Please help me figure up a program for fs

Early Learning Early Learning General Discussions
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My foster son is 3½ years old. He also has some additional challenges (alcohol exposure, severe neglect, IQ tested a little low, multiple homes, behaviorally challenged, etc). If anyone needs a leg up, it is this kiddo.

But do I teach him as if he is the toddler he appears to be (even physically) or as the preschooler he chronologically should be? And yet, aren’t those two different things? For example, with a 20month old, you’d do right-brain learning where you’d start doing more “typical” stuff (phonics, manipulatives, etc) with a preschooler, right? I guess I’m thinking of our old Doman stuff (my big kids are older teens now, btw) and that there is a significant difference by three. And yet, my daughter was a preteen when she learned to do the speedreading4kids, reading faster than she could turn the pages, because she still is quite right brained. So obviously nothing is set in stone.

Okay, so… if he was your precious 3yr old, what materials would you use? On what would you focus?

2

Hi,

I think you need to do a combination of both. Remember in this process, of course, to always hold the highest image of your child! Pamela Heickin, in her book “Right Brain education: Changing the workd one heart at a tinme” Tells a beautiful story of a teacher who started working at a school. She was given a list of kids’ names, and what she thought was their IQ. They were all extremely bright and she was convinced she had the bright class. She taught them as if they were the bright class. After some weeks, the other teachers came to her and asked her how she got these problem children who were intellectually challenged to have the most inbelievable results after such a short time. She was confused, and asked them about their IQs. Indeed, they were their locker numbers!!!"

So, it’s extremely important that no matter what you teach your child, to ensure that you hold the ighest image of them.

My advice, would be to start slowly and gently, and follow the child. If you’re wanting to stimulate their right brain, then perhaps start with flashing flashcards twice a day, and to stimulate their gross motor skills through fun activities such as picking up popcorn with tweezers, screwing on tops, posting, walking with an acorn and spoon etc - some of the more traditional montessori activities for younger kids. As your child builds up confidence, then your acitivites can become a little more complex. Don’t wait for results and ask your child complex math equations, rather follow the right brain way of you teaching, expecting little in return - all the while TRUSTING that the brain is learning.

This method can be very ungratifying, and you see little results in the beginning, but just SUDDENLY, you WILL see the most amazing results! If you have the money, something like Little Reader and Little Math would be amazing -it’s gentle and the most fantastic product!

AS for what level you should be pitching your training at - I would start off more simply and gently and build up their confidence and then move onto more advanced activities. Remember that alcohol can damage the frontal lobe and make it more difficult for your littly to concentrate - even more reason to train the right brain way!

Best of luck - you’ve done an AMAZING thing taking in this child, and I wish you luck as you enter this teaching journey.

3

Thank you for your reply.

We actually have some reasons to believe he is very bright though delayed. There just is something about him. And sometimes he surprises us something crazy :slight_smile: Additionally, his sister actually looked worse off at his age according to a psych report we have. Even in the last month of preK last year, the teacher was “cautiously optimistic” if we worked hard on her learning her sight words. Well, instead, we taught her to read this summer. She tested as a level 7 the first grading period when her peers test at a level 1 and are expected to make it to a level 4, maybe 5, by the end of the year! This despite her also testing, twice now, as having a low IQ. And the brother between the two kids is also above average. So between the glimmers he shines to us and genetics, we have some major hope.

Also, I’m really a believer in these sorts of programs. My son also was delayed and on “the spectrum.” We never took that to mean much of anything. We figured he’d turn out however he would, but we’d give him every opportunity. He was dx’d as PDD rather than moderately delayed after four years of us working with him. Even still, he was to get to the level of a 6-8year old. We didn’t tell him :slight_smile: And he’s a pretty typical (though GOOD!) 16yr old now who should graduate high school in the spring! He may not be advanced really, but he’s solidly double the level expected of him by professionals. BTW, we used Doman’s program for speech/reading when son was almost two. It majorly jumpstarted his speech though we continued to use sign also until he was about five because of articulation.

Anyway, so we know that his challenges may be hurdles, but we also know that he probably has much more potential than some want to give him credit for.

Currently, he’s in Head Start all school day. This is going extremely poorly even with help from the mental health professional and disabilities coordinator. I am very worried about what he is learning from this experience. The best they have come up with so far is that the chart I suggested we make for communication and so we can see progress over time can be used by ME in order to discipline at home so hopefully he’ll be better for them. Ridiculous. We have doctor and therapist blessing to pull him out so all we would need is the caseworker’s blessing also. I’m almost ready to ask for it. I think he just needs some more mama time and time to mature.

So I want to have a good idea what to do with him. I didn’t know if Little Reader was made for kids his age.

He definitely has attention issues, but he also thrives on individual attention. I just need a varied enough program (not necessarily bought, just plan). I had to do that with my friend’s son I homeschooled for Kindy/1st. We did WTM and took all day to do it but incorporated walks, exercise ball, exercise, heavy work, etc.

I’m gonna look more at the programs people are using here.

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We are using LR right now with 3 different children. I have a 15 month old that I started on power point presentations and transferred to LR about a month ago. I do daycare for a 3 y/o with Down Syndrome and a 4 year old.

LR has been one of the best blessings we’ve come across. It makes learning/teaching so much easier and faster. I’m not sure why everyone has decided that right brain education is only for small children when it is used successfully by the US military originally as a tachistoscope during WWII to help them recognise enemy aircraft. So, this method is not something that your children will ever be too old to use. That is why the LR is such a great investment. (I’ve spent hours making flashcards and powerpoints.)

When teaching the now 4 y/o reading, we do use LR material, but we also use Flesch phonics exercises. I just started uploading these to LR. We do 2 of them 3-4x a day for 5 or 6 days and then move on to the next ones. I don’t test. We use worksheets and that tells me how much he is comprehending. He will readily read words and sentences in books but rarely whole pages yet.

Our little 3 y/o with DS has increased her vocabulary dramatically since using LR. Her parents and speech therapist are thrilled. As far as I can tell she only recognizes 15-20 words. But she is brighter than people give her credit for. If she knows I am fishing to see how much she knows she will tell me the wrong answer on purpose or sign a completely unrelated word repeatedly. So, if the word is elephant, which she knows, she’ll do something like sign the word “ball”. She can say ball she just won’t if she knows I am testing her.

I would recommend that you use LR. I can see us using it long past the age of 6. The material that other parents of have uploaded is simply amazing. If you haven’t checked out the power point presentations I’d look through there also. If what I am understanding about right brain learning is correct we will be using this into the high school years.