Considering hard-core homeschooling!

[fairejour]

(DD is Miss Kat, age 7, deaf with a new cochlear implant, learning to listen and speak. )

I feel like our school is not providing what my daughter NEEDS to get benefit from her limited window of language learning. And I believe next year will be even worse. They will be mainstreaming her as much as possible with very little assistance even though she has a HUGE (4 year) language delay. I think they are going to design the program to be more "pull-out" instaed of self-contained class, because "they don't have enough kids" in the older grades.

So, if I pull her out, what does intensive "special needs" homeschooling look like? How much time is spent in direct academic games and activites? How much teaching does a school actually do in a day?

We would have Hubby actually do the teaching, and work evening (because she responds better to him, I'm seen as the "task-master" and him as the game player ) But I would be totally in charge of planning the curriculum and activites, which I feel confident I could do (Thanks John Tracy Clinic!)

We would also have therapy privately three times a week.

Is this do-able???

[inky leeuhhh]

i don't see why it wouldn't be do-able. i hs my dd, who has autism. i have always wanted to homeschool my kids, and i wasn't going to let that get in the way. she is doing great! we are doing speech therapy privately now once per week, and hopefully adding OT once i quit working this fall. i just don't see how public school could be better for her (although to be fair she has never gone and i have no experience with the ps system). maybe someone on here has deaf child and can give you some more specific info??

[urchin_grey]

Sure, its doable. DS is hearing, but he has a speech disorder, so he probably has some of the same challenges as your DD. He is only doing pre-K/Kindy work, and I gravitate towards unschooling anyway, so we are pretty relaxed. However, he has been obsessed with all things academic since age 2, so I am "giving in" a little. I plan on ordering RightStart Math Level A and Before Five in a Row this summer. I chose RS because DS is a very kinesthetic and visual learner. He just doesn't really get things unless he can see them. Then I chose BFIAR just because he loves books and I like the idea of learning through Literature. BFIAR is pre-K level, but I wanted to start there JIC Five in a Row is too advanced for him (he just turned 5 in May). I'm sure he'll get something out of the pre-K level either way.

In addition to that, we also just started doing a Reading Eggs lesson every day together. He also does Starfall (and More Starfall), which we started before he could use a computer, but now he mostly does that one himself, just whenever he feels like it (he has his own cheap little netbook). Reading Eggs involves direction from me though because he doesn't understand why he MUST do the lessons in a row (probably because he's used to Starfall LOL). Oh, and I also plan on ordering Series 2 of Signing Time. We've been watching since DS was a toddler and he loves it. Series 1 has been over played in our house though! I actually just started an online ASL course for myself as well so that we can all become more familiar with the grammar and syntax and hopefully DS will start signing/speaking in sentences. I think maybe we're just going to have to "force" him to do it. He's learned to rely on 1 word sentences very well, because we've allowed him to.

That being said, we probably won't be spending much time on seat work/computer work this year. He's going to be doing a LOT of therapy, plus some other "extracurriculars". He's going to be starting therapy through the public school (probably PT, ST, and OT), Hippotherapy with a private therapist, then we've got Park Day with the local homeschool group once a week, and then a a play day at the local indoor playground called "The Wiggle Room". We'll probably go there once a week through the summer, and then drop it down to every other week after he starts therapy. It depends on how everything goes though and what we can all manage. I don't want him to feel like he never gets a chance to just sit home and play, kwim? I imagine 6+ hours of therapy a week is a lot when you're 5.

[kristin0713]

Hi there. I am a former teacher of the Deaf/HH and I did a lot of work with CI kids. Will you be able to get her private speech therapy and private sessions with a teacher of the Deaf and an auditory verbal therapist?

[kristin0713]

(I didn't mean to send that so quickly. I have some other thoughts and I think you could totally make it work but I can't respond in detail right now. What state are you in?)

[ParisApril]

It's totally do-able. I am HSing my DD(11) and she is totally blind. Solution-learn braille and teach her. I pulled her from school because I didn't think the education she was receiving was the education she needed. She has a Mobility teacher who come once a week. And a life skills teacher who comes every other week.

We are not "intensive" though.

[fairejour]

Originally Posted by kristin0713

Hi there. I am a former teacher of the Deaf/HH and I did a lot of work with CI kids. Will you be able to get her private speech therapy and private sessions with a teacher of the Deaf and an auditory verbal therapist?

We are in Utah and we would be having 2 hours a week with a professor who trains graduate students specifically in aural rehab for the deaf and one hour a week with an SLP. What would a TOD add?

[kristin0713]

2 hours a week with a professor who trains graduate students specifically in aural rehab for the deaf and one hour a week with an SLP

That sounds PERFECT! I don't think you would even need a TOD with those therapies. I'm assuming you will be able to be present during at least some sessions so you can carry over what they are doing with her. If so, that sets up to be a very ideal scenario. You would essentially be able to continue her therapy using strategies that you learn during those sessions while you are homeschooling her. Typically, in mainstream setting, the TOD works to make everything accessible to the child with hearing loss. That was what I did in addition to AV therapy. (I worked for a deaf school but with their itinerant program, primarily sent out to public schools where students with hearing loss were mainstreamed.) Since you will be tailoring her education to her needs anyway, it eliminates the need for a person to make sure her needs are being met in the classroom. One of the biggest challenges in a school setting for kids with hearing loss is background noise interfering with their understanding the teacher and peers. She will learn so much more without the issue of background noise!!

Does the SLP have experience with kids with hearing loss? I only ask because there are some language gaps that you want to make sure get covered with your daughter that might not be picked up on by an SLP who does not specialize in Deaf/HH kids. For example, idioms and other figurative language, and social cues in speech and language (hopefully the aural rehab therapist would address some of that.)

So, if I pull her out, what does intensive "special needs" homeschooling look like? How much time is spent in direct academic games and activites? How much teaching does a school actually do in a day?

Will you be with her during the day or your husband? Or both of you and he is working evenings? So much language learning and filling in the gaps for her can be done throughout the day when it doesn't have to feel like it is "learning." At 7yo but with a 4 year language delay, I would do a lot of phonics and drilling--as much as she can handle. Maybe start out with 15 minute sessions a couple times a day and make them longer as it becomes possible. I would read to her for an hour a day, in split up intervals if needed. Have you looked at any resources from Linguisystems? They have some great materials for auditory "lessons" and games, and even materials for figurative language and social language. http://www.linguisystems.com/

I would also absolutely make it a point to involve her with other kids in very small group settings--1 or 2 other children at a time. And lots of playdates with just one child.

Do you have an FM system for her CI?

I hope this was helpful. I know I will think of more things to add. My kids are calling me again...

[fairejour]

It was very helpful! My husband would be home during the day, and I would get home in the afternoon.

She is severely language delayed, but since she had ASL first, as her first language, her cognitive and academic skills are good. She is age appropriate for math and decodes at a kindergarten level and has about 80% of her preschool, Kindergarten and first grade sight words.

Her SLP would be working on artic and speech issues. Her articulation is even poorer than expected for her post implant skills. She was given the Goldman-Fristoe artic test and she bottomed out on it.

We would be emphasising language all day. I think the academics would be a smaller portion of the day, but language, expanding vocab and correcting grammar (from ASL to English style) would be how we spend the days.

We were thinking of buying the SPICE curriculum for auditory skills, TAGS checklists for tracking language, we already have the Ausplan from Oakland Children's (to track milestones at post implant rates) and using the Listening Room for games and discrimination testing.

Is there any other curriculums for language? Things with specific games and tools? What about ideas for phonemic awareness? Is Hooked on Phonics ok for decoding? We have it and have been using it so far with success. How about ideas for activites for rhyming and other prereading (discrim like "what is baker with out the ba", and "if I have hat and change the h to a c, what does it become")? Ideas for pumping in language and expanding vocab???

[kristin0713]

The SPICE kit is awesome I also used a program called Listen Up and Talk it Up, it is a huge set of language games and activities designed by a mom of a Deaf child, but I don't believe she is selling it anymore. http://www.listen-up.org/product/page2.htm If you could find it used somewhere, I would recommend that. We had some teachers who loved using Hooked on Phonics and it worked well for a lot of kids. I did not use it with my students personally, but if it is working for her, I would say absolutely keep using it. A lot of my students did really well with the Explode the Code books.

How about ideas for activites for rhyming and other prereading (discrim like "what is baker with out the ba", and "if I have hat and change the h to a c, what does it become")? Ideas for pumping in language and expanding vocab???

I did this a lot with students just using magnetic letters on a magnet board, moving them around for the student to decode. They can also take turns making new words. You might want to look into some Montessori materials and activities as well--the movable letters for phonics and classified picture cards for vocab building. Here are some free printable materials:
http://www.montessorimaterials.org/lang.htm
I don't know of a lot of montessori stores but here are a couple:
http://www.kidadvance.com/
http://www.montessoriservices.com/store/
And I have found Lakeshore Learning to have lots of great things:
http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/home/home.jsp

When did she get her CI? What is her tolerance for being read to? I realized that maybe an hour a day might be exhausting for her now but I would try to have that as an eventual goal. Read, read, read. Ask her lots of questions to monitor her comprehension and see where her vocab needs expanding. You might want to check the Sonlight book lists and try to get books that hit a variety of subjects or check them out from the library.

[fairejour]

She was activated 19 months ago, and will have surgery for her second at the end of the month. She really likes being read to, but I worry that a lot of the language is too far over her head and she just tunes out the actual words and listens to the story and figures out most of it by the pictures. Is that ok? We stop and ask questions and explain, but that is generally in the language she already understands. Does reading actually help with the language?

The reason I am hesitating at all is that Miss Kat LOVES school. She loves going, having fun with friends, her teachers, riding the bus, EVERYTHING. I hate to take that away from her It's not that I don't want her to go to school, it's just that I want more time to work on the things she needs. By the time she gets home from school it is 4:00, she gets a snack and unwinds, it's 4:30. She does her homework, it's 5:00. Now she has therapy, it's 6:00. Then we have dinner, it's 6:30. We start reading books and getting ready for bed at 7:00, so there is no time to get anything done!

[kristin0713]

She really likes being read to, but I worry that a lot of the language is too far over her head and she just tunes out the actual words and listens to the story and figures out most of it by the pictures. Is that ok? We stop and ask questions and explain, but that is generally in the language she already understands. Does reading actually help with the language?

Yes, absolutely--especially when you read the same books over and over. Once the story is familiar to her and she is not "working" to understand what is going on, there is more opportunity to build vocabulary. Then she will have a context for understanding a new vocab word. You don't need to drill her with every book, either. Read her favorite stories over and over, then ask questions, and point out a few new words here and there. Keep it enjoyable for her and that will begin to really establish a love of reading.

The reason I am hesitating at all is that Miss Kat LOVES school. She loves going, having fun with friends, her teachers, riding the bus, EVERYTHING.

I can tell you from my experience as a teacher, things are going to get very, very hard for her at school. A classroom setting is really a terrible place for an oral/aural child with hearing loss to learn, whether they are aided or have a CI. I cannot even begin to describe how detrimental background noise is. It interferes terribly with the teacher's instructions and general teaching and peer conversations. Now, I worked with a lot of kids who were successful in the mainstream, but it was not without a LOT of work on behalf of everyone--cooperation from their teachers, consistent use of a good FM system, working with the other kids to promote understanding and facilitating a good listening environment. It can be done, but a classroom setting is just far from ideal. Besides all the language learning that your daughter will have to do to catch up, adding in the problem of background noise is like putting a weight on her back that will make it even harder for her to progress.

I hope that is not discouraging to you. If you do decide to keep her in school, I have lots of resources and info I can send you that would be helpful. Ideally, there should be a Teacher of the Deaf involved in her education in a school setting, to make sure all the right accommodations are happening and to help bridge some of these gaps. I worked with many, many wonderful teachers over the years, but the bottom line is that they are not taught how to accommodate for a child with hearing loss in their classroom and they really can't do it alone, even with the best intentions.

Please feel free to send any questions my way, I am very happy to help!

[fairejour]

If she goes to school, she will continue to be in a self-contained oral class for the deaf run by the state school for the deaf. It is co-enrolled with a hearing class, and within a mainstream school building. She does have a personal FM (Mylink).

The problem lies in the set up for the class next year. They only have three 2nd graders and two 1st graders. They are combining those two classes and moving to a "pull out" model instead of a self contained class. She would be mainstreamed in the hearing class as much as possible and then pulled out for language, reading and therapy. I think that is inappropriate. I think that she needs ALL DAY with a TOD, all day language rich enviroment.

[phathui5]

I think you can do it. And depending on where you live, you should still be able to get her therapy through the school if you want. My 4yo receives speech services through the school and will continue to do so even though he'll be homeschooled.

[kristin0713]

She would be mainstreamed in the hearing class as much as possible and then pulled out for language, reading and therapy. I think that is inappropriate. I think that she needs ALL DAY with a TOD, all day language rich enviroment.

I agree. Spending most of the day in the mainstream with where she is at with her language will be exhausting and overstimulating. She will miss most information in that setting and not get much out of peer conversations, either. In her mainstream classes, would they have a TOD team-teaching or an educational interpreter for her?

[yarngoddess]

I think that you are MORE than prepared to HS your DD! I think it's awesome that you are taking her learning to such great lengths. That's one of the things I Love about HSing! You are free to focus on the areas that you child needs specific attention. Just Fabulous

[fairejour]

Originally Posted by kristin0713

I agree. Spending most of the day in the mainstream with where she is at with her language will be exhausting and overstimulating. She will miss most information in that setting and not get much out of peer conversations, either. In her mainstream classes, would they have a TOD team-teaching or an educational interpreter for her?

Nope, I think she would be on her own. It's not appropriate at her language level. Ugh...at first I was fed up and just told my husband that we were moving (staying, really, because we are here for summer school) to St. Louis and going to CID or St. Joesph's. I'm sick of her school failing her.