Re: excellent reading and math programs- OG

[Guest guest]

I think Orton-Gillingham was originally developed for LD or dyslexic kids, but

its described as a multisensory approach that incorporates the Big Five.  I am

pretty sure this is the program that Pete (the lawyer of slaw.com;

he was originally misdiagnosed as having MR, his dyslexia and dysgraphia were so

severe) swears by.  The idea behind multisensory is the more of your senses you

can get involved in learning, the stronger the memory will be.  I am pretty

sure it was Vanderbilt reading clinic that said they liked to have kids trace

letters in koolaid powder while saying the names of the letters (or words)

aloud, because you get EVERY sense including even smell and taste involved

then.  Its a fun way to learn, anyway!  (Speaking of koolaid and totally off

the subject, for people who want to make their own playdough, koolaid is a great

way to color it, because it makes it smell good, too.  My daughter made a very

popular school project that way.)

 

excellent reading and math programs

Hi there. Some of you may remember that I posted something before, asking about

any good reading or math programs. We have a fabulous high school inclusion

teacher, who is God's reward to me for not killing anyone in middle school, and

she has come up with a great math computer program, and we also finally took my

SIL the ed expert's advice on a reading program, which was the best thing we've

ever done for reading. So I wanted to share them with you, in case they can help

someone else.

Re: math, ever since elementary school, I have been pushing the school to teach

his math tables, with poor results. For the most part, the took the

position that he could use a calculator and so why did he need to memorize math

tables? (to which I of course replied by asking them the same question about

their own children), and when I insisted, they put little effort into it, with

the result that the highest he ever got was mastering 0'1, 1's and 2's and

working on the 3's tables, and that was when I was working with him myself over

the summer one year in elementary school; when he got back to school and it

became their responsibility, he backslid to the point he didn't even have his

2's memorized. It was the source of much frustration. So anyway, his high school

teacher found this computer program called FASTT Math. In one school year, he

memorized addition tables 0-9, and polished off 10-12 over the summer. It takes

a baseline, uses repetition and games, and measures the time it takes him to

answer so it knows whether he's answering from memory or just counting on his

fingers (I think TouchMath is much more complicated than simply using fingers,

so we just used fingers up until then), it categorizes into study facts and

focus facts, so that they are working on a specific set of numbers at a time,

although it still throws in other problems occasionally so they don't forget

what they've already learned. I can't say enough good things about it. They

don't use it at school (although school purchased it : )- it is part of what we

do nightly for homework, but it only takes a few minutes and likes it

because the second half of it is always a game of his choosing. It also has

subtraction, multiplication and division. He does it by himself, without any

need of my assistance.

Re: reading, the computer program we use is also a supplement that we use

strictly for homework (also school-purchased), as they work on another program

during the school day. The program we use at home is Read Naturally, which is

not specific to kids with disabilities, but because it starts at whatever level

your child is on, from kindergarten (level 0) on up, it will be work appropriate

for your child. started out at upper first grade at the beginning of last

school year, and by the end of the school year- both according to the Read

Naturally testing, and standardized testing- he was reading at the upper third

grade level- 2 years of progress in a year! He is now working on the lower fifth

grade level. Read Naturally works not only on speed, but also comprehension and

fluency, as it has a quiz and short retell at the end of the short stories, and

has a read-along section. The stories are high interest- things like PT Barnum

and Bigfoot and giant squid, as well as historical figures like Lincoln and

Amelia Earhart and Billie King. He does it for the most part by himself,

although on the 1 minute timed sections, I move the cursor for him (just because

otherwise, it slows him down, and cursor-moving is not a reading skill). I used

to sit with him during the quiz part and help prompt him, but I decided that

made him rely too much on me, so usually I walk away while he does that, and

only assist if he seems to be getting stuck on something, by pointing out a

section for him to re-read.

During the day, they use a program based on the Vanderbilt PALS (Peer Assisted

Learning System) reading program (you can find info on it at the Vanderbilt

site, or just google it). The Vanderbilt program is very cheap to purchase. It

is not a computer program but rather print materials, and it covers the Big Five

for reading- I can't remember what all the 5 are, but I know it includes sight

words, phonetics (recent testing has disproved the long-held theory that kids

with DS can't learn phonetically- just don't try using a rigid rule-based system

like to teach it), fluency, comprehension, and ??? something else that

has to do with sounds. The teacher or aide, rather than a peer, does it with

him, although it COULD be implemented by a peer with training.

Anyway, I hope this helps some other folks!

Amy Petulla