Homeschool World Forum

Thank you very much for your help. I know we have a lot of work to do, now I just have to make it fun so we don't have so many tears

I can really empathize with the feelings you expressed--I have struggled mightily with those same feelings over the years. We have a daughter who has severe dyslexia and minimal brain dysfunction--translation: she has a difficult time learning at the same speed as her peers. Our daughter is now a senior in High School. As I reflect over her "school" years and all that we tried (some successfully and some unsuccessfully) I want to encourage you to reassess your child's abilities and set up that child's own curriculum. Yes, the younger child will probably pass the struggling child; yes, that will be a difficult thing to work through with your children--but what blessings! The young child needs to learn not to lord it over the struggling child or get prideful; the struggling child needs to learn to persevere and work hard even when there are no (or little) perceiveable results. Remember--you are laying "character" in your children--not just providing an education. Our daughter did not learn to read above a 2nd grade reading level until she was in 8th grade. She has been in Algebra I for the past 3 years! And that is all right! We have taught her to work hard, and learn it RIGHT. Also--your children have different abilities in different areas. For the academically struggling student, find at least 1 area that s/he is proficient in and then really invest time in that. Your child needs to learn that the Lord equips each of us with different gifts and abilities. Not everyone is great at math; or science; or art (I Cor 12 & 14) Teaching our children to learn to appreciate the varied abilities in others is a blessing. Finally, set up REALISTIC goals--both short-term and long-term for your struggling student and be sure to praise your child for eachone reached. Your children are each different and unique. never lose sight of that.

THank you for that vote of encouragement. I seem to have lost track since Semptember of the goals that we have set and it is time to sit down with him and talk about what goals we should have as a team. THank you for reminding me!

Wondering if you have taken you child to an optometrist that tests for vision related learning disorders? (not just one that tests for accuity 20/20) You could check out the website www.covd.org for more info.

Hi, that is a tough one. But know that although your son learns differently, he can still learn. I am a pediatric occupational therapist and have worked with many children in the school setting. A couple of things to try that may help: Focus on your son's strengths. What does he like to do? What does he do well? Also, slow down your speech when giving directions. This can help. Most of us are quite unaware of how fast we are talking to our children. If your son does have a hard time processing information, he probably can't deal with too many words at once. Has he had any type of formalized evaluation?

Try not to present too much material at one time and limit the number of steps involved in your directions and instructions. If you can, try to use a little humor. Nothing cuts the tension faster than a good laugh! Much success to you!

Hi,
I have been the administrator of a small private school that serves Kiddos with different types of learning disabilites for several years. I have, through those years, developed some things that have helped those who have difficulty remembering how to do things.

The most important thing is to be sure they can read...then you can rely on that skill to get them through other skills..

For grammar I highly recommend Shurley English...the use of the jingles uses both hemispheres of the brain, and that helps in renention...the repitiion of the material also helps...when we get to the question and answer flow..I have the questions printed out for those kids who can't remember what to ask.

Math is really hard once you get past basic addition and subtraction. There are so many steps to remember in higher math. I teach using steps, I break every skill down into the steps necessary to complete it...and I write the steps down as I use them and have the students copy them in their math notebook...then every time they need to say add fractions, they go back to the steps and follow them...

I have a math handbook that has some of the steps I have used. I would be happy to email you....let me know
and good luck
Pam

the Shurley method...
we just started that one with my youngest.

it has made a world of difference so far.

mark