We have been busy with lots of school stuff recently. P and I took C to an educational psychologist about having him tested for dyslexia. We are going to have the testing itself done sometime in the next month or two.
In the meantime, C's reading has picked up significantly. We are using a reading program based on the Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching kids with dyslexia how to read. It is a multi-sensory approach, so it's also good if we just hadn't figured out his learning style yet. He has learned about 15 phonemes so far. He reads words with the phonemes he knows very well. His reading is much more fluent and confident. He is also working on some sight words. The program is pretty intense. We work for about 30 minutes every day; this includes review of what he's learned, learning new phonemes and/or sight words, writing and spelling practice, and reading short books. I'm very happy with how he is doing.
I have been reading about learning styles and watching L and C over the last couple of weeks. L is definitely an auditory and kinesthetic learner. She also learns pretty well visually. Basically, she remembers a large amount of what she sees, hears, or reads. C is not a good auditory learner, though. He is a much better kinesthetic learner. We use a curriculum that is very literature intense, though, which makes it more challenging to make sure he is learning. We do a lot of reading aloud, but C is not picking up the information just from hearing it. So, I'm realizing that we need to add some activities to help him learn. We started making a mural of the ocean, coral reef, and an estuary. Just in making the main part of the drawing, we reviewed the geography of oceans. Later this week, we will review all about the organisms we've read about when we draw or paste pictures of fish and other animals in the correct places in the mural. C was able to process the importance of the plankton in the surface portion of the water because of the need for sunshine when he colored the shallow part of the water blue-green. Unfortunately, this is going to require a little more effort on my part. But, I have realized that C and L have some areas where their curricula intersect, so I may be able to do some things with them together.
L started dance class this week. She is taking ballet again - the same class as last year, but with a different teacher. There are only three of them in the class this year. L enjoys ballet, especially now that she is up to a level that she can really perform some of the moves well. The class is a full hour, though, so she gets pretty tired. She gets a 45 minute break and then has a tap class. She hasn't had tap in several years, so she's having to do a little bit of catch-up, but she's doing fine.
L is also taking art class at the local middle school. She started just taking every Tuesday, Thursday, and every other Friday with one of the 6th grade art classes. She is enjoying the work, even though her teacher is expecting more out of her than I had been. Today, her teacher asked about having her also take the Monday, Wednesday, and opposite Friday class to get even more art exposure. L is thrilled. The school is 4 blocks from the house, so L rides her bike unless the weather is bad. I'm pleased that she is taking the extra responsibility of making sure she is ready and out the door on time.
P is in school as well in the Valley. He is taking three classes this semester, in addition to making sure he gets 30 hours of classroom observation. Two of the math teachers at the local middle and high school are happy to have him come in for his observation. He is happy to be able to do that so close to home (especially with gas so expensive and he already has to drive 60 miles round trip three times per week for his own classes).
I have become the typical homeschool mom. I am addicted to homeschool forums on the computer. When I'm not doing something with the kids, blogging, or having a headache, I'm probably on the forums. The forums have been really helpful, though. I have gotten great ideas on how to manage school when I have a bad migraine. I have gotten great advice on how to make our own frescoes - we're studying Michelangelo next week. We have already had one field trip to a local nature center. Everyone had fun. It was also nice to hear how well-behaved and well-educated the kids are (from the naturalists).
Well, I'm off to bed. It's another full day tomorrow.
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