saturday we went to the Save the Children in Japan Concert and Benefit. I helped with one of the booths and brought some of my knitting, most of it sold if I had not had crazy, crazy, crazy weeks I would have had more little chicks to sell. Sigh. It was fun and DH & Honey wondered around the campus and the open space behind it. The boy helped me at the booth. It was fun, there was great food and a good band. We made 1,485 cranes to take to Osh Gosh, for each crane made Osh Gosh is sending a piece of children's clothing to Japan. They also raised over $5,000 to send to Save the Children. Not bad for 2.5 hours.
New family member it is, it works chronologically better anyway. ;) So when we lost Sweetie DH & talked about getting a dog for the boy next. He was very broken up that his pets had all died so early, his toad died early, his triops died early (what you don't know what a triops is or if you do know question it being considered a pet well first for those of you who don't know what a triops is here is a picture...
They love each other but somehow I've become her person in the house. Sigh, I don't know how that happened, I keep telling everyone that I'm a cat person not a dog person but she does not seem to care.
Now to the dyslexia testing front, we met with the tester on Friday, just DH & I. She wanted to see if it sounded like there might be another diagnosis that would mean we should to see a neuro psych rather than someone who is only qualified to test for dyslexia. She is an elementary teacher who works with the Barton System to teach dyslexics to read. I nearly told her to leave at one point in the conversation but she quickly redeemed herself at least partly. One of the assessments I sent her was his WPPSI-III results showing he was being considered for the G/T school and her first thought was a kid who is being considered for GT can't be dyslexic. So not true and I feel like every time I see those results they are SCREAMING at me that there was evidence of a problem 3.5 years ago and I've been letting is slide. Anyway, she then said as she was looking at the results she saw how much lower his processing speed score was than the verbal and performance scores and that dyslexia is a processing disorder. So we are testing in mid May and will have the report by the second week in June. It will give me time over the summer to read and digest it, figure out what I need to do for next year and get the things I will need.
On Saturday we went to the Save the Children in Japan Concert and Benefit. I helped with one of the booths and brought some of my knitting, most of it sold if I had not had crazy, crazy, crazy weeks I would have had more little chicks to sell. Sigh. It was fun and DH & Honey wondered around the campus and the open space behind it. The boy helped me at the booth. It was fun, there was great food and a good band. We made 1,485 cranes to take to Osh Gosh, for each crane made Osh Gosh is sending a piece of children's clothing to Japan. They also raised over $5,000 to send to Save the Children. Not bad for 2.5 hours.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Learning, not knitting.
I'm slow, I have to learn something many, many times before it sinks in. And sometimes more than that. Let me give an example.
When we first started homeschooling I knew my boy thinks better when he moves. I bought him a bouncy ball to sit on while we worked. He loved it. When we started with COVA it didn't seem to fit the way we were working so it got put to the side. He is now really to big for it. I have slowly moved to more sitting still and learning style, it is how I learn and haven't been able to figure out, or tried to figure out really, how to incorporate movement into the boy's learning. We have fought more and more with each passing month.
Friday the Boy announced that he was going to do school while walking on the treadmill. Ok I thought, we would likely have a fight when it came to the spelling test but we'll work on everything else while he walks.
I ended up giving him the spelling test orally and he did great. It was much faster than when he has to write it down.
I'm thinking I need to get him a typing/keyboarding program. That or check out something like Dragon Naturally Speaking for him. The problem with the voice recognition programs is I've heard they are not good at recognizing young voices. We'll see.
So yet again I have forgotten something I knew worked in the past, the boy's brain is connected to his feet/legs, and find life is much easier when I don't ignore that. Sigh.
Anyone have ideas about teaching a kid that needs to move to think? It really does seem to short circuit his brain to have to be still.
When we first started homeschooling I knew my boy thinks better when he moves. I bought him a bouncy ball to sit on while we worked. He loved it. When we started with COVA it didn't seem to fit the way we were working so it got put to the side. He is now really to big for it. I have slowly moved to more sitting still and learning style, it is how I learn and haven't been able to figure out, or tried to figure out really, how to incorporate movement into the boy's learning. We have fought more and more with each passing month.
Friday the Boy announced that he was going to do school while walking on the treadmill. Ok I thought, we would likely have a fight when it came to the spelling test but we'll work on everything else while he walks.
I ended up giving him the spelling test orally and he did great. It was much faster than when he has to write it down.
I'm thinking I need to get him a typing/keyboarding program. That or check out something like Dragon Naturally Speaking for him. The problem with the voice recognition programs is I've heard they are not good at recognizing young voices. We'll see.
So yet again I have forgotten something I knew worked in the past, the boy's brain is connected to his feet/legs, and find life is much easier when I don't ignore that. Sigh.
Anyone have ideas about teaching a kid that needs to move to think? It really does seem to short circuit his brain to have to be still.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
I'm back, or what the heck have I been doing?
Where I've been is digesting the wonderful information you all shared with me. Thank you. This has been crazy and scary and we aren't even that far into it.
We are going to have him tested, with a qualifier thrown in. We are meeting with the tester first and if what we tell her and show her with his work doesn't make her feel 85% certain that he is dyslexic then she won't test. That is fine with me. I have no desire to put him through testing if it isn't going to give us good info. Plus then really the money can be spent on more expensive testing. That will give us info on what else it could be.
We are looking at some different programs to use with him. I purchased one today through the Homeschool Buyers Co-op called Reading Assistant. (The link will take you to the page describing it.) I'm hoping it will help him increase his fluency. I will continue to use the Phonics Pathways for now. It seems to help a bit and he is getting better at reading. I'm feeling better that we are doing something positive.
Of course now that I've admitted that it might be dyslexia I'm seeing everything as that. Isn't that the way it always is? He has this habit of repeating the first part of his sentences before getting to the main idea. An example from today he was talking to his Aunty and said "He wanted to... he wanted to.... he wanted to try something more positive." Then continued the conversation. This is something he always does. Come to find out this behavior is called Cluttering as opposed to stuttering. When reading the list of symptoms I never bothered to look and see what that meant since he doesn't stutter, or do what I think of as stuttering so I figured he didn't do whatever was associated with it. Heh.
So DH & I have a meeting with the tester in a couple of weeks, she will go over all the test results we have, look at some of his writing samples, and talk to us about our history.
On another front my brother-in-law and sister-in-law are putting on a charity event with the proceeds going to Save the Children specifically for children in Japan effected by the earthquake and tsunami from March 11, 2011. If you live in the Denver metro area please consider coming out and listen to bands, buy some books for your kids or maybe some of my stuffed animals. I'm working on some chicks and maybe some bunnies to sell. They will look like these,
kind of, in the way that they are based on the same pattern but, well they are handmade and so each is an individual. ;) So the Deets on the event...
Front Range Community College
3645 West 112th Avenue
Westminster, CO 80031
from 2:30PM to 5:00PM
We are going to have him tested, with a qualifier thrown in. We are meeting with the tester first and if what we tell her and show her with his work doesn't make her feel 85% certain that he is dyslexic then she won't test. That is fine with me. I have no desire to put him through testing if it isn't going to give us good info. Plus then really the money can be spent on more expensive testing. That will give us info on what else it could be.
We are looking at some different programs to use with him. I purchased one today through the Homeschool Buyers Co-op called Reading Assistant. (The link will take you to the page describing it.) I'm hoping it will help him increase his fluency. I will continue to use the Phonics Pathways for now. It seems to help a bit and he is getting better at reading. I'm feeling better that we are doing something positive.
Of course now that I've admitted that it might be dyslexia I'm seeing everything as that. Isn't that the way it always is? He has this habit of repeating the first part of his sentences before getting to the main idea. An example from today he was talking to his Aunty and said "He wanted to... he wanted to.... he wanted to try something more positive." Then continued the conversation. This is something he always does. Come to find out this behavior is called Cluttering as opposed to stuttering. When reading the list of symptoms I never bothered to look and see what that meant since he doesn't stutter, or do what I think of as stuttering so I figured he didn't do whatever was associated with it. Heh.
So DH & I have a meeting with the tester in a couple of weeks, she will go over all the test results we have, look at some of his writing samples, and talk to us about our history.
On another front my brother-in-law and sister-in-law are putting on a charity event with the proceeds going to Save the Children specifically for children in Japan effected by the earthquake and tsunami from March 11, 2011. If you live in the Denver metro area please consider coming out and listen to bands, buy some books for your kids or maybe some of my stuffed animals. I'm working on some chicks and maybe some bunnies to sell. They will look like these,
Front Range Community College
3645 West 112th Avenue
Westminster, CO 80031
from 2:30PM to 5:00PM
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Requesting opinions
So I know that requesting opinions can be dangerous, we may not agree on how I'm dealing with this thing in my life, we may not agree that what I'm thinking is a problem is a problem. That said, I sent an email out to a list serve I'm on and I realized I have a fountain of information in my friends that I use to dip into all the time when my boy was a baby and don't go to as much as he has gotten older. So with that in mind here is the email I sent out this morning and if you have some thoughts or ideas on it (or if you just want to say hi and let me know you are reading) please do.
With Love,
Ami
Hi Everyone,
I'm mostly a lurker, we have been at home for 2 years with DS 8 and the little worry at the back of my mind has become a screaming 1,000 lb gorilla at the front of my mind regarding his reading difficulties.
I've decided to try the Barton Reading and Spelling system to help him and we are now trying to decide if getting him tested and an official diagnosis of dyslexia. When I look at the symptoms listed of dyslexia he has 90% of them and all of the spelling. He does not seem to be dysgraphic, but is very reluctant to write unless I first write the script for him and he has a letter guide in front of him to form the letters. Let me give you some of our thoughts on the reasons to and not to test and let me know if there is something we are missing, another road that may help.
Reasons to test:
He could get accommodations on the Standardized tests we have to give him every other year starting next year for our State (CO)
Same for if/when he wants to take the ACT/SAT for college acceptance.
If we put him back in school we will have a starting point to talk about what he needs without so many hoops to jump through.
It will give me information on his strengths and weaknesses that I might be able to use to help him learn
Reasons not to test:
I can just start using the Barton system without having any info and it sounds like it will work.
We don't know that we will send him back to public school so why would he need to face this now.
College is a long way off (I keep telling myself that let's ignore the fact that I still think of him as 5)
He may not want to go to college and have no need to take the ACT/SAT (yes that rips my heart to write but it could be true)
Reasons I'm afraid to wait to test:
What happens if we decide to just work with what we have and down the road we feel like he will need the official dx to help with something and when we test at that point he doesn't show as severe and so can get no accommodations on things like the ACT/SAT.
So that is most of it, I'm sure there is more rattling around my head but after 2 cups of coffee this is what I can think of.
With Love,
Ami
Hi Everyone,
I'm mostly a lurker, we have been at home for 2 years with DS 8 and the little worry at the back of my mind has become a screaming 1,000 lb gorilla at the front of my mind regarding his reading difficulties.
I've decided to try the Barton Reading and Spelling system to help him and we are now trying to decide if getting him tested and an official diagnosis of dyslexia. When I look at the symptoms listed of dyslexia he has 90% of them and all of the spelling. He does not seem to be dysgraphic, but is very reluctant to write unless I first write the script for him and he has a letter guide in front of him to form the letters. Let me give you some of our thoughts on the reasons to and not to test and let me know if there is something we are missing, another road that may help.
Reasons to test:
He could get accommodations on the Standardized tests we have to give him every other year starting next year for our State (CO)
Same for if/when he wants to take the ACT/SAT for college acceptance.
If we put him back in school we will have a starting point to talk about what he needs without so many hoops to jump through.
It will give me information on his strengths and weaknesses that I might be able to use to help him learn
Reasons not to test:
I can just start using the Barton system without having any info and it sounds like it will work.
We don't know that we will send him back to public school so why would he need to face this now.
College is a long way off (I keep telling myself that let's ignore the fact that I still think of him as 5)
He may not want to go to college and have no need to take the ACT/SAT (yes that rips my heart to write but it could be true)
Reasons I'm afraid to wait to test:
What happens if we decide to just work with what we have and down the road we feel like he will need the official dx to help with something and when we test at that point he doesn't show as severe and so can get no accommodations on things like the ACT/SAT.
So that is most of it, I'm sure there is more rattling around my head but after 2 cups of coffee this is what I can think of.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The worry, the stress, the Guilt!
I have now spoken to 3 of the 4 Certified Dyslexia Testing Specialists from the list I received from Susan Barton.
The first was a lovely, understanding, woman. In other words she did not call me an idiot who just hadn't read to her child enough and didn't know how to teach. (I have no issues with self doubt, no really, well maybe a little)
She asked me a series of questions about the boy, we talked about where his IQ test put him, where he is in math and where he is in reading. Huge disparity. She asked about gross motor skills, she asked if he was on the spectrum, can he tie his shoes, does he know our address. Gross motor skills great, not on spectrum as far as we know, he can tie his shoes (it took awhile but he is great at it now), he does not know our address, but knows my mobile number.
The second tester called, she asked many fewer questions, wanted to know why I was worried about it, luckily the conversation with the first tester really pulled my thoughts on it together so I was able to, fairly, clearly explain what I was seeing in the Boy. She kind of explained the difference between an IEP and a 504 and that we would likely get a 504 for accommodations rather than a full IEP. She then spent a good bit of time telling me which charter schools in my area are the most receptive to and responsive to the needs of dyslexic kids. COVA being one, they have the Barton System that they will loan out to parents to use. The other being one of the charters in our district, but I have a complicated relationship with all of them (in my head). It really felt like she was pushing for us to put him back in public school. Her report was priced as a report only to parents for 1 price and if we wanted a report for the schools for another $100. The thing is even if we don't put him back in school I am going to need something worded that we can use to get accommodations for standardized tests. All that to say I did not leave talking to her with warm fuzzies and I'm pretty sure we won't be using her.
Third tester called a bit later and left a message, was able to get back with her quickly. She was also lovely. She let me know when she does the intake interview some of the things she will check on are things from early childhood and birth to make sure there was nothing that might interfere with a clean dyslexia dx. She talked to me about the benefits of testing now and not testing now. She feels that using the Barton System we could help the Boy right now and he is at a good age to start it, we don't need the testing to start that. What the testing will give us is the ability to get him accommodations on any standardized testing and as a CO homeschooler, that is something we will have to do every other year starting next year. Plus when/if he takes the ACT/SAT for college he will get accommodations on that as well. If we wait to test him until after we get him tutored the results may not show the severity and we may not be able to get the accommodations he really will still need.
I'm kicking myself, I was wondering about this when we started COVA a year and a half ago. I had the conversation with the teacher then. I feel like I didn't advocate enough at that point. He is crazy smart and it gets hidden in this fight with the written word. he is so curious about different things but he can't get it for himself right now he has to use me and I'm ending up being a gatekeeper to his knowledge. I slow him down I can't read to him everything he wants to learn, he can't stand one of the most prominent astrophysicists out there making videos so most of the video lectures I find he won't watch. Ugh.
I look at the reading symptoms and he has every single one of them, same with the spelling. I had not gone back to the list for a year and a half because I thought maybe he wasn't ready yet, maybe he was being 'stubborn' maybe I was giving him too much leeway.
All that be as it may, we're doing something now. I will figure out how to get him tested, I will get to work learning the Barton System. I will see if I can become a Barton Tutor and maybe make up the cost of the system. We'll see, there are answers, there will be help, he will be able to open the world up to his very curious mind with books soon.
The first was a lovely, understanding, woman. In other words she did not call me an idiot who just hadn't read to her child enough and didn't know how to teach. (I have no issues with self doubt, no really, well maybe a little)
She asked me a series of questions about the boy, we talked about where his IQ test put him, where he is in math and where he is in reading. Huge disparity. She asked about gross motor skills, she asked if he was on the spectrum, can he tie his shoes, does he know our address. Gross motor skills great, not on spectrum as far as we know, he can tie his shoes (it took awhile but he is great at it now), he does not know our address, but knows my mobile number.
The second tester called, she asked many fewer questions, wanted to know why I was worried about it, luckily the conversation with the first tester really pulled my thoughts on it together so I was able to, fairly, clearly explain what I was seeing in the Boy. She kind of explained the difference between an IEP and a 504 and that we would likely get a 504 for accommodations rather than a full IEP. She then spent a good bit of time telling me which charter schools in my area are the most receptive to and responsive to the needs of dyslexic kids. COVA being one, they have the Barton System that they will loan out to parents to use. The other being one of the charters in our district, but I have a complicated relationship with all of them (in my head). It really felt like she was pushing for us to put him back in public school. Her report was priced as a report only to parents for 1 price and if we wanted a report for the schools for another $100. The thing is even if we don't put him back in school I am going to need something worded that we can use to get accommodations for standardized tests. All that to say I did not leave talking to her with warm fuzzies and I'm pretty sure we won't be using her.
Third tester called a bit later and left a message, was able to get back with her quickly. She was also lovely. She let me know when she does the intake interview some of the things she will check on are things from early childhood and birth to make sure there was nothing that might interfere with a clean dyslexia dx. She talked to me about the benefits of testing now and not testing now. She feels that using the Barton System we could help the Boy right now and he is at a good age to start it, we don't need the testing to start that. What the testing will give us is the ability to get him accommodations on any standardized testing and as a CO homeschooler, that is something we will have to do every other year starting next year. Plus when/if he takes the ACT/SAT for college he will get accommodations on that as well. If we wait to test him until after we get him tutored the results may not show the severity and we may not be able to get the accommodations he really will still need.
I'm kicking myself, I was wondering about this when we started COVA a year and a half ago. I had the conversation with the teacher then. I feel like I didn't advocate enough at that point. He is crazy smart and it gets hidden in this fight with the written word. he is so curious about different things but he can't get it for himself right now he has to use me and I'm ending up being a gatekeeper to his knowledge. I slow him down I can't read to him everything he wants to learn, he can't stand one of the most prominent astrophysicists out there making videos so most of the video lectures I find he won't watch. Ugh.
I look at the reading symptoms and he has every single one of them, same with the spelling. I had not gone back to the list for a year and a half because I thought maybe he wasn't ready yet, maybe he was being 'stubborn' maybe I was giving him too much leeway.
All that be as it may, we're doing something now. I will figure out how to get him tested, I will get to work learning the Barton System. I will see if I can become a Barton Tutor and maybe make up the cost of the system. We'll see, there are answers, there will be help, he will be able to open the world up to his very curious mind with books soon.
Monday, February 28, 2011
How did the month of creativity go?
Well let's see, I seemed to run out of steam about half way through the month. As it is though I'm pleased with what I did get done. I feel like I proved to myself that I can make things from my brain become real and concrete.
I also got off my duff and actually finished 2 projects I had let slip by me, and actually took steps to figuring out what is really happening with my son.
I got back to working on the books for a business I'm trying to help/work for. (Which reminds me I have more to work on this afternoon) It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but it did take some concentrated time. Which is hard to come by. The Boy and I made a deal and I would work for 1 hour then play with him for one hour, and so on. It worked ok. I used my ear buds and listened to music so I wouldn't have to listen to the TV while I was working.
The Blue & Gold Banquet went off beautifully and we have a date for summer camp reserved. Life is good.
I purchased an assessment test from Homeschool Buyer's Group and gave it to the Boy. It gave me the info I was looking for. I gave him the reading portion first which caused complete melt down and then he really melted down for the math portion. The thing is even with the math melt down he was able to do really well on the math, much higher than 2nd grade, and the reading showed him well below 2nd grade level. It is frustrating and I just need to find the help with this.
One of our 'beliefs' coming into homeschooling him for Elementary school is that there is nothing in the Elementary curriculum that either DH or I could not teach him. The thing is that was based on the idea that reading would come easily to him. That he would learn to read and nothing would cause a problem with that. The thing is he doesn't and can't. He aced the grammar portion, he understands the rules of grammar, he understands that different words in our language came from other languages, and can explain which they came from. He recognizes the patterns that indicate a word comes from Greek or Germanic, but has a problem sounding out the words pen and pin, big and dig, and din and den. I need to document where I am seeing consistent problems to relate to the tester.
Ugh, so much to think about. I've called 4 different testers and left messages for each of them. We'll see if anyone calls me back.
By the way, have I mentioned a really cool book I found and we loved reading/listening to?
Ox, House, Stick The History of Our Alphabet, it is really interesting to learn where our alphabet came from and how/when they changed from sounds that mean something to symbols for sound alone. If you or you have someone at home interested in how our language became what it is this is interesting easy to understand book.
I also got off my duff and actually finished 2 projects I had let slip by me, and actually took steps to figuring out what is really happening with my son.
I got back to working on the books for a business I'm trying to help/work for. (Which reminds me I have more to work on this afternoon) It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but it did take some concentrated time. Which is hard to come by. The Boy and I made a deal and I would work for 1 hour then play with him for one hour, and so on. It worked ok. I used my ear buds and listened to music so I wouldn't have to listen to the TV while I was working.
The Blue & Gold Banquet went off beautifully and we have a date for summer camp reserved. Life is good.
I purchased an assessment test from Homeschool Buyer's Group and gave it to the Boy. It gave me the info I was looking for. I gave him the reading portion first which caused complete melt down and then he really melted down for the math portion. The thing is even with the math melt down he was able to do really well on the math, much higher than 2nd grade, and the reading showed him well below 2nd grade level. It is frustrating and I just need to find the help with this.
One of our 'beliefs' coming into homeschooling him for Elementary school is that there is nothing in the Elementary curriculum that either DH or I could not teach him. The thing is that was based on the idea that reading would come easily to him. That he would learn to read and nothing would cause a problem with that. The thing is he doesn't and can't. He aced the grammar portion, he understands the rules of grammar, he understands that different words in our language came from other languages, and can explain which they came from. He recognizes the patterns that indicate a word comes from Greek or Germanic, but has a problem sounding out the words pen and pin, big and dig, and din and den. I need to document where I am seeing consistent problems to relate to the tester.
Ugh, so much to think about. I've called 4 different testers and left messages for each of them. We'll see if anyone calls me back.
By the way, have I mentioned a really cool book I found and we loved reading/listening to?
Ox, House, Stick The History of Our Alphabet, it is really interesting to learn where our alphabet came from and how/when they changed from sounds that mean something to symbols for sound alone. If you or you have someone at home interested in how our language became what it is this is interesting easy to understand book.
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