I had mentioned in another thread that I am going to be meeting with my evaluator to come up with an ‘IEP’ for high school for my DD who will be in 9th grade in the fall. I am confident about science and history ideas, but Math and Language Arts are my biggest concerns. I want to have some ideas to present to my evaluator, to give her a springboard.
My DD has language based disabilities, including dyslexia, receptive and expressive language difficulties, very poor spelling, etc. But, she loves to write. Putting a lot of focus on grammar and spelling rules is futile. I was thinking that I need to focus on her writing, vocabulary, and spelling the most. She loves journals and is always writing in them and even tries to take notes during the preaching at church. I think she just needs to be doing something with her hands to concentrate. But, it is probably not helping her spelling, because outside of school, she is continually writing and spelling words wrong, and I have no way of keeping up with it and it is her personal journal. I was looking at IEW. I like their method. I have also been using Spelling Workout with her, just for some spelling practice. I include a little grammar here and there. After reading all this, would anyone have any suggestion, like additions or changes to what I am thinking. I am just brainstorming right now, but any suggestions would be helpful.
Also, she has a more than moderate disability in math. She has not memorized her multiplication facts, but I believe she is understanding the concept. The neuropsychologist said not to focus on facts and let her use the calculator, but I like for her to be doing some thinking. Using a standard math program does not work because there are concepts we have to skip because we need to focus on life skills areas. The psychologist said to focus on time management, money, and the evaluator added measuring to the list. This year we used some workbooks that focused on one concept, like clocks, calendars, and money. Working on one thing for weeks really helped her in those areas. I used to have Math on the Level, but I sold it after I got results from the psychologist. Maybe I should have kept it, but it is costly to buy and I didn’t feel we were getting much use out of it. But, being able to choose the concepts to work on was helpful. I do have SCM’s Pet Store Business Math, but I have not started that yet, because I feel DD needs better money skills and multiplication knowledge before we use it. I have a Grocery Cart workbook, which would help her in measurements and money. I just don’t know how to go about planning for high school credits. I want her to earn some kind of diploma, even at a remedial level. I’m just not sure what would be appropriate materials to use, given her special needs. Any suggestions or recommendations? Thank you.
If you are a member of HSLDA, they have consultants for special needs and high school that would be able to answer questions about how to handle credits toward graduation. I do know that my son, who is autistic and in 11th grade at a public high school, will be given a high school diploma and will have a transcript listing his coursework and credits. His math will not be algebra, geometry, etc., and his science/social science credits will be shown even though his program is modified.
If I had to figure out how to show that all on a transcript, I would need the kind of help one of those consultants could give. As far as the diploma goes, you will be awarding that, so it will look like every other kid’s high school diploma. It’s just the coursework, credits, and transcript that will be specialized.
Sorry I don’t have specific suggestions for curriculum, but I thought I would at least comment on the high school credit question.
I am not sure about the credits, but wanted to suggest playing games for math. Dr. Joan Cotter, author of RightStart math, says that games are to math instruction what books are for reading instruction. They have card games to help the student learn math facts like multiplication. They include coin cards for money and time cards, too.
Math on the Level suggests incorporating games into your math program, too. So you might use games with money and this would help build other thinking skills like attention and strategies. There are many available, but Monopoly, The Allowance Games, Pay Day, and Money Bags come to mind as a start.
I think handicrafts help incorporate geometry and other math concepts, also. Our whole family has really enjoyed using a potholder loom. It takes some forethought to make it turn out like you want in the end. One potholder can be completed in about an hour (after you learn it). You have to first decide on your colors and count them out and decide a pattern for how you will work them in. No two potholders are just alike in our home. We have been pleased with the Harrisville Designs loom. They have larger looms, too.
Sue – Thanks for the thoughts on credits. I am not a member of HSLDA, but I am confident that my evaluator can help me with a transcript. She has been in the educational realm for many years. I guess I just feel like I need to complete so much of a book to count as a credit. I know I can count 120 days for a credit instead of 3/4 of a text, but I need to piece together a year of math and language, since we are using a hodge podge of material for those subjects.
Wings2fly – Thanks for the suggestions for math. We have done some of those things you mentioned on occasion. Doing them more regularly is a good idea. I will look into the right start games. I have to get myself out of the workbook mode. They have their place, but I do need to do more ‘real life’ activities with her.
A math suggestion that may help is Learn Math Fast. I just thought of it because it uses coins/money for its manipulatives. I’ve read a lot of reviews of how it has helped special needs students. The lady who created it could probably give you some good advice. Good Luck!
Aimee – Thank you for this information. This is something I wish I’d have known about a couple of years ago. I am going to email the lady who wrote it and find out how this could be used with my daughter. I think it could be used to fill in some gaps and also help her with multiplication. Another thing to think about:)
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