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Minute to Minute
Readers Helping Readers |
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| Greetings! |
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Last week, we began a special month of Minute to Minute devoted to answering questions from homeschool moms with special needs children. Our first writer, Sonja, homeschools three special needs children. Her main concern was how to find math curricula for her autistic son, dysgraphic daughter, and her other daughter who suffers from complex partial seizures. She feels called to homeschool, but sometimes finding the right curriculum proves difficult.
TOS knows the difficulties homeschool moms with special needs children face. That's why TOS created the Special Learners' E-Newsletter Archive. The archive is filled with wonderful articles, letters, and resources all geared to help your special needs children.
Because many of you, like Sonja, homeschool special needs children, you were able to encourage Sonja with wonderful resources and personal accounts. Thank you for writing in. Please join us for our next issue as we learn more about autism.
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| Math U See and Sequential Spelling |
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Dear Sonja,
My daughter struggled and still does with a number of issues. While we have not had her formally tested yet, I suspect that dyslexia and possibly dysgraphia are some of her problems.
We also used Saxon at the beginning, and we struggled with it. What works for us is Math U See. For some reason she can understand a problem when she can see it worked out with the blocks. And she likes it!
For spelling, we use AVKO Sequential Spelling. Again, that is a program that has taken most of the stress out of a subject for her and made lessons much more enjoyable. It is wonderful when we can do lessons without tears (on either of our parts)!
What I am still looking for is a solution to her writing difficulties. Perhaps it is just time that we need.
I sincerely hope that you can find what you need to make learning a bit easier for your child. And look for her own gifts, encouraging her as much as you can.
Blessings From A Homeschool Mom Who Shares Your Journey,
Karen
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| JUMP |
| Dear Sonja,
I have found a most excellent math program called JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies) by John Mighton, a Canadian mathematician who has helped hundreds of struggling inner-city students learn and become confident in math. I wish I could tell every homeschooler in the world about it! My 10 year old is dyslexic, and since we ordered this program, we have finally made some progress in math around here! The books present each concept one little step at a time, then the steps are put together one at a time. It is so wonderful to find a program that doesn't overwhelm him; he actually doesn't mind doing math now!
The author suggests beginning with his Fractions Unit, which can be downloaded for FREE. Then there are Teacher's Manuals online (also FREE to download--and very helpful) to go along with the very reasonably priced student books. The Teacher's Manual to the Fractions Unit has a 12 page introduction that explains the philosophy behind the entire program, as well as the reasoning behind starting with fractions--an excellent and very motivating read!
I have recently learned that there is also a homeschool edition called JUMP At Home, with both books (part 1 and 2) for the year combined into one. I have found that some of the books can be ordered through Amazon, and all of them can be ordered by phone directly from the publisher, University of Toronto. The ordering info is on the website jumpmath.org. Hope that helps! I know it has totally transformed how ALL of my children view "math time"!
A Fellow Homeschool Mom Of A Dyslexic Child,
Kim |
| From The Experienced. . . . |
My only daughter was severely dyslexic until about the age of 14. Though I had an older son who did fine with standard curriculum, I switched to Math U See for her and the younger children. Math U See is hands-on and encourages the student to use all learning avenues. We have found that it helps our children to understand and "see" math. When learning a new concept, we watch a video lesson; then, we use our hands to build the problem. We say the problem aloud and then write it on paper. We are involving all our senses, which is key for students to understand and "see" how math works. Even children without learning disabilities benefit from using all their senses or learning avenues. ~Ladonna
I have two children. My son is 10 years old and has autism, and my daughter is 8 years old and has ADHD. I have been homeschooling for 5 years and have tried several math programs, including Singapore Math, Bob Jones Math, and Jump Start Math. My son also used Touch Math when he went to public school. None of these programs worked for my kids. About 6 months ago we started using Math U See. It is a fabulous program! My son knew none of his math facts when I began homeschooling him in January. He has learned almost all of his addition and subtraction facts 0-9 since February. My daughter has also learned her math facts quickly with this program. I would highly recommend Math-U-See to anyone,including those homeschool kids with special needs such as Autism, ADHD, and Dyslexia.
~Stephanie
I have a 9 year old son with Autistic tendencies. What has worked for us in math is a combination of methods. The first is Time Tables and Addition the Fun Way! He is drawn to the visuals and because he can remember a story better than just a boring fact, this has worked very well for us. We have supplemented this method with the Oak Meadow First Grade Curriculum. They use stories to make math more meaningful. This method helped very much with letters because there is a story for each letter. This might help with the Dyslexia. And lastly, we used Singapore Math to help us prepare for standardized testing. This year we are going to try RightStart Mathematics. They use a lot of manipulatives to make math meaningful. I like this curriculum because it seems to cover all the topics in a comprehensive curriculum; whereas, Math U See uses manipulatives and seems to just focus on addition.
~Sarah
The best math program, in my opinion of course, is Professor B's Power Learning Mathematics. I cannot recommend this program enough! It works fantastically for special needs learners and for remediating older learners, as well as those just starting out. If you spend some time on the website, I think you'll be convinced this is the math program you need! I suffered through two other math programs that didn't work for us before I found Professor B, and once we started using it, we progressed rapidly where we hadn't moved at all with the other programs. God bless you for your perseverance!
~Wendi
I have a dd who probably has Dyslexia and Dyscalculia, although she has never been tested. We have used Rightstart since grade one and have been very pleased. It uses lots of manipulatives, which I think really helps these kids. A resource I have heard much good things about in this same line is Math U See. Also, a free resource which has lots of valuable help is Living Math. It is a website designed by a homeschool mom who uses living books as part of her curriculum. There is also a yahoo group. I have found it very helpful in my homeschooling journey. ~Jennifer
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| NEW! Homeschooling Resource |
NEW 1 Year TOS Magazine Subscription + Summer '08 + 25 Gifts! Receive a one year subscription (to begin with our Fall issue), 25 great homeschooling gifts AND our Summer '08 issue of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine! You receive the Summer issue to give you something to peruse while you wait for your subscription to take effect. In this issue you'll find articles and resources on how to homeschool children with special needs as well as the Resource Room column, specially designated to special needs education! Hurry and order today!
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| Homeschooling Resource |
E-Book: Teaching Jeremiah is a complete curriculum for teaching special needs children in preschool and early elementary grades. Originally written for a child with Asperger's Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, this curriculum is broken into chapters corresponding with educational goals set in his IEP (Individual Education Plan). There is a chapter for developing fine motor skills, one for letter and number recognition skills, speech development, matching patterns, and more. If you are frustrated with searching for a curriculum of activities tailored to special needs children, then this E-Book is for you.
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Thank you for writing with advice on how Sonja can make homeschooling her special needs children easier and more attainable. Because of writers like you, homeschool moms nationwide have found encouragement. Join us next issue for another special needs question, and remember, if you have a question you would like to ask the Minute to Minute Readers, please email us. Emailing or otherwise responding to this email constitutes permission for The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC to publish, post, reprint and distribute part or all of your response in the Minute to Minute E-Newsletter, the print, digital and online versions of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, on Company websites and in other Company publications.
Sincerely,
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Elisabeth Marlowe, Minute to Minute Editor
The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine |
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TOS Items of Interest
Aug. 11, 2008
