Teaching the "atypical learner"

My daughter thinks very differently from the way I do, which has been a stretching experience for me as a teacher!  I mean that in a good way, too;  teaching has been very frustrating and hard at times, but I can also see how my character, and teaching abilities, are growing in the process.  Her "special needs" are good for both of us.  (I just need to remind myself of that over and over sometimes!)

This example made me laugh the other day.  We've been working on sequencing (for years now), since it is so crucial for both reading and comprehension.  Her brain clearly does not think in a linear way at this point, and it doesn't seem to bother her at all.  For instance, I told her to put these cards in the correct order, and then tell me the resulting story.  This is how she arranged the cards:

Here is what she said:  "First they put the water in the tank.  Then they put in the fish.  Then the fish are all gone.  And then they put the lid on the tank."

And there was no sense of "Gee, that's weird" to accompany this story!  She definitely lives in a crazy, but fun, world!  I definitely have my sequencing-lesson-plan work cut out for me.

Book Recommendation: The Phantom Tollbooth

One of the best things about teaching my kids now is watching them enjoy some of the very same books I loved as a kid.  One of my first favorite novels was The Phantom Tollbooth -- I was fascinated by it so much that I even tried to write a sequel to it.  (I was probably in about 3rd or 4th grade, so it was likely a very lame attempt...  but I enjoyed the process anyway!)

 

Recently I was able to introduce Strider to Milo, the main character, and go on all the adventures with him, as we listened to the audio version on a car trip.  I was nervous that it might not be as good as I remembered it, but when Strider started literally rolling around in the backseat because he was laughing so hard, I was satisfied.  The book really is quite clever, and even slips in all kinds of grammatical phenomena and educational vocabulary.  It's like the equivalent of the cooking method in which the chef hides all kinds of pureed vegetables in tasty dishes so the kids don't even know they're eating them.  Just as I'm a fan (and practitioner) of this kind of cooking, so also do I enjoy watching the kids learn while they're in hysterics over a fantasy story.

 

So, I highly recommend this books for grade-school kids (probably 3rd grade or higher), as well as adults.  (There are many cliches and phrases mentioned that only the adults are likely to catch the humor in.)  And, as it turned out, the audio version was fabulous.  We listened to one read by Norman Dietz and were amazed by how quickly he could switch between numerous voices.  I see there is also a version read by David Hyde Pierce, and I imagine that would be terrific as well!

Web site recommendation: Good educational videos

This list seems amazing to me! Such a great collection of so many topics.  Perfect for those times when I can't teach one of the kids right at the moment -- but the computer can.  :) 

There are even books (like "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?") for the preschool group.

www.neok12.com

Guess what the art project was this day...

My kids had fun making themselves (out of a roll of that cheap brown paper you can get at home improvement stores). 

I saw a suggestion to make 2 cut-outs per person, one for the front and one for the back, and then staple them together, stuffing old newspapers in between.  That idea sounded good  (although I had images of the kids using their paper-people as Taekwondo dummies.... and then images of brown paper and newspapers strewn all over the floor)  but we didn't do it.  The amount of effort it took to coordinate all 3 of them in their tracing, cutting, and coloring was more than enough for me.  I was too tired at the end to try and double all that effort!

So our characters are flat and still -- unlike the characters who made them.

For someone who has more storage space than I do, I think this would be a fun thing to do each year, and then keep to show the the kids as they grow.

An argument for not rushing into Kindergarten, or preschool, or pre-preschool...

(This is not intended to be a judgment on what anyone else has done in the past. God leads each family on different paths, I know. But, if anyone is trying to decide what to do with their young children in the future, here are some thoughts that would hopefully alleviate some of the pressure parents are feeling these days to get their kids into school-type activities as early as possible. It seems our society is pushing "school" for earlier and earlier ages, and parents sometimes feel their kids will be "behind" if they do not conform to this pattern. Au contraire, I say!)

Strider and Rayna are both old for their grade. In both cases, we did not start them in Kindergarten until they were already 6. Strider has been known to complain about this (pretty much on a weekly basis), since it means that most of his friends are in a grade above him, but we still stand by our decision to start kids late.

Over the years I've heard many compelling studies, statistics and reasons for why it's better not to rush kids into school, even if they are mentally and socially capable of doing so. Better Late Than Early by Raymond S. Moore and Dorothy N. Moore is a key book of this philosophy, and I highly recommend taking a look at it, if anyone is trying to decide about what to do with a young child. It seems counter-intuitive to our overly-ambitious culture, but it turns out that oftentimes starting a child in academics too early can actually be the opposite of beneficial.

According to what I've heard from several sources, the push to get every child reading at an earlier and earlier age has stemmed, at least in part, from the fact that parents want their kids in school at an earlier and earlier age (as opposed to having to pay for daycare). So, the teachers, faced with large classrooms of young children, find it easiest to keep them all calm by having them sitting at their desk reading or writing. Hence the need for early readers. BUT, studies have shown that the stronger readers later in life are often the ones who were not introduced to reading until they were older. There are various physiological facts about brain make-up, eyesight, etc., that indicate that we humans are probably not suited to this kind of work, on average, until later in life.

Besides these arguments, Pete and I also decided on a personal basis that we wanted our children to have options when they are in the high school years. Since our kids are on the smaller side of the spectrum (physically), they may end up benefitting from an extra year's worth of growth by that point (especially the boys). So, in a few years, we may choose to keep Strider in his current grade, or he may end up skipping a grade, depending on the goals for that part of life. It seemed wise to us to let that be the option -- as opposed to deciding later that he should repeat a year, or be held back at a later point when it's harder to handle that socially.

Pete was an older kid for his grade, too, by the time he was in high school. (He graduated when he was just 2 months shy of turning 19.) When I asked him if this was hard for him or if he felt like it was a negative aspect to his social life, he remarked that it was quite the opposite. He loved being one of the bigger kids (for a year or 2 anyway :) ), and being one of the first to get to drive, etc. So we're hoping our kids feel the same way!

When my kids were very young, I remember just chomping at the bit to get started on schooling them! It all looked so fascinating and I just wanted to dive in. And, in a few areas, we did do things early (such as reading aloud history books when Strider was 5 and 6), but for the most part I tried to restrain myself and let them play as long as possible.

From what I've read, there can be just as much, if not more, benefit in PLAYING in those younger years. Exploring, discovering, creating, analyzing..... all good abilities that I wanted, and still want, them to develop. Academics can wait!