Re: Homeschooling advice needed

[Guest guest]

Penny,

We're not technically homeschooling but you may as well call it that since

we work insessantly educationally. The computer has helped both my ASD and

NT kids. My NT son is 4 and he makes PECS cards on a program called Picture

It and another one called PRintmaster. He has learned to pick out the

graphics he wants and asks me for spelling all the time. (yes this drives me

nuts sometimes) but he has learned a ton of sight words by doing

this...precursor to reading. Does your son have lots of sight words? If not,

this may be a way to build some. The Picture it program actually displays

pictures for words that he types in and he gets so proud as he does it.

Eventually he will learn to type sentences. In a matter of a month or two my

son has virtually taught himself to read basic sentences. Not sure on the

ability of your son but even if it requires supervision and help, this may

be a highly motivating way to encourage phonics and reading. For the

Picture It program there is also a voice type program where you use the

files you make and it actually says the words. You can type up programs to

target certain articulations or blends, etc. The quality of the voice isn't

great but accurate enough for my ASD boy. This was given to me so not sure

where to get it but perhaps a yahoo search might bring it up.

Another suggestion...not sure if this might be too youngish but Winnie the

Pooh Read is really good too. Hope this helps.

Dawn

NH Dietary Intervention for Autism

http://www.p2pnh.org/nhdi

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[Guest guest]

Penny...

We have some of the same issues with Zack... tho he loves school and

reading... one thing I have done for him before is to use Microsoft

Powerpoint and make a presentation that will help form words... Its a fairly

simple program to use and can be adapted in many ways to help our kids out.

If you d like more info, please feel free to email me and Ill let you knwo

what Ive done.

Triss

[Guest guest]

I have not personally used Hooked on Phonics but everyone I know

(over a dozen) that have used it did not like it. They would say it

made their child hate to read. I have used Play N Talk with my older

2 NT kids. My son started at age 5 and my daughter at age 4. By 1st

grade, they were both reading at a 3rd grade level. They spend about

2 hours a day reading by choice. Our biggest problem is the local

library only lets us check out 50 books at a time (and where to put

them)! It is set up so you do 2 10-15 minute lessons a day. The

lesson is recorded on tape or CD. They listen to the lesson and read

along with the text. It can also be used as a refresher for an older

child that is struggling. It is an older program that may not have

alot of flash but it is tried and true. The voice of the teacher

reminds me on Alice in Disney's Alice in Wonderland. It is designed

to benefit those with learning disabilities (especially dyslexia).

It is non-consumable so you can buy it used or when done, sell it

used. It was a bit expensive but considering I have 4 kids, we will

get much use out of it. I have also heard lots of good things about

Alpha Phonics. A number of people I know that used Sing, Spell, Read

and Write found that even though their child started to learn

quickly, they reached a point much like with sight reading where they

could not comprehend very well. Usually they ended up getting

another program and starting over from the beginning again. I am not

familiar with Frontline Phonics. Just make sure the program you get

blends word by word families (cat, sat, hat) instead of by changing

the last letter (cat, can, cup).

> I need advice from the homeschoolers out there (or others). My

oldest

> son is seven and very high functioning. We have been at a stand

still

> with reading for nearly a year. He knows the alphabet and all the

> letter sounds perfectly. The trouble comes in putting those sounds

> together to form the word. He also has a maximum 10 minute

attention

> span when it comes to " school " but can focus much longer on things

of

> interest. He LOVES using the computer and will focus very well -

> playing parts of a program over and over until he knows it by

heart.

> He has an elephant's memory. I've tried Reader Rabbit and Jump

Start

> without success. I know he wants to read but he has a " can't do "

> attitude about many things and this is one of them. My husband

wants

> to try either Hooked on Phonics or Frontline Phonics. Has anyone

tried

> either of these? Does anyone have any suggestions, tips etc? What's

> worked for you? Feel free to e-mail privately or respond here.

Thanks,

> Penny