Welcome to the homeschooling world through Wynfield Christian Academy

Welcome to Wynfield Christian Academy’s homeschooling world. We are not here to turn homeschooling into a private school world. We want homeschooling to flourish as it is. Homeschooling is a wonderful way to fulfill the parents’ God-given responsibilities of educating children. Wynfield just wants to provide more resources to add spice to your teaching and to make it easier to for parents to get their children into colleges without having to limit the homeschooling way. We also help families with special needs children to have more resources to homeschool their children, as well.

Here on this blog we will give you teaching ideas, discuss homeschooling issues, and even review some products for you.  Give us your comments or ideas for discussion. We are always listening. If you are interested in learning more about our umbrella program, visit our web site at www.wynfieldca.org. We also have a DeafBlind program to help educate, train, and equip DeafBlind children and adults that you can learn more about, and even learn how to help us on that mission at www.wynfieldca.org/deafblind.html or visit our blog at www.deafblindhope.wordpress.com.

Check out My Newest Homeschool Mosaics Post!

Well, today is the day I have a new post on Homeschool Mosaics! Please check it out. I think it is pretty interesting and informative. I enjoyed writing it, anyway. LOL <a href=”http://homeschoolmosaics.com/mama-look-its-helen-keller/” title=”Mama, Look It’s Helen Keller.”>http://homeschoolmosaics.com/mama-look-its-helen-keller/</a>

Foreign Language Credit: American Sign Language

Renée K. Walker—Foreign Languages—Winter 2010/11

American Sign Language

By Renée K. Walker

Foreign language credit for high schoolers can be a nightmare for many homeschooling parents and students. Many public and private school students feel they are lucky when their state does not require it for high school graduation. Homeschoolers also often try to avoid it, but many find that colleges will not accept students without it. However, foreign language should not be overlooked as an essential part of a child’s curriculum. Like art and music instruction, foreign language study enhances intellectual growth in the student. It can also improve public speaking skills and self-confidence.

Foreign language instruction isn’t complicated if you shop around for the best curriculum to suit your needs. The biggest decision you have to make is the first one, though: Which language do you want your students to learn? While there are many, in the homeschool world most choose French, Spanish, German, or Latin. There is another choice that many overlook, but it has a great potential to do good in the community around you.

Why Study American Sign Language?

As the third most-used language in the United States, accepted as a true language by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1989, and acceptable for study in most public and secondary schools for foreign language credit, American Sign Language (ASL) is an excellent choice for study. Some foreign language teachers question the validity of ASL as a true language, but linguistics experts do not question it, because it has its own system of grammar and syntax and is constantly changing as it grows within its culture and community of speakers. ASL is now accepted in most states for foreign language credit for high school graduation, and most colleges recognize it as well. Many colleges are even beginning to offer ASL instruction, with more and more offering interpreting programs in order to help address the certified interpreter shortage across the country.

High schoolers and families learning ASL have the potential of bringing light into a dim world for many Deaf people, especially DeafBlind people. You and your students’ lives can be enriched by the love and support of the Deaf community, which is indeed a culture of its own.

The study of ASL cannot be carried out successfully without a study of the culture and its history. Deaf and DeafBlind people are at a disadvantage in the hearing and sighted world. Communication issues prevent full access to many of life’s activities that most of society need and enjoy. If more people in the hearing world would take the time to learn ASL, a bridge could be built that would allow three cultural groups to meet, and new and exciting relationships could be developed. A Deaf person could easily ask a salesperson for help in the department store or order a meal at the restaurant or merely chat with a hearing person in the long line at the grocery store. A DeafBlind person could more easily find an assistant to help her write out bills or call a repairman to fix a broken window or simply have a visitor to share the afternoon with, dispelling the boredom for a while. Anything you can do in communicating with the Deaf or DeafBlind will be such a joy to a person who is sidelined from the hearing world due to communication issues.

If you find that you truly love American Sign Language and the Deaf culture, consider becoming a certified interpreter. There is a shortage of interpreters across the country. Trained interpreters are needed to help Deaf and DeafBlind people thoroughly understand what is happening in legal and medical situations. Their health or legal status could be in danger if they do not fully understand what is happening in those situations. Mastery of ASL is also a key to careers in Deaf Education and DeafBlind Studies. Learning ASL has the potential to help in so many ways, and no matter how big or small, the help is so very needed and appreciated.

Resources

If the question now is, “Okay, I want to teach ASL, but how can I go about teaching a language that is so different?” the help is out there, and finding it is easy. Many colleges and area agencies for the Deaf offer fairly inexpensive community classes, which are excellent choices. There are free options as well. The best free options are found on the Internet. The website www.lifeprint.com, created and operated by Dr. Bill Vicars, a Deaf ASL native and certified ASL teacher, is highly recommended by many Deaf agencies and by the Helen Keller National Center For Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults. You also can register with Lifeprint and submit lesson work and videotapes that are accepted for full credit in many places.

Numerous print resources are available for the study of American Sign Language and Deaf culture. A curriculum that gives a thorough study of vocabulary, grammar, and syntax is a series titled American Sign Language Green Books by Dennis Cokely and Charlotte Baker-Shenk. This series is published by Gallaudet University Press, a division of the first school for the Deaf and Deaf College, Gallaudet University. The Everything Sign Language Book: American Sign Language Made Easy by Irene Duke is a good choice for finding a lot of information in one place. The American Sign Language Phrase Book by Lou Fant, The American Sign Language Handshape Dictionary with optional flash card sets, and The Gallaudet Dictionary of American Sign Language are excellent resources, all of which can be purchased at www.amazon.com.

"Fingerspelling Chart ABC copyright by Lifeprint.com"

Find and use a chart of the American Manual Alphabet for fingerspelling. Twenty-six handshapes correspond to each letter of the alphabet. The Manual Alphabet is used in only a limited fashion in ASL, but fingerspelling and the handshapes play important roles. The Lifeprint website offers an alphabet chart, and most ASL resources will include one.

Regardless of the particular American Sign Language curriculum you choose, find a mentor—an interpreter, ASL teacher, fluent signer, or native speaker, who can make sure you are learning the signs properly and using them correctly. It is difficult to learn a sign using only a picture or even a video presentation. If possible, find a mentor in the Deaf community. He or she will help you not only to properly apply the skills learned in the curriculum, but also to enrich your vocabulary. You can form lasting bonds that not only will enrich the class but will enrich your lives as well.

A Few Considerations

Before you begin your study of American Sign Language, there are a few things that need to be considered. Many hearing individuals have the misconception that ASL is an easy or a simple language. That is probably derived from a misunderstanding of how the grammar and syntax works or from a direct translation that sounds similar to baby talk, but isn’t. ASL is a rich visual language that actually paints pictures with more detail than any verbal language does. The grammar and syntax is more like Japanese or Navajo than English. Learning any foreign language can be a challenging task, and learning American Sign Language is no exception. Consider this when choosing the language of study for your student.

Another aspect to consider is that some students who may have been overlooked for foreign language study due to learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, or auditory /visual processing disorders may be capable of learning and actually benefiting from acquisition of a visual language rather than a verbal one. Also, many hearing people think that any form of communication done with signs is sign language or ASL. However, many modes of communication use the hands to facilitate interaction and teaching of English to the Deaf. Signed Exact English (SEE) is one in which every English word is signed. It uses ASL signs and SEE signs, i.e., signs made to cover signs not found in ASL, because ASL doesn’t use the same syntax as English.

Pidgin Signed English, also known as Contact Language, is another tool that is used to bridge the gap between the hearing and the Deaf. It uses mostly American Sign Language signs, but in English word order. It is similar to ASL in that you don’t sign the forms of “be” or every single word.

All of these approaches are ways to communicate with the Deaf and may be beneficial if communication is the motivation or if used as a bridge to teach English skills to the Deaf. However, these approaches are not foreign languages, because they do not have a syntax or grammatical system of their own. They merely represent English words formed with the hands in a visual manner. For this reason, study of these approaches does not qualify for foreign language credit at the high school or college level.

When you choose a curriculum, ASL must be listed as the language of study. A listing of “sign language” is not enough to identify the subject as American Sign Language. Finally, ASL study must include a study of its history and culture of the Deaf community. In no other language have the creation and evolution of a language been so obviously impacted by the history and culture of its speakers as with ASL. Your study will enhance your understanding not only of the language but of the lives of members of the Deaf community as well. Their struggles and progress have united them uniquely as a community.

With all this good information from reputable sources, there are no excuses to not learn American Sign Language, a tremendous skill that can be acquired and enjoyed by you and your students. Do yourself a favor and after checking with your colleges of interest and/or your state requirements regarding foreign language credit, seriously consider American Sign Language for your students’ foreign language credit. The choice can bring joy to your family and the life of many Deaf and DeafBlind people.

 

First published by The Old SchoolHouse Magazine, Winter 2010/11.

All About Reading Level 1

*Due to the nature of this product, the fact that it is a full curriculum, and the detailed description of the product, its procedures, and useful modifications for the blind and DeafBlind members of my audience, this is a long post. However, the information is important and aspects of what you do not need can be easily skipped during reading. Please do not let the length deter you.*

"All About Reading Basic and Interactive Kit"

Everyone seems to have an idea how to teach your child to read no matter what issues your child may have. Some are nothing more than snake oil or copied methods, good or bad, from days gone by. In formal education settings, one might say that the teaching of reading never changed for a century or more. It was a “one size fits all” kind of thing. I have taught many students to read, and usually without a “proper curriculum”. At that time, I really hadn’t found a suitable curriculum, and often, my students didn’t quite fit the “one size fits all” method. I struggled on my own creating my own materials by hand and discovering the strengths and weaknesses of each student teaching to the strengths and working to improve the weaknesses through trial and error. A loving parent or truly caring teacher longing to teach their struggling child to read is a perfect recipe for innovative teaching systems. I have reviewed a few here for you to check out before. One that I bring to you now, I have reviewed in parts before as the author has developed products beginning with spelling, and as she learned more, her system grew into a full reading program. You can read my other reviews on All About Spelling and All About Homophones  and Beehive Readers along with the reader, What am I from the archives. Now let’s see how this program by Marie Rippel which has become All About Reading has grown.

I was sent All About Reading: Level 1, a full curriculum teaching all key reading skills in a multisensory method which is mastery-based and customizable utilizing step-by-step lesson plans. The program comes with a full teacher’s manual including the step-by-step lesson plans and instructions for using all of the course materials, three volumes of short stories developed specifically for learning to read the vocabulary presented in the program at each phase, student packet with thick paper phonogram and word cards, and a student workbook with activities designed to teach and practice the key reading skills. The Deluxe Reading Interactive Kit, sold separately, contains letter tiles, magnets for the letter tiles, Basic Phonograms CD-ROM (playable in a computer only), reading divider cards, reading review box, tote bag, and smiling star stickers. The materials and container are all well-made and sturdy enough to last through many students. You could laminate the phonogram and word cards which are 4.25 inches by 2.75 inches of sturdy card stock to make them more durable, if you wish. The letter tiles and tabbed reading card dividers have already been given a glossy laminated coating. The teacher’s guide and consumable workbook have sturdy bindings with glossy coatings. The workbook has pre-perforated pages to ease removal, and the activities are separated individually and clearly marked by lesson number. The student texts are made with high quality paper and a sturdy binding reminiscent of fine textbooks of days gone by with a glossy coating. These are products designed to be in use for many years.

After your initial preparation of the materials included in the highly recommended and affordable Deluxe Interactive kit which takes about 45 minutes to an hour to separate the cards and tiles and place them in the reading box provided and a zip type bags, you will then have very little preparation to do to successfully carry out the program. Your preparation only needs a couple of minutes to use the provided CD-ROM of the phonograms for the lesson to ensure that you can pronounce them clearly for student understanding, and another five minutes to preview the lesson layout, and a final five minutes to preview the activity and gather the needed materials. Of course, having the basic needs like tape, scissors, stapler, crayons or markers always handy for the student will help cut down on your prep time even more. The final preparation time is very important and should not be left out. It involves deciding and gathering your read-aloud time books. I like the fact that read-aloud time is such an important aspect of this program. Ms. Rippel gives you plenty of help in learning how to prepare and implement read-aloud time successfully from deciding the best time of day to read-aloud to gathering an appropriate variety and types, and how to minimize distractions. She also makes it clear why this time is so valuable by gaining important background knowledge on various subjects, developing a larger vocabulary, and hearing a variety of language patterns while all of this helps give your child a higher reading comprehension when the child begins to read independently. Even the busiest of teachers can fit lesson preparation for this program into their day.

The basic lesson model for most lessons begins with Review. Review the phonogram and word cards from the previous lessons. If the student knows the sound or word well, you can move the card from the review section of the box to the mastered section. You will find the words for the beginning lesson and new words as they are added in the future lessons section which helps to best organize your box and keep only a few in the section you are working with daily. You will then teach new letter sounds by showing the phonogram cards and saying each sound and having the student repeat the sound. Review them and then place the cards in the review section of the reading box for the next lesson. Using a magnetic board or table, you review the same sounds with the letter tiles practicing until they can say the sound accurately. The lesson also builds in exercises with the letter tiles to practice commonly confused letters such as “b” and “d”.  You will also use the letter tiles to build words and show the student how to sound out words by touching the letter and saying the sound followed by sliding your finger underneath each tile as you sound out the word. Other aspects of the lesson such as changing initial letter sounds to make new words, and color-coded letter tiles to help identify vowels and consonants, and board labels to organize consonant teams and different spellings of different sounds followed by activities from the student book teach and develop the key components of reading which are phonological awareness, phonics and decoding, fluency (which is often overlooked especially at this stage), vocabulary, and comprehension. Using sight, sound, and touch, your student is actively engaged as the student learns and applies new learning immediately.

With my own students, I followed the program step by step and modified the materials when it was necessary for my learning disabled, low-vision, blind, deaf, and DeafBlind students. The program being based on the Orton-Gillingham approach and the latest research is very beneficial as is for most learning disabled, dyslexic students. Ms. Rippel begins her instructional method based on this approach at the beginning of the reading process (there is a Pre-1 level for preschoolers and Kindergarteners, too) which is seldom done in regular school programs. Many begin using a program suitable for these children after they begin to struggle with the regular program. Starting from the beginning using the researched approaches sounds like the better idea. Now being DeafBlind myself, I scanned the text and teacher’s guides into software such as OpenReader which then translated the OCR’ed text into braille. This let me independently prepare for the lessons and even prepare the readers with braille. With my other students, I modified or created my own tiles using braille for the letter, sound, and key word clues for my blind and DeafBlind students and myself, since I need that to teach the students. The sound cards provided are yellow with black typed .5 inch to .75 inch thick, clear letter fonts without serifs or “tails” which should be readable for most students including low-vision students. Legally blind students may need larger font cards made on white background or other individually-suited backgrounds with print color that provides good contrast. As I have done with another set of readers received from this author, I brailled adhesive plastic for the text of the books in the same reading pattern as used by the author on the pages. The pages of the books are delightfully textured like linen paper and have a smell both of which tickle the senses like books of old. This is great for those students who love sensory stimuli and blind and DeafBlind who rely on the other senses for pleasure and information. Visually, the illustrations are simple, but pleasing using an interesting snapshot and card label layout like it is a picture of a scrapbook page. The illustrations depict scenes that aid comprehension, but they do not go so far as let you read the text just from pictures like some children who can look at the pictures and almost perfectly word the text as if they are truly reading, but aren’t. With these modifications, the program can be beneficial for many types of students and used as independently as possible by most teachers regardless of abilities or disabilities.

The final aspect you may be wondering is whether, even if the materials can be modified for use, the method is actually beneficial for most types of students especially Deaf, blind, and DeafBlind. For those students, the sensory aspect seems to be missing some elements at first glance, but if you understand the way these students learn and think, you will see that multi-sensory is still in operation. The Deaf may not hear and many may not speak, but they speak with their hands; and therefore, it is there you find their voice, and it is naturally kinesthetic. Their eyes allow them to read print, but also in many cases their natural language is often “read” on the hands. Reading print and reading signs stimulates different parts of the brain. The blind and DeafBlind do not see directly, but they do visualize print or braille and the pictures that reading brings in their minds, so with individual words and letters they see that printed or braille letter in their mind, and then in reading the words come alive like movies. Their fingers do the reading rather than the eyes, but it is also naturally kinesthetic as the brain receives the movement of the hands and the texture of the braille dots. Like the Deaf, the reading of braille stimulates another part of the brain for the blind. The hearing blind will also hear the teacher’s voice and the sound of their own as they say the words out loud. The Deaf and DeafBlind do not hear the sound even if they can talk, but the multi-sensory presence is still there, and many will mouth the words or at least some of the sounds as they read in braille or tactually read the sign. Yes, these students can benefit, too, as my students showed, but the teacher does need to understand the differences and make sure that as many communication methods as possible are used along with the tactile uses of the cards and tiles as prescribed by the author. Although there is no study on the use of non-braille specific curriculums for teaching the blind and DeafBlind, my work with my own students seems to indicate that using good quality programs such as All About Reading modified for their needs, can be just as beneficial if not more, since the researched methods of dealing with learning difficulties is built-in to some of these products, especially All About Reading. I certainly cannot guarantee that what I have seen work with my students will work with yours, and the author, of course, didn’t develop her methods with these types of students in my mind, but you might want to check it out for yourself based on your students’ abilities, since braille curriculums are expensive for the parent who has chosen to teach their student at home or even a small Special Needs school.

The All About Reading program can be purchased on-line at the All About Learning web site, http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com. The basic program with the teacher’s guide, student readers, and student workbook can be purchased for $99.95. The Basic Interactive Kit which has the tiles, cards, Phonograms CD-ROM, and magnets can be purchased for $28.95. A Deluxe kit with the basic kit contents plus a tote bag, star stickers for student progress chart, and Reading Review box can be purchased for $48.95. Individual components of both kits can be purchased separately, as needed. Other levels and supplemental resources can be found on their site, as well. All of this high quality and researched materials make All About Reading an excellent program that will be useful for many types of students and last for years. A great reader learns to love learning.

For me, I don’t always recommend a product. I just will give you very specific details about a product and how it might be beneficial with different groups. All About Reading is a program that I can recommend.

To read other reviews about this product and others from The Old SchoolHouse Crew, go to the TOS Crew blog.

Though I was provided a product to review for this blog, I have not been compensated in any other way, and the opinion expressed here is entirely my own.

Get Vocabulary Help with the Accessbile SAT App

SAT ® and ACT® preparation is on anyone’s mind if they plan to go to college. Most of our curriculums will help prepare you for the writing, verbal, and math portions, but one section tends to stump a lot of us, and that is vocabulary. Where do they come up with some of those words? Finding a good resource that is interesting is the key. If you are blind or deafblind, those resources become very limited. VocabAhead may just be the choice for you and your students with its “entertaining and effortless vocabulary building solution”.

VocabAhead’s SAT Vocabulary: Cartoons, Videos, and MP3s is a simple, but handy study aid for any trying to bone up on their vocabulary. Let’s describe the book aid first. Each page covers one word. The page lists the correct spelling of the word and its part of speech. It then lists the definition along with a humorous cartoon illustrating the word’s meaning. The cartoon has two to three different sentences describing the cartoon using the word or using the word appropriately in additional example sentences. The page concludes with a short list of synonyms and antonyms for the word. There are 30 units which group words in loose categories of similarity. At the end of the unit, a review exercise is provided of matching and fill-in-the blank practice of the words in that unit. Answers are included in the back of the book. This is a great way to build visual connections to easily learn and reinforce that learning.

Visual learning is not the only style supported by this little aid. You can download the narrations of each page on MP3 files to your favorite player and listen and learn on-the-go. This is great for the blind and  auditory learners and those with reading difficulties and dyslexia. There are also videos to download that will allow you to take the book with you in a digital fashion on your IPod, IPhone, and IPad which for some students with special needs is a great plus. Some autistics are learning to use the IDevices to spur their learning and reinforce their memory and attention spans. The audio files and the videos are free for download of their website. I also hope the team will add a feature. That is a pronunciation guide for the word. Some students need that visual key to help them with learning to pronounce words. Regardless, this is a perfectly priced study aid for vocabulary improvement.

To my great surprise, I found on their website that an IPhone/IPod app is available for this study aid. Being Deaf and Blind, I was happy to see a lite or free version available for testing. That means this review will also go on my DeafBlind Hope blog to help DeafBlind people know what can help them. To add to my excitement, I found they did a great job making the app accessible to braille output for the most part. Everything in the “Study Words” section works fine with braille. The flash cards work well too except for the tap to hint section which can be selected on a braille display, but because the hint is only an image, the braille display goes blank. This would definitely confuse a person needing the braille. They might not know what to do next or think the program closed or locked up. I suggest that they add a text hint here such as a synonym or a sentence using the word or a text description of the image that would help with the word. In the quiz section, the main page is accessible. The buttons work and even the dial a word section which is more of a graphic is accessible. You can scroll through the list to see which words will be on the list and change the list from the “don’t know yet” list and the “mastered” list for continued practice on all the words. Once you click the start quiz button and change to the first word on the test, the app loses it on accessibility. The home and back button work fine. You also can see which word you are being quizzed on next, but the multiple check boxes of possible definition answers only shows on the braille display as “btn” which means button.  You cannot read what the choice is at all. You can check with the select button on the display, but you don’t get any response as to right or wrong as you should. You only get the text “dmd btn” which is demand button. I also couldn’t figure out how to move forward in the quiz by braille display either. You do a one finger flick on the touch screen. That isn’t always easily understood by people who are totally deaf and blind, so a next button should be added. These are easy fixes for the app developers, though. I am hopeful that this will be updated soon because I am sure the developers would like to make their app fully accessible. I am going to email them with my suggestions as their app boldly asks for which is a positive point for the developers. They obviously want to get suggestions for improvement. When it is, I can tell you that the app will be worth buying even at $9.99 if you are blind or deafblind because it covers 1000 words. It is already a great app for other users including some special needs students.

Between the book, the audio files, the video files, and the IPhone/IPod app, VocabAhead SAT Vocabulary: Cartoons, Videos, and MP3s should have everyone covered. To find out more, go to http://vocabahead.com. This neat study aid can also be purchased easily at Amazon.com for $12.95 in book form. A DVD version is also available for $24.99. This could be a fun way to a higher SAT® or ACT® score or just to get a little smarter.

Making the Grade with Light Speed AP Preparation

You may have heard of the Advanced Placement tests offered on different subjects by the College Board. If not, the AP tests allow a student who has studied advanced material on a subject through college level to take a test to receive both high school and college credit for the material. It is a good program for students who excel in one or more areas. Learning the material isn’t necessarily enough. Additional preparation on completion of essay writings required, topics covered, test-taking strategies, etc. could mean the difference between credit and no credit. The Cerebellum Corporation now presents their Light Speed Advanced Placement video program to clear the way for success.
This new program uses a format similar to their popular Standard Deviants series sold on DVD and seen on PBS. Through young actors and on-screen graphics, the program covers extensive research on essential test topics of Chemistry, U. S. History, U. S. Government and Politics, and English Composition and Language. The producers say it is a rapid and thorough approach to the topics. I received U. S. History to review. As the date for my students’ testing was only about two weeks away when I received the tape, I could give the students’ limited time to review the material before the test date. I showed the video on one school day, and let them use pages from the digital workbook provided with the program. The workbook pages are very concise and detailed to reinforce the material presented on the video. After viewing the video, I asked the two students to write comments about the experience. Both stated that they enjoyed the time spent viewing the video and thought it was helpful to them. It seemed to allay some concerns about the test and strengthen confidence at the very least. The essay section seemed to be the most helpful to the students. They felt the material was presented very clearly and concisely. One felt the actors were a bit corny and felt that was a little distracting. I definitely wouldn’t normally present the material in one session and only a couple of weeks to use the digital workbook. The program was designed to be used in small sessions and repeatedly throughout the year of preparing for an AP test. You can’t judge the program for its effectiveness in improving scores, of course, but both students felt more confident about taking the AP test after viewing the material. That is a plus in itself.
I have a little complaint with the DVD because I was not able to view this program myself. For deaf students, the DVD is not closed-captioned. Blind students would have some difficulty with the digital workbook because of the .pdf format limitations for speech readers and braille output. You can copy to another program for accessibility, but some of the pages consisted of pictures with information that can’t be view with a brailled display or spoken with a speech reader. I certainly hope the producers will at least consider using closed captions in the future.
Although we can’t say how the program affected my students’ scores, their increased confidence even with the short time they had the program should count for something. At the cost of $14.98 for each title, Cerebellum’s Light Speed AP U. S. History should not be considered a waste of money. For the rest of the year, you can receive a 20% discount off any product using the code OSH20 at checkout. Check out their full listing at http://www.sdlearn.com.
I received a free U. S. History program to write this review. I didn’t receive any other compensation, and the opinion expressed here is entirely my own.

Mathematical Reasoning: Middle School Supplement

One of the many problems facing some students in learning math is that they have trouble reasoning or thinking logically. The student may have been presented facts previously that they memorized for a tentative period, but they didn’t learn how to use those facts to reason or think logically about problems given to them. Thus, the student tends to forget many of the math facts shortly after the test. One problem with teaching a student to think logically is creating problem samples that are interesting and suitable for applying facts learned to deeper levels. The Critical Thinking Company has long established that they can produce materials designed to teach a student to think mathematically and apply the math facts to useful and interesting problems. Their newest edition to the Mathematical Reasoning series, Mathematical Reasoning: Middle School Supplement continues that tradition beautifully. My high school and middle school-aged students have been using this product recently in order for me to review. Let me tell you about our experience.
First of all, Mathematical Reasoning: Middle School Supplement has fifty problem sets covering topics typical of Middle School level from 2D Geometry to Probability to Per Cents to Statistics to 3D Geometry along with some higher level thinking practice on miscellaneous topics. There are a hundred pages of actual content with fifty-four remaining pages of detailed answers. Each lesson comes with a list for review of any math facts needed to solve the problems for review. In the answers section, strategy tips are also listed for each lesson if the student needs a little help finding the process to solve. Each problem was developed to stimulate mathematical reasoning and provide enrichment and practice for specific skills. The problems are not particularly real-life oriented, though, so if you are looking for that kind of problem set predominantly, you won’t find it here. The author might provide more of that in the future, though, if needed by many. While the answers provided are detailed and comprehensive, many problems do have more than one solution method, so students can be encouraged to be creative in the process. The publisher suggests that the book can be used for enrichment, but also as an overall assessment tool of how well a student learned middle school concepts.
I found Mathematical Reasoning: Middle School Supplement useful with my gifted Sixth graders and for my lower level Ninth graders. The Sixth graders were excited by the idea of doing middle school math problems, and also found them challenging and interesting. The 9th graders needed to revisit the math facts and practice using them and focusing on the thinking process of working the problems designed for a specific skill. Many found the work in their own books too challenging. These problems were just the right fit.
The Critical Thinking Company has its Mathematical Reasoning series in nine levels from Pre-K to 8 all focusing on the strategies need for solving a wide variety of math problems. Other workbooks covering other subjects and topics are also available on their web site. You will find Mathematical Reasoning: Middle School Supplement on their site at http://www.criticalthinking.com for $19.99. The series will be a great step to improved math reasoning preparing students for upper level math courses, as well as improved test scores.
I also recently reviewed The Critical Thinking Company’s Editor In Chief: Beginning 1. Please check it out, too, here.
Though I was provided a product to review for this blog, I have not been compensated in any other way, and the opinion expressed here is entirely my own.

Fractazmic: Learning Fractions the Cool Way

I have often been asked for products that teach the concepts of fractions besides the old and possibly tired fraction pie resource. TOS Crew has reviewed a few good and different ones in that you can check out in the Blog Cruise archives. Recently, though, a couple of fun game products were sent to us to review that I think are quite unique. If your student really doesn’t feel motivated to learn fractions, the one I was sent is definitely worth a try. Fractazmic is a fun game that teaches fractions and numbers and measurement. And did I mention that it is a game! What better way to learn!

The basics of the game are to create a hand and have the most hands before any player runs out of cards. A hand is created by adding together the fraction cards of the same suit to equal one. There are three suits in three different colors. The sixteenths suit is red, the twelfths suit is blue, and the tenths suit is green. Within a suit, the cards show fractions that can be added together. When you have cards that total together to equal 1 in that suit, you have a hand. For example, in the twelfths suit or blue cards, you might have ¼ and 1/3 and 5/12. Those fractions when changed to equivalent fractions with the same denominator can be added to equal 1 such as 3/12 plus 4/12 plus 5/12 equals 12/12 or 1. Using graphical depictions on the colorful cards, the student can quickly make the mental calculations required while learning and reinforcing the concepts of equivalent fractions and adding of fractions. Each suit uses a different application for representation of the fraction amount such as eggs in a cartoon for the twelfths suit, water in a water bottle for the tenths suit, and a close up view of a ruler for the sixteenths suit thus teaching the concepts of numbers, fractions, and measurement. To aid even further the quick mental calculation, the ruler graphic used in the sixteenths suit also depicted cute little brown ants and green grasshoppers to visually and quickly see one sixteenth unit and 4 sixteenths units. This visually helps the student to remember that 1 grasshopper is 2/8 or 4/16 allowing for quick denominator change and adding along with the addition of the number of ants to better see and calculate the ones. This is an excellent use of visuals for mental calculation and concept reinforcement.

Along with the colorful concept depictions, the game play is simple and fast moving to motivate and encourage even the most reluctant of math learners. The play really does make it fun while teaching the complex concepts and the “why it works” behind the math.

Many special needs populations should benefit from the colorful representations of the fractions in comparison of equivalency especially learning disabled students. I will give suggestions for modifying the cards or adding to the cards that can work, especially if you wish to include your special needs students in play with your other students. These are merely suggestions. You may feel that they are more complex or work intensive than the benefit brings. You can decide that for yourself. If you have students who really need more tactile and kinesthetic representations, start with tutor-aided demonstration games where the student has a tutor to help him manipulate real objects of an egg carton with wooden or plastic eggs, a liter water bottle with the same graduated increments (if the student needs more than just counting the line markings to visually see the amount, use a clear water bottle and pre-measured colored plastic page strips that can be slipped inside the bottle to represent water to the desired level), and an oversized ruler or card-drawn ruler (if needed or to add more textured manipulation for the student who needs multisensory input to attach meaning to objects and words, and allow for the same visual effect for quick mental calculation, use appropriately sized models of an ant and a grasshopper). For blind and DeafBlind students, I would use the real objects first to help the student grasp the representation of the fraction and addition of fractions. The cards are easily brailled with the fractions each card represents and the word name or fraction name with the word suit to distinguish suit differences. After the student fully grasps the object representations, tactile markings can be placed on the cards to remind the student of the components for calculation. Or the cards can be brailled with the additional cell for the suit fraction such as the ¼ card of the twelfths suit can be brailled with “3 eggs” or the 3/12 fraction cells. Thus, the card would have the ¼ braille cells (with or without the number braille sign), the word twelfths or the number 12 and ths cells for 12ths representing the suit, and the braille cells for 3/12 or “3 eggs to cover all of the needed information to play the game successfully depending on the memory aids needed for the student. It must be noted that tactile markings and braille cells will make it necessary to be gentler when shuffling and during game play. Tactile markings may have to be reapplied occasionally, too. Again, these modifications are just ways to try to make the cards more useful to more student populations.

Fractazmic can be found at http://www.fractazmic.com for just $6.95. The website also describes other ways to play and listings of other great card games to learn other math concepts.

To read other reviews about this product and others from The Old SchoolHouse Crew, go to the TOS Crew blog.

Though I was provided a product to review for this blog, I have not been compensated in any other way, and the opinion expressed here is entirely my own.

Editor In Chief: Beginning 1

I was recently asked by Critical Thinking Company to review a couple of their products with my students. I didn’t hesitate because I have reviewed some of their products before and felt that they can be useful products. Worksheets and work booklets can often be used for nothing more than busy work and lead to a lack of progress, but if the sheets are well-produced to teach specific concepts and used appropriately by a teacher, benefits can be provided. Critical Thinking Company has a variety of work booklets that do present specific concepts well. I was sent two different topics for two different ability levels. I will begin here with the elementary level for grades 2-3 called “Editor In Chief: Beginning 1”.

This new booklet is the first in the Editor In Chief series, though the series has been in publication for many years. This is an addition as the publisher takes the series to earlier ages which had already been expanded to cover eight levels for grades 2-12+. There are sixteen lessons across sixty-seven pages of content including multiple review pages. Each lesson covers a specific concept from capitalization to verb tenses to subject/verb agreement to homophones and everything in between. Each lesson presents the rules for the concept and ample practice exercises. The publisher states the booklet can be used in individual and group activity for instruction, reinforcement, practice, and assessment of English grammar and mechanics. There are multiple selections to provide instructional examples and others for assessment of student understanding. There are mini reviews and reviews provided throughout the lessons to provide short-term and long-term assessment during the use of the material. Each lesson is also pre-perforated to allow easy removal for use. Answers are also provided in the back of the booklet. The writing samples are varied and interesting to most students to provide motivation to focus on the lesson. In each of the lessons, I, especially, like the list of rules stated clearly with a good example as the introduction to the concept. The rules are not buried in narrative making them easier to refer to as the student progresses through the exercises. Thus, the student frequently reads the rules while making decisions about its use case by case aiding retention and application. Another good feature for this level is the marking of the number and type of errors to the right of each selection. If there are two comma errors and four contraction errors, each are listed with the number of circles with the number inside the circle, so the student knows what to look for and can mark them off as they find them. This guides the student and helps to prevent frustration and possible loss of interest. Editing your writing is always the best way to reinforce your learning. These exercises teach these skills that are often only vaguely learned rules with no grasp of how they are used. Editor In Chief can go a long way helping to improve your student’s writing.

For regular and Special Needs students, the booklet uses a clear, crisp font and a large size for easy reading of the rules and the exercises. Spaces are placed between the lines of the paragraphs making them easier to read and mark to correct errors. The error-tallying feature is also great for some Special Needs students that need more structure and guidance along the way.This is especially helpful to some Special Needs students. The age and grade levels are marked, but I also found the Editor In Chief: Beginning 1 useful for high school students who had significant issues with certain concepts or had lower reading levels. The simplicity of the writing samples helped many of the older student’s practice the skills they had not mastered earlier without needing to focus heavily on content helping them to concentrate on rules and practice for retention. The short samples on various and more interesting topics also helped me with providing instruction to my blind and DeafBlind students. Being short, but interesting, I could quickly and easily braille them for use by my blind students to supplement their limited and expensive curriculums. I would like to suggest to educational providers to consider providing for a cost an additional .txt file with the purchase of their booklets for teachers such as I who need more materials that can be embossed in braille for our blind and DeafBlind students.

Critical Thinking Company’s Editor In Chief: Beginning 1 can be used in many ways to help a student. This booklet and many others on various topics in Language, Math/Science, and logical thinking can be found on their web site, http://www.criticalthinking.com. Editor In Chief: Beginning 1 is available for $14.99. This series is a fun way to improve your child’s writing by learning the skills and learning to apply them.

Look for my review here of Critical Thinking Company’s Mathematical Reasoning: Middle School Supplement in a few days. You won’t be disappointed.

Though I was provided a product to review for this blog, I have not been compensated in any other way, and the opinion expressed here is entirely my own.

Touch Points

By Renée K. Walker

You may remember me describing here the troubles I have had getting doctors in my area to provide me interpreters. That fight continues, but I now have completed the first battle. Though I can’t speak of the specific circumstances or resolution, I can describe the process that I have been through now and that the process worked. At least for one incident, compliance to the ADA law and education to help those who come into this particular situation in the future has been met. That is what the advocacy process can do. We all need to learn the skills to advocate for ourselves, but at times, we need help to move the mountains before us.

The best way to begin is to call and ask for an appointment first. Once the organization has given you an appointment, tell them your specific communication needs that fall under ADA law for effective communication. This could be the CART system which is where you have a typist who has been trained in medical or legal interpreting depending on your setting or it could mean an ASL interpreter, or some other form of communication. If the office tells you that they don’t provide interpreters or your method of communication. Try to remain calm and use the moment to educate the personnel regarding the ADA law. Explain that it is required by law and offer to provide the personnel with a copy of the law section that pertains to the situation. You can also direct them to the National Association for the Deaf’s (NAD) website at www.nad.org or the ADA website at www.ada.gov. Document your call and its contents in some way. If you use relay services, save the transcript. If you have a hearing person call for you, see if they will write a summary of the transcripts. In my state, the laws allow me to record conversations without the permission of the other party. That could be a possibility, but you have to check the laws of your state first. You do not want to be in violation. A written record is usually quite sufficient. Even if the office personnel stated they weren’t interested in the ADA information. Mail them a copy anyway asking them to please look it over and seek legal advice if they wish. Respectfully ask them to consider your need. Call the office again after giving them a little time to do as you requested documenting the phone call. Many times this opportunity to educate politely is all that is needed to help people to understand your needs and their responsibilities. Often, the personnel didn’t mean any disrespect. They just were unfamiliar with the law and had not had any prior experience with disabled persons needing communication assistance.

In the event that your needs are still not met, please don’t get discouraged and give up or go to an appointment using just a friend or relative who can communicate with you. The ADA law has been written to help you. There are reasons the ADA law stipulates using a qualified interpreter. Family and friends may not be able to translate the complex medical or legal concepts to the patient in an effective manner. Often times, emotional situations may be difficult for them to handle, and the family member or friend may resort to hiding some information. The love and concern is understandable and commendable, but it is not appropriate when the patient’s ability to make decisions regarding their health or legal issue is hindered. It is the patient’s right to decide the form of effective communication they need and want, but understanding why the ADA law was written is also important in helping the patient function on his own behalf.

Your next step should be to contact your state’s local advocacy agency or ADA attorney. The attorney assigned to you will then work with you to get the information regarding your complaint. If non-compliance is determined, the advocate will contact the organization and inform them of your complaint against them providing the legal information that the organization needs to understand in order to best serve you. This may be enough to resolve your situation and help you get your communication needs met.

If not, you are not alone. Your advocate will help you with the next steps. If you wish to proceed, the advocate will file on your behalf a complaint to the Department of Justice (DOJ). You will provide input as to what you would like to receive from the organization that is in non-compliance such as an appointment where an interpreter is provided to allow effective communication. Once the complaint is written, you will receive a copy and give final approval to allow the advocate to file the complaint with the DOJ. DOJ prefers to start off with using a third-party mediating company. This company provides people who are trained to remain objective and help the parties in a dispute come to an agreement. In this situation, they help the organization understand the need for compliance to the ADA and the best procedure to do that. They also help educate both parties in how to best meet the needs of the complainant (person filing the complaint). The mediation meeting takes place at a neutral place or using telephone conference or whatever method works best for the parties involved. Your advocate is with you throughout the process. You can decide if you want the advocate to speak for you or if you want to speak for yourself asking help from your advocate as needed. The process of mediation is not a court trial. It is an informal meeting for discussion. The mediator helps to keep the discussion flowing and working toward resolution. Either party can end the mediation process at any time. All conversation during the mediation is completely confidential, so you and the other parties can be open. You are not forced into anything, but you do have lots of support from your advocate and the mediator to help things run smoothly and professionally.

Hopefully, the mediation meeting will lead to a resolution plan. The plan itself may take several months or more for the respondent (the person you are filing the complaint against) to fully complete all aspects of the plan depending on the situation and the complexities involved. When all is complete, you will be notified. If you are to be given an appointment using effective communication, that will be part of the plan. You will be given the opportunity to arrange that appointment. The mediation process and your case will not be closed until you and your advocate agree that the plan has been completed as prescribed.

Should the mediation process fail, the DOJ will then take the case back and a federal trial may then be held. I am not familiar with that process yet, and hope I will never have to go that far. I would prefer that education and/or the mediation process would be enough to secure my rights to effective communication in medical and legal settings. From my experiences with the mediation process so far, I can see that it is highly effective, and the results are probably very successful in many cases.

Remember as you request for your needs to be met that you are not only advocating for yourself, but you are also advocating for others who will follow you. If we all are more willing to use the resources available to us to enforce the ADA law, we can educate more organizations and make the lives of all disabled a little easier.

 

If you have comments about this topic, you may write a letter in braille or print to Renée Walker, 143 Williamson Drive, Macon, GA 31210; or you may email me at rkwalker@wynfieldca.org. You can also read and comment on my blog at http://www.deafblindhope.wordpress.com. You can also check me out at www.facebook.com/reneekwalker.

 

Touch Points

By Renée K. Walker

A Tribute

Summer has arrived and, along with it, my 25^th wedding anniversary and my 50^th birthday. I was married 25 years ago on June 22, 1986 just before my 25^th birthday (which is on June 26). My husband and I have raised two wonderful boys who are now 30 and 23 years old. They are both out on their own fulfilling dreams and being responsible men of integrity. Each has a wonderful girlfriend who seems to enrich his life. I am very proud of them both. My husband and I have worked together to build a good home and lives that are used to serve our Lord Jesus. That is something I am proud of, too.

It hasn’t always been easy because life is never easy for anyone. Unexpected hurdles and just happenstance can unravel the best of plans made for a life. One must learn to flow with the changes. Among other of life’s normal struggles, we had a few unusual ones thrown in for me. Though profoundly deaf for most of my life, the process was still gradual, and I learned to do a lot with what sound I had. When it was gone, my lip reading skills still allowed me to go about my daily activities seemingly as if I could hear. I found it to be an annoyance at most, but I mostly just never thought about it. It just wasn’t a problem. I was also night blind from an early age, but I just kept bright lights on at night and drove carefully on familiar and short routes if I drove at all. I managed just fine doing what I have always done which is raising a family, teaching, and serving others.

A few years after our wedding, the vision issues decreased rapidly to the point that I could no longer ignore them. As I have said here before, the diagnosis was Retinitis Pigmentosa exhibited as Usher Syndrome Type III. When the vision dimmed, my life drastically changed. My articles here have depicted many of the struggles of being deaf and blind. We have coped as well as we could and, sometimes even risen above expectations. Learning braille, tactual ASL, and assistive technology use has made a chaotic life more ordered. Struggles still prevail, and the world is not always a bright, cheery, or safe place. With my husband by my side and a few very close friends, life is more than just bearable. It is wonderful, and I am living it to the fullest.

All people who are disabled, but especially people who are DeafBlind, need that one person -whether it is a spouse, family member, or good friend – who is there for them daily despite the struggles. Someone who can overlook your frequent moments of frustration over what you can’t do. Someone who can look deep within you, and see the truth. Someone who can dig deep within themselves and know that truth. Someone who will understand that the frustration, irritability, and sometimes even hostility, comes from knowing you can be a burden and you hate it. Someone who can show that it may be a burden at times, but it is always worth it. Someone who works tirelessly to help you access the world, but somehow makes it feel almost effortless. All people need that special someone. A person who is DeafBlind will only thrive if they find that person.

My husband, Scott, is my special someone. He does all of these things and more. I’m sure he often feels unappreciated as life becomes chaotic and stressful, but I do appreciate him. I also respect him because he has truly honored our wedding vows. It is one of the many reasons why I love him. Happy 25^th Anniversary, Scott.

I pray that you, my readers, have found that special someone who supports you in your weaknesses and celebrates your strengths. I pray that my DeafBlind friends have, or will find, that special someone who helps them not only survive, but thrive. I also pray that those readers who may not be disabled (but know someone who is disabled) will consider what you may be for that person. Yes, it can be a burden, but the rewards of seeing that person thrive are worth it. God bless these special people.

If you have comments about this topic, you may write a letter in braille or print to Renée Walker, 143 Williamson Dr, Macon, GA 31210; or you may email me at rkwalker@wynfieldca.org. You can also read and comment on my blog at http://www.deafblindhope.wordpress.com. You can also check me out at www.facebook.com/reneekwalker.