[blindkid] learning braille & print?

[Brandy W]

There is a yahoo group called Blindhomeschooler all 1 word I'm pretty sure.
It is a great place for home schooling. Tons of people HS their blind kids,
and it is better for all!



"To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is
a spark." 
- Victor Hugo 

Brandy Wojcik  Discovery Toys Educational Consultant and Team leader
(512) 689-5045
www.playtoachieve.com
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Read my new blog at www.playtoachieveballstobooks.wordpress.com

Looking forward to helping you with your educational toy needs!


-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of amydarlington at comcast.net
Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2012 10:12 PM
To: Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] learning braille & print?

Our daughter also has albinism and is 20/200 (also field delay). She's 4 and
will be starting kindergarten in the fall. 

Karen, I'm wondering how your son got Braille. Did your TVI and state
organization for blind support the dual media approach? We do not have
support here at all. I know legally they have to unless they can prove
Braille is not necessary currently (and in future). But it doesn't happen
for the low vision kids unless the families here take legal action. And also
I get the sense that at some point a choice has to be made between Braille
and print. What was it like for you in the early years when your son was
starting school? I would love to hear more, as what you described happening
for your son (with adapting to Braille) is what we are hoping for our
daughter. 

We are approaching Braille at home, and low vision aids for school. But we
are also considering homeschooling as it offers the ability to adapt to
needs. We already homeschool our son. I just wish it was not such a struggle
to get kids what they need in the school system. 

Amy 


----- Original Message -----
From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
To: "Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2012 9:53:22 PM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] learning braille & print? 

This is good advice, while a young kid may be able to keep up, with print,
as he gets older, and the demands increase, many kids just can't keep up
with print. 

It is best to learn Braille early, much easier. 

Dave 

At 02:25 PM 6/30/2012, you wrote: 
>My son is a dual media learner. He has albinism, and a corrected vision 
>of around 20/400. He started learning braille in kindergarten, and is 
>now entering 4th grade. One of the more challenging things with being a 
>dual media learner is that there's a lot to learn with Braille... it 
>takes time to learn all of the contractions, so for a while, your child 
>may find print reading easier, faster, and perhaps more appealing. I 
>know that for my son, there was a long period of time where he could 
>read more advanced material in print than in braille, so he gravitated 
>toward print books. I had to require that he read braille books. We 
>found the Braille Readers are Leaders contest to be very motivational 
>for him. But this year (3rd grade), his braille skills finally have (far)
surpassed his print skills.
> He can read books like Harry Potter, Charlie Bone, etc. in braille, 
>and he can only read early readers and (sometimes) easy chapter books. 
>Eye fatigue is a huge issue for him, and he really cannot sustain the 
>print reading for long. I am a big supporter of the dual media approach.
> 
>In terms of overloading your child, I wouldn't worry about it. Kids are 
>like sponges and your son is at the ideal age to learn braille. For my 
>son, he learned braille using the Patterns series, and also followed 
>the normal reading/language arts curriculum in large print. Other 
>people use different approaches.
> 
>Karen Leinart
> 
>From: Nicole Cannon <nicole at cannonig.com>
> > To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
> > Cc: 
> > Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:56:30 -0400
> > Subject: [blindkid] learning braille & print? 
> > My son is almost 5 with visual acuity about 20/200. He can see large 
> > print, but I've noticed he seems to be a tactile learner. I've been 
> > reading about learning to be a dual reader to give him the most 
> > tools, but I'm somewhat concerned about overloading him with too 
> > many things to learn at once. Does anyone have any input on the best 
> > way to go about teaching him Braille and print? I'm going to talk to 
> > his IU teacher also, but so far, the IU has been focusing on using the
vision he has.
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > Nicole


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