The Audiblox Diary of Kori Mitchell

June 2002

Hi everyone. Hope you all are doing good. We are doing great. Wrapping up our school year is always a relief.

Here's the update on Audiblox

Sequencing - She is having trouble with this target. But I think she'll do better soon. She gets 30 correct.
Arrows - step 4 is very difficult still. The other 2 steps are ok. After a weekend or if I turn the chart she has trouble again.
Pattern 2 - She got 32 the last time we did it!
Spatial - good
Reading - good, she seems to be increasing in speed but still slows down toward the end of the 15 minutes.
Counting - I think she has the 2-70 down now.
Logical thinking 1 - Were up to "O" and doing great.
Logical thinking 1b - Finished group F and doing great.
Logical thinking 3 - Reviewing up to group L. Doing great.
Bean Bags - I wish I could give some better results but looks like we need to spend some extra time here!

Tables - I am so sorry Benetta, we seem to forget to update you in this area often. She is just about done with the stack. She has 6 left. She knows them well but every time we don't do them for a day she gets slow. By Friday she's real fast and then on Monday sloooow again. We'll keep working on speed if you'd like. I think today she will be able to add in the rest.

Auditory Pattern - She got 10 correct today.
Paper crumpling - I have found some thicker paper that I've been using. What does this exercise help? Is it for handwriting? Just curious.

Reading Comprehension - Okay, are you ready? She got 80% today. It was a little longer and she finished 3 minutes faster than on the last one. There were 5 questions and she missed 1. I asked her the question after I graded her and she knew it but couldn't figure out a few words on the question and answer section, so she guessed. This is so exciting! I can't wait till we prove to the world that her reading isn't a lost cause.

Thanks Benetta, Susan and Jan. We also want to thank those readers who have emailed us personally and encouraged us. It's great to know that we aren't the only ones with this struggle. I am also very pleased that there are so many of you getting encouraged by Kori's diary.

Hi there! Thanks for the latest update, I am so happy to hear that the next comprehension test went so well. I was especially impressed with the fact that she was able to complete the test in a shorter period of time. Well done, Kori, I think you are a clever little girl! Michelle and Kori, thanks for making my job easier, it is wonderful being able to share the commitment and see the progress!

Concerning the Sequencing exercise, Kori did battle a bit, but it still went well. No change though, I am waiting for the magical 40 blocks.

Concerning the Pattern exercise, Kori, you are a superstar! Achieving 32 blocks with Pattern exercise 2 is very difficult, but it shows how hard you are working. Michelle, please change the practice target as indicated in my personal e-mail to you.

Concerning the Arrows exercise, time to make a change to Steps 2 and 3! Michelle, I want you to use the yellow arrows chart again. Replace all arrows pointing to the left with counting, as indicated in my personal e-mail to you.

Concerning the Counting exercise, change the new step to counting in 2s, from 2-100 and back.

Bean Bags exercise 4 is difficult, and we are not spending a lot of time on it. Michelle, maybe Kori and her sister can do the Bean bags exercises when they are playing on their own?

Concerning the Auditory exercise, I can't believe she managed 10 blocks! I personally find this exercise very hard to do. When doing this exercise, do not start with 10 blocks any more, but start with 12 blocks and work it up towards 14 blocks.

Concerning the Tables exercise, please make the new flash cards, as indicated in my personal e-mail to you.

Michelle and Kori, these are all the changes for now. Hope the rest of the week will be pleasant!

Here's the update on Audiblox

Sequencing - She is up to 35, 40 is hard to do in the time allowed. We are learning to work extra quick to try and accomplish this.

Arrows - step 4 is getting easier but she has to move very slowly. The other 2 steps are going very well with the new change. I'm impressed that it has been easy for her. I just expected her to have trouble but she is already doing it just about perfect!

Pattern 2 - She got 35 the last time we did it!
Spatial - good
Reading - Wow! She is getting quite speedy now!
Counting - I think she has the 2-100 down now. She is a little slow going back still.
Logical thinking 1 - Were up to "P" but mostly reviewing.
Logical thinking 1b - Finished group G and doing great.
Logical thinking 3 - Working group M. Doing great.
Bean Bags - Better but still struggling.

Tables - I made the new cards but have not added anymore yet. I'm not sure she's fast enough. I have her working for a least 10 minutes a day on these unless we are out. She's doing good.

Auditory Pattern - She made 12! She's showing off now! Mom tried once and I'm embarrassed to admit how bad I didn't. eek! We are proud of her because this was so difficult for her in the beginning.

Reading Comprehension - She did another one 2 days ago and scored 80% again. She finished in the same amount of time as the last one.

Dear Michelle and Kori

Hi there! My apologies for not responding sooner. I had a few days' leave and went to the coast. However, it is back to the treadmill again today…

Michele, I am glad to see that things are still going well with you and Kori. I was especially impressed with your comment that Kori is now able to do the Reading exercise faster than before. Well done, Kori! I want to suggest that we do not do a comprehension test for the next three weeks, so that we can first focus on improving her reading speed. After three weeks, you can continue with the comprehension tests again. Once she has scored 100% on a comprehension test again, on condition that she managed to complete it in less than 5 minutes, we shall start with comprehension tests suitable for the fourth grade.

Concerning Kori's program, please note that you should now disregard the program from the e-mail dated 2002-05-17, and follow the new program given in my personal e-mail to you.

Concerning the Sequencing exercise, still waiting for the magical 40 blocks. One way of saving time when doing this exercise is not to check the sequence when she has it correct, but only to check it when she has made some mistakes. Please keep the target as is.

Concerning Pattern exercise 2, I cannot remember having a learner before that managed so many blocks in such a short period of time. Well done, Kori! Please change the practice target as indicated in my personal e-mail.

Concerning the Arrows exercise, when doing Steps 2 and 3, continue with clapping and counting, but now nominate which arrow she must replace.

Concerning the Spatial exercise, note that you must do this exercise now as part of the program for Day 2, i.e. it must only be done twice a week.

Concerning the Counting exercise, continue as is, i.e. drill the current new step on Day 1 - count in 2s, from 2-100 and back - and revise some of the older steps on Day 2. I shall only make a change again if she manages to do it at the same pace when counting forward and backward.

Concerning the Auditory exercise, I can't believe she managed 12 blocks!! Kori, you are a star! Being able to do 12 blocks, means that Kori is able to remember a sequence of 21 facts, after they have been read to her twice only. When doing this exercise, do not start with 12 blocks any more, but start with 14 blocks and work it up towards 16 blocks.

Michelle, please add Adding exercise 1, which is a new exercise that does not appear in “The Right to Read.”

Michelle and Kori, these are all the changes for now. I hope to hear lots of good news in the weeks to come!

I have nothing to update because last week Kori spent some time away. She had a little vacation with relatives.
I will be updating again on Wednesday!

Hope Kori enjoyed the vacation, she certainly earned it!
Until later, Benetta.

Hi everyone, here's our update.

Sequencing - 35 still
Arrows 2 & 3 - She's doing these almost perfect
Arrows 4 - she's doing good but hasn't gotten it with ease yet
Pattern 2 - 31
Auditory Pattern 3 - still working on 14
Reading - She is certainly speeding up.
Counting exercise - she is still working on 2 -100 going back is still difficult.
Logical thinking 1 - Great-We will be working on "S" next. She hasn't had much trouble with these.
Bean Bags - We were doing good but with the last week off, yesterday was a disaster. We will work harder on this.
Adding 1 - She is doing ok on this although I imagine it will be a while before we get finished with 4+ in 4min.
Spatial - good
Logical thinking 1(be) - She has finished all of the Groups up to J1. She has no trouble with this.
Logical thinking 3 -Working on L still(haven't done this,this week.
Tables - she is speeding up quite a bit but we haven't added many new cards because of our week off.

I came home from a Bible study late the other night. My husband was watching the kids and I caught Kori on the couch reading a library book. I was so happy. She usually doesn't spend to much time reading when it isn't required of her. When I told her how happy it made me, she said that she has been reading all week and was almost done with the book. It was a level 2 I Can Read Book for grades 1-3. About 60 pages. It's much easier than her reading comprehensions sheets but we are thrilled that she is reading for enjoyment.

Thanks Audiblox!

Dear Michelle and Kori

Hi there! Isn't it amazing how time flies, I cannot believe we are already halfway through this year! Thanks for your continued effort. I wish I could foresee how much progress we will have achieved by the end of the year…

Michele, another two weeks to go before we repeat the comprehension test again. I don't know about you, but my own anxiety is steadily climbing…

Concerning Kori's program, please note that you should now disregard the program from the e-mail dated 2002-06-18, and follow the new program, as it appears in my personal e-mail to you.

Concerning the Sequencing exercise, I have decreased the time for this exercise from 12 minutes to 10 minutes, so within the new allotted time, I want Kori to achieve 35 blocks again. If she can manage this, I shall adjust the practice target..

Concerning the Pattern exercise, wow! Kori, you are working so hard! Michelle, I have also decreased the time for this exercise from 12 minutes to 10 minutes, so within the new allotted time, I want her to achieve 31 blocks again. If she can manage this, I shall adjust the practice target.

When doing Reading exercise 1, continue as is, i.e. divide the words into 5 different piles and use one of the 5 piles per session. When doing any of the 5 piles, throw down the words 5-5 at a time at maximum possible speed, cover the fifth word with your hand and she must read all 5 words.

Once every second week, instead of doing the Sequencing exercise, do the Reading test with her. Follow the notes given in my personal e-mail on how to do it.

Please add the new exercise (Logical Thinking exercise 2) as part of the program for Day 1.

Michelle and Kori, these are all the changes for now. I shall speak to you soon again!

Keep up the good work,
Benetta

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