Dyslexia, CAPD Reading Horizons or TalkingFingers for a 13yr old?

[kimbercup7]

Hi all,

I have a 13 year old son. We have been homeschooling him since 2nd grade.

He is very intelligent... but still lags big time with spelling... which effects his reading comp and writing... which is at a very low level still.

We have tried many programs over the years... WRTR, Language Tune Up Kit, Earobics, and many other remedial type phonics programs.

His main frustration with the computer based programs was the audio. If I remember correctly... the Language Tune Up Kit was the worse. The voice on this program had a very strong New England accent... and it drove my son, many a time, to take off the ear phones and throw them accross the room. We did not use this program for very long, needless to say.
His main frustration with the curriculum based, ie: WRTR ect... was ME!! I usually got confused and frustrated in implementing these programs, and hardly understood them myself!

Now that he is older... He really has a desire to conquer his spelling issues... but we need some serious Phonics/ Phenomic awareness software.

I have been on the talkingfingers website... and of course as usual, this is also geared towards younger kids.

Although my son is 13, he is a young 13. Still pretty immature... but I dont want to insult his intelligence by getting something way to young for him... although.... the talking fingers program seems so thorough... so we can fill in some learning gaps and go completely over all spelling rules.

It is now a toss up between talkingfingers bundle, or Reading Horizons at home (which seems thorough, but boring).

Can I get away with Talkingfingers... for a 13 year old boy??? ( he loves computer games)
Will Reading Horizons at home bore him to tears??
ADVICE PLEASE!!!

Thanks, Kim

[lisabees]

Kim,

Can he read on grade level? If not, I would use REWARDS by Sopris West. http://store.cambiumlearning.com/ProgramPage.aspx?parentId=019005487&functionID=009000008&site=sw

As far as spelling, we are using Spelling Through Morphographs and Megawords with success. Try to get Megawords through the publisher directly, as they just came out with a second edition, which looks much better for reading fluency. http://intervention.schoolspecialty.com/products/details.cfm?seriesonly=900m

Many like Apples and Pears By Promethean Trust http://www.prometheantrust.org/usshop.htm

My other advice is to be sure you're doing copywork/dictation every day. This will help tremendously. Also, no matter what program you use, incorporate spelling out loud. Every day, read the list of words and have your ds spell them, then spell the words and have him name them.

Phonetic Zoo, from IEW, uses this principle and may work for him as well. http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/catalog/excellence-spelling-phonetic-zoo

Oh - I actually like Reading Horizons at Home. But, my 13 year old only used the Free Online Workshop in conjunction with other things. This is for reading, though, not spelling.

Talking Fingers would definitely be too juvenile for your ds. My 1st grader uses it - and loves it. It is only used for enrichment and is not a spelling program.

Best wishes!

[Ottakee]

Apples and Pears would be my top choice. A tad pricey but it works and is not babyish at all--even if you start right from the beginning. They also have some programs for teaching reading as well that might appeal to your son.

[kimbercup7]

I clicked on the link for apples and pears above, and it takes me to the website... but I do not see anything that says apples and pears... and since I have never heard of it before.... can you give me more info??

Is Apples and Pears a software program, or would "I" have to actually do the teaching? After years of spelling failures and frustrations... we have no confidence in "mom led" programs. I did not learn to spell with phonics instruction as a child... so it is greek to me anyway, which may be why we have not had much success going that route.

Kim

[Ottakee]

Keep Scrolling down, past the Dancing Bears/Bear Necessities programs and you will get to the Apples and Pears program.

It is a big difficult to see but you can click on each one to see the entire program in PDF format. Ideally, you could open two windows so that you could see the teacher's book and student book side by side.

Apples and Pears is TEACHER taught---BUT, it is completely scripted so that ANYONE (even a sibling) that can read at a 4th/5th grade level would be able to "teach" the program. You do NOT need the know the stuff to teach it. Likely you will learn some things along the way, but you don't have to know it to use it.

I LOVE the program and you can do 1/2-1 level a day in 10-20 minutes--depending on what your son can handle a day.

I clicked on the link for apples and pears above, and it takes me to the website... but I do not see anything that says apples and pears... and since I have never heard of it before.... can you give me more info??

Is Apples and Pears a software program, or would "I" have to actually do the teaching? After years of spelling failures and frustrations... we have no confidence in "mom led" programs. I did not learn to spell with phonics instruction as a child... so it is greek to me anyway, which may be why we have not had much success going that route.

Kim

[siloam]

Hi all,

I have a 13 year old son. We have been homeschooling him since 2nd grade.

He is very intelligent... but still lags big time with spelling... which effects his reading comp and writing... which is at a very low level still.

We have tried many programs over the years... WRTR, Language Tune Up Kit, Earobics, and many other remedial type phonics programs.

His main frustration with the computer based programs was the audio. If I remember correctly... the Language Tune Up Kit was the worse. The voice on this program had a very strong New England accent... and it drove my son, many a time, to take off the ear phones and throw them accross the room. We did not use this program for very long, needless to say.
His main frustration with the curriculum based, ie: WRTR ect... was ME!! I usually got confused and frustrated in implementing these programs, and hardly understood them myself!

Now that he is older... He really has a desire to conquer his spelling issues... but we need some serious Phonics/ Phenomic awareness software.

I have been on the talkingfingers website... and of course as usual, this is also geared towards younger kids.

Although my son is 13, he is a young 13. Still pretty immature... but I dont want to insult his intelligence by getting something way to young for him... although.... the talking fingers program seems so thorough... so we can fill in some learning gaps and go completely over all spelling rules.

It is now a toss up between talkingfingers bundle, or Reading Horizons at home (which seems thorough, but boring).

Can I get away with Talkingfingers... for a 13 year old boy??? ( he loves computer games)
Will Reading Horizons at home bore him to tears??
ADVICE PLEASE!!!

Thanks, Kim

Kim,

Barton Reading has a screening (http://www.bartonreading.com/students_long.html#screen) to test for Phonological Awareness. I would love to know if he can pass it. If not you would want to start with LiPS, a program that works on hearing, feeling and labeling the phonogram sounds.

If he can pass the screening and his problems are mainly spelling, then I would recommend All About Spelling. Though I have also herd good things about Apples and Pears. Megawords also has a good reputation, but if his spelling is that much of an issue I suspect he would benefit more from AAS.

For fluency it seems like Rewards is a very popular program.

Heather