Re: Kindergarten/Title I Services/ Learning to Read

September 14, 2006

, the system is one of the " orton-gillingham " type of

multisensory reading programs developed for kids with dyslexia (and remember

that lots of kids with dyslexia are thought to be the same kids who had trouble

hearing as little ones due to ear infections etc), it is research based etc.

So it is good. Very good. Parents all over the country have to fight their

districts tooth and nail to try to get them to use a program like this!! You

are so lucky that they are offering it with no fight at all. This is what is

meant by research based reading programs in the No Child Left Behind law. If

you google " Foundations Reading " then go down to about the 5th cite and

it will be a paper about this reading program. I read a book a while ago called

" The Words They Need " - it was by a TOD who went to an orton gillingham type of

seminar with a friend and realized this method would really help her deaf/hoh

students. So even if your TOD hasn't heard of it being used with HOH kids, it

has been done and successfully. I think you might be able to get the book

through AG Bell if you are interested. I saw another website where they were

using this method for blind children.

Regarding phonics. Maggie learned to read through a pure phonics approach. She

too was an AV kid. She had a hard time with the voiced and unvoiced consonant

pairs because of the way we (parents and teachers) pronounce the phonetic

sounds. When we say kuh for K and guh for G we voice them both. So they sound

the same to a child wearing hearing aids because the voicing drowns out the rest

of the sound. So if you whisper the unvoiced consonants (like k, p, t, s etc)

and voice the voiced consonants it will make sense. THough I don't know if this

makes sense written out. Ask your AVT about it, it's an acoustic highlighting

technique. Maggie went from being clueless in phonics to actually reading after

about 2 weeks of practice with these sounds. Sort of unlocked the key for her.

We used Kay's " Talk it Up " cards for the voiced and unvoiced consonants and

Maggie was supposed to be earning pennies for school (so they could learn to

count to 100) so she earned a penny for every card she got right and lost a

penny if she got it wrong. So she ended up with nearly 5 dollars in pennies,

the ability to count to 100 and the ability to read! After about a week and a

half of work on this at home, the teacher called and said " I'm not sure what

you are doing at home but 2 weeks ago Maggie wasn't getting it and now she is

reading! "

September 14, 2006

-

Thank you! This is terrific information. I will look at the

sources you suggest.

I'm starting to think that we've hit the jackpot with our district.

We haven't had to fight - or even ask - for all we've been given. I

never asked for Sam to have an aide for 45 minutes per day in

kindie. They offered based on his ability to " fake it " in preschool

and his anxiety. She's there mostly to monitor that he's really

getting things, and then reinforce them. She said he's been a joy

and very comfortable in class - even pretending to be the teacher

and telling all his classmates what to do with their worksheets when

they are done with them!

The special ed. teacher told me that once in the Title I/

program, we will get written evaluations on his progress every two

weeks as is standard in that program.

She told me Sam is doing " fine " now, but she says there is no reason

not to expect that he can do and will do more than fine - and that's

her job!

Maybe instead of worrying, I need to send a thank you card :-)

September 14, 2006

Tell us where you live - a bunch of us might want/need to move there!!

September 14, 2006

>

> Tell us where you live - a bunch of us might want/need to

move there!!

>

Ha ha! I am in the fair city of North Olmsted, Ohio. It's not much

to look at and the winters are harsh, but, apparently, the schools

rock! ;-)

September 15, 2006

In a message dated 9/14/2006 9:50:59 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

.Schreiner@... writes:

Does anyone have a Deaf/HOH student who qualified for Title 1

services? Is there any reason we should not do this?

At this point, I am not overly concerned about any " stigma " of pull-

out services. I volunteered a lot when my older son was in

kindergarten with this same teacher and so many kids are pulled out

throughout the 2.5 hours - for speech, title 1, ESL, etc - that no

one seems to notice or care.

Not officially called Title !, and I'm not sure there is even a Title 1 here

in NY -- I don't keep track. But we have reading support throughout our

elementary schools. None of the kids care. So many of them are getting extra

help, and some aren't. They are all assigned to leveled reading groups, so no

one

even notices that some of the kids are getting remedial type services. At

that point they don't even know what remedial services are.

What they know is they each have a reading group and unless someone else

makes a big deal out of one being advanced and one being " slow " the kids don't

notice. And even if the difference is pointed out, from our experience, very

few kids even care.

As you mentioned, kids are pulled for speech, reading, and other things. Our

classes had a form of PT come into the kindergraten and first grade classes

for ALL the kids. It was the " manipulatives cart. " There were a series of

exercises that every child had to compete. They used geoblock (little pegs

boards) and rubber bands to create shape, pattern blocks (colored triangles,

squares and rectangles) to create patterns and pictures, and other

manipulatives.

It was skill building on many levels and all the kids completed their own

level of the program. For some kids the exercises were more advanced and

others were more basic, depending on the kid. But no one knew the difference

because everyone got to play with the " toys. "

Anyway, back to the reading. Ian had some comprehension problems around the

time when we were identifying his hearing loss. He was in the reading-help

classes from 2-4th grade. I had a very candid talk with the reading teacher.

She new we were fighting for D/HOH services and pointed out that while she was

not a TOD, Ian would benefit from the additional reading and support. All

kids would, even if they were very good or advanced readers.

She really cared about and liked Ian. And she requested he be allowed into

her classes even though he technically wasn't doing badly enough to qualify,

because she felt she could help him in ways the Spec Ed people weren't, with

his language development. She was right and I am eternally grateful that she

made the extra effort for him.

So, I'd say, let your child participate in the program. If it turns out no

to benefit him, you can always have he removed from it. Every kid learns to

read a bit differently, so I', not sure how to suggest teaching Sam, but I do

know that lots of reading of any and all kinds is a great thing.

Repetition was the thing with my kids. The same book over and over. Once

they would start repeating the words with me (Green Eggs and Ham comes to mind)

I would start pointing to the words as I read, then I'd not say some of the

words but still point while they said them. I don't even know when my kids

began to really read. It seemed like one day they picked up a book I'd never

read

to them and there they were, reading it out loud on his/her own.

Best -- Jill

September 15, 2006

In a message dated 9/15/2006 2:58:35 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

gina_hly@... writes:

my son spent many years struggling in reading...their was a stigma attached

to that....that is over know he is getting the help he needs ...

,

When the kids get older, I think they notice and then a stigma becomes an

issue. And we talked with Ian about that when he was placed in a resource room

for study hall. We tried to help him realize that he needed the help and it

would make him more capable to do without the extra help in the future, and it

also enabled him to stay in school with his friends and not need to go to a

private or special school. He really wanted to stay in our local school!

And we had the added bonus of empathy being learned. By being placed in

certain classes (some he didn't belong in) Ian got to know a bunch of the

" special " kids and realize that they were fun and funny and nice. To Ian, a

sense of

humor is very important and those kids knew how to have fun and to laugh at

everything, including themselves. So, to him they are still just regular kids

who need some extra help. Ian learned something there we could never have

taught him.

We don't think there should be any stigma attached to getting the help a

child needs. We've argued with family members who refused to allow their kids

services because they didn't want to deal with the stigma. Which makes us

realize that the stigma is more in the minds of the adults than it is in the

minds

of the kids. .

Best -- Jill

September 15, 2006

My son's school is also a title 1 school.....he is also in a " pull-out " reading

program..

for phonics 80 minutes a day...with 3 other children...{not from his class}

he is in 5 th grade.....i will tell you it had taken2 years to recieve

this...it was a fight..

they complyed...he will be far better off for it....they are pulling them out

for all sorts of reASONS.....

that your school did this on their own is amazing .....my son spent many

years struggling in reading...their was a stigma attached to that....that is

over know he is getting the help he needs ...

i would not want it any other way ,

gina

JillcWood@... wrote: