I made a decision

I have decided to NOT get Sam tested after all....
I think it's clear he has dyslexia, @ least.

BUT....my main reason is because, as a homeschooler, I don't want to *have* to come up against any pressure to put him in outside classes. I don't think he would *benefit* socially.

Call me *over-protective* if you will, he *is* sensitive.
But I figure I can research it enough on my own & work w/ him.

I *have* been working w/ him & he's JUST starting to show more self-confidence in his reading ability & actually *wanting* to read. He is starting to attempt to read things on his own now w/ no motivation from me. He would not do that before & perceived *reading* as a *dreaded chore*. kwim?

I think it's safe to say, if you imagine how your 1st grader is when they *start* to get it---> well that is where HE is @ BUT he's in the middle of 3rd grade. So I realize, as far as reading development, he could easily be considered *behind*. Except it's not *just* behind---it's different.

I have enough friends in *education* & especially Special Ed to advise me & give me tips & tricks....which have been helpful. & when I tell them what we do already, they are usually impressed & encouraging.

I don't want to operate out of fear of the school system, but I do want what is best for him. kwim? I just figure if all they would do is what I am already doing--what is the point then of getting them involved...which here, I have been told would include having them come into my home to *observe him in his learning environment*. kwim? Who wants *that*?

One example of where he's @:
I *just* started this exercise w/ him, it's a 1 minute reading drill. He reads as much as he can, aloud, for 1 minute & the words he gets correct = his words per minute score. He reads the *same* thing each time. I've been doing it for about a month but NOT every day.

He started @ 20 wpm. The other day he read the entire page correctly which was 50 wpm. However, I just read 2 different articles & he should be reading 90-135 wpm. Both articles gave 2 different scores. My friend had told me it was 98 wpm, so I had an idea already. But that gives you an idea of what we're working w/ & what we're up against.

Then it was time to move onto a new set (page) of reading for the drill. His first time on the page was 28 wpm. Second reading was 36. So he's already showing immediate improvements that will hopefully be long lasting & permanent.

He's excellent @ memorizing what he can *hear*. He's obviously a strong auditory learner or he's over-compensating. It seems to work. With that in mind I have just put in an order for these CD's that use songs to learn facts such as multiplication, division, addition & subtraction facts as well as English facts like nouns, verbs etc. They even have them for History facts.

I wish I would have found them sooner!

I am encouraged as a mother & excited for him.

O! & before I forget, another friend also introduced me to an article about the correlation between fatty acid deficiencies & learning disabilities like dyslexia. I am going to look into that as well.