Re:Sequential Problems

[Guest guest]

Hi Kim,

We homeschool our Apraxic child. She goes to a homeschool charter school

co-op 2 times a week with kids in K-3rd & ballet for 4-6 year olds once a

week for social time. My daughter is VERY visual, also.

The Speech Therapist we have recommended Teach Your Child to Read in 100

Easy Lessons. I had tried it with her when she 1st turned 5 and she was

totally against it. she got very upset with me and yelled, " You tricked

me. " . (haha). We began using it again last week, and she is taking off with

flying colors. I am not sure if it is the new vitamin E we bought her, the

Kaufman cards, or this. (Yeah, we started a lot of new stuff in the last 2

weeks, ha.) But, she looks forward to her reading lessons and is doing very

well.

It frustrated her in the beginning, because she was intimidated by speaking.

Now that she can successfully say 90% of her sounds, she is happy to do her

" speech work " . If you aren't familiar with this method of teaching a child

to read. it has them learn a new sound every day or so, and in between they

do a " say-it-fast " exercise, where you'll say " aaaaaaaaaaaammmmmm " and then

" am " . " motor " then " boat " then " motorboat " . My daughter loves it. :-) Our

ST said we could also use this as speech therapy & point out how our mouths

are positioned when saying the sounds. " notice that the m looks like 2 lips

saying mmmmm " . things like that. " When we say the long o sound, our mouths

make an o. " She's also been making her touch the parts of her face that make

the sounds. taps her lips for a t sound, touch under her chin/neck area for

the g. (Helps her brain know where to make the sounds.)

The school had said it would be hard for her to learn how to read. I'm not

sure, yet. She knows a few sight words. I showed her our last name about 4

times last week, and she can write it perfectly now. (6 letters). So, I

suppose, this shows she is a visual learner. Show her something a few times

and she " gets " it. She has excellent penmanship and loves to do copywork, so

we just work on the sounds/words she needs to learn.

My daughter is in Kindergarten and can count to 30 (She DOES mumble 11-12,

ahah) . I am of the thought that a lot of schools push things on kids too

young. Sight words at 4? I think it's great if your child can do it. but, I

they can't, not a big deal. I couldn't do that at 4, and my favorite thing

to do is read (and, obviously write.)

By the end of Kindergarten, they are supposed to know how to count and

recognize numbers up to 20. so, just think. you have a whole year for her to

learn 7 numbers :-) I think she can do it. :-) My daughter is having

problems distinguishing between 6 & 9, 7 & 8. eventually, she will " get it " .

We count along a number line. Since your daughter knows up to 13, write out

the numbers in a sequence. 1-10 on one line, and 11-20 on the next. Show how

you're just adding a 1 in the front that means 10. 10 and 1 is 11, 10 and 2

is 12. teen means ten. four-teen, fif (for five), six-teen, etc. She'll get

it. :-)

Also, there are schools of thought out there that say kids aren't ready to

really read until they are around 7. My older (neurotypical) daughter

learned her ABC's at 2, and knew the letters & sounds by 3.. But, it wasn't

until she hit the end of 1st grade (almost 7) that she was reading pretty

well. She just didn't " get it " before, and would get really upset about

reading lessons. She's in 3rd now and tested at 4th grade, 9th month for

reading skills last month. I keep that in mind when I feel that my other

daughter is a bit behind in some areas. :-) Sometimes, after awhile of

thinking " She just isn't going to ever understand this. " It will click. just

keep practicing :-)

As for school. my daughter was doing really well, at first. Most of the kids

accept her. But, there have been very rude comments by adults in her

presence. which, of course, makes the kids think negatively. My daughter

recently told me, " The kids at school can't hear me, mom. It makes my heart

feel like it's going to die. " When she said it, my heart just broke for her,

knowing how isolating this can be. I responded with " That is why we are

working so hard, every day, on your talking work. Pretty soon, the kids will

be able to understand you, and you'll be fine. "

She likes to play tag. any types of sports where the kids don't really have

to say much, beyond " come here " or " stop! " She is very quiet at her school.

It is now to the point where kids will flat out ignore her if they can't

understand her. (Which is why I think she thinks they can't " hear " her.) So,

we are working on functional phrases with her, like " I'll show you. " (if

they can't understand her.) " Let's play _____ "

She has gotten her confidence back in the past few days, because she spoke

to my sister on the phone & she understood everything she said to her! She

always avoids the phone, or will get mad and say " Nevermind " and hand the

phone back to me when she talks to family. After my sister understood her,

she has been talking more at ballet and school. she seems happier all

around.

Sometimes, it IS sad to have your child feel like this. but, I really think

that it can be a great motivator. I read her LOTS of stories about real

people who try hard & accomplish goals. Ben lin, The Brothers,

Louis Pasteur, The Little Engine that Could, etc. There are tons of people

who have overcome things that people told them they could never do. I always

point this out when we read these books, and remind her to keep trying. (I

usually do this when we practice her speech at home, and she is having one

of those days where she doesn't want to cooperate. She'll grab her speech

therapy items and let me know she's ready after this. :-) )

We also got her jumpstart Kindergarten Advanced. (We use it as a reward for

doing all her work.) This has a sequencing activity that is really good.

After messing with it for awhile, my daughter is the sequencing queen. :-)

There are also free sequencing print-outs online that your child can do at

home

Also, rhyming words are great early reading skill builders. They also help

your child listen carefully and articulate. :-) Dr. Suess books are great

for this. Also, when reading a story, you can take opportunities to really

emphasize the sounds she is working on. my daughter has the most trouble

with k & g sounds, so ANY time we see anything in her books with those

sounds, we point them out. a lot of times she will say them. When she says

them correctly, we have her repeat it 3 times. She has grown up like this,

so it isn't an issue. She just does it.

She also replaces k with t, and g with d. so, when she does it now, we ask

" Use your ears. Is it tootie, or cookie? " (You get the idea.) Or we'll say,

" Excuse me? " and she will repeat it the right way, most of the time. We do

this allllllllll day long (unless she's having one of those days where

everything offends her.) She has constant reminders on her speech & takes it

all in stride. I'm lucky we have an older daughter. She attends our

daughter's ST sessions, and uses the techniques at home while playing with

her :-) Such a good sister!

I know I tend to ramble. I hope some of this has helped. :-)

Aubrey