I’m so glad I found your channel. I pulled my 3 kids out of public school last week due to many reasons, one being they refused to teach my intellectually disabled daughter. They were not providing her appropriate work for her level, and were instead giving her answers to work that was too hard. She is 9.5, and in 2nd grade and does not know anything passed kindergarten. She has been so beaten down by being given work she cannot do or understand. I’m going to look more into this program for her.
It’s a hard road, but worth it. I know Sophie would be in the same situation in public school. She’s 10 now. But emotionally more like 5-6 and academically around 6-7. She would need a one on one aide all day if she were in school and that would never be provided.
Hi Colleen! I just saw this late last night and I'm absolutely thrilled that Sophie is doing so great with Happy Cheetah! I got really emotional when I saw her beautiful smile...thank you for sharing! Lots of hugs! Keep us posted! Dr. Karen
Thank you Dr. Karen! We consider Happy Cheetah to be a miracle! Sophie is able to move at a pace of 1-2 lessons per day (usually 1) and has made huge progress. Since this video, she’s moved through workbook 2 and is getting ready to start workbook 3. I just received workbook 4 in the mail today. Her confidence has greatly increased and we are so proud of her!
Thank you so very much for sharing this! I had never heard of it before. My 15 year old son seems to be stuck at a beginning second grade reading level. He does well with a lot of repetition when it comes to learning. Think we will give this a try. Prayers that this continues to work well for your sweet Sophie💕
I did see this with Katie, but now that I am starting to think more about reading with Naomi this is starting to look really interesting. It seems very thorough and hands on.
It's so good! It has been an absolute miracle for Sophie. Nothing else has been anywhere near as helpful. She could have been reading a year earlier at least with this program from the beginning.
My little one is the same age as Sophie and is really struggling with reading. Every time she can’t read it sets her back she becomes upset, and doesn’t want to try anymore. We tried all about reading but she absolutely hated it. It was a dread every day to do it with her especially the fluency sheets. I think this program looks much better for her. I am going to get this for her instead. Ty for sharing
@@simplejoyfilledliving thank you I really hope so 2. Can I ask what else you are using for Sophie’s curriculum? I have tried so many for my daughter (she also has special needs) and I can’t find one that helps her retain the information. We have tried sonlight. TGTB, gather round, all about reading, right start math, horizons math, abeka we are now going to try lessons for a living education math I heard it’s gentle and easy compared to other programs. I just don’t know what to use anymore. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
That was the same problem for us with reading and math. No retention. Rod & Staff is working great for math after trying Right Start, Abeka, Math Lessons fir a Living Education, and Saxon. Here’s my video on Rod and Staff compared to Math Lessons fir a Living Ed. ruclips.net/video/0IVNSD_6Jmo/видео.html
@@simplejoyfilledliving thank you! We are trying touch math right now and it’s working fantastic. If you ever want to switch or rod and staff no longer works, I would highly recommend looking into touch math. My daughter has brain damage, autism, adhd, and other disabilities as well. We must have tried all of the common math programs. But I looked into math for special needs children and touch math was one of them, it’s been god sent. I hope your little one has a great year!! She is adorable 🥰
My son also has Apraxia. We’ve hit a road block with reading. We’ve tried LOE, AAR, TGTB, 100 easy lessons. He can sound out words (to the best of his ability like s is f but I know what he’s trying to get out) but he has to sound out everytime he sees a word even if he read it 3 words ago. We just can’t get over the hump. Doing so much research trying to find a different approach. At this time have you totally completed this program? Was it successful? Is she able to read outside the program, seeing mixed reviews on kids not being able to which makes me nervous. Thanks for any insight!
We made it through part of level 2/second grade and had to quit because it hit too hard. However, by then she was reading and had momentum so she could continue with other curriculum. My latest video has a homeschool update with what we are doing now.
A 100 Lessons in Sight and Sound by A Gentle Feast is one we have really enjoyed. New words are learned by reading classic nursery rhymes with activities such as sequencing, small amounts of copy work, and keeping a word journal of new words learned. Program also comes with flash cards that tie in with each nursery rhyme. We use it just as a supplement. My son loved book one so much that I got him book two. As the title suggests, it is a gentle approach. I don’t know if it’s because of my sons love of music and rhythm or what exactly but nursery rhymes and poetry always seem to work well for him. Anyways, just wanted to share.😊
The CM programs did not work for my son because the language used in poetry and rhymes was difficult for him to understand and discourage him from learning to read. The simple stories in thos program make learning to read less laborious.
Did the 1st grade box come with a magnetic white board to go with the magnetic letters like the K box did? We are slooooooooly working through the Happy Cheetah Prep book with our special needs 7yo. He managed to scratch the white board on the very first day.
Thank you for sharing about this! We do TGTB with my older 2 boys my third one did great with pre-k & primer k and level k was way to much he will be 7 this summer so I even waited a year but this past year we have been doing crafty classroom read program but he still is struggling. He does seem to do much better with sight words than phonics he flips a lot if letters all the time, Do you recommend just ordering level k and going through fast what he already knows? Do you think if we don’t do TGTB level k &1 he will miss to much grammar? Thank you so much! You are always so helpful & encouraging! I’ve used many of your recommendations!
If he knows his letter sounds starting with the second book of HC level k would work well. We finished level k (last half) and level 1( 1st half) from October to April of this year. My plan was to finish the Happy Cheetah program and move back to TG&TB ( probably level 2). I don’t think the grammar will be an issue at all. HC does cover some basic grammar.
@@simplejoyfilledliving ok yes he knows his letters & sounds I will start with the second book Going to order it today ... I planned to work with him all summer we usually only take 4 weeks off in July but I know he doesn’t need to loose anything You said you were probably going to do happy cheetah til level 2 then go to TGTB 2? Thank you so much again! I’ve literally been like there has to be something better to help him
This looks so interesting! I’m struggling because I am so married to the idea that phonics and Orton-Gillingham approach are a must have for struggling readers, especially with dyslexia. Any thoughts?
I think it really depends on the struggling reader. Sophie has Childhood Apraxia of Speech so sounding out of words is very difficult for her. I have read studies that the same is true for children with Down Syndrome. Happy Cheetah does use phonics, but emphasizes it more in the spelling than the reading. It is a good mix for us. We tried All About Reading for Sophie (which is an Orton-Gillingham program) and it was a disaster for us, but is a wonderful resource for so many families.
I hope can get some books for my son too! :( quite sad because unfortunately nothing in the malls right now are reasonable and doable. All you really just can find are groceries. Prices are super high! :( Anyone who have books or anything (even clothing!) for 2 y.o boy that they do not use anymore, glad to have them. Plleeeasssseee! :)
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I’m so glad I found your channel. I pulled my 3 kids out of public school last week due to many reasons, one being they refused to teach my intellectually disabled daughter. They were not providing her appropriate work for her level, and were instead giving her answers to work that was too hard. She is 9.5, and in 2nd grade and does not know anything passed kindergarten. She has been so beaten down by being given work she cannot do or understand. I’m going to look more into this program for her.
It’s a hard road, but worth it. I know Sophie would be in the same situation in public school. She’s 10 now. But emotionally more like 5-6 and academically around 6-7. She would need a one on one aide all day if she were in school and that would never be provided.
Hi Colleen! I just saw this late last night and I'm absolutely thrilled that Sophie is doing so great with Happy Cheetah! I got really emotional when I saw her beautiful smile...thank you for sharing! Lots of hugs! Keep us posted! Dr. Karen
Thank you Dr. Karen! We consider Happy Cheetah to be a miracle! Sophie is able to move at a pace of 1-2 lessons per day (usually 1) and has made huge progress. Since this video, she’s moved through workbook 2 and is getting ready to start workbook 3. I just received workbook 4 in the mail today. Her confidence has greatly increased and we are so proud of her!
@@simplejoyfilledliving hi what program or curriculum are you using for spelling fit Sophie? Ty
I’m so glad she is doing so well with it. That’s awesome to see such a big chunk of words that she has mastered.
It’s been a miracle for her!
It's got a touch of Spelling U See, and I like that!
It was actually developed by the same person!
@@simplejoyfilledliving that makes sense now!
Thank you so very much for sharing this! I had never heard of it before. My 15 year old son seems to be stuck at a beginning second grade reading level. He does well with a lot of repetition when it comes to learning. Think we will give this a try. Prayers that this continues to work well for your sweet Sophie💕
Thank you! I hope it will work for your son.
I did see this with Katie, but now that I am starting to think more about reading with Naomi this is starting to look really interesting. It seems very thorough and hands on.
It's so good! It has been an absolute miracle for Sophie. Nothing else has been anywhere near as helpful. She could have been reading a year earlier at least with this program from the beginning.
My little one is the same age as Sophie and is really struggling with reading. Every time she can’t read it sets her back she becomes upset, and doesn’t want to try anymore. We tried all about reading but she absolutely hated it. It was a dread every day to do it with her especially the fluency sheets. I think this program looks much better for her. I am going to get this for her instead. Ty for sharing
I hope it works for you. All About Reading was a fail for us too.
@@simplejoyfilledliving thank you I really hope so 2. Can I ask what else you are using for Sophie’s curriculum? I have tried so many for my daughter (she also has special needs) and I can’t find one that helps her retain the information. We have tried sonlight. TGTB, gather round, all about reading, right start math, horizons math, abeka we are now going to try lessons for a living education math I heard it’s gentle and easy compared to other programs. I just don’t know what to use anymore. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
That was the same problem for us with reading and math. No retention. Rod & Staff is working great for math after trying Right Start, Abeka, Math Lessons fir a Living Education, and Saxon. Here’s my video on Rod and Staff compared to Math Lessons fir a Living Ed. ruclips.net/video/0IVNSD_6Jmo/видео.html
@@simplejoyfilledliving thank you! We are trying touch math right now and it’s working fantastic. If you ever want to switch or rod and staff no longer works, I would highly recommend looking into touch math. My daughter has brain damage, autism, adhd, and other disabilities as well. We must have tried all of the common math programs. But I looked into math for special needs children and touch math was one of them, it’s been god sent. I hope your little one has a great year!! She is adorable 🥰
We liked to use it for our handwriting too.
Definitely saves a step!
My son also has Apraxia. We’ve hit a road block with reading. We’ve tried LOE, AAR, TGTB, 100 easy lessons. He can sound out words (to the best of his ability like s is f but I know what he’s trying to get out) but he has to sound out everytime he sees a word even if he read it 3 words ago. We just can’t get over the hump. Doing so much research trying to find a different approach. At this time have you totally completed this program? Was it successful? Is she able to read outside the program, seeing mixed reviews on kids not being able to which makes me nervous. Thanks for any insight!
We made it through part of level 2/second grade and had to quit because it hit too hard. However, by then she was reading and had momentum so she could continue with other curriculum. My latest video has a homeschool update with what we are doing now.
Okay this is super interesting.
It is amazing!
A 100 Lessons in Sight and Sound by A Gentle Feast is one we have really enjoyed. New words are learned by reading classic nursery rhymes with activities such as sequencing, small amounts of copy work, and keeping a word journal of new words learned. Program also comes with flash cards that tie in with each nursery rhyme. We use it just as a supplement. My son loved book one so much that I got him book two. As the title suggests, it is a gentle approach. I don’t know if it’s because of my sons love of music and rhythm or what exactly but nursery rhymes and poetry always seem to work well for him. Anyways, just wanted to share.😊
Thank you for sharing! That sounds like something Sophie would really like!
The CM programs did not work for my son because the language used in poetry and rhymes was difficult for him to understand and discourage him from learning to read. The simple stories in thos program make learning to read less laborious.
Did the 1st grade box come with a magnetic white board to go with the magnetic letters like the K box did? We are slooooooooly working through the Happy Cheetah Prep book with our special needs 7yo. He managed to scratch the white board on the very first day.
I just looked in the box and ours did not come with another white board. But you could probably just use any white board.
Thanks so much for this video. I have two autistic sons
Thank you for watching! ❤️
Thank you for sharing about this! We do TGTB with my older 2 boys my third one did great with pre-k & primer k and level k was way to much he will be 7 this summer so I even waited a year but this past year we have been doing crafty classroom read program but he still is struggling. He does seem to do much better with sight words than phonics he flips a lot if letters all the time,
Do you recommend just ordering level k and going through fast what he already knows? Do you think if we don’t do TGTB level k &1 he will miss to much grammar?
Thank you so much! You are always so helpful & encouraging! I’ve used many of your recommendations!
If he knows his letter sounds starting with the second book of HC level k would work well. We finished level k (last half) and level 1( 1st half) from October to April of this year. My plan was to finish the Happy Cheetah program and move back to TG&TB ( probably level 2). I don’t think the grammar will be an issue at all. HC does cover some basic grammar.
@@simplejoyfilledliving ok yes he knows his letters & sounds I will start with the second book
Going to order it today ... I planned to work with him all summer we usually only take 4 weeks off in July but I know he doesn’t need to loose anything
You said you were probably going to do happy cheetah til level 2 then go to TGTB 2?
Thank you so much again! I’ve literally been like there has to be something better to help him
This looks like a wonderful reading program.
It really is!
This looks so interesting! I’m struggling because I am so married to the idea that phonics and Orton-Gillingham approach are a must have for struggling readers, especially with dyslexia. Any thoughts?
I think it really depends on the struggling reader. Sophie has Childhood Apraxia of Speech so sounding out of words is very difficult for her. I have read studies that the same is true for children with Down Syndrome. Happy Cheetah does use phonics, but emphasizes it more in the spelling than the reading. It is a good mix for us. We tried All About Reading for Sophie (which is an Orton-Gillingham program) and it was a disaster for us, but is a wonderful resource for so many families.
I hope can get some books for my son too! :( quite sad because unfortunately nothing in the malls right now are reasonable and doable. All you really just can find are groceries. Prices are super high! :( Anyone who have books or anything (even clothing!) for 2 y.o boy that they do not use anymore, glad to have them. Plleeeasssseee! :)