The Audiblox Diary of Kori Mitchell

September 2002

Hi everyone! We are doing great. Kori seems to be getting back on track and things are improving again. She is reading a book called "The Boxcar Children". Six months ago she tried to read this and couldn't even get through one paragraph. Last night she read all of chapter 1! We are very happy because it is 3rd - 4th grade reading level. It has 154 pages and 13 chapters. She is planning to read 1 chapter a day and finish in 13 days total. This will be the first "real" book she has ever read on her own. With that said here are her results for her Reading tests.

In Rainbow Dreams she finished 15 paragraphs with 35 mistakes. That's an improvement!

Her reading comprehension wasn't so good. She scored 40%. The story was difficult because it was about Hurricanes and had words like Weather Bureau, erupting, machines, gigantic, Galvestion, Texas and many other names of places that she just couldn't get. It took her 25 minutes and she admitted that there were just to many words that she couldn't get. I think she might fair better on the next test though. I probably should have skipped that one but didn't. What do you think, Benetta?

Now here's some more good news! Kori managed to get 40 on sequencing 2 times this week! She also made her new goal for the pattern exercise of 36 blocks.

Reading exercise is going good but we haven't added any new words yet this week.

She has made some improvement with the adding and tables exercises. The adding she is finishing 2+ 3rd column in 4 min. My husband is doing the tables with her so I'll find out if she is ready to add more or not.

Bean bags are going great. I think she'll be getting it soon.

Everything else is just about the same.
I am so thankful for the support we get through this personalized program. I get so down when things go slow and improvement seems to stop that if it weren't for Benetta and Susan I would think it wasn't working. Whenever I start feeling this way I just keep plugging along and sure enough, just like Benetta says, Kori seems to take off again! I'm feeling much more postitive and can again see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Oh! One more interesting thing that I'd like to share is that Kori, on her own, has been trying to memorize a whole chapter in the Bible (Psalms). She has never had much success at memory verses so a whole Psalm is something I don't expect. Well, she has memorized over half of it all by herself. She is very proud of herself and is determined to be able to recite the whole thing as quick as she can. We are amazed at her determination.

I am not a fortune teller but to me it seems that you have crossed the half-way line... So hold on, the light at the end of the tunnel is not too far away!

I don't know what Benetta will say but I would not have skipped that comprehension test if I were in your shoes. It is an opportunity to teach. Maybe my child did not know the meaning of some of the words. Then I would have taken the time to teach him what the words mean. Not knowing the meaning of even a few words in a passage can make it impossible to read with comprehension. I know that very well since I have studied a number of languages in my life. I have never heard of a place (?) called Galvestion, so that is something my child and I would have researched together.

Michelle, a personalized program comes at a fee, encouragement is for free. Anybody is welcome to e-mail me if they need encouragement!

Posted by Benetta Strydom on September 5, 2002, 12:09 pm , in reply to "Kori's Diary"

Thank you for the latest update, I got very excited when I read your message. The news that Kori is reading books on a 3rd to 4th grade all on her own, was like music to my ears. Michelle, I think Susan is pessimistic; you guys have done much more than crossed the half-way line... I am getting really excited about your progress!

Concerning the comprehension test, no, it would not have been a good idea to skip the comprehension test. Sure, if a child cannot understand all the words in a passage, it will affect his/her comprehension, but we are going to use this as an opportunity to teach Kori. Obviously, when a learner has a reading problem, it will have an effect on the learner's general knowledge, because we obtain knowledge through reading. We shall have to work on increasing Kori's vocabulary. I am going to add a comprehension exercise to her program.

To do the comprehension exercise, start with the story on hurricanes she had to read for the test. Find all the words that she does not understand the meaning of, such as erupting; machines; gigantic; etc. Explain the meaning of these words to her. Then print these words that you do with her on cards, more or less like the word cards that you use for the reading exercise. Print them on cardboard that is in a color different from any of the word cards (i.e. not yellow, white or blue). Let her read these words in the same way as you would do the Reading exercise with her. However, on a regular basis you must also check with them, when they come up in the exercise, that she still remembers the meaning.

Concerning the Sequencing exercise, well done, Kori! Michelle, please change the practice target as indicated in my personal e-mail to you. Kori, let us aim for 45 blocks now!

Concerning the Pattern exercise, Kori, you are just doing too well, I can't keep up with the changes to the program... Michelle, also change the practice target of this exercise as indicated in my personal e-mail to you.

Note that the Spatial exercise will now be omitted from Kori's program.

Michelle and Kori, that is it for now! Keep up the good (and hard!!) work, I am also seeing a BIG light at the end of the tunnel! We hope that you will carry on with this diary not only until you have reached the light, but until Kori's reading is at least two years ABOVE grade level.

Oh, how I would love to see her reading 2 years above grade level.

So we'll end this diary when Kori can read two years above grade level.

Kori is doing great. She is on chapter 6 of her book and is very proud of herself. She read aloud to me last night and I was overwelmed with joy at how well she did. When she was on chapter one, just a week ago, she read it well but it was still choppy and she hesitated to much. Last night was so good. She read smoother than before and hesitated less. When she saw quotes she changed her tone and tried to read like the characters were meant to sound. She paid attention to question marks and exclamation points. There was so much expression compared to before. She would also catch her mistakes and re-read it the right way without me asking. I'm getting so excited! Well, here's her latest in the Audiblox program.

Sequencing - 38
Pattern - 30
Auditory Pattern - still working on 16
Reading - good but haven't added any new cards this week.
Arrows 2 - She has mastered this.
Arrows 3 - makes only one error now and then but has it down for the most part.
Arrows 4 - still working on the rhythm.
Counting - she is starting to make some errors on her review so I guess we need to work a little on this.
Bean bags - so close but not quite!
Adding - about the same

Tables - she knows most of these but is still so slow. I have been trying to do these with math but lately we've been a little busy. I still can't figure out way she can't just say the answer quickly. It seems painful to watch her thinking so hard. When she does her math she knows all of these but I guess she has slow recall. I'll continue to try and speed her up. I do remember when she was painfully slow in the word cards and now she is pretty quick.

Comprehension - She does this pretty good. She likes this one. It surprises me but she wants to tell me what each word means and works very hard at reading them.

Logical thinking 1 - Working on group V
Logical thinking 2 - She has finished all these so we have been reviewing.
Logical thinking 1b - reviewing
Logical thinking 3 - working group O
Paper - 3 sheets per hand per minute

It is so exciting to read Kori's diary, especially since you are now reporting progress on a weekly basis!

I was just wondering about Kori's spelling. Have you noticed an improvement in her spelling yet? A few months ago you reported that Kori could not spell. As you know we have not done anything active in this area, since it is seldom necessary.

It's funny you mention that. I was just thinking of it. We recently received her SAT test results. They were read aloud to her to give her a fair chance. She took it in May. She took the 4th grade test and spelling was her lowest score. She scored 2.8. The year before she scored 2.1. She has improved a bit there. Now at home I have noticed some improvement. Since school has started back up, I'm planning to give more writing assignments next week to compare to last years work. I'll keep you posted. I do know that she tries to spell on her own and doesn't ask for help when signing cards or making lists. That's a good sign for me because she used to ask how to spell "from", "love", "Dear" and "thanks" every single time she sent a thank you card or greeting card to someone. Now she just does it. Just a little sign.

Oh! One more amazing thing. Kori can now, all of a sudden, read cursive writing. She knows how to write in cursive for penmanship but has never used it fluently or been able to identify simple words in cursive. We have started penmanship and she has to copy a Bible verse in cursive. Last year I had to read it to her each day. Now she does it herself and has very little trouble. We haven't worked on it so it's very incredible. Things just seem to be coming together.

I was almost in tears when I read you latest update. I thought about the very first time when I wrote to you and when reading was still too difficult for you, Kori. Now you are not only reading, but reading with expression. Michelle, the fact that she is doing this, is a good indication of the amount of comprehension Kori is already showing when reading. It also means that her eye span must have increased considerably, to enable her to anticipate future meaning of the text. Well done to both of you, this is definitely deserved after all the hard work and effort you have put into the Audiblox!

Michelle, concerning Kori's program, please note that you should disregard the program from the e-mail dated 2002-09-05, and follow the new program sent in my personal e-mail.

Concerning the targets for the Sequencing and Pattern exercises, almost there! Keep the practice targets the same though.

Concerning the Reading exercise, made a change to the amount of words that you must throw down with 2 of the piles. This is becoming quite a challenge!

Concerning the Counting exercise, as she is experiencing some problems when you review older steps, I am going to give you more time for reviews. Review some of the older steps on Day 1, and drill the current new step on Day 2. We shall not make any changes for the next three weeks, to give you enough time to review.

Concerning the Logical Thinking exercises, note that you must now omit Logical thinking exercises 1(b); 2 and 3 from her program. It will be replaced by Logical thinking exercise 5(a).

Michelle and Kori, these are all the changes for now. Thank you for your commitment, I am so excited about Kori's progress. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed!

Here's our latest update.
Sequencing 31 to 38
Pattern 20, once 30
Reading - She is doing good with the 6-6. Today she has added one time. She has 30 in each day except Tuesday she has 36.
Arrows 2 & 3 are going great she rarely messes up.
Arrows 4 is almost perfect also but a little tense.
Logical thinking 1 - Finished group U.
Logical thinking 5a - We have been working 1 and 2. She does good so far.
Comprehension - 18 words in her pile. 12 more to go. When we get low on words should I add any words that I think would be good?
Counting - Reviewing more has been helpful. She still needs more practice I think.
Bean bags - Are we ever going to get this? I think we are getting closer and closer to consistant success. She'll do good once and then the next time she doesn't.
Adding exercise - Just about the same. She finishes the 1's and gets to the 2nd or 3rd row on the 2's.
Auditory Pattern - She is still working the 16 but comes a little closer lately than she has been.
Tables exercise - She has all of a sudden become much quicker at these so we've begun adding more cards. We've got 32 cards now.
Reading test - Kori finished at the same spot as last time, paragraph 15 but only had 26 errors instead of 35.

Kori is doing great in school so far. I've had more time to watch her progress now that we are back at the books full speed. She is doing so much better than the end of last year. She finds and reads her Bible verses, reads her grammar sentences and diagrams them mostly on her own. Spelling is a bit better. I still see that she has a very hard time spelling. She doesn't even seem to be aware of her mistakes BUT she is attempting to work independantly in every subject. We are getting much more work done each day. Last year the school day would drag on and on and I never felt satisfied with the amount of material covered. This year is going very well. I'm excited to think of finishing everything I've planned and then some. Kori finished her Boxcar Children book and wrote a short book report, the proper way, all by herself. We are so pleased!

Thank you for the latest update, it was wonderful to receive more good news from you. Michelle, I am so proud of Kori, isn't it amazing to see such good results? The mere fact that you are able to complete a bigger work load on a daily basis, is an extremely good sign. The spelling will eventually also improve. Remember that we haven't even done any Spelling exercises yet! I shall wait for her reading to be 100% on par, before giving you some exercises to address this, if necessary.

Michelle, I am not going to make any changes, as I want us to use this week to again consolidate what we have achieved so far. As you have seen from past experience, this makes a huge difference - we haven't changed the Tables exercise for a number of weeks, and now she is able to do it muck quicker than before. For this week, please continue as is, and by the end of the coming week, please do another comprehension test.

Concerning the comprehension exercise, you are welcome to add more words that you think would be suitable. You can either use words from previous comprehension tests that she battled with, or else use words from her schoolwork that she is unfamiliar with.

Michelle, I hope to hear from you soon again! All the best to Kori, I think you both are doing a tremendous job!

Have a great weekend!

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