Homeschooling moms.. I need advice

[SarahBeth9394]

Quote:
Ok this is odd. They don't recognize it as a learning disability? It's not like it's new or anything. My mother was a special ed aid to kids with different learning disabilities such as dyslexia in CA for 20 years and that was late 70's to the 90's. It seems to me that them not recognizing it and not offering educational assistance is against the right to a free education. You may want to consider challenging that. There's no reasoning for one area in America to recognize it and others not to.

Now when it comes to curriculum I would urge you to consult a specialist.

 

[Drivegirl54]

Quote:
Ok this is odd. They don't recognize it as a learning disability? It's not like it's new or anything. My mother was a special ed aid to kids with different learning disabilities such as dyslexia in CA for 20 years and that was late 70's to the 90's. It seems to me that them not recognizing it and not offering educational assistance is against the right to a free education. You may want to consider challenging that. There's no reasoning for one area in America to recognize it and others not to.

Now when it comes to curriculum I would urge you to consult a specialist.

In her school system they don't accept it until the neuropsychologist does their testing (which we are doing) then the school does their own testing. Following that in an IEP and a meeting with a board to decide if it is "accepted" by them or not. I was told by the asst principal today that they don't have special ed for dyslexia and they expect them to stay in a regular classroom. This is not the only reason we have decided to home school but it doesn't help convince us otherwise.

 

[SarahBeth9394]

They offer no therapy at all for dyslexia at all even when it is recognized. That's just wrong. Therapy exists today because parents of kids with disabilities had to fight for it. Here there's no adaptive PE but then that is not academic learning. But reading and writing is. You need a coalition of parents to fight for that. If parents won the case I wonder if the therapy or learning strategies could be provided through the district if you home schooled through some sort of charter system. I understand that you want to home school and don't disagree with it at all. I just think it is wrong for the school to deny help for dyslexic students. Like I said right to a free education. Regardless, good luck finding the best way to educate your kids no matter what route you choose.

 

[Mesa]

I personally think AP and SOS are both in need of a lot revamping. They dont cover much, and are far behind the other currics out there. I bought it and promptly returned it. Are there any homeschool conferences in your area? If you go you can look at all the different curricula and find one you like. I personally like Abeka for Language, Phonics, Reading and Grammar. Singapore Math for math, Sonlight or Story of the World for History, Geography, and Notebooking. Writing with Ease for writing.... there are a few more.
Buy or borrow "The Well Trained Mind" By Susan Wise Bauer. It's very informative and it's gives curriculum suggestions.

 

[raneydayfarm]

I have a 15 year old son and 9 year old daughter who have dyslexia, I also have two other children who do not. We homeschool all four and use a mix of curriculums. We use Lifepac for Science and really like it, there are lots of experiments and activities that reinforce what they are reading which really helps. Almost 95% of our schoolwork is oral because of their dyslexia. I also recommend the Well Trained Mind, it's a great book, and we use their Eglish/Grammar programs.

 

[Drivegirl54]

Thanks guys! You've given me some good choices to look into. I did buy the well trained mind a while back before we even got my dsd. I'll dig it out and start reading it.

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
Ok this is odd. They don't recognize it as a learning disability? It's not like it's new or anything. My mother was a special ed aid to kids with different learning disabilities such as dyslexia in CA for 20 years and that was late 70's to the 90's. It seems to me that them not recognizing it and not offering educational assistance is against the right to a free education. You may want to consider challenging that. There's no reasoning for one area in America to recognize it and others not to.

Now when it comes to curriculum I would urge you to consult a specialist.

In her school system they don't accept it until the neuropsychologist does their testing (which we are doing) then the school does their own testing. Following that in an IEP and a meeting with a board to decide if it is "accepted" by them or not. I was told by the asst principal today that they don't have special ed for dyslexia and they expect them to stay in a regular classroom. This is not the only reason we have decided to home school but it doesn't help convince us otherwise.

Some schools are just bad. That's why we moved. And the new school district had cheaper taxes and spent less per kid, but they did a much better job teaching.

 

[horsejody]

It's a common misconception that dyslexics can't learn to read and read well. They can. The trick is finding a way for them to reorganize their mind to decode the words. I wish I knew all of DD's spec ed teacher's secrets. She was great with dyslexic kids. DD's college professors didn't even know she was dyslexic because of the skills she started learning at age 7. She had the opportunity to ask for extra time on her finals but declined. She wanted to know she could do it, and besides, the real world won't cut her any slack. We are very proud of her. She was never embarassed to be in special ed either. I think being in a small school district helped that. By the time she was in high school she was taking all of the advanced courses and was allowed to take college English classes. Yes, a dyslexic 16 year old took college English Literature and got an A!!!! If you have dyslexic kids, please make sure that they know they can do it too. Everything doesn't have to be oral. DD did spend a lot more time on homework than her peers, but it paid off. If you put random printed words in front of DD she may or may not be able to read them, but if you print those same words in a sentence, she can go through it at warp speed. Math can be a bit more challenging because numbers aren't in the context of a sentence. I think she may still use her pencil or fingers to block out characters around individual numbers. She always like a challenge though, so one of the majors she graduated with was economics. LOL. Dyslexics have to work harder, but they can get through it.