Is everyone taking a break?

[qanda]

We are taking a break until January 3, 2006. I really need it! I love home-schooling, but it is a sacrifice and sometimes it wears on the entire family in ways that are difficult to describe. Sometimes I think we need time just to evaluate what we are doing right and what we are doing that's not so right.

Here's to more learning, growing, home-schooling and having fun in 2006.

[thinkingwoman]

1. we always take a break this time of year

December is a light month for us and then midway through we take a complete break until after the new year.

We homeschool all year round, so we take approximately 3 large breaks each year. It usually works out to a month off in April or May, a month off in August or September (just when formally schooled kids are gearing up to go back) and then one long or two short breaks during the winter. We school in the summer, but we do more outdoor and physical activities then as well so it doesn't feel the same.

Enjoy your break! Everybody needs to recharge. :hi:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

2. We're on break

and we'll start again on Tuesday.

Breaks are good, I think. I don't find that my son forgets things. I have found that since his weakness is fine motor coordination, that his time spent drawing and writing things that aren't school-related needs to be monitored to make sure he's holding the pencil correctly. This makes a huge difference when we go back to the books.

[mzteris]

3. have you tried different

pencil grips? http://www.store.yahoo.com/learninggear/grips.html

It took us a while to find one my son felt comfortable with. This link has "variety packs".

My son doesn't really like them - but they do help. He has a tendency to scrunch up on the very very tippy tip of the pencil. I joke he just needs a tiny piece of lead to write with!

PS - have we talked about dysgraphia?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

5. Yes...I finally found one that's comfortable and works for him

The one I got is made of the gel material that they use for keyboard wrist rests. My son resists using it sometimes; but he's beginning to recognize how much they help him.

What is dysgraphia?

[mzteris]

7. it's an LD for writing

It's kinda like the dyslexia of writing. Other phrases used are graphomotor disability or "written language disorder". It's not well known and can have different reasons for being and different ways of manifesting itself.

Big tip-offs (besides horrid handwriting) can be one or combination of things like: terrible pencil grasp, gripping it too tight, too much pressure on the paper, actual pain in the hand/wrist/or arm, using the hand/wrist/or arm to "write" rather than the fingers. Poor spacing, making the same letter different ways, poor spelling/punctuation/capitalization - poor in that it is much worse than the kid "knows" when asked verbally, etc. A tendency to "dumb down" their writing from their verbal/intelligence ability.

Reasons can be as simple as "fine motor" - although, many kids with dysgraphia are very good with fine motor skills - they can draw, do legos very well, etc - but they can't "write". (Where Writing is stored in the brain is different from where drawing is and there's a "retrieval issue".) There can be visual or visual/spatial issues, or other neurological problems, sequencing, motor-memory/automaticity problems, to name a few. (I'm beginning to think my kid hits them ALL. :( )

http://www.specialneedsadvocate.com/dysgraphia.htm

http://www.cdl.org/resource-library/articles/graphomotor.php

http://www.ldonline.org/ and search for "dysgraphia".

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. Thank you for the links!

My son exhibits (or has exhibited) some of the symptoms mentioned...ultra-tight grip, writing with the arm, and letter spacing and sizing difficulties.

Interesting that one of the suggestions is to teach cursive earlier than usual. I've been holding back on that even though he has an interest. I'll have to rethink things...

One product I found that's helped a lot with his letter formation is a type of paper that makes the guidelines less of a mystery for him: http://www.fsp3.com/scripts/ProductDetail.asp?Product=FST6541
It looks like this, on a smaller scale:

He forms his letters "from the sky to the ground" or "from the fence to the ground". I have him write his compositions on this paper, then draw a picture that goes with his story. Unfortunately, the paper is only lined on one side only. :-(

Interestingly, though the writing is a struggle for him, his compositions are quite complex, and we usually need a couple of sheets to accomodate them. He types the rough draft on the computer, we edit, then he writes the final draft. He really enjoys writing them, so I scale back his written work on composition days. There's a lot that he can do orally.

[mzteris]

9. There's also a paper with

"raised" lines, for those who need more sensory feedback.

How old is your son, btw? (Mine just turned 12, diagnosed at 7 yo.) If your's is still young, it may just be a matter of teaching him some new techniques and practice. Beware, though, that "practice" for some is shear torture and doesn't really help at all. (Sort of like that trying to teach a pig to sing thing. lol)

Another problem a lot of dysgraphics (but not all have - and it sounds like your son doesn't) is ORGANIZATION which greatly inhibits the composition process on top of everything else. (Which imo is tied to the sequencing thing.)

Dictation is a great tool, teaching kids to type helps many. Some kids, though, are so severely impaired in their ability to "write" they use programs like DragonSpeak to "dictate" to the computer - though it doesn't work well for young kids. (Sorry, I'm going on too much, aren't I? - WAAAAAY more information that you probably every wanted. LOL)

[mzteris]

4. Break shmeak

Every day's a learning day! Whether we "school" or not, n'est pas?

:rofl:

No, no formal "schooling" unless you want to count Hogwarts. Son's got the Harry Potter computer games doncha know. Problem solving, coordination, memory, persistence, patience.

"Class" starts back on Tuesday. Of course T afternoon is the regularly scheduled "GAME DAY" for our local hs group. Lots of learning there, of course. ;)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. I got my son "Battleship" for Christmas

While we were playing it, I realized what an educational game it is for him. He learns graph coordinates, applied logic, and eventually will discover how to organize his search tactics to be as efficient as possible.