I've also learned throughout my years of homeschooling that any time I can tweak a program to make it uniquely ours, the kids will benefit. The reason being, I know my kids best. I know what parts of the program they'll like and what parts will make them grumpy. I know what will hold their interest. I know when I'll have to perform a dog and pony show to entice them to want to keep trying. (How many infinitives can be in one sentence?)
The one area I've found that needs a little tweaking is the use of Fluency Practice pages. Lesson 6 Fluency Practice includes 93 words plus sentences on the back. There is no way I could or would expect Joseph to sit and read each word in one sitting. Not because he has Down syndrome, but simply because I want to keep reading fun and rewarding for him. Reading is hard work. He gets very tired after 12 minutes of reading. After 15 minutes, he pretty much checks out.
Once we get to the Fluency Practice part of the lesson we slow way down. I have Joseph read a line of words. After each line he gets to put a sticker. This little break relaxes his eyes and busies his fingers, then we begin with the next line. He typically reads 2 or 3 lines a day.
Then I give him a highlighter and I say a word, he finds it and highlights it. He really enjoys this. Sometimes I say an easy word, sometimes one he struggled with. It's great practice skimming for a beginning sound. It's also a chance for him to practice his pencil grip on the highlighter.
We spend about 6-7 school days working on the Fluency Practice page, new and mixed words sections. If you're a little bored with simply reading through the list, try these methods to add some interest to the lesson.
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These are fantastic! I love how you incorporate the reading with the busy-ness of young people! Sharing!
ReplyDeleteYoungsters ARE busy! Thanks for sharing.
DeleteDo yoi.still go om to the next lesson? Or do you wait until the flemcy sheets are.dome?
ReplyDeleteJRF, since my goal is to give Joseph as much practice as possible to increase his fluency or "fast reading" (as I call it), I do not progress to the next lesson until we've read every word, phrase, or sentence on the Fluency Practice page. As of today, Joe can read 4 lines at each sitting in a reasonable amount of time. Sometimes I'll have him pick a story from the AAR reader or we'll do a page from a reading workbook. I also play sight word BINGO with him or read Mother Goose rhymes aloud. I only do one of the above listed extras each day because I like to keep his lessons short and sweet.
DeleteMy daughter is 7 and was born with Down Syndrome. I homeschool her also. We haven't had much luck with another program, so I'm very interested in AAR. My little girl doesn't yet recognize all of the letters and sounds of the alphabet, so I'm assuming it would be in her best interest if we started in the very first book......pre reading......am I correct?
ReplyDeleteDiana,
DeleteYes, starting with the pre-reading book will give you time to teach letter identification and sounds. I'd also suggest looking into the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD to go along with your seat work. It's a fun, happy, "no mom needed" way to learn the ABCs. http://amzn.to/2boXdiY