Learning Disabilites and Fortunately For You Books Part 2- UNIT STUDIES

The more I read the less I know. I heard this statement when I was a child and can remember trying to wrap my brain around it and thinking it just doesn’t make sense. Now it is a recurring chapter title in my life! We can be confident and a living testimony when we tell our children that the learning NEVER ends. We will never know it all and if we are readers, we will learn on a daily basis.

Which brings us to reading. Which brings us to unit studies.

 Reading is THE recipe for lifelong learning. If you read, you can learn about anything. My favorite places in Morgantown, WV are the libraries, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million. I love being surrounded by books. I love to read. I love to learn. I knew absolutely nothing about dyslexia. I THOUGHT I knew a few things but turns out what I thought I knew was just stereotypical and something I probably picked up from a movie. It all makes sense to me now.

And I am still amazed at how the product we developed- not with learning disabilities in mind- uses elements that will help my son learn.

We now have three unit studies that are for sale: Fortunately For You: Books 1-3 A Series of Unfortunate Events, Wisdom from the Wardrobe: based on The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Within the Web: based on Charlotte’s Web. Soon to be released is Gatherings from the Garden: based on The Secret Garden. Every one of these unit studies uses these approaches:

discussion approach- an oral discussion about something in the story takes place

notebook approach- there will be a piece of paper with something to show for this activity

investigative approach- a little more research and a little more though will be needed in this activity. There will usually be some paper result at the end.

experience approach- this is where you physically try something out that relates to something that was read

Not only do you have 4 approaches that engage the whole mind of a child, some of these activities can be combined in an activity. As our unit studies cover everything but math, you will have a huge menu of options to pick from. There are so many ways you can read a chapter, you will certainly be able to use this again with the same child in later years or with other children and never touch the same selections you already used! Under Language/Writing, Science, Social Studies, Health, Lifeskills, Bible, and Art  you are able to pick the approach you child needs that day. You are never tied into what you HAVE to do to use this unit study. This curriculum is based on  your child’s needs and is made to conform to what you see is most beneficial for that day.

Children with learning disabilities need ways of learning that engage yet conform to their daily needs. Being able to change daily and pick approaches purposefully for your student will benefit them greatly. Our activities are what we like to call “micro bursts”. They are short trips into learning. You read of something in the story, you take notice, engage and learn and go back to the story. I find this so beneficial with Jesse. Break it up, keep it short. We get lots done, but do things in small increments.

I love our unit studies and as we gear up and are preparing for our convention season, we are most excited to get the unit studies into hands of parents. If you can help your child with an LD love a story and engage their mind with knowledge from that story, you are nurturing something that can help them their whole life. Our unit studies help children with short attention spans and a need for non-repetitiveness to connect with a piece of literature and come away with a portfolio of knowledge.

I know so many parents would love these unit studies. We just need to get them in their hand.

You will want to be watching for our Gathering from the Garden release. There is not a better way to end the school year that with a unit study for the classic The Secret Garden. The book itself is amazing and this unit study is one of the best. (heads up- 144 pages of free worksheets alone!!!!) We have made a whole collection for this unit study. Some things may benefit one of your children or all of them. All can be used alone without needing another product. But ALL will be worth every penny.

Fortunately For You Books is committed to giving you the tools that will help you develop a love for reading. If your child has an LD and reading is a struggle, these unit studies are worth a try. I can now speak from personal experience (read Part 1) on this issue. Not all unit studies are the same, and not all unit studies can give a daily freedom to meet a child’s needs. For those children who need a structure that considers their needs, try a unit study of ours. You can get them instantly as an ebook.

Your friend at FFYB,

Shannon

IN 7 DAYS!!

In 7 short days a whole “Secret Garden” line will be released!  This is not JUST our unit study.  We have many supplemental books to go along with “The Secret Garden”!  We have been working diligently to get this all released for you on the same day.  There will be copywork, pockets, and several NEW things for you purchase.  What a great time to introduce or reintroduce Mary, Colin, and Dickon to your child as they take a magical adventure into The Secret Garden.

Learning Disabilites and Fortunately For You Books Part 1

How is it possible that the youngest child of a family that has homeschooled for 16 years could get through 6th grade and be dyslexic and no one ever have a clue? I offer this article realizing if it can happen to me, it can happen to you. What I had seen with Jesse (12 yr. old youngest son) over his school years were problems I could pass off with different reasonings or excuses. Spelling was a huge source of frustration. Writing, well you have read some previous posts on how hard it was. Reading, always seemed stressful and not quite the joy the other children had. I reasoned that I was somehow neglecting him in some areas…or that he didn’t try hard enough…or care enough ( thankfully, I never voiced those thoughts to him!)….or that some of the years I focused extra hard on highschool with the older kids, I had made him a bit behind in his grade level. Several things were eye openers for me: when I realized that Jesse could not sit and read the Spiderwick series alone, when his spelling showed no remembrance of vowel rules or patterns(6th grade and I was STILL repeating the two vowel rule), and when I realized how fantastic an oral/visual learner he was. These things started my investigation and learning that possibly Jesse was a mild to moderate dyslexic. My limited knowledge of this disability was evident in that I thought it was just kids reading words backwards. I had no idea of the many symptoms this disability could be revealed. I could spend all day writing about this, but I am still learning myself and will share more as I learn more. I am still in the humbled stage of realizing that even as a veteran homeschooler, I still missed something so huge in my child and if I had known earlier, would have saved Jesse from frustration and difficulty. I do not want to lessen my responsibility and blame, but I also do not want to think that as homeschooling parents we will ALWAYS have the ultimate knowledge. I do believe that timing is of the Lord, and for some reason it was now that it was revealed to me how to help my son in a more productive way. Maybe I wasn’t listening before, maybe He wasn’t leading before. Either way, I am now thoroughly humbled yet in awe of this one thing: The curriculum and tools Fortunately For You Books has been working so diligently on for the last 3 years is an excellent tool for children with learning disabilities. I know I should not be surprised to know this, but to think that three years ago the Lord laid something on our hearts that would turn out to the tool that MY child needed, well, that is just downright awesome!

Let me explain. I ordered the reading program The Stevenson Method and sure enough, within days a significant improvement was seen. Now four weeks into this program and virtually all stress from spelling is gone, reading is fluent (not grade level yet), and comprehension is perfect. I recommend this program for any child, with or without learning disabilities. It is a wonderful way to get phonics rules in a way that recall is immediate. So now that we had reading on track, and he is picking up books and now I don’t want to say anymore, “Jesse, that is going to be too hard for you to read alone”……..He is picking up books and excited that maybe he can read this alone, but I am afraid he will be making up words because he can’t break them apart and sound them out yet. I am afraid he will read and read and not understand what he is reading. I am afraid that he will read this whole book, NOT get it and then the book will be lost to us for pleasure and enjoyment as he will not want to read it again! So I handed him the book and I handed him a POCKET of TIME that went with the book. The POCKETS used the same elements of design that Stevenson’s Method recommends: a break up of activities in short amounts of time….there is reading, coloring, cutting, and then placing in order. Never one long process that loses the mind. When I gave him the book, I sat at the table with coffee, waiting. He came back not too long afterwards, showed me his order of cards placed in the pockets. I was thrilled that every one of his colors was in order. He was obviously able to read with enough fluency that all his attention wasn’t going to just reading, but remembering details as well. And so it went. And with these pockets, I will know the moment reading becomes difficult again.

While Pockets of Time were not originally created for children with learning disabilities, they are certainly beneficial for them.  For children with dyslexia who can read, this is a way to let them read independently and be assured of their comprehension without pages and pages of tests and fill out worksheets.Nothing screams torture for a dyslexic child than pages and pages of worksheets! For dyslexic children who are still struggling to read, the best thing you can do is still read TO that child on their grade level or above. While they are reading themselves below grade level, it is imperative that they be read aloud in their appropriate grade level. You can do this using our Pockets of Time. This will increase and develop the comprehensive thinking and evaluation skills. They can prepare and handle the cards as you read and place into the pockets in order as they happen.

I had no idea when we sat at a kitchen table three years ago and burned with a desire to develop these tools and curriculum to help homeschool families, that the mind of the Lord was directing us with something that my own child would need to give confidence and independence with reading. I am so thankful and in awe about that.

I am going to continue writing several articles about this subject as days go by. I am afraid there is too much on my heart and this post would be miles long if I wrote all I want to now!!! Come back soon as I am on spring break and hope to do a lot of catch up on the blog.

Blessings,

Shannon