Homeschool to Public School

[eadn13]

As an elementary education teacher/elementary special education teacher in training I am looking for information to help a child in my class. He is now in the fourth-grade and in public school for the first time. I believe he is adjusting socially quite well. I am wondering if a certain teaching modality would work best for him; he freezes up on tests and has difficulty explaining his thinking (most do though).
Does anyone have experience with a child going back into the public system and have ideas on how best to support this child (academically as welll as emotionally)? I know specifics would help. Just know he is having trouble with math and his writing, wow. He does not seem to know the basic rules of capitalization and punctuation.
Any help is appreciated.

[Theodore]

The only way to get good at reading, writing, and math is lots of practice. I don't know what textbooks you use, but the sort of textbook best suited to him will be one that integrates previous problem types into every math set, so the concepts don't have time to be forgotten. It can take weeks or months for a concept to really sink in. Something like Saxon would probably be good, and he should be doing at least some reading and/or writing every day, even if it's totally unrelated to class topics. His grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation will gradually improve over time by osmosis.

Practice makes perfect. People who are confident about their ability to solve every problem on the test don't freeze up.

[Ramona]

IIWY, I would start teaching this child the basic rules of capitalization and punctuation. On each paper he turns in I would choose the error he made most often (without marking it on the paper!) and teach that rule to him before he does his next paper. Then every time he got it right on that next paper I would mark it as correct and praise his attempts.

Academically--teach him before expecting anything

Emotionally--praise correct answers rather than drawing attention to mistakes

Modality--give him what he lacks; have conversation with him in order to draw out explanations for his thinking

I suspect my suggestions may be a teeny bit challenging to implement in a classroom of many students. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Ramona

[StellarStory]

My son had problems with capitalization and punctuation for years! He was in public school until about fourth grade. (I pulled him out for the last six weeks of that year. We did a trial home school thing then.)

All along I'd been working with him at home after school. He said that helped him best with his writing and math. My point is that he had both public school and home school to help him.

I had just about despaired of him ever utilizing what I knew he had learned in his writing on a consistent basis.

I was beginning to think he must have some sort of learning disability. I investigated that but could find nothing that fit him. A lot of things sort of fit in some ways but didn't in others.

Anyway, one year, he just overnight, for no particular reason, got better at utilizing the rules he'd learned in his writing. I decided it must have been a certain level of maturity kicking in. I don't think it was something that could be rushed or pushed. Lord knows I tried!

He hated writing. He still does. Endless drilling would not have worked with him. I had to figure out how to drill enough to help him but not so much that he would turn off and tune out completely. A whole page of work would have stopped him.

I've never cared for busy work. I just want to know they have learned and can apply that knowledge to their daily work consistently.

Stellar