Today we are beginning vision therapy for Eenie (8yog).  It is somewhat if a stretch for our family to be able to afford this ($89 per session), but I believe it will be well worth it.  We began homeschooling 4 years ago, using the Abeka K4 program.  For this particular child, that is one of the worst choices I could have made! 

Why is that?  Well, she can read now, but she still struggles so much, she dreads it, and she is just now getting to the place where she will sit down and struggle through a few select books on her own, simply for her own enjoyment.  She is a firstborn, has a great heart, and we've discussed the importance of reading well, so she really does try hard.  It's not a matter of attitude.  But, it is so much harder for her than it should be--especially after four years of instruction. 

At our state homeschooling conference this year, I heard a developmental optometrist speak--Dr. Oliphant.  He and his wife are wonderful homeschooling parents who love the Lord.  When he began speaking about developmental visual problems, my husband and I were amazed.  We immediately recognized our daughter in his descriptions, and my dh recognized himself, as well.  (In fact, dh went to the optometrist and asked if he could do vision therapy.  Sadly, it is usually only effective for children.)  As the optometrist went on to explain, developmental visual problems have nothing to do with eyesight.  80% of the patients he treats have 20/20 or better vision.  The problem in developmental vision occurs with the messages the brain receives (or doesn't receive, in many cases) from the eyes.  To be able to read well, the brain has to be able to make pictures and store them--pictures of the actual words (so that they can be recognized the next time) and pictures of whatever is being read (whether it is talking about a butterfly and being able to make a mental picture of a butterfly). 

After having my daughter tested, we discovered that she had problems with focusing, eye movement, and thus, problems with spatial relationships.  In addition to struggling with reading, she is constantly running over people, has no concept of where her body is in relation to other things, and has no idea of time.  Again, she is a firstborn, has a great heart & attitude, and really trys to comply, so many of these problems have been minimized through diligent training and careful monitoring on my part.  But, they are still there, and it is all just harder--for both Eenie and myself--than it should have to be. 

Today, we will be testing for sensory integration issues (SII).  I am confident that we are going to find problems here, as well.  Many children with SII were very colicky (which she was), and skipped important developmental steps as children (for example, my daughter waited till 11 months to crawl, but then took off walking within a week or two).  Crawling actually helps develop many things in a child's vision that are important in later life.  Many of the reflexes that babies have (some of which we would never even recognize) are important to our developmental vision later in life. 

A lot of children with SII are diagnosed as ADD and ADHD.  They are finding that it isn't just a matter of discipline and training, but also therapy that can help these children function normally.  I have no doubt that if Eenie were in school, she would have a very difficult time concentrating and could possibly be a discipline issue for the teacher.  She definitely wouldn't learn well with the traditional textbook approach. 

Our developmental optometrist has also said that these problems can be hereditary, which means that since my husband has this, we need to watch out for it in our children.  My dh was diagnosed as dyslexic when he was younger, and still struggles to read today.  For example, he can't look at an entire word at once, and sometimes the letters jump around on the page.  He has the Bible on tape! 

So why was the Abeka a mistake for my dd?  First, until a child is developed visual to a certain point (usually around 6 or 7), you shouldn't even begin teaching them to read.  Instead, you get them outside and teach them to observe nature.  Teach them to really look at things and use their eyes.  Give them a lot of physical activity.  Throw a ball, etc.  Don't let them watch a lot of television.  Limit it or do away with it altogether.  (Sounds alot like Charlotte Mason education to me. . .)  But, I didn't do this with her.  Instead, I kept her indoors, plugging away at her letters and phonics sounds, bringing her to tears many times, and this was the worst thing I could have been doing for her especially because she had some very real problems. 

About a year and a half ago, I felt convicted to do something different in our school.  I didn't want to stand over my dd with a paddle for 12 years to beat her into doing school.  It was damaging our relationship to continue as we were.  So, I began researching and I discovered Charlotte Mason.  After praying about it, and discussing it with my dh, we made the switch and are now using Ambleside Online. 

After we switched, our relationship changed.  She was happier and seemed to have a better attitude towards school and towards me.  But, she still struggled with the reading thing. 

So, after hearing Dr. Oliphant speak at the conference, we discovered that her developmental vision, combined with my poor choice of approach to teaching her (textbook method), had been the problem all along.  After discussing with Dr. Oliphant what changes we should make to her education, he recommended the following: homeschool, if possible (check!), start working with her on really learning to observe things, especially outside in nature (check!), don't stress at this point about the phonics and reading until we get her developmental vision up to a certain level (check!), and use Math-U-See (check!). 

Wow!  So, the changes the Lord led me to make a year and a half ago, turned out to be exactly what she needed all along (only I didn't know it yet).  Isn't God good?  It was nice to have it confirmed by a doctor, and to realized that even when I don't know all the answers, that if I follow the Holy Spirit's leading, God will give me the direction and wisdom I need to homeschool my children. 

So, we are excited to be going today for the first real session, and I'm excited to see what changes God has in store for us as we go through vision therapy.  Pray that the Lord will bless our finances, so that we can continue to get treatment for our dear daughter.  God is so good!  God is so good!  God is so good!  He's so good to me.