The Audiblox Diary of Kori Mitchell

October 2002

Posted by Michelle on October 4, 2002, 1:07 am

Sequencing - Kori has been a little sluggish lately I've been talking with Benetta about this and hopefully we will come to an agreement on the problem here. Her scores are up and down which is a little unusual for Kori and may be that she is not working as hard as usual. She has been getting an average of 31 regularly and sometime 24 other times 38. Hmmm. Well we'll work on this! Today she did 31.

Arrows are about the same.
Pattern exercise she almost always gets to 30 but now and then only 20.

Reading exercises are going well. We've just been trying to get faster and more acutate. When we first started Audiblox she struggled so bad with this and now it is so much fun. She probably enjoys this exercise more than any other now. I think it's because of the obvious results we've had. We've added cards 2 times this week.

Auditory pattern - still trying 16!
Counting has improved a bit with the changes.
Comprehension exercise - This one is going very, very good. She's up to 24 words now.
Adding is the same.
Tables exercise has improved. I think the problem was that maybe I was allowing to much time before. I don't know but she seems to be improving in speed.
Bean bags - Okay, I know I say this every week but we almost have it!

Today I had her do the Reading Comprehension and she did 100% in 12 minutes! We were excited but she told me that she was read this story in Sunday school a few weeks ago. It was from a different book so I still believe it was great. She was excited and wanted to read the story aloud to me and did a wonderful job.

We are having great results with Audiblox. It has been lots of work. Very worth the effort. Right now we are having motivational problems with Kori. I know that it will be worked out. I'm hoping that advice from Dr. Jan will help. We will keep you all posted.

Blessings,
Michelle

Dear Michelle and Kori

Apologies for the belated reply. However, I decided to wait with my reply to your previous posting until you had had your telephonic interview with Dr Jan.

I am not going to make any changes in your program just yet. I think the most important task now is to sort out the attitude problem. I sincerely hope that the telephonic interview will help you to achieve this.

Please remember, as Dr Jan explained to you, that the most important thing any parent can teach his or her child is to work. Please read again the relevant chapter - on emotional needs - in "The Myth of ADHD," or in the online book. Every human being has a great need for human dignity, and it is only when a person feels needed that he feels that he has dignity. It is through serving each other through our work that we feel that we are needed. Teaching the child to work therefore plays a most important role in parents' efforts to raise their child in such a way that he will have a good life. If you read the chapter on emotional needs in the book, you will note that emotional needs have higher priority than the intellectual needs. For that reason it is imperative that we sort out the emotional problem of the attitude FIRST before we make any further changes to the program.

Keep up the good work, I am sure we shall be on track soon again!

Greetings to Kori too, Benetta.

Hi everyone!

Here's Kori's update.

Sequencing - She is now consistanly getting 31 correct.
Pattern - She is just has gotten 30 both times this week.
Auditory Pattern - still working the 16.
Arrows - These are getting back on track quickly! She is back to having them just about mastered.
Reading exercise - She is up to 172 cards. Doing great.
Reading Comprehension - She has finished all the cards I had made. 30 total. I will be adding more now.
Logical thinking 1 - Working on W and on review.
Logical thinking 5(a) - We've worked up to 5 and review and change the previous problems.
Counting - She is doing better but still may not be concentrating on this as she should. Bean bags - getting better.
Adding - The last time she did better than ever on this. She almost finished her +2's.
Paper - she finishes 5 in a minute (each hand).
Tables - Better this week. We've added a few.

Well, I think that's all.
Blessings,
Michelle

“We're back on track!” Posted by Benetta on October 14, 2002, 1:56 pm , in reply to "Kori's Diary"

Dear Michelle and Kori

Thank you for the latest update! It is good news that Kori's performance was more consistent this week, a clear indication that her attitude towards the Audiblox is almost back to normal again. It is time for a few small changes. Kori, thank you for all your hard work, honey, I am just so proud of you!

Michelle, concerning Kori’s program, please note that you should disregard the program from the e-mail dated 2002-09-17, and follow the program given in my personal e-mail to you.

Concerning the Reading exercise, she is really doing well, we have managed to add quite a few words in the past week. Michelle, for all 5 the piles, I want you to throw down the words 6-6 at a time at maximum possible speed. Add 6 new words whenever indicated.

Concerning Adding exercise 1, she is starting to perform much better, which shows the truth behind the saying: "Practice makes perfect!"

Michelle, please add Subtraction exercise 1, as indicated in the notes e-mailed to you.

Michelle and Kori, these are all the changes for now. I hope you will have a super week and do keep up the good work!

Best, Benetta.

Things are getting better. Kori is working hard again and the results show!

Sequencing - a consistant 31 with 38 one time.
Pattern - She made 40 yesterday! That was the goal!
Auditory pattern - still working 16
Reading - We haven't added any new cards. She is doing good but it seems that she has started making a few more errors after I mixed and resorted her cards.
Comprehension exercise - Doing great. Added four more cards.
Bean bags - getting better.
Adding exercise - this is about the same as last time. She comes close to finishing her 2's.
Subtracting exercise - She gets through the ones and almost half the twos.
Arrows exercise 2 & 3 she has these almost perfected. An error pops up now and then.
Arrows ex. 4 - good but not perfect.
Logical thinking 1 - We are working on "W" but have been reviewing all week.
Logical thinking 5a - We've worked up to "5" and have been reviewing the others and changing them to challenge her.
Counting - she is getting better at this again but still is slow counting the odd numbers by 2's.
Tables - we haven't added to these. She is trying more so hopefully we will speed this up some more.

READING TEST - We did this yesterday. She completed the 17th paragraph with 28 mistakes. Her reading sounded great!

Kori is back on track even more than last week. She is happy and working hard.

Posted by Benetta on October 18, 2002, 12:31 pm , in reply to "Kori's Diary"

Dear Michelle and Kori

I really enjoyed reading your latest message - it is good to hear that all is well with you again! I can certainly see from the results that Kori is working very hard indeed. She did very well with the Reading test too, I cannot wait for the day when she manages all the paragraphs 100% correctly! J

Concerning Kori’s program, please note that you should continue with the program from the e-mail dated 2002-10-14.

Concerning the work tempo, when doing the Pattern exercise 2, continue as is. However, when doing the Sequencing exercise, please adjust the work 10 seconds per group of 5 blocks when she has to build from memory. Obviously, the change in work tempo will put her back a bit, so please keep the practice targets for both the Sequencing and Pattern 2 exercises as is.

Concerning the Arrows exercise, when doing Steps 2 and 3, continue as is. However, please change Step 4 as indicated.

Well, that is all for this week. I hope you will enjoy the weekend, I am eagerly awaiting the next feedback!

All the best, Benetta.

Sorry about the delay in posting. We've been very busy this last week.

Here's our latest results:
Sequencing - a consistent 38 except one 31.
Pattern - 30 most the time 40 one more time.
Auditory Pattern - still working 16
Arrows 2&3 - good with an occasional error.
Arrows 4 - pretty good, she has to work hard at it though.
Reading - She's doing fine but we haven't added any new words.
Comprehension - Great, added 2 more words.
Bean bags - major breakthrough here! She managed to get 12, 14 and then 11 catches in one session.

Logical thinking 1 - We've been working on V-3 and reviewing often. She still does good on these but it's beginning to take her a couple days to solve them with confidence.

Counting - I'm not sure how she is doing here. She is ok but I'm keeping a close eye because I think she is capable of doing better. She's fine on the reviewing, but seems to have so much trouble on the 1 - 99 and back.

Adding - Slightly better by about a half a row.
Subtraction - She is getting to the 2nd row of -2.
Paper crumpling - with notebook paper she crumples 6 sheets per hand.
Logical thinking 5a - We are still working on 5 and reviewing and changing the previous problems. These are kind of fun but still very challenging.

Tables - She is almost done with the cards we are working on but still has a very slow tendency. She gets very tired after this exercise. I haven't had much time to give extra practice on these but I think I'll need to in order to get her to keep up her speed. What do you think Benetta?

Reading Comprehension - Kori scored 80% and finished in 15 minutes.

Her scores don't seem to be improving, maybe because they get a bit harder each time she does one. But I've noticed her reading improving in all other areas. She still continues to read more and more on her own. She has more of an interest in what kinds of books her friends read and actually wants to read books and stories she hears are good. In the grocery store she is constantly reading labels. Its fun to watch her doing this. I'm so impatient at times! I'm happy with Audiblox but am very anxious for her to read, spell and write with ease. I'm also waiting to show all those who said she'd never be "academic" that they were wrong. I have such a burden for those children who are doomed by labels and are told they will never make it. I'm very excited to see what is going to happen in the next few months.

Posted by Benetta on October 30, 2002, 2:49 pm , in reply to "Kori's Diary"

Dear Michelle and Kori

Hi! My apologies for not responding sooner, but I had a hectic few days… Michelle, I cannot wait either for Kori to be able to show everyone that they were wrong! She did well with the comprehension test - if we compare it to the initial tests, where she took 25 minutes to complete it, she is doing pretty amazing, especially if one considers that the tests do become more and more difficult.

Michelle, concerning Kori’s program, please note that you should continue with the program from the e-mail dated 2002-10-14, but incorporate the few changes given below.

Concerning the Sequencing exercise, this went well, especially if one considers she did it against the new tempo! Please keep the target unchanged though, as I am still waiting for her to achieve 45 blocks.

Concerning the Arrows exercise, when doing Steps 2 and 3, continue as is. When doing Step 4, please make the changes as indicated in my personal e-mail.

Continue as is with Bean bags exercise 4. In a week or two from now, I shall omit this exercise from her program.

Concerning the Tables exercise, Michelle, I do not think you need to do extra practice with this exercise, Kori is already working so hard! Since you are almost done with all the current cards, I think we can make a change to this exercise. Divide the flash cards into 2 different piles and use one of the 2 piles per session. Rotate the piles per session, i.e. do pile 1 in the first session, pile 2 in the second session, pile 1 in the third session, pile 2 in the fourth session, etc. When doing any of the 2 piles, throw down the flash cards 2-2 at a time at maximum possible speed, cover the second flash card with your hand and she must give the answers.

Michelle and Kori, these are all the changes for now. I hope the next message will bring even better news!

Until next week, Benetta.

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