The Audiblox Diary of Kori Mitchell

November 2002

Hi everyone!

Here's the latest.
Sequencing - most the time she gets 38.
Pattern - 30 every time
Auditory Pattern - she is still working on getting the 16 correct. She struggles with this. Sometimes she gets very close but makes an error or two.
Reading - She is doing okay, but we haven't added any cards because of an occasional error or I don't think she is saying the words fast enough.
Arrows- About the same for all the exercises. She has a few errors now and then.
Counting is going better but she hasn't mastered the next 1-99 yet.
Comprehension exercise - we're up to 40 cards now.
Bean bags - great
Adding - about the same, a tiny bit better
Subtracting - A little better also.
Logical thinking 5a- She is working mostly on #6 and struggles a little with this spelling one.
Logical thinking 1 - Working on W and reviewing. Sometimes she gets these right but her explanation doesn't make sense.
Tables - Doing 2 cards is very, very difficult for her.

Well, thats all.

Blessings,
Michelle

Posted by Benetta on November 6, 2002, 10:02 am , in reply to "Kori's Diary"

Dear Michelle and Kori

Hi! Thanks for the latest update, Kori is doing very well indeed!

Michelle, the biggest change this week is that I am simplifying Kori's program, i.e. I am now omitting the Bean Bags and Paper Crumpling exercises from her program. I am also decreasing the time that she has to spend on the Arrows exercise. I shall not make any changes to any of the exercises, though.

I also want to make a change to the comprehension tests that you must do with her. I think Kori is ready for this… I want you to get hold of a book with comprehension tests suitable for a Grade 5 level. Maybe the Abeka Comprehension Book for Grade 5 will be a good choice. As soon as you have managed to get hold of such a book, please do a comprehension test with Kori.

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

Have a lovely week, Benetta.

"Comprehension Test," Posted by Michelle on November 6, 2002, 3:59 pm

Benetta,

Wow! 5th grade! This is getting fun. I'm sure it will be a challenge for her. I will have to order a 5th grade book, it might take a few weeks. I do have a 4th grade one on hand. I could use that while we wait. Let me know if that's a good idea or if you'd rather wait for the 5th grade book to get here.

Thanks again for all your help.

Have a great week,
Michelle

It's now time for the real thing!
Benetta

Just wanted to give you a quick update.

Kori managed 45 on sequencing today! I was so excited.

Yesterday she wanted to do another reading comprehension sheet so I give her one and she scored 100% in 17 minutes. This was from the 3rd grade book. We feel that things are picking up speed again.

Well that's all just got excited and wanted to share.

Blessings,
Michelle

Posted by Benetta on November 8, 2002, 12:18 pm , in reply to "Kori's Diary"

Dear Michelle and Kori,

Well done, you guys never cease to amaze me!

Michelle, please adjust the target for the Sequencing exercise to: Start with 12 blocks/add 7 when correct/add none when incorrect.

Have a great weekend, Benetta.

Well, it's time for our weekly update.

Sequencing 33
Pattern 30
Auditory Pattern still working 16

Reading - no new cards. She does very good but I feel she hesitates allot. She gets would, world, when and what mixed up constantly. Also head, hand and had. And this, his and is. It's been though since we re-sorted the piles a few weeks ago. Is it all right to put these words in a separate days so that similar words don't end up together? Or should I keep them in the same stack till she gets them?

Arrows - same. She does these almost perfect with occasional errors.
Counting - She is doing better at this but still needs to work on the 1 - 100 odds.
Adding - She is managing to get one more row in 4 minutes(+2, 3rd column).
Subtracting - She does just a good on this as the adding ex. She gets -2, 3rd column.
Tables - Its been difficult to do two cards but I think it is forcing her to speed up some.
Logical thinking 1 - she's working m-5 and P5, she has been having a little trouble with these two.
Logical thinking 5a - She's working on 5 and 6 mostly. She still has trouble with 6.
Comprehension - 42 words
The Reading Test - She made it to the 18th paragraph with 36 errors in 10 minutes.

Well, thats all. We are still waiting for the 5th grade reading comprehension book.

Till next time,
Michelle

Posted by Benetta on November 18, 2002, 2:07 pm , in reply to "Kori's Diary"

Dear Michelle and Kori

Hi! My apologies for not responding sooner, but as I only work half days on Fridays, things were a bit hectic at the office. Michelle, Kori is still working like a superstar! I cannot wait for the first comprehension test on fifth grade level!

Michelle, concerning the Reading exercise, I don't think it is necessary to be worried about the hesitations. Remember that you are already doing the Reading exercise at quite a hefty speed, throwing out six words at a time. It is usually the smaller words, especially the ones that look fairly similar, that present the biggest problems in such circumstances. This will only improve through a further improvement in her reading speed. Reading speed is not something that develops overnight, it takes time and persistent practice. I suggest that you just persevere. I am sure it will gradually improve. Please keep me posted. Keep these words in separate piles, as you have been doing, and continue drilling them as usually.

Again, no changes to the exercises this week - I think Kori is adjusting well to the new program. The only change that I shall make this week is that I shall send you some examples on Logical thinking exercise 5b. You can alternate the a and b versions of this exercise.

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

Have a lovely week, Benetta.

Hi! I'm just updating quickly. Almost everything is the same except that I received the 5th grade Reading Comp. tests.

Kori did the first one and got 70% in 21 minutes. The tests says it should be completed in 4 1/2 minutes. I guess this is very good especially since it is an advanced curriculum. My concern is that Kori wasn't able to read many of the words but still answered 7 out of 10 questions correct. She remembered key words and just skipped them. When she saw the word in the answer section she knew what the correct answer was without really reading the words! I imagine this is good because she still got the big piture and scored okay. Is this okay Benetta? I'm so amazed that she was even capable of doing this test! Well, thats all. I can't wait to get your opinion on this.

Blessings,
Michelle

Posted by Benetta on November 19, 2002, 1:32 pm , in reply to "Kori's Diary"

What wonderful news. I would have been happy if she scored 50% - I never would have dreamt that she would score 70%!!

Michelle, the fact that she got the big picture, even though she did not manage to read all the words, is marvellous! This just shows how intelligent she is... J Use the words that she did not manage to read, as new words that you can add to the Comprehension exercise.

Michelle, I want you to do a Comprehension test every week now. If possible, supervise her when doing the comprehension tests. However, note that you must not provide any help at all. I am trying to find out why is she taking so long with the comprehension tests, compared to her ability to read 18 paragraphs within 10 minutes when doing the Reading test.

Well, hope the next feedback will bring even better news!
All my best wishes, Benetta.

"Reading Comprehension" Posted by Michelle on November 19, 2002, 6:32 pm

Benetta,

I just wanted to tell you that I have a scanner. If it would help I could send a sample of one of the reading comp. sheets. Some of them are much more detailed than the reading tests. Usually they focus on Science or Social studies subjects. The last one was on diamonds, how they are found and used. I think she gets hung up on the many large words. I will supervise and let you know.

Thanks,
Michelle

Posted by Benetta on November 20, 2002, 9:22 am , in reply to "Reading Comprehension"

Dear Michelle,

I would appreciate it if you can scan a sample and sent it to me. I juts need to make absolutely sure that we are not missing ANYTHING on the road to success! A scanned copy will help me with future program adjustments.

Best, Benetta.

Hi everyone!

It's Friday night and I've been meaning to post but have been so busy.

Benetta,
Kori did another Reading Comprehension and scored 60% in 23 minutes. I get so nervous when she does these. Sounds kind of silly but I'm just waiting and wondering while she is working how she going to do.

She has made so much progress so far. I feel the year mark comming up and am so please that we've stuck to this and are seeing results. I've recently been getting a handful of complements on Kori's progress. At our homeschool group she is on a special "reading program" which just means that we are excused from the normal requirements in order to spend more time on her problem. Well, several moms have said things like, "Kori doesn't seem as far behind as you've lead us to believe" and "why is your dd so confident and not self-conscious about her dyslexia like my dd is?" "you said Kori can't read or write but she seems fine to me".

All I know is that the gap in her abilities and the other children her age is lessening every day.

Well here's the rest of her report.
Sequencing - 33
Pattern - 40 today!
Auditory - still working 16
Reading - we added 6 on one days stack
Reading Comp - no new words(reviewing the definitions)
Counting - she's doing good but still needs to work on the 1 - 99 and back
Tables - Still working these ones. The 2 at a time is definately forcing her speed to increase.
Adding - about the same
Subtracting - about the same
Logical think 1 - J5, K5, L5 - She's been reviewing because she started having trouble with the easier ones because she was expecting them to be hard and overlooked the obvious!

Arrows - great, very few errors on all of them
Logical thinking - 5a She has trouble with #6. We will continue working this.

Logical thinking 5b - This one is HARD! She struggled with the first one and we tried the second one and she just looked totally confused! She had no idea how to respond. What should I do? should I show her how and then change it and try again? I just don't know if she'll catch on to this. I was also checking out #3 and I can't imagine her doing these. Maybe I'm not clear on how she should respond at first.

Well thats it for now. Thanks!
Michelle

Posted by Benetta on November 26, 2002, 2:18 pm , in reply to "Kori's Diary"

Dear Michelle and Kori

Hi there! Thanks for the latest update. Michelle, I must agree, while waiting for you to update Kori's diary, I get nervous too. I simply cannot wait for the day she manages to score 100% for a comprehension test from the Abeka books! In the mean time though, 60% is good and the feedback you shared with us from the homeschool group, even better!

Again, no changes to the program - please carry on with the program from the e-mail dated 2002-11-06.

Concerning the Pattern exercise, wow!!! J I cannot even begin to imagine how a pattern with 40 blocks look! I am definitely adjusting the practice target for this exercise - seems as if the sky is the limit, as far is this exercise is concerned. Well done, Kori! Please change the target to: Start with 15 blocks/add 10 when correct within the allotted time/add none when incorrect. Kori, can you do 45 blocks with this exercise now?

Concerning the Arrows exercise, when doing Step 4, now also use the chart that you had to draw on your computer, i.e. the chart with the smaller arrows.

Concerning Logical thinking exercise 5(b), Michelle, I think you must give her some help, but keep on reviewing the same kind of examples, with small variations, until she is able to manage it on her own, before advancing to new examples.

Michelle and Kori, these are all the changes for now. Thank you for all the hard work and commitment you are showing, it is a REAL pleasure working with you!

Speak to you soon again!
Best, Benetta.

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