Letter A for Alligator and Learning Issues

Since I am not working my RN job right now, I plan on working consistently with the girls on preschool activities.  My little Dino Girl just went through an assessment by the school district as I felt her development was not progressing as i had experienced with my other kids.  I suspected some learning issues and though they haven't given me all the results yet, the school psychologist did share that all 3 of the evaluators felt there is definitely some issues - probably a processing disorder.  The special ed teacher said she even wondered if information was having difficulty getting into Dino's long term memory.  This prompted me to do some research on learning ability and kids diagnosed with Type 1 at an early age.  I did find some things, which I shared with the school psychologist.

This post will serve 2 purposes.  I'll try to link to some of the research I found and link to letter A activities.  I've been doing some research on teaching kids with processing difficulties.  From what I've found, they recommend teaching upper case alphabet first, then adding lowercase later.  Despite all the alphabet work i've done with her in the past, she still doesn't remember any of them.  So, we are starting over.  Uppercase letters appear more distinct from each other, perhaps making them easier to remember.  I also discovered some research that suggests using black or red ink on yellow paper will also help memorization.  So, I think I will print letter forms on  yellow paper as we make our alphabet book.

Articles:
Cognitive Function in Children with Type 1 Diabetes - This study found a difference in learning and memory skills in children diagnosed at a young age.


Type 1 kids and school experiences

Learning and early onset diabetes

Moving on to A is for Alligator..................

Lots of letter A stuff at homeschool creations. ....

Raising Rock Stars Preschool - this mom is a teacher by trade, now homeschooling her children while serving with her husband as an inner city missionary somewhere in the U.S.  There is a lot of wisdom on her site!

Confessions of a Homeschooler (click on ABC & 123 tab)

abc teach & First School (lots of stuff here!)