Guest guest Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Our school uses the alphasmart, and there is an aide that is his scribe as needed. I know how much of a fight it is to get the school to understand. Good luck! Nolen From: Kristal <kkoehler47@...> Subject: School Questions " SMA Friends " < > Date: Thursday, November 4, 2010, 10:29 AM Â I know I have asked other families this over the years but Brett will be entering middle school next year and we are worried about the homework. Currently, he can spend 30 minutes to several hours on homework, and it usually isn't that much. I am getting ready to call for an IEP to have things in place for next year but am looking to see what tools have made anyone else successful in school. I know he needs the worksheet scanning software where they scan the worksheets and then enter text boxes for his responses. I have been told he will have his own laptop but am worried about the access. No solution works great for us, sometimes he does great just typing but other times he gets too tired, sometimes he does great with the click-n-type software but again other times he is too tired. We bought Dragon 10 last year but we have not been successful with it catching his voice, any suggestions on a good headset that might make it better? I guess I am looking for any type of things that have worked for anyone. Thank you!! Kristal- Mom to Brett- SMA II- 10 years old Visit Brett @ www.our-sma-angels.com/brett OR www.caringbridge.org/visit/brettwilson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 I have a quick question. Brett is only in 6th grade and I am already overwhelmed with my.....I mean his homework, It feels like my homework though. Just some things that I know can be tweaked or maybe not...but wondering how you guys did it when you were in school. Or some parents of the older kids could answer for me too. I just can't imagine how high school is going to be. And maybe I just haven't thought of really simple things that will help us. - Reading/ doing a worksheet- He can't manage reading the book and alternating with filling out a worksheet at the same time. So I have to constantly move the book, give him his worksheet, give him back the book, etc. As well as take his marker while he is reading, give it back when he needs it, etc. - Holding a big book to read, we currently prop it up but he can't always turn the pages. We have a book holder on order and the school is supposed to be getting all the books on his laptop. Which will help tremendously, but I can still envision having the same issue with reading on the laptop vs. worksheets vs. marker- Do your kiddos do their worksheets on their laptops and just toggle back and forth between applications? - Microscopes in Science Class- How did they use them? - I know there is more but I am drawing a blank. Our school has been awesome helping us and working with requests. They have cut down assignments, like if he is assigned 30 questions in Math, he only has to do 15, etc. He has his own laptop at school, they just ordered Dragon to help him with his English papers. He currently uses a click-n-type program. His aide takes all his notes, except for in Math. Brett does better in assignments if he took the notes himself. They do have a book holder on order too. They ordered him 2 accessible desks for his core classes and he has 2 portable, rolling black trays for the other classes. He has one of each on each floor. Basically I just want him to be as independent as he possibly can and try to prepare him for the workload in high school, etc. Any advice or suggestions would be great. Thanks! Kristal- Mom to Brett- SMA II- 12 years old Visit Brett @ www.our-sma-angels.com/brett OR www.caringbridge.org/visit/brettwilson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Hi Kristal, I know exactly what you mean. Sixth grade was pretty much the same time that I kind of reached my limits in terms of traditional gradeschool (busy work) homework. Fortunately, thanks to how much technology has improved in just the years since I was in that spot, I think you & Brett have plenty of options. My high school years were about the point when the e-book revolution was just starting to take off, and it was a lifesaver for me. Admittedly, by that time, I wasn't doing " worksheets " anymore (oh how I not-so-fondly remember those days), but my situation was basically the same. I'd just have my book open in one window, and my word processor in the other, and I could effortlessly jump back and forth between the two. Now, microscopes are a bit trickier. What you'll need to do is get the school to pick up a USB microscope camera. Now, I'm not talking about one of those all-in-one devices that have a camera that claims to be able to zoom in insane amounts. These are dedicated cameras that you attach to the eyepiece of an existing microscope, which then display the image on your laptop's screen. The one I have used in the past is from http://www.paxcam.com/, but I'm sure there are other good ones out there. The cool thing about these is that you can usually get science teachers to help advocate for getting one, because they're also really useful teaching tools. The teacher can use them during lecture times to demonstrate microscopy in a way that the whole class can see. Hope that helps! - > > I have a quick question. Brett is only in 6th grade and I am already overwhelmed with my.....I mean his homework, It feels like my homework though. Just some things that I know can be tweaked or maybe not...but wondering how you guys did it when you were in school. Or some parents of the older kids could answer for me too. I just can't imagine how high school is going to be. And maybe I just haven't thought of really simple things that will help us. > > - Reading/ doing a worksheet- He can't manage reading the book and alternating with filling out a worksheet at the same time. So I have to constantly move the book, give him his worksheet, give him back the book, etc. As well as take his marker while he is reading, give it back when he needs it, etc. > > - Holding a big book to read, we currently prop it up but he can't always turn the pages. We have a book holder on order and the school is supposed to be getting all the books on his laptop. Which will help tremendously, but I can still envision having the same issue with reading on the laptop vs. worksheets vs. marker- Do your kiddos do their worksheets on their laptops and just toggle back and forth between applications? > > - Microscopes in Science Class- How did they use them? > > - I know there is more but I am drawing a blank. Our school has been awesome helping us and working with requests. They have cut down assignments, like if he is assigned 30 questions in Math, he only has to do 15, etc. He has his own laptop at school, they just ordered Dragon to help him with his English papers. He currently uses a click-n-type program. His aide takes all his notes, except for in Math. Brett does better in assignments if he took the notes himself. They do have a book holder on order too. They ordered him 2 accessible desks for his core classes and he has 2 portable, rolling black trays for the other classes. He has one of each on each floor. > > Basically I just want him to be as independent as he possibly can and try to prepare him for the workload in high school, etc. Any advice or suggestions would be great. Thanks! > > Kristal- Mom to Brett- SMA II- 12 years old > Visit Brett @ www.our-sma-angels.com/brett > OR www.caringbridge.org/visit/brettwilson > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Also, something I just thought of (even though you didn't specifically mention much about math accommodations): Rather than waiting until it becomes a serious issue, I would suggest preemptively requesting that the school get him MathTalk as well. It is an add-on for Dragon NaturallySpeaking that allows you to operate the program Scientific Notebook (which comes bundled with it) entirely by voice. You can check it out here: http://metroplexvoice.com/products.htm#mtsn As amazing as Dragon is (it's my primary method of interacting with my computer, and I love it), it's one major school-related limitation is when it comes to math. You can't really " speak " math in the strictest sense, so it's incredibly challenging to write out math equations and such using Dragon. MathTalk allows you to do it in a really easy and intuitive manner, though. Brett might still be at a point where he's able to write on worksheets by hand, but that's obviously something we SMAers have more trouble with over time -- especially when you have to do a bunch of problems on each assignment. Transitioning over to MathTalk is something that really made my (and my parents', as they were having to write out my responses as I dictated) life easier. I highly recommend it! - > > I have a quick question. Brett is only in 6th grade and I am already overwhelmed with my.....I mean his homework, It feels like my homework though. Just some things that I know can be tweaked or maybe not...but wondering how you guys did it when you were in school. Or some parents of the older kids could answer for me too. I just can't imagine how high school is going to be. And maybe I just haven't thought of really simple things that will help us. > > - Reading/ doing a worksheet- He can't manage reading the book and alternating with filling out a worksheet at the same time. So I have to constantly move the book, give him his worksheet, give him back the book, etc. As well as take his marker while he is reading, give it back when he needs it, etc. > > - Holding a big book to read, we currently prop it up but he can't always turn the pages. We have a book holder on order and the school is supposed to be getting all the books on his laptop. Which will help tremendously, but I can still envision having the same issue with reading on the laptop vs. worksheets vs. marker- Do your kiddos do their worksheets on their laptops and just toggle back and forth between applications? > > - Microscopes in Science Class- How did they use them? > > - I know there is more but I am drawing a blank. Our school has been awesome helping us and working with requests. They have cut down assignments, like if he is assigned 30 questions in Math, he only has to do 15, etc. He has his own laptop at school, they just ordered Dragon to help him with his English papers. He currently uses a click-n-type program. His aide takes all his notes, except for in Math. Brett does better in assignments if he took the notes himself. They do have a book holder on order too. They ordered him 2 accessible desks for his core classes and he has 2 portable, rolling black trays for the other classes. He has one of each on each floor. > > Basically I just want him to be as independent as he possibly can and try to prepare him for the workload in high school, etc. Any advice or suggestions would be great. Thanks! > > Kristal- Mom to Brett- SMA II- 12 years old > Visit Brett @ www.our-sma-angels.com/brett > OR www.caringbridge.org/visit/brettwilson > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Thank for the tips about microsopes. Pingrong Xue MBA, EA, CPA candidate San , CA >________________________________ > From: 3 <hawk_stryke@...> > >Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2012 1:30 PM >Subject: Re: School Questions > > > >Â > >Hi Kristal, > >I know exactly what you mean. Sixth grade was pretty much the same time that I kind of reached my limits in terms of traditional gradeschool (busy work) homework. Fortunately, thanks to how much technology has improved in just the years since I was in that spot, I think you & Brett have plenty of options. > >My high school years were about the point when the e-book revolution was just starting to take off, and it was a lifesaver for me. Admittedly, by that time, I wasn't doing " worksheets " anymore (oh how I not-so-fondly remember those days), but my situation was basically the same. I'd just have my book open in one window, and my word processor in the other, and I could effortlessly jump back and forth between the two. > >Now, microscopes are a bit trickier. What you'll need to do is get the school to pick up a USB microscope camera. Now, I'm not talking about one of those all-in-one devices that have a camera that claims to be able to zoom in insane amounts. These are dedicated cameras that you attach to the eyepiece of an existing microscope, which then display the image on your laptop's screen. The one I have used in the past is from http://www.paxcam.com/, but I'm sure there are other good ones out there. The cool thing about these is that you can usually get science teachers to help advocate for getting one, because they're also really useful teaching tools. The teacher can use them during lecture times to demonstrate microscopy in a way that the whole class can see. > >Hope that helps! >- > > >> >> I have a quick question. Brett is only in 6th grade and I am already overwhelmed with my.....I mean his homework, It feels like my homework though. Just some things that I know can be tweaked or maybe not...but wondering how you guys did it when you were in school. Or some parents of the older kids could answer for me too. I just can't imagine how high school is going to be. And maybe I just haven't thought of really simple things that will help us. >> >> - Reading/ doing a worksheet- He can't manage reading the book and alternating with filling out a worksheet at the same time. So I have to constantly move the book, give him his worksheet, give him back the book, etc. As well as take his marker while he is reading, give it back when he needs it, etc. >> >> - Holding a big book to read, we currently prop it up but he can't always turn the pages. We have a book holder on order and the school is supposed to be getting all the books on his laptop. Which will help tremendously, but I can still envision having the same issue with reading on the laptop vs. worksheets vs. marker- Do your kiddos do their worksheets on their laptops and just toggle back and forth between applications? >> >> - Microscopes in Science Class- How did they use them? >> >> - I know there is more but I am drawing a blank. Our school has been awesome helping us and working with requests. They have cut down assignments, like if he is assigned 30 questions in Math, he only has to do 15, etc. He has his own laptop at school, they just ordered Dragon to help him with his English papers. He currently uses a click-n-type program. His aide takes all his notes, except for in Math. Brett does better in assignments if he took the notes himself. They do have a book holder on order too. They ordered him 2 accessible desks for his core classes and he has 2 portable, rolling black trays for the other classes. He has one of each on each floor. >> >> Basically I just want him to be as independent as he possibly can and try to prepare him for the workload in high school, etc. Any advice or suggestions would be great. Thanks! >> >> Kristal- Mom to Brett- SMA II- 12 years old >> Visit Brett @ www.our-sma-angels.com/brett >> OR www.caringbridge.org/visit/brettwilson >> >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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