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Post by zippity on Nov 9, 2009 15:33:35 GMT -5
What websites, tricks, etc. did anyone else's kid's use to get through the dreaded 2 year requirement for high schoolers to learn a foreign language?
We just want to get DD through it. She is in Private School. DD's problem lies in how slow she processes information, very weak short term memory and although it looks like APD it is not. It's simply her being Dyslexic and the previous two issues that cause her undue academic learning trouble. Sign Language is not an option. The teacher has an accent and that doesn't help. She had basic Spanish in 2,3 and 4th grade in private school which she bombed then. Still looking for a tutor but it's all getting a bit much, tutoring for writing, subject previewing, etc.
PS is willing to accommodate. I reminded them that extra time is not always the answer because she is so slow that extra time isn't always available. She completely flunked her first test. I purchased some type of CD that was sold as a companion guide of sorts to the textbook. I am still trying to figure out how to use it so that it is helpful and not just a time waster.
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Post by sleepy on Nov 9, 2009 16:24:31 GMT -5
Took first year of a language 2 times. 1st time went in for help every morning but the teacher only understood not trying hard enough. Since our students can get a regular diploma without a language, language has no special education support. While this extra help got my child through spanish 1 with a decent grade, it did not get him through with a good understanding. So we hired a year round spanish tutor who was wonderful. She understood disabilities and was able to do various techniques to help him get through spanish 1 and 2 again. While he ended up with a C in spanish 2 he didn't feel he had enough knowledge to go further. It was grueling and torturous to him.
Funny, now my DD is taking Spanish 1 and my DS has all the answers like it was never a problem. I think the biggest problem for DS was the pace AND the procedures. Plus having a teacher who was out for weeks on end with mono and coming back less than 100% didn't help.
I think many kids with disabilites need small, small classes for foreign language so they can get more attention and show mastery in different ways.
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Post by zippity on Nov 9, 2009 18:16:52 GMT -5
She is in a class of 9 students. That's a plus. I really see no point to this except it's a requirement. A "C" would be fine but even as a lenient grader she can't pass when flunking tests. I would so hope to avoid the 2 year repeat as I have heard this happens.
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Post by sleepy on Nov 9, 2009 20:54:27 GMT -5
Is the teacher using signs (body movements) to help with the various vocabulary? This really helped DS.
Tutor did alot of white board activities with him. She used pictures and sounds along with the vocab. Alot of having him write the words on a white board for practice. She would say english he would write spanish. This helped because even with his fine motor problems he needed to be actively engaged in what he had to produce in the class because he had no AT in class.
A friend put notecards of spanish words all over everything in the house and left them up for a long time. She made her son say them throughout the day. Everytime he touched them or went near them.
I find it was the repeating of information in enough ways to push it from the WM to the LT that was key for my son with low processing speed and weak working memory.
My son failed many tests or was just on that D- level, but the classes had so much fluff grade built in that it brought it up.
Our textbook has songs, videos, on-line activities, etc which my son never had. My DD is using them to help her.
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Post by mamak on Nov 9, 2009 21:28:01 GMT -5
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Post by healthy11 on Nov 9, 2009 22:24:32 GMT -5
Zippity, what was on the first test that your daughter flunked? My son muddled his way through two years of French in H.S, but what threw him for a loop was when they had to spell things properly, including which way the "accent marks" faced over certain letters of certain words. The teacher did cut him a little slack, and often provided "word banks" so he could at least copy things when he recognized them.....In four semesters, I think he managed 3 "C's" and a "D," but as a good friend reminded me, that was "D" for "DONE" ~ he met the foreign language requirement, even if it didn't help his overall GPA. (And he did enjoy the culminating trip that his class took to Paris!)
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Post by aterry on Nov 10, 2009 18:37:29 GMT -5
Does your state have a LOTE (language other than english) exemption? NY state does but DD's school would not consider it for her. Does your daughter have dyslexia as a diagnosis? (I know it's often not specified--it wasn't for my son). When my son faced this I checked with OG and got their recommendation to have an exemption. I used their recommendation to get an exemption for my son.
For DD I hired a tutor through WyzAnt.
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