We have pulled out of DAS

After weeks of consideration, R and I made the decision to withdraw him from DAS lessons.  He felt it was too babyish for him, doing all the phonogram drills, and very boring.  I do find though he has improved in his reading for the almost two years with DAS, the progress is simply too slow.  The pace in school is moving at a much faster rate, and for someone whose reading just a little below grade, he should not be put through the standard inflexible system.

While the Orton-Gillingham method is often touted as THE only tested programme for dyslexia and there are many success stories, my internet research also turned up some parents who said it did not work for their kids.  Too many rules, too boring, too slow etc.  We fall into the latter case.  Most importantly, R is more of Stealth Dyslexia, and I do not think he ought to be put through the standard OG way of teaching.

What I also cannot understand is why did DAS not let the students bring back any of the school work home?  It was only on his last day at DAS that we were given all the work done in school from 2013! Shouldn't we be kept in the known of what's being taught in school, so that we can get the child to revise?  We may not be trained, but at the very least we can get the child to tell us or explain to us, and that in turn would have helped reinforce his lessons.  I don't get it.  To be fair, while going through the worksheet I realised DAS has taught them a lot more than I thought, but sadly we weren't shown all the work earlier to build our confidence in them.

It is time for us to get on a new path on managing dyslexia, and I hope we can find something that will help in his spelling and comprehension.

Audiobooks and Dyslexia

Recently, I purchased a few audiobooks for R.  I have read that audiobooks are the answer to helping kids who are slow readers keep up with their peers' reading repertoire.  In this sense, they will not miss out much if their friends were to discuss the current book rage.

It does work in this household!   I wasn't sure he would like it, but he does!  And so do C.  I introduced the first book of 'How To Train Your Dragon', and they loved it.  They listened to it at bedtimes.  The next book was 'The World According to Humphrey' and it was a hit too.  After listening to it, R picked up the actual book to read, and finished the title.  He is now on the 2nd Humphrey title, but the audiobook is not here yet.

I am just glad he made the small step in reading, as he was, and still is, not a keen or initiative reader.  As for myself, I learned that audiobook is a good companion when doing my walks in the park.  So I am in the bandwagon too now.

The only drawback is many times, books do not come in audio version, and if they do, it's hard to track them down.  But we will take it as far as we can.  Right now, there is enough titles to keep us occupied for awhile.


Update on 7/9/2014 : R recently had to do a online read aloud assignment as part of school's e-learning, and he tried to read like the way those audio book narrators did, with tones, effects and emphasis on some words!

Exemption from Mother's Tongue

I received the news that R's application for exemption of Mother's Tongue has been approved.  It provides much relief.  At least we do not need to fret over 听写， and all the tests and exams.

I have found a few spelling programmes for dyslexic children, and will look through them soon.  Hopefully, I can find one that can supplement his lessons at DAS.