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Willa
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| Posted: Aug 24 2006 at 9:41pm | IP Logged
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Anyone used Sing Spell Read and Write for their special blessing?
It looks like so much money to spend to teach reading. My other kids all learned with 100EZ lessons.
What do you think? Is it worth it? Are there simpler alternatives?
__________________
AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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mom3aut1not
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| Posted: Aug 25 2006 at 9:25am | IP Logged
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Willa,
Yes! I used SSRW with my older auties (now 18 and 20) and Joseph is now through the K level and into the first grade program.
I love it. (Btw, 100 EZ Lessons completely bombed with Katie.) I love using games for drill. I love using songs for learning -- in fact, it was essential for Katie and has proved to be helpful for Kristin and Joseph. The new version (I used the older one with the girls) has much nicer, cleaner illustrations and is pleasing to look at.
Bottom line -- I used it daily for six years (summers too) and could still want to use with another child. And -- it worked. My older auties are very fluent readers -- especially Katie. (Do listen to the songs if you can. I listened to the songs of the Scaredy Cat program and realized that I could not stand to listen to that daily for any length of time. I didn't mind the songs for SSRW even though I heard them over and over and over.)
However, I did alter the program. Mainly, I dropped stuff. I do not work on spelling per se until a child can read fluently. I use HWT so I don't make them write anything. (I do have a student tell me what word fits what blank.)
The new version has tests which I am ignoring. One reason is that if I am working with a child closely and daily I do not really need a test to know how much he understands. (The program is also used in schools.) The other reason is that Jospeh's lack of comprehension stems from his autism, not his lacking of formal reading skills. I am using SSRW to teach him phonics, not receptive language skills. (This is where keeping *my* goals in mind helps me resist using this material as a teacher would or as the TM says.) His reading comprehension will improve as his receptive language skills improve. And his knowledge of phonics will combine with that to make him a reader.
Will that happen soon? Probably not. Katie and Kristin were not fluent readers until 5th and 6th grades, respectively. It look Katie three years and Kristin four years to do my adapted version of first grade SSRW and then a couple more years of using that knowledge to become good readers.
With the girls I read to them -- a lot -- and did not wait for them to be fluent readers to learn real content. I remember one occasion when Kristin was having social skills worked on (she attended story time in the school library). The librarian commented to me that she must read a lot because she had something to contribute about any topic they covered. I laughed because she was still working on SSRW and did no other reading at all. I know that you do lots of read alouds (doesn't everyone here?), but I did want to share that reading aloud with a disabled child who can't yet read is of tremendous value. (We didn't do narrations, tho'.) Katie and Kristin tested as having significantly higher receptive language ability than expressive in late elementary which surprised the tester.
Has anyone else read E.D.Hirsch's latest book? I was surprised to find out how well many of his recommendations fit with a CM education. I was also very happy to keep my children from the tedium of endless work in formal reading comprehension skills. Bleah. Up to 2.5 hours of reading comprehension a day? Yuck, yuck, yuck....
Anyway, I have used and am using my version of SSRW with my autistic (not aspie) kids, and it has worked well.
Oh -- about the prizes. Feh. I don't use theirs. I use a big prize at the end, and for Joseph daily reinforcers that he likes. Most of the prizes are throwaway junk.
In Christ,
Deborah
Mom of Lisa 23, Katie 20, Kristin 18, and Joseph 6
PS I did not use SSRW with Lisa. I didn't need to. I used Alphapnics for 4-5 months, did some buddy reading, and she was a fluent reader in K. SSRW would be unnecessarily expensive as well as overkill for a child like her. For her sisters, SSRW was a Godsend and worth every penny.
PPS I got my latest SSRW through Amazon -- it was about $100 off the list price. I checked later and the price was much higher. I don't know what it is now, but it might be worth checking out.
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Willa
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| Posted: Aug 25 2006 at 10:00am | IP Logged
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Deborah,
Your post is a treasure trove. Thank you so much. I thought I remembered that you used SSR&W. Aidan's OT recommended it when we talked yesterday.
Do you (or anyone else) think the program would be difficult to use for a mom who gets easily bogged down by complexity? (that would be me...). 100EZ lessons worked for me, and consequently for the kids, precisely because it was simple.
Do you think it would make sense to try something like ALphaphonics with Aidan and then if it wasn't getting anywhere, look for something more comprehensive like SSRW?
Aidan is diagnosed as mildly mentally retarded. So would probably be more like an autistic child than an AS. Presently he knows all letter names in both cases, and the sounds that go with most of them. I did not teach him this -- he learned from homebound Headstart and from V Tech electronic toys and from asking questions.
What's the name of Hirsch's latest book?
__________________
AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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mom3aut1not
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| Posted: Aug 25 2006 at 12:36pm | IP Logged
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Willa,
It's a lot less difficult than it may appear. If you get the K/1 program, the first part is readiness material which you may do or not as you please. Then you start with the first song. Play the song daily while pointing at the pictures for a while until he can sing it. Fill in the little box with the date. Continue with the Echo song in a similar fashion while reviewing the ABC phonics song. (Btw, they now have a standard ABC song which I ignore. I don't introduce names of letters until much later.) It sounds like he would race through this part.
So at first it is just playing songs and pointing to pictures. (All my kids have *loved* the short vowel song.) The big jump comes at the Ferris Wheel song. To be perfectly honest, I adapted that part too. We sing the song, but I do not expect my kids to memorize the sounds of ba, be, bi, bo, and bu. I use it as blending practice. My kids take much longer to connect the sounds, and I don't want them frustrated. I had to keep my eye on what my goal was (blending, not ba, be, bi, bo, bu memorization). After that we start reading stories and books. Joseph spaces out a lot -- especially in hot weather -- but with the girls I did about 15 minutes a day very intensely. (Did I mention that all my big kids are ADHD also?) With Joseph it takes much longer because he spaces out -- way out --- in the middle of words. When he is focused, he does *very* well.
The latter part of the K program is contained in the first grade program. I got the combo anyway. Why? The fine motor skills in the K progam are less difficult, the print is larger, the pace is gentler, and Joseph needs the extra practice. That being said, I did dump the first first grade workbook. As he works year round, he does not need the refrester contained in that workbook. We went straight to the prep for the first (Aa Apple) book.
The way we prep is simply to see if he can read the words listed in the workbook for each book. After he does that, we go to the book. I do not expect fluency -- I expect Joseph to blend each word. (I have been buddy reading by reading the evil rulebreakers which he is slowly learning.) After each book there is now a grammar component (new in this edition -- I'll let you know how I like it), some comprehension work (more practice imo), and an assessment. (Phooey.)
It really isn't as hard as it may seem. If you do decide to use it, feel free to discuss how to use it with me. SSRW imo is a good example of the necessity using your curriculum and not letting it control you.
Depending on his needs and how he learns, Alphaphonics may work if you add some readers for practice. (I think you will need them for him. Lisa was a language arts whiz and really didn't need much practice.) I suspect he would enjoy SSRW more.
In Christ,
Deborah
who has to get Joseph to finish the last two sentences of his reading assignment for today.....
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4Real Forums : Special Blessings
Topic: Sing Spell Read and Write
