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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My son has used sticky dots to mark things.
When he used a crayon or marker, he wanted to mark things so well he obscured
what he was marking and there was no way to move the mark to make a
correction. I guess this isn't a problem as much in kindergarten as it is
later when kids are more worried about the correct answer.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sally Thomas</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=pumpkinracer@gmail.com href="mailto:pumpkinracer@gmail.com">DrV</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pibe-division@nfbnet.org
href="mailto:pibe-division@nfbnet.org">Professionals in Blindness Education
Division List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, March 07, 2009 12:46
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Pibe-division] Is this the
way to teach a kindergartenerBraille?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>A few more thoughts.
<DIV>My 1st grade son Petras (no functional vision) uses a crayon to circle or
mark numbers on his math homework & classwork - I think that is perfectly
fine & natural.</DIV>
<DIV>My older son (also no functional vision) transitioned to a pen
(which he could feel) once it was no longer age appropriate to be using a
crayon.</DIV>
<DIV>My wife modifies his Lithuanian Saturday school worksheets & we
have Petras similarly find letters or letter combinations with his
fingers & then he mark them off with a crayon (which he can feel) - this
can all be done tactilely without then looking at the letter; his sighted
classmates also circle print letters or letter combos with a crayon or pencil
or pen -> Petras is performing a similar task.</DIV>
<DIV>The marking actually seems reasonable to me & has functional utility
for a child to independently complete homework & classwork.</DIV>
<DIV>I am interested in hearing about alternatives.</DIV>
<DIV>I am less enthusiastic about connecting the lines - this seems less
functional. Seems to me the objective would help decide how appropriate
that is.</DIV>
<DIV>As to the point avoiding feeling for the braille, Petras could write his
letters in English & Lithuanian long before he could recognize the dot
combinations. For the longest time he was not particularly interested in
feeling the specifics of what he actually wrote. It was really just a little
after he turned 7 that he really began to try to more intently figure out what
each dot combo represented. He has made wonderful progress this year. My
eldest son know all the letters tactilely by 2 1/2. Every kid is a little
different.</DIV>
<DIV>Best wishes,</DIV>
<DIV>Eric V </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 2:49 PM, Carrie Gilmer <SPAN
dir=ltr><<A
href="mailto:carrie.gilmer@gmail.com">carrie.gilmer@gmail.com</A>></SPAN>
wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">
<DIV lang=EN-US vlink="purple" link="blue">
<DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">All lines were
directed to be drawn and circled by the student. Picture of it taken by
mother is attached.</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy"></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Six years old,
albinism, 20/160-200 measured with correction. Please everyone
comment.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=navy size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=navy size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Carrie Gilmer,
President</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy"></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">National
Organization of Parents of Blind Children</SPAN></FONT><FONT
color=navy><SPAN style="COLOR: navy"></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">A Division of the
National Federation of the Blind</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy"></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">NFB</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> National
Center</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">:
410-659-9314</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy"></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Home Phone:
763-784-8590</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy"></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A
href="mailto:carrie.gilmer@gmail.com"
target=_blank>carrie.gilmer@gmail.com</A></SPAN></FONT><FONT
color=navy><SPAN style="COLOR: navy"></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A
href="http://www.nfb.org/nopbc"
target=_blank>www.nfb.org/nopbc</A></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<HR align=center width="100%" SIZE=2>
</SPAN></FONT></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
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<DIV>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">I'm attaching a Braille sheet that
came home today. I get these many times a week. Is it
strange that Brian is instructed to circle and draw lines?
It appears that he is being directed to approach Braille
visually. </SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Please tell me if this is normal
or acceptable for teaching a low-vision child Braille.
Please tell me if this is so far out of the norm that I
should be very concerned. </SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Thank you!</SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">:)
Carolynn</SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P></DIV></DIV><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Pibe-division
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