Howdy Regina:
Regina Finan wrote in a message to Mike Martin:
RF>  Jonathon is LD.
I am a middle school resource teacher, so am well aware of the meaning of LD. 
I do not care for the label, as I will swear most of my LD kids are in some 
ways way above average intelligence.  If label we must, I use Learning 
Different.
RF> Plus he is involved in what to learn.
Get any kid involved, and they will learn.  LD children don't become involved 
with lectures and worksheets, and each is unique.  Most teachers cannot deal 
with this.
RF> progressing nicely and I find his IQ  (I am basing this on
RF> his understanding, knowledge and intellectual answers)  is
RF> higher than in the tests.
I feel the same way about each of my kids...I have one for example that has 
been considered pretty much a hopeless case, (he had brain cancer when he was 
three, which was chemically brought into remission) since he cannot write at 
all nor read cursive.  However, I spend a great deal of time with him and 
noticed he had an extraordinary vocabulary, about high school level, though 
he is very reserved and will seldom speak out unless you talk directly to 
him.  Also working with him and through reading to him, I discovered him to 
be exceptionally auditory.  The kid could not make hand to eye coordination, 
but he certainly can comprehend what is happening around him.  He is somewhat 
ADD, which led previous teachers to just pass over him and devote their 
attention the attention seekers.  Anyhow, the kid is in regular classes with 
modifications now and making progress, with the assistance of an aid. 
However, since he has been ignored for so long, he is still 4-5 years behind 
in the subject areas, but rapidly catching up.
RF> I know it was because of that teacher and a  caring school.
That is why as homeschooling continues to grow, and why is should not be 
suppressed, it will prove to be successful.  Nobody will care as much as the 
parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents which are doing the teaching.  And 
teaching stems from caring.
RF> We can work on sentences and do all subjects or all verbs
RF> and  their is no problem.
Why bother.  As long as he understands the function of these words, what does 
it matter if it is called a noun, verb, adjective, or troglodyte.  I think we 
lose too many kids by freaking out on the taxonomy of language, or 
meta-language before they are prepared, that we confuse them about language 
itself.  Even while they are in the early stages of learning to use language 
and before they have refined their ability to abstract, we begin abstracting 
language.  You do not have to know the structure of a car to drive it 
correctly.  For my own self, I made "F's" and occasionally a "D" in English, 
yet I always spoke, read and wrote well enough.  I was also labeled deficient 
in reading, although I was reading doctoral level texts on fish in 7th grade 
(I had a love for aquariums), and the teachers did not know about that.  And 
I hated to write about literature.  In college, I was accepted to two honor 
fraternities. And I never could distinguish between a verb, noun, etc. until 
about 5 years ago, when I started teaching special ed out of another career, 
and discovered the focus of teaching is language...and I am pushing 50 now.
Anyhow, if you have the resources, check out Project Read material.  There is 
a writing and a reading strand.  The program, though geared for schools, 
could readily be adapted to a home environment.  The emphasis therein is not 
on meta-language, but on building an intrinsic understanding and usage of 
language.
 Which is important?
If you can't locate them and are interested, I will look them up for you.  I 
am at home now, and my references are kept at school.
Oops, I cut out some of your text, but you were talking about underling 
verbs, circling nouns and all this rigamarole.  If you insist on this 
practice, try to use various colored hilighters, and do only one item at a 
time.  Anyhow, Project Read approaches this exercise somewhat differently, 
and kids seem to grasp and retain the concepts.
Best wishes,
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